Dear Mia: Part 5

You are almost 10 months old now, and I'm not sugar-coating anything when I say the last 8 weeks or so with you have been so much fun. You started consistently sleeping through the night (yes, I am aware that now that I put this out there I am begging the universe to slap me upside the head, but I feel the need to record this milestone), and it has made a world of difference in your attitude.

You are such a happy baby.


You think everything is funny (Most notably: sneezing, shoving various toys into my mouth, and watching daddy throw things in the air and catch them). You interact with everyone and everything. You babble to yourself almost constantly, then chuckle at the silly things you say. You wave. You clap. You give high fives.

This has made me fiercely protective of your sleep schedule, something your Nana judges me for, but I really don't care. I see the positive difference in both of us that getting a good night of sleep makes.

We celebrated Christmas with your dad's family in Buffalo. You, of course didn't sleep well at their house and were up at 5:30, which made the day rough for both of us. But you loved wrapping paper, and you got showered with gifts. You were also able to eat the same foods we were eating for dinner; some potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and cheese. It is a lot of fun to be able to feed you from my plate and you give a satisfied "mmm."


Your favorite food is definitely yogurt. When your dad is eating some in the morning you clamor to get close to him and look up at him like a dog begging at the dinner table. When he shares with you you squeeze your eyes closed and smile like you've just taken a bite of the most decadent dessert.

You are getting better with strangers. You seem to do better with women than men, and you seem to read their energy before deciding whether you'll be cool with them or not. Calm, friendly women are your people. If someone comes at you with too much excitement and attempts to pick you up in the first 30 seconds, you will never forgive them. I get it, you just need a bit to warm up to people, then you will charm their pants off. Some of Daddy's family has a really hard time understanding this, but I think that's their loss that they won't take the time to get on your good side.

I've said before that you have my eyes, and I've always felt something oddly familiar about looking into them. Then a few weeks ago I was sitting next to your crib as you fell asleep because you had a cold. You were curled up against the side crib rails to be as close to me as you could, and all I could see of your face was the bridge of your nose and eyes, and suddenly I realized what was so familiar about your eyes, they are my little brother's eyes, and now that's all I see when I look at you. You look like uncle Tim did when he was a baby, and it makes me so nostalgic. In some ways I feel like he was my first baby, and then I remember that he is almost 20, and boy, does time fly. It feels like just yesterday I was singing him lullabies and putting him to sleep.


You are a morning person through and through. We struggled for weeks just to get you to sleep past 5am, but you wake up so damn happy! And your dad says it's his favorite part of the day when we bring you into our bed in the mornings to snuggle.

I know I've said it before, but I find it necessary, as I think it is an integral part of your personality, to point out again how you go from 0 to 60. One morning I watched you on the video monitor as you were sleeping soundly on you belly, the next moment you were up pulling yourself to standing on the side of the crib. No stretching or eye rubbing, just straight from sleeping to raring to go.

I don't want to brag, but at your 9 month appointment your doctor went on and on about how advanced you are. She said it was weird because you SEEMED like a 1 year-old, but in the body of a 9 month old. I honestly don't know if she says this to every parent, but I sure do love someone other than myself going on and on about how smart you are!


Speaking of bragging, I told your dad the other day that I need to find some balance between bragging about you and downplaying your achievements (for lack of a better word). Because I think it's something that will come up over and over throughout your life, and I'd never want you to think I'm not proud of you. And I NEVER want you to hide your light. I want you to shine as bright as you dare.

You finally starting crawling a few weeks ago. I thought you might go straight to walking. You cruise from couch to coffee table then crawl to a toy, pull yourself up, etc. you can get where ever you want to go now.

Right after you started crawling you took your first steps, on New Years Day no less. And you have continued to stumble from me to daddy and back again. One day you will figure out what this ability means and you will be off and running.

Watching you stumble toward me with a huge smile on your face is one of the most exciting things I've ever experienced. THIS is why people have children. THIS is why we put up with the sleep deprivation and tantrums and wiping someone else's rear end. Before I had you I didn't know this emotion, this heart-bursting elation. There is not even a word for how much joy you bring to my life.

2011 in Review

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Birthed a child. Had major surgery in order to birth said child. Nursed said child. Fell head over heels in love with said child. Went to Cincinnati, and promptly wanted to move there. Took a Zumba class. Cooked new foods like quinoa and bulghur.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't really think I made any last year. For 2012 I think I'll go on record to say I'd like to be a better friend. I don't think it always comes naturally to me, so I need to try harder. I'd also like to make more friends. Maybe more mommy friends for play dates. And losing this baby belly pooch would be pretty awesome too, but I'm not going to aim too high.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Me! And a friend had a baby boy a few weeks after me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Jeff's grandfather died in early March.

5. What countries did you visit? I think it will be a long time before I'm visiting any foreign countries.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? More caffeine! I gave up coffee because it seemed to be affecting Mia's sleep, and I miss it so. This spring, when I finish breastfeeding, I am going to be an incredibly caffeinated woman!

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 28th - Mia's birthday. Every other date pales in comparison.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Aside from carrying, birthing and keeping Mia alive, I would say it was breastfeeding. It was so hard for us at first. I thought about quitting many times, but I'm so so glad I didn't.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not making sure Mia took a bottle. It's not so bad now that she only nurses 4 times a day, but it sure would have meant a lot more freedom a few months ago.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Injury in the sense that I had a c-section, and it really fucking hurt. I did not heal as well or as quickly as I would have liked. I was essentially bed ridden for about 2 weeks, and in quite a bit of pain for 6 weeks.

11. What was the best thing you bought? A new car to replace Jeff's 11 year-old Nissan. I was the one driving it at the end and Lord, was I embarrassed by it. It sounded like a diesel truck, the power windows and locks were broken, it made a loud knocking sound with every sharp left turn etc, etc, etc. Second best thing we bought was a new washer and dryer to replace those that I believe may have been original to our house. Which was built in 1954.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Jeff's. During the 2 weeks after Mia was born he had to take care of all 3 of us, and he just... DID IT. I don't think I changed a single diaper for the first several days. In the hospital while he brushed and blow dried my hair for me, and I thought, "This is love."

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Jerry Sandusky & Bernie Fine

14. Where did most of your money go? The mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Mia!

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? probably Adele - Someone Like You or Chris Brown - Look at Me Now or Florence & The Machine's Dog Days Are Done. We listened to those songs a lot in our house.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier! Oh so happy.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? The only thing I can think to say is "sleep," but what difference would it make to me now if I had slept more? Maybe I wish I'd exercised more?

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? I guess I wish I'd nagged less.

20. How did you spend Christmas? In Buffalo with Jeff's family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? I fell so in love with my girl, and so much more in love with her amazing dad.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Probably The Good Wife. It's the one I am most excited to watch every week, and one of the few that Jeff and I both enjoy. But, let's be honest, I'm also excited when there's a new episode of The Real Housewives of Wherever in my DVR. And Top Chef, I love Top Chef.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, can't say that I do.

24. What was the best book you read? I burned through The Hunger Games series. I also loved Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones. And Bossypants was hilarious.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I knew of Adele before this year, but her music had never moved me the way her new album has.

26. What did you want and get? A healthy, fiesty little girl.

27. What did you want and not get? I wanted my stomach to magically shrink back to how it looked when I was 16 and for my stretch marks to disappear overnight. I'm still waiting.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think I watched like 3 movies this whole year. We cancelled out Netflix account because we were basically donating $15 dollars to them every month, and we haven't seen a movie in the theaters all year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29. We went out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant. Then the following weekend my family came, and we had cupcakes and Thai food.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hmm... Maybe if Mia had slept through the night from day one? It's been pretty damn satisfying other than the lack of sleep.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Yoga pants, sweat pants, and pajama pants, all covered in spit up.

32. What kept you sane? Jeff.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Josh Charles

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The legalization of gay marriage in New York state. (Stirred in a good way)

35. Who did you miss? I miss my family so so so much. They aren't that far away (and obviously I saw them tons this year), but I yearn to live close to them. I daydream of living so close that we could just pop over for a random weeknight dinner or have my mom babysit anytime we want. Someday?

36. Who was the best new person you met? Mia.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. I learned that I am a lot stronger and a lot more patient than I thought I was.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I can't come up with one, and I don't feel like putting off posting this until I do.

Merry Christmas {a day late}

On Having One's Head up One's Own Ass

Forgive me for being crass, but is anyone else's husband's head lodged up their own rectum like mine is?

The other night he came home from work late where I was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine watching House Hunters. It was the last part of the show where they reveal which house the people chose, and there's really no point in watching the show unless you get to see those last 4 minutes. Jeff sits down and says, "Is there anything to watch? Anything DVRed? Was there a new episode of -" Um, I am sitting here actively WATCHING something. THIS is what's on. Just because you worked late doesn't mean I sit here in silence with the TV off waiting for you to come home to begin having any fun.

Then later I got in bed while he was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, washing his face, resolving the national debt (I don't know what he does in there for so long). He comes in to the bedroom where I've got the covers pulled up to my head. I yawn and say "I'm so tired," when he decides now would be a good time to launch into a story about work. One of those stories where he has to explain each character and each technical term he's using "You know, Dave? The one I told you about yesterday with the thing and the stuff. You know! Dave! He's tall and -". No, I don't know Dave, and unless Dave has just died and left his millions to you, this story can wait until tomorrow. I'm going to sleep. He said "well, your light was on." Yes, I left the light on so that you wouldn't have to blindly stumble to bed in the dark. Wasn't that nice of me?

Why do men seem to have such a hard time reading pretty blatant social clues sometimes? I remember thinking that all the time in college. When a guy would like me and I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings, so I'd just ignore him (uh, because THAT never hurts anyone's feelings), but he would just KEEP at it... But come to think of it, I kind of did that with Jeff, and look where that got him, so this point is clearly going nowhere.

But then I remembered why I put up with it this morning while watching the news about someone who was trapped in an elevator for 41 hours.

Me: 41 hours?!??

Him: That's like your dream come true. You'd come out of there after 41 hours the most well-rested woman in the world. People would be asking "How did you stay in there for 41 hours?" and you'd say "How did you stay out HERE for 41 hours?"

Me: True. I'd probably be passed out in the floor after 5 minutes.

He knows me too well. Sometimes solitary confinement sounds like heaven.

What's Cookin': Holiday Treats

Here is where I am about to publish a super secret family recipe (it's not really secret, I'm pretty sure it's just that no one has ever asked). Every Christmas my family makes chocolate covered cherries. These are not your gross, goopy boxed cherry cordials from Rite-Aid. And they are not the maraschino cherries just dipped in melted chocolate some lazy people like to pass off as chocolate covered cherries (I mean, I guess those ARE technically chocolate covered cherries too, they're just not really worth putting in your mouth after you've had these). These are the real deal. They are out of this world, and probably 3000 calories just for one little bite, but that's how every good holiday treat should be, right?

Chocolate Covered Cherries

2 16 oz. jars of maraschino cherries with stems

For the filling:
1/3 c. butter, softened
7 1/2 oz. jar of Marshmallow Fluff
3 - 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

For the chocolate coating:
2 - 3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 T. shortening

Cream the butter in an electric mixer. Add in Fluff and beat until combined. Gradually add in powdered sugar until the dough is stiff and sticky. You may have to hand knead it to get all the sugar integrated into the dough. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Drain cherries. I set up two cookie sheets covered with wax paper to put the cherries on after they are covered. Break off small balls of dough, flatten with fingers and wrap around cherry. You may want to dip your fingers in powdered sugar between cherries if the dough starts to get too sticky to work with.

Once I've filled a cookie sheet I'll pop it in the fridge to keep the dough stiff. If it gets too warm it will fall right off the cherries when you go to dip them in the chocolate.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a double boiler over simmering water. Coat cherries in chocolate. I use a big spoon, take a scoop of melted chocolate, then roll the cherry around in it and repeat. (I couldn't get a picture of this because it takes two hands and Jeff was at work).

Pop back in the refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened. Then blow co-workers and neighbors away with your talent in the kitchen. (Keep refrigerated).


Secondly: Spinach Artichoke Dip or The Best Damn Dip in All the Land. Seriously, this dip is crack. My family asks me to make it for every occasion. Lord, I can't even express how good it is.

The recipe is here. It is from Cooking Light, but I doubt it is really all that light. I mean, there are 2 bricks of cream cheese in it. I don't care if one of them is 1/3 less fat, that can't be good for you. The only modifications I make are that I use the whole package of spinach, not half, mainly because I didn't catch that part the first time I made it and dumped the whole thing in, and it worked, so I just do that every time. And I mix all the cheese in with the dip. I don't save any to sprinkle on top, because I found that it just makes an impenetrable layer on top that breaks your chips and crackers. No one wants that.

I also did some baking this week. I made this Eggnog Pound Cake, which was easy and good and used up the rest of a quart of egg nog I had tempting me from the fridge.

Then I made these Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies which I thought would be a party in my mouth, but they were a bit bitter, even for me, someone who loves dark chocolate. If I were going to make them again I would still use the bittersweet melted chocolate in the dough, but I think I'd use semi-sweet chips for that extra 1/2 c. that gets added at the end.

Christmas Craftiness

I like DIY home improvement projects, but I don't really think of myself as particularly crafty. The idea of scrapbooking or making my own Christmas ornaments or anything small scale like that appeals to my DIY/artistic side, but when I get right down to it, it's not for me. I run out of patience and the craft never comes out looking like it should. It always ends up looking like a kindergartner with unmedicated ADD did it.

I bought Christmas stockings for myself and Jeff a few years ago with our initials on them, but when I went back to buy another one, they no longer had the same ones. I really wanted them all to be the same, and I like fairly plain stockings, no animals or angels or glitter. Of course I couldn't find anything like that. So I came across this picture on pinterest (which came from Cottage Instincts)(Gah, that mantel is gorgeous!) and I thought, duh, I could make my own personalized stockings with some cheap plain stockings and some wooden letters.

So I did.

Cheap plain stockings, which ended up not being that cheap,
because I really wanted white or beige and apparently that's unheard of!

Not-so-cheap plain stockings with wooden letter (both from JoAnn Fabrics) which I spray painted silver

I decided to just glue the letters on with hot glue because figuring out a way to attach them, as cute as it looks, might be above my level of craftiness, and I feared would end up looking, quite frankly, like shit.

Then Jeff thought they were TOO plain and suggested adding some snowflakes. (Look at him being more crafty than me!)

So I did.

And I'm really happy with how they turned out, even if from across the room the snowflakes look a bit like the Star of David. We're multicultural up in this house.

28

This guy turns 28 today.


27 has always been his lucky number. He declared that 27 would be his year.

On his birthday last year he won $300 on a lottery ticket from his parents.

I would say that's a good start.

Between December 7, 2010 and today he finished his master's degree, had his first child, and started a new job with a significant increase in pay. This year he got a new car, two new bikes and won several bike races. I don't know that it can get more monumental than that. I mean, having Mia was enough to make this the best year of MY life, forget all the other stuff.

Hopefully it's not all downhill from here!


Happy birthday to the most patient, hardworking, handsome guy I know and the only guy who will put up with my shit. May 28 be just as awesome as 27!