One Month Current Events

Pictures, pictures everywhere! Above, Anja and Elka

Elka, at one month. Why is this typing up as a link, I wonder?




We've been spending lots of time on the porch, since our scummy neighbors moved out! No more stinky cigarette smoke coming into my house! No more hollering at all hours! No more vacant eyes staring us down every single time we go outside! No more lighter fluid smells! Life is sweet when the house two feet away from your own is empty.


Anja took the picture above one night. I think it's a nice picture!
 
You might think Anja took this blurry one too, but in fact, I did. I just think her expression is so sweet though, I had to post it. She's getting really good at lifting her head/top half! She LOVES being on her tummy, which makes life easy.
 
These two pictures demonstrate the difference just once month can make! Hard to believe that slimy, blood-covered, cone-headed being is the chubby-cheeked baby she is today. Same amount of hair though.


One month! Good grief, time flies, doesn't it? I spent nine months being miserable in pregnancy, feeling like every hour was creeping by, and then Elka is born and now life has sped up again and she's already a month old--smiling, lifting the front of her body with her forearms, and mostly only waking up once a night. She's turning into a BABY. I never thought I'd miss the newborn stage... but I do! Although she's pretty fun now, especially in the mornings. While she is a champion sleeper, I sometimes worry that nighttime is the only time she's getting any good quality sleep. It's hard to keep a four and three year old quiet for naps.

Anyway, we've really been enjoying our summer, despite the heat and the drought. Sadly, the only thing our garden is producing is bottom blight. Well, and our raspberry transplants are doing well because Martin is pampering them. But my herbs are looking sad and weak, and except for the tomatoes (which are huge and actually have LOTS of tomatoes... just no good ones) nothing grew. And I mean NOTHING. Last year our heirloom tomatoes came up in our raised beds without any care at all. This year we have a box full of dirt. And I tried planting some pepper plants late in the season, but they are still the same size as when I got them! It's laughable, really. Oh well, we are fortunate enough to not only not be depending on our own garden for our food or livelihood, but also we have plenty of sources for good local foods nearby. Except this past Saturday we forgot to pick up our CSA share, so we're a little short in the fresh veggie department this week. So, EAT LOCAL! But once you've made the commitment, don't forget to GET your food!

The last two weeks Anja was enrolled in swimming lessons--her very first organized activity. We signed up with my sister's kids, and all of them had a pretty rocky start.... only one out of six children stayed in their original class--the rest of them moved down a level the second day! And one dropped out. Every day Anja said she had a great time but wasn't going to go back the next day because she was convinced they were going to "make her" put her face in the water. (So you know--her teacher was super sweet and I can't imagine her forcing anyone to do anything.) Anyway, we made it through! And at the end of the two weeks you're given a report that tells you what level you're ready for next summer... Anja is ready for the same level again! Hahahaha, only one of the kids was recommended to move up a level. I'm telling you, we've got some real fish in our family. Har har.

I read some of the regular blogs I read this evening and it seems like everyone is doing exciting things this summer. Well, actually, it seems everyone's exciting lives include broken bones and lost children...... I don't want those things. But my point is, things are anything but exciting around here. Martin goes off to work every morning and the girls and I spend our days being happy together. We've lately been making and decorating paper dolls. It's super hot (gee, have you heard?) outside, so we mostly stay in, except to go out and jump hopscotch or swing on the porch swing. We've been making iced coffee by the jugful and while it's been too hot to take family walks, I did recieve a package in the mail that contained a pair of Indian clubs, so I have to learn some routines with those and then I'll be back on the excercise wagon, which will be good. Very good... especially with all this creamy iced coffee I've been drinking.

But even with all this "nothing" going on, we are having the happiest summer ever. I have yet to feel stressed by moving up from two children to three. Admittedly, Martin and I are not getting a lot of sleep, but it's not that bad... and during the days everything is just pleasant. The girls went through a short phase of fighting all. the. time. about a week after Elka was born, but they've gotten over it.

Greta's been up to her same old silliness, and Anja has been just as creative and sweet as always. The one hard time of the day is when somebody, somewhere, flips the "crazy" switch at 4:30 and Greta temporarily loses her mind until she goes to bed. Sometimes it's a happy crazy, sometimes it's an angry crazy, but it's always violent and destructive. Today she started catopulting cheerios against the wall from the far end of the table. When I told her to go into the bathroom and wash her hands then, she ran by the fridge with her arms out, taking down everything that was magnetized to the fridge. Uuuuuggghhhhh. And you know how some kids like to have their back scratched when they fall asleep? Greta likes to have her tummy scratched! It's so funny. It's another huge difference between Anja and Greta: Greta loves physical contact--she likes to be tickled, she likes her feet rubbed, and she likes her whole body scratched.... Anja, on the other hand, has to wash herself in the bath because she hates being touched SO MUCH that I can't even wash her. So funny!

This is a seriously boring post. AND it doesn't touch on the annoyingness and unfairness of pregnancy that I said I'd post about. I'll do that soon. I still want to. I hope you at least enjoy the pictures. And I hope my next post is less dumb.

The really dumb part is that I started this early this afternoon, and now it's 10:30pm and after working on it all day, this is what I got. Ugh. I'm a loser.