radio silence, ended

Sorry for my absence. When I feel like I'm falling behind on everything in my life (clutter, laundry, email, etc.), updating the blog is apparently one of the first things to be sacrificed. I learn something new about myself every day. THE MORE YOU KNOW!!

Do you ever find yourself picturing some future version of yourself who is effortlessly on top of everything? This happens to me all. The. Time. I think it's a vestige of childhood, when I thought (no, knew) that grown-ups were calm and capable and all-knowing. And despite the fact that I am now decidedly a grown-up, who will in a few short weeks be turning coughthirtycough, I still find myself, in moments when I feel overwhelmed and incompetent, thinking something like, "Well, when I grow up this will be easy."

Not in so many words, of course. It's more of a mental image of my ideal grown-up self-- sort of a cross between Martha Stewart and Ramona Quimby's mother and my fifth-grade teacher. Someone whose house is always clean (despite the fact that I never imagine her scrubbing behind toilets on her hands and knees while cursing under her breath), who hosts dinner parties, whose wardrobe is classic and stain-free, who takes her well-behaved kids on fun and wholesome adventures like picnics every weekend in the summer (with no bugs, of course) and sledding every weekend in the winter (with homemade hot chocolate sipped from thermoses), and whose garden actually grows tomatoes, instead of an abundance of basil with no other plants surviving. (She's also in great shape despite the fact that she never gets sweaty.)

I still have trouble believing that this is my grown-up life. Not that I don't like it! I love it, actually-- it's just that I don't feel grown-up. Or at least, I don't feel the way I imagined my grown-up self would feel.

But then again, I suppose Mrs. Quimby didn't, either.

seven quick takes friday - ed. 17

1. Faith composed this song while (surprise, surprise) jumping on the bed:

Jumpin' on the bed!

On the, on the,

Jumpin' on the bed!

And oh, and oh,

Jumpin' on the bed!

Oh, what! Oh, what!

In the moon-a-light,

Oh what a sight!

Jumpin' on the bed!

We should sign her with a record label immediately, right?

2. This is pretty cool: 28 Mind-Blowing Facts That Will Completely Change Your Perception of Time. They are pretty mind-blowing.

3. It seems as though every parent I see in my clinic since coming to Guam has no idea that tea contains caffeine. Preschoolers are guzzling iced tea by the bottle in my office... is it any wonder bedtime doesn't go smoothly?

4. Look at this! Remember last year when the news was all over that baby who was seemingly cured of HIV? Well, it looks like there might be another one!

5. Only on Guam... the ER doesn't have the capability to swab patients for strep throat.

6. I'm working on culling all the monthly photos I've taken of Josie so far. It's funny, you don't feel like they're changing that much from day-to-day, but when you look back, it's crazy!

 
7. Aaaaaand that's all I've got. And I'm STILL cheating and pretending I'm on EST so I can post this late.

Head over to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

theme thurday: dirt

Aaaaand again with my using the time-difference excuse to publish my Theme Thursday post on Friday morning. 

This is a decidedly embarrassing view of the space under the bookshelf. (Well, one of the bookshelves. We have, um [goes off to count] seven, not counting the kids' three sling bookshelves in the playroom. And still short on room for books.) 

Clearly I need to spend less time reading and more time vacuuming.

Click over to Clan Donaldson for more pictures of dirt!

random on a weekend

Here, have a Doctor Who Pac-Man Game.

You're welcome.

And that's the end of 7 Posts in 7 Days! Whew!

scenes

Whoops. Looks like I have to use the "time difference" thing to justify this counting as my Saturday post for the 7 Posts in 7 Days challenge.

Here are a few scenes from our life here lately:

***

Faith has been composing her own songs lately. Here's her latest:

"Jumpin' on the bed!
On the, on the,
Jumpin' on the bed!
And oh, and oh,
Jumpin' on the bed!
Oh, what! Oh, what!
In the moon-a-light,
Oh, what a sight!
Jumpin' on the bed!"

***

Yesterday Faith was being particularly whiny before dinner, so when we sat down to eat, Jack told me to pour myself some wine-- which I was happy to do. As I brought my wine glass and my mug of tea that I was still finishing over to my seat, I reflected that those two drinks are the perfect combination for relaxation. Right?

***

Jack is "on duty" this week-- which means that he's in charge of all pediatric patients admitted to the hospital, ER consults, parent phone calls, etc. He has his cell phone set so that whenever he gets a call from work, it yells at him in a Dalek voice, "Your mobile is ringing! Answer! Answer!! Or you will be exterminated!!!" We get a kick out of it, though he does allow that it's kind of embarrassing when it rings while he's in a patient's room.

***

Faith and Josie took a bath together for the first time last night. When I poured water over Josie's head to rinse out the shampoo, Faith started shrieking and crying, "Josie sad!!! Josie got water on a face!!!! Josie cry!!!!" Josie, meanwhile, was blinking placidly. Think someone is projecting her own fears, much?

seven quick takes

1. We've been looking for ways to make Josie's crib less abhorrent to her, so when I was at the store the other day I decided to look for a crib activity center. But it turns out they all made me want to claw my eyes out. Apparently you can't get one like the one my brother had as a baby, with spinning and sliding parts-- they're all buttons with battery-operated lights and sounds. Which is not only more annoying, but less developmentally helpful, it seems to me.

This awesomeness is no longer available.

2. Moms, did you ever wonder why the smell of babies makes you so happy? Turns out it lights up the reward section of your brain, like drugs to an addict. Newborn baby's smell is as addictive as drugs or food: study. (The photo caption at the top of the article has nothing to do with the rest of the article, FYI.)

3. Good article: If I Can't Accept You At Your Worst, Then Maybe You Should Stop Being So Horrible. It brings to light this ridiculous "I'm okay, you're okay," I-don't-need-to-change cultural attitude that's so prevalent. And it's just how God treats us-- He loves us even with our faults and imperfections, of course, but challenges us to overcome them BECAUSE He loves us. Just like a good parent-- you love your child when they're eating dirt, but it's not okay for them to eat dirt, even though they'll cry when you wash their mouth out. You love your child before they can walk, but it's not okay for them to crawl forever (barring medical issues, duh), even though they'll fall and bump their head a bunch of times while they're learning.

4. Doctor to Dads: You're Doing It Wrong. Obviously this doesn't apply to ALL dads, or ONLY to dads. But I can't tell you how frustrating it is when a dad (or occasionally grandma, older sibling, etc.) brings in a child and has NO IDEA what's been going on with them. The patient/parent interview, or the "history" as we call it, is probably the most important part of making a diagnosis (physical exam is usually less important, and labwork and imaging are even further down the importance scale). I'm not Beverly Crusher with a freakin' tricorder that I can just wave over your child and immediately tell you what's wrong with them. 

Yup, the nerd factor just increased exponentially all up in here.

5. One more pediatrician PSA, complete with cool graphic: Does my baby really need to ride rear facing until age 2? (Hint: the answer is "yes.")

link to larger image

6. We had a playdate with our next-door neighbor and her cute 20-month-old daughter the other day. By the end of it Faith was whispering conversations with her (the mom, not the baby). Faith's progression of talking-to-new-people goes as follows:

1. Silence, no interaction, minimal eye contact.

2. Silence, makes eye contact, waves, points, nods yes/no.

3. Whispered "baby talk" gibberish.

4. Whispered conversation.

5. Out-loud "baby talk" gibberish.

6. Out-loud conversation, but a little subdued.

7. Her normal self-- talking, yelling, singing, etc.

So, you know, making it to step 4 in a two-hour playdate ain't bad.

7. Aaaand, I've run out of interesting things to say. (Let me maintain my delusion that all the above quick takes were SUPER INTERESTING.) So I'll cheat and use my seventh take to link back to Conversion Diary, where you can read everyone else's quick takes too-- I'll add the link as soon as it's available. Oooh, and here's ANOTHER link to Conversion Diary, for the 7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge!

theme thursday: fences

Here we go for day 4 of the 7 Posts in 7 Days Challenge!

A few weeks ago we had a week of "staycation" when we visited various Guam tourist spots. Here are Faith and Jack walking back to shore after checking out Fish Eye Marine Park. (Fortunately there are fences because it's a long pier!) It's an underwater aquarium with windows you can look out into one of the Piti Bomb Holes and see the coral and fish out in the real ocean. Pretty fun.

Head over to Clan Donaldson to see more fences for Theme Thursday!