don't say what you say

[mamajoan]

Just this morning I was thinking that I never see people socially, and then, en route to lunch with evil_macaroni and the non-LJ-enabled Darth J, I bumped into gosling and Benjamin on the T. heh. Well, today was the exception that proves the rule I guess.

Both of the aforementioned friends whom I saw today commented on the pictures I posted here yesterday and how grown-up Ruthie is looking. As I told gosling, it's really quite amazing how the simple placement of a barrette in her hair makes her look so much older -- not to mention so much more girly. I don't know what it is about a barrette, but it clearly involves some sort of magic. I just picked the barrettes up at the grocery store the other day because her hair is always falling in her eyes and she doesn't like it, but I can't bring myself to cut it yet (and don't think it would do well anyway). And here's the odd (to me) thing -- she LOVES the barrettes. Most kids in my experience (by which I mean, Isaac) hate having things in their hair at that age. But Ruthie loves it. She likes (or at least doesn't hate ;) ) having her hair brushed/combed, even when it has tangles -- she doesn't whine or fuss or try to pull away when I work the tangles out. Isaac would NEVER do that (so I guess it's a good thing his hair doesn't tangle the way Ruthie's does). And the barrettes! She loves them! The other day we were riding the bus home, and I noticed that her barrette had fallen out while she was at daycare, so I took out the package to get another one and put it on her, and she grabbed for the package and made the "more" sign repeatedly until I put another barrette in her hair. And then another...and another...and then the package was empty. LOL!

It's funny to me how interested Ruthie is in hair things and clothing and shoes. I know it has little to do with caring about her appearance, though, because it's not like she cares about going and looking in the mirror or anything. I think she just likes the attention and the way things feel on her body, the physical sensations of dressing and grooming. Or maybe it's about imitating what I do. I dunno. I just think it's funny and cute. And SO totally different from the way Isaac was and is.

Sleep update: Ruthie slept in the crib for quite a few nights in a row, in increasing increments. About 2.5 hours the first night, 4 the second, 6 the third, 8 hours the fourth night, and then 5-6 the next night or two. So it was going pretty well. But last night, for who knows what reason, she had a REALLY hard time getting into deep enough sleep, so she kept waking up when I tried to put her down, and getting very upset. I should have just given up and lain down with her -- I did that eventually, but much later than I should have. So it was almost midnight by the time we both finally got to sleep, and of course as a result we were both tired and cranky this morning. Sigh.

Oh well, back to the drawing board with that. Hopefully last night was just a temporary aberration. Of course, I also have to acknowledge that the nights she has slept the best have been the nights when I dosed her up with ibuprofen before bed. I do think her teeth/mouth have been bothering her, but still it makes me a bit uncomfortable to be medicating her EVERY night. OTOH, I took a couple nights off the medicating and she had a really hard time, so maybe I should just keep it up. I dunno. sigh.

Lately Isaac has been really into Curious George, and is greatly enjoying the tv show, even though I think a lot of it goes over his head. But he has been doing that monkey-hooting noise a lot when he runs around ("oo oo aa aa!") so yesterday I asked him whether he'd like to be Curious George for Halloween. (If only I could teach him to oook, he could be the Librarian!) But he said no, he wants to be a butterfly. So I guess I'm going to look for a butterfly costume for him. As for Ruthie, I'm thinking of making her a samurai. I have two kid-size kimonos that I got in Japan when I was there in December '02 (shortly after Isaac was conceived) and would like to see them get some use...I'll have to pull them out and see if they'll even fit Ruthie now.

Speaking of Halloween, as I commented to my mom yesterday I do think it's utterly ridiculous to feel guilty about not making my kids' costumes by hand. Aside from the fact that I have no time, there's the even more compelling fact that I am not the slightest bit crafty. Even if I had all the time in the world I probably wouldn't be able to turn out a decent costume. And yet, of course, I still feel guilty about it anyway. Ah, the joys of parenthood. :P

I'm also pondering how to schedule our Halloween. Obviously we're going to go out t-or-t'ing, but for how long? and do I buy candy to hand out when we get back? etc....

In reading news, I finally finished Beggars in Spain this morning. I'm still pondering it. On the one hand, I felt it was poorly plotted and the writing was mediocre at best; I hated the main character; the final denouement took WAY too long to build up and then was wrapped up WAY too quickly; and a plot point that I thought needed some more consideration was pretty much dropped without comment. On the other hand, the ideas it raised are *quite* interesting and have given me a lot of food for thought. So, what really makes a good Hugo-award-worthy book -- one that's actually well-written, a quality piece of literature, or "just" one that deals with interesting ideas in new and interesting ways? Something to ponder in my copious free time. ;)

I just got a text message from a number I don't recognize, saying "did u call earlier?" Um...no? Is this a scam/spam? I'm too suspicious in nature to believe it's just an honest mistake. ;)

Comments

[mogwar.livejournal.com]

I'm not terribly crafty either, so I always bought kidlet's costumes. Until last year, when he made his own. It actually impressed his friends enough that he won the prize for best costume at the school Halloween party. We'll see if he inspired anyone else this year. (I'm encouraging him to go as a cowboy - mostly because we bought cowboy boots, a leather belt, and a sombrero when we were in Arizona/Mexico last summer).

I also got a suspicious text message this week. It told me to visit some website to view my pictures. I had no idea what it was talking about, so I ignored it. Turned out my mother had taken some pictures with her camera phone and tried to send them to me via SMS, but I guess my phone is old/cheap enough not to do that well, so I got redirected to an internet site by my cell provider.

[tiggrrl.livejournal.com]

The trick-or-treating thing is hard, because I want to take Emi out, but I want to hand out candy too! I guess we can just split up and each of us do one thing, but I like doing both!

[aelf.livejournal.com]

We leave a bowl of candy on our front porch. It's worked so far, but we don't have a heavily trafficed neighborhood.

hmmm

[lightningrose.livejournal.com]

maybe this is just the week for bad baby sleep. ELijah has woken up in the middle of the night for 2 1/2 & 2 hours the last two nights. And the reason last night was shorter was because I gave up and let him cry sooner, as it was obvious my rocking & soothing was just giving him more energy to cry. I feel like crap right now -- I am not in any way shape or form a cry it out mom, but I am feeling end of my rope-y. :(

oh --one question -- wasn';t it the novella, not the book, of Beggars in Spain that won the Hugo? Having read that first, the novella is much more sensably plotted....

[vanessa-musing.livejournal.com]

Sorry Ruthie is having a hard time with teething pain... Harrison is too. He still only has 8 teeth, but it seems as if 6 or 8 are trying to come through. To avoid giving him too much Tylenol or ibuprofen, we got some homeopathic chamomile "tablets" they help in between the Tylenol doses. Sometimes allowing us to go a day or more between. I hope she is feeling better soon and you can continue to get more rest (both of you!)