state of things

[mamajoan]

First of all: It is cold. Let's get that out of the way for starters. Currently it is 9 degrees Fahrenheit. This morning it was 7 when we left the house. The car door next to Ruthie's seat would not unlock, so I had to put her in through Isaac's door. Ruthie sobbed horribly the entire time from when we left the house until we got to daycare (including the whole time we were dropping Isaac off at preschool and taking the bus) because I was cruel enough to put her mittens on. She sobbed and screamed "Mins Off!" for like half an hour straight. By the end, her cheeks were probably more frozen from being covered in tears, than her hands would have been from being mitten-less. Ah well. I am the meanest mama ever. I can live with that.

Second of all: I am not doing the privilege meme. Let's get that out of the way too. It's not that I don't find it interesting, because I do, and am enjoying the discussions thereof. I just don't feel like doing the actual meme. Anyway, it wouldn't add much to the discussion. So whatever.

Last night I made an interesting (and very simple) dish from a new cookbook I got called High Flavor Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. A coworker commented that the title is full of oxymorons, but I think that's an overly pessimistic attitude. Given that I do need to watch my fat these days, I was just glad that such a cookbook even exists, even if many of the recipes seem to be too complicated for me to handle on the average workday evening. Anyway, last night's recipe was very easy. It was basically spaghetti, zucchini, and potatoes cooked together and seasoned lightly. It came out pretty well except that the spaghetti got a bit overcooked. I think I messed up when trying to adjust the cooking times based on the fact that I was using whole-wheat spaghetti. Ah well. It's still quite edible.

I made a list of the words that Ruthie can say. I'm not at all sure that I got everything, but so far there are 88 words on the list. I couldn't decide whether to make two separate entries for boots that go on feet and Boots the monkey, or mouse the animal and mouse the computer peripheral. Ruthie certainly knows the difference in both cases, but they are still the same word, so I'm not sure. In general, something counts as a word if a) she uses the same sound for the same object or concept consistently and b) she uses that sound in the correct context without prompting. So for example, if she only ever says a word after I say it, it doesn't count. But if she always says "buh" for "bib" then it counts, even though it doesn't sound a lot like the actual word.

Ruthie is so much fun lately. She is just bursting with personality. I wish I had any way of capturing it. (I've been taking some video, but you know, it's just not the same.) I'm constantly flabbergasted by this amazing little person running around in my life. It really defies explanation.

Comments

[radegund-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, the tragedy! MITTENS! How cruel!
;)

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried asking Ruthie what she would like to cover her hands with besides mittens? She's a smart kid. If you told her that she has to wear something over her hands when outside to keep the cold from hurting, I bet she would understand. And perhaps if she gets a choice in the matter, it will be easier to accept. Oh, and there's always the game of using mittens at home as sock puppets so that putting on mittens to go outdoors is like getting to play a game of puppet show....

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

No, no, that doesn't work. She's a toddler! She just wants her hands to be warm, without anything actually on them!

When winter first started, she was excited about the novelty of mittens, and would let me put them on, but then she'd want them off within moments. Foolishly, I didn't push it because it wasn't that cold. Then a few times recently when it has been in the 20s, she pulled her mittens off or refused to let me put them on, and then cried because her hands were cold. So this morning I put them on and put her coat on over them so that the elastic on the wrists of her coat held the mittens on. She was super-pissed. But basically she does not want anything on her hands.

She has been fighting putting her socks on lately too, and she loves socks. So I really think it's just orneriness and not liking the confined sensation on her hands/feet. And she isn't really quite capable yet of grasping the cause-and-effect phenomenon of "if you refuse to put on your mittens, then your hands will be cold." Although goodness knows I have explained this to her a million times. ;)