Sharpening My Saw

The family and I just returned yesterday from a week-long trip to Arizona.  My in-laws live in the desert about 100 miles outside of Phoenix (but because of geographic peculiarities, still in Maricopa County) and we were delighted to be able to visit them for Easter.
Guess what the most exciting part of our visit was, to me?
No, it wasn’t the caravan of private planes that we were a part of one morning to go to breakfast.
No, it wasn’t the tons of card games we played over the course of a week.
No, it wasn’t the bizarre Kirk Cameron movie we were subjected to watched one night.
No, it wasn’t getting to pet donkeys in Oatman.  Although, that was definitely the most bizarre part of the trip!
No, it wasn’t getting to sleep in (ha! Cate has us up every morning by 6:30, thank you time zone change) or getting to bed early (double ha! bedtime followed cards, and cards lasted until late most nights).
No, it wasn’t even necessarily the downtime where I got to sit and do absolutely nothing every once in awhile.
So what was it?
It was finally taking/making the time to read several books on writing that I purchased a longlonglong time ago and never got around to cracking open.  YAY!  I sharpened my saw and learned a LOT more about expanding my freelancing opportunities as well as better structuring myself to fit in more writing as a whole.
Three books in the course of a week really isn’t that much, considering how much I read normally, but fit in around all of our vacation and family activities, it makes me feel quite accomplished!
Now, the challenge is to apply what I’ve learned!  Wish me luck!

18 Months Already!

Spent tonight reading about toddler developmental milestones, while said toddler was in complete cling mode. 

Cate is drastically behind in one area - getting teeth, which is something we obviously cannot control.  The charts suggest she should be starting to get her molars in…but she still only has two teeth on the bottom and one on top.  At her fifteen month appointment, the doctor was hopeful that by eighteen months, she’d have several new teeth – but only the one on top has come through and no others are showing signs on coming in.

She also seems to be mildly behind in another area - the charts I've read suggest she should be saying 30-50 words and we've only counted 21 so far.  They are: dog, cat, Audrey (one of our cats), Naya (one of our dogs), done, down, yes, mama, dada, ball, hi, hey, bubble, car, go, two, three, eye, mouth, juice and baby.  She does, however, show a clear understanding for many more words besides that – probably several hundred, because we actually talk to her instead of using baby-speak.

But on every other milestone, she's at least 2 months ahead of schedule, including various motor and social skills like:

• throwing balls overhand,
• running,
• going up and down stairs on her own,
• pointing to pictures or facial features when the name is said,
• beginning potty training,
• proficiently using forks and spoons,
• and reliably following 2-part commands like "go get and bring back". 

All this just to get ready for her 18-month doctor's appointment tomorrow!

Sorry, Mama

Cate learned a lesson in apologies and forgiveness this evening. While playing on the floor, she toodled over to me, and in her enthusiasm, clocked me in the head with a toy. So hard, in fact, that I cried. After the litlle birdies stopped circling my head, I asked her to apologize for hurting me.
This sweet (and strong!) girl climbed into my lap, kissed my forehead right where it hurt, and then threw her arms around me in a giant hug.
Can't tell this mama that even young toddlers don't understand apologies and forgiveness!

Baby 2.0

Hi, everyone!
Just wanted to take a moment to share our good news: we will be welcoming a new baby into our family in late June/early July. We're very excited and think that having less then 2 years between our kiddos will work out quite nicely.
You'll be hearing more about Baby 2.0 on three of my blogs.
~At Breakfast at Tiffany's, I'll be talking about time management and goal management and how those are impacted by a growing family.
~At How to Have a Baby, I'll be dishing the details of this particular pregnancy and some of the health bumps along the way.
~At Zero to Mom, I'll be talking about potty training, preparing for a new baby, preparing a toddler to be a big sister, and sibling rivalry.
Over the next few weeks, you'll also see some major revamping done on our food blog (Worth a Damn Recipes) and some major updates to my book blog (Read and Release). Major remodeling on my freelance and fiction writing web site is almost finished, as well.
So stay tuned with me for the next few months...it'll be a fun ride!
Hugs!
(cross-posted to B@T, HTHAB, and 0TM.)

Baby 2.0

Hi, everyone!

Just wanted to take a moment to share our good news: we will be welcoming a new baby into our family in late June/early July. We're very excited and think that having less then 2 years between our kiddos will work out quite nicely.

You'll be hearing more about Baby 2.0 on three of my blogs.

~At Breakfast at Tiffany's, I'll be talking about time management and goal management and how those are impacted by a growing family.

~At How to Have a Baby, I'll be dishing the details of this particular pregnancy and some of the health bumps along the way.

~At Zero to Mom, I'll be talking about potty training, preparing for a new baby, preparing a toddler to be a big sister, and sibling rivalry.

Over the next few weeks, you'll also see some major revamping done on our food blog (Worth a Damn Recipes) and some major updates to my book blog (Read and Release). Major remodeling on my freelance and fiction writing web site is almost finished, as well.

So stay tuned with me for the next few months...it'll be a fun ride!

Hugs!

(cross-posted to B@T, HTHAB, and 0TM.)