Rollin', rollin', rollin'...my little girl is rollin'.

Let the babyproofing begin! Ack! I can't believe it's time for this already. That newest realization slapped me in the face yesterday when Sprout rolled across the living room rug and got stuck underneath one of my armchairs. As funny as it was to watch her little legs kick in frustration, I've got to do something about keeping her contained and safe now that she is moving around.

I'm pretty sure she's got a little Zoolander in her, as she seems to prefer rolling to the left. That, and her hilarious poses for the camera...sigh. She's getting so big, so quickly.

Yesterday also marked another new development in Sprout's (and my) life - finger foods! I started her on solids at about 4.5 months, and she has rapidly progressed through almost every fruit, vegetable, and meat, and we've been introducing spices for the past couple of weeks (she looooves her morning cereal even more now that it contains cinnamon). I've given her a few things here and there to munch on with her hands - teething biscuits mostly, and pieces of fruit in those little mesh bags - and she really likes being able to feed herself. So I thought, why not try it with some of her dinner food, now that it has more substance and texture? Ahhh. Good idea? Well...it was sure funny!

I plopped a scoop of mashed potatoes onto her high chair tray and waited. And watched. And waited. It only took her a couple of seconds before she grabbed the whole pile with both hands and squished it between her fingers. Seeming very satisfied with herself, she proceeded to continue mashing the starchy mess all over her hands and the tray. Inadvertently, one of her hands ended up in her mouth, and her reaction just about made me drop to the floor in laughter. Her little eyes bugged out of her head, and she turned to look at me with a huge grin on her face, as if to say "HEY! If I grab that stuff and then put my hands in my mouth, I can EAT IT!?" I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life! Once she came to the conclusion that she could actually feed herself, it was a flurry of fistfuls of potatoes, flying from the tray to her mouth quicker than she could effectively grab at the food.

The cleanup? Horrible. There were potatoes everywhere. In her hair, hands, nose, eyes, ears, and all over her sleeper, and then there was the high chair. I cleaned it out last night and again this morning, and I swear when I took her out of it after her breakfast, I saw a chunk of potato fall onto the floor. Whatever it was, it wasn't there for long - thank goodness for dogs!

Was the experience worth the result? Absolutely! I am continually amazed with Sprout's development and her fine motor skills, and can't wait to try some more finger foods as she gets a little bit bigger and hopefully gains a tooth or two. I was one proud mama last night, as I tucked Sprout in and she snuggled her lamb, rolled away from me, and shut her eyes. And then I cried. If you are reading this and you have a little one under six months old, hold onto those first months - they fly by way too quickly, and as fun as each new stage is, I always find myself wondering how we got there so fast!

Well, another day of dragging my Sprout around town lies ahead post-naptime. Get your rest, baby, it's going to be a big day!

xoxoxo

Mommy

A collection of letters...

Over the past 6 months - yes, my little Sprout is SIX MONTHS OLD...TODAY!!!! - I have written a couple of letters to her via Facebook that have elicited a few laughs from friends and family. To commemorate her half-birthday, I am posting those letters on my blog, as well as a new one at the close. Enjoy!

1. Dear Sprout,

Thank you. Sleeping 9.5 hours through the night after a sleep-deprived weekend makes for a very happy Mommy & Daddy...and happy baby, I suppose!

xoxoxo

Mommy

2. Dear Sprout,

Why oh why are you awake at 2:00 a.m.? Did I wake you up from your nap too early, or too late? I think you've been talking with those other babies at mom's group. Just because some of them are still up at this hour doesn't mean you have to give in to peer pressure and do it too! Might be trendy, but Mommy's not too happy about it!

xoxoxo

Mommy

3. Dear Sprout,

Thank you for napping for 2 whole hours this morning, and for being so adorable. You make every day so much fun - especially PJ days where we get to laze around in bed all morning! Love you.

xoxoxo

Mommy

4. Dear Sprout,

If you wouldn't mind, could you please try to sleep through the night tonight? Mommy has to work tomorrow night, and will not have time for a nap tomorrow. Also, going to work and meeting new clients whilst NOT appearing to have been dragged backwards through a bush would be a plus.

xoxoxo

Mommy

P.S. Save the spit-up for Daddy when he gets home tomorrow night, okay?

5. Dear Sprout,

Apparently you didn't get the memo about sleeping through the night. Maybe I'll have to paste it onto that giraffe you seem to spend so much time with these days. Either way, make sure you save your crabbiness for Daddy. He'll be on his own from 6:00-10:00 tonight! But don't let on that I told you to, okay? Our little secret!

xoxoxo

Mommy

6. Dear Sprout,

Would you mind saving some crabbiness for your darling father, who thinks it's a real treat to let Mommy be the one to get 3 hours of sleep when she has to work until eleven tonight? Thanks.

xoxoxo

Mommy

7. Dear monstrous brown furry spiders,

My house is NOT your house, despite the nooks and crannies you can squeeze in and out of. Stay OUT.

Thank you,

C.

P.S. Please don't bite my baby. If you're going to bite anything, choose the dog. She'll bite you back.

Now obviously that last letter was not written for or to my little Sprout, but the content still concerned her. I may, from time to time, just post letters on my blog about random happenstances in my everyday life. They might be funny, they might be serious, or a bit of both. I'm concluding my blog today with a more serious letter to my darling Sprout on the occasion of her half-birthday.

Dear Sprout,

Every morning that I wake up to hear your sweet, scratchy morning voice babbling away to the soother in your hand, you make my heart sing. I cannot believe that you are mine, that you have come so far and grown so much in the past year. From the time you were the teeniest, tiniest Sprout, I loved you with my heart and soul. I hope that you will never doubt my love for you, though I'm sure there will be times that you don't understand that my actions are always driven by love (particularly during your teenage years).

You are growing so rapidly that it takes my breath away to look back at clothing and diapers that we wore on you those first exciting weeks at home. The photos we took of you in the hospital seem like a distant memory. When I look at you now, I see a beautiful, bright little girl that is happier than I can ever imagine being. Everyone should get to witness someone and something so wonderful. Your Daddy and I are absolutely blessed to have you in our lives, and I thank God every day for the opportunity to be your Mommy.

Congratulations on hitting this wondrous six-month milestone, and the many accomplishments you have made thus far. You can already roll over both ways, sit on your own for long periods of time and play, eat at least twenty different foods, almost army-crawl, imitate Mommy and Daddy when they stick their tongues out and blow raspberries at you, and your most recent feat (my favourite so far) - using the back of your hand clapped over your mouth again and again while yelling to make the "wah-wah-wah-wah" sound, imitating Mommy and Daddy's silly tricks they perform for you.

You are brilliant, my Sprout. A bright shining star bringing love, laughter, hope, and faith to all those around you. I cannot wait to see what the next six months will bring, and watch you as you learn and grow through the summer months. There is a world of discovery out there for you - butterflies, trees, flowers, clouds, bumblebees (don't touch!), grass, frogs, and many other wonderful things. I will teach you about what I know, but I will allow you to discover and learn on your own as you begin to move around this crazy world and see it from your perspective.

I love you more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for being on this journey with me, and choosing me as your Mommy. I am so grateful that I get to share my days with such a beautiful, happy little girl. Always and forever, you will be my little Sprout. Happy half-birthday, my darling.

xoxoxo

Mommy

Pfft. Over-achiever. And yes, I'm scoffing at myself.

There is so much pressure nowadays to be a "supermom". I have definitely felt it, and I think that the societal views of motherhood have definitely shifted over the past 5-10 years. We are expected to suck it up during pregnancy, have "beautiful" photos taken of our gigantic, swollen bodies, look gorgeous after having given birth, suck it up again when times get tough after we've gone home with our babies, make time for our husbands, pretend that we're taking enough time for ourselves, look more than put-together, take classes, work, do the housework, and somehow retain a shred of our sanity. Granted, I will say that the way in which post-partum depression (PPD) is dealt with not only from a medical standpoint, but also from a societal view, is much more progressive and open than it used to be. Thank goodness for that, because I think we all go a little crazy from the pressure that we're put under.

I have always been an over-achiever. When I was little, I was very competitive. I was continually striving to have the best marks, the most friends, the cutest clothes, best toys. Thankfully, I had a very smart older sister who I always struggled to keep up with, which kept me going. In the educational aspect, being an over-achiever was a good thing. It opened many doors for me when I hit the post-secondary years, and helped me from getting too bored with my classes. With Sprout, so far, I have held my own expectations and over-achieving attitude back. I don't want to give my daughter a complex as she grows up, or ever make her feel like she's inadequate or lagging behind. I have channeled it all into my expectations for myself as a mother...which brings me to our word of the day...

CRAFTING

I'm not the most visually artistic person. I'm really good with food presentation and photography, but I can't draw more than a stick person (my stick people are cute though, I have to admit). I didn't take Home Ec. in school, and had never set my hands or feet on a sewing machine until I got one two years ago for my birthday. Even then, the only project I made was a quilt for a friend's little girl. At the time, I couldn't sew in a straight line, so it was a very crooked (but cute) little pink blanket. When Sprout was born, my mother-in-law gave me a couple of handmade hooded baby towels, which quickly became our favourite post-bath baby cuddlers because of their large, fluffy nature. The towels you can buy in the store are too damn small! We only used them for the first 6 weeks until Sprout out-sprouted them, and then we switched to the big ones. They are constructed with a regular, adult-sized bath sheet and a facecloth, and then adorned with whatever (if any) embellishments you desire on the hood or otherwise. She showed me how to make them, and after a couple frustrating attempts, I began to spit them out in under a half-hour per towel. They are an awesome, super-inexpensive baby gift, and can be totally personalized! After that, I decided that I needed some more crafty crafts to do. The next project? Soother clips.

I can't believe what they charge for those pieces of shit in the fancy baby boutiques! All they are is a piece of ribbon (less than .10 for the size), a couple of snaps (the crappy ones have velcro), and a suspender clip. For 10 or 15 freaking dollars. So I bought a couple things and made a prototype. Less than 5 minutes this time, and voila! Well...after a few very botched attempts. I don't know if it will turn into anything, but I really enjoyed making them. The over-achiever/perfectionist in me just wants to keep going and make them cuter, and more perfect.

I never thought I'd be a mom at 24 who spends her free time sewing and making crafts, or baking and cooking...but...sigh. I like it. I just have to remind myself that I am NOT a supermom, nor do I have to be. If I don't feel like going for a walk every day, so be it. If I absolutely hate going to the gym, I'm not going to do it. I'll keep doing the things that I do to keep myself probably too busy, and take the time to relax when I need to. You have to find the things in life that keep you going, and distract you from the unrelenting chaos and pressure that come along with motherhood. Be careful though...sometimes you don't need a new hobby.

Going to plot how I'll make my millions off of baby stuff, Sprout.

xoxoxo

Mommy

To whom should I credit these dulcet tones?

Ahhhhhh music. There are few things as exciting to me as discovering new little musical gems that I can add to my ever-expanding library of tuneage. I know, I know, this is supposed to be my "mommy" blog. I have a reason for discussing my latest finds though. When I was growing up, pop culture and music shaped my personality and affected me more than even I like to admit. I can't help but feel nostalgic whenever I hear anything by the Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, MJ, Roxette, Supertramp...I could go on forever. Because I had very young parents, I grew up listening to whatever was new and popular, from all different genres. Some of my earliest memories involve music. The first house I lived in had hideous reddish-orange carpet in the front living room, but I remember boogie-ing my little buns off to my Smurfin' USA cassette (Smurf covers of Beach Boys tunes) and the NKOTB Christmas tape that I coveted. I used to love when my mom washed my hair in the kitchen sink while I lay on the counter because she always put on something good. For some reason, I always remember her singing along to "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor (still one of my favourite all-time music videos). Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Bananarama...those I have to give my Uncle M credit for. Lots of memories of being in my Grandma's basement while he pretended to be "The King" and used a blanket for a cape that he swept dramatically over my sister and I while we squealed in delight.

I'm hoping that the music I listen to will help create some lasting memories for Sprout. Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam" came along in the 1990's with a dance that all us girls knew and tried to teach to one of our Aunties out at her cabin in the summertime. I'll never forget the look on her face when she attempted the "lean back and touch the floor with one hand behind you" move and got stuck. Poor woman. We all laughed, but we did help her up. One of the first albums that I remember really wanting was "Diva" by Annie Lennox. My mom ended up buying me the cassette for Valentine's Day, and I played it until it literally wore out. I still have "Walking on Broken Glass" in rotation on my iPod.

I grew up in an interesting time, musically. From the late 80's, the departure from pop and power ballads to Seattle grunge, ska, and techno through the 90's was fairly drastic. Rap and hip hop were in, as were boy/girl bands like N'Sync, BSB, and Spice Girls. Junior high school hit, and I started expanding my tastes to bands like Green Day, Weezer, and Wide Mouth Mason, but don't think I strayed too far - Aqua definitely made the cut. Since then, and through high school and university, I have always enjoyed searching for bands and artists that are maybe a little less well-known, only because they seem to have a more raw sound (and usually more talent) than the mass-produced, auto-tuned shit that oozes out of the speakers on stations like The Bounce (ew). There are always a few of those songs I'm determined not to like that I end up downloading anyways ("Love Story" by Taylor Swift or "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus anyone?), but for the most part, I like finding artists and songs that are a little bit different. So here's what I'm listening to now, that may be shaping Sprout's future memories as a tot.

1. Santeria by Aimee Allen

- A cover of a wicked Sublime song, done by a cute little lady that could be the love child of Jack Johnson and Gwen Stefani

2. Your Hands (Together) by The New Pornographers

- Super catchy tune off an awesome new album. Go Canada.

3. Silvia by Miike Snow

- Weird, almost dance-ish song that I always go back to on my iPod, even though the rest of the album is crap.

4. Lisztomania by Phoenix

- Getting pretty popular these days. Their song "1901" is verrrrry recognizable after being the soundtrack to a car commercial that gets played far too often.

5. Never Far Away (Rock Remix) by Chris Cornell

- I was a big Soundgarden fan, and love his voice, but HATED the album he did with Timbaland. The only good thing to come out of that? A re-recording of this song, the way it should have always been in the first place.

6. Antivenom by USS

- Sigh. I kept telling myself I didn't actually like this song because it is so damn repetitive, but it's so catchy I can't help myself.

7. Mes Oreilles by Amylie

- Je t'aime, Amylie.

8. Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson

- I dare anyone to listen to her and not develop a huge crush. One of the only artists to have more than four albums grace my library (the other being Sarah Slean, who will always be first in my heart).

9. Playing With My Heart (Acoustic) by Kate Voegele

- The acoustic version of this song is leaps and bounds more entertaining than the originally recorded song. Sounds like something bitter I could have written in my university days.

10. Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons

- I love these guys. Four men harmonizing with each other with not even a drum kit in sight. A cross between Social Distortion and Glen Hansard.

11. The Cricket's Quartet EP by Meaghan Smith

- Lovely, lovely girl from Eastern Canada. I mention the whole EP because it is all wonderful.

12. The Mission (M is for Milla Mix) by Puscifer

- The buildup in this song is amazing, much like that in #10. Plus, who doesn't love the fact that Milla Jovovich sings?

13. I Want You by Rachael Yamagata

- I bought this album in Chapters one day because the cover looked pretty. It ended up being in my permanent rotation. The entire album. She's fabulous.

14. Glory Fades by Sig Transit Gloria

- The chorus in this song isn't great, but the verses always have me singing along.

15. The Running Free by Coheed & Cambria

- I wish the lead singer for this band was better looking. I have a weak spot for men who can sing in falsetto with the perfect amount of vibrato (see also: Perry Farrell).

16. Juliet by Royal Wood

- He is marrying Sarah Slean. They will undoubtedly have slim, beautiful, crooning children. I can't wait! Plus, anyone who covers the Oompa Loompa song at a live show and makes it sound album-worthy deserves a spot on my list.

17. Marching Bands of Manhattan by Death Cab For Cutie

- Another man I wish was better looking...that voice.

18. Outside Villanova by Eric Hutchinson

- Check out his video on YouTube of his Justin Timberlake mash-up. Hilarious.

19. Dice by Finley Quaye feat. Beth Orton

- Anyone who watched The O.C. faithfully (and still watches the re-runs like I do...) will remember the New Years Eve episode with Ryan and Marissa at Oliver's apartment. Best slow-mo moment of the season.

20. Soul to Squeeze by Off The Beat (University of Pennsylvania)

- I have a super soft spot for acapella groups, especially ones like this who can cover a Chili Peppers song so well. Listen for the genius intermingling of other RHCP songs towards the end. If you can find it.

Okay, okay, I'm done now. Just wanted to share a few that are new, and some that are always on my playlist. Music sets the tone for our lives. I once wrote an entire paper in a psych perception and cognition class on whether or not films and television would affect their audiences the same way if they were presented with no soundtrack - only dialogue. No background music. My theory was that romance movies wouldn't be as romantic, and scary movies wouldn't really be all that scary or suspenseful. Action films wouldn't get you hyped up in quite the same way. Just a theory, but I still wholeheartedly believe it (and the paper got an A+ so I must have proved a pretty good point). I hope that the music I listen to has a positive effect on Sprout's life, and that she will create her own memories from the melodies that she is exposed to.

Hahaha, another long blog. I could write about music all night, but I won't. Sprout slept from 6:30pm to 5:30am yesterday, and she went to bed at 8:15pm tonight, so I'm hoping for a little more sleep. Maybe I'll dream up a new tune to write for my beauty.

You are the song in my heart, Sprout.

xoxoxo

Mommy