Grateful for...C

C = Claire

This sweetie pie wakes up at 6:30, every Friday, to keep an eye on The Lime until my sister gets home from exercising.  She even gets up on days when she doesn't have school, which in my book, has gotta score some extra brownie points.

The Lime freaks out when I leave and she tries her hardest to keep him occupied and distracted so I can slip out the door.  She's going to be a great mom someday.

Claire is caring, funny, smart, forgiving, helpful, talented, gentle, feisty.  The list could go on and on.

She's our YaYa and we love her.

Grateful for...B

B = Brake lights

Not my picture.  Thanks, Google.

I was sitting in morning traffic today and got over from the #4 lane to the #1 lane, to avoid the upcoming interchange fiasco.

The car in front of me was some older work truck that made frequent stops.  The only problem...their brake lights didn't work.

There's nothing worse than driving behind a car that doesn't indicate to you that they're stopping until you're on their tail, looking in their rear view mirror.

It's a good thing the cars around us had working brake lights or we would have been in some deep doodoo. 

Grateful for...A

A = Alone time

The Lime had another rough night last night (previous rough night was 2 weeks ago).  He went to bed about an hour later than scheduled and had a late night the night before.  2 late nights must equal 1 bad night.

We put him to bed around 9 and he howled for about 15 minutes before LaVor went in to get him.  I was finishing up the dishes and heard, "He wants you!"

I went into The Lime's room and he was doing that "I'm gasping for air because I was crying so hard" thing.  He was clearly tired but didn't want to go to bed.

We sat in the rocking chair, like we did 21 months ago, and we rocked for a half hour.

He was dazed enough that I could put him into his bed but he popped up, looking for me.  I laid on the floor next to him, and we held hands through his crib until he fell asleep.

I remember being little (as in like 8 years old) and my mom rocking me in our rocking chair.  She'd always comment on how my whole body once fit within the two armrests.  I had the same thought about The Lime last night.  His lanky legs dangled across the arm of the chair while his head rested on the other arm.

How I miss the alone time we used to have, where we could snuggle and rock, into the wee hours.

I'm Electric

I like Fall and Winter but my body doesn't.

It happens overnight; the static in the hair and cracked, dry skin.

During these seasons, I wish I had longer hair so I could pull it back easily and keep it from flying all over the place.  Clips can only do so much for this bob and hats aren't appropriate for work.

It also seems that I've passed this trait onto The Lime.  It's as if he has a balloon hanging over his head, 24/7.

Lucky him.

Don't Say Nothin' At All

I've said my share of mean things but there's one instance that stands out in my mind.

I was at a Youth Conference in Pacifica and everyone was enjoying dinner in the cultural hall.  Our table was a mixture of kids from all over the Bay Area, which included an extremely obnoxious girl.  From our table, she was yelling across the room at a boy, to get her a cup of punch.  I casually got up from my seat, got her a drink, brought it back to her, and sat back down.  She was shocked and said, "Thank you so much for getting that for me!"  My response was, "I was sick of hearing you yelling at that kid.  I got it so you'd be quiet."  Everyone at our table erupted into laughter and she turned beet red with embarrassment.

I made a comment to a friend recently that, "If you tell a joke and end up being the only one laughing, then it wasn't funny."  I've found myself in that situation one time too many.

And even though I got the whole table laughing at the conference, it was way out of line and completely rude.

I wish I had taken the opportunity to apologize to the girl when I had the chance.

I find myself, one year later, especially today, thankful for nice words.

And repentance.

Happy & Sad

I think I've mentioned the friendship before, between The Lime and one of the young men in our ward.  It started when LaVor was called to YM and had to take The Lime each week, while I conducted music in Primary.  One boy in particular, has captured The Lime's heart and they're now best buds, despite being 16 years apart.

The young man is a football player and we've attended a couple of his games.  The Lime knows who we're going to see and gets excited, but would prefer to walk up and down the bleachers and run like a madman around the basketball courts. 

This last week, we decided to stay until the end so we could say, "Hi!" to our friend.  After the game, the team gathered on one end of the field and kids were running loose on the other.  Our kid was one of them.  You'd think The Lime was in hog heaven, running free on the field. 

After the team finished their talk, the young man was walking toward us and The Lime took off, straight for the boy's arms.  I'm such a weenie but it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about how much these 2 love each other.  The crazy amount of sweat didn't stop The Lime from giving the boy a hug, hi-5 and knuckles.  When we got home, we thought The Lime's diaper leaked but it was still the sweat.  Nice.

I know a lady that says, "It makes me heart happy" when she sees the sun come out after an overcast morning. 

I much prefer a happy heart than a sad heart. 

But my heart gets sad, especially when The Lime is sad or disappointed.

He still doesn't quite understand everything (obviously...he's 21 months, Kimberly) and so when he's anxiously awaiting something and it doesn't happen, he doesn't quite understand why.  And then he gets sad, which makes me sad. 

He gets over it quick but I tend to dwell and make myself more sad and write blog posts about it. 

Maybe I should take his lead and pretend a miniature baseball bat is a Momo.  Then my heart would be happy.

Tally Mark 21

 
-Says "No!" for everything; "Do you want a cookie?"  "Do you love Daddy?"  "Are you tired?" 
-Everything is also, "Mine!"  No, I'm sorry, but that tampon is not yours.
-Didn't cry when he got his flu shot on Sunday.
-Also didn't cry when the Doctor dug out the mysterious "thing" stuck in his foot, which was causing him to walk funny.
-Is pretty much eating whatever we eat and boy is it lovely!
-Likes to watch "Curious George".
-Does this HORRIBLE blood curdling scream when he doesn't get his way.
-Has found a new best friend in any Mailman he sees.
-Is GREAT about saying, "Thank you Mama/Dada" but we're still working on "please".
-Likes reading now more than he ever has.  I'm hoping it'll help him to learn/say more words.
-Always tells me he's stuck, even when he's not.
-Puts things in the sink or garbage when he's done with them.
-Hits me constantly but I'll consider them love taps.