Una Loves

The start of both the fall and spring semesters are always crazed. Working only three days a week is wonderful for many, many reasons with, perhaps, the most obvious being that I am able to be myself as me and not as an extension of Una. But I do feel extremely overextended at work as I try to complete five days of work into three. At present, I am in the thick of it at work and am already looking forward to the end of March as this is when I will be able to breath a little more easily. Literally. I will finally have the time to do yoga during my lunch hour rather than stuff my pie-hole while multi-tasking an array of things all of which are completed in a rushed, so-so fashion. I share this only to subtly explain why I haven't found the time to write about what I love best: Una.

As I think about Una, what comes to mind most often these days is her loving energy  radiating on everyone and everything she encounters. She's not a shy child and unknowingly casts spells by romancing those around her. I often find myself falling into her as our eyes lock, but this is what a mother is supposed to do: to be the mirror and to reflect ourselves into the eyes of our children. But it's glorious to watch this 16-month little girl with a fierce sense of independence brighten up every corner with her, "Hi Baby!" that she lovingly squeals to anyone and anything that will take note. Without further adieu, I have made a rather long list of all the things that Una loves. I have also tried to include a lot of new photos, but was having some difficulty with the sizing and arrangement.

People                                   
Lola
Mama (Grandma)
Papa (Grandpa Phil)
Psc, Psc-momma (Pascale)
Mamon (Ammon)
Finn
CuLu (Lucas)
Baby (Hugh and Ila)
Isha (Ishaan)
Kulk-eh (Ulka)
Everyone at the Parkslope Food COOP
Everyone on the Subway

Animals
Ducks (we suspect that Una was a duck in a past life)
Birds
LuLu (All Cats)
Tilda (Matilda)
Ha-ha (For Toby she pants like a dog)
Turtles
Mo-Mos (bunnies)

 

 

Things and Activities
Her baby doll (lovingly made my Sonia)
Zsu-Zsu (nursey)
Trees
Trains
Planes
Pillows
Playing on the bed
Books
Blocks
GoGo (stroller)
Coloring 
Horsey Go-Go
Playing Dress-Up (especially hats and scarves)
Mischief 
Wooden Fruits
Wooden Vegetables
iPhones
Listening to Music
Swinging at the playground
Sitting in big chairs
Nursing
Dancing
Singing

















Foods
Prunes
Blueberries
Banana
Pear
Mango
Apple
Turkey
Chicken
Yogurt
Curry Tofu
Adobe
Pancit
Peter Luger's Steak
Cheddar Mo-Mo Crackers (bunny crackers)
Cheese

The Toddling Toddler

It seems as if Una has jumped off the proverbial high-dive as she toddles, tiptoes, squats and runs all while moving forward, sideways and backwards. It's impossible to keep up with her and protect her every step of the way.  It's both exhilarating and terrifying. Una has figured out  how to pull herself up onto furniture. She can successfully use gravity while wiggling and heaving herself to and fro until she slides herself into an upright position. Mostly she likes to sit on the couch or chair so that she can quietly read books to herself. But yesterday, I walked into the living room and discovered her running full speed down the couch squealing with delight heading for a major head injury. Luckily I ran faster than her and pounced on that baby before a 911 call. As I often murmur to myself, "That baby!"

Una still has trouble sleeping at night. I have decided to give up on all sleep training. She's just not a good sleeper and that is her personality. She is a million times better as a 15 month old when compared to being 12 months old, so I do see progress. She is also a little peanut and likely needs the extra nourishment at night. So, we're hoping to see more improvement over the next few months, but I'm not going to try to train her into something that is clearly an impossibility. Instead, I will luxuriate with the time that I still have with her during our nighttime feedings.  My little baby girl can talk, sing, run, stand on her tiptoes, and impose her will like a force of nature. Before long I know that I will wish for the days when I would gently rock and nurse her to sleep while singing lullabies during the hush of night. It is during the wee small hours when I feel as though I am part of the great wholeness. I'm both awake and alive, but asleep and near death.  During these silent moments, we exist as a perfect circle.  Our ghosts still speak.

As a way to celebrate Una's toddling development, we have given her her own library, chairs, and table. She's a little girl who's on the go. I cannot stop time. I cannot steal it back. I cannot protect her every move. So I hold my breath and prepare for the change that I feel so utterly ill-prepared for: a toddler.

Hibernating

I haven't posted on my blog since before the holiday season. I have a few excuses:
1. I slammed my finger in one of the heavy doors leading into our apartment building. Typing was painful for a couple of weeks. It's healing nicely these days.
2. I had the pleasure of hosting my dear friend, Lorie, over the long weekend once my finger started to feel better.
3. It's January and I've been hibernating, except that there has been an excess of food -- specifically homemade cookies, homemade bread, artisan chocolates, and mojitos because I like to pretend that we're still in Saint Martin.

In any case, happy 2010. May this year's quota of suffering be over.  May wars end (if anyone wants to read the full-text, I'll see what I can do). May there be peace.

To celebrate the promise of a new year,  I'm including the latest results of Una's healthy doctor's report along with the list of our ever growing nicknames for the little bug.

Una at 15 Months
Weight: 19 pounds
Length: 31 inches
Head: 46.5 cm

Nicknames
Baby Beans
Baby Bug
Baby Rice
Beans
Beans & Rice
Bug
Buggles
Buggle T Buggletons
Buggletons
Buggy
Buggy Bugs
Bugs
Bugsy LaRue
Bunches
Bunches of Honey Love
Buttons
Buttons of Love
Cucu-Nucu
Cute-na
Kerplunkett
Lady Love
Love Lump
Monkey
Monkey Moona
Monkey Munks
Monkey Rice
Monster
Moona
Muffin
Munkins Punkins
Munks
Munks & Beans
Nugget
Peanut
Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Plunkett
Plunky
Plunky Brewster
Pumpkin
Pumpkin Peanut
Sweetna
Sugar Lump
Tonkatsu
Una Bug
Una Petunia Buhnoonah
Unachka
Unagi
Unabelle

 

Things That Give Me Joy

 

I've never felt the spirit of Christmas as strong as I have this year, except for maybe when I believed in Santa Claus. But it's different, still.  It's not the gift giving and receiving part of Christmas that I am exciting for as I was when a little girl, but rather the deep connection and longing for family and friends, light and dark,  life and loss that hovers with winter's gloaming. So, in the spirit of those that I love dearly and the reason that I am excited to listen to Christmas music non-stop, bake cookies and pies until my pants feel a little snug, and acknowledge that angels are real while hugging my darling Una, here is mini photo collage devoted to my dearest and closest that I have been lucky enough to have in my life and capture on my iphone recently:

A "p.s." To My Last Post & Tis the Season to be Teething

So, now that we're living in the past, present and future phone wise with our landline, iphone, and Google Voice respectively, I thought that it would be fruitful to share our emergency contact form that we hang on the fridge and store in Una's diaper bag. This was a form that we created based on the advise of the pediatrician that taught our child CPR class at Still Hip. It's supposed to be a reference tool for any sort of emergency situation that we might encounter in the home or outside the home. The form in the diaper bag is supposed to be laminated, but we have simply folded it up and placed it inside a ziplock bag stored within the zipper purse attached to the bag.

Anyway, here are the nuts-n-bolts of our emergency contact form:

1. Una's Full Name
2. Address with all cross streets listed so share with 911 
3. DOB
4. SSN
5 Allergies
6. Known Medical Conditions
7. List Any Medications
8. Contact Information
8.1 Dad (c)(w)
8.2 Mom (c)(w)
8.3 Nanny (c)
8.4 Grandmother (c)(h)
9. Medical Information
9.1 Pediatrician's Information: Phone Number, Address, Insurance
9.2 Nearest Hospital: Phone Number, Address
10. Emergency Numbers
10.1 911
10.2 Poison Control Center
10.3 Gas/Electrical/Plumber: We have listed our landlord's information since he is responsible for these issues

At present we've never needed to use our emergency contact form, but it eases my mind a little bit knowing that it exists.

As the holiday season is in full swing, things are a bit nuttier than usual. To ease into the season, I'm trying to drink less coffee and more tea. Both Una and I finally received our dose of the H1N1 vaccine which should negate a bedridden Christmas and New Years. H1N1 was unavailable for babies 2 years and under in the city until quite recently, so I was excited when her pediatrician was providing doses. I was a bit on the fence to take the vaccine for myself, but then I performed a mini cost-benefit-analysis formula in my head and decided that I'd rather not deal with being sick while taking care of my toddling baby girl not to mention that I wouldn't have to wait in a long line in a weekend public clinic. One issue that we're dealing with that cannot be avoided is that Una is teething in the most extreme way. She has THREE molars cutting all at the same. exact. time. She also has her fourth front bottom tooth cutting too, and I see big white bulges where her bottom incisors will likely cut in the next week or less. Needless to say, Una has been extremely fragile this past week day and night. She's still sleeping much better than she before our trip to St. Martin, but she has been waking up every night this week shrieking (not crying) and shaking in a way that I've never seen before. So, as I try to drink less coffee and drink more tea, I am grateful that I still have a light tan because otherwise I would need to wear makeup to cover my big bags and dark circles (which would also mean that I would need to buy makeup since I haven't really worn any makeup since before Una's birth).

Strike That Reverse It

I have been living without a landline phone since July 2002, that is until yesterday. Michael and I decided that we should have an old-fashioned telephone in our home as a safety mechanism for emergency calls in case our nanny doesn't have a cellphone, forgets her cellphone, or in case our cellphones are not working. I was thoroughly excited for our new hook-up since it also meant that I could call my friends living abroad. However, just  I was enjoying the warm company of our friend Gene while eating some of Michael's delicious boeuf bourguignon with the cable man working on our upgrade, I learned about whole new world of telephone calls: Google Voice. Google Voice (GV), formerly GrandCentral, is a free (of course) Internet VoIP service that started in March '09. It is still invitation only, but our kind friend Gene sent me an invite. In sum: it's fantastic! It looks and feels just like gmail, but for making phone calls. Also, I was able to pick out my own GV phone number which closely resembles my mobile number that I've had for years. The great thing about GV is that calls to Canada are free (!) and calls to France are only .02 a minute. And I have activated my cell phone and new landline into my GV account which means that I can use either device for making calls. I'll probably only use my mobile phone since I'm completely unused to having a regular phone around. Anyway, once I have accumulated some invitations I'll send 'em out per request (US only, at this point).

Swine Flu in the City

I absolutely love this "information visualization" depicting the safety of the H1N1 vaccine. As a mother of a 13 month old baby girl, I would love to get my paws on the vaccine for Una. Despite city and federal efforts, it is still impossible to find the vaccine in NYC. More on that later...