I have a horrible head cold courtesy of Ms. M, so taking the day off because our nanny had a celebratory family thing was not only planned ahead of time, but ultimately necessary, as I feel a little less than worth the paper I am printed on.
I spent a great day with my daughter. Besides our typical morning ritual of milk, reading books, and breakfast (after which I typically hand her off to Kristen and head for work), we went to my favorite haunts, Best Buy (for the new/old Nirvana Live at Reading) and Barnes and Noble (for the next Boynton addition to our collection and some Winnie the Pooh numbers/colors books). Home in time for 10:30 milk and more book reading.
Miranda had what I would consider the proper response to watching Nirvana live on DVD. She danced to the music and found Kurt Cobain a little scary. Lunch of a Gerber Graduate was a land speed record of nine minutes and no mess. Damn cafeteria food. Lowest common denominator is quite effective. Turkey, rice, gravy, carrots and green beans. Works. We typically feed her much more interesting leftover things for lunch from dinner that Rebecca cooks, but I am a sick, and therefore lazy, sod.
Nap for an hour and 20 minutes (Miranda, not me) while I did some light house cleaning. Up for more milk, which was much less successful than earlier, despite my trying to drink diet coke from a straw cup (that I would not share and therefore lost points) and then whole milk from a new straw cup I did share, to arouse her interest (which worked for another ounce or so), and then a walk up and down our street in the stroller. Perfect day of mid seventies and sunny. As soon as she can ask for a dog, I am quite certain she will. She only threw her hat off a couple of times and drank about four ounces of cranberry juice. Did we mention she likes hummus? Her tastes are awesomely strange and varied.
The 4-6:00 p.m. hours are a little hazy because I started to hit the head cold wall. Miranda can play by herself for short periods (she likes to arrange things like blocks, rings, our mail, etc. in a row, an obsessive compulsive precursor that couldn't possibly come from her mother), she can come over and give you a bear hug, she can pull out all of her stuffed animals for sharing, she can guilt you into picking her up with little effort (maybe just me), she likes to dance to David Bowie, and Kristen seems to have conned her into picking up and putting her toys away around 5:15 p.m. as a regular ritual. Put three toys away and take one out. Seems reasonable. I'll take it.
She is your typical 16 month old, but occasionally you have perfect days. She was happy to see Mama at 5:45, drank her milk, ate a good dinner of lentil and kale stew, and sleeps soundly, although snuffly, as I write. Knock on my head for luck.
Nice day. If I didn't have to work, I wouldn't. I love the girl.
8 comments:
Ben, that is the sweetest thing I've ever read.
Thanks, Rachel.
While I kind of savor the irony of mispelling "obsessive," I have spell checked and corrected the post. It was late.
Cheers.
Misspelling. Jeez.
Ben, you are a wonderful father. Miranda is such a lucky girl. : )
Obsessive compulsive? I'll tell you what's OC--you, finding all the knives we had hidden (we thought) from you and lining them up across the living room flloor in descending order by length, from the front door to the hallway.! (You were about 18 months if I recall.) Hooky? I didn't even have to get sick; I just fetched you from day care or school and took you to Bogie and Hitchcock film festivals. You are much more responsible than i was. Dancing? You loved to dance to whatever music was on. And food? You liked yogurt, king crab legs, and roquefort dressing. Go figure. And, Rebecca, your food is much better than Gerber's!
Love,
Obviously your mother
Hi Rebecca,
I was thinking about dancing children. Given what a good dancer you are now, I bet you were one helluva dancing child. Getting to be a grandmother reminds me of all the great parts of Ben's growing up. I hope I'm not too obnoxious with the memories. Each one of you is your own unique self, and I rejoice in getting to be a witness as you and Ben do such wonderful things with and for Miranda. Thank you for including us!
Love,
Paula
Hey Ben, That sounds like a day worth repeating, only without the head cold. If you practice *cough, cough* a little, maybe you can play hooky without any risk of hitting the head cold wall, and have even more fun with your lovely daughter!
By the way... hurry up and get healthy because we're really truly actually finally coming to visit you and meet Miranda Fri Dec 4 and Sat Dec 5!
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