Survivor: 2009-2010 School Year, WES

So I've got 2 days under my belt and all the Forondas have survived. In fact, better than survived...I walked into the house yesterday afternoon and NPR was blaring the music from Apocalypse Now and Beatrice was smiling away as she practiced her walking. She came right over to me, chatting, and greeted with me a big hug, then wanted to get right back down and busy again. We decided the moment was so ridiculously dramatic that we should catch it on video, so here goes....

Is It Me?

Or has my baby grown this summer? Here's are photos from June and from within the week. I keep looking at her and unexpectedly seeing a toddler. She just carries herself stronger, is so expressive, and acts like, well, not-a-baby anymore. I can't even imagine what she'll be like next summer as a 2+ year-old. My season as a stay-at-home mom is ending as I return to work tomorrow. I have been so blessed to share each day with Beatrice, and I already look forward to our time together each morning before school and from 4:00 through bedtime each day, as well as of course weekends and vacation time. Here are some of my favorite Beatrice moments/memories/things of summer '09:

-introducing her to the beach and the ocean

-introducing her to whipped cream, then ice cream, then vanilla peanut butter hot fudge sundaes (a girl has to work up to such things)

-holding her hand and having her walk by my side

-her first amusement park ride

-her anklet and bracelet

-her size 2 lime green Crocs

-Five new glistening teeth

-holding her passed-out in my lap as our rented van crawled across the George Washington Bridge at midnight

-learning to climb up and down stairs and get off of things safely

-watching her share food with Jonathan at Thai Place

-singing "Turn, Turn, Turn" to her along with Pete Seeger

-sharing her with family, especially her seven cousins, and some of my cousins we rarely see

-how affectionate she has become, and she can't kiss one of us without then immediately going to kiss the other (even if said person is asleep!)

-enjoying her swingset

-eating fruit, fruit, and more fruit

-her signing wildly and voicing "MOH!" after tasting corn on the cob

-watching her discover and enjoy pretend play, which started with plastic stove in Ocean City

-weekly trips to the Farmer's Market

-swimming at the lake

-hearing her sweet voice as she greets people with a long drawn-out "Hiiiiiii"

-seeing how much she thinks before she acts, a quality we certainly hope remains

-her first steps across the floor on our last full weekday together

Anthony and I are as ready as can be for our new roles starting tomorrow. He said he's really looking forward to his time alone with her, and I'm getting a touch of the usual enthusiasm I get each fall when I return to school. I am grateful that we are able to have her remain at home full-time. She is so content at this point soaking in the love of two adults who absolutely adore her, I can see it in her face, and she loves nothing more than when the three of us do a family kiss. We are her entire world right now. In four short months and counting, a family was formed. We missed the first 2/3 of her life, and don't want to miss anything else for as long as we can make that happen. So have fun, Daddy and Bizou, and remember Mama is just a phone call or a ten-minute drive away!

The Best Laid Plans....

Well, we have a video of Beatrice taking 2 steps on the iPhone, but haven't downloaded it, but no dramatic walking like last night. One thing seems certain, she's not going to walk when or because we want her to do so! Anyway, it's too hot to do anything.....

So the plan today was to go pick up Sula's friend Tucker, let them play in the house while Beatrice napped, then do a short hike in the woods along the river. After returning Tucker home, I was to bathe Sula since she hasn't had a bath in longer than I will admit publicly, and it's the last thing on my "to do list" for vacation. I called Martha to say I was coming and it turns out their day had changed and Tucker was no longer available. Anthony said "let's just go for a walk along the river walk" and we debated driving there and keeping it short or walking, making it a long walk. I thought we'd decided to drive, but when I got outside he already had B in the stroller ready to go, so I put the plastic bag, egg crates, and money back (I was going to stop by the co-op for eggs had we driven) but forgot to switch off from the extendable leash to the usual one. Sula has major "animal issues" in that she wants to kill anything four legged, especially when one is in motion, so I do the real leash and harness when I'm expecting to run into other animals and the extendable when it's just us or the walk is shorter. I've been told many times to get rid of that leash, but it's great in that she can go into the woods to do her business and have some free reign if we have open land. So, we headed out the door, me with Sula on the leash and Anthony pushing B in the stroller. Our first half mile was tough because Sula was on her worst behavior, pulling, spotting animals, and needing constant redirection. Shortly after we ran into a Husky and Doberman, Anthony took over as he generally has better luck with Sula when walking. We headed onto the river walk, still saw a few dogs, but things were going better. I mentioned "why don't we let Sula take a little swim since I'm going to give her a bath today anyway?" Anthony was reluctant but soon after headed to the bank of the river and, thanks to the handy extendable leash, let Sula head down the tree-root covered slope into the shallow water/rocks. She was so happy drinking up the water and gradually went deeper and deeper so she could cool off. I encouraged Anthony to move a little to the left to give her more lead and that's when it happened. The leash got stuck on a branch so Sula couldn't come back to us when called. We tried and tried and finally I realized I had to go down there and help her out. I went down a few yards away from where Anthony was standing because the bank was less steep for me to descend and then Sula tried to come to me and matters got worse. Eventually she was up to her neck and treading water and couldn't move. I threw my shoes up on the grass and carefully headed into the water, determined not to dive in if possible. She was really hooked on there, so I started walking in and leaned onto the branch that she was caught on and then, you guessed it, the branch broke, freeing Sula and plunging me face-first into the water. Thank God it was me and not Anthony because if the roles were reversed I'd still be rolling on the ground laughing hysterically, but my husband is a more compassionate person. I was fine, except for a small cut on my toe, and for the fact that I was drenching wet and we were about a mile's walk from home. Sula came out but a hunk of branch had wedged into her harness on her belly so there really was no way she could have freed herself. Back up in the park she immediately saw another dog and had the audacity to act up again. Clearly she hadn't been humbled. But I had, and walked back through town, shorts and shirt dripping, bleeding toe sliding in my slippery wet flip flops (again, wasn't prepared for a LONG walk). We passed a woman with a dog, who Sula acted up with, and she looked at me and said "you've really got your hands full!" I am pretty sure she had seen the rescue/fall in the river "Yes we do" I replied, "yes we do."

The story goes on with me coming home, bathing Sula, and having the toilet bowl overflow, from the tank, not the bowl. Luckily I figured out what was happening before the second half of the bathroom floor got flooded. Sula tried to take off all soapy, but I caught her in time. Beatrice never took a nap and was screaming through all of it. It was basically the plot of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," yet Anthony and I were able to laugh through this one.

So, Marianne, have you stopped laughing yet? I know Maurice, I shouldn't let Sula drink out of rivers and ponds because of bacteria, and it was stupid to have her on the extendable leash. Lessons learned. I think I'm ready to go back to school now.

first steps

In the past three days, Beatrice has taken her first mini-steps, has been maneuvering her "walker" around like crazy and barely holding onto my hand when walking, so I suspected she was close. Well, about 15 minutes ago she just took five REAL steps across the room to Anthony and then kept standing and walking over and over (with falls in between). We'll see what tomorrow brings. I've been joking for months that I wished she'd wait until I go back to school to start walking, and she obliged, just three days early.

The Dirty Dozen

After a rough night, Beatrice can now flash a smile of twelve teeth, including one bottom molar.

Ouch, that one looks like it hurt!

***UPDATE 3 p.m: Make that a BAKER'S DOZEN! She screamed herself to sleep, revealing another bottom tooth I'd missed, so that makes six on top and seven on the bottom.