encouraging antisocial behavior

There we were: all three members of the family eating breakfast together. Camm and I always watch Ruby as she sits in her high chair and feeds herself. (I know, I know, we are still those new parents who think everything she does is absolutely adorable--even when she is just eating breakfast).

Anyway, she took a break from eating, put her little hand in a fist with her tiny pointer finger sticking out. The pointer came past her mouth and went straight into her nose.

I immediately BUSTED up laughing. I couldn't control it. Camm said to me, "Stop! You're encouraging her!" But it was already too late. Ruby kept doing it, looking up at us with those big hazel eyes and adorable smile.  When I stifled my smile/laughter, she would bat those eyes and giggle so hard that I couldn't resist giggling again.
So now what? I taught my little one that picking her nose is great. Is this a problem?


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breastmilk or bombs: which scares you more?

Traveling with Ruby is so much different than traveling alone. When she was younger it was hard for various reasons (as you may have read here or here).

For those who don't know, liquids cannot be carried on to the plane unless it is specifically for the baby. As stated on the TSA website:
"You are encouraged to travel with only as much formula, breast milk, or juice in your carry-on needed to reach your destination."


So when I was flying out here to Oregon (to finally meet up with Camm), I looked in my mom's fridge and realized there was still 3/4 of a gallon of whole milk. Being the cheapskate that I am, I was NOT about to just let it go to waste (that's like $2.00 that I'd be dumping down the drain!). But I was flying in an airplane, so how was I going to get 3/4 gallons of milk to Oregon?

Even though this wasn't formula, breast milk or juice, this is the only thing my baby is allowed to drink (per the doctor's orders at her 1 year check-up), I correctly assumed it would be fine. The problem that I saw was how could I convince them that I needed 3/4 of a gallon for a 1.5 hour non stop flight (not exactly "only enough...to reach my destination"). That's where my creativity had to come in. 
I filled up every water bottle container that I could with milk and put it in a little mini-cooler that I brought with me. When I got to security I gave them this sob-spiel about how I am a paranoid mom that is afraid that our flight will get cancelled and we'll end up spending the night in some random town...yadayadayada. And actually, that part worked pretty easily. (Funny thing is I'm not actually like that at all. I can't even imagine how could I be stuck in a town that has no stores to buy milk? But I can see the headline now)

The TSA man had to take the milk aside to do some testing. Now, I assume that this man has been trained to work with bombs, guns, knives--you know--dangerous stuff.
While he was testing it some spilled on his hand. All of the sudden I noticed he looked really uncomfortable-uncomfortable to the point that I think he actually looked scared. He turned to me and asked,
"Uh, is this store bought?"
I was so confused by the question, "uh, yeah. I didn't milk my own cow if that's what you're asking."
Immediately relief flooded his face and he said, "No, I just thought it was something else."
I began to understand, "Oh, you thought it was breastmilk?"
He stuttered for a second, "Uh..yeah, I did."
I guess to the TSA man he thinks like this:

Anyone else think boobs are scarier than bombs? Because somehow I'm just not seeing it...

My little girl

Ruby is tiny. She's in the 5th percentile. She was born 5 pounds 14 ounces, and has just been little ever since.

Granted, she has tripled her birth weight since this picture, but she's still a little girl.

Personally, I like that she's small because people are always coming up to me saying things like, "Wow, I can't believe how smart she is! Look at everything she can do! Oh my goodness!" They always assume that she is several months younger than she is--so it turns out that they think I have a genius baby:

Anyway, at her 1 year check-up, the doctor told us we need to "help her grow" (which, as far as I can tell, in doctor language translates to "fatten her up"). So he prescribed LOTS of whole milk (never allowed to drink water or juice), high-fat yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. I wish a doctor would prescribe that kind of diet for me...

The pad

I'd just like to get something off my chest here.
When I hear the word "pad", my first thought is this:

old fashioned kotex pad

But nowadays it is becoming increasingly difficult as "pad" is taking on new meanings.

The IPAD

Or

the mouse pad

Have any other women out there thought about this strange choice of words?

Obviously these things were invented by a man.

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Kotex courtesy of this link

Moving at age 12: learning to speak like a Utahan.

My recent move has brought back some memories of the first move of my life. I grew up near Seattle and lived in the same house from the time I was born until  I was almost 12 and moved to Utah.

Moving in sixth grade was quite the adjustment. That age is a hard time for everyone to go through, so moving was only one added stressor to my hormonal, pre-adolescent life. Initially, I was shocked at the lack of diversity. Everyone was just like me. That threw me for a loop. I also couldn't believe the agricultural lay-out of the place.

But the thing that was probably the most confusing was the way people spoke.

"Hey can I borrow an elastic," someone asked me. like from the top of my pants? 

Apparently in Utah "elastic" can mean a rubber band...

Or I heard about kids who "sluffed" school. Isn't that what a snake does with its skin in the winter?

I leared that "sluff" in Utah just means the same thing as "skipping" or "ditching" school in Seattle.

Someone asked me if they could butt me in the lunch line. like a head butt? Here? Right now? I guess that was nice of you to ask...

It turns out all they actually wanted to do was stand in front of me in the line. A term I'd always thought was called "cutting".

I remember my band teacher said that he had ordered some still drums. He told us they play them in the Caribbean and got us all excited about it. I figured they must be very quiet drums since they were still.

Once they arrived, I realized that they weren't still, they banged just like another drum. But they were STEEL drums. Apparently "ee" and "i" are the same sound in Utah.

My favorite story though is the time I was sitting in church and the leader of the congregation announced that the hymn we would be singing was "We'll sing all hell to Jesus' name." WHAT? I couldn't believe it. What a weird hymn. When I opened the hymnal, I soon learned that it was "We'll sing all hail to Jesus' name"--much more appropriate. "e" and "ai" are the same sound in Utah too.

Oh wow, that all happened 13 years ago. Since then, I learned to speak just like the rest of them. My hair things turned into elastics, I butted people in line, and I sang all Hell. 

Now I'm in Oregon. I wonder what sorts of things I will need to learn here. Let the learning begin!


What things have surprised you when moving?

Scattergories

I love Scattergories.
Scattergories inspires my creativity. Just ask my husband (here's a couple of real experiences):

Anyway, just recently, I was remembering how I learned to play Scattergories (and now I don't feel bad at all for my creativity).
I was about six or seven years old. My favorite cousin (Marel) was (and still is) a year and a half older than me. Since I was six, 1.5 years older meant I thought she was a genius. She could read ANYTHING and she could write in cursive. She probably was learning multiplication and wow...I remember thinking she was so cool and so mature. 
So anyway, as I remember, we were staying in a beach cabin and Marel asked if I wanted to play Scattergories. I said sure and she explained the rules. Every time we would go through it, she would have these absolutely fascinating words. Article of clothing: Flewjemzie. Musical instruments: Flautintin. Underground things: sapnardroot. I remember thinking Marel was so smart and wishing I could be that smart.

It wasn't until years later that she told me she had actually made up the words that first time we played.
I'm not mad, I think her example inspired my present creativity.
What goes around comes around, I guess.

the stick

I think it is about time to confess. It is amazing I never absolutely ruined my sister's car when I was eighteen (but I probably did some internal damage that no one ever found out about).

So each summer in college I went to my sister's house outside Portland and played nanny while she worked on her Ph.D. The first summer I was there, my niece was almost three and my nephew was 1.5. I would take them places in my sister's car all the time. Unfortunately, the car was a stick shift, and I had never driven one before. That should have stopped me, but it didn't....and the consequences were horrible.


I stalled. A lot.

Stopping on a hill was impossible--so I avoided that at all costs.

Note: Yelling at street signs isn't quite as effective as one might hope.

Going to the grocery store was an adventure--but coming home was worse.

Eggs are supposed to be good for your hair, right?

I think the time where I really hit rock bottom was on an afternoon outing to the neighborhood pool. The pool is only a mile from my sister's house, and it should have been no big deal. The problem is, there were a lot of stop signs and corners to turn--two things I absolutely hated.

I had stalled about a million times on the way there. I'm sure the kids had whiplash getting jerked around so much. Thank goodness for the five point harnesses, or else they may have fallen out. 

When we pulled up to the pool and I finally turned off the car, I looked in the backseat and there was my niece with a completely relieved look on her face. Then, with the most excitement I've ever seen a two year old in a five point harness muster up, she yelled:

You know you're a bad driver when a two year old is cheering for you.

Anyone else have a hard time learning a stick? Share your story (so I don't feel so bad)

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Would you hire me?

I'm FINALLY in Oregon!!!
I flew to Portland, Camm met me there, we went to the beach for our 4th of July reunion and then just drove home today.
As you can imagine, I'm pretty busy getting settled in. So, today I'm just going to share a little movie that I had to make for my application to teach an online class. I was applying to BYUIdaho. They stressed a lot about how even though it is an online class, we should get to know our students and really try to be there for them.
So, part of the application process was to make a little 5 minute screencast that was a personal bio to potentially show students so that they could get to know me. Here's a link to my screencast. Please check it out and tell me what you think.
http://screencast.com/t/vsaej7J0gcL


Would you hire me?