i’ve been asked on several occasions lately what my favorite age is, and the answer, without hesitation, is right now. and i know i say that every time, but this time, i really, really mean it. hence the excessive posts lately. the way she is discovering her world right now and the cute things she does to show it is so phenomenal. like, exponential growth charts on her wit, her smarts, her humor, and her cute lately. i’ll turn my head to see what she’s doing, and the next thing you know, i’ve grabbed my camera and i’m slithering across the floor following her for the next half hour, shooting her every move. i want to capture every bit of cute she has.

today, it was the toilet paper. she found a roll and fell in love. like it was her best friend…kissed it, hugged it, walked with it, tucked it under one arm while she scooted across the floor with it, unrolled it, stuffed little nick-nacks down the tube, wrapped the dog in it. it went on for 20 minutes. oh, and unbeknownst to us…she knows how to blow her nose with it.

…enjoying the her things. ~k

Contract negotiations with the networks are still in the works…so far NBC has the best offer, but CBS offers a kitchen built to her size. Regardless, coming to a screen near you….

Cooking with Lainey

Hi, and Welcome to the show. I’m Lainey Love and you’re watching “Cooking with Lainey.” Let’s get started. Today, we’re making steamed honey nut cheerios with herb sauce.

You can use any variety of cheerios, but because General Mills sponsors my show, I’m stickin’ to the branded stuff. You wanna begin by adding a cup of cheerios to a pot of water and boil. Make sure to cover your pot.

As you can see, I like to throw a pot holder in to add a little extra flavor.
Next, you’re gunna wanna add a little chicken seasoning to liven up the palate. “Give your mouth a party,” I say. There ya go. Not too much.

Now, you’re gunna stir that really well and let it simmer for awhile.

Oh, beautiful. Take a look at that!
Now, here comes my favorite part. Let’s taste this masterpiece!

De. Lish.

Thanks for watchin’! See you next week!

So, I’m totally sensing a major hit. We might be millionaires.
With her first check, we’re hoping to buy this, my dream kitchen for her. Or, at least her “managers” are going to shoot for getting her the stove for Christmas and build from there. It’s another one of those silly things I’ve pined over since before I was pregnant. I would dog-ear the Pottery Barn catalogue to that kitchen page and swear that someday I’d have a girl, and she’d have that kitchen. It’s half for me and half for her.
(but you should have seen her when we were playin’ “kitchen” today. We started with some of her pots and pans and a few spices. Pretty soon, Brandyn noticed and got a kick out of it, and five minutes later, he had dragged the entire kitchen with ingredients to boot out into the living room. I’m thinkin’ NBC might hire him as one of the kitchen crew. He’d be great.)

In out-of-the-kitchen news, she’s walking like crazy. Everywhere. And she half looks like a little Frankenstein, arms outstretched, knees locked and then half looks like a druken sailor, weaving and wobbling in little zig-zags as she attempts to make it to her desitnation. Doing fabulous-ly, if you ask me.

But, she still likes her walker…

And takin’ a walk with Daddy last night (see our half-blind-cuz-she-needs-a-haircut dog in the basket underneath?)

…enjoying the small things. ~k

last night introduced me to another side of motherhood…a side those glass-is-half-empty people sneeringly remind you is coming…and strangely take pleasure in doing so. ‘oh, you think it’s all smiles and coos now. just wait. just wait ’till you’re up all night when she’s sick,’ they say, ‘wait ’till you’ve had no sleep and you’re ready to tear your hair out.’ …and then they smile, like bursting one more new mom’s bubble is some sort of notch on their belt.

well, my bubble remains in tact. in fact, it’s an even prettier, sturdier, shinier bubble…with swirls of rainbow prisms. a happy, smiling bubble.

she woke up at one with a fever. probably just a teething thing, but i mistakingly took matters in my own hand and gave her motrin which irritated her sleepy little tummy…and led to the next half hour of drama. stomach jerking…throwing up…crying…clinging. more throwing up. hysterics. …and all i could think was how scared she must be at what was happening to her tummy and the way she was clinging to me and crying, and the last thing i wanted to do was pull her away from the mommy she needed. so i held her tight and let her throw up on me. everywhere. …and i hugged her and kissed her, and sang to her. and we rocked as little tears rolled down her hot cheeks (and mine), messy towels draped around the both of us, sick jammies were rolled off her, and all that remained was a warm whimpering baby hugging her mama who tried to make it better.

she slept with me. well, rather, she slept while i felt her head and attempted to close my eyes while she tossed and turned, whimpered and pushed her little body as close to me as physically possible without literally molding into me…for hours. (if there were such a thing as a reverse c-section that puts ’em back in there, she would have wanted it).

…and the whole time, i kept thinking, ‘is this where motherhood is supposed to be hard? is this what they were talking about?’ ‘cuz this? this is….

…beautiful.

there’s such an honor to being the one she wants…the one she needs…the one who can actually make it better. (daddies help too! brett was great last night.) and sometimes, it’s during the sick moments, the hard ones–when i truly see that the glass is not half empty. it’s not half full. it’s overflowing.

she woke up happy as ever today, and back to her old self. and me? i’m tired. exhausted. but smiling. the little battle is over, and i was victorious.

this…this beautiful feeling…this is motherhood.

…enjoying the mother-y things. ~k