April 17, 2005
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Ok so I have been bad about writing. I could sit here and type out why I didn’t, how I forgot sometimes and other times when I really didn’t care, but it would all be a waste of time because I really just need to talk about what is happening right now.
Yes the kid is getting - way big, way fast! She is turning into a little kid, running and dancing all over my house. She never ceases to amaze me. I find myself saying all those ol’ cliché’s about how fast kids grow up, how I am “really trying to enjoy this” and the like, when really, I am just at a loss for words to explain the feelings and reactions I have to her everyday. It is all so magical.
When I was a kid, I always wanted a twin. I am sure I am not alone in this childhood fantasy. I thought it would be sooo cool to have someone that looked like you, talked like you, did the same kind of things you do, how fun! Now I have a little kid and it is sometimes like having a twin, a smaller version of myself, we have our own language and our own unspoken moments of gestures. In the Lowe’s yesterday we raced up and down the aisles making growling noises back and forth, the world disappears during times like those.
We are always working with her on new words and body parts. She knows where her belly is and yours for that matter, she even plays a little game called “Belly, Belly, Belly” pronounced by Georgia as “Belwie”. It all started on morning with Dwayne and Georgia, he had brought her from the crib to the bed with him and he had no shirt on, he showed her his belly and pointed to her belly, as if saying here is mine and here is yours kind of thing. Well she belly flopped on his belly and he shook her around a bit while saying belly, belly, belly. Now if she starts the game she will pounce on you with a belly flop and say over and over again, Belly, Belly, Belly. It’s the Belly game. Then when you least expect it she will remind you that you have an Eye, out of nowhere at anytime, she will put her finger in your eye and say “I-eee” with her little crooked smile. She has started to grow out of sticking her finger up your nose, I think she finally understands the concept of “ouch”. If you say ouch she will stop whatever it was she was doing and just look at you and say, “ouch?” I told her about her neck last night, she was so hung up on the “eck” sound that she went around for minutes unknown repeating the sound, “eck”, “eck”, though making no reference to her neck. Since we have a history of noise making, I think she didn’t immediately understand that the sound “neck” is actually an object. She will get it eventually. She understands shoes go on feet, however, she doesn’t understand that feet come in different sizes. She is always trying on our shoes or putting her shoes on us. It takes forever to make the climb up the stairs to the bedroom, we store some shoes on the stairs occasionally –you know, the lazy way of getting shoes put away from the living room. On the way up the stairs, she will stop at every pair announcing that they are in fact shoes or “sshhhs” and that they go on feet, pointing to her own. Slowly she climbs each step, toward night-night. Though she will not even approach these steps unless BOTH dogs have gone ahead of her, she will even call them, “Tado”, “Tado”…which is Georgia-speak for Taco A.K.A. any dog anywhere. Once they assemble at the bottom of the steps she will tell them “Go”, once they reach the top, then she wil say bye-bye to Dwayne like a hundred and one times, scrunching and un-scrunching her little fingers in a motion to say bye-bye. After all of this, she will start her ascent up the steps with periodic stops along the way to visit with the stacked shoes clan living on the edge of the steps. Once she reaches the top she will slowly stand up, clap once and hightail it outta there, running towards anything and everything, giggling the whole time she is running. She will usually find something in the room she is not suppose to have like a lotion bottle or the baby wipes or some trinket from Dwayne’s loose change plate, then off again hightailing around the room avoiding the unavoidable diaper change before “night-night”. I usually let her play with what ever she found interesting until I have finished the diaper change. Then off to beddy-bye kiddo…. I leave the light on for her, I know it is setting her up, the hallway light will burn the midnight oil while she sleeps for years to come. I remember when that little tradition came crashing down for me when I was like 6-9, it was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. When my dad turned the hallway light off that night, the low light from the street made this free-standing coat rack at the foot of my bed seem to come alive, I thought all night that someone was standing down there waiting for me to fall asleep, I remember screaming myself to sleep that night. My folks had no idea how bad it was until very recently during a conversation with my mama about it. I told her my little secret of still being a little scared of free-standing coat racks even now as an adult. Silly I know. I have a friend at work whose little girl claimed there were robots in her room, Madeline is 4 yrs old; he thought it was some sort of residual from the recent kid-flick about robots. After several sleepless nights, he realized that the wireless router for his PC was in her room with blinking lights and she could see these lights after the lights went out. Parents often forget the vivid imaginations of children. I think as you get older you find out what is real and not real and some how a little of your imagination escapes from you each year until you no longer have these wild misconceptions, like the router being a robot or the coat rack being a person, it is not possible right? Have you ever heard the urban legend about the midget clown? Yeah, I think that would be my worst nightmare. (Faith, if you are reading this post, sorry to mention it.) Link:
Well the last few weeks Dwayne and I have been very busy trying to tackle our wild jungle that grows around our house. The local waste management company actually gives away free mulch three times a year so we were prepping the yard for the mulching activity. I am thankful for the landscaping experience I got from working two summers with Bayview Landscaping in Havre De Grace and Akehurst Landscaping in Baltimore. Tough work but such great exercise! So I know how it is suppose to be done instead of how most dork homeowners try to do it. I made an easy bet with my neighbor that I would use a pitchfork to move the mulch around, he claimed a pitchfork is only good for working with hay, he bet me a hundred bucks! I took the bet but I haven’t seen the money. I doubt I will, he watched me use the fork all day and he said nothing. Dwayne was a little uneasy about me making such a claim, but I told him that is done professionally. Anyway, I helped the neighbors get some of the free mulch and they in turn helped us finish up the mulching in the front yard. So I guess I got some work out of them for the bet. This weekend I helped another friend get some free mulch. I think next year I will charge for my services. We are so poor. Dwayne spent yesterday cleaning up the grass that grows between the bricks in the patio and he re-set some of the bricks that had become crooked and sunken. They were major trip hazards for the little one and anyone else for that matter. Later last night, we went outside to let the dogs out and as I was coming down the three steps on the deck, somehow I caught my shoe on a step and ended up face down in the deck checking for snails. All two hundred pounds of me came smashing down on to the deck. I was quite surprised at my duck and roll abilities, but I still managed to crush my ankle pretty good. I lay there moaning, even the neighbors heard me. Dwayne hooked me up with ice and Aleve for the pain. It is ok this morning, it feels weak, not bruised but that may come later. The funny part is , the 16th was the one year anniversary of our home purchase, so I have been walking down those steps for exactly one year to the day and this is my first mis-hap. For the most part the yard is looking pretty good. We will not be known in the neighborhood for our jungle, it is being tamed. We are still planning to build a small veggie garden in the back. I got some strawberries and blue berry bushes to put in, maybe next weekend. Yesterday, I bought wood to build some shelving in the kitchen, we have no space to store anything And no money to totally redesign it so two hundred bucks will build enough open shelving to suffice until we can afford something better. I hope to get them done today, but we will see, this ankle injury has slowed me down a bit.
We were supposed to go and visit Dwayne’s grandfather this weekend. Last week he went into the hospital for a gall bladder problem, some infection and whatnot. He wasn’t doing so well. We went out last week on Wednesday, we saw him in the hospital and hung out with the family out there. Dwayne’s father’s father and brother’s family live in Lietchfield KY. Dwayne’s grandfather was in ICU so only two people could go in at a time to see him. We went in and talked with him for a bit. At first granddad thought Dwayne was Dwayne’s dad, Dewey Jr. They do look an awfully lot alike. Actually Dewey Sr, Dewey Jr and Dwayne look alike, I‘ve told Dwayne it is like seeing into the future what Dwayne is going to look like at middle age, and then later as a old man. Erie I tell ya. So granddad asked me where I am from, when I told him I was from Pennsylvania, he says, “Why, you’re a damn Yankee!” I didn’t know what to say. The last couple of generations of Bell men have been born in Georgia, so I understand they are southern men but wow, I didn’t know what to make of that. I thought it was funny to say the least. After visiting hours were over we went to his uncle Tommy and Aunt Sally’s house for dinner and a movie. Georgia slowly warmed up and played with all of the funny talking stuffed animals that Aunt Sally collects. It was fun to visit with the family. We definitely don’t get out there as often as we should. It is a two hour drive one way. Granddad is doing a lot better and may be sent home this coming week. I think Dwayne wants to go out again soon. With this ankle bothering me we decided not to go anywhere today. Dwayne also kinda messed up a new antenna installation in the Acura so there is a plethora of electrical issues in the family car right now. If we did go out today, we’d have to take the truck and the cost of gas would just kill us.
Derby is coming up soon, sounds like it is going to be a pretty small gig this year, but I am sure it will grow, at least I hope it does. I can’t wait!
Well, I think I am all typed out for today. I have been sitting outside since like the second paragraph, writing at the table in the shade under our big old shade tree in the back yard. I have enjoyed several cups of coffee and now that Dwayne is up, I think it is time for some breakfast. Georgia amazingly left me alone and played in the back yard while I put down these words. She is such a great kid, if you get a chance get out here to see us. We would love to have you. (Speaking strictly to family and friends at this point, not the random strangers that may read this from xanga)
Here are a couple of pics:
House pics:
Our house last year sept. 2004
This week:
Back yard last year sept. 2004:
This week:
Georgia shots:
Eating corn on the cob:
hanging out in the back yard:
