I don't normally enter giveaways, and I never thought I would want to enter a blog giveaway by telling other people about it on my/our blog, but this giveaway tempts me terribly. If you're curious about green choices, organic products, and/or simple living, this new blog might be worth checking out. It's called Simple Organic and it's a recent spin off of a new favorite blog of mine: Simple Mom.
Don't enter the giveaway. I'll hunt you down ;)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Metal Tigers, Earth Goats, and Golden Fire Pigs
This Sunday, February 14th, is Valentine's Day AND the first day of the Chinese New Year. We are welcoming in the year of the tiger, but not just any tiger. It's the year of the metal tiger. Baby Zurg's year. Children born in a tiger year are thought to have the following characteristics (quoted from chinesezodiac.com):
Occupying the 3rd position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Tiger symbolizes such character traits as bravery, competitiveness and unpredictability. Tigers love to be challenged and will accept any challenge if it means protecting a loved one or protecting their honor. They don’t worry about the outcome because they know they’ll always land on their feet. Don’t let their calm appearance fool you though; Tigers will pounce when they feel it’s necessary.
The metal element adds another dimension:
Assertive, competitive and sharp, once Metal Tigers set their sights on their goals there’s no stopping them. They’ll always do what’s necessary to remain at the center of attention. Metal Tigers tend to jump to conclusions; a behavior they need to work at improving.
I certainly don't believe that every single person born this year will be brave, competitive, unpredictable, and impulsively tenacious. Still, I do believe that we are each born with some personality already in place. The unfortunate and completely pointless turmoil in my brain is that the metal tiger personality is THE personality that I have feared the most to mother. It's the complete opposite of my patient, mellow, plan-focused, and detail-oriented self who appreciates predictability and absolutely NO limelight whatsoever.
By the way, Bobby and I are both Earth Goats, and it describes me quite well. I wrote the above description of myself before looking up the definition below:
Occupying the 8th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Goat (or Sheep) symbolizes such character traits as creativity, intelligence, dependability, and calmness. Comfortable being alone to ponder the workings of their inner minds, Goats enjoy being part of a group, but prefer the sidelines rather than the center. Their nurturing personality makes Goats excellent care-givers. They’re quite and reserved because they spend much time absorbed in their thoughts.
Alice was born in the year of the Fire Pig but it was the 10th Fire Pig year in a 600 year cycle, so she was a Golden Fire Pig, which is supposedly very, very, lucky and all that. There was a bit of a baby boom in a few Asian cultures in 2007. Of course I wanted to hear this prediction about my sweet little baby girl:
Occupying the 3rd position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Tiger symbolizes such character traits as bravery, competitiveness and unpredictability. Tigers love to be challenged and will accept any challenge if it means protecting a loved one or protecting their honor. They don’t worry about the outcome because they know they’ll always land on their feet. Don’t let their calm appearance fool you though; Tigers will pounce when they feel it’s necessary.
The metal element adds another dimension:
Assertive, competitive and sharp, once Metal Tigers set their sights on their goals there’s no stopping them. They’ll always do what’s necessary to remain at the center of attention. Metal Tigers tend to jump to conclusions; a behavior they need to work at improving.
I certainly don't believe that every single person born this year will be brave, competitive, unpredictable, and impulsively tenacious. Still, I do believe that we are each born with some personality already in place. The unfortunate and completely pointless turmoil in my brain is that the metal tiger personality is THE personality that I have feared the most to mother. It's the complete opposite of my patient, mellow, plan-focused, and detail-oriented self who appreciates predictability and absolutely NO limelight whatsoever.
By the way, Bobby and I are both Earth Goats, and it describes me quite well. I wrote the above description of myself before looking up the definition below:
Occupying the 8th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Goat (or Sheep) symbolizes such character traits as creativity, intelligence, dependability, and calmness. Comfortable being alone to ponder the workings of their inner minds, Goats enjoy being part of a group, but prefer the sidelines rather than the center. Their nurturing personality makes Goats excellent care-givers. They’re quite and reserved because they spend much time absorbed in their thoughts.
Home and alone is where Goats feel most comfortable. There they can express themselves artistically, whether it’s by painting, cooking or participating in whatever artistic endeavors they enjoy. Goats prefer the couch because there they can relax and explore their minds. They don’t need elaborate furnishings; only items reflecting their desire for art.
Earth Goats are conservative, independent and practical, but not very confident in themselves. Most important in life is the family and they truly enjoy all that life has to offer.
Alice was born in the year of the Fire Pig but it was the 10th Fire Pig year in a 600 year cycle, so she was a Golden Fire Pig, which is supposedly very, very, lucky and all that. There was a bit of a baby boom in a few Asian cultures in 2007. Of course I wanted to hear this prediction about my sweet little baby girl:
Occupying the last position in the Chinese Zodiac, the 12th, the Pig symbolizes such character traits as diligence, compassion, and generosity. Pigs enjoy life and because they are entertaining, others enjoy their company. Pigs are giving souls and reap much enjoyment when they’re helping others, but sometimes they give too much. Honesty is what Pigs give and it’s what they expect to receive in return.
Pigs seek peace and will do what is necessary to maintain it. This trait, while admirable, sometimes makes it easy for others to take advantage of Pigs. Pigs are always doing for others, helping anyway they can, but rarely will they ask others for help. This can overwhelm and stress them, but Pigs don’t mind.
So, while I put absolutely no stock in the Chinese Zodiac, there are things I WANT to believe about it because they happen to fit things I like about myself and other people. Metal tigers happen to be my greatest fear and I will prepare for it all the same while I keep hoping that it won't apply in this case.
See? Unfortunate AND completely pointless.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Bobby's Sunday Summary
Well, This week was a fairly normal week. I am not going to do what I did last week, because a bit more happened this week then that. Alice has been going through a bit of a whiney phase. She would start out whining when she didn't get her way and then that would turn into a bit of a tantrum and cry. This happened especially around bed time. We realized that we were not following through as well on punishment for those situations as we should have been. So it only took one time of putting her into her bed, to not have story reading, etc. and the bedtime problems have cleared up significantly.
Also this week Alice was wearing a "silly hat", this was a pair of pants that she put on her head. We were in the kitchen and she pulled it down over her eyes, "to keep the sun out of them" She wanted to show mommy, but in her rush to do so she ran, literally, into the refrigerator door. I was making my lunch at the time so I had the door open and was crouched down trying to get an apple out. I now have a nice circular cut on my elbow from it, I think it came from the mayonnaise jar, but I don't know for sure. Insensitive Susan couldn't stop laughing at her poor daughter's predicament, and yes I thought it was funny too.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Reality
Alice and I are walking to the parking garage after our visit with the midwife today and we pass an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair a little behind a glass door. He appears to be waiting for his ride. He doesn't look well. Alice stops, points, and asks, "Is he real or pretend?" I'm taken by surprise and mutter something like, "He's real, let's wave hello." She doesn't wave. She just stares. He's motionless. She asks again, "Mommy, is he real or pretend?" I repeat my answer, but now other people start noticing her question. I start to feel watched. I don't know if I should change my answer and whisk her away or talk her through this new situation. Before I can decide anything, I find myself walking up to her and taking her hand, "He's real, Alice, let's wave hello." I wave and lead her to the parking garage.
The situation still sticks in my brain and I can't figure out why.
The situation still sticks in my brain and I can't figure out why.
Baby Update
32 weeks and all is well. They say Zurg's movement will lessen as it gets tighter in there, but I'm just concerned that the extra squeeze will lead to him kicking his way out sooner than Alice kicked her way out at 37 weeks. Ray, the only male midwife in our group, was the one who saw me today. I'm glad I got this chance to meet with him again because my first two impressions of the man were less than stellar. He's actually a funny and warm kinda guy. Go figure.
Ray pulled out the mini sono machine this visit. There was some question as to whether the rock-hard lump under my ribs was Zurg's head or bottom. It's a bottom. He's head down and prepping for action. FYI, Ray predicts this baby will be "on the small side" like Alice was (6lbs 15oz).
It was an unpredictable delight to steal another "peek" at Zurg in the womb. Real baby. Really there. Really kicking and tickling and twisting and stretching. Now that I know he's head down, I can tell that this kind of tickle is his hand by his head and this other kind of stretch is him flexing his knee. The movement imagery helps me know and love him before he even has a decent name :)
We're putting the crib in Alice's room this week. Sure, sure, it's early but I need to see how it fits before I decide if I really want it there. I think we'll put the crib in her room, then the changing table and snuggle/nursing chair in the office. Let's see how that works out. The natural consequence for that arrangement is that many more toys, books, and art supplies will be stored in the living room. Don't know how I feel about that. She plays with them there anyway...
Ray pulled out the mini sono machine this visit. There was some question as to whether the rock-hard lump under my ribs was Zurg's head or bottom. It's a bottom. He's head down and prepping for action. FYI, Ray predicts this baby will be "on the small side" like Alice was (6lbs 15oz).
It was an unpredictable delight to steal another "peek" at Zurg in the womb. Real baby. Really there. Really kicking and tickling and twisting and stretching. Now that I know he's head down, I can tell that this kind of tickle is his hand by his head and this other kind of stretch is him flexing his knee. The movement imagery helps me know and love him before he even has a decent name :)
We're putting the crib in Alice's room this week. Sure, sure, it's early but I need to see how it fits before I decide if I really want it there. I think we'll put the crib in her room, then the changing table and snuggle/nursing chair in the office. Let's see how that works out. The natural consequence for that arrangement is that many more toys, books, and art supplies will be stored in the living room. Don't know how I feel about that. She plays with them there anyway...
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