My Favorite Things

Tonight I can't stop singing My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music. I also love this version that I discovered recently. My life is full of wonderful things - big and small.

Sukhjot took her first step today! I didn't get a picture of the actual event - in the moment, we were both just immersed in the laughter and delight. This is a 'standing around banging on electronics' picture.

The Trax Mix Formerly Known as 'Peanut Butter Cup Trax Mix': I woke up to find this bag had the peanut butter cup part neatly blocked out to indicate my husband had eaten them all during the night. Funny that he ate all the candy and left the rest. Funny that he altered the bag to identify it properly. Funny that he did it in such tidy, precise blocks and just silently left it there for me to find. He cracks me up.

One of Satvinder's recent drawings: the blond with the tiara is her. The boy (that she connects to with a heart) is a boy in her class that she thinks is "soooo cute." Please notice how she is moving away from stick figures and towards the pincher claw variety of humans.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Soft Tiles

When I bought these Soft Tiles recently, I thought I was getting them to make a soft floor area for the baby so she would stop banging herself up on the hard tile floor. I was quickly alerted to their other purpose when they arrived and Satvinder started making stuff with them. She mostly makes containers to put her sister in - but she's really had unstoppable creative inspiration with these things. Who knew?

Here's a video of a "candy shop" Satvinder made. Her associate was not quite so enthusiastic about selling candy. In fact, if you listen closely you might hear her saying, "Mama, save me! Don't you know about the child labor laws?" Candy Shop Video

And some pictures of a few of Satvinder's other creations that I happened to take pictures of:

 

Yet another way to put a baby in a box

The Soft Tile Cave was not really a win in Sukhjot's book but I thought it was pretty neat.

This was kind of like a Soft Tile Corral.
Satvinder put her sister in the corral while she had a snack at the table. Sukhjot didn't mind - apparently Soft Tiles taste good too.

Meanwhile...

Sukhjot is emptying out the recycling bin.

And also...

Guess who else is writing a book? Satvinder has started her own writing (and illustration) project called Harry Potter: 100 Facts by Satvinder, age 6. Here is a sampling of some of her pages:

Fact 1: Harry is a pure blood but was raised with muggles.

Fact 2: Harry finds out he is a wizard because of Hagrid. Fact 3: Hagrid showed Harry Diagon Alley.

Oh, snap.

Kind of Girlie Over Here

Here's a video of the girls playing: Pinky and Little Jumper. I love that they can play together now. The video is kind of dark so it is hard to see but at one point, Sukhjot kisses Satvinder in her wet, open mouthed baby way. And then Satvinder wipes off the slobber with her shirt. But all the while, they are laughing and that is the best sound I know of.

I finished my first rough draft of my story. It has been a fast and furious creation. There is still a lot to add, adjust,and revise, of course, but I have the basic story down. Now things can really get started, I guess. I have asked three people to read it and give me feedback because I feel like I need some outside perspective at this point.

One person was my husband who, being neither a teenager nor a girl, is not quite the demographic for this book. He read the first two chapters and said, "It's kind of girlie."

He said it was like when he gets off the phone with someone and I start asking him questions. I want to know who he talked to and how they are doing and if they enjoyed their vacation and all kinds of details about what's going on in their life. He never has answers to these questions and he gets that "yearning for escape" look on his face. I can't understand how he can talk to someone without finding out how they feel about life. He can't understand how I can talk to someone without finding out how much RAM they have in their computer.

So we are different species. And he said reading my story was kind of like the post-phone call questioning. Except that it just went on and on with the relationships and the talking about feelings. There were no explosions and no teleportation devices. And would you believe, there was not even a single robot?

Indeed, I've written a very girlie book. That's about all I know right now.

School Girl

One of the most exciting things about going to school, for Satvinder, was the prospect of getting a back pack. Her Grandpa BJ got her this one that she picked out. It has horses all over it. And a big old packet of homework inside.

9 Months

Tonight I googled "why baby head bangs" because we have baby that head bangs. It is a recent development. It is a soothing thing for babies when they are tired or needing distraction from teething pain. It doesn't do any damage but it is kind of strange to see your little baby whipping their head back and forth like they are at a heavy metal concert.

She's a full force crawler and if I walk away, she chases after me. She knows what she wants and will object loudly if you thwart her. Satvinder gets to hear the objections a lot because she is constantly taking her things away from the baby's hands. Satvinder's books (which are everywhere) are one of Sukhjot's favorite things to try to eat. That leads to Satvinder yelling "Suuuuuukhi! NO!" or growling in exasperation "Argh. Babies!" and then Sukhjot shrieking when Satvinder takes the forbidden items away.

But they love each other and are both happy to be reunited after school each day.

Do you see the little wisps of curls that are sprouting up on her fuzzy head? So soft. So sweet.

Nine months old today!