Joint Replacement #3

My mom had her hip replaced last Thursday.  Her first hip was done many years ago (10-15 we think, although no one seems to remember exactly when), one of her knees about four years ago, and now her second hip.  I tell her she's going to be a bionic woman soon.  

I don't think she expected it to be worse this time around, but she is significantly older and it really took a lot out of her.  I took the kids to the hospital Friday and Saturday, and last night I went by myself.   I sat and read to her, and helped her to roll over, and gave her my fleece so she could take her arms out from under the blankets and not be cold.  It's strange, taking care of her in such a physical way.  

I think of how physical a mother's relationship is with a baby.  The hours of nursing, the constant diapering, the bathing.  How even by Lee's age there is less and less touching, and by the pre-teen years things have settled into a hug in the morning and a kiss at night.  Then there are years apart, until you become like me and my mom, giving each other a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek at the beginning and end of each visit.   

Who's Your Daddy?

Today the kids were eating lunch in the kitchen, and, apparently unbeknownst to Clara, Bridges was working upstairs, when we heard the mailman walk up the stairs to put the mail in our box.  

"Mommy, it's the mailman," Lee said.

"No, it's Daddy," Clara said.

"No, it's the mailman!" Lee insisted, and they went around a few more times, but Clara was adamant that it was in fact her Daddy arriving home.  

Hmmm......does she know something I don't know?

A Baby's Laugh

We've been listening to Peter Pan in the car.  I don't believe I ever read the story as a kid, and the first I really knew of it was from watching the movie Neverland with Johnny Depp.  

I'm really enjoying the story and am thrilled with the world that J.M. Barrie created.  It amazes me that an adult would be able to think like he did, but I suppose that's the whole point of the story.  

I was tickling Clara tonight, and listening to her laugh, and it reminded me of my favorite line in the book.  It's this:

"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the very first time, the laugh broke up into a thousand pieces of light, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. So now every time a new baby is born, its first laugh becomes a fairy." 

Too Spicy

Clara's saying some funny things recently.  She doesn't really seem to understand the fine difference between "I don't want" and "I don't like."  So, for instance, she'll eat 3/4 of a banana, and then hand the rest back to you, saying "I don't like it banana."

Which is also funny, because she doesn't seem to understand that you don't use "it" if you actually specify an object.  So she will say "I don't like it shoes," or "I don't like it Lee screaming," or "I don't like it bedtime."  

Recently she also seems to have picked up a misconception regarding the word "spicy."  Spicy came into her vocabulary in a normal manner.  Something she ate a few weeks ago was "too spicy."  But now suddenly, everything she doesn't like is "too spicy."  I told her a few days ago that it was almost dinnertime, and she said "I don't like it dinner.  Too spicy."  And today she said "I don't like it ride in car.  Too spicy."  

Lee, as worldly as she is, either laughs or looks at me and rolls her eyes, as if to say "Oh, that Clara."  

No Frosting

The other day after dinner Lee asked if she could have dessert.  I thought about it and said, "Well, Lee, you had hot chocolate earlier today, and a piece of cake for a snack, so I think you've probably had enough sweets today."

"But Mommy, that cake wasn't dessert!  It didn't have any frosting!"

"Lee, not all cakes have frosting on them."

"I'm NEVER eating that cake again!  Not even when I'm a grownup!"  

Half-Naked Art

It's actually the artist and not the art that's half-naked.  

When you're potty training, it's just easier to keep the pants off.  

Snow