Good Things

I need to counteract that icky post from almost two weeks ago (and the horror I felt a few days later, when I realized, "Oh, man. I posted about puke. When I started that blog, I made a no-puke, no-poop promise, and here I am, nine months in, posting about puke.").

So now I am going to tell you about good things in our lives, in no apparent order (because to order things, you have to have all of your brain cells, and moms don't):

--Firsts: Hadley's FIRST friend had her FIRST birthday party. We loved being a part of it, and we're thankful for the blessing of budding friendships. Lauren (Annalea's mom) and I hope our girls are friends for a long time.

--Betsy: Our first baby-sitter is Betsy. We love Betsy, and Hadley loves Betsy, so much so that she leaned over and plunked a kiss on Betsy's cheek the last time she was here.

--Daddy came home. He had been gone from the wee hours of Wednesday morning until the wee hours of Sunday morning, and then he left again Monday morning and got home Wednesday night. We were both ready for him to come home. We missed him very much.

--Cheesy toast: Hadley has decided that she much prefers feeding herself. Pureed zucchini on a spoon is SO last month. Now she would rather pick up her food with her perfect, tiny fingers and shove it in her mouth. One of her favorite new finger foods is cheesy toast: mozzarella cheese melted on a piece of whole-wheat toast. She also eats steamed carrots, cut into small slices; pear; pasta; waffles; apples (sans skin); banana; and whatever I have on my plate. (We were out at lunch yesterday, and Hadley reached over and plucked a mushroom off my pizza. She ate it.)

This is her new "scrinchy" face. She does it when she doesn't like something...and when she just feels like making us laugh.

--Flowers: Hadley and I got beautiful pink flowers last week from a mystery man. Hadley looks at them and says, "ooh, ooh, ooh" like a little hoot owl.

It's hair bow time! I love hair bow time.

--Hot coffee and cashmere cardigans. I have a slew of freelance projects to finish this weekend, so I have equipped myself with the writer's requisite tools: hot coffee and my dad's old cashmere cardigan. I am going to give Hadley and Daddy some much-needed time together while I head downstairs to write my heart out.

But before I do, I have to say that when I stop to consider the good things in our lives, I am overwhelmed. I'm really worn out from Jason being gone, but we have lots of goodness going on: a Daddy who has a job he loves (that sometimes takes him away from us); the unwavering support from Mumsie and Granddaddy, who show up when Jason is gone and take good care of Hadley and me; friends who love on our baby (and let us love on theirs); and a healthy, happy baby girl who has decided she's done with spoons. (Just wait until she can have ice cream. That spoon is going to be her best friend.)

Good things. Good things, indeed.

For the record, it says "Naps are for wimps." That is, most definitely, Hadley's philosophy. Too bad her mama doesn't agree.