A Hamster on the Brink of Death

We went to Wonderscope today, as we often do on Tuesdays.  We haven't been for two Tuesdays in a row though, so we were definitely due.  Bailey was ecstatic when we pulled into the 'Scope parking lot.  It was a very exciting moment in her life.

We went in the front doors and I was signing in, Bailey walked up to the hamsters (that are by the front desk) and everything was just like normal.  The lady at the front desk (a woman neither of us have met throughout our many visits) asked Bailey if she wanted to watch her feed the rodents apples and decided it'd be wise to get out one of the hamsters, Sam, from his cage for Bailey to pet.    I already didn't like this, not at all (but Bailey sure did).  Not because they're vermin, but because until this point, Bailey never knew they could come out of their cages.  She just thought they lived there and were stuck in there.  Forever.  It was a nice place for them to be.  They should remain there always.  (And really, I don't mind hamsters, but she DID NOT need to experience this.)

So, the hamsters can come out of their glass and plastic homes.  Duly noted.  Another mother came in with her daughter and a stroller (in it, I'm guessing a baby) and the little girl chose to stand next to Bailey in front of the hamster cages.  One hamster cage resides on a table, the other on the floor.  Bailey was knelt on the floor examining Max's cage.  The new child was between us, the desk lady was on the either side of Bailey, speaking to the mother.  Then I realize a hand is creeping underneath the cage lid and some words escaped me (I can't recall what) and by the time my hand grabbed Bailey's I noticed her hand was heavy.  She had already managed to get her grubby little paws on the furry little beast.  This is where it's really scary.  I could not get the heathen to LET GO.  She just kept squeezing, and I kept prying her arm and hand and exclaiming some sort of words.  The lady at the desk just existed, the child beside me was in shock, and Bailey?  She was quite determined.

I really feel sorry for that poorhamster.  I think his short life must have flashed before his very eyes and I hope he manages to see another day.  Part of me wonders if she damaged any internal organs, but I'm trying to get rid of the guilt eating away at my stomach lining.  If we go back next Tuesday, and his cage is missing, I'm so going to hide my head in shame.

So, yes, she did manage to finally let him go, but not without putting up a good fight.  She was just as happy as could be too.  After she finally let go, I slammed down the lid, took her hands and turned her to completely face me and as we began to discuss this horrible almost-Shakespearean-tragedy, she lunged away from me and hit her face (right under her left eye) on the table corner.  Then she cried and lecture time was over (conveniently) and I had to instead soothe her. 

So there you have it folks: cruelty to animals.  Luckily, it wasn't intentional, but it happened nonetheless.  This is SO going in the baby book.

Absent, but not as in absent-minded, although that too

I typed up a fabulous entry on Tuesday, but my "blog" must not have liked it, since it spit it back up and it vanished forever.  Being stubborn, I chose that as a time to step away from the computer.  It was better than beating it.

Bailey and I have been having more structured lessons.  She also hasn't been napping, so instead uses what free time I could have had, in order to demolish every square inch of house we have (which feels like more than it is, when I'm cleaning up mess AFTER mess) while I am cleaning up her prior mess.  It's good exercise though, so I should thank her.

She's becoming more and more of a character (just when I didn't think that was possible).  She does little flips throughout the house, dances jigs constantly, and skips.  She's all about the skipping.  I have so many things to share about her, and maybe, just maybe, I'll eventually get to that, but tonight is not that moment, at least not yet.

Until that moment comes...

The Bad Mother

No mother wants to be classified as a "bad mother."  I'm not sure about anyone else, but sometimes that fear resides towards the back of my brain, or at least the inspiration to NOT be a bad mother.  I spent a great part of today believing I was a bad mother, and then trying to convince myself otherwise.

How do you get your two-year-old to brush their teeth well?  We brush her teeth each day, trying to aim for after each meal (not always successfully), and I tried to follow all the rules about sugar and bottles and everything we're warned against and when she drinks apple juice, sometimes I give myself a guilt trip.  Well, today while changing Bailey's diaper, I saw a cavity in a top molar.  It was one of those vain little fears, those things that I thought only children of "bad" parents had.  It was a horrible experience and I hope no one else ever has to go through that.

So, today I went throughout the day, partially sulking, and the other part trying to convince myself it could happen to anyone, as well as trying to take other preventive measures as I constructed a plan.  If you know me well, you know I analyze everything to death and retrace my steps to learn exactly how I screwed up whatever it is that I thought to be chaos.  Towards the end of the day, I still had that pit in my stomach, but I lost the judgmental edge that I used to have.  And as I was putting my daughter to bed, I discovered after we brushed, brushed, brushed our teeth and changed her diaper, there was no cavity after all.  What I must have seen was the remains of one Junior Mint that she stole from my stash in the computer room.  And as I sigh of relief and no longer beat myself up over this "cavity" I know that not necessarily bad parents go through this, and that I want to try even harder to avoid this ever truly happening.  Throughout my adventures in mothering and this mission I am on, I am still on high alert, and probably will be for a while.  I'm humbled.  I'm also ready for the dentist.

So as you either laugh at me or sigh with me too, or think scolding thoughts about the Junior Mint, please share in my newfound epiphany and if you do have children who have cavities, note that I don't think you're a bad parent.  I just wish teeth were easier to brush.

More Tree Photos and a few extra words

Okay, so, we have more photos of our tree.  That's the most excitement in our lives right now.  Bailey hung out with Grandma and Grandpa during Saturday.  That thrilled her.  (She hadn't seen them since she was ONE!)  She likes picking out her own clothes to wear, specifically dresses.  And the most joy in her life is the ability to jump in the air and deliberately land on her bottom.  That's a grand time!

Well, that's one way to tear a tree down

We've had this tree we knew we needed to take care of, and we've been working on it.  Nature decided it could rid of it much cheaper than what we'd been quoted.  So, even though it was growing at an angle towards our neighbor's house and the highway is also right there, it decided to make its own course.  It somehow fell more so into our front yard, stopping right before the road.  Nature has its own professional tree business and luckily, we're all safe. (And this happened just last hour.)

 

Need any firewood?

 

Oh, and better pictures will be taken later, once it's no longer raining.

A Long Day

Yesterday, Bailey was up by 7am and thus we started our day.  The goal was to have everything accomplished and/or ready so there would be less stress for later.  This of course was not the case.  All it did instead was wear me out completely so when it was time to get out of the house, I had very little fight left in me, and she had more energy than eight litters of Energizer Bunnies.

Tuesday.  It was Tuesday yesterday which meant we were to have lunch with Daddy.  We finally managed to get there, had our lunch, talked about going to Wonderscope afterwards.  Then, after we parted ways, the little miss and I indeed headed to Wonderscope.

She has such a fabulous time there, she really does.  She really knows all of the rooms by heart now and while she explores her room of choice, I go about  cleaning them up.  It's a win-win.

There's one thing they ask you at Wonderscope, and that's to clean up after yourselves.  I guess a lot of families think that if they have to pay the $6 each for admission (keep in mind that we have a membership thanks to an awesome Christmas present) that they don't need to pick up anything.  So, most of these rooms then look like tornadoes had been present.  Luckily, I'm there to pick up everyone else's messes so I'm not annoying my own child.  I like to talk with her about the things we see, and we do that interaction, but it's nice to give her some of that time to herself too or to play with other children. 

She was well-behaved at the 'Scope and then we did some shopping, which never means that we buy anything, it just means we look.  I must have worn her out and she wanted to go to sleep in the car.  (She had briefly napped previously on the way to Daddy's office.)  We met up with Brooke towards late afternoon and she slept for two seconds until she realized she was in the presence of Brooke.  The idea of swimming was enough to keep her awake and she had a lot of fun in the water and decided herself when we were done.  We had dinner with Brooke and then went to Brooke's briefly so Bailey could visit with Brooke's dog, Scout.  (Correction: Torture Brooke's dog, Scout.)  Bailey enjoyed taking his toys and rawhide chew and unlike Kaitlin, he has no problem retrieving it right back from her, even if she gets knocked over (which she LOVED immensely).   After some time of rough play, we escaped before Bailey had the chance to break anything.  And trust me, she didn't want to leave.

We arrived home (around 8:30) and she decided she needed to play with our own dog.  I included some photos just for fun.

Adorable Anecdotes, Must reads

Okay, first off, I can't forget what Bailey said today, because it's hilarious.  We were at Target and they had this new line out of clothing with fairies on the pieces.  I asked Bailey if she knew what they were.  She then called it a "ladyfly."  For the rest of the time spent there, if she saw another fairy (like in the toy section) it too was deemed a "ladyfly."

And yesterday, Bailey was on her bed listening to music (like she's been doing a lot lately) and picked up her stuffed Cookie Monster and had him moving and told me, "Look.  Cookie's dancing.  Dance, Cookie."  Then, she picked up Elmo and he was dancing too. She had to talk about it too, so I knew exactly what was going on.  Bailey throws the best parties, obviously.