Sicky sick sick

I am in the throes of some kind of stomach virus right now. Blech... Nobody else in the family has gotten it yet, which is good. I think I am going to be on the upswing here today but when I woke up this morning I had this dreadful, fuzzy, woozy feeling where I was almost convinced my head and limbs were made of lead or some other very dense substance. Probably just a smidge of dehydration and/or low blood sugar from the lack of eating much for a few days; I’m feeling better after some toast and applesauce. We actually had a pregnancy false alarm in the early stages of being sick when I felt exhausted and queasy for a few days but it is pretty definite at this point-- I am sick, not pregnant. A baby is a much nicer thing to have than a stomach virus, of course, but also a bit more complicated. Rob is working a lot right now, which leaves me on my own with Grace from waking up to her bedtime. I am predicting she will be hitting the TV pretty hard in the next day or so.

Grace is going through a period of intense craving for independence and autonomy right now. She insists “Gracie do!” when there is something she wants to do, and she will get into a frustrated, trembling frenzy if I try to pull whatever it is away from her. Diaper changes now involve her pulling the tabs open on the diapers before I can put them on her, she demands to put on her own mittens and hat, and tooth brushing is a carefully choreographed pas de deux. When she successfully does something, she will stand up, spread her arms high in the sky, and shout proudly, “Gracie do!” It is a good thing to see her learning how to be independent, and it reinforces what I’ve thought about our parenting style. We have leaned toward what people call attachment parenting, and I think that what the AP folks say is true-- doing things like extended breastfeeding, lots of babywearing, believing that her cry is communicating to us and paying attention to it, etc. can develop more confident, independent kids. I think that Grace’s personality is just naturally independent as well, though.

Grace has really discovered music lately. We got a non-annoying children’s CD for Christmas and have been listening to it a lot. A lot. I mean, seriously a lot. My NPR-listening time in the car has gone way down as Grace asks for, “Mee-zik! More mee-zik!” Anybody have other favorites for their little ones? I especially wouldn’t mind finding some Christian music, but I am kind of afraid of the schmaltz. I seriously can’t handle something like this. Our other big music outlet right now is going to a weekly music program for toddlers in New Haven. It’s kind of informal and the guy who leads it is really great. He strikes just the right note of kid-friendly but not vacuous. Grace really loves it and is starting to do the hand motions and sing along a little. The guy plays guitar and Grace refers to both him as an individual and the whole experience as “man-tar”, which I believe is a contraction of “the man and his guitar”. She often asks “Man-tar?” when we are getting ready to leave the house and I am sad to have to disappoint her with our less fantastic journeys to Costco and Trader Joe’s. The first few times we went, she loved it so much that she threw an absolute tantrum when we got back home, sobbing to go “bye-bye” at the door and demanding “more man-tar”. Now that we’ve gone more regularly, she seems to adjust to leaving a little better. The man-tar is going on vacation for two weeks, though. Aack! What shall I do?!