The Queen's Rambles

Why is it babies love to chew on anything electronic (remote control, anyone?) when there are perfectly babyish, hideously bright, safe baby teethers scattered all over my house?

The dear is teething, but it’s not as bad as it could be. She doesn’t really get grouchy, just a tiny bit fussy. Still, I feel bad for her. She won’t take any meds (projectile vomit, anyone?) and they no longer sell Hyland’s teething tabs so I’m sort of at a loss.

I do give her frozen waffles to gnaw on and that helps some. I did the same with Erik and it was a perfect solution. He’d gobble them up, providing himself with cool pain relief and a tasty treat at the same time. Elsa, on the other hand, is not so fond of them. She doesn’t want to touch them because they’re cold. When she does finally decide to gnaw on them they do seem to provide some relief, but she doesn’t view them as a tasty treat. She still won’t swallow anything but the thinnest puree (I can’t believe I am buying baby food! I can’t make homemade puree thin enough for her), so she ends up spitting out the chewed up waffle. It’s lovely, as you can imagine.

She would really like to gnaw on my nipple but that isn’t going to happen. She’s already learned that mama is serious when she says “no biting” but that doesn’t stop her from giving me a questioning look and then trying out a tiny nibble. She’s immediately reprimanded and removed from the breast and even though she is only 8 months old I can tell she knows she’s not supposed to do it but she can’t help herself.

Erik, valiant big brother, rushes to her defense and tells me I’m not allowed to “talk even an inch!” to his baby. I don’t know if it’s good that he’ll be away at college for most of her teen years or not. He’s sure to scare away all the boys, but maybe she would like a nice boy? Nice being the operative word.

In other news, I’ve decided to add a couple more goals to my New Year’s list. I saw an Ask Moxie post that said goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Reasonable, and Time-Based. In that spirit, I have three things I want to do.

1) Use at least $2 worth of coupons every time I go shopping for groceries/consumables. I know that is laughable to you crazy coupon ladies, but it would be a start for me. The main rule is that I can’t buy something with coupons just to meet my goal. It has to be something I would buy anyway.

2) Walk around one of the lakes at least 4 times a week. That can be one walk four days a week or 2 laps twice a week–whatever ends up working. One lake is 1.13 miles and the other is 1.34, so it is reasonable to walk around twice in one go.

3) Buy nothing new (except food and consumables) for the month of January. Our bank account will be very happy if I manage this one. I have a fistfull of Gymbucks to spend at Gymboree later this month so if I do need something for Elsa I’ll be able to get it. Otherwise, it is off to Salvation Army for me. I know some of you love thrifting, but I hate it. Hate hate hate it. Hate the smell. Hate the hunt. Hate the dinginess. Hate the careful looking over of each item. Hate everything about it.

I can’t think of anything I need to buy this month. No birthdays coming up, Elsa seems to have plenty of clothes, we aren’t in need of anything else that I can think of. I think I can do it if I just stop buying crap because it’s on sale.