Dear Farrah Part 11

Farrah,

Yesterday you turned 11 months old! We are coming up on a milestone. One more month and you'll be a whole year old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Everyone says cherish these times because it goes by so quickly and it's gone before you know it. Wow, were they right. The beauty is, I've been very good at cherishing every moment.

You are full-on walking. Your dad and I labeled November 10th as the day you really started to choose your feet over your knees. If you want to get from point A to point B, it's done on your feet unless you're really tired. You've learned that being on your feet makes you just a little bit taller. But you're so petite! It's almost funny seeing you walk around because it just looks wrong. You do, of course, still crawl. Especially if you need to get somewhere in a hurry. You've discovered that when you attempt to move your feet quickly, it almost always lands you on your butt. I have discovered that the purpose of a diaper is not only to protect your clothes and my carpet from a tragic mess, but rather a cushion for those hard landings.

Daddy and Mommy bought you a couple new toys recently. A "Tickle-me-Elmo" and a baby doll. The "Tickle-me-Elmo" was from your dad. It gets you all excited. You start to quietly talk to Elmo when he starts laughing and jumping around everywhere. I have thought a couple of times that he might actually scare you a little. You get so entrigued, though, that any fear you have is pushed aside to see what he'll do next. Your dolly you seem to love, too. When I ask you where your baby is, you look around the room until you spot her. I have sat with you and said repeatedly, "Baby, baby, baby." I say it very slow and clear. The first time you heard this, you responded with an amazing, "Bebe." HOLY CRAP!!! After that, I made it clear to the household that we are not to swear anymore around you as you are a smart cookie and will probably drop an F-bomb if we're not careful. And I'd really rather you not.

You want to know what everything is. Since you can't verbally communicate just yet, you point at anything and everything. Mostly, you point at lights, food, and bottles. The other night you were sleeping in my arms and suddenly woke up and you started to cry a little. I didn't want to just assume you wanted a bottle so I didn't give it to you. You sat up, looked at my night stand, pointed at your bottle and gently whined. You win! Bottle, it is.

Dancing and singing are your thing. Anytime there's music on, you either bobb your head front and back or bend your knees to the rythym. Your songs usually consist of a high note followed by a low note. The lyrics are usually "Doi - doi", "Da - da", or "Ma - ma." Remember, it's only in those two notes. However, last night you decided to turn your slow relaxing melody into a jazz piece. You were scatting a bunch of Mamas. It was like, "Mamamamamamamamamamama." Super cool.

You learned how to laugh, or should I say FAKE laugh? You make a popping laughter sound. Everything to you is funny. EVERYTHING. You let out a good, "ha ha ha ha" anytime there is something on TV that might strike you as being somewhat entertaining. I had the news on last night or the night before and there was something a little sad on TV. At the right moment where someone should say, "Oh that's awful," you let out your laughter. You most certainly are your parents' daughter. Where others might read this and think it's terrible, I just laughed at it.

You have two favorite TV shows. Your number one favorite (which I'm so glad for) is Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I love that you love this show. When the piano music starts up on the show, you stop whatever it is that you're doing to look at the TV. As soon as Mister Rogers walks through the door and starts to sing, you bounce up and down with a big smile on your face. I've watched you while the show is on, and you seem to love him. He just has a quietness and gentleness about him that seems to make you feel comfortable. We also watch some Sesame Street from time to time. We don't watch it as often, though. Sometimes it's just too busy for you. You love it whenever there is music on. Again, you stop what you're doing to see what the song is about and you dance along. You also stop if you hear Elmo. He is certainly your favorite character. I'm so glad you love to watch the same stuff that I watched when I was growing up. You don't seem that interested in cartoons so you almost never watch them. Puppets are your thing. Daddy and I got you the box set of the Muppet Show. You've only seen one episode, but, boy did you love it! We'll watch again soon, I promise.

Farrah, you have learned how to show us that you love us. Last weekend, your Daddy asked you for a kiss. He was lying on the floor at your level and you crawled right up to his face and kissed him on the mouth. You had only done this once with me a couple weeks ago, but never again after that. You kissed your Daddy two more times after that. It was so sweet. You also show your way of hugging. You don't squeeze us. When I pick you up and hold you, you rest your head on my shoulder for a few seconds. You're not showing that you're tired because you immediately get up to go play. The best of the best was last night, though. I was sitting on the floor with you and your dad. I had my back turned to you as you played with Alex. Then all of a sudden, you were leaning your body and face against me. Your dad said it almost brought him to tears how completely sweet and genuine it was. After that, I grabbed you and I got a great big sloppy kiss out of you. You are beyond awesome.

You went to your first baby shower. You got to meet your cousin Kaitlyn. You and I got her some pajamas and some onesies. Hopefully, you'll get to grow up seeing her from time to time. You also got to meet your cousin Grant. You annoyed him because you're at that age where you start getting into everything even when you're asked to stop. Plus, you're a girl. A lot of the ladies from our big family were meeting you for the first time, while others were seeing you for a second time. We've been so busy with life, I haven't been able to get you out much past your Grandma and Grandpa's house. You'll get to see everyone soon for our Christmas party next month.

One last little thing. I noticed something about you today that was different. You have another tooth. I just noticed it today. Not only am I just noticing this, but it has been there for some time, as it looks like it is almost all the way in!! Have I been that self absorbed?!! Mind you, it is an upper tooth and is hidden quite well behind your lips. I did, however, notice that the twin of that tooth is getting ready to poke through. In all fairness, you don't whine unless you're tired. I'm not exactly given any clues, except perhaps the enormous amounts of drool. I'll pay better attention in the future. Keep in mind, your eyes are the number one thing I look at and they're quite hipnotic. It's not my fault. ; )

Oh, Miss Farrah, I can't get over you. I want you to know how very important and special you are to me and your Daddy. You have this special something that pulls us out of any gloomy feelings we could be having. You rescue us with just a smile. You being in our lives has been beyond necessary. You're a constant reminder of how truly precious life and love really are. You have our hearts wrapped around your tiny fingers.

I love you always and forever...

Mama

Going GREEN-ish

Last week, NBC put on every one of their programs something that had to do with saving the planet. Well, our household paid attention and decided to participate. We are becoming recycling fools. We rince out EVERYTHING. If it looks like it could be recycled, it probably can be, so in the recycle bin it goes. We've kept our thermostat down a degree to save that extra 10% a month. We're using candles instead of the plug in smell-swells. That's also because we're afraid they're going to come out with some announcement that says, "Um, yeah, those things that you'd plug into your walls that made your house smell so fantastic? Um, you now all have 2 months to live because your brain is liquifying." I just don't want to be a part of that mess. I'm remembering to turn off my computer and to go around and unplug miscellaneous appliances. Mind you, we're not experts at all of this yet and I'm sure we'll forget from time to time. However, I had a breakthrough yesterday. I had tried to dump the leftover pasta that was in a plastic container. When doing so, the container slipped out of my hands and fell into the grody garbage. I started to walk away saying, screw it, when I had an awful pit in my stomach. I dug out the container, cleaned it, and finished my recycling task. Guilt can go a long way to save the earth. Mike and I have also invested in a Biodiesel company. We're very excited about all the progress they're making and all the new technology our company is developing. Next step: get rid of our gas guzzling vehicles and purchase biodiesel rigs. Good news. Toureg has come out with a biodiesel model. When we can, we'll be getting it.

Go Earth!

Film Critic

A few nights ago, I was going through what has been one of many restless and insomniac-ee nights. I have since sought out help and, whew, what help I have received! In any case, the other night around 4 in the morning, I gave up TRYING to get to sleep and took a trip downstairs to watch some TV. We have crappy comcast which includes the OnDemand feature. I chose to watch an old family favorite movie of mine from my early childhood: Sgt. Peppers (starring George Burns, Peter Frampton, and the Bee Gees). When I was very young, I LOVED this movie. Well, as I started to watch it, I had to ask myself what exactly I loved about it because it was about the worst piece of shit movie I've ever seen in my life. Mind you, I love the music and just might go out there and buy the soundtrack. However, it took me about 20 minutes to watch that hour and a half long movie because of the wonderful invention of "fast forward". There were several times I would roll my eyes and wonder what the hell the writer was thinking. Take some Beatles songs, listen to them, assume there is a story there, and make a movie out of it. Bad idea. I recommend watching it, though, only for the sheer pleasure of witnessing a true train wreck of a movie with some awesome music.

Okay, now for a movie that some of you weirdos out there actually enjoy. Spiderman 3. Whore-able!!! Mike and I watched it the other night and I kept quiet throughout almost half the movie. Finally, right in the middlle I belted out a loud laugh. I couldn't take it anymore. What the f**K was I watching?!!! Did Toby McGuire tell the director, "I just gotta DANCE!!" so he stuck it in there? Since when is it fun to watch a movie become some bizzarre attempt at a music video? I threw up in my mouth a little right at the beginning when Mary Jane was singing in her musical. Ugh!!! It took everything I had to stomach watching 1 and 2. Now, I was torturing myself with this stinky pile. Then Mike shared that there was going to be a 4 and 5. Good God, help us. You, know, I think there are people out there that convince themselves to their very core that they actually like these shitty movies. I'm sorry for them. Ick. Unfortunately, I will have to watch the next two Spidermans. How can I not? Who knows, there could be something cool that happens that I don't want to miss. I'll just prepare myself with a good cocktail before I turn it on and have a long list of excuses to get up and walk away. Wow, those movies jumped the shark the second Peter was bitten by the spider.

Gratitude

So, Mike and I have had a tough 2007 and we have decided to make a huge shift. Mind you, Mike and I aren't having a tough time; it is outside circumstances. In any case, Mike found a book and it had a project in it that has you make a list of 100 things you're grateful for. What could this hurt? I feel like we've been so busy bitching about life that we've forgotten how great life really is. I came to this conclusion when I started to write out my list. I paused, not stopped, at number 76 just to type this out. I have a huge grease board on my wall that used to be filled with some of the stresses that we are dealing with as a means to focus on getting it taken care of. Ultimately, it would just piss me off the moment I walked into the room, and therefore the tasks were not getting done. So, I typed what was on my board, saved it, and tucked it away. I know where it is, but it's not staring me in the face. As I started writing out the things I am grateful for, it just poured out like crazy. One thing after another and another. I wasn't just talking about my relationship with my family, but stuff like Christmas Carols, the ability to play the piano, and finishing Culinary Arts. All of those things make me feel good. It feels much better to remember the good in life, because it actually makes the bad not so over powering. Clearly, I have a lot to be grateful for and I believe I can push past the 100. I just thought I would share this experience so that others would consider doing the same. Now, when I walk into my office I will be confronted by the joys in my life and will look forward to what the day has to bring. Yay for good stuff!