Book tag

I've been tagged! What a great game. I don't even mind being "it." Thanks, Rebecca. Here are the rules:

1. Find the nearest book to you.


2. Name the book and author.


3. Turn to page 123.


4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.


5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.


6. Tag someone else.

Here goes, then.

From Every Living Thing, by James Herriot:

"This is a condition that often affects neutered toms like your Peter. I'll be able to clear it up with a hormone injection and a course of tablets." Peter didn't stop purring as I inserted the needle under his skin — he was a cat who appreciated any kind of attention — but I noticed that his owners looked a little uneasy.

I love the Herriot books! And I found out a few years ago that my friend Andi actually met their author. Very cool.

Tag, Sarah — you're it!

Toadlet

I love Sarah's new hat. And the matching little shoes, which unfortunately didn't make it in the picture. That said...she does bear a striking resemblance to the Super Mario Bros character Toad.

Cute little Toadlet! She's a month old now and starting to be more alert. She's blissfully happy lying on her blanket and watching all the activity around her. She'll squawk if she's hungry or she needs a diaper change, but most of the time she just pays rapt attention to whatever is within range: the ducks and mirror above her swing, Beth trying to push a binky in her mouth, me rubbing noses with her.

We threw Sarah a tiny family one-month birthday party on Sunday. I made cupcakes, which Beth helped me decorate with purple frosting and green sprinkles. Beth had a ball: I'd finish frosting a cupcake, then she'd dump sprinkles on top. Any sprinkles that landed on the kitchen counter were fair game for her to stick her wet little fingers in and lick off. Beth also made Sarah a birthday card. And we sang to her. And then the three of us who can eat solid food enjoyed the cupcakes, and Beth freaked out because the frosting got all over her fingers, and then she kind of got into the groove of having cupcake everywhere, and she started to enjoy herself. Since the birthday girl slept through the whole thing, I'm glad her big sister could have a good time for her.

Sticky situation?

Scott sent me the superhero dating quiz from comicvine.com, so it's with his blessing (or at least it's his fault) that I can say I'm apparently compatible with Spider-Man. Now, if only I made a better redhead...that henna experiment in college turned out pretty badly.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Jealousy

The big scaly green-eyed monster reared its hideous head today. I guess it was inevitable, but it's come at the end of such a long and surreal week that I really wasn't sure what to do about it. The grandmas are gone, I still can't drive, and we've had single-digit temperatures all week, so leaving the house and getting a change of scenery hasn't been an option. It's starting to take a toll on the toddler and her mommy. Sarah, of course, is blissfully unaware of any of this.

Beth isn't a princess — at all — she would far rather get her own sippy cup from the fridge than have us bring it to her, and she loves being in the middle of doing things, "helping" Scott and me as we cook and straighten up the house and check our e-mail. And until recently she's been such a good helper with Sarah that I've gotten scarily dependent on it. ("Bethie, we need to change baby Sarah's diaper. Can you bring me one of her tiny diapers? Wow, thanks! What a helper you are.")

Within a few days this cabin-feverish week she's gone from beaming at the praise to saying "No!" when I ask her to bring over the baby wipes or (gasp!) throw away a baby diaper. I haven't made a big deal about it at all — it's my job, not hers, and we both know it. And I've tried to give her lots of extra hugs and kisses and (her favorite, favorite thing) reading time. I think we've read Where's My Teddy? about two dozen times this week. But bit by bit the little jealous creepies are taking hold of her. After her nap today (granted, not her best time of day) when we were sitting and talking and Sarah woke up hungry, and I asked, "Bethie, should we take baby Sarah downstairs with us?" and her answer was a defiant and hurt "Nooooo!" — I just didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave Sarah crying forever, and distracting Beth with promises of snacks and apple juice wasn't working, so I ended up going downstairs to change and nurse the Small One, with Beth sitting pitifully on the top stair crying and saying, "No, no, Mama, no, no, baby Sarah, no, no" over and over.

I feel like such a heel. Beth loves sitting on the top stair and talking with me. Of course I've been second-guessing everything: Why didn't I just nurse Sarah there? Why didn't I try some other form of distracting her, like having her bring Bo the transgender teddy bear downstairs for a stroller ride? We've both been a teary mess today at some point or another (Sarah, amazingly, has had a terrific day). I guess we're both jealous: Beth wants her mommy back, and her mommy wants to be back. Somehow we're going to have to figure this out.

(Oh, and kudos to Margaret for pointing out that there's a feminine precedent for the name Bo — Bo Derek, of course — so we won't have to rechristen the bear. Huge relief.)

Pat-a-cake

Bethie is learning clapping games! We've tried them a few times, but this week they caught her attention and she's been having a ball. Scott taught her "Pease porridge hot" and "Pat-a-cake," and tonight after prayers, completely unprompted, she started playing pat-a-cake with her teddy bear. Right after the "amen," she started into "pa-cake, pa-cake" and clapped Bo's hands together. After she got to "trow in oven baby and me" she clapped the bear's hands again and said, "Yay Bo!"

Bo, by the way, is undergoing some gender confusion. He started out as a boy bear (Scott, who's in charge of naming stuffed animals around here, named him Beauregarde Q. Bear) and we did just fine in that vein...until a package arrived today from the girls' aunts. Meg and Gigi had found, among other adorable things, matching dresses for a toddler and her doll. Since the doll belonging to the toddler in question is much too small for the dress, it got transferred to Bo — who, by the way, looks just adorable in it.

Maybe a girl needs a bear who'll play tea parties with her, instead of one who'll hide out in the garage talking about table saws with his buddies.