It hurts my heart to talk about daycare right now so I won't post too much about it. Luckily, LJ won't have to go full time which is a comfort to me, but the vision of her crying for two straight hours on Friday will live with me for quite a while. I texted a good friend last night for comfort as today is Louisa's first full day (7:45 until 3, not that bad, right?!) and she assured me things would be okay. When I was little, I had a hard time with daycare, mainly because I wanted to be with my mom constantly. But I think Louisa will fare much better than I did. She is much more confident and outgoing and lacks the shyness that defined my character as a little girl. We've debated about where to send her, nanny share or not, etc., but every time we go to the place we finally chose, we are reassured. It is too far of a drive for my taste so we may not stay for long, but two things are preventing me from changing: (1) I don't want Louisa to have to readjust over and over again. I HATE when people say kids are resilient. It is not a comfort to me. I am empathetic to a fault and therefore have a hard time dismissing Louisa's fear or sadness or confusion; (2) They have a great playground and have splash days in the summer. My ultimate goal is to have Louisa outside as much as possible. I feel like this place really emphasizes good, outdoor play.
This past weekend, the weather was beautiful. We spent some time in our backyard, even letting the girls enjoy the sun. The problem is they are stealthy escape artists. Because of this, Amos and I spent a lot of time blocking gapes in our fence that are large enough for well-fed kitties. We cleaned up some of the dead leaves and made action plans for our garden. While we did this, Louisa groomed the cats.
And brought various toys outside. She would say, "Be right back" and disappear into the house only to return a few minutes later with a new toy. The best is when she came out with her cowgirl hat.
That evening was the Oscars. The stars aligned and, for the first time in our friendship, Cristina and I watched the Oscars together. They start incredibly late here! 8:30! But we made it until the end. For the past week I was very diligent about watching as many movies as possible. Gone are the days when I had seen all documentaries, foreign films, best picture nominees, etc. But I lived in Uptown, was single and had a good friend, Chad, who was a movie buff like me. It feels like we lived at the Lagoon those years. Anyway, the Live Action Shorts is one of my favorite categories and I would HIGHLY suggest watching them. The French short is the best no matter what the Academy says. The winner was great too. But fast forward through the Spanish one. Seriously.
I also tried to watch as many of the documentaries and foreign films as time would allow. Broken Circle Breakdown is great: great music, sweet story, but probably should not be watched by mothers of daughters. It may have been too much for me. Cutie and Boxer was also sweet and an antidote to the heartache I felt after finishing BCB. And 20 Feet From Stardom was a great narrative of women in the 60s.
It snowed heavily Sunday night which resulted in another snow day for me on Monday. Amos also didn't have to go in for his job so we had a fun family day of sledding. The temperature gradually declined from 30s to teens over the morning, so we trekked out to the wild tundra by 10am. And I have to say, it was quite cold. Usually I think people are a little soft out here, but the wind was bitter and the snow was blowing. It was one of those days where it's hard to keep your eyes open when you walk outside.
Finally, yesterday was Pancake Day, a day we would look forward to in England for weeks and actually practice for as well. Amos lived in England for a short time during his youth but never got to experience the cuisine or traditions there (he's never even had a real English fry up! Or brown sauce!). So I have tried to introduce him to these traditions that were so important to my household in England.
For the pancakes, I made my great-grandmother's German pancake recipe. Because of Amos's dietary restrictions, I have to Americanize all the traditional European dishes from my family (no frying pancakes in bacon grease... sigh), but the pancakes were still acceptable. Louisa loved them and particularly loved the spicy chicken sausage. Because I can't have a meal without a green (thanks for the lesson, Mom!), we had some mangetout peas and grapes. Good times.
This weekend we will hopefully have a New Ulm visitor and will have lunch with LJ's favorite people, Tony and Sarah. Then next weekend we are going to West Virginia for an early birthday celebration with my main peeps, Sarah, Tony and Xtina. Louisa will probably explode with happiness, particularly given that, since our evening with Cristina on Sunday, every night Louisa asks to cuddle with her.
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