To Paisley: Fifteen Months (and nine days) Old

Spring has been a long time coming this year and there have been many times where I thought it was here only to wake up to snow. In a way, the weather has mirrored what has been going on in our house this past month. You have been sick off and on for several weeks and every time I thought it was over it seemed to come back. Maybe it's the time of year or the fact that you see so many kids during a week but you have caught a few colds and a whopper of a bug. You are always so sweet and despite feeling miserable you usually try to be happy. Except for that one week which we will discuss later so as not to poison the entire newsletter.

You are such a big kid now! Your walking is getting faster and steadier every day and you roam further with each outing. You are confident and I let you walk as often as possible. It now takes me a VERY long time to go grocery shopping. I usually let you run free in the freezer section because there aren't any shelves where you can pull things down and you like looking through the big glass doors at all the processed foods you will never have. When people look at you, even a quick glance, you turn on the Paisley charm. It starts with a smile and then a wave. If you get continued eye contact you usually do the shrug and head tilt which elicits "Awwws" from even the stodgiest of characters. If necessary you resort to the babbling and laughing. It's incredible to watch and I would be lying if I hadn't seriously considered setting you up on a corner downtown next to an empty guitar case. Our money worries would be soon over.


You are still teething a lot and if I ever needed another argument against intelligent design (and I don't) it would be this. Having your teeth slowly and agonizingly work their way though your tender flesh before you have either words or the ability so take serious pain killers is a lousy experiment. I'll blame the teething on the fact that you are a bit of, well I'll just say it Paisley, you're a biter. You bit your friend Luke on the arm so hard that it left teeth marks and you try to bite me at least once a day. I even found you in your crib last week biting your own arm and laughing/crying. Very emo.

So, here we will discuss the week that I will be blocking from my memory. Two weeks ago you got sick. I mean puke in your crib, runny nose, miserable and sad sick. The first few days we cuddled and I carried you every where and my heart ached for you because you were obviously feeling lousy. Then all the symptoms went away and you appeared physically better except for the fact that the Paisley I knew and loved had disappeared along with the runny nose. What was left in her place was a whiny, needy, grouchy, angry little girl who needed attention at every waking minute. I am very proud that through the entire week this little monster was around, I never lost my cool. Not once. I was patient and kind and soft spoken. But I did break a tooth from all the grinding I did in trying to stay so cool. I was just starting to worry that this girl might be here to stay when poof! I woke up one morning and you were back. Rainbows, kittens and sunshine...and I was never happier to see you.


I have a lesson to pass on to you Paisley and I want you to pay close attention to what I am saying. I myself have had to learn this lesson the hard way, not once, not twice but several times in my life. Never, ever, under any circumstances, bleach your hair. It won't end well I can assure you. If ever something is bad enough that you think bleach will fix it, seek professional help. If ever you think, "Oh, I'll just start over with a blank canvas. Strip all the colour from my delicate, porous hair and it will be perfect..." it won't be. IT WON'T BE. What will happen is that your hair will turn all kinds of shades of pumpkin and then you will apply what is supposed to be a warm chocolate brown only it will be 100 shades of something ranging from green to black. Then your hairdresser will try to compensate for this by cutting your hair into some rocker-chick mop that will make you go home and cry because now you are a 31 year old stay-at-home-Mom who looks like a 45 year old cougar-mom. Ahem...now back to you you.

You have started talking this month and while I would love to say your first word was "Mama" it wasn't. It was "Uh Oh" (does that count as a word?) You say Mama and you know it but I think you don't really have a reason to use it because I am always there. Right there, in your face. Hugging you and kissing you and stroking your hair. I must be so annoying.


We celebrated Easter this month. When I was a child Easter meant a lot of church and then chocolate. Since we don't go to church it will probably mean family, ham, chocolate and easter eggs. Not too shabby. We went to see your Raymond family first and dyed eggs and then drove out to the coulees to roll them down a hill. There was more throwing than rolling but it was fun and a new experience for me which is the great thing about marriage. You get a whole new set of traditions. My Mom and Dad had just gotten back from South America so we had easter a second time a week later. You are a very lucky girl to have so many wonderful people to share your life with. And did I mention there was ham?


No matter how sick and whiny you get or how tired I become I have to be honest and say that it never really gets old. You are such a sweet and good-natured person that your good side always manages to shine through. Even if its covered in snot by the time you actually see it.


Love,
Mama