Back on the horse

Thanks to a wonderful friend who gently reminded me how important writing is to one's well being (or at least THIS one's well being) and then of my failure to post ANYTHING after publicly vowing to post twice a week, I am back on the blog writing horse...thank you Brett...

SO, here I am, sleepy, behind in work and recently cleansed of my poo bath from earlier this morning (Nora's, not mine) and attempting to write something coherent.

I wanted to post a video of Nora anyway, so I'll just start out with this for my first real blog entry: I think my child is the coolest kid in the world.

I don't mean to say this in the competitive, my-kid-walked-and-talked-before-your-kid-and-will-make-it-into-the-best-ivy-league-school-because-of-all-the-mind-building-activities-games-and videos-I-do-obsessively-with-my-kid-in-the-hopes-that-she-will-spontaneously-be-multilingual-and-doing-advanced-calculus-by-the-time-she-is-3 way. Because, let's face it, while I do try to speak to her in Spanish as often as possible, I'm as guilty as the next of plopping Nora down in her 'pack-n-scream' to scream or in front of her pile of books or (gasp) even in front of the evil, evil TV with Baby Signing Time blasting out while I finish something.

Nor do I mean it in the blind, my-kid-is-the-most-beautiful-and-best-child-in-the-world-just-because-she-is-my-kid-and-I'd-say-this-even-if-she-had-18-eyeballs-plastered-all-over-her-body-and-smelled-like-doggie-doo-all-the-time way that parents tend to look at their children. I'm pretty sure I'll never be one of those parents who just always thinks her kids are beautiful, regardless. I mean, I always love whatever kids I have and I know they'll all be beautiful in their own way, but as mean as it sounds, I just can't fool myself into thinking something that isn't. Granted, I do think that Nora is adorable, most of the time. There are definitely moments where I look at Nora and think, "Oh dear, this is not one of your pretty moments."

But I guess what I mean is that I truly enjoy being around Nora - not because she is my offspring, but because she's just fun and creative and smart and has such a pleasant (again, most of the time) disposition. There was definitely a time, right around 3 months, that I did NOT enjoy her...but luckily that passed and as she's gotten older, she continues to amaze me with her flexibility, fearlessness, love of people and kindness. Thank you, Nick, for giving her many of those qualities...

Now, she certainly has a "Kristin-streak"...she's persistent, stubborn and strong-willed. She likes things her way. But I think that's ok, because unlike her mother, she truly seems to enjoy and crave being around other people and plays well with them, especially for an 11-month-old.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm excited to see how she changes and grows and to see what kind of person she'll become. There's so much pressure on a parents to help her grow up in the "right" way, so it's nice when she starts out with good blocks with which to build.

So there're my thoughts for today...and I end this with a video of Nora and Mori - best friends - although, I can't understand how Mori puts up with the abuse!!