Zoralee's 3-month Interview (+ other ramblings)

In this expression-all interview, Zoralee lets us in on her innermost feelings regarding life on planet Earth after three months. If you think Dave Letterman's interview with Joaquin Phoenix a few weeks ago was something, watch this.

A cute irony about Zor is that she sleeps the very best when there's the hum of a crowd, yet in normal everyday rooms where there are one or two people present, she'll startle in the middle of a sentence. The middle. Here are a couple things about parenting Zor.

We're discovering with increasing intensity that often mommies and daddies have different ideas of how things with the kids should be handled. Example: if I hear Zoralee waking from a nap, and there's a chance it's a premature wakeup, I'll sneak in real quiet and wind up her swing to see if maybe she'll drift off again. What Jason likes to do is run in wearing neon clothing, carrying a spot light and sounding off a foghorn. He'll ask Zor through a megaphone how she's doing. If he surmises that she is still sleepy, he'll put her back to sleep. Otherwise, wonder of wonder - she wants to get up!

This week has been by far our most successful week on the EC front. Zor has peed in the potty numerous times and even pooed three or four times. Though I was reluctant to try ECing in the middle of the night (because I'm the most tired, and it seemed like a real chore), that has been one of our better times. If she wakes up fussing and has a dry diaper, I immediately take her to the potty and give her the cue word. When Jason hears her tinkling in the pot, he comes out of his deep slumber to utter a disbelieving "Nuh-UH!" and then promptly falls back asleep. Today, he took her to the potty with success. Folks. I am not putting you on. We are as astonished by this as the next guy who lives in an industrialized country. It's freaking cool.

And to end on a sweet note - sometimes when I'm nursing Zor, especially if we're lying side by side, I feel the most comfortable I've maybe ever felt, the most fulfilled, and it seems that being a mom is the luckiest endeavor one can fall into.

textures

Blue Lady teaapplesauce made from a bag of apples that weren't crisp enough to eat plainrock art that Jason found on the ground down town
(that last phrase sure is like a rap)
The flour on our countertop was the closest thing to sand the lizard could find.

shredded soap for homemade laundry detergent

(thanks to Elisha, Shelsea, and Holly for the recipe tips - you gals are inspiring!)

the 5 gallons of detergent that the recipe makes,

which winds up costing you 1 cent per load (!!)
By the way, if you want to make this, I highly recommend purchasing one of these wooden-handled, metal-wired ladle doo-lollies at a thrift store several months before you hear about making laundry detergent, though you're not sure at that point what you'll use the tool for. Crud, it's only 50 cents. You'll use it for breaking up the gel that the detergent forms into overnight. It's wacky stuff, y'all.

the blog of my leetle seester

Rachel has begun writing on her blog! I think some of you readers might enjoy it. She and Cameron just returned from a short trip to Spain and Germany, and she has photos and stories from those places. Do leave her a comment to encourage her on this new venture of self-expression. Not that she has ever had a problem with that. But she has had a problem with blogging. And now she doesn't.

http://theclearscamandrach.blogspot.com/

Lent

But for a couple of times, I have only given mild head nods to Lent. I read on Tamie's blog that she has given up "being right" for Lent - the need to come away from a conversation or encounter having proven her rightness, whatever the topic. If you want to read that particular post, go to her blog and scroll down to the entry for February 26th. Also, check out people's comments. (I hate to post the link to just that post, because you'll want to read her other posts too!)

I think I'm going to give up "self-imposed guilt that is incongruous with health." I know that's a mouthful; there must be a word that sums it up better. Maybe some guilt is healthy motivation. Not sure about that one. But a lot of it is simply paralyzing, causes anxiety, and does nothing to move you forward. I would say I'm giving up others'-imposed guilt too, but really, that kind of guilt has to go through the filter of my acceptance, making it self-imposed too. Right?

What things are any of you letting go of/have you let go of for Lent or for any short period of time, just to see how you like it?