Monday, December 12, 2011

Update on Mairead at 17 months old

Words Mairéad can say at 17 months old
1. “Mama”/”Mommy”
2. “Dada”/”Daddy”
3. “bye bye” and closes her hand like she is waving
4. “cat”
5. “Sasha”
6. “Sassy”
7. “baby”
 8. “ah-oh”
 9. “Aunt Samantha”(An Tan-ta)
10. “What’s that?”
11. “pretty”
 12. “duck”

 ****She said the above at 12 months and has added the following since***
13. “quack”
14. “ball”
15. “moo” (for cows)
16. “bunny”
17. “goody”
18. “birdy”
19. “knee”
20. “mouth”
21. “nose”
22. “water”
23. “belly”
 24. “banana” (nana)
25. “cracker”
26. “cookie”
27. “door”
28. “Where’s ____?”
29. “It’s a ____”
30. “rooster”
31. “toe”
32. “noodle” (nu-no)
33. “go”
34. “car”
35. “baa” (for sheep)
36. “neigh” (for horses)
37. “ladybug” (buh)
38. “girl”
39. “puppy”
40. “dog”
41. “blue”
42. “turtle”
43. “whale”
44. “crab”
45. “cold”
46. “roar” (when she sees lions, tigers or other big cats and bears)
47. *hiss* (for snakes)
48. “bubble”
49. *mmm*
 50. “I don’t know” and she shrugs and lifts her hands up to her shoulders palms up
51. “dance” (da)
 52. “money”
53. “nuts” (nuh)
54. “shoe”
55. “bear”
56. “here you go”
57. “Barbie doll”
58. “Barney”
59. “down”
60. “door”
61. “yeah”
62. “no”
63. “mermaid”
64. “boo”
65. “I did it”
66. “yay!”
67. “bee”
68. “eye”
69. “hair”
70. “leg”
71. “foot”
72. “ear”
73. “arm”
74. “floor”
75. “hungry”
76. “thirsty”
77. “soft”
78. “milk”
79. “tiger”
80. “horse”
81. “frog”
82. “outside”
83. “more”
84. “cereal”
85. “Elmo”
86. “toy”
87. “potatoes”
88. “cheese”
89. “birthday”
90. “sock”
91. “I love you” (IU)
92. “hmm”
93. “booger”
94. “kitty”
95. “Po”
96. “paper”
97. “dark”
98. “awesome”
99. “coming”
100. “animal”
101. “Gramma”
102. “broccoli”
103. “glasses”
104. “hotdog”
105. “cell phone”
106. “pants”
107. “tabby”
108. “hat”
109. “happy”
110. “cherry”
111. “meow”
112. “hammer”
113. “clippy”
114. “gold”
115. “chair”
116. “purple”
117. “hole”
118. “ham”
119. “cuppy”
120. “green bean”
121. “lizard”
122. “windy”
123. “so”
124. “very”
125. “sleepy/sleeping”
126. “peas”
127. “pee”
128. “poo”
129. “potty”
130. “what?”
131. “flower”
132. “color”
133. “scary”
134. “fairy”
135. “pizza”
136. “ice cube”
137. “flash light”
138. “yummy”
139. “get me”
140. “getcha”
141. “get you”
142. “tissue”
143. “fuzzy”
144. “deer”
145. “pig”
146. “going”
147. “oh no”
148. “hi”
149. “hair”
150. “ruff-ruff” (the sound that dogs make)
151. “owl”
152. “mouse”
153. “book”
154. “big”
155. “spoon”
156. "Oma"

She also does the following:
Nods “Yes”
Shakes her head “No” and says it
She understands “softly” when you want her to be gentle
She understands “Smack it”
She understands “High Five”
She’ll “wash” her face when I ask her to
She will say whatever I ask her if I ask “Can you say___?”
She’ll take something to someone if you tell her to show so-and-so
She will hand me something if I ask “Can I see the ___?”
She understands me asking her to smile
She can clap on command
Hugs when asked
If you ask her “Do you want to come here?” if she does want to she’ll raise her arms to you
If you ask her to “dance” she will If you tell her to “wiggle” she shimmies her shoulders and moves her hips If you request her to “plop” or “flop” while she is on a soft surface (If on a hard surface she won’t do it, smart girl!) she will throw her whole body onto it
If you say “bonk” (either after she hits herself in the head, or if you want her to) she will tap herself in the head with whatever is nearest.
If you tell her “ouch” while she hits her head, she will laugh and keep doing it
She plays “Where’s Mairéad?” (her equivalent to Peek-a-Boo)
She runs away when you say “I'm going to get you!” (and then she proceeds to say “getchoo” while running away)
She has comic timing
She points to or gestures towards things she wants, or to some place she wants me to take her
She will hand me whatever is in her hand if I ask “Can I see it?”
She can drink from a straw
She can walk by herself and doesn’t ever fall unless she runs
She can point when I ask her to point to something (for instance in a book)
She can find different body parts (ears, eyes, mouth, nose, chin, cheek, hair, hand(s), finger(s), belly, foot, toe(s), leg, arm, butt, knee)
She knows the difference between "Mommy's nose" and "Mairead's nose" (or other body parts, etc. She understands possession)
She pretends to burp her baby doll, she feeds her baby doll, pats her baby doll, etc.
She pretends to eat pretend food (like spooning and “eating” invisible food)
She understands commands like “pick it up” or “put it back” even if she has to put it away in a whole different room.
She’ll kiss by request (if she knows you and is in the mood)
Uses spoon and fork.

I know that I probably have forgotten many more of the things Mairead can say or do, but you get the idea, she is one smart cookie!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The Best Friend I Never Even Had

I’m so stressed out. First of all, Mike lost his job in mid-March and hasn’t even had one interview since. Second, we need to move out on our own as a family BEFORE the wedding, but without a job Mike can’t afford to move. I’ll be getting money when school starts from FAFSA but that is a while off, and I can’t support us on that money. (I CAN support me and Mairéad, but not rent and Mike too)

So those are pressing issues for sure, but what is mainly on my mind is that I lack the friendships to deal with my stress. Yes, I have my mom and I have Mike, but my mom is stressed herself over her own bills and problems, and Mike feels the extreme pressure from all sides, and therefore I can’t really vent to him either. I feel like making new friends is such a huge hurdle to climb. How are you supposed to do it? LOL. I feel like if I randomly ask someone for their number that they’ll think I’m weird or desperate. I feel like asking to “hang out” seems childish, like “do you want to play today?”, and asking someone to lunch would be fabulous, but I lack the funds to be able to. How do adults even start a friendship?!

Not only is it hard to start a friendship, it is even harder to understand how to cultivate it. It seems like an insurmountable obstacle to break into someone’s world. I don’t have many true friendships, and most of those people don’t even live nearby! It seems like all the amazing people I meet that I would love to become better friends with already have their core group of friends. Everyone else seems like they have these little cliques of best friends, people who they can call on in a time of need, but I don’t have that. I don’t have someone to call if I need a shoulder to cry on, and I wish I did. I wish I had friends who needed me and who I could help too. And I can’t imagine how to break into someone’s life and become friends, especially how to become close friends.

By the way, I never have had a “best friend” who considered me theirs too. Having Mairéad didn’t make my friends disappear, they truly never existed to begin with. I do think it is harder now to make non-parent friends because they assume I can’t do anything (I CAN do things, btw, my mom is a very willing babysitter or else Mairéad is portable). I really truly miss having gal-pals to talk to about anything, to complain to, to have fun with, and to be there for. I hate having so many acquaintances who I wish were real friends! Especially I miss having the best friend I never had.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

We're Engaged!

Yesterday, March 2nd 2011, Mike asked me to marry him! This is what happened… Mike and I had dropped off Mairéad at my mom’s house to go to bed at about 8:30. He and I went back to his house where we spent time hanging out before I started getting a little sad. Mike asked me if everything was okay, and I told him no. Well then I started crying and he held me and said it was all right and asked me repeatedly what was wrong. I told him that I didn’t want to tell him, and that I would just sound like a broken record. He said “I think I know why you are sad, but I’d like you to tell me,” and I kept sobbing and wouldn’t look at him. He said, “Is it about getting married?” and I nodded.

Mike held me for a few more seconds and then said, “I know this is a really bad time but I have to go pee,” and I curled up alone while he left. I didn’t hear him go into the bathroom at all, but I was too busy crying to care. Mike returned shortly and he stood at the end of his bed. He asked me to sit up please, but I was being stubborn and I stayed where I was until he pleaded again. I sat up reluctantly and Mike began a speech.

“I love you and Mairéad so much, I love our little family. I am so glad we have what we have. You are so great, I want to thank you for putting up with me all these years. Thank you for waiting so long and being so patient with me. I think I know the answer to this already but,[Mike got down on one knee and revealed a box from behind his back] will you marry me?” I was already cried-out and so instead of the emotional response I thought I would have I just smiled and grabbed his face and said, “You are so wonderful! I love you! Yes, of course I will! [I kissed him over and over] Mike opened the box and revealed my ring, the one I’d found online and I had sent Mike the link in an email with my size (hint hint.
Mike told me to put it on and I asked him to put it on for me, he asked me which way it was meant to be put on, and I told him. (it is a Cladagh ring so the point of the heart is supposed to point to my heart if I am taken) Then I said, “Are you absolutely sure?” Mike said, “yes” I asked him again, “Are you sure? Really sure?” and Mike said, “Yes I am totally sure,”

I hugged and kissed Mike and he had tears in his eyes I think. I was so excited! I pulled Mike toward me and kissed him some more and we held each other. I asked him when he had bought the ring. He told me he bought it sometime last week and had paid extra to rush ship it in two-three days but it hadn’t gotten here. He said that this past week when he had been “working late” or “at the library looking up lyrics” he had actually been trying to talk to the dealers about where the ring was/purchasing the ring. I was surprised by that, I had not caught on, although I did notice he was going to the library a lot. I really didn’t think he was going to bite the bullet and propose! I had doubted that he’d save for my ring and I was so shocked that he had.

I asked Mike why he decided to propose then opposed to at a more romantic moment, and he told me that he couldn’t wait any more, even though he had only had the ring for about two days. I asked him about if he had planned how to pop the question in a different way, and he said he had not really had a plan but that he had planned to do it on St. Patrick’s Day (two days after our anniversary). I told him that I may have been really upset if he had waited to propose until after our three-year-anniversary because I would have been expecting it on that day. I told him it might have worked though, because I would have been caught completely off guard and I probably wouldn’t have “talked to him about my disappointment” until the following weekend.

Mike told me that he had told his mom and his coworkers and even a lady at the bank (who he said didn’t seem happy at all and reacted like he’d told her that he had just had a ham sandwich) and he had even told my Mom! I was shocked that I hadn’t heard anything from her about it.

Mike told me that I wasn’t his girlfriend anymore, that now I am his fiancée and I kissed him and hugged him and squealed in delight. I told him how very excited I am over and over again. I am super excited that now I can start planning a wedding and not feel guilty looking at wedding dresses! Mike took me home about 10:30 because I wanted to get to bed. When we got to my door Mike kissed me and reminded me that I was his “fiancée” now, he sounded proud. We hugged and kissed many times before we parted. I couldn’t stop smiling. It was very fitting that we got engaged on the 2nd of March because Mike and I “met” three years ago on March 1st at a Star Wars Movie Marathon, and he walked me home on the 2nd.

I didn’t know how to break the news to Facebook (Well why does that even matter? Because my friends probably wouldn’t hear it from me otherwise for a while) and I was nervous to say anything. It still seems like a dream, very surreal. But I said “I FINALLY have an announcement to make... Mike and I are engaged! We did everything a tad bit backwards, but that is our love story. We are incredibly blessed!” I wanted to exaggerate the “finally” part because I have so many friends who got engaged after 6 months or less and they said “finally”, but honey, if you had a kid, and waited almost 8 long months after having a child with someone and you have wanted to marry this person for since you had been dating 6 months, then and ONLY then, can you say “finally”! ^_^

On a side note, I was disappointed that my depression brought on the proposal sooner. I had hoped for a big extravagant surprise proposal, and I didn’t get that. I always said that I didn’t care if Mike did it with or without a ring, or if he made it romantic and special or at home cuddled together. Maybe I did care, but Mike told me “maybe we did things backwards, maybe this isn’t a romantic event, but it is us, and it is out love story…” and I LOVE our love story!