Not shy

Belle wouldn't leave my arms at last Sunday's birthday party.  I had more fun with Belle's friends than she did.

Movement

I am very pleased.  Ruthia helped me move the maroon love seat to the loft upstairs.  Now I can drink coffee, feed Belle, read books, etc.  The loft itself needs more book and media storage to better organize the room.  That will come.

Leak

Tense moments last Sunday evening when the toilet tank in my water closet drained onto my gas range.  I noticed the water mark on the ceiling above the stove as the pizza baked.  I couldn't react immediately because we had dinner to finish.  The water gushed out into my hands when I investigated the leak after dinner.  I raced downstairs for a pitcher to catch the water and came back to a naked Belle racing toward the toilet with a plunger.  I cleaned up the mess as best I could, already well aware of what I would find downstairs.

This wasn't the first time I'd had trouble with this toilet.  This toilet drained out onto the stove top about as soon as I moved in here.  A plumber resolved the issue:  popsicle sticks in the drain!  I couldn't get over toilet water contaminating the stove.  I went down to Best Buy and swapped out the stove immediately, along with the other major appliances (All LG stainless steel because I wanted them to match!).  The toilet didn't give me any trouble for all these years until last Sunday.  This might be something I can fix myself.  Belle sure looked adorable trying to help.

Language

Belle repeated "baa" during story time.  The doctor had expressed concern because Belle isn't very talkative.  She uses more baby sign language than anything.  Her words otherwise are "mom," "hiya," "buh bye" "mmm," and "stop."  She has really started babbling and repeating words since last Friday.  I even heard a "cock o doodle doo."  I feel she will be more expressive soon.

Resourceful

Today I took advantage of medical services and healthy food being offered at a health and wellness event.  I turned one $2.35 "round trip" bus ticket into a blood pressure/glucose check, one pound each of pinto beans, white rice and whole wheat pasta, a twenty-eight ounce can of spaghetti sauce, two grape juice boxes, four large sweet potatoes, eight apples, eight plums and three bunches of carrots.  I didn't count on Belle waking up with a runny nose, me tearing a hole in the back of my heel when the door hit me after I made change for the bus and a pouring rain storm once we arrived.  I half wondered if it was even worth the trip until I discovered at home the pasta is the very pasta I currently like.  Nicer weather would have been much appreciated still, especially since I'd been caught in flip flops and short sleeves during a storm.  I also would have loved to finally try a bakery in the area if we'd had time.

21 mos check

Belle weighs twenty-three pounds and is in the twenty-fifth percentile for other toddlers her age.  The doctor seemed pleased until she realized we are still breastfeeding.  Breastfeeding has never been seen as a viable means of nutrition for Belle because she didn't visibly "thrive" off it initially.  I literally had to lactate in front of people to prove I had milk and was feeding it.  Even then, it was assumed my milk wasn't nutrient dense based on emotions, environment, etc.  I kept breastfeeding despite being harassed, publicly humiliated and shamed.  The medics thought I was too stupid to get it the hang of breastfeeding and too stupid to admit defeat and give up breastfeeding.  Now Belle is twenty-one months and we are still happily breastfeeding.  The doctor stressed we could continue breastfeeding as long as we are both comfortable with it and Belle is on a growth curve.  Again, I know Belle's doctor doesn't credit breastfeeding with proper growth.  She attributes the high calorie solid food I mixed with oil last year for Belle finally thriving.  This makes me sad.

Feed me

I made white rice to eat with chili for lunch.  Unfortunately, I allowed Belle a sliver of cherry pie as I made the rice.  Sharing the pie killed my appetite for chili.  Now it's after five and I have only eaten a mushy banana, coffee, plain bread and cherry pie.  Belle is asleep and dream feeding in my lap as I type.  I cannot get up to get myself anything to eat.  That bowl of chili I long to eat and that pot of chard I long to make seem so far away.