Save September

September!

Who loves September? I do! I do! Garden produce, the brisk morning air, shorter days...all these things whisper of the season to come, while still maintaining glorious Indian Summer afternoons, warm enough to wear flip flops and T shirts. September smells like freshly sharpened pencils, it sounds like football Sundays, (Mondays...and Thursdays. And Saturdays)  and it looks magnificent -- everything seems to take on a golden hue as we hang on to the tail end of summer.

HOWEVER.  Do you know what September is NOT?  It is NOT Jack-o-lanterns, black cats, sticky window decals of skeletons and witch hats, orange lightbulbs, or ghosts hanging from trees -- these items belong to OCTOBER.  On the Friday of Labor Day weekend, I was taking the girls for a walk (it was still August, mind you) and I noticed one of my neighbors had pulled out their beautiful summer flowers and replaced them with mums.  Sad, I thought.  Those geraniums were doing so well this year.  Well, maybe they just wanted to get a head start on their fall landscaping.  Then I noticed pumpkins and gourds artfully displayed around their carefully manicured shrubbery.  I'm running out of excuses.  Certainly you could have left the pumpkins and gourds for a later weekend? They take what, all of five minutes to arrange? My sympathy ended abruptly when I noticed a 3' tall ceramic, light up jack-o-lantern on their front stoop. Two months before Halloween.  62 days, to be exact. That's like displaying Christmas decorations BEFORE HALLOWEEN.

Don't get me wrong.  I love holidays.  I love having reasons to celebrate!  I think we should celebrate more often.  It's Tuesday and Eric's home from work at 5:30?  Let's go for a walk to celebrate!  However, when we are so quick to look forward to the next holiday to celebrate, I think we take away a little of the magic of the day to day.  What's wrong with just enjoying September for what it is--a beautiful, wholesome, holiday-less month. (Save for Labor day, but there's no flag, bunny, egg, basket, stocking, tree, heart, or light show that signifies Labor Day. booooring!)  I understand that September comes off the heels of August, another holiday-less month, so maybe some of you get antsy.  Maybe your lawns are screaming for some commercialization, some CPC (cheap plastic crap) from China. I feel you. It's exciting to get festive.  But we have to rein it in people.  The geraniums are weeping.  The sunflowers deserve their moment in the sun. The leaves are still green and they should be appreciated hanging high in the sky, because soon enough they will be crunching under our feet as we rake our lawns and dissemble our gardens as the heart of fall settles around us. Before you know it, the sun will set by 6pm and you'll be tucked inside your house eating a big bowl of chili and you'll remember...I have to turn on my ceramic, light up jack-o-lantern!  And you should. Because it's October.

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This is what nine months looks like

It's that time again!  Time to jot down some of the incredible and adorable things baby girl has been up to this month.  Let's start with stats, shall we?  At 18 lbs 2 oz, Grace is weighing in at the 46th percentile, while her height, 2' 4.5," puts her in the 76th percentile, all with a noggin to make her mom proud, in the 70th percentile.  Wonder who she takes after.  This is interesting because she used to be just above average for both height and weight, and now she's just long and kind of lanky, but still chubby. The best.


You know what else she does?  She sleeps!  Like a 6-8 hour stretch.  Amazing.  I feel like a new woman. Dear me, those sleepless nights were brutal.  But we survived! And I can already hear myself telling other new parents, "Oh it goes soo fast! You will make it, I promise! Hang in there!" and I hate myself for them.  I'm sorry, new parents.  For the record, I understand your misery.  Truly I do.  And you will survive.  But give yourself permission to throw a five minute pity party everyday, then dig deep and soldier on.  It's the only way.  But reaaally enjoy those five minutes of pity.  Soon your baby will be big and you will still want to feel sorry for yourself because that's just human nature but you won't have a good reason for it.

The most amazing take-away from month nine is how incredible it is to watch her learn.  For example, she pulls herself up on everything. Constantly. I'll never forget the look on her face when it dawned on her that she could move her feet while standing, and this in turn, would change her position in space.  I literally saw her learn this.  Amazing.  It's like the gears locked into place and BOOM, she was off to master the next new skill.

She learns new things daily, like a little sponge, taking everything in. She started out knowing basically nothing, depending on us and her instincts for survival.  Now she can crawl and clap and squirm...all in nine months time!  You know how I've changed in nine months?  My hair fell out and now it's growing back in.  That's about it.  Anyway, we're taking bets on when she will start walking... Feel free to chime in.  Also taking bets on the Packer's season.

She loves bath time, playing peek-a-boo makes her smile, and if you hide one of her buddies under a blanket she'll rip it off with enviable satisfaction.  She carries on long conversations with her favorite toys (it's lucky I like to listen), grabbing them by the throat and lifting them up above her head, wiggling them back and forth.  So cute.  Sometimes she gets really intense and she shouts and her whole body tenses and she squeezes the little buddy around it's neck and I wonder what kind of therapy I'm going to have to pay for in a few years...? If we're in the car and the toys fall out of her hand, hang on to your *$#@&%^ hat, because she has also learned how to yell. Reminds me of the first three months of her life when a seven minute car ride would cause her to scream bloody murder and made me consider joining Peapod.

She loves toys. Her current fave is a little pink sock monkey.  The other weekend we were at the farmers' market and Grace was hanging out with her grandma while Eric and I walked together, taking in the smells and sounds, enjoying having our hands free for a moment.  That is, until I noticed Eric was absentmindedly holding the pink sock monkey up next to his face, no baby or baby gear in sight.  It's the little things that really humble you as a parent.

Grace likes to sit on the floor and dance a little, wiggling her shoulders back and forth, and we've started this completely inappropriate habit of singing "wiggle wiggle wiggle" to her and then she wiggles back and forth. Just a little bittle. She'll clap her hands really fast and stare at you, and that is your cue to start patty cake.  NOW.  Also she loves to Facetime.  And then push the little red button that ends the Facetime call.  And then cries when the screen goes black. Also, books. Books books books!  I couldn't be happier.

Once again, I find myself humbled and in awe of this perfect little person. I love watching her grow!  I'm particularly struck by how permanent time is.  There's no going backwards. We all know this, but I don't think I realized the weight of it until recently.  For example, I think I'm still young enough that most of the really fun experiences in my life are still somewhat re-creatable.  You know what I mean?  The weekend I graduated from college was soo fun, and I know it wouldn't be exactly the same, but I can get most of those people together in the same place and have a great time. Similarly, Eric and I were blessed to go to Hawaii last year, and while I can't go back all the time, it's an experience I can hopefully have again with a little budgeting and planning.  Babies?  You can't make someone into a baby again.  Try as I might, I can't swaddle Grace and snuggle her to my chest and doze on the couch all afternoon.  Wah. That was fun and sweet and precious and OVER.  And that's the way it goes.

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