penelope and bumblebee

Good grammar costs nothing.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Meme for a Winter's Day

Well, I guess I can’t ignore, refute, pretend or deny it any longer: Winter is here.

To wit – it is snowing right now, this very minute, and I am cold. Bah.

Even tho I hate winter, I already have a cute story about it; the other night, I took Bee grocery shopping. It was not snowing when we went into Loblaws, but low and behold, thick, heavy, chunky flakes were coming down as we were leaving an hour later.

(By the way, if any of you manage to do your grocery shopping in less than an hour, please let me know how. I am never ever in the grocery store for less than that, and often, for far longer.)

Anyway, Bee hasn’t really seen snow yet – at least, snow that she was aware of. Last year’s infancy snow doesn’t count. So, we leave Loblaws, and Bee is enthralled. Wide eyed and speechless, she is hurried into her carseat and out of the cold, but her gaze never waivers from the falling snow. She is silent as I load the groceries into the hatch; watching. I get in and start the car.

“What do you see, love?” I ask. She thinks about it for a moment.

“Bubbo!”

Bubbles. Bee thinks that the snowflakes are bubbles.

My heart near about bursts, but I am able to drive home.

Sigh. Ok, enough of the sentimentality. Moving on, I have been tagged by Metro Mama and Cakes for a fun mother/daughter meme.

So, without further ado, I give you:

Five things you did not know about Penelope:

1. Publicly, I shun, chastize and greatly dislike McDonald’s. If asked, I will tell you that I have not eaten anything from McDonald’s in over 15 years. But the truth is, I ate a mcchicken when I was pregnant (ok, fine, it was two. I ate two mcchickens in one sitting). I couldn’t help it. And it was delicious. Don’t tell, and can you give me a hand, please? I’m having a bit of difficulty getting back up on my soapbox.

2. I have dual citizenship. Mom’s Canadian, Dad’s American. I hold two passports, and I’m pretty sure Chris only married me for the green card.

3. I have many little quirks, but some of my most endearing include stirring my coffee 40 times and being completely intolerant of crumbs. I have shoved many a plate under my husband’s errant pb&j sandwiches. That said, my house is usually a mess.

4. I write poetry. In fact, I came as close to majoring in poetry as you can in university. I will spare you my gifts and never make you read any here.

5. My first job (besides babysitting) was at Bi-Way when I was 14. Remember Bi-Way? My mother, who had 4 children to clothe, shopped there quite a bit, and helped get me the job. I made $4.25/hour and was responsible for wearing an ugly smock and folding cheap ugly clothes on big metal bin/tables. My nose and throat were constantly full of dust and lint. During the two months that I worked there, Downtown Train by Rod Stewart was big on A/C radio. I hate that song so much.

Five things you did not know about Bee:

1. She has a mullet. It is an all-natural baby mullet, but still. Oh, and the bangs grow longer in 3 places, but the sides just won’t catch up. I try to put clips in her hair, but she tries to eat them. I am too superstitious to cut her hair before at least age 2.

2. She has very, very, long fingers. Since the day she was born she has had crazy long, graceful fingers, and everybody tries to take credit for them. If you ask my mom, they are her grandmother’s hands. If you ask Chris’ grandmother, they are her hands. I must be a horrible mother, because I did not think about her long fingers until others pointed them out. Also, despite everybody’s insistence that her long fingers would make her an automatic virtuoso, I’m not getting a piano.

3. Bee is a tiny peanut of a baby (toddler). At almost 19 months, she weighs a whopping 19lbs. I don’t know how tall she is. She has friends younger than her that outweigh her by a good 10 lbs. At this rate, she won’t be out of a car seat until she is 15.

4. She hates the bath right now – like kicking, screaming, crying, major trauma hates it. This seems like more than just not wanting a bath, so we have backed off. We make do with sponge baths and less than regular hair washing right now, until we sense that her mood or fear or whatever, has changed. So, my kid is a bit of a smelly ragamuffin these days.

5. Bee runs after the cat, arms outstretched, yelling ‘Up! Up! Up!” We are not sure if she wants to pick Miko up, or if she wants Miko to pick her up. Either way, the cat’s not into it.


Now, who’s secrets do I want to know? How about the lovely Cinnamon Gurl, and her little man, Swee’pea. Her baby just started sleeping once in a while, so she should have oodles of time these days. Tag, sister, you’re it.

p.s. If you're cold, Sandra's new post at MommyBlogs Toronto is sure to warm you right up.

28 Comments:

  • At 3:16 PM, Blogger cinnamon gurl said…

    Ha! Apparently Swee'pea's Saturday night sleep was not the beginning of a grand adventure but a one-tine deal... the last few nights he hasn't gone to sleep until 11. But he is taking more naps in our bed, so that's a treat.

    I did once make a trip to the grocery store in under an hour but without the baby and I pushed the cart to new speeds, I'm sure.

    I'll get to work on the meme shortly...

     
  • At 3:22 PM, Blogger cinnamon gurl said…

    PS Have you tried getting in the bath with her? You probably have, but just thought I'd mention it. Swee'pea was a bit stinky when he hated the bath. It's so hard... I had no idea it could happen at later ages... ugh! I feel for you.

     
  • At 3:41 PM, Blogger metro mama said…

    I didn't know you wrote poetry!

    And the McChicken(s)! I'm shocked.

    Have you tried taking Bee in the shower with you?

     
  • At 4:40 PM, Blogger karengreeners said…

    mm - sad but true. it's historically more of the spoken-word, fuck the man variety, but motherhood has made me soft.

    as for the bathing together; yes, we've tried it. in fact, i have nursed bee in the bath while chris washed her, but all the while her little throat was hitching with repressed sobs and it was still pretty bad. haven't tried the shower... she may tolerate that.

     
  • At 6:49 PM, Blogger Girlplustwo said…

    all natural baby mullet...that one made me chortle. yep. chortle.

     
  • At 8:45 PM, Blogger cinnamon gurl said…

    Poor girl! I posted the meme at my place... thanks for tagging me!

     
  • At 1:53 AM, Blogger Lady M said…

    Don't worry, once she gets her driver's license, she'll be allowed to sit in the front seat, even if the child safety laws keep changing to require car seats for longer and longer!

     
  • At 8:26 AM, Blogger Beck said…

    I have a tiny little peanut who has finally cracked the 20 pound mark at 19 months - but her doctor decided to make a big deal out of it, so she's been seeing a pediatrician for her weight for the past year!
    What's the superstition about cutting hair before 2?

     
  • At 11:40 AM, Blogger Mad said…

    I loved the BiWay. I miss the BiWay. Mmmm BiWay mixed nuts at Christmas--a childhood staple.

    I have not eaten at McDonalds in something like 19 years unless you count the morning sickness French fries. Oh the lovely, salty, beef-tallow-cured McDonalds French fries. This pregnant vegetarian needed them more than she needed oxygen.

    I might have to tag myself with this meme next week as a happy way to get out of my social justice funk. If anyone out there is reading this, feel free to tag me with this as of Monday.

     
  • At 12:00 PM, Blogger karengreeners said…

    Mad - I didn't want to seem greedy and exceed the one-tag precedent, but yes, do it! consider yourself IT!

     
  • At 2:23 PM, Blogger lisalou said…

    Was that 'Loblaws by the sea by any chance'?

    Also, the bit about the cats almost made me pee my pants!

     
  • At 2:33 PM, Blogger Mad said…

    Yipee!

     
  • At 2:36 PM, Blogger karengreeners said…

    oh, lisa - how i miss loblaws by the sea. alas, it is slightly out of our neighbourhood now. these days i have to settle for loblaws by the water filtration plant.

     
  • At 11:33 PM, Blogger Mom101 said…

    Fear not, Thalia is 17 months and maybe has a pound on your girl. Last we checked, she was in like the 90th percentile for height and the 10th for weight.

    I love the bubble story! I can't wait to see how T reacts to the first snow fall. Cold we got. Snow we don't.

     
  • At 3:04 PM, Blogger Mouse said…

    I love first snow! Even more, I love the way her mind worked to turn it into something she knows.

     
  • At 11:46 AM, Blogger Chicky Chicky Baby said…

    I am also intolerant of crumbs and unfortunately I seem to be passing on this obsessive disorder to my daughter. Poor girl. And she's a peanut, too. Our girls will grow up skinny. There are certainly worse ways to grow up!

     
  • At 1:35 PM, Blogger Her Bad Mother said…

    WonderBaby has, like me, crazy long fingers. And crazy long toes. Spider monkey toes. She could roll cigarettes with those toes. She won't, but still.

     
  • At 3:41 PM, Blogger Run ANC said…

    Snow-bubbles! I love it!! I, too, have an unatural dislike for McDonald's, despite liking most other fast food joints. However, I like the fries and the caramel/peanut sundae, so I'm no example of good behaviour.

     
  • At 5:08 PM, Blogger Bea said…

    Here's how you grocery shop in under an hour: drop by on the way home from somewhere, and use the basket instead of the cart. Grab random items (milk, carrot muffins with cream cheese icing, coffee, bananas, 3 Aero bars for 99 cents). Repeat daily (ay, there's the rub!).

     
  • At 6:36 PM, Blogger petite gourmand said…

    hilarious.
    I totally forgot about BiWay.
    and who can blame you..mmmMc Chicken...
    said from my soapbox too.

    lulu is 19 months and only 20lbs too.
    but that's only because I have her on a no carb diet.
    kidding.

     
  • At 8:08 PM, Blogger ewe are here said…

    Great lists.

    We went through a couple of weeks of 'bath torture' a few months ago when MF was about 16 months old. I bought him some new bath toys - animals to stick to the sides of the bath - and a few other odds and ends. It seemed to do the trick.

    Pianos do take up a lot of room; how about tin whistles? ;-)

     
  • At 8:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    My heart would have been close to bursting too. Bubbos. That's so cute.

    I love your list -- Number one had me laughing out loud. I used to work at McD's; I ate there quite a bit (had to take advantage of Ronald's 50% staff discount), but never in my life has a McChicken tasted so good than it did when I was pregnant.

    Re: number 3 -- do you count while you're stirring your coffee? Does it have to be 40?

    Re: number 4 -- I'd love to read some of your poetry.

    Re: number 5 -- Half of my childhood wardrobe was from BiWay. *sigh*

     
  • At 9:16 PM, Blogger karengreeners said…

    Beck - I'm Jewish. We have a superstition regarding pretty much everything.

    MamaT - yep, I count. 40 times. I know it sounds a bit psycho, but it was born of efficiency and meticulousness - it takes 40 stirs for hot chocolate to dissolve. It just stuck, and now I stir my hot beverages 40 times each. see, not psycho at all.

     
  • At 12:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    hey, i WANT to read the poetry.

     
  • At 5:50 PM, Blogger ms blue said…

    Both my girls rocked the baby mullet. Of course Buttercup still does.

    Bring on the poetry!

    Crumbs do suck.

    There is something sinfully addictive about McDonald's.

     
  • At 10:58 PM, Blogger moplans said…

    There is something about McDonalds when you are pregnant. Its not your fault. It cannot be controlled. I knew I was pregnant again when i stopped to pick up and egg mcmuffin one morning. I hadn't eaten that crap since the last pregnancy.
    Such a cute story about bee and the snow.

     
  • At 12:41 AM, Blogger crazymumma said…

    My littlest one is so under the normal height and weight thing as well. The first snow. That is so much fun....she is going to squeal with delight when she makes her first snowball (don't forget to put it in the freezer for July....)

     
  • At 10:32 PM, Blogger nancy said…

    Re # 3. I have the fattest baby EVER. The Alien is about 10.5 months old, and weighs 28 pounds!!! She still rides backwards, natch, but we had to car seats forever ago.

     

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