Bits and Pieces

Projects
Remember that big mystery project I referred to a while back?

Well, it's still kind of in limbo. We've gotten a couple of pieces of good things-falling-into-place type news, one financial and one otherwise, but the big financial question is still pending.

Also pending is the question of whether or not to move forward with the project at all, which might well depend on the answer we get to that financial question.

But, a whole new, different, unrelated, but I suppose possibly sort of semi-related and perhaps complimentary, project has arisen, and it looks like we are going to be moving forward with it. I will blog about that when it's a little more solid, as well.

Mojo - financial and other - for both things is greatly appreciated.


And, So, It Begins
Over the weekend, I bought these, because Peeper saw the box on the shelf and said, "Panda!" (daah-duh). I said, "You like that? Okay, we'll get it!" and then, as I put it in the cart, I thought, "Oh, crap."

Body Talk

Peeper's started noticing my various bodily oddities, and asking questions about them. Lovely.

First, she discovered a small (ew) skin tag that's below my breast. She touched it, then she touched my nipple, and signed "milk" with a "question" on her face.

"No, that's not another goody that I've been hiding from you all this time. It's called a skin tag."

Then, she said, "Roar!" and made her sign for "big cat."

So, now we call them (when we must speak of them) "skin tigers."

Right after that, she looked at with a concerned and questioning expression, and signed "hurt" then touched a stretch mark.

I assured her that, "No, honey, it doesn't hurt," and she went back to nursing.

I don't know which to be more impressed with - that she has the concept that someone else could be hurt, or that she looked at a mark on my skin that's unlike anything she's ever experienced personally , and thought "Wow, that must hurt." 

Health Report

I don't think I mentioned it, but the cold that Peeper had last week went right to her ears. A couple of days ago, she was in my lap, nursing and chatting, and she signed "hurt." 

I asked, "Do you have something that hurts? What hurts?" and she reached up and very deliberately stuck her finger in my ear.

"Does your ear hurt?" I asked, and she pulled on her ear.

I asked, "How about the other one?"  and touched it, "Does it hurt, or is it happy?"

If I remember correctly, she shook her head, "No," and pulled on the first ear again.

So, I explained that she'd just taken antibiotics, which are helping to make her ears well, and Motrin, which will help them to not hurt for a while, but I could also put drops in her ear, that would make it stop hurting right away.

She lay still and let me put them in with no problem!

Speedy Delivery

Peeper's gotten very good at taking things and putting them where we tell her to. She can quite consistently "Take this in your room and put it in the hamper," from another room, or "Take the laundry basket to (your room, the bedroom, the laundry room, etc)."

I can even hand her some dishtowels in the bedroom and tell her to put them in the dishtowel drawer, and a few minutes later, I'll find her in the kitchen, trying to open the (babyproofed) drawer.

Fetch

She can also go get things, when instructed to do so. Several times lately, she's been able to "go get the Boppy out of the living room and meet me at our chair for goody."

As I was typing this, Shrike asked me where her hat was, because Peeper was telling her to wear it. (Yeah, she does that. We comply.) I said, "It's in her room, in the toy boxes under the changing table."

By the time Shrike got there from the other end of the house where they'd been playing, Peeper had already found the hat.

Shrike was amazed that she knew "changing table," but several times a day, I tell her to get the sling and meet me there, for a BabyJ diaper change.

Helper

Peeper has been very helpful with BabyJ, and always wants to watch and help when she's having her diaper changed. My routine now is to put Peeper in the ring sling, so she's up high and can see what's happening on the changing table, and I still have a hand-and-a-half to work with.

She squirts the water on the wipe (We're using our cloth wipes for BabyJ, too.) grabs me a new diaper (She's still in tiny disposables, but we'll probably put Peeper's cloth on her when she gets enough booty to fill them up - and enough thighs to keep the pee-pee from just falling right out the leg holes!), and holds her socks while I'm doing the clean up, then "gets them ready to put back on" by opening them up and handing them to me.

Refill

Peeper often nurses while I give BabyJ a bottle, which is nice, in that I know where she is and what she's up to, but on the other hand - well, she's on my other hand!

She usually nurses for a while, then grabs BabyJ's bottle away and plays with it for a while. Which is sort of okay, if BabyJ's not real hungry, but very not okay when she is.

A couple of times, she's grinned, and held the bottle nipple right up to my nipple. I'm not sure if she's trying to refill it from the tap, or refill my goody from the bottle.

I assume the former, since she's been seeing me pump (and, now, hand express - it's working better than the

pump!).

Oh, I never did tell the whole story on the photo of her "pumping" the other day:

She saw the pump parts sitting on the counter, and grunted at them until I gave her one. First she tried to put it on me. She told me to pull up my shirt, then open my bra. She put the pump on me for a second, then latched on.

It was an elaborate ruse!

Then I suggested she use it, and she did it repeatedly - pulling up her shirt and everything.

Tattle Tail

A few nights ago, Peeper and I were passing through the living room, when she suddenly started signing and saying "dog" and pointing out the window.

Sure enough, BigGaloot was standing in the middle of the front yard.

Look at Me When I'm Talking to You!

Peeper has evidently realized that if we're not looking at her, we can't see her sign, so when she wants to tell us something, she grabs our faces and turns them toward her. Not necessarily gently. 

I am trying to teach her to say "Mama" or "Mommy" to get our attention, rather than manhandling us like that, but it's not really working yet. 

It's kind of annoying, but on the other hand, I'm kind of impressed that she gets that we have to be looking at her to see what she's signing.