Little Stinker

Tonight was so cute that we almost died. More pictures to come later. Right now there is a sickly amount of candy corn to be consumed. Happy Halloween, friends!

The Hardest Part of Parenting

I was very prepared for our trip to Mexico with Bella. Knowing that we probably wouldn't be able buy anything once we arrived, I made sure we brought EVERYTHING: diapers, swim diapers, sunscreen, baby acetaminophen, pack n' play sheet, organic milk in a juice box for the two nights we would be leaving Bella with her grandparents, white noise machine, swim floaties...the list went on and on. I even went so far as to purchase Bella international travel medical insurance for the week we were gone. We would have made the Boy Scouts of America proud with our preparation.

What we weren't prepared for was the stray cat that curled up under my chair at lunch one day, unbeknownst to either Husband or me. The stray cat that ended up nipping Bella when she reached out to pet it as she stood next to my chair. The stray cat that left two tiny marks on her skin - not enough to draw blood - but enough to leave red bumps where it's teeth had made contact with her arm.

It was, in a word, terrible. I had anti-bacterial wipes in my bag (be prepared!) so we immediately cleaned the area, but I knew that rabies was a concern. We both felt sick. The doctor at the resort took a look at her arm and said she would probably be fine and that the cats were regularly checked by the health inspector. He mentioned to watch for any changes in behavior: acting fussy or more tired than usual and to look for changes in the condition of her arm. We were to seek medical assistance in the event of those things.

We walked away feeling a little better, but at the same time - how do you adequately sort out a behavior change in a foreign place? She was acting a bit different already. The vagueness of what we were looking for made me uncomfortable.

By Thursday the marks on her arm were totally gone and we felt (mostly) better. By Friday I was finally feeling that vacation feeling when Husband and I went to the resort where the wedding was being held. And by Saturday I was able to tell the story of Bella's cat bite to the other wedding guests with the sense of it being something that had happened in the past and was over.

But three of those wedding guests were physicians. And they did not have the same advice the doctor at the resort gave. I heard words like fatal, when symptoms show it's too late, you need to get her a rabies vaccination as soon as possible, if it were my kid I would seek treatment.

That word fatal clang in my head like a bell for the rest of that evening. I felt sick. Almost panicked. Why had I let it go at what the resort doctor had said? Why hasn't I made the effort to do some internet research on my own in the resort lobby? Why had I been so cavalier about this? And Bella wasn't even with me. I couldn't check on her and get a little reassurance from seeing her sweet sleeping form.

I didn't really sleep that night. I felt so helpless. We had a week from the time of exposure to get her started on the rabies vaccine, but surely it was better to get it immediately after exposure. I wanted that night, a night at a luxury beach resort, to end. I wanted to be back with Bella. I wanted to be home, taking her to the doctor. I wanted that cat bite to have never happened.

I had mentioned last week on Twitter that the hardest part of parenting for me was the sleep deprivation. That was wrong. The hardest part is that you can't stop the world. Shit will happen. You can lose your child - a sentence that pains me even to type, not to mention think. That, without a doubt, is the hardest part of parenting. The fact that there are no guarantees.

After calling our pediatrician's office during on layover in Miami on Sunday, they advised going to the ER. The ER advised waiting until Monday morning and going to urgent care. So that's what we did. After a 16-hour travel day on Sunday (getting home after midnight), we left the house before 8 AM on Monday to go to urgent care. The physician we saw was the biggest jackass I've ever encountered and he advised against the shots, but did allow me to make the decision. We went for it. After talking to the physicians at the wedding (one of whom is a pediatric hospitalist) and doing our own (terrifying) research online, it seemed the safest bet. Certainly it was the option that would allow me to sleep at night. And so she received her first two shots in what will be a series of five. I wanted to cry myself as she cried in pain from the shots. How could I put her in this position of getting all these extra shots when it was such a painful and awful thing? But how could I not? I still don't feel 100% better about the situation, but I (mostly) think it's going to be OK.

I am up before 5 AM writing this. Sleep deprivation continues after a week of particularly terrible sleep in Mexico and continued night wakings at home. But it has been put into perspective. Sleep deprivation is a just a hassle in parenting, but is nowhere near the hardest thing. Not even close.

On Breastfeeding a Toddler

I wrote the bulk of this post in a hurry last week before leaving for vacation and it's a little disjointed because of it. Oh well-o smell-o. I'm just going to post it in it's crazy-state anyway. And if you missed them the first time around, here are my thoughts on breastfeeding Bella at 4 months and 10 months.

As said by Laura, a.k.a The Mothership, circa November 2009, when I was 2.5 months pregnant:

"I don't know how long I'm going to breastfeed. I think a year? But maybe I'd stop once they have teeth. For sure I'd stop by the time the baby is talking. That's just creepy to me!"

Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

First of all, I was saying that without having any clue about when babies get their teeth or start talking. Nor did I know that I was going to end up with a weirdly verbal child. I also didn't know how mysteriously attached I would get to nursing. So I was somewhat clueless. Make that mostly clueless.

Hey, Laura of 2009: Want to know some of the things your 16-month-old says while nursing? Milk. Nipple. Boobie. Bra. Mole! Mole! Mole! (Complete with a chubby little toddler finger pointing out those moles.) Hair! Nose! Cheeks! Teeth! (Again, with much poking and grabbing by chubby toddler fingers.) Done. Switch sides! Milk! More milk! Mooooooore miiiiiilk! Maaaaaaamaaaaaaa!

So she's talks. Granted, she isn't saying things like "Yum! Mama, this milk is reminiscent of a Honeycrisp apple with...what is it?....Ah! I know! I taste a faint hint of curry from last night's dinner. Delicious!" No. That would not work out for me. I think I can handle a nursing child talking in the more primitive sense, but beyond that it gets a little weird. Then again, I've learned that your perspective on what is weird can sometimes change. But I do have limits. Has anyone else seen that You Tube video where the 7-year-old girl who is STILL BEING BREASTFED says something about breastmilk being, "Better than anything...better than mango, even?" Ai-eeeeee!

So why did I change my mind on my previous stance that breastfeeding a toothy talker was weird? Well, for me there are several of benefits to breastfeeding a toddler. Things like...

• Nutrition. While I think the nutrients in breastmilk (and milk in general) doesn't play a big role past the 12-month-mark, I do think that milk from the mama is a very healthy option. I also like that she's getting anti-bodies through my milk, especially with flu season coming up.
• Breastfeeding offers a chance to cuddle with my girl - and give me a little break - now that she has entered such an active stage.
• Breastfeeding provides a quiet moment for me a few times each day, which I think it good for the ol' mental health.
• I can consume a WHOLE lotta dessert/random candy on a daily basis and yet weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. Seriously. It's a little crazy.

Of course, there are some cons to breastfeeding a toddler.

• I feel even more uncomfortable about breastfeeding in public than I already did. I never really took to nursing in public due to my big boobs and a baby that likes to pop on and off in order to check out the scene. Related: breastfeeding a toddler guarantees occasional awkward moments of your child crying for "Meeeeeeelk" while yanking your shirt down.
• If Bella is really tired or wakes during the night, she has a really hard time being comforted by me without me nursing her. She can be soothed through other means by Husband, but with me it tends to be milk that she wants.
• I have a hard time mentally wrapping my head around my boobs having two different functions. And, uh, by that I mean functioning as milk objects and also functioning as sex objects. (This is quickly getting awkward). Um...yeah. I have some mental weirdness during, er...special-couple-time when it comes to boobage touching. I think I'll stop writing about this particular point now. Except one more thing: does that weirdness go away once you stop nursing? Or will it continue to be weird when I'm 80? (Any 80-year-old readers who breastfed in the 1960s that can answer that one for me?)
• I wish I wasn't so closely tied into the bedtime and naptime routine. I worry that the weaning process is going to be a doozy and take a lot of effort now that she's older. She has shown no signs of wanting to cut back feedings and I generally have to deny her requests for milk several times throughout the day.

So just what is my timeline for weaning? I can tell some people are getting curious. There has been an oh-so-subtle change in people's reactions when they find out I'm still breastfeeding. Nursing a 12-month-old or less? Totally admirable. Nursing an over-12-month old? People just aren't sure. I can see the look on some people's faces. A look that might correspond to the thought, "Isn't that a little weird?" Maybe this reaction has something to do with the fact that you tend to hear about people nursing for either 1 year or less (well within social norms) or for 3+ years (outside of social norms and a classic bit used in comedies). You don't hear as much about the women who nurse in that middle zone. So I am thinking the slightly weird looks and reaction I'm getting is due to people wondering if I'm going to be the next mother whose child thinks my milk is better than anything, even mango. Anyway, have no fear about me turning into an extreme lactivist. My plan is to nurse until somewhere in the 18-24 month zone.

More specifically, I aim to nurse her through the winter (and flu season), but I know that the possibility of getting pregnant in the near future might mean she weans sooner. And if pregnancy doesn't affect her nursing, I would also be OK with nursing her up to her 2nd birthday, which would be in line with the WHO recommendations. That's the plan, anyway.

Breastfeeding has been an interesting and generally rewarding part of this whole mothering scene. I am still very thankful for having the option and for the ease at which I was able to do it. I do not take breastfeeding for granted. I really do not.

But you want to hear something funny? I STILL think the whole thing is a little creepy. My child drinks milk from my nipples! That shit is crazy, yo.

Viva Mexico

Hieeee! I feel all twitchy for having not blogged in a week. I have lots to tell you, but for now I have to catch up on laundry and sleep. (ZOMG - 16 hour travel day yesterday. DIE.)

Here are a couple beach photos for right now, many (MANY!) more to come in the next week.

Guest Post: The Peanut Gallery

Sister-Sister is back with another post about pregnancy! Here first guest post on pregnancy can be found here. Enjoy!

I am officially in the third trimester now, and things are going fine: baby's a-kicking, heartburn's a-boiling, and feet are a-swelling. In the last couple of weeks, I feel like the bump has popped out quite a bit more. Prior to that, I would look more or less pregnant depending on what I wore. Some days a loose top would just about obscure the bump, allowing me to blissfully walk around like a normal person and not be the subject of commentary.

Oh yes, commentary on my size, shape, and general baby ideas has started coming much more frequently. People see a pregnant lady and they can’t help themselves. I first encountered this on a plane.

LOUD PASSENGER WHO WORKS IN GYMNASTICS EQUIPMENT SUPPLY AND HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT GYMNASTICS EQUIPMENT TO HER OTHER SEATMATE FOR AN HOUR: What are you having?ME, STARTLED: Oh, I don’t know yet. It’s too early to tell.LOUD PASSENGER: Well, don’t find out!ME, ALARMED: Oh, why?LOUD PASSENGER: It’s supposed to be a surprise. Also, my husband and I chose names that you can’t make nicknames out of, so keep that in mind.ME, ANNOYED: Will do.

About a month later at a street fair/market thing, I innocently bought a stuffed grape leaves sandwich.

VERY OLD MOTHER OF FALAFEL GUY: How many month?ME, AMUSED: Oh, about four and half, five months!VERY OLD MOTHER: My daughter, she look like you at nine month.ME, CRESTFALLEN: Ah.VERY OLD MOTHER: You will have a big baby!

This week, an electrician at work saw me taking the stairs.

ELECTRICIAN WHO IS USUALLY VERY NICE: Good for you, keeping in shape.ME, TIRED: The elevator is so slow.ELECTRICIAN, EXAMINING ME APPRAISINGLY: No, that’s good, you’ve got to exercise.

And a co-worker saw me in the staff lounge.

CO-WORKER I BARELY KNOW: Valerie, today is the most pregnant I’ve ever seen you.ME, EXHAUSTED: Every day is the most pregnant I’ve ever been.

I get that everyone has opinions about pregnancy, from being pregnant themselves, having pregnant family members, or watching lots of episodes of “A Baby Story.” And I know that most people have the best intentions. But sometimes, I just want to blend in, and not have this part of my life be so front and center. But it is front and center, right there in the old belly.

Did any of you get “special” commentary while you were expecting? Or about the baby after it was born?

The Days of our Lives

Thank you so much to everyone for playing along with me in documenting A Day in the Life.  Wowza, it's a lot of work (especially if you take a whopping 350!!!!!! photos like me), but it is so fun to see what everyone gets up to during the day.  I loved both the variety and the similarities in all the posts.  And now, without further ado:  

Like sands through the hourglass, these were the days of our lives...

Hilde Home

Raising Snowpeas

Live Inside My Bubble

The Strong Mama

O'Baby Love

Adventures in Tullyland

One + One = 4

The Antics of the Three 22nds...and their Sister

Super Telegas

The Weimer Chronicles

Preggo My Eggo

For anyone who hasn't sent their link to me yet, there's still time! I can add it to this post as you send it over the next day or so.

A Day in the Life: Fall Edition

1:55 AM - Wake up to hear crying. Is it time to wake up already? Gah. Am tired. I pop my basal thermometer into mouth to take my temp and glace at the clock.  Wah? It's the middle of the night. Random. I let Bella fuss for a few minutes to see if she'll go back to see.  No go. I decide to go in and nurse her and she goes back to sleep in two minutes.
4 AM - Random bleeting cry.  Why? WHY? This time, however, she falls back to sleep in a few minutes without intervention. I do, too...eventually.

5:55 AM - She's up and this time for good. I bring her to our room and nurse her.

6:25 AM - After Bella is done nursing she does her usual crawl all over us in the bed.  During this crawl-a-palooza, she bumps her head on the bedside table.  Tears ensue.  Wheee! Top o' the morning to me! Poor baby. I take her out of the bedroom to soothe her as it's Husband's day to sleep in.  She's not soothing easily so I find the mailing label stickers in the office and give her one to stop the crying.  The child does not discriminate between stickers.  If it sticks, it's a sticker. A side benefit to the crying (at least for Bella) is that she needed me to use the snot sucker thing.  She LOOOOOVES it now.  Asks for it all the time. Yes. Weird. I change her diaper and then we go to the bathroom to brush our teeth.

6:45 - We head down to the basement to feed the cats (who are now in a state of meow-meow panic) and start a new load of laundry.  Bella wanted to wear the boots and hat and who am I to stand in the way of fashion?

7:00 - We head back upstairs and I am reminded that we are out of milk.  Since that would leave me coffee-less and oatmeal-less, I decide that we need to go to the store even though it's not yet light out.  I throw some clothes on and walk to the local grocery store.

7:05 AM - Good morning, Minneapolis! Bella greats her buddy, Elvis the Cow, at the grocery store and I get milk (not provided by Elvis).  I also buy a latte to reward myself for having to get up at 1-something-AM.  By the time we get home, the sun is out.

7:40 - Dada! Happiness abounds.

Do not let Husband's outfit food you. He does not, in fact, work for Target. He would be of no use should you need to know where the dog food or tennis balls are located.


7:45 - Breakfast.  Bella eats Kashi Heart to Heart cereal (worst name for a cereal evah! ick!), part of a banana, and 1/2 a pint of strawberries (not even kidding on that amount). I have strawberries, the other part of the banana, and my latte.  Husband has Heart to Heart cereal, too.  Husband leaves for work.

8:15 AM - Post-breakfast kitchen things: Putting away dishes, admiring one's reflection in pot lids, and watching the recycling man.

8:30 AM - "Mama! Draw! Draw! Draw, Mama! Mama? Draw!"

9:00 AM - Decide to go for a run now to get it out of the way for the day and to get Bella distracted since she has started her request for milk/nap already.  As I'm untangling the cord on my headphones, I let Bella play with my iPod since she likes to pretend it's a phone.  Once the cord is finally untangled I look for the iPod to take it back and - lo and behold - it's gone.  I spend the next 20 minutes looking for it to no avail.  Oh, life with a toddler. I imagine my iPod must be lost and gone forever. This is what I get for being distracted for a minute.

9:20 AM - As I'm putting my shoes on and taking pictures, I notice something funny happening with my arm muscles.

WTH? When did that man arm come about? Is it time to start tanning and become the next cover girl for Muscle & Fitness? I am both disturbed and impressed at my guns.

9:40 AM - After the first mile I notice someone is slumping down in the stroller and getting dangerously close to falling asleep.  I pluck her out and we walk the Stone Arch Bridge, taking time to admire the falls.

Once we get to the other side of the river, we play in the park and admire the views.  Then I plop her back in the stroller and run the last mile.

10 AM - We get home and Bella shows off her new taking-off-her-shoes skillz (a work in progress) before we head upstairs for her nap.

10:15 AM - Bella goes down without a problem and I take a shower and then try to decide what to do.  The how-to-spend-naptime question always paralyzes me and I looked at dishes, laundry, and other to-dos before deciding to tackle a couple small tasks (make bed, answer a couple semi-pressing emails) and then I spend the rest of the time working on my blog.  I also eat a slice of cold cheese pizza in there and get a stomach-ache (I'll have you know that nothing was learned).  Oh! And I find the missing iPod in a tiny black boot on the landing.  Of course! Should have looked there first.

 

11:40 AM - She's up and I have my usual moment of sadness.  Nooooo. I heart naptime.  I mean, I heart my baby more, but naptime? It's the shiz. I got upstairs to get her and nurse her.

12:00 PM -We go back to the living room and Bella is distracted enough with her drawing to let me get the dishes done.  Chores on baby-time?  WIN! I also get my meal planning & grocery listing complete.  And I threw that Meyer's basil-scented hand soap picture in there because it's my new fav.

12:30 - Lunch time.  We split a lentil & bean burrito with bell peppers, cooked apples and Bella also has some yogurt.

1:00 pm - Now is the time that I'm ready for my nap, but alas Mary Poppins was not free today. We hang out in her nursery and I stuff her diapers, clean her room and then lay on the floor for a pseudo-nap while B does some reading on her own for 10 very short minutes.

1:30 PM - Joint book reading.

2:00 pm - I lazily start getting us ready to go to the co-op for some groceries and Bella requested that we do her hair first.  She loves trying on all her hair accessories, but isn't interested in actually wearing any of them for more than 2 seconds.  We also put them all in my hair, which yielded gorgeous results. 

3:00 pm - At the co-op.  Bella is doing her new thing in this picture.  If we ask her where anyone is (Dada, cousin, Toonses, etc), she will turn her hands up and lift her shoulders and repeat that person's name in a question voice.  I can't tell you how awesome this is.  We aren't totally sure where she picked this up.  Maybe one of us does it unconsciously?

 4:00 pm - We squeeze in a park visit before dinner. I am loving this weather so much that I have inappropriate thoughts about it.  Like, I want to french kiss it, it's so fabulous.

5:00 PM - Dada calls to say he has arrived home and he meets us halfway between the park and home.

5:15 PM - I make dinner with Bella clinging to my legs.  This is my least favorite part of the day.  I look forward to cooking in 2020 when there will not be any cling-ons to deal with at dinnertime.  The dinner is curried egg salad on toasted bread and a mixed greens salad with avocado, grapefruit, & apple in a citrus vinaigrette.

6:00 - Husband has to leave for a boring evening obligation and I start to get ready to put Bella to bed.  She is already begging for milk and being all floppy.  We chill out in her room for a bit, then do her routine and she is out like a light.

6:30 - I slip into something more comfortable - pants made of the fabric of our life, naturally - and take care of some chores. Then I do some computer stuff and eat dessert #1 (leftovers Husband brought home from a dinner at Cheesecake Factory).

 

9:00 PM - Husband gets home and we head upstairs.  I check on Bella and she's soundly sleeping.  Husband and I eat dessert #2 (Preacher Cookies) and I read a book while Husband answers emails. We are sleeping by 9:30.  And I want you all to know that I always feel creepy writing this last part. Cause I feel like I need to make a joke about either having or not having sex and that's just creepy and maybe you might think that we did have sex anyway whether I write it or not and CREEPY! But you probably don't think that at all, and DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM? Murky area, yo! Anyway. We just went to sleep.  For reals.

THE END!

This is how my brain likes to waste time

I don't think I'll be as good of a mother once I have more than one kid.

There. I said it. The thought that has been lurking in my head for a while now, pretty much ever since Bella was born.

It's interesting. I was always quite confident that I would be a good mother and, as it turns out, I am a good mother. For the most part, I enjoy the often-boring toddler activities, can marvel at the tiniest accomplishments, and have quite a bit of patience when it comes to the infuriating. (To be clear: I have patience with Bella. I have no patience when it comes to anything else in this world.) But that confidence in my ability to be a good mother crumbles when I think about having more than one kid to manage. You'd think it would be the opposite - I would be MORE confident in my abilities as a mother now that I have experience. So why would I lose my mama skillz once we add a new baby to our family?

Here's the thing: a new addition - a new addition that is a baby - means that my sleep is going to be dramatically reduced. And that really scares me because sometimes I feel like I'm not totally functioning on my 7-8 hours of sleep most nights. I was a 10-hour-a night sleeper for all of my adult life until pregnancy. Sleep and me? We were real tight, yo. Why, I could sleep that much and then take a nap on top of it! I am a prime example of sleep expert Dr. Weissbluth's of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child claim that sleep begets sleep. Mmmm....sleep.

Just how much I depend on good sleep for normal functioning came to a head this week. Bella's sleep went all wonky for several days and she was only getting 9-10 hours of interrupted sleep at night (waking 1-2 times in the middle of the night) and taking only hour-long naps. My ability to function went out the window, which is ridiculous, because her "bad" sleeping isn't really that bad. By Thursday afternoon I was unshowered, crabby as hell, and could barely muster the energy to half-heartedly wipe off the Chipotle smeared on Bella face off after dinner.

And that's what scares me. This is what two kids will be like ALL THE TIME. In fact, it will be way worse that than because I will be trying to wipe Chipotle off a fussy toddler while simultaneously nursing the second baby. If I am not capable of handling a few nights of semi-crappy sleeping, how will I possibly handle upcoming YEARS of crappy sleeping? And the chance of both kids naps overlapping so that I could catch up on my own sleep a bit seems unlikely. Even if their naps did overlap, what are the chances that I would be able to fall asleep given that my mind will be racing with all the other things I should be doing? Chores! Blogging! Phone-call making! Exercising! Crafting! Even relaxing! Seriously - how will I stay sane?

For real - how does this work? How do people have more than one kid and not lose it from the sleep deprivation? Do people just adjust? Am I being princess-y about sleeping? Will I be haggard-looking with dirty hair and have kids covered in Chipotle for the next few years? Should I maybe just not worry about this type of thing until I'm actually pregnant and/or delivering said future baby?* HALP!

*Um, yeah. That would be the normal thing to do.

Third Quarter Book Review 2010

I read waaaay fewer books this quarter than the previous quarters this year (Quarter One here, Quarter Two here) and I blame it all on Diana Gabaldon.  I tried to love that Voyager series like everyone else out there, but it's not happening.  So basically, that Dragonfly in Amber book sat on my bedside for a month and I would read a little bit at a time before getting exhausted and bored.  It was pretty much a cock block.  Yes! I said cock block.  Once I gave up on making myself finish that book I was back to my usual pace of 1-2 novels a week. 

Review & Grading System
I am grading each book based on the type of book. Just as you wouldn't rate a Chipotle burrito on fine dining standards, I won't rate a cheesy romance using quality novel standards. So a C for a cheap romance does not equal a C for a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. 

51. Half Life by Roopa Farooki 
I liked this book quite a bit.  Taking place in Singapore, Malaysia and London, this book moved quickly and held your interest (mental illness! sex! drugs!).  I'll read others by this author.  A-

52. After the Fall by Kylie Ladd
A story that gives the perspective of four characters dealing with adultery.  A decent read by a neuropsychologist, but it wasn't particularly memorable. B

52.5 Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2)Dragonfly in Amber Diana Gabaldon
Hello, cock block.  Sigh.  I tried.  I got halfway through before giving up. I really like the concept of these stories and the setting is very interesting, but I kept fighting the urge to skip to the end and read that.  Wish there was a Cliff's Notes version available.  I will no longer be reading any more stories by Diana Gabaldon.  But! Everyone else seems to love these books, so - not to LaVar Burton you, but - don't take my word for it! C


53. Vision in White (The Bride Quartet, Book 1) by Nora Roberts
The protagonist in this book of the series isn't very sympathetic in my opinion.  She's annoying and a little too-cool-for-school (but hurt and weak inside!) and I was much more interested in the other characters that her situation.  But, whatever.  I wasn't expecting much.  And, I have a question about Nora Roberts books that I cannot ignore any longer - WHY ARE WOMEN ALWAYS KISSING PLATONIC MALE FRIENDS ON THE MOUTH OUT OF HAPPINESS???  Nora! That does not happen in real life without MAJOR CONSEQUENCES? Nora? Are you listening? C

54. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Childrenby Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman
After a long wait on the hold list at the library, I finally got my chance to read NurtureShock. I felt this book started out strong with the first chapter talking about praise and the surprising effect it has on children (hint: praise the effort more than the outcome).  The other chapters weren't as WOW-inspiring for me, but I was also forced to read this really fast as it was due back to the library.  I feel like I owe this book a second chance as I don't know if it's not memorable due to most of it's content not being anything terribly gripping for me or it's because I read it too fast.  So, for now it's a B, but I plan to re-read it very soon.

55. Just Take My Heart: A Novel by Mary Higgins Clark
Why am I still reading Mary Higgins Clark books? That, my friends, is the real mystery.  Eh, it was fine.  As good as a re-run of Law & Order kind of fine.  One thing I have to mention, though, is that you can tell Mary Higgins Clark is aging.  She is dressing young character in things no 20-something would be caught dead in these days. I can't remember the specific example, but think of a modern 20-something woman wearing a pastel peach pantsuit. C

56. Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italyby Sergio Espositio
This was a b-day gift from my Mom who knows my love for the food & travel memoir genre.  A good food & travel memoir (my favorite is On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis) leaves you hungry and wanting to immediately book tickets to the featured place.  Espositio's memoir, however, left me desiring neither a trip to Italy nor a glass of fine Italian wine.  It was a little boring.  Sad. C+

57. The Knitting Circle: A Novel by Ann Hood
A book my mom left when she visited as she had finished reading it.  I'm not a knitter, so the knitting parts were boring (and can you really make a knitted evening dress? really?).  The protagonist annoyed me.  I think the intention was to make her spunky-yet-likeable, but she came off irritating to me.  Then, the book slapped me upside the head with a plot twist that I did not see coming and the remainder of the book felt a bit rushed.  Knitters might like this; the rest can leave it.  C

58. The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver
One of my favorite books was by Barbara Kingsolver: Prodigal Summer. I also enjoyed her non-fiction book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  While The Lacuna was a good story, too, it wasn't another Prodigal Summer for me.  This book felt overly dense and contained a bit too much history for my taste.  Yes, it was good to learn more about communism and Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky, but, again, it felt a bit overly scholastic for me at times.  But perhaps I'm just a wuss that needs to learn to like dense historical fiction? Worth a read and props to Kingsolver for bringing together fictional characters and real people in such a clever way. B

59. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Oh, my heart.  From start to finish it was a train wreck that you couldn't draw your eyes away from.  A masterful writer and storyteller, but such horrors.  This book and Wall's life story will stick with me for years to come. A

60. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen.
A very readable memoir by a funny woman.  It's a dramedy, which I always appreciate since that can be hard to pull off, and it has a refreshing optimism in the face of some unhappy circumstances.  I appreciated Ms. Janzen's extensive vocabulary (I had to look up several words) juxtaposed next to random and ridiculous slang. It's always interesting to learn about a religious culture, too. A-

61. The Writing Circle  Corinne Demas
A random pick off the shelf that didnt' start out very strong, but crescendoed (totally a word!) to a dramatic finish (cymbal clang!).  The story jumps around between the different characters, but does so in an effective and not confusing way. The characters were flawed, but pleasantly so.  I'll look for other books by this author.  B+

62. Emily of New Moon L.M. Montgomery
I like to read (and then re-read) historical coming-of-age type fiction in the fall.  Don't know why. Just do.  I decided to leave my Little House and Anne of Green Gables books on the shelf this year and give Miss Emily a try.  I have to say, Emily felt a lot like Anne in a black wig and slightly better dress, which was kind of disappointing.  That being said, I like Anne, so why not make her a raven-haired lassie who speaks her mind and is always getting into scrapes?  Just as with the Anne series, I look forward to reading about the teen years as those tend to interest me more than the pre-teen stories.  B

63. Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie O.E. Rolvaag
I was in the mood for historical fiction and Google pointed me to Giants in the Earth. Google was absolutely right to recommend this.  It's Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-meets-The-Shining and I really enjoyed it.  I'm also impressed that Rolvaag expressed his characters in such a nuanced and brilliant way.  Oh, Mr. Rolvaag, go on with your sensitive and now-deceased-for-80-years bad self! A-