New Year, New Brain Dump

January 3, 2019 Brain Dump 13

Heyyyyyyyy Bookworms!

I’ve started and not finished oodles of blog posts. Seriously, you should see my drafts folder. Part of it is that I’ve gone so long without blogging regularly that I’m overwhelmed with the amount of books I’ve read and not discussed. Part of it is that 80% of my brain is consumed by thoughts like “why isn’t my kid walking yet?” or “OMGGGGG he just said Elmo! It sounds like ‘Neno’ but clearly that’s what he meant” or “Do you think his ear tubes fell out and this is actually an ear infection and not just a cold? I should call the nurse line.” Newsflash: I’m obsessed with Sammers. As if that’s a surprise to anyone. But these nebulous floating motherhood concerns seem to be occupying a lot of the same brain space that my quippy book thoughts used to take up, which has made blogging a challenge. I’ve never before given updates of what I’m reading while in progress, but in the interest of getting back into the swing of things, I’m just going to give you a big old brain dump and see where we land.

FIRST: I’m currently listening to River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey. Scribd got back into the unlimited audiobook game (they were in it, then out of it, and are now back) and I am HERE for it. It kept getting recommended to me, so I read the abstract and I was sucked in by the concept. There was a FOR REAL NOT IMAGINARY attempt by the US government in the 1800s to import friggin HIPPOPOTAMUSES into the Louisiana Bayou. As a meat supply. I might remind you that hippos are notorious bastards that kill more humans annually than any other animal (I just googled to confirm that little factoid, and it seems to be based on lore rather than hard fact because its difficult to quantify murderous wildlife. Still, Africans agree that messing with a hippo is a terrible idea, so.) They are cantankerous, no matter how cute Fiona is. Obviously I needed to read this fictionalized account of such a bananapants concept. So far though, the book’s tone hasn’t quite worked for me. I think I was hoping for a little more absurdism, but it’s gone full wild west. Hippo Cowboys are still compelling, but my mental soundtrack was more tubas than harmonicas ’round the fire. I’ll keep you posted as things progress.

SECOND: I have The Cruel Prince by Holly Black checked out from the library. I only ever take out e-books from the library because returning titles on time has been a problem for me in the past. Plus, I just find that reading on my Kindle is more convenient for bed time, when I do the vast majority of my eyeball reading. The rule of all one’s library holds coming in at the same time is just as true for digital books as physical ones, though, and I’m only about 60% done with this title, despite it expiring tomorrow. Luckily, though, it seems that Scribd has an audio version available so I should be able to pick up where I left off without having to wait in the library hold line again. Thus far I’m not enjoying this one quite as much as The Darkest Part of the Forest (which I liked so much I made my book club read it.) I know Faerie is cruel, but some of this stuff has been next level. Social media bullying is one thing, but forced drugging on faerie fruit and attempts to enchant mortals to kill themselves is… A LOT. Yes, my sensibilities are delicate these days. I have entirely too many feelings at all times. Motherhood has sanded down any veneer I may have had. I’m basically a pile of emotional nerve endings. Lots of them are joyous nerve endings, but I sometimes cry at TV commercials now.

THIRD: My love, my joy, my Samuel. He is now 16 months old. He is not yet walking. Yes, this is late for a tiny human to not be walking. I have been quite concerned. His pediatrician has checked him out, though, and doesn’t think there’s any problem developmentally. Basically, Sam is content with his current mode of transportation (crawling at lightening speed.) Now that he is transitioning to a new room at daycare (which has been a process- my boy likes change less than I do) the doctor thinks he will likely be peer pressured into walking. So. That’s fun. Honestly though, in the few days he’s been in the room (with breaks for holidays and whatnot) he does seem to have made quite a bit of progress and is more interested in being on his feet in general. What he lacks in gross motor skills, he makes up for in language. The vocabulary on this kid boggles my mind. He’ll repeat all kinds of stuff. Some of my favorite of his vocab words/phrases include: taco, ho-ho-ho, peak-a-boo, doctor, car, Elmo, and, YES, BOOK!!! I post zillions of pics on my Instagram if you’re interested in seeing endless Sam Spam. I can only assume everyone is as enchanted with him as I am.

FOURTH: I started a bullet journal. As I lack artistic talent, it is ugly as sin and I will therefore not post any photos of the hot mess. It is, however, proving somewhat helpful thus far. I made a big old chart to help me send the appropriate thank you notes to the appropriate people after Christmas which was pretty great. We’ll see how it goes. I’m going to try to incorporate some extremely simple meal planning. Cooking is such a chore for me, I’m never going to be one of those people who loves to experiment in the kitchen. Still though, one cannot live on frozen pizza alone. And with Sam, I’m suddenly more conscious of the fact that I probably don’t eat enough vegetables (I make sure he has a vegetable with every meal, but I take better care of him than I do myself in literally all ways.) If I’m not more careful, I’ll get scurvy. New Year’s Resolution #1: DO NOT GET SCURVY. EAT SOME DANG BROCCOLI.

That seems like a good place to end things. Don’t get scurvy, y’all. Talk to you soon. Hopefully.

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13 Responses to “New Year, New Brain Dump”

  1. Amanda

    Much as I also enjoy pushing veggies on the girls to avoid scurvy I also believe in drinking gin and tonics to avoid my own scurvy. You know – quinine. Just saying.

    I loved the Cruel Prince but do agree about the cruelty. I’m debating strongly about whether I need to reread before I can get the Wicked King.

    I play a game called turning off my kindle wifi as long as possible to keep library ebooks over the return date. This becomes a problem when I need to finish one book but also cannot stand the wait to get a new book… Why is reading so complicated sometimes?

    Reply

    • wordsfor

      It never occurred to me to turn off the wifi. WHAT SORCERY IS THIS? Also since “cruel” is in the title of the book I feel like I shouldn’t be shocked but I still kind of am? I always say that gin and tonics are my way to avoid malaria! Does quinine also treat scurvy? Even if it doesn’t, limes certainly do, so it’s a miracle elixir!

      Reply

  2. lostinliterature108

    I do eat my veggies but am resolved for Mike and I to eat even more this year. I jist ordered a veggie cookbook. I’ll let you know if it seems good for those who don’t adore cooking.

    Reply

  3. Psychobabble

    I’ve missed you! My girl was delayed too. She ended up getting some PT and caught up and now you’d never know. I’m constantly amazed at how all kids develop differently and how wide a range “normal” and healthy is.

    Reply

    • wordsfor

      Did your doctor recommend the PT, or was that something you pursued independently? They kind of gave me the “I don’t really think he needs it but if you want to be referred…” answer which makes me think I might be overreacting. But then I hear of people getting PT for their late walkers and I wonder if it’s something I’m supposed to really push for. Parenting is confusing.

      Reply

      • Psychobabble

        It’s all a judgement call. My girl wasn’t rolling over at 6m and her doc wanted PT. I said no. She still wasn’t rolling at 9m so I said ok and she got 6m of PT and everything turned out well in the end. It’s totally hard to know when to freak out and when things will just work out on their own…

        Reply

  4. Michelle

    You know I love my Sam Spam!! My family knows I am obsessed with your son. His pictures DO make me happy when I am having a bad day. He’s just so darn smiley, and those cheeks slay me!

    Does wine count as avoiding scurvy? Because given my diet choices lately, I may have to add “don’t get scurvy” to my list of goals for the year.

    Reply

  5. Jenny @ Reading the End

    I felt exactly the same about The Cruel Prince, dude. And I love creepy fairies! But I didn’t like any of the characters, except the oldest sister, who I constantly wished the book could be about instead. None of the relationships ever clicked in for me.

    I’m sorry Sam’s walking is a worry for you! I have every faith he’s going to be absolutely fine — kids have different things they focus on at different times, and it sounds like Sammy’s focusing on a lot of other stuff. Like vocab! HANG IN THERE FRIEND BABIES ARE STRESSFUL.

    Reply

    • wordsfor

      I still need to finish this- the audio book was supposed to be available to me TODAY but Scribd is being wonky. Anyway, since I managed to get to 70% before my loan expired I feel like I really have to finish it, but I’m not sure I’ll be reading more Folk of the Air. Holly Black has a pretty extensive back list that I can dive into, though.

      Reply

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