Thursday, April 23, 2009

"Unexpected good luck"

Tana kara botamochi

(literally, it means "a sweet cake from the shelf (fell into my mouth)".)

Thank you everyone who sent helpful anti-jealousy suggestions. We found one solution (yes, we realize we need many) quite by accident. I was so exhausted from all the newborn childcare and toddler childcare and toddler jealousy that I sent my mom to pick up the Pumpkin Princess from day care and asked her and my dad to bathe her and feed her dinner while they were at it. I caught up on a bit of sleep and brought her home. When she came home, and also the next day, she was happy and not the least bit clingy, and when I told her she must put her wood blocks away before she brought out her Legos, she promptly began tossing the blocks into the bucket. She also cheerfully opened the closet and pulled out a newborn size diaper when asked (she refused and cried and asked to be held the last few times she was asked). Seems the exclusive grandparent attention took the edge off.

It's a work-in-progress, never-ending battle, I know, but at least we have one tool to deal with it.

And I was going to post some upbeat stuff about how much weight the Pumpkin Prince has gained and how much pregnancy weight I have lost and how the Pumpkin Daddy does the dishes when I fall asleep while putting the Pumpkin Princess to sleep, but I found out that my cousin was found dead in her apartment. She was 35. I have been told she died of a brain hemorrhage, but since she was apparently dead when they found her, I am not sure how they know this. She was beautiful and had so many friends. Puts stuff into perspective. A healthy Pumpkin Prince and a helpful Pumpkin Daddy are wonderful blessings. How nicely (or not) I fit in my pre-pregnancy jeans is trivial.

6 comments:

Annie Crow said...

I'm so sorry about your cousin.

Glad to hear the grandparents could help with the Pumpkin Princess's feelings - hope you continue to find solutions. Does it help if Pumpkin Papa gives her some etxra attetion?

pumpkinmommy said...

The only way the Pumpkin Daddy could possibly give the Pumpkin Princess extra attention is if someone managed to add extra hours to the day :) Daily routines include but are not limited to taking a bath together (I realize this sounds squicky to some non-Japanese, but Dad bathing with his girl is par up to about halfway through primary school) and playing with Legos about an hour after dinner. Weekly activities include playing in the park and trips to the mall which involve chocolate ice cream and vending machine capsule toys.

Tia K said...

When our second son was born, I tried to get Papa to take the older one out, just the two of them, even if it was only a trip to the store. Grandparents come in handy sometimes! :-)

coppercorn said...

I am so sorry about your cousin.

And glad things are going better with the Pumpkin Princess.

Jbee808 said...

So sorry to hear about your cousin....Death always puts things into perspective...

Just morning I almost had a major car accident. I was driving in the fast lane when i seen a metal grating about 4" in height in my lane. All I could do was hold the steering wheel straight and pray. The next thing that happened was my car started to drive erratic. I pulled over and found my tire blew out. It was a reality check.

While sitting on the side of the road, I began to think about all the things that could've went wrong. I drive a convertible...If the car flipped, my passenger and I would've easily have died and gotten others hurt.

We always have to remember to count our blessings.

Anyway...good luck with pumpkin princess. I think at that age the key is getting them distracted from what they want and replacing it with an activity, or in your case, "the Grandparents". =) Works like a charm, until they figure out what you're doing.

Livy said...

So glad to know that you've got a great solution for the Pumpkin Princess. I'm sure you'll come up with something new as time goes by.

So sorry about your cousin.
I wish her soul to rest in peace.

You're right.
We do have to appreciate what we already have now in our lives.
And I have a good faith that your jeans are gonna fit you again in anytime soon.