My Kid Was a Chunker

Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their new baby. She is really cute and so tiny! I can't believe how small she is. Charlotte was never that small. I'm not just saying that because Charlotte is over a year old now--she actually was never that small (unless you count at some point while she was still inside of me). When Charlotte was born she was a fairly large baby, all things considered. 8 pounds, 7 ounces, the second largest child to be born amongst my siblings, and only 4 ounces smaller than the largest one. That's right, my child was the second biggest baby born out of 8. It seems weird, until you consider that she was 2 weeks late, and babies can add up to a pound a week in the last couple weeks of life. If only she had been on time, I would have had my tiny baby. I really always figured she was going to be super small and tiny, and I was really looking forward to it. I know 8 pounds 7 ounces isn't that big (although it's starting to be consider big since so many women are induced right around their due date and end up having smaller babies because of that a lot of the time) but it was much bigger than I was expecting. She was still small, after all, she was a baby, but sometimes I wish she had been a little smaller. Oh well. She's tiny now. She's only in the 5th percentile for weight. It just goes to show you, it doesn't always matter how big or small they are at birth, a year later they will be completely different.

Minnesota Nice

Maybe I'm biased because I'm a born and raised Minnesotan, but I really do believe in Minnesota nice. I don't know what it is about Minnesota, but people here really are nice and generally friendly. I don't know if they are more so than other states, but I think it's true for the most part. I say for the most part because I think Minnesota nice goes out the window when people get into their cars. If there is Minnesota nice, I also think there is Minnesota driver stupidity or driving-related Minnesota rudeness. Overall though, I think Minnesota nice really does exist. Maybe it's they way people here are raised, with that extra emphasis on being polite and saying please and thank-you and even just saying "hello, how are you" when you pass someone. I'm not saying everybody is always polite and friendly, just that it's more the rule than the exception. It might sometimes be superficial, but I think it is also sometimes true friendliness or comraderie between people. It's the nice-ness that leads to true friendships or even just support in a difficult situation or help when you see a stranger or neighbor in need.

Who knows, maybe it's the Minnesota weather that does it--let's face it, in Minnesota, the weather is more than small talk, it's real, honest-to-goodness important conversation that all Minnesotans can take part in and have something to say about it honestly and passionately and it can turn awkwardness into a real conversation. Maybe that really is part of Minnesota nice. All I know is, I've definitely experienced this phenomenon multiple times in my life. It's not always or even frequently a major event, just the day-to-day friendliness and encouragement from people I've come across. Like yesterday, when I went to the bank and ended up chatting with 2 of the tellers about the weather and what I was doing with my day. It may have been a little superficial at first but it ended up being a short but friendly conversation that then made me feel a little happier. I hope that I come across as friendly, inviting, and "nice" to people, strangers or not. Not because I live in Minnesota, but because I want to be the kind of person who I would want to be around and meet in my day to day life. And I think those are the kind of people I typically meet in my life here in Minnesota.

I believe in Minnesota nice. Do you?

I Have No Meaningful Title for This Post

Life has been crazy lately. Between my job and the family daycare co-op, and Charlotte's birthday party last week, and random other stuff that has been going on, I feel like I haven't had time to catch up on anything. And that feeling will probably last me the rest of my life. There are just so many things I want and need to get done and haven't had time to do. I got a new phone a full week ago and am just now finding the time to work on figuring it out and making it work the way I want it to. Or as close as I can get it with this phone. Technology never really works the way I want it to. I don't think I think like other people so what they like doesn't always work for me. Plus, I hate when technology changes. Don't get me wrong, I like technology updates and upgrades and whatnot, but dramatic changes in the way things look or feel irk me. But that's now what this post is about. My crazy busy life is. I shouldn't say crazy busy, I only work part time and I only have to watch 6 kids 2 other days a week, and I only have 1 child myself, but considering for nearly a year before I got my job and started the daycare co-op I was home alone with Charlotte all day every day, my life has sped up considerably in the past few weeks and months.

At least yesterday I had the afternoon off and I was able to clean the entire house. Eric was very happy about it. So was I (at least when it was finished). Of course, I still need to organize all of Charlotte's drawers and we really need to re-organize our cupboards and clean out our closets, but our house is at least sanitary and clean. And that's always nice.