The Hair! I Got It!

For the first time, I must say that Raizel's hair is really looking good. First, she is slowly and steadily getting rid of all the tinnea capitis yuck (aka athlete's foot) on her scalp. Second, I'm now using a proper wide-spaced nubby-tipped comb. Third, what I thought was really dry hair on the back of her head was just so tangled it was actually (embarrassingly) matted. Every day I've been moisturizing it with a Tresemme product that someone else recommended (and it smells nice but not chemical!), and I've been using a detangler and slowly but surely going through all of her hair. Her curls are really looking great now. One or two more ouch-ouch-ouch sessions and we should have it all worked out and then we just take good care of it every day. It's so nice and soft and curly now I can't stop touching it!

Another small victory - last night Raizel willingly went upstairs with papa to go to sleep instead of crying and reaching out for me. The crying had gotten to the point where it didn't last long, but still it was so nice to have her give me a hug and a kiss, smile, and wave night-night. Tonight I went out on a mommy date (THANK YOU, EE!), she did cry LOUDLY when I left, but I'm not sure how long that lasted. Bit by bit she's feeling more secure. Her newest favorite game is to jump off of the changing table into my waiting arms. If that's not feeling secure, I don't know what is! She's also started speaking full sentences like, "I don't want that, mama." and "Watch me go, mama." It's really sweet.

Another treat this week - our friend NQ took The Bigs out and about for 3 hours yesterday, and Dean was home (pinkeye) so he took The Littles in the afternoon. I got to B-R-O-W-S-E at the music store (I'm sure it's been at least a year since I've done that!). I picked out a year's worth of literature for NQ's 3 kids (who are my piano students), got a piano book for Amirah (what the heck!), picked out a new pair of glasses (not at the music store, however!), and bought yummy RED MEAT for shabbat dinner and lunch in honor of my 40th birthday which is on Friday. It was nice to do 3 errands in a row (WOW) and not have ticking time bombs with me.

That said, I took all 4 shopping to Walmart (we go probably once a year) and Bob's Red Mill. Walmart had 5-cent spiral-bound notebooks and really cheap pens and crayons. They also have catch-them-alive mousetraps (we have a perfect little Beatrix Potter style mouse hole in the den) for $2.85 (who'd have thought). They did super with all the shopping. At Bob's Red Mill we got our 25-pound bag of organic soybeans. Six months ago a bag cost $25. This time it cost $42!!! I couldn't believe it. Guess the cost of our soy milk is now $0.85/gallon instead of $0.48. Oh, well. Still a bargain compared to cow milk. Before we lugged the beans into the car we did our ritual of buying soy yogurts (no kosher dairy ones there), juice, and chips. They all sat nicely at the table long enough to eat. That was a thrill. We managed pretty well. That all in spite of the fact that Avi fussed all day long unless he was in the backpack and NEVER took a nap. Teething. Poor guy. I'm just extremely grateful that papa was home and awake at 6:00 in the morning to comfort the little fussy guy. I'm not so sure how grateful papa was though! But hopefully sparing his late-night sweetie from a groggy morning brought him some comfort. He did high-tail it to work after I got up! Ah, the many benefits of having a nightowl wed to an early riser. I think it's a perfect arrangement. There are only 3 or 4 hours per night when we are both sound asleep. That's nearly around-the-clock coverage!