"Mama"

While Tennisfiend was out playing on league night, I was home with Tyoma, who said "Mama" for the very first time. He said it twice in a row, at about 9:00 p.m.. I doubt if he understood what it meant, but I became quite teary-eyed and called my own mom.

More Snow!

Yes, Virginia, it really does snow in Las Cruces! Photo compliments of AI Visions.

We woke up to about four inches of snow today, but didn't bother to take any pics. Please content yourself with this lovely picture of our friend A.K.'s upscale digs. He dragged himself out of bed early and assembled an impressive quantity of camera gear while the rest slept in and drank hot chocolate.

At about eleven o'clock this morning, our neighbor Sioux's mom, Peggy, dropped by. She house-sat while her daughter traveled on business for the weekend. Peg had locked her self out of the house while taking some photos of her own. Poor Peggy shivered in the cold , slushy rain or twenty minutes, turning over icy rocks, looking for the one with the key in it until she realized that her son was the one with the hidden key.

We wound up calling a locksmith, who took two hour to get here (busy day!). In the interim, I quizzed her about her life. What an interesting woman. Peg, an Australian, was a nurse in the (Korean?) war when she met her husband who was a wounded pilot. After they married, the two of them traveled just about everywhere--Sumatra, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, and Fiji. I asked if the travel was military related, but she said no. I think her husband was a commercial pilot, so that accounts for most of the travel, Peg worked at a local hospital for fifteen years as a head nurse until she retired three years ago.

Since then she has been taking horticultural classes for pleasure at the university and plans acquire the title of "Master Gardener" via coursework and special certifications. She doesn't plan to open up a business or work, she simply enjoys gardening and I suspect that the prestige of being a "Master Gardener" tickles her pink. At last I understand why Sioux has the most velvety green lawn in sight.

First Tooth

Tyoma's first tooth came in today! We used the special spoon that Babushka Lydia sent us from Moscow to herald in the new dental visitor. Ting! Ting! Ting! As Papa tapped the spoon against the tooth. This ritual is a Russian tradtion to bring good health. Heck, if it works maybe I'll buy a spoon and give up flossing!

Meds

After weeks of sleeplessness and frazzled nerves I went in to see my regular physician, who diagnosed post partum depression. I don't feel depressed, but some folks do get positive (anxious) depression. Of course, I should have immediately suspected this with several years of psychiatric experience under my belt, I just couldn't see it. My doctor  dosed me with sleep meds, lexapro and xanax. I'll have to check with the lactation consultant for continued breast feeding, since the sleep meds are contradictory.

Stitches Out

Mom and I took Misty's stitches out today. It really stressed me out, but they popped out easily. good thing I never went to medical school.I am such a wuss.

Chat with Ewbliette

I gabbed with Ewbliette today, she filled me in on the details of her wedding to Brotherkurt in Las Vegas on the third of this month. I felt like a turd for not keeping in touch more.  She also told me some shocking news: her sister's house burned down over the holidays!  Fortunately no one was injured, but her brother-in-law had some mild smoke inhalation from rescuing the dog. I simply cannot imagine anything so terrible happening to someone I know. Apparently the fire started from fireworks igniting the front porch. Both Ewbliette and I made plans to buy smoke alarms. Brrr!

Baby Jumper

  

He's such a serious baby, but he's getting the hang of the jumper. I imagine he'll outgrow it in about two weeks!

First Cereal

I didn't post the unlovely picture I snapped, but Tyoma had his first taste or rice cereal today. Initially, he was a not pleased with the taste, but then he perked up and ate heartily. Oh, I changed my mind. Here he is:

Snowday!

I woke up this morning to about three inches of snow. It was completely unbelievable. I should have taken a photo of our house and yard. As it was, Mom volunteered to babysit for us while Tennisfiend and I raced off to the mountains to use our new Nikon. We discovered that the snow was uncharacteristically limited to the lower elevations and that the mountains looked rather scruffy, except from a distance as seen in this shot by Tennisfiend. The two of us relished the outing since we have had so few since Tyoma was born. We wound up trekking the abandoned lot of a local landscaper taking pictures of his inventory of rocks and stone, making big plans for our backyard.

Misty's Surgery

Poor Misty went in for surgery today to have a cactus spine removed. The almost two inch long spine has been lodged in her chest for over three years but only recently altered its position dangerously. Instead of lying benignly along her ribcage, it flipped perpendicularly and is a hazard to her vital organs. Anyway, Misty is just fine and is recovering at my folks place where she can receive an abunbance of affection and my Mom's vet triage skills.