Baby Mike Tyson vs. Mommy's leg

There's been so much self-discovery and change with the addition of Adeleigh's budding teeth. She has seven teeth and counting, and she's looking so different with a mouth of growing pearlies. She loves it when we brush her teeth. So much so, that she wails and cries when we're done, as if we've just taken away her privileges and livelihood. I guess it's a good thing she understands the importance of good mouth hygiene at such a young age. So long as she doesn't use those healthy, strong chompers to outlet her frustrations onto the world.

The other night, she took hold of the remote during the middle of my secret indulgence reality show, Bachelor Pad. I quickly tried to replace the remote with a Tickle Monster finger puppet but the smart little cookie noticed. She wasn't satisfied with my swap. She promptly grabbed hold of my leg like a drumstick, placed her mouth on my calf and chomped down as hard as she could. As if biting Mommy is going to put the remote conveniently back into her palms and win her the match.

It's probably a good thing I don't breastfeed anymore.

My sweet boxer baby unleashing her fury on the pink Tickle Monster.

I am still human

There were a lot of things that I put on hold when I became a Mom:

Practicing yoga - Lotus position is about as far as I make it (without even realizing I'm doing it), while playing with my frequently Happy Baby-posed baby.

Watching movies - except for listening to StarTrek play in the minivan, I haven't done much of this. Although when Adeleigh was 4 months old, we took her to see the family-friendly, colorful, comedy True Grit and she screamed during the opening scene. Then she giggled during all of the serious scenes...and there were lots of them.

Reading my Nook - which came in very handy on my maternity leave because I could hold my baby with book resting on my thigh, and flip through the pages without any effort. Since those days, my exposure to reading has been with lift-the-flap and touch & feel books primarily. I've got every single kid's book in this house memorized because Adeleigh makes her daddy and I read every single book to her every single day. I secretly took half of them and stuck them in the back of the closet when she wasn't looking...Something tells me she's going to be a literature-buff, just like her daddy.

Discovering new music - I have Sesame Street and Fisher Price tunes stuck in my head throughout the day. Although, I have noticed that Adeleigh seems to dance more when Mommy's tunes are playing. She must appreciate my ridiculously good taste in music, I guess. :)

Shopping - for anything other than diapers, wipes, Diaper Genie refills, formula and food. I have gotten good at couponing and saving us money on items we already buy. None of that extreme couponing stuff though. Why would you need 108 bottles of generic Excedrin or 54 containers of yogurt, even if it only cost you 8 cents total? That's just not realistic. Instead, I've been stocking up with our 19 boxes of Kleenex, 72 rolls of toilet paper, 100 pens and 48 rolls of paper towels. Phaeton's argument - "As if we have the extra space." But my argument? "I found a good deal........ the last 5 times I went shopping. And now we're set for the next 4 years on those items." And after the next time I go shopping, we'll be set for another 8 years. Phaeton will appreciate my new hobby someday...maybe when we have a bigger place.

I know I didn't have to put all of my hobbies on hold. I'm sure I could've still found time for everything. But I've been so consumed with the discovery of this new and exciting chapter of life, of becoming a Mom, that all of those things have naturally taken a backseat. And I'm okay with that. Because in the process, I've found some new and exciting hobbies to nurture. It's been a year and I've decided that it's time I start easing bits and pieces of those "oldie-but-goodie" loves back into my life, taking a little more "me" time (other than my commute to and from work) and not feeling guilty about it.

So, the other day, I downloaded some new music because it was free. And it was actually pretty good! I was so excited, I listened to the album over and over and over again. Now I'm sick of it, so I need to find something new already.
Then, the other night before bed, I pulled my Nook out of the attic, dusted the cobwebs off and got excited to read my recent purchase, The Art of Racing in the Rain. I tried to turn my Nook on, but the battery was dead after months of not being fondled, so I had to wait another 10 hours while it woke up and re-charged before I could enjoy.
Next, since I had some birthday money to spend, I made plans to take 3 hours of shopping for myself last weekend. I've been so used to finding good deals that I found so much was out of what I would consider a "reasonable" price range. I came home after 3 hours with only 2 items for myself, another bag of diapers and only spent $13.00. Guess I'll just need to go shopping again soon. Bummer (wink wink).
Then, I started Netflixing new movies. Phaeton knows I love French films. So the other day, after Adeleigh fell asleep, he conveniently started watching Heather-bait, a French romantic-comedy called Russian Dolls. Naturally, I was hooked. Now I've got 85 titles in my Instant Queue and am trying to watch every spare moment I have. (This is one reason I haven't blogged in awhile. Also why I love these rainy days so I can stay inside and enjoy.) A few of my French faves - Amelie, Priceless, Happenstance & Heartbreaker.

While I'm still working on finding time for yoga again, I am taking baby steps at re-kindling my relationship with some old-loves (including taking more time to hang out with friends!!!), and I'm finding out how beneficial it really is. And while Mommahood is always going to be full of discovery and learning and making adjustments, I'm at a point where I feel more comfortable (and feel it much more essential) to take a little more time for me. Which, as I've been reminded time and time again, is just fine.