I have 12 days left

Before I have to go back to work. I'm going to miss Chloe and that sensation that I don't have to be anywhere at anytime.
Do you remember that feeling you used to get on Sundays . . . homework or assignments that weren't complete and due the next day. It took years after graduation university to shed that feeling. And then you start working full time and there's a bit of dread Sunday nights that the fun is over and you have to go back to the grind.
I'm feeling more anxious about leaving my Chloe-Chloe in the care of others 5 days a week and having to be places by a certain time.
I'm always early and my husband is always late. But this past year time has been irrelevant. I haven't had to be anywhere by a certain time. It's been great, freeing. My schedule is wide open. I can do errands whenever I want. I'm not looking forward to being constricted.
Now, that being said, I am anticipating being around adults, engaging in intellectual conversation, making money and having freedom. Now - you say - how's that? Well, my commute is two hours a day when I'm by myself in the car. I can get lunch by myself. Generally, I get to spend some time alone, which I never do now. So, freedom is also relative.

Crazy teeth

So, Chloe has been teething these past couple of nights and I assumed that she was getting an upper incisor as that's the proper order of getting her teeth.

Now, I did my research and followed the above chart for putting the numbing medication on her gums. It's not like you can see anything coming in until the tooth bursts through the gums. Her bottom teeth have been visible  through the gums since she was four months old but she didn't get her first tooth until she was 10 months.
Anyway, so I'm putting the numbing medication on the upper gums on either side of her central incisor. Well . . . Mommy did wrong.
I dug out my head light Friday morning to fish around in her mouth.She'd kept us up the night before so I wanted to see what was going on. So, I'm poking around in her mouth and I can't see anything. But out of the corner of my eye . . . I see this flash of white on the right upper gums -- way in the back. I was absolutely horrified. HORRIFIED.
The white was the full surface of a molar that had come through the gums probably about two weeks ago. I felt around on the other side of the mouth and low and behold found a sharp edge of a more recently erupted molar. EEK.
She was teething around her birthday two weeks ago but I didn't see anything come through so I figured it was one of those preliminary teething episodes when the tooth moves through the canal but isn't ready to come through the gums. How wrong I was.
I felt terrible all day that this tooth had come through and I didn't even know it to sooth her pain.
The worst part is that's not the first time that's happened and I guessing it won't be the last.

Smile drought

It never fails that when you're paying the photographer Chloe won't crack a smile. But when Mom is taking the pictures for free, she can't stop them coming.

My friend Roberta took this video at Chloe's first birthday party on Saturday. I'm a dork but hey, we aren't all perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of8h1I0jMX0

Good day

I just have to take note that Chloe and I are having a good day. We've been playing loads, especially with the musical tea set she got for her birthday. She's a darling. I'm very lucky.

She must have known what was coming

I wonder how aware my daughter is of her surroundings and whether she understands what I say. Sometimes I think she's got it, while other times I'm positive she's clueless.
Well today, it was like taking the dog to the see the vet. They just know where they're going and what's expected.

Chloe had her one-year checkup today. She talked a lot, so much and so loud that I couldn't hear the doctor when she was speaking. Sound familiar?
But when the nurse came into the room, she started getting antsy. It's as if she knew there were shots coming.
She struggled with me and wailed as if she lost a limb. Then she was cranky and needy for the rest of the day. This is why I scheduled the one-year visit at 4:10 p.m. on Thursday. I knew the shots would hurt and she'd need time to recover. Unfortunately I forgot about the appointment. I arrived at 5:10 p.m. instead, long after everyone went home. So I got the pleasure of having an 8 a.m. appointment today.
It's my fault. Miss an appointment and pay for it with a cranky daughter for 12 hours afterward.

I've been writing this book for 2 + years

So I'm a procrastinator. I don't deny it. When I have to get something done and have a deadline, I'm there. It's organized, it's done. But when it's for myself, I putter.
I've been working on this book for two plus years and have about 63,000 words written - only 30,000 more to go. That sounds like a lot, but it's not really. Most decent sized books - 400 plus pages - are about 90,000 to 100,000 words.
It's ironic because most of our stories for the newspaper don't exceed 500 words. If they do, they get snipped. At work I've found it very challenging to write tight. You gotta make every word count.
I'm doing that with my book and it's slow going. It's easy to write sloppy. Making every word precise and meaningful  is tiring and exhausting. That's probably why it's been 2 plus years and I'm still not done.
But unlike the past two years, this time I have a deadline. I go back to work the Tuesday after labor (labour) day and I want the first draft done by then.
Wish me luck.