MuellerMommyAdventures

Three nights ago Felicity tried running. She was wearing her long maxi-dress, with the little ruffles around the top and the bottom. She tried with all her little might to run after her two year-old friend who had a ball. Into the long grass, she went. The thick grass was taller than her knees. She stumbled on the grass and her skirt, but stood up again, and again. She tried so hard. Three weeks ago she took her first step in California. Three weeks ago I was living in California. Not anymore. People ask, “How do you like Waco? What do I think of moving?” Putting into words the experience of moving is difficult. On the one hand, there is something so ordinary about it. Yesterday, I sang to my baby and put her to bed. This morning, I went for my mile run. I dropped Nathan off at school, carpooling, the same as we’ve always done. Yet, it is different. Here, Felicity has a room of her own. The brick buildings of the classically, beautiful Baylor campus put Makita Tool compa

May came bringing with it crawling, babbling, teaching, traveling, house buying, weddings, trains, and a trip to the zoo. Writing went by the wayside for a little while, but as I sit now in front of the open windows of our little back house, the writing frame of mind returns. Felicity sleeps and for a little while I can reflect. Our first family vacation started being stuck in the airport since San Francisco was whipped with high winds temporarily grounding all incoming and out-going planes. When we finally boarded, Felicity found plane windows as fascinating as they are supposed to be. At take off, her whee of excitement and intake of breath filled the air—another confirmation that my genes run strong in her. On the train, from San Francisco to Omaha she woke up in the middle of the night sleepily delighted to find her mommy was sharing the small sleeper compartment. She won’t remember it, but crossing the Rockies, she saw her first snowstorm. White flakes fell down in a whit

Do you remember the game Clue? “Mrs. White did it! In the drawing room! With… the candlestick!” The board, with its top-secret cards tantalizing enclosed on the board’s center, is one of the first games I remember enjoying. (Ok, throw in Candy-land and Chutes and Ladders, but then what five-year old doesn’t like candy and slides?) Along with an enjoyment for Clue, I was an avid fan of the Boxcar Children—those sleuthing siblings who found a mystery wherever they went. I read every book that existed in the series at the time. Mysteries are hard to resist, especially when neatly packaged in a book guaranteeing the mystery will be solved.   Felicity finds mysteries daily. It is a mystery how the shoelaces bend when she touches them. It is a mystery that her car seat has strange buckles. And any small object is mystery food waiting to be tasted. Mama’s voice in the shower is a mystery. And if she pulls the curtains just right, she solves The Case of Where is Mama. Her arms bounce up a

Most of my friends have their babies on well-regulated nighttime sleep schedules.   Felicity on the other hand has yet to attain that accomplishment. Mostly, because of the ease of slipping her into bed with me for a nighttime snack as opposed to listening to her very opinionated and long-winded protest that getting out of her crib is really the best plan, is just easier with a one-bedroom house. And there is something sweet about it. Something sweet in knowing that when she wakes up in the night, I can comfort her. All to soon, she will not need her nighttime snacks. The little face, which nuzzles down next to me won’t need literal nourishment from me any longer. All ready she is three times the size of the little, bitty girl that I met eight months ago. Combing back her hair and cuddling with her is precious.  These late night wake-ups make me reflect on a couple of different things within the light of day. First, the picture of a mamma feeding a baby makes me think how pare

So admittedly it's been awhile since a mommy adventure has been documented via typing. The lack of stories mostly coincides with the end of maternity leave, but now the time has come to hit the ground of writing with some crawling. At least Felicity seems to thinks it’s time to crawl. Only she’s finding that her body doesn’t want to cooperate yet. I noticed she wanted to crawl when she started making flips onto her tummy to signal the end of naptime. Then, during playtime, she’d flop onto her large middle and stretch her little fingers grabbing at the toy that rolled just out of reach.  Toes push the ground, but her belly keeps her beached. And the most she’s managed is to scoot backwards or to rotate using her belly as an axis. But the crawling is coming soon.   She wants it badly. The little toes are starting to realize they need to push at the ground and determination to move forward fills her face with each passing day. At the moment, crawling is a Mueller family t

Almost six months has Felicity been a part of our everyday household. (Sure the nine months prior, she was present, but her needs manifested themselves in mommy eating extra ice cream). Somewhere around month four she became really curious about everything. Now when I hold her unless she is very sleepy, her arms and legs wiggle and she thrusts her little head out looking around at everything drinking in the books, the Christmas tree, the piano, the light, and the color contrasts. Then if she is let down, she grabs objects with her little hands and soon after grabbing them, they make there way to her mouth for a more thorough investigation. Today it is raining. When I opened the shade Felicity couldn’t take her eyes off of the dripping world. Watching her watch the world I can't help but wonder what thoughts cross her brain? Does she know the difference between rain and sunshine? Does she recognize the window as the same window she looked out before? The world of our little ho