XYZ is for "Examine your Zipper."

Norah's been forgetful and clumsy lately. At breakfast, as she turns to look at the piece of cereal she dropped on her chair, she hits the bowl with her elbow and spills the whole thing on the floor, she trips over her shoes while putting on her pants and then lands on top of her dollhouse, she drenches herself almost every time she takes a drink of water from a bottle, she can't seem to figure out that you don't have to throw your head all the way back to get the water to come out, but more often than anything else these days, she forgets to zip up her pants. It happens all the time. I think it must be a five-year-old thing.

She's rolling over, but not back. She's sits up, but not all by herself. She's saying words like "Ba, ba, baba" and "Ma, ma, mama." Besides nursing like a champ and eating a small portion of cereal, she's downing at least one jar of baby food every day. And, she gets really mad when the jar gets empty. She likes to blow spit bubbles and make toot noises with her mouth. She always sucks on her fingers like she just ate a chicken leg or rack of ribs or something. When you are holding her, she tries to grab your face and put the whole thing in her mouth at once. And, while she does this she makes the exact same sound that tigers do when they are eating their prey. She'll smile at you and laugh the sweetest little laugh, but not right away. She makes you work for it. She's our Avril.

We had some left over frosting after celebrating Norah's birthday. Dwayne kept stealing a finger-full of it anytime he opened the fridge throughout last week. I thought that was pretty pitiful and felt sorry for him, so I came up with what I thought would be a solution. Saturday morning, after breakfast, I decided to make some mini cupcakes with a mix I have had in the pantry for several months. Norah helped me gladly. But, when Dwayne got up and saw what we were doing, he was disappointed. He said he knew Norah and I would eat the icing with cupcakes, but as long as there were no cupcakes, he'd have the icing all to himself. Ha! But, we finished baking them anyway. And, Saturday night, after we got home and made and ate dinner, we put all the cupcakes on the lazy-Susan in the middle of the table and decorated them together. Turns out, bite sized cupcakes are pretty irresistible. So, I hurried over to our neighbor's house with a plate full even though the sun had just set, knowing that if I delayed till morning, they might all be gone before we had a chance to share them.

Have you ever been so terrified you couldn't function? I was that terrified earlier today.

We have a formal wedding and reception to go to this Thursday and I found a pretty dress, but to look nice in it, I need a tan. I can't go to the beach here in Connecticut. It's been way to cold for that for at least a month now, so I am going to the tanning booth. But, I had never been tanning before, even for my own wedding, so the last two days were my first experience with the process and turns it out that I am terrified of it.

You know that feeling you get right before you get locked into your seat on a roller coaster? That's nothing compared to the panic I've felt the last two days. I literally have to force myself to go through with it, since I know going five times in my life won't kill me... will it?

My knees knock, I can hardly breath and I am extremely close to a panic attack right before they turn on the machines... Keep that in mind as I tell you what happened earlier today on my second trip to the tanning salon.

I took Dwayne and the kids along. I joked that I needed them there for moral support and just in case I screamed. But, really, I just thought we'd all stop by there together and then get right on with our day once I was done. Turns out I was right... about the first thing.

The machine turned on before I was in it, before I had my eye protection on, even before I had my special sun block on in full. The goggles I was given didn't have a strap, since the bed was horizontal and the goggles are supposed to just lay on your face. I was already scared before the machine turned on early, so I freaked out when it came on and couldn't think clear enough to hold my goggles with one hand and open my eyes through the special lenses to find the switch to turn the machine off with the other... When Dwayne found me, after I'd been yelling for at least a minute, I was cowering in the corner of the room naked, with my T-shirt shielding my eyes. He managed to convince the lady to turn the machine off after that. Why she didn't hear me asking her to do the same thing so loudly, I don't know.

I immediately got dressed and was ready to demand a refund, leave and never come back, but the lady convinced me to try the standing bed pictured above. Since the glasses she gave me for that bed would stay on with a strap, allowing me to use my arms and since the OFF button was so clearly labeled, I agreed. That bed wasn't as bad, since I could stand, raise my arms and move around and it didn't feel so much like a coffin, but I still have the shakes thinking about having to go again tomorrow. Even with the extra space in the standing machine, the idea of the artificial lights really bothers me, it feels so unnatural to harm myself so I can be more "beautiful." I honestly don't know if I can go through with it again.

Doesn't Neutrogena make a really nice self-tanning lotion?

"Look at all the black eyes!" -Norah

I made Chrunchy Tilapia, Lemon Tartar Sauce and Creamed Spinach for dinner this evening. I was eight months pregnant with Norah the last time I made fish. At that point, we were eating salmon at least once a week, but one night, I pulled some out of the fridge and the smell of it made me gag. The memories of the tremors I got are just now beginning to dim enough for me to leave them behind and start handling raw fish again. It's like I've been holding my nose for five years and I am finally able to breath in deep again. I am going to try and add fish like this to our menu at least once every two weeks. It's just so good for us. I've felt for some time that we eat way too much chicken or rice and I need to add more meat varieties and green to our diet. In fact, this meal was so perfectly nutritious, after only one plate and six hours, I am still not hungry.

Our Book It! awards came in the mail yesterday. Did you do this when you were in school? I wanted to, but I was never able to read enough books to get the free pizzas. These days, homeschoolers can sign up, too! Go here and fill out the form to receive an email reminder when the sign-ups come around again, sometime in March of next year.

The program allows you to set your own goal for your kid. We've decided that Norah will have to read twenty pages in her phonics textbook or twenty Bob's Books or some combination of the two to get one of these coupons. At the end of the month, that means she will have to read one or two more pages and books a week than she averages right now. With Dwayne's help, I made this nifty check list so Norah can keep track of her progress herself.

Feel free to double click on the image above, right click and "Save file as..." and save this to your own computer to use for yourself. Starting October 1, we will print this on card stock, trim it with scissors so we can take off all the excess borders and keep the card with her phonics books, that way she will be able to check off one star each time she finishes something. I'm hoping this will motivate her to read more than just what she is assigned. And, when a month's twenty stars are all checked off, we'll go get her a pizza for lunch... ummm... that is... as soon as the next pay day comes after we finish checking the twenty! Yay!