NaNoWriMo: Random Things

*It’s Dinovember, people. Abigail is not into Barbies or princesses or dolls. There was a short spell where she loved her Bitty Baby doll, named by our original nanny, “LaLa,” but affection for whom wavered immediately after my parents bought LaLa a doll stroller and a crib. Because of course. Anyway, like a lot of toddlers, she adores Elmo, Daniel Tiger, and, more than anything Dora The Explorer, but so far we’ve escaped a world of many frilly things. (Whatever. I’m not frilly.) We have some dinosaurs that we bought at Target on the cheap, and every day we play with them in some fashion, and just two weeks ago she went to an exhibit on Mastodons and yesterday took her first trip to the Field Museum.

This is all to say that Dinovember is an awesome idea and cooler than Elf On The Shelf.

*My hair has grown back in. After 18 months of watching a goodly chunk of it break and/or fall out, my hair has returned to normal. My doctor was never really sure what caused this – and don’t say “Probably from having Abigail,” since I’d already experienced that round of hair loss – but the working theories are overall trauma from a combination of having a baby, sinus surgery, a stress fracture and emergency gallbladder surgery within a year. It’s taken daily supplements of biotin and evening primrose oil, very regularly haircuts and patience. Everyone has (or should) have something they love about their appearance, and my hair was always mine. Even at its most awkwardly cut, I always liked how thick, healthy and strong it was. Having it fall out in huge clumps on a daily basis for weeks felt a little traumatic. It’s grown back very curly, and while that’s sometimes a pain, I’m just happy to have hair again.

*I have been reading voraciously again. At least for me. I’m averaging a book a week, and it’s made for a joy-filled life in a way I haven’t experienced since being a kid. I made a pact to myself last summer that I’d devote more time to reading and music. And while I’ve not been as devoted to new music, you can’t have it all. Tell me what awesome books you’ve been reading lately.

*As I type this, we are just coming out of AG catching some awful flu bug and I’m pretty sure she’s now coming down with a cold – runny nose, stuffy head – and I swear to God this would put us in WEEK THREE of this baby being sick with something and it’s not even December. If she gets yet another ear, nose or throat infection, I am marching her back to the ENT.

*Writing every day these days is nearly impossible. I’m probably going to be posting a whole ton of these for the rest of the month.