Monday, December 21, 2009

Edelweiss and a few other things

So, as promised... I'm gonna do my write-up of how Edelweiss is a perfect metaphor for the relationship between parents and their children. Hope y'all enjoy.

First the lyrics:

Edelweiss, edelweiss,
Every morning you greet me.
Small and white,
Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss,
Bless my homeland
Forevermore.

(For the record... I know the last line is just "forever" and not "forevermore". Somewhere along the way it got added when I sang it and I like it.)

Now analysis:

The first five lines, I think, are about children waking up in the morning and how every day is a new day for them. The "small and white, clean and bright" part alludes to their purity. The "every morning you greet me" and "you look happy to meet me" part always makes me think of Brendan (at least when he's had a good night's sleep, lol). He will stand up and smile and talk to you the second you walk in his room.

The next three lines are about growing up and education to me. You want your child to grow up, get a good education, a good job, etc. But I think there's more to that. When your child becomes an adult, I think all parents want them to continue to grow through learning and travelling.

Finally, the last three lines are about them moving away. You know they will move away some day, some maybe far off, but some nearby. I think all parents long for their children to come home and "bless their homeland forevermore".

Anyway, that's my 2 cents about why Edelweiss is the perfect lullaby. I always think about that when I sing it too.

Brendan is so funny. He makes us laugh all the time. For example, all the cute things I posted about last time when I read to him at bedtime, he's started doing during the daytime. I'll look over and he's doing the charging motion from the rhinocerous part of his jungle book. So I'll say "he charges fast with his strong horn" and he giggles. And his Papaw taught him to raise his arm up like he's an elephant lifting his trunk up (though it's just him raising his arm straight up for now), it's really cute.

We're also discovering that in a lot of ways the first year is MUCH easier than the second year. There was a Christmas party last Thursday that me, Brent, Nana, Papaw, Aunt Krystal, and Uncle Brandon were all invited to. Brent asked Krystal what she was doing with baby Blake and she said she was bringing him. We got to thinking about the house we were going to and the fact that it was definitely NOT toddler-proof and made arrangements for Brendan with his Grandma and Grandpa. There have been several occasions like that where we have chosen babysitter over possible epic meltdowns. He's turning more and more into a toddler and looking less and less like a baby these days. The biggest toddler thing is throwing fits. Ugh! He's also developed a new noise that's almost like whining that I'm not too fond of. One of the hardest things too, is not laughing at things that, if they continue, will not be funny in the future. Gotta work on that, big time!

Brendan is not eating as well as he used to. Probably due to all these teeth he's been getting! He's getting a little better now. We were looking at his 12 month pics the other day and he has thinned out a lot. Hopefully we won't get a scolding from the pedi at his 18 month appointment. He pretty much has a list of maybe 10 foods we rotate through. Time to reintroduce some veggies I'm thinking. We've also been eating out a LOT recently so it's been mostly chicken nuggets/french fries/quesadillas/grilled cheese/(insert other common kids meal items here). Not good... Partially our fault and hopefully we'll fix it soon (go see post on weight loss blog, lol). The one thing that has been nice is Horizon yogurt that has fruit and veggies in it. And Brendan loves that stuff. I really wish we could get him to eat pasta of any kind. Reminds me of my brother. He hated spaghetti forever. Not sure when he started liking it actually. Pizza is hit and miss for now. Again, probably because of teething. Pizza isn't exactly easy to chew.

I promise to post pics and videos soon to get caught up. This is getting a little ridiculous! At least you can see cute, recent photos on Facebook now and again.

No comments: