I should probably put this in Maxwell's baby book.

Maxwell's Vocabulary in no particular order

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Nanny
4. Pops
5. Gramma
6. Bribri
7. Taytay (Tegan)
8. Dave
9. Camille
10. Uncle
11. Nellie
12. Bubba
13. Grampy (dddddd)
14. Liz
15. Izze
16. pacifier
17. milk
18. water
19. cracker
20. cookie
21. pasta
22. apple
23. banana
24. grapes
25. motorcyle
26. jeep
27. blanket
28. ducky
29. moo
30. baa
31. neigh
32. ee ee (monkey)
33. quack
34. Andy (his elephant)
35. Elmo
36. Cookie monster
37. Grover
38. Pooh
39. Mickey
40. no
41. outdoors
42. all done
43. up
44. vroom (car)
45. door
46. ding (doorbell)
47. noodle
48. peas
49. ball
50. bath
51. squeezie
52. uh oh
53. hot
54. puppy
55. Max
56. baby
57. wild
58. twinkle twinkle
59. Bible
60. mail
61. more
62. booger
63. dip dip
64. applesauce
65. please
66. Bart
67. Raffi
68. boots
69. bike
70. TV
71. puffs
72. teeth
73. button
74. bottle
75. digger
76. buckle
77.  

Things a Housewife Should Be Able to Do

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a housewife.  Some girls dream of being a famous actress, the first female president, an Olympic athlete, or Oprah.  I dreamed of being Lucille Ball, polka dot dress and witty comebacks included.

Of course when I graduated high school I was single with absolutely no prospects for marriage in sight.  So I did the next best thing and went to college.  By the time I graduated college I was still single and marriage was still a distant and almost forgotten dream.  Since a B.A. in Mathematics doesn't really prepare you for much other than graduate school, I went to graduate school.  It was there that I finally met the love of my life and miraculously tricked him into marrying me.   When he finally finished grad school himself and I no longer had to be the breadwinner, I had a baby and became a housewife.  My dream was finally reality.

I thought that being a housewife would be instinctual.  Every room in my house would be immaculate and decorated just like a page from Better Homes and Gardens.  I would be like Betty Draper (minus the depression) and always have an amazing meal on the table when my world-weary husband arrived home from work. 

Oh, the naivety.  Being a housewife is not instinctual, and it is not easy.  My house is a disaster-zone, my child always has dried-something-or-other on his face, my husband regularly goes to work in a wrinkly shirt, and by the time he arrives home from work I am often lying on the floor in the middle of the living room letting my child climb on me like I'm a piece of furniture.  It's a tough gig. 

So this leads me to the point of this post: Things a Housewife Should Be Able to Do.  Clearly I will never be the picture-perfect magazine-cover homemaker.  But there are a few things that I think it's high time I learned how to do.  So I've written down a few goals, and maybe I'll blog about how they turn out.  And maybe I won't.  Knowing my commitment to regular blogging, probably the latter.

Things a Housewife Should Be Able to Do.

1. Cook a pot roast.
2. Roast a chicken.
3. Bake a pie (including homemade crust).
4. Establish a regular cleaning routine.
5. Give her child a haircut.
6. Look presentable after a long day of toddler-chasing and housework.

I'm not sure #6 is actually possible.  If you are a housewife and you have accomplished this, please leave a comment with specific instructions on how I too can accomplish this. 

I've attempted #5 a couple times now, and still haven't mastered it.  I think I'll get it though with more practice.

Today I tackled #1, but I'll leave the details for a future post. 

So, dear reader(s), did I forget anything vital on that list?