Holiday Travels

We are in the land of ten thousand lakes celebrating Christmas with my parents. My brother, Grandma and Aunts are all here and we are having a wonderful time. I have so many stories stored up and so much that I want to make sue that I remember. Will is having a fantastic time. Mostly because his beloved Nana and Papa are here EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING. Seriously, you have no idea how much joy that gives him.

So, I will share some of the stories as the week goes on, but I wanted to note for me how lucky I feel today. Dan and Will and I are overwhelmed by the blessings we have. Thank you to our friends and family, we really appreciate all that you bring to our lives.

Tulip?

My child, he is a delicate flower.

James Kim

This man's family and the struggles they have endured have been on my mind since we first heard they were missing on our local news. I can't even begin to imagine what those days must have been like, and I can't really explain why it has been in the forefront of my mind so much. This morning I read this by one of my favorite bloggers and I know I can't put it all into words any better.

Guy Love

I am such a sucker for a good musical number:

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving was seriously fantastic. We overflowed with blessings.
The food, drink, company...all amazing.
Pictures here and here.

p.s. Aggie was missed by all, but I represented with the mashed taters and artichoke dip.

Pondering

I can't decide which would be better for Christmas...the Baby Keeper (handy safety measure or a tourture device?) or the Monitor that calls my cell phone when Will cries because my house is just that big or I've left him there to fend for himself. I am leaning towards the Baby Keeper just because those photos really do sell it.

Kind of Blue

I must admit that my early relationship with politics was a somehwat fickle one.

Growing up, despite the fact that my mother was a total hippie who marched against the war, politics were not a prevalent subject in my household. I was a pastor's daughter who was obsessed with literature, philosophy and music. I had little time for current events.

I had a boyfriend in high school who believed Clinton was a communist. When he won the presidential election the next day I wore "communist" red in support of Clinton mainly because it annoyed the boy.

In college I made a very weak stab at understanding politics. I joined the College republicans because I thought the guy who was the treasurer was cute. When I called my mother and told her what I had done she hung up on me and wouldn't talk to me for two weeks. I called her mother and she was so proud of me she offered to send me to D.C. on a college republican field trip.

Right after college I was far too concerned with my own world to even begin to comprehend the world around me. Although, that is when I remember voting for the first time.

Then I met Dan. Dan asked me to question my world view in the same way I had been questioning my religious beliefs since my father asked me to when I was 10. Really, what did I believe in and why? Could I argue my point against someone who disagreed with me? Did I really believe in something? He helped awaken in me a world that I had stuck my head in the sand to avoid for many years. Once I saw this world I was saddened and frustrated and scared for many things in our future. But I was so glad that I was aware.

Tonight, after Will went to bed, I have spent the last few hours alone watching CNN and our local news to see the results of this year's elections. Who will control the House, who will control the Senate, which local measures will pass and which will fail. Go Blue, it's been a good night!

Lion

Happy Halloween. We had a great time this year...went to a party at Will's daycare and even interacted with the other parents at his school(shocking I know!) Then we made stops to all the "family" in town who needed to see our little lion cub.

Actually, he was only a lion cub for a very brief period of time as he hated the main. Most of the the night he was Will the Cowboy Lion. Wranglin’ wildcats. Lassoing leopards.

Nobody's Watching

Did you all know about this? This shit cracked me up. I think the OK Go one is my favorite, but the they also have an awesome one up on YouTube based on Lost.

Ugh, I'm having a tough time writing lately.

Not that there hasn't been lots going on, because there has...

Last weekend I went away for the 2nd annual girly weekend. There were 10 of us this year and we rented the same house as last year right on the coast. Not to sound all Oprah about the experience but it was really wonderful. It still amazes me that I know 9 other women that I would actually want to spend an entire weekend getting drunk with. And these are some really fantastic people. And it is a children free weekend (unless you happen to be pregnant like 2 of the girls are) so it really was a weekend where the only responsibilities were to figure out which bottle of Pinot to open first. Plus there was a hot tub. On the beach. Seriously.

While I was off indulging myself Dan and Will got some good father/Son bonding time in. Last year I had to drag Dan to the Pumpkin patch, this year he went without me. He took Will to some place that you took a boat out to the patch and then a train back. Seriously, the only way Will could have been any happier with that scenario would be to somehow involve a bike and a garbage truck. The kid was in heaven. He apparently was also a 2 year old and sat down in the pumpkin patch and refused to move unless he was being carried by Dan, whose hands were a little full with the pumpkins and wheelbarrow and such.

Will had his two year check-up yesterday and all is well. 35 inches tall and 29 pounds. Dr. Fabulous says he is going to be over 6 feet tall. Also, I will put up some new pictures soon including our weekend adventures to 'Halloween at the Zoo'.

Little Man manners

We have been working on manners with Will. Dan and I are really big on the 'Please' and 'Thank you' thing. We use both phrases pretty regularly with each other, people at the grocery store, gas station, restaurants, Taco Bell...we tend to think it is a basic respect thing that seems to be getting lost in a lot of communication these days. Before we had kids and realized that there are some things you just couldn't force them to do, we both would get really annoyed by kids who don't seem to know what these words mean.

So, since Will is starting to put actual sentences together we feel now is a good time to both lead by example and prompt him. I figure if he can say "I want juice mama!" he can also say "I want juice please." We started out by straight out telling him "Will, say thank you to the cashier" and have graduated to "What do you say Will?" This works pretty well most of the time.

This morning, I brought him his milk and asked "What do you say Will?"

His response? "please thank you welcome"

I guess he wanted to make sure all his bases were covered.

Lucky

I have been amazingly fortunate enough to experience many different kinds of love in my life.

* The safe and protective love of my parents
* The "ohmygod I'm totally in love" of a 16 year old. I was a sophomore, he was a senior...it was all very big and very serious to my 16 year old self.
* The young adult love in my early 20's that was so adult and so young in so many ways.
* The wonderful love of friendship.
* The all-consuming, passionate, calming, life-changing love that came into my life with Dan.

But all of those things really couldn't prepare me for how heart-bursting hearing this would be:

"I love you mama"

I am very lucky.

little bits

So, I redesigned the site today. With winter approaching things are getting darker every day here and I was tired of dark. So I thought something lighter here would be nice. I would love to take credit for this, but in reality I found the template at Gecko and Fly and just messed with it a little. They have some really great stuff there, if you blog on Blogger you should check it out.

On my way back from a meeting today I listened to the radio. I don't do that very often because the talking in the morning (and on the way home for that matter) makes me want to drive my car off a bridge. However, I was driving in the middle of the day so I thought I would give the radio a try.

Results:

3 songs that reminded me why I don't listen to the radio:

1) 'My Humps '-Black Eyed Peas. Seriously? I hate this song. Not just because it is not that great musically, but the lyrics are annoying. Just a sample for you:
What you gon' do with all that junk? All that junk inside that trunk? I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk, Get you love drunk off my hump. What u gon' do with all that ass? All that ass inside them jeans? I'm a make, make, make, make you scream Make u scream, make you scream. Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump. My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps.
I am not trying to be a snob, but seriously. Love drunk off my hump?

2) 'Right Thurr' - Chingy. Yeah, so I looked up who "sings" this. Are all those R's really necessary?

3)'Unfaithful' - Rihanna. From what I can tell she's singing a song about how she's cheating on her boyfriend and how she is sure that he knows and is sure that it is killing him, therefore she is murdering him but she doesn't want to be a murderer. Sweetie, if you don't want to continue "murdering" your boyfriend maybe you should either stop having the affair or break up with your boyfriend. Just a thought.

2 Songs that made me glad I was listening to the radio:

1) 'Sexual Healing' - Marvin Gaye. Really a master at work.

2) 'I'm not ready to make nice' - Dixie Chicks. Not only is the music itself complex and hauntingly beautiful, I like what they are saying as well. I continue to be impressed that they stand by their beliefs and find ways to express it through their art.

Land of the Sky Blue Waters

New pictures up here.

They are from my recent trip to Minnesota with Will. It was a fantastic trip filled with family and friends and many, many good times. Will was beside himself when he realized that when he woke up Nana and Papa would actually be there, and I was beside myself when I realized that meant I could sleep in. I got a chance to connect with some good friends and Will got a chance to play with Lucas. We missed Dan of course, but it was a wonderful visit. I'm looking forward to going back at Christmas.

Birth Day

Happy 2nd Birthday Will!



Your Mama and Daddy love you very much!

Why yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.

I feel whiny. It's not like I got stranded on an Camel safari, or am starting to teach an AP class for the first time or am moving halfway across the country. I am just working and being a mom, and I am feeling overwhelmed. Right now my work is kind of crazy. And it will be for the next couple of months until this project is over. And honestly, it is really hard being a working mom when work is this stressful. I mean, I know. Duh, right? It's just that someone NEEDS from me, like, 24 hours a day. It's trackers and sippy cups and books and meetings and cubed ham and numbers and nightmare soothing and it is starting to overwhelm me. Christ, trying to decide what I want to eat for breakfast these days overwhelms me.
But the thing is, other than maybe wanting this work stress to dial back a bit, all the things that are causing the overwhelmedness are things that are good. I really have nothing to complain about - I mean, I actually really like my job most of the time, and Little Man and Dan are about the best ever. Hence the feeling whiny...and kind of dramatic. I'm glad to have the long weekend and my trip to MN coming up. I think a little time to regroup with the family this weekend and then a stay at my parent's house where I get to let my mom baby me a little might be just what I need.

I have lived here for 5 years this summer. When Dan and I moved here, I was not too keen on the idea and pouted for about 3 months. I had a similar reaction when I moved from Michigan, where I lived until I was 18, to Minnesota. Another similar result of both of those moves was that due to all the energy I was putting towards pouting I found it really hard to keep in touch with the people that I cared about. In fact I really sucked at it. Dan does not have that problem. He has friends that he has known since a camp he went to during middle school, friends from High School and good friends from College that are scattered throughout the US that he keeps in contact with and some that he visits with on a fairly regular basis. Now we have a wonderfully amazing friends here in town, and I have a few of my people from Minnesota that I still speak/email with on a fairly regular basis, but sometimes I find myself jealous of the friendships he has that have such...history and longevity. One of those people was here in town this weekend. Dan and Matt visit each other about every 3-4 months. I adore Matt and I love that they get together so often.

Saturday morning I decided we were going to have a group outing so I woke them up and dragged their hung-over asses to the farmer's market. There was a summer commencement at the nearby college so it was really busy, but it was one of those perfect summer morning where you know it is going to get really hot in a couple of hours but isn't yet. The market was filled with all the wonderful smells of late summer - heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn and peaches all mixed up with the vendors preparing breakfast burritos and pizza and sausages. We wandered around for a while before Will decided that lying down in the middle of the walkway and crying was way more than, I don't know, ANYTHING else. So we went to a nearby play structure and let him run out some of his energy. While Dan and Will were making trips 10-40 down the slide, Matt and I sat and talked about all the changes that we have seen in our respective lives over the last 6 months. We reminisced about this one night seven or so years ago that we were in some small Mexican restaurant after bar close and talked about how someday we were going to have spouses and families and we would all go visit each other because we were still going to be friends then. And here we are, Matt playing with my son in our living room and trips to the farmer’s market…it’s easy and comfortable and I realized that I don't have to be jealous of Dan - because his people have become mine now too. And he has some pretty fantastic people.

Weekly round-up

Wow - it has been a crazy busy week. I keep sitting down to write something and get distracted by the phone ringing or a work email or the Little Man wanting more crack...I mean Elmo. So you will get highlight reel of my week (thank you for the idea Lee!)

1) Will has started stringing 2-3 words together and it is the cutest thing in the world. This generally happens when he wants something and the problem is the I find it so cute I end giving him whatever he wants just because I want to eat him up every time. "One more Elmo?" while holding up his pointer finger...ok. Doesn't matter that it's 8:00 at night and past your bedtime, you are adorable. "Daddy kick ball?" You want to kick the ball to Daddy? Absolutely, I don't care that he is in the shower I will get him out so you can play with him. I realize this novelty will wear off pretty soon and I will get back to putting some limits on his requests but he is so proud of himself right now I just can't help it.

2) A friend of mine had surgery this last week. She is doing very well considering the invasiveness of the procedure, but in truth it kind of intimidates me a little that she is still in so much pain. The procedure is very similar to that of a C-Section and really it was only by luck that I didn't have to have a C-section with Little Man. There is a very good chance that I will have to have one with any future children. And after seeing the pain and movement limitations she has? My childbirth experience seems not so bad - granted I had a great epidural. She has been a real trooper and I continue to be impressed with her positive attitude during all this, 'cause seriously? Ow!

3) I cut Will's hair at the beginning of the week. His hair was getting long enough to put into pig-tails...which I of course kept trying to do and Dan kept getting annoyed with. So, I have mentioned before that Little Man has very little inherent fear regarding things, right? Apparently I have discovered his first true phobia. Hair Cutting. I swear that one day we will find out that he has some freak genetic disorder that has given him nerve cells in his hair because the way he screams when I cut his hair I must be physically harming him. Nothing really compares with the terror that is hair cutting...well except nail cutting. That is a close second. After that? Nothing apparently. Running into the street? No fear. Getting separated from us by 20-30 feet? Doesn't even give a glance back. He'll even grab the scissors and try to stab himself...but cut his hair? It is like the Hellmouth opened up inside my home and the screaming of all the demons have been unleashed upon me. Fantastic.

4) At this very moment Little Man is having his very own Dance party to Cuban music in our living room. I wish I could figure out a way for you to see this because I may explode from loving him and then you would know why.

New Pictures

I put up some new pictures here.

Last weekend we tried to escape the heat and hopped into the car and went out to the Coast. It was a wonderful trip! The whole family was there and it was just really easy. We went up Saturday morning and came back late Sunday night and it was just the perfect amount of time to be away. Enough that you really feel like you got a break, but not so much that you have trouble getting back into the swing of things. It was 94 degrees inside our house when we got back at 11:30 at night. I can't even imagine how awful it was during the when the temps were in the 100's.

Will did great. We talked about going the whole way to school on Friday and near the end of our car ride he had learned the word beach. Except as you can imagine he had a little problem with the pronunciation. So instead it sounded like "Bitch!" So here we are driving to school at he is in the back seat just repeating "Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!" with increasing levels of intensity because he is so excited about the idea of going to the beach. I decided I should warn his teachers at school that I had not, in fact, taught him to swear at them on our way to school that morning. Although, maybe I shouldn't have - it would have been great to see if they would have said anything to us if I hadn't.

Identity Crisis

So, anyone who knows me well or for longer than 5 years knows that I went through a pretty "fun" identity crisis from about age 21-23. It's a period of time I lovingly refer to as "That one time when I was drunk". So, those who went through that with me will be relieved to know that my current identity crisis is much more...I don't know, surface?

I am having serious identity issues with this space here. I have no idea what I want out of this forum of communication. I originally set it up as a way to relay information about the Little Man, but as I read more of these 'blog thingies' I am more and more fascinated by this way of writing. I am not so sure that I want to only post about being a mom and what is going on with Will. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom and I really enjoy writing about it. It is a large part of who I am and what I do on a daily basis, and I love getting to brag about the wonderful-ness that is my child. But I am starting to feel like I might have something, maybe, possibly, more to say.

However, this is very unfamiliar territory for me. I have NEVER been the type to journal. I never kept a diary, never worked things out through writing about them. It has never been a practical our creative outlet for me. I am much more comfortable talking about the things I have floating around in my head , fluidly moving from one topic to the next. I have always had difficulty translating that fluidity onto paper. But more and more, I think I might want to try...I am not sure yet. Hence, my current identity crisis.

Also, a blogger whose voice and writing I have respected immensely for the last few years has returned to the blogging world. Check her out here and on my blogroll. You will be very happy that you did.

Because I am Lazy

This is one of the most fanstastically wonderful things I have read in a long time. I just know that Will is totally going to pull the same kind of swearing thing in 7 months and I have no idea how Dan and I are going to hold our shit together when he does. Seriously.

This is a family trip to the park...actual pictures of the three of us together.

These are pictures from the Selden annual BBQ on the 4th. I am seriously reconsidering my friendship with Kari for posting a couple of really bad pictures...but then again, she did take the wonderful ones above from the park so I guess I will forgive her.

We get to watch Little Will tomorrow night. I can't wait to play with a little baby again. They are just so...non-mobile. I will try and get some good pics of the boys together.

Photoshop fun

So, I used to take a lot of pictures. I mean I still take a lot of pictures of the Little Man, but I used to take pictures of other things as well. I had this beautiful camera that I bought with my high school graduation money and it was stolen out of my car after college. I know, who leaves something like that in a car? What I can I say, I was probably drunk. In any case, I used to love taking pictures and have been talking about doing it more. So, I am going to take a class in Photoshop elements and start playing around again. This is one of my first attempts at self learning though. I found the steps to do this on dooce. I believe it's known across the blogging world as "The Dooce Effect". I think it's pretty cool.

Before:


After:

Day for Dad

Four reasons instead of two:

For being such an involved Dad in every aspect of his life...

For changing diapers, washing bottles, soothing nightmares, dressing him hip, reading favorite stories over and over again, telling him what is going on in the world, making sure he always has water, giving hugs and kisses, teaching him what it means to feel safe, finding Elmo, bath time, morning cuddles, how sad you were for him to give up the bottle, playing good music for him, taking him to school, picking him up from school, going to get gelato, being patient, swimming lessons, playing the hat game, protecting him, wrestling on the floor, playing catch, going for walks, giving him syrup with pancakes...

For the way you look at him like he is the most important thing in this world...

For loving him wholly and unconditionally...

Thank you. I love you.

I'm sure no one told me...

Being a parent is tough.

I love it, but making the shift from "The one who feeds, clothes, changes and loves the baby" to "the one disciplines, teaches and gives time-outs to the toddler" is much harder than I realized.

Will is barreling into the terrible two's with a fantastic force.

Until now I had no idea that a person could simultaneously relax every muscle in their entire body and suddenly collapse into a pile of screamy, whiney fanstasticness in 2 seconds or less...in the middle of frozen food aisle. Yep, I am now "That Mom". You know the one, the one all the single people look at and think "good lord, why can't that woman just control her child?" and shake their head as they try and extricate themselves from the aisle where said tantrum is happening. I was once one of those single, childless people with the head shaking and the good-lording. If only I could go back and slap some sense into myself.

But you see, the thing about toddlers is that they are also really damn cute.


And sweet natured (at times when they are well fed and have gotten lots of sleep) and amazing and give you looks that make melt and want to give them anything in the world...

They are learning so fast that their poor little bodies can hardly keep up with it. You can hardly blame them when they get so frustrated that you don't understand that "gercklye" yelled 100 times with increasing intensity means "water" that they start throwing all food and any other object in a 4 foot radius at you (go-go gadget arms!)...can you?

Umm, yeah

So, I haven't updated here in a while. My Mom was here (best visit ever), Dan is back (yay!), things have been a little crazy. But I wanted to share these two pics because they make me very happy and will write more soon. Will is entering a very interesting age and there are lots of stories to tell.

little bit of this, little bit of that

Mother's day was sweet this year. Dan sent card from himself and Will, Kari brought over a beautiful orchid and I got to spend the day with my Mom. It's crazy thinking that someday I might be spending a Mother's day with by own adult child and grandchild...

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Will is enamored with his Nana. Every morning when he sees her he gets this huge smile on his face and says "Hi Nana!" and then tries to leap out of my arms to get to her faster. He is such mimic these days and she has taught him so many funny little games like covering his mouth and laughing, wiping off his feet when he comes in from the deck, helping with cleaning...so maybe not so much games but it's cute in any case. She gets him chocolate milk and berry smoothies and makes him pancakes for breakfast and he will just follow her all around the house with this look of total devotion. I wish she and my Dad lived closer so they could do this more often with him. It's wonderful to see.

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My Mother and one of my best friends totally ganged up on me last night about Will still getting a nighttime bottle and the whole sleeping in the pack and play in our room thing. They make a pretty intimidating pair when coming at you at 11:30 at night, but despite almost making me cry it's secretly kind of cool when two women you respect so much find common ground despite not knowing each other that well.

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Dan will be home in one week and I can't wait. I miss him terribly.

The heart - it can be so full

So, I was sitting in my living room tonight half watching the Office and half working on spreadsheet 9,000,064 for my current work project and I hear a rustling over the monitor.

All of a sudden, in this amazingly clear, super gentle, sweetest voice ever I hear it:

"mama? mama..."

I go in to check on Little Man and he was talking in his sleep.

That SO trumps the "daddy?" every day when we drive up to the house.

Feeling like a grown up

When I was younger I recognized that I had pretty hip parents. They had a fantastic group of friends and I remember them all getting together to do things like play cards, probably have a couple drinks and listen to Prairie Home Companion. All of us kids would be in a playroom or basement putting on plays, playing school or whatever until we got tired. Then we would go to sleep on extra couches and mattresses until we were scooped up by our parents and shuttled home where we sleepwalked our way into our pajamas and crawled into bed.

My brother and I had such a full and rich community of adults in our lives and it has always been one of those things I hoped to provide for my children someday. When Will was born, Dan and I made it a goal to involve him with our friends as much as possible. This weekend, on two separate occasions, I saw that we might be succeeding at this.

On Saturday, Will and I met up with Kari and Andrew at the Farmer’s market downtown. If you ever come to visit me while this is going on, we have to make this a priority. It is such a wonderful market, filled with produce and wine and cheese and chocolates and seafood. There is also live music and a TON of kids. Will was in heaven. Not only did he get his very first real chocolate chip cookie (which took him almost an hour to eat because he was savoring it so)...






...but he also got to spend time with Kari and Andrew (who he adores!) and put in some serious people watching time (one of his favorite activities). It was one of those perfect spring mornings, a warm sun but still a bite to the air. We pushed Little Man around in his new stroller and he even fell asleep in it…which he has never done before!



Sunday we met with a Sarah, Dave, Kari, Andrew, Becca and Nicole and had breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast places. It was such fun to watch Will flirt with Becca and Nicole and sit on his beloved godmother’s lap and ask her to read him a book.



The thing that struck me most was not only how comfortable our friends have gotten with the addition of this little person, but how comfortable he is with them. Being able to actually see him feel safe within this full, rich, amazing community of adults made me feel incredibly lucky…and a little like my own hip parents.

Call CPS - Cruelty!

Mean Mama!

How could you make me drop my own pacifier out of my own mouth?!?

Proof that I'm loved...

Me: Ok Little Man, we are almost home.

Will: Da-ya? (translation: Daddy)

Me: I'm sorry Bud, he's still on his trip.

Will: Ba-pa? (Grandpa)

Me: No Kiddo, he's at the Beach.

Will: Ga-ga? (Grandma)

Me: Nope, she's at the Beach too.

Will: Nana?

Me: No, she doesn't get here for another couple of weeks

Will: WWWAAAAHHHHH!

Nice kid, really nice.

Colonel Fussy Pants

You know how they say animals can smell fear? We were attempting to snuggle with Will this morning and after much whining and several full body flails from Little Man I turned to Dan and told him that I'm pretty sure Will can smell the change about to come. He has been a bear the last couple of days...just really unsettled and VERY Daddy-centric. Earlier this week Dan went to take a shower and Will didn't notice when he left the room. All of a sudden he looked up and started searching for Dan saying "Da-ya? Da-ya?" as he ran from room to room. When he couldn't find him he backed his way into a corner in the kitchen and started crying.

Broke my heart.

One thing that gives Dan some comfort about the time away is that Will is too young to remember it later. In some ways though I wish he was a little older. At the age he is at, there is just no reasoning. I mean, when he gets scared and searches the house for his Da-ya and can't find him, how am I supposed to explain it all to him? It makes me feel pretty helpless.

Don't get me wrong, I know it is only 5 weeks and that we have an amazing support base for us here and that we'll fall into our own rhythm and that there are many people who do this for much longer periods of time...but we haven't done this before. Dan is fussy about leaving us and I am fussy about him being away from us and I am pretty sure Will is too.

be vewy, vewy quiet

...i'm hunting wabbits

Business side of things

Will had his 18 month appointment yesterday. Yes, I realize that is almost a month overdue, but it's me. What do you expect.

According to Dr. Fabulous, Will is doing great. He told me Will was on his list of potential trouble makers health wise this winter given his RSV last year and lingering chest stuff, but was pleased to remind me that the last time we were for a sick child visit was in December. This made me want to jump across the room and strangle him, as I am sure he just condemned Will to an upcoming horrible illness, but since he IS Dr. Fabulous and Will seems to love him, I restrained.

So, here are the stats.
Weight: 26 1/2 lbs (65th percentile)
Height: 36 Inches (90th percentile)
Verbal skills - very good
Small Motor - right on track
Large motor - very good.

I have no idea where we seems to get that height from, but his Grandpa Jay is pretty tall. Also, Dr. F told me I need to get a potty for him...seriously?

p.s. I know it seems like I am ignoring the requests for more pictures, but I lost the USB cable to my camera. I'm getting a new one this weekend, so look for pictures galore next week!

Next thing I know, it'll be the car keys

So Will and I were playing catch with a small ball the other day. I was being a mean mama and pretending to throw the ball and then hiding it behind my back. One time, I put it under my chin and pretended I couldn't find it. This was not acceptable to Little Man and he came over and tried to grab it away. When I wouldn't let him, he walked over to his toy box and came back with Monkey and said "Hug?" with his arms out.

(To briefly explain, he has a stuffed monkey puppet that he will bring up to us so that we can put it on our hands and have the monkey give him a hug. It's super cute because he puts both of his arms around it and goes "Awwww" when giving said hug)

So, being a sucker for cuteness, I drop the ball from under my chin into my lap and reach for the monkey. In that brief second, he throws the monkey at me, grabs the ball from my lap and goes running across the room giggling maniacally.

Yep, I got schooled by an 18 month old.

How to Thrill me...

Make plans to come and stay for 2 weeks with me and the Little Man (maybe longer? please?) while my husband is on the other side of the country.

thanks mom!

Toddler

On Friday, Will officially became a toddler...at least in the eyes of his school. Now I have no idea exactly what criteria he met to be considered a "toddler" and no longer a "wobbler", but when Dan picked him up from school on Thursday they said that we had to start putting his stuff in the toddler room because he was making the move there full time.

He is the youngest by 2 months and from what they tell me one of the youngest they have ever had in the toddler room. Apparently, he was completely obsessed with being in there...he would make a break for it every time the gate to his room opened and stand in front of the toddler room and cry until they let him in.

It makes me wish I could ask him to slow down a little...you know stop and smell the roses kind of thing. Tell him "Hey bud, I know this growing up thing seems cool and all and you want to hang with the big kids, but you gotta take it from someone who knows, getting older isn't all it's cracked up to be. Pretty soon they are going to make you do things like pick up blocks and do flash cards and try and use the potty...you gotta milk this for all you can now."

Given this little boy's genetic predispositions, I doubt he'd listen.

How to Charm me...

Lead the charge in getting our crack house clean enough for company that I invited over (floors mopped and everything!) and watch American Idol with me.

Confessions

Ok internet. I have been harboring a secret.

If you are related to us, you should probably stop reading this now.

Will is 18 months old and still does not sleep in his crib all night.

That's right, despite what our families may think, we still bring him in to the Pack and Play when I go to bed...every, single night. And we do this because I cannot bear the thought of having him sleep so far away from me.

He doesn't wake up in the middle of the night...hell, he doesn't even wake up when his father carefully moves him, his two blankets and doggie into our room 3 hours after he has gone to bed in his very own crib. It is all us, we are the reason he does not sleep in his crib all night.

I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to do it. I love how he wakes me up by tapping my arm and saying "Hi!" until I open my eyes...and that moment that he sees my eyes open? His face is filled with such joy and I get this huge smile like I have just given him the best present ever. I mean seriously, this kind of shit does not last long with kids. How am I supposed to give up getting that amazing of a look from my child just for waking up?

And every morning we all spend at least 20 minutes hanging out in bed. When I pick him up he goes straight for daddy to make sure he is awake too and then we all sit and cuddle and stay in that fantastic state of half sleep together. I am convinced this would not happen if he was sleeping in the other room, because he would wake up too much before we got him into bed with us. Seriously, I have to give this up?

I know I do...I mean, while it isn't affecting...you know, things...now, I really don't want a five year old still sleeping in our room. I know this works for some people, but it's just not us. We are thinking once Dan gets back we will make the big move...because there is no way I am trying that while he is gone. It makes me sad to think about though. This time is so fleeting, it's such a small fraction of an entire life. And as excited as I am about all the things that are to come for this little man, and for our family, I am a little heartbroken to leave this stage.

I read somewhere once that instead of the question "if you could go to any place where would you go?" a more interesting question would be " If you could go to any time, where would you go?"

I think I would come back here.

Hats

My son is currently obsessed with hats. Both real hats and anything he can balance on his head and call a hat. I blame Kari - she started this all with some balancing blocks on your head game when Will was about 6 months old. Every single time she comes over, he goes over to his fabric blocks and tries to reach up to put one on her head.

In the bathtub he has a plastic goldfish that he balances on his head, makes a fish face and then says "hat" over and over again until you commend him on his word usage, "That's right Will, Hat". He also has a set of plastic bowls that he likes to wear as hats...He also likes to chase his parents around yelling "Hat, hat!" until we put the bowl on our heads as a hat too.

My favorite though is a game his father made up called, appropriately, the Hat Game. This is where Will puts his winter hat on top of your head and you talk in a silly voice until he takes it off again. This cycle is repeated about 100 times before he tires of it. I realize, this doesn't really translate very well into the Blogosphere. You will have to trust me though, there is really nothing funnier (or more touching) than hearing your husband say "Oh my goodness, this hat is the best. I love this hat so much, it is just the greatest!" in a high falsetto about 100 times a day just to make his little boy erupt into fits of laughter.

Monthly Newsletter - 18 months

Dear Will

Today you turn 18 months old. Your mother, as I am sure you are aware, is a total sap about such things. There is a blog that I read pretty regularly (because the writer is the coolest woman ever) and was inspired by the monthly letters she writes to her daughter. So my dear boy, you will get letters to read someday too.

Your Grandpa Jay says that we should be writing down all of your “Will-isms” now, because such memories fade with time. Part of me thinks that possibly can’t be true…I mean how could I ever forget your fantastic lion sounds or the way you say “guck” for the word truck or your slick ninja moves that even come accompanied with their own sound effects (oooh-WAAAH). But then I realize that I can’t remember how old you were when you cut your first tooth and I know that he is right. In my defense, I have a terrible head for dates – your father is lucky I ever remember his birthday. So, I am hoping that by writing you these letters, I will never forget these things. Also, in case you someday forget that you ever had a childhood, I can whip these out and prove it to you.

This last month has been so wonderful with you. I am amazed daily at the things you are learning and mastering. Your school must be a wonderful place because half the stuff that comes out of your mouth sure wasn’t taught to you by us. I was changing your diaper the other day and you pointed up at the dots hung on the wall (Applied in a fantastically random pattern by your Nana, the World’s Best Organizer) and said “Gircle” clear as day. I assume that was to mean circle as you are currently replacing the first letter of every word with the letter “G”. I said, “Yes Will, that’s right. A Circle.” And you gave me to broadest, most proud of yourself smile I have ever seen. After I got over my initial shock, I thought to myself this kid is a freakin’ genius and we have nothing to do with.

And oh, you are a determined child. This month, you mastered climbing down the stairs at your Grandpa Jay and Grandma Ann’s in one afternoon. You know how you did this? Sheer force of will. You had two trouble spots that you went over, and over…and over, until you could walk down the stairs all by yourself. And when your father came to pick you up, you proudly showed him what you had worked on all afternoon. I have no idea where you get this sense of patience for challenging tasks, because it was certainly not from your parents. If this is a personality trait of yours that sticks, we will drive you crazy when you are older.

You continue breaking my heart in wonderful little ways. In the morning, when we bring you into to our bed for cuddle time you will lay across your father and I and sing us songs and tell us tales from your nighttime adventures. You must have water from my water bottle on the nightstand before the cuddling can begin. This is not an option. Last week you were sitting in between your father and I and reached your arms out to me and said “hug?” Yep, that didn’t suck at all.

One more thing that your father and I have noticed is that you have a fantastic sense of humor. You laugh harder and more often that any other child we have ever known. And you are starting to make your own little jokes. Like when we ask you what a cow says and you reply “Quack”…and then start to laugh. Or my personal favorite, when I ask you if you can say mama and you reply by yelling “DADA!” at the top of your lungs. Totally my favorite.

This month, one of my favorite things that we did was go to the Beach House with your Grandpa Jay and Grandma Ann. Your father and I love the beach so much that it is almost impossible to put into words. I am now positive that you do as well. It was a very cold and somewhat stormy weekend, but on Sunday the sun came out and we bundled you up for your first beach walk where you could move of your own volition. As soon as you hit the sand, you were off. You headed straight for the water as if a magnet were drawing you towards it. And you walked straight in; with a look in those huge blue eyes of yours that was the closest thing to pure joy I have ever seen. And no fear. No fear of the cold or the roaring waves or the newness of it all. Your father prevented you from soaking yourself and for the next ½ hour it was everything the four of us could do to keep you from running in again. And that, my little prince, is so very you. I sometimes joke that I wish you had a little more “healthy fear” of things that can hurt you. In reality, as you grow up, my wish for you is that I always see pure joy and a lack of fear in your eyes the way I did that day.



Love,
Mom

I have the best friends...

So, I have the best friends ever. Seriously, they are awesome

In case anyone was not aware, Dan was out of town for the weekend enjoying his drunken self in San Francisco. That meant I would be home by myself with Little Man. I hate being home alone. I mean hate. Not in that "Oh, I'm not too fond of this, I kinda wish I wasn't home alone" kind of hate, more like the "Oh my God I am sure someone has broken into our house and is waiting in a closet for me to go to bed so they can kill me. I must leave on all the lights and never sleep so I can make sure that I can lock the baby and I in the bathroom and panic dial the police at the slightest noise." kind of hate.

I have hated staying home alone ever since college when, within a 6 month time span: my parents house was broken into while I was upstairs; there was a serial rapist stalking women in the neighborhood; and someone thought it would be a funny prank to leave creepy notes under my door at my first apartment. I think I come by it righteously.

So, back to my best friends ever.

They take such good care of me when my husband leaves for these trips. On Friday night, one of my friends came over with a girly movie, a bottle of wine and a pizza. Helped me put the baby to bed and stayed until 11:30 so I wouldn't worry all evening.

And then Saturday night, I met up with another friend and we walked down to a community thing with the baby. It was a theater opening for an area of town that is currently experiencing a revitalization of sorts. She ended up getting interviewed while holding Little Man and they put them both on the news that night. Afterward, we came back to the house ordered Thai food and watched yet another girly movie. She spent the night so I wouldn't have a panic attack, and even went down into my basement to turn the heat back on so I didn't have to.

I realize that at some point in the next month or so, I am going to have to come to terms with being in my house by myself. With Dan leaving for 5 weeks I am not going to be able have my friends hold my hand in the same way. The security system getting installed soon should definitely help, but knowing that I have such an amazing support base of wonderful friends and family here is what is going to help the most.

- em

Test Run

So, with Dan out of town for the first of the two trips this spring I thought it best to get this started. This is mainly going to be a place for Dan to see what is going on here and for me to hear about what is going on with him while he is in training...but we'll probably give the link to some of our family and friends who are not lucky enough to live with us in p-town to keep them updated as well.

Dan gets back from San Fran tonight where he has been visiting a good friend from college. While I am admittedly envious of their quarterly visits, I love that he has such good friends and that he gets a chance to spend time with them in such a cool way. He takes really good care of us here and works so hard at his job that I think it's good that he gets some time away to just be.

But man, do I miss him when he is gone...and not just because it means I have to do all the dishes.