the days are . . . shiny

I apologize in advance because this will be choppy.

We’ve taken it outside  since this weekend. Is there anything as wonderful as happy children on a warm March day?

We’re cleaning up the inside. Warm weather also means shredding though the Winter pileup and making room to breathe. Hello, new vacuum. (It’s a Miele Titan!) Hello, less stuff.

We’re cleaning up our act. Noah is now getting more one on one and less one on TV. Today that translated to 100 pages of reading to him. We started with Little House in the Big Woods (20 pages), moved to The Borrowers (20 pages), read some Eloise, then a whole lotta Maisy. Yesterday was 50 pages out of Snot Stew, lots more Maisy and anything else that fell under Noah’s eye. Added benefit: G is now crazy for reading. We spend 15-20 minutes looking at Peek-a-Boo, First Words and a truck book with sliding doors pre-nap daily.

Is there a downside to all this? As usual, my writing is the first thing to go. I have confidence it will come back. Nathan and I are working toward a weekend schedule that affords me a 3 hour time block. My photography also suffers, but as we approach long walks outdoors, that can’t be expected to suffer long. I am getting to read to myself a bit here and there. I just finished One Amazing Thing by Divakaruni (thanks MIL!) and loved it. Highly recommended. I’m currently in the middle of Oliver Twist. Can you believe I’ve never read Dickens before? I have a rather hopeful pile of library books in addition to the nonfiction stacked around the house that I leaf through when I get to stand still.

But . . . we are also cleaning up our bodies. Nathan started P90X 2 months ago. I joined him for the second month and intend to continue through the third. Last night, I snapped at Noah for something. Nathan was like, “Why are you getting mad? He’s always difficult . . .” I was going to say, “Because it hurts!” Then  I straightened up and realized my back didn’t hurt AT ALL. When did that happen? More exercise means more energy which means more time in a day to do whatever it is I want to do. Yay!

So there it is in all it’s jarring, choppy glory–an update. We are alive. We are well. We are happy as we try new things and challenge ourselves. For all of this, thank God.

March 9th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

It’s been Birthday Central around here. Noah woke up the day his YMCA birthday party was scheduled with a fever of 103.5. We quickly rescheduled that party. We’d planned a follow-up family party at the Indianapolis Chuck E. Cheese. That was rescheduled as well. We called to change the cake size, canceled our pizza and macaroni orders, and hunkered down while Noah made his zombie-eyed way through his fever, then Gabriel caught his cold, and then Nathan.

But our friends and family wouldn’t let a birthday go by uncelebrated, so my in-laws visited on Fever Day 2. We had presents and cake. The following Friday, Noah’s best friends threw him a surprise party at their playdate. Cupcakes and presents. Over the weekend, we made that trip to Indianapolis and did cake, presents and games at Chuck E. Cheese. This weekend, on Valentine’s Day, we’ll have that swimming party. Happy birthday to Noah!

I find all of this terribly amusing. We’d scheduled the Y party specifically to avoid the two week birthday. Still, this has worked out for the best. Noah had no trouble transitioning to Four. He told me today he hated being Three. He’s even started getting himself up at night to use the potty!

Yesterday, we spent an hour or so picking out books at Borders for Noah to buy with his birthday money. He chose this book, which made me happier than I can express. I love when he picks out learning books, and we have had great fun with what Noah calls “the tool book” by the same author/illustrator, as well as a book about mosques Noah loves to look at when we pull out his mosque building block set. I actually had him put his first choice back when I saw it was $12 less on Amazon. I told him Mommy and Daddy would order it for him online (we did) because it was a special book (meaning if we had seen it before we bought his birthday gifts, it’s the gift we would have gotten him). We waded through the toys (what’s the deal with the Kids’ books section being 3/4 toys in Borders? WTH?), to the classics on the back wall. Noah chose:

There’s No Such Thing as Dragons by Jack Kent

The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack

The Snowman (WOW!!!) by Raymond Briggs

and Whistle for Willie by Ezra Jack Keats

They cost him all but $3 of his birthday money, but he didn’t bat an eyelash. I guess it’s okay with me if he invests in his own children’s library!

G has also enjoyed the festivities, even though they always keep him up through nap time. Right now he’s sleeping away. Indulge me–it was wonderful looking at a book with him in his rocker. He touched all the pages and asked, “Book? Book?” when I put the book away. Then he snuggled against me and put his head under his blankie. He fell asleep so fast I was surprised by his snores. It was just as well. Noah was waiting patiently for his own special Mommy time.

I have a reading list as tall as I am. I want to post more about that. I’ll put up a list of the books tomorrow. If anyone’s still reading, let me know if you’ve read these books, what you think, and if you have any suggestions. In the meantime, please read “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” by friend and fellow writer Alexander Weinstein. It’s up on The Spire now. Don’t forget to leave a comment. Writers love feedback!

February 10th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

January 26th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

I’m really coming to love Mondays. Our schedule is so laid back. Breakfast, the boys play, I clean up, then we go upstairs for some time in the Work Room, letter writing and a snack. When we’re ready, we come back downstairs for lunch and more play. At this time of day, Noah is very protective of his space, so the boys fight. G is getting closer to a nap, so he’s fussy. But it’s alright because that nap is just around the corner.

Once G is in his bed, Noah snuggles on my lap with a stack of books and we read until he’s bored of it. Then he watches Dora or Bob the Builder until G wakes up. I spend that time writing and tying up loose ends. G gets up, they fight, they snack, we get ready for Noah’s swim class. When we get back, time is a bit crunched. Noah’s usually exhausted. Both boys are of the opinion that I barely fed them all day. Two meals and three snacks are nothing to growing little boys! They cry until Nathan walks in the door and dinner hits the table.

After the meal, Nathan and the boys wrestle. Then G and N create some game that often involves stripping off their clothes and streaking through the house. Eventually, we all get upstairs and into pajamas. G is sleeping well now that his ears are clear. Noah had a bit of a rough night last night after Nathan’s and my friends came over. He’s easily overstimulated and it manifests most at bedtime. But he slept, G slept, and after watching the first two episodes of Dexter, Nathan and I slept.

I realize I’ve been posting about schedules a lot, but this is all new for us. It’s so good to have a plan. We don’t always use it, but it’s everpresent should we need it. There’s no chance we’ll run out of things to do. N and I put together a kid kit a la Babysitter’s Club specifically designed for those days when the usual is just too usual.

Otherwise, we’re solidifying beautiful friendships and learning how to better enjoy each other. It’s not all peaches and cream, but Mondays are easier because we’ve all had a weekend to ease the stress of a week together. Nathan’s presence is so exciting for the boys. It means at least a 50% break for me, which is like vacation. If you’re a full time mom, you know this. You need this!

I have some recipes and photos to post soon. In the meantime, keep an eye on The Spire, and hopefully more discussions like this one.

January 25th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment