We went to Como, North Carolina to visit Sarah's family -- it was a joy for us all. Victor loved the freedom to RUN RUN RUN and see tractors (!!!) I loved the quiet and the space that rural living brings. I also really loved getting to meet Sarah's family -- place names and faces together - and I loved how welcoming they were to me and Victor. I had 101 blog posts in my mind throughout the weekend - thoughts of traveling with toddlers, fun with kids in the woods, letting kids find their own fun, books and other thoughts - but like most times, alas, I didn't jot those ideas down (gotta get better at that).
Got Offspring? May have Offspring? Know someone with Offspring?
1 comments Posted by Marie at 9:59 PMI've been reading about Maternal Profiling (basically not hiring or promoting women who are of child bearing age b/c of the potential of having to take leave for kids) Something interesting to think about - we've come far - but it's not perfect everywhere. And even if you don't have kids or are planning on having kids - employers might assume because you are of a certain age that you might have kids and so maybe Mr. Nearly as Qualified might be a better bet.
Read more here... the comments are just as interesting as the article.
This juggling business gets hard sometimes - and you have to let a couple things go here and there -- so posting has a little slow. But luckly for you, I have a bunch of photos to share.
Toddlerhood is a funny thing. Victor is a pretty good kid overall - of course he's a nuge here and there, but generally pretty fun. We've really come to understand that he needs a healthy dose of outside time each day. At night, after dinner and before bath, we've been going for a walk -- looking at the holiday lights and burning off any left over energy he has stored up. It seems like it's been a good routine for him. We have him on his kiddie leash so we can snatch him up easily when there are cars -- it's so dark and there are some chances I'm not willing to take. So kiddie leash it is. We look at the stars and the moon. Tonight we were trying to spot the international space station which was visible for 1 minute in our southern sky at 6:59 -- but if we saw it..we didn't know.
Victor loves to cook. He uses the pumpkin carving knives to chop bread, veggies or whatever he can get his hands on. He'll sneak over to the coffee maker and try to get coffee started too. Of course, coffee ends up more on the counter and floor - but his heart is in a good place. He did help me make the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving - which was tons of fun. The hard part now is he wants to cook all the time -- and sometimes I don't need help or we're not cooking...we're trying to get ready for bed. I know before long, he'll understand there are times to cook and times we won't be doing that. I also know how important it was for me to be included in cooking when I was a kid -- I'm grateful for the extra effort my mom and grandma put out so that I could take part in cooking. I think we'll make cookies (slice and bake -- maybe homemade...maybe not) and I think he'll enjoy decorating them.
It's been a while -- but here are some things he loves -- and other things he would be happy to skip.
Loves --
Paci - also known as Baba
Going on top of grandma's bunk bed
Going to sleep with Daddy
Oatmeal that Mamma Hedy makes
Quesadillas -- also known as "dia"
Trains
Airplanes
Helicopters
Trucks
School buses
Climbing (after nap today he climbed out of the crib and opened the door to his room -- that was a surprise)
Flushing
Reading his airplane book (which is a guide to commercial aircraft -- with a photograph and a description of various airplanes - it's an adult book, but he looks at it every night)
Reading books in general
The poopy corner
Riding the car past the airport
Going to the park
Being outside
Being in the garage
Coffee (with milk and no sugar)
Screaming -- more like a dolphin call it's so high pitched.
Squeezing as much diaper creme as possible from the tube
French fries
Green beans from a can - not heated
Cranberry juice - also known as Dada milk
Dislikes
Having the diaper creme tube taken away
Going inside
Not be able to go outside
Being told no
Not being able to cook
Going to sleep without Daddy
Being put on the porch so he can scream if he feels like it outside
When his buddy Michael isn't home on our nightly walks
Well -- it seems like photos will be coming soon. Blogger is grumpy right now -- next post.
I was eating lunch today -- happy to have finally figured out how to load NPR podcasts on to my player -- somehow not an easy task for some reason.
Happily I listened to this story -- tears filling my eyes. Our particpants were around, talking about business deals gone crazy and there was I sniffling into my soup. I wanted to grab them and say -- here, you have to listen to this.
Then, once I was finished with that one -- I heard part two and that nearly got me moving from quiet sniffling to all out sobbing. The visual in this piece is so amazing -- it touches your soul. I remember hearing it on the radio one Friday morning - but somehow with all the hussle of the morning I don't remember it really getting to me. Maybe it was listening to the stories back to back really hit me.
Let me know what your reaction is to these stories is -- just have the tissues handy. And if the StoryCorps booth comes to your area, be sure to sign up.
Since Victor has been bestfed until 20 months - we've been a co-sleeping family. Which means basically Victor sleeps in our bed most nights -- he may start out in the crib most nights and as the night continues, he ends up in our bed.
As we were all laying together tonight - a little pile of family - my heart was full for these nightly snuggles and cozies.
The twilight blue light covering us as the fan circles the air above and Victor's little inky eyes looking up at me, pulling on my ear and patting my arm.
In the morning he pats us awake, and then moving in closer to snuggle for a while until we're ready to get moving.
Of course there are the times like last night when he poked me until I woke up and then when I opened my eyes, he said 'HI!' and while I tried to get him settled, he would raise and lower his legs and I laughed (even though it was midnight or so) because I remember doing that very thing when I was a kid. Raise them up...then flop them down....again and again.
Of course people tell me I'll regret this or that he'll never want to sleep on his own, or he'll basically be a pain sleeper -- but I figure he'll move out before long, when he's ready and hopefully the cozy piled-together family time we've spent all slumbering will help to create a web of love he knows he can count on that helps him fall asleep as a grown man......someday.
