Thursday, April 26, 2007

Poink!

My family is visiting this week so I'm busy running around being the happy hostess.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.


p.s. poink is the sound an invisible internet friend makes when they disappear.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Que Sera, Sera

Steve over at The Hygiene Chronicles tagged me so here I'm detagging:

What was your biggest surprise when you became a parent: I think it’s how much I love the little guy. I remember talking to one parent and he said he loves his partner but he loooooves his son. I didn’t really get that until E came along. If I’m driving around in my car and he’s not in the backseat I have the feeling like I’m missing something. It’s that did I turn the stove off sort of thing. I have to will myself not to think about him sometimes.

Name some things you vowed you'd never do, but find yourself doing now: letting E watch TV. I thought we’d be TV free but I found there are days that I have to hear the news or need to put on Jack’s Big Music Show so I can sit and read the newspaper. It’s getting easier now that E can respond but for a while it felt like I was just talking at E and that’s hard to sustain.

What's the one thing you thought you would do, but actually don't: Go out more often. We’ve had trouble finding a babysitter we can rely on so L and I haven’t had many dates. I feel like a bad partner now and then. Fortunately I’m married to a wonderful man and I know we are doing the best we can.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Jet Boy

A few weeks ago we visited the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum. It’s a huge hangar full of airplanes and space exploration vehicles. For Friday I’ll share a few pics from our visit.






Planes! Planes! Everywhere!



There amongst all the planes sits the Enola Gay. It was moved out here partly I think to avoid the controversy from its downtown exhibition. It’s hard to capture the complexity of this symbol on a plaque.





He prefers to walk now which makes outings very interesting these days.




Coolest part of the exhibit I think.



Death Star Model from Star Wars for the geek in us all.



I just liked the colors on this plane. Pretty.



Death ray! Or something. Again, I thought it was pretty.



Best plane name in the museum! Can you read it?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

One enchanted evening

I just avoided the news last night. The Virginia Tech shooting is such a horrible, horrible tragedy. It makes no sense. My prayers are with the families and loved ones involved in this massacre.

The strange and wonderful thing was that last night E was in the best mood all evening long that I think I’ve ever seen. He was laughing and playing and giggling all evening until bedtime. He’s becoming more and more verbal and maybe that’s helping him to express himself. Whatever it was I hope it continues.

He likes to do this fake sneeze where he ah-choos and a hat falls off his head. So last night he put the washcloth on his head and “sneezed.” Well he misjudged the distance and he completely dunked his face into the water. I braced for bawling and tensed up as he lifted his head. Water was dripping off his face, his eyes were closed and mouth open…. And then he started laughing uncontrollably. Everything was funny last night. We all laughed and played all evening long.

It was a perfect evening. I’ll save this one for a long time.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Between a rock and a hard place

Picking E up at school he wants to run down the hallway to get a drink of water. The fountain is fascinating as he noisily slurps away. The fan whirs to life in the back. “Fan! Fan!” He looks to me for confirmation. Yes, yes my boy now let’s get going. The traffic is getting worse out there.

In the driveway the rocks are fascinating. I try to put his coat on and he squirms and wiggles to reach the stones at his feet. C’mon E. I’m cold. Let’s get inside.

Just before bedtime, he lines up all his toys on the edge of the bathtub knocking them into the water. “Cup! Cup!” he asks as I try to wash his hair. Just one pour and then we have to get ready for bed.



The alarm clock rings and I rush into work, turn my computer on, and look around. There’s row upon row of grey cubicle walls. What I wouldn’t give for a little hand to tug me down to pick up some rocks.

Friday, April 06, 2007

The language of life

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I was worried about hubs more than me. I warned him you have to watch it around L, he’s like a little sponge these days.

I was in the kitchen trying to get dinner ready, E was playing on the floor, and Nemo was one more obstacle maneuvering his way into my path like a large brown wall. Turning around again to find Nemo in my way, it came out like a little pressure release valve. I then hear this little voice behind me. “Dammit!” Don’t react. Keep moving. Sing a little song. Whew. It could have been much worse that’s for sure.

I thought his first naughty word happened back in March. For a while we thought he was saying Dummy. There was such purpose to the word we knew it was something. Both of us were tensing up thinking where did this come from? It was a week later before we realized it was a kid’s name in his class.

We’re working on more positive phrases too. He’s becoming a very expressive child, which is wonderful when it’s used for the power of good. Of course he has to keep us guessing too.

“Do you love Daddy?”

“I love Daddy.”

“Do you love Papa?”

“ I love Papa.” Aaaaw. How about Nemo?

“Do you love Nemo?“

“I love Nemo.”

Two beats later, unprompted we hear.

“I love TV.”

Yes, you are indeed my son.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Well, that's a nightmare

Quick update:

You can never plan for illness or car repair. Sunday morning it hit me with vengeance. My stomach started cramping up and I lost it all. At first I thought it was food poisoning but then when L picked it up I knew it was more. This was the first time I’ve ever had the stomach flu. It’s a nasty little monster. After 3 days I was able to eat some toast and a bit of rice yesterday.

My big fear is that I’ll pass it on to E. I’m trying to keep my hands washed and watch his food preparation. So far, he’s faring ok. I hate being sick. It certainly gives you new appreciation for your bodily functions. Oh, so that’s what my intestines have been doing all these years.

Happy health you all