Monday Map

I don't know if I mentioned it, but J learned to float in swim class last week. I use the term "learned" loosely, of course, as it's hit or miss on whether or not he actually will float. But he did it once. And we made a huge deal out of it, so I'm hoping that gives him the confidence to keep on trying!

He's fearless, as I've been told countless times by the owner of the place. Given that we know someone who almost drowned, at a similar age to J's 3.5, fearless has me worried. Fearless is just one tiny step away from falling in the pool, or perhaps even jumping in, when someone has their back turned for one split second. So every Thursday we have swimming, and he definitely looks forward to it. He's in the class with 3 of our playgroup friends who he has known since they were all infants. They get along well and it really helps to keep them interested.

So....I got sidetracked. Back to that floating day. Swimming is 45 minutes long and O had fallen asleep. I moved closer to the small pool that J was in, in order to get a seat with a back (as opposed to the bleachers, which are the antithesis of comfortable anyway, but especially when holding a child). I settled in with O draped against my chest, snoozing. I can hear most of the conversation going on in the pool.

The instructor, Miss Kristen, had to repeatedly tell J to keep his hand on the wall. Paying attention to safety isn't exactly his strong suit. Then came his turn to practice floating. Up until that particular day, floating was the one thing that made him nervous. He'd scrunch up his legs instead of stretching them out, squeeze his eyes tightly shut, and try to grab onto Miss Kristen. The owner happened to walk by and said "make sure he opens his eyes and relaxes!" J was instructed to do so. I'm assuming it worked (forgot to mention the lattice blocking my view!). Then the owner instructed Miss Kristen to make sure J's ears were under the water. I could hear him yelling "but I can't HEAR!" He was instructed to relax, yet again.

They sang the ABCs to keep them calm. And that's when Miss Kristen let go. And J floated.

Proud does not begin to describe his face when he first walked out to tell me. That shy little smile curving up as he said "I floated by myself." High fives and clapping abound, with the owner lavishing on the praise. A lollipop rounded out the lessons, making the whole day just amazing for him.

Ok, the whole thing may not have been quite that dramatic. But it certainly felt monumental to me. And probably to him too. The thing is, everything he learns still feels monumental to me. It's so amazing to watch him soak up new knowledge. Their brains are like sponges, paying attention to every tiny detail, sometimes even the details you don't want them to notice. So I shouldn't be surprised about what happened at bedtime last night, but I still was.

I mentioned above how he didn't like his ears under water since he couldn't hear. I figured he didn't much pay attention to the ABC song. I didn't pay attention either because I had no idea Miss Kristen sang it differently.

Last night we were reading his Curious George book. It has an ABC section in it. He touched every letter as he sang the song. He gets to the end and says: Now James knows his ABCs, next time won't you float for me?

He smiled up at me at the end, looking for approval. And it took me a minute to figure out where he had heard that. So he can hear under water! I smiled and told him his song was perfect. Next week it's back to floating!

Funny Friday

Last night, at bedtime, I told J he could have 2 minutes of snuggling. Snuggling rounds out the very elaborate bedtime routine. Ok, I take that back, one last kiss/hug, one more sip of water, and one last trip to the potty round it out. But snuggling is supposed to be the end.

I cuddle in with him and rub his back for a minute. I start to pull away.

Mama, that was just 1 minute. Now we need the second minute. This is just the second minute starting, ok??

He certainly knows how to delay!

Thursday 10

From Matt regarding O-man....


His center of gravity is jacked because of that bottom.

Sweet baby, er, big boy James?

At bedtime, I always sing a song or two for James. Typically, it's Twinkle, Twinkle as he stares at the most amazing invention for getting kids to sleep ever, his twilight turtle. Tonight he also asked for "that cowboy song", also known as Sweet Baby James.

He has heard this song probably a million times, for obvious reasons, so he's no stranger to the lyrics. Tonight, he stops me mid-song "no Mama. I am not Baby James. I am Big Boy James. Sing that!"

Wordless Wednesday

Tips on Tuesday

You don't have to wear sweatpants in the snow. You can just wear reg'lar pants. 'Cept if you wait till it gets really cold and really snow, then you can wear sweatpants.

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You can't let milk get cold. You need to freeze it so that you can drink it later.

A Day in the Life....

of us!

For my first Monday Map, I am cheating. I thought it might be fun to show you what a day in our life is like.

My day starts at 6:45 when J wakes up. He climbs in bed and pretends to go back to sleep. Usually this means a bit of thrashing about, lots of talking, and questions about watching TV. On this particular day he fills me in on a bizarre story:

"I forgot to get a Barbie for Emmy. I just needed to get one, but I forgot. And Emmy really likes Barbies. Plus, Buzz Lightyear Big is not here. Just Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and the Zurg. But not Buzz Lightyear Big. He's just not anywhere. Do you know who I am, mommy? I am Buzz Lightyear. Then I'm Jamers. But really, I'm just Buzz Lightyear"

This is all said within about 1.2 seconds, with no breaks in between, making it really hard to keep up. And where did he learn about Barbies??

We get dressed and go downstairs for some breakfast. Since it's a school day he won't eat much. He gets too excited to go to school. But on a normal day, he loooooooves breakfast.


8:40 and it's time to wake Buggy. I hate this part, and here's why....


It's a cold day, so I bundle them up and load them into the car.


Time for carpool.


By 9:07 I am out of the carpool line on my way home. I feed the Bugster, eat my own breakfast, and we play.


At 10:30 Buggy takes a nap, while I work a bit. He wakes around 11:40 and it's time to go get J from school.


We get home about 12:15. On the drive home, J fills me in on his day. Apparently someone threw a block at him. Then it's time for lunch (yes, that's a pickle with a PB&J...my kid likes strange things).


Followed closely by naps.


I work while they nap. This is followed by an impromptu grocery run, as I've found a recipe online I want to make for dinner. Yes, we've just been to the grocery store the night before. But I am so not good at thinking ahead. I'm pretty sure we single handedly keep this particular location open. No adorable pictures of the 2 of them in the shopping cart because, well, I have enough trouble keeping track of my purse. So instead you get a boring picture of the grocery store.


I would like to take a moment to gush about my love for my van. I am able to fit sooooo much in there. And the kids are nice and cozy!


Daddy gets home and J has a snack (he mostly never eats dinner), while mommy reads the internet recipe and cooks dinner.


The boys all play in the dark (?) office. I'm pretty sure it involved the use of a flashlight and lots of yelling and running around.


Then it's that blessed time of night.....bedtime!

And that's a typical day! Sometimes more exciting, and surprisingly sometimes less.

Mixin' it up!

I've decided to change things a bit. It gets harder and harder to remember to update. And since I really like having this online journal (both so that I can remember and so that the kids will one day be able to read about their childhood), I've been brainstorming some ideas to make myself keep this current. So, starting tomorrow, each week will be a bit similar. It will go a little something like this:

Monday Map: details of our plans for the week.
Tips on Tuesdays: J is chock full of advice lately. What better way to share it with the world ;)
Wordless Wednesdays: I think that's pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, it will solely be a picture or pictures.
Thursday 10: either something funny in 10 words or less or a list of 10 things.
Funny Friday: something funny from 1 or both of the kids.

Additionally, the goal is to stay current with other comments made by J, and one day soon, O.

One minute ago

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly time goes by.

This time last year I was anxiously counting down the days until O was born. I was begging time to fly by. Please put my baby in my arms, let him be here, safe. I spent my days waiting for the future, blaming my exhaustion and physical discomfort for not living in the now.

I always hate admitting this, but J spent a lot of time in front of the tv. I had always, since the day he was born, been that mom that constantly entertained. I loved thinking of new things to do with him, new places to go. Just an afternoon at the park would brighten his entire day. I swore things would change once the baby was born.

Then O was here. And life was much more complicated.

I love that newborn phase. The sweet baby sighs, the soft, wrinkly skin, the body that curls into a tiny ball still trying to figure out why he's not contained anymore, the way they sleep anywhere and love to be held. I spent J's newborn days just staring at him. Marveling at the miracle that he was. Anyone who knows me will tell you that my absolute favorite thing about having a baby is the naps. Baby naps are the best. J and I would curl around each other and sleep for hours. Matt would come home from work to find us sleeping on the couch, or J passed out in my arms while I read a book. My 3 months of maternity leave with him were the best 3 months of my life (ok, ok, other than that first month when he was in the hospital).

But with O, there wasn't any time to spend admiring him. I was learning to nurse, and juggling another child who needed help adjusting. Somehow my plan to love every minute of those early days disappeared. I focused on who was sleeping when, did I feed them both, when was the last time he got a new diaper? It started to take an hour just to gather everything necessary to get out of the house. And my plan to start taking J fun places disappeared too. I thought If I can just get out of the newborn phase things will start to be more fun. And sadly, I'll confess again that J spent more time in front of the tv.

I felt badly. And talked to some friends. I was reassured "it's normal while you're adjusting" and somehow forced the mommy-guilt (which, if you ask me, is the worst kind of guilt imaginable) aside.

So I've found myself wishing for the future. I keep thinking when O learns to walk things will be more fun. They can play together, climb the jungle gym at the park, they can chase each other in the backyard, go swimming in the summer, and learn to be best friends.

Last night O woke up much earlier than usual. Matt and I were actually still awake, watching tv. We glanced at each other. Both of us were dreading this. Why was he awake? He would never go back to sleep! This night was going to be terrible. Since Matt is the one who always sleeps with O if he wakes in the night, I figured it was my turn to go hold him. So I reluctantly climbed the stairs, walked into his bedroom and picked him up. He was visibly exhausted and extremely upset about something. I started to rock him. He started to relax. He did that little hiccup-sigh. You know, the one where they start to transition from crying to calm. That little hiccup-sigh never fails to break my heart.

And as he relaxed in my arms it dawned on me that I was missing the little things. The daily joys of every day life that make everything special. There was my sweet baby, snuggled tight against me, sucking his chubby little thumb.

I marveled at his baby cheeks. Those cheeks get comments everywhere we go.


I marveled at that soft spot between the head and neck, where the hair is soft and fuzzy, where he always smiles if you nuzzle him.


He fell into a deep sleep and his thumb popped out of his mouth. I marveled at that hand. The sweet little fingers that grab Matt's face, on both sides, when he comes home from work as if to say "Hi daddy, I missed you and I love you".


His little mouth smiled in sleep and I melted. That little mouth has just learned to say Mama. He never misses an opportunity to yell for me now that he's figured out I'll come running. During the day it's exhausting. But at night, in his sleep, I missed that wonderful word.


I've lived a lot of my life waiting for the future. Even as a child I couldn't wait to grow up, get married, have kids of my own. Now that it's here, I still keep waiting for the future. Crawling, walking, teaching J to swim, that Disney trip we're planning for October, the list goes on and on.

Thankfully, my little Buggy reminded me last night to enjoy the NOW. Focus on the day to day beauties that this world holds because I'll never get these moments back. So today I vow to do that. And I'm getting started with a list of the wonderful things I love about my life.

I love....

the way J always asks if he can match Buggy.


the way J never, ever fails to brings toys to O whenever he sees him sitting on the floor.


the way Buggy will only take a nap if it's in my bed (that is a comfy bed. And yes, I'm aware the SIDS police would arrest me).


the way J always says "picture me!" whenever he sees the camera.


funny faces.



watching them play together.


that my big boy is such a trooper and a constant reminder of everything I have to be thankful for.


that little thumb sucker. *sigh*


the rare commodity that is a snow day in Georgia.


big blue eyes.


babies that can't figure out how to sit back down from a standing position.


Valentine's pancakes, made with love.


the way my wonderful, loving husband will always drop what he's doing to play with our boys.


I found this quote that really hit home for me and I thought it was a fitting way to end this post.

Nothing is as far away as one minute ago.

Love

Me: J, happy "just because I love you" day!!

J: Me?!

Me: Yeah.

J: No thanks.