john's mom works

lots and lots of crawfish! photo credit: caitlin fitzwater i hoped that maybe, MAYBE, john's full saturday and late bedtime would equate to sleeping in on sunday morning. after all, we didn't officially have to be anywhere until the crawfish boil started at 2pm. alas ... no such luck. whether we set a pattern by waking up early for the flight, or whether the time change threw him off, or whether he just felt like rising early, at 4:30am i heard a little voice from the pack n play next to me. "mommy? daddy?" i leaned over and pulled him into bed with me, grabbing his milk so he could maybe drink and snuggle and drift back to sleep. instead, he sat on me, laid on me, cuddled me, and periodically said things like, "grandpa, where are you?" ("he's sleeping baby. go back night night.") or "get up, mommy. go on airplaine." ("no, sweetie, we're not going on an airplane until tuesday. go back to sleep.") after about ...

from top, left to right: 1 (left). john with my husband's aunt and uncle - the generous providers of ice cream for lunch! 1 (right). me, john, and john's grandpa (my dad) checking out a stinky pig 2 (left). john and the new york cousins investigating some goats 2 (right). is john hiding from the sheep? 3 (left). john telling me about the sheep 3 (right). john making friends 4 (left). exploring the wooden tractor 4 (right). learning to drive! 5 (left).  running off some of the ice cream energy 5 (right). john's fear of slides can't stop him today 6 (left/right). driving the tractor 7 (left/right). showing mommy how it's done

the "tree with leaves" it was a whirlwind weekend. (she says on wednesday afternoon.) we went to maryland for memorial day weekend, and we saw so many people and did so many things ... highlights over the next few days, but first, an explanation of that pillow. one of my best friends from college was kind enough to have us over monday, and she invited many of our other friends for dinner and hanging out that night. that evening, her two-year-old daughter and john were hamming it up on the couch for some photos, when john laid his head down on the pillow, looked up at me and said, "mommy, night night in the tree with leaves." as an adult, i would have described it as a very cool green designer throw pillow. but to john, a tree with leaves. so awesome how their brains work ... *    *    * saturday morning, we got up at 4:30am. we'd packed like crazy the night before, so we were able to pretty much get up and go. an hour drive to new orleans meant john...

you would never guess those sweet blue eyes hide a stubborn streak a mile wide there is something about being a mother that makes you say things. things you never thought you would actually say, but that come out of your mouth anyway. and i guess moms say these things because they work, but it is SO weird to feel myself saying them and then be thinking, did i just say that?? things like, using john's first AND last name when he's in trouble. that's such an old chestnut that i didn't even think about it until i caught myself yelling it to him across the living room. i don't remember if my mom did this when i was a kid. but apparently "moms everywhere" do, including me ... things like, counting to three. you know, "john, come here right now! i'm going to count to three. one ... two ... " the amazing thing about this one is, IT WORKS. good job thinking of this, all those moms i copied from. it works really well. and it still fee...

we were supposed to share this apple. instead, john mostly ate it. if you didn't see on facebook, i have just begun training for a half marathon in october with one of my life-long best friends. she lives in maryland and i, obviously, live in louisiana. so owe are "virtually" training together, and i will fly up there in october so we can run the race together. also obviously, john and buddy are an important part of my training. they will come on almost all of my runs with me, at least until i get to longer distances that are too much for a big ol' doggy. (have i discussed my running method here? i can't remember. i have john in the stroller, and i loop buddy's leash around my waist. it's a sight for sore eyes. maybe one day i will get a picture and share it here.) so last night was my first training run. i've been running, so it wasn't too painful, but it was still an adventure. we're starting out with the couch to 5k program, so it...

for the last 20 minutes of our drive, john kept saying, "mommy, wash!" i thought he had fig newton on his hands. in fact, he had fig newton on his everything. yesterday was probably the monday-est monday i've ever experienced. it started out pretty normal and pretty ok. got john to school on time, and he happily sat down to eat his breakfast with his friends. (all his friends said, "hi, john john! hi, john's mommy!" when i got there, so that was actually pretty sweet.) when i got back out to the car, though, it wouldn't start. wouldn't turn over at all. (why yes, you DO remember correctly - just two weeks ago my car wouldn't run either!) i didn't think it was the battery, but just in case, one of the other daycare mommies was kind enough to offer to jump my car, and then one of the daycare daddies showed up and the mommy and i were happy to cede the process to him. (i will happily admit that i am a stereotypical girl who doesn'...

i promise you, john locked himself in the shower and i did *not* put him there. our sunday school class recently studied the five love languages. it's something my husband and i had discussed before, but like most marriage improvement/enrichment exercises, it's always nice to revisit it and see if you have any new insight.  (if you're not familiar with the five love languages, the theory is basically that every individual has a primary way in which they give and receive love. those ways include touch, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and quality time. the idea is that if you figure out which means the most to your partner and offer that to them, and they do the same for you, the end result is a better-functioning relationship.) one of the interesting parts of this discussion with our class was the topic of your children's love languages. from an early age, the theory goes, you can learn how to help your children feel fulfilled and loved by identif...

even with mommy's big ol' running shoes on, how grown and big does he look here? and how little he looks playing his drum this morning! something about being naked makes him look so small and vulnerable. but big or little ... i will gobble him up because he is delicious.

one of my favorite things to do recently is just sort of let john play, "unattended." that's in quotes because we're never far away, and we peek in on him often, but it's sort of fun to see what he does when he's left to his own devices. this morning, we started out with a brisk climb: can't. quite. reach. lotsalegs. he was so quiet while i was blowdrying my hair that i wandered into his room to check on him. he wasn't trying to climb into his bed, exactly, but scaling the sides and reaching for the menagerie of animals that sleep with him on a nightly basis. he followed me back to the bathroom while i put on my makeup, and then wandered off again. i checked his room and he was nowhere to be seen - but two monkeys WERE conspicuously missing from the bin they usually sit in on his floor. i walked into the kitchen, and i still couldn't see him. but i could hear this little narrative. "night night, monkeys. nap. monkeys on a na...

any idea where this little man came from? i'm pretty sure i had a baby not so long ago. i am regularly dumbfounded by how grown my little peanut is. in fact, it feels funny to call him peanut, even though that's primarily how i referred to him for the first 9-10 months of his life. (until my husband pointed out that the poor kid was likely to think his name was, in fact, peanut, at which point i tried to curb the habit.) never am i more amazed, though, than at the things he remembers and tells me about loooooong after the fact. like yesterday when i picked him up from school, and he pointed at the black suv parked next to me and said, "keiser's truck!" somehow he remembered that when his friend keiser gets picked up by his mommy, that's the car they ride off in. or how yesterday morning i told john that after school we were going to take the doggy for a run while daddy mowed the lawn. and when we got in the car yesterday afternoon, john said ...

john thinks you have to be six inches  from the camera when you say "cheese" this morning, john woke up in fine form. he was cuddly, silly, and giggly, and wanted to talk talk talk talk talk (which he does most of the time these days).  i brought him to my bed to snuggle for a little bit, and he told me all about how birds say "tweet tweet" and kitties say "meow" and firetrucks say "weeoo weeoo" but he likes police cars too and they say "weeoo weeoo" also. it was a fascinating conversation. he also told me that "george" (curious george) is a monkey and that "kayla" is an elephant (that's george's friend in the curious george movie we have). he informed me that he was going to school and listed his friends that he would play with. he told me "john get yummy milk" as he sipped from his sippy cup, then "mommy a funny hat" when he put the sippy cup on my head. all in all he just...

whatever you do, please do not tell john that that's not a cupcake. it's a cupcake, ok? so yesterday was mother's day (did you notice? ha!) and we had an altogether lovely day. an altogether lovely weekend, actually, with no one sick and everyone in a good mood and even with some extra sleep. (john slept til 9am on saturday and took three-hour naps both days. that makes for some good rest-time for the mama and daddy too!) it was wonderful to spend time with my family, and to see extended family for a tasty mother's day dinner last night. this is the third mother's day that i've been a mom - including when john was in my belly, i mean - yet i still haven't quite gotten used to being celebrated on mother's day. of course, being a mom is probably my very favorite thing that i am. but it still seems like someone else's holiday - when i should celebrate my mom, grandmothers, aunts, etc. even as he was going to bed last night, john said to m...

john getting himself ready for school. is it vain or shallow for me to be sad that i had to undo my purple hair last night? i'm struggling a little bit with why i care so much. (yesterday i was informed that company policy forbids non-natural colored hair. that's not how i read the policy - i checked before the dye job - but of course i am not going to fight it and so i dyed it brownish reddish something or other last night.) it shouldn't matter to me what color my hair is. i know who i am in my heart. i know that i am a little bit rockstar, even if i don't have rockstar color in my hair. (and john knows it too - i asked him if mommy was still rockstar and he said YES!) heck, it doesn't matter if i have hair at all - i have shaved it all off before and still felt beautiful and feminine. and it's not as though my hair looks awful now - it's just much more normal.  i think i just feel sad because i was so excited about this particular self-expr...

if you known me awhile, you know my quest for anime hair is not new. but this is my most recent effort. i've been thinking a lot about dichotomy lately. a million-years-ago boyfriend introduced me to the concept and i promptly fell in love - with the boy, and with dichotomy. i've always loved the contrasts that come to mind when i think of dichotomy. look at me - hardworking, accomplished professional/devoted loving mom. freewheeling creative/analytical numbers nerd. brash, cocky go-getter/nervous self-conscious procrastinator. grammar nazi/hater of capital letters. innate musician/dancer with no rhythm. animal lover/devoted omnivore with carnivorous tendencies. the list goes on and on. but - and perhaps this is just age talking - as time goes on, i'm beginning to think these aren't so much dichotomies as spectra. and instead of trying to eradicate the less-desirable half of the dichotomy, perhaps it's about learning to use all those endpoints as tools, ...

if only he was as good at putting them back as at getting them out ... a profound thought from this morning's breakfast: while my "cupcakes" (pear bran muffins) were in the microwave for 45 seconds, i managed to feed, water, and pet the dog - and i had 18 seconds to spare. how many other things could i accomplish if i just broke them down into 27 second tasks? something to think on ... after all, how do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time ... ps. my may 2 exercise wasn't super great - just a mile walked at the mall. but i did it in four-inch heels, so that has to count for something, right?

          1. turn water on.        2. check water level.           3. clean baloon. yesterday as i was blowdrying my hair, john was playing in the bathroom. this is pretty standard stuff, so i don't watch him too closely - he knows what not to touch, and with occasional guidance he's usually in pretty good shape. so over the noise of the blowdryer, i heard this: "oh no ... uh oh, balloon." i turned off the blowdryer and turned around, to discover several things all at once: john found his almost-dead balloon from our trip to the mall last week john knows how to turn on the water in my bathtub john's balloon apparently needed a bath. now i'm not overly concerned about any of these facts. actually, it made for a fun little morning photoshoot. and i got the balloon out and dried it off and all was well in john's world. what i *do* worry about are the ramifications: what else will john find in the hous...