Gone fishing

Spain isn't the only one in our household charging forward to grow up.
We took the boys camping this past weekend. The last time we went camping, Alex was a year and half old. Alex was completely captivated by camping. Almost as soon as the tent was up, he was "ready for some shut eye", just so he could stay in the tent.
By dawn the next morning he was ready to go fishing.

Alex was crushed when he found out we had to go home. "I just wanted to stay for a week" he sobbed before he fell asleep in his carseat.

When the teething gets tough...

The Theether gets decked out in amber.

To mark the day he turned eight months old, Spain's first tooth pushed through his gums. That's right. A small sharp  tooth is now marring the pristine smoothness of my son's bottom left gum line.

To combat the nastiness that accompanied this developement, Spain has been rocking multiple pieces of amber jewelry. Thank goodness for amber!!

Baby's first soccer experience

Spain witnessed his first real-life soccer game this past weekend.

There was a lot of running and kicking.

Some public displays of excitement.

The overall opinion?

Spain LOVED it.

It only makes sense, the poor baby was named after the 2010 FIFA Champions.

Oh, and number 12 was definitely his favorite player.

o_0

"Look Mama!! I have ears like yours!"

The Peanut Gallery

Let me introduce you to my very own Peanut Gallery.

We have Spain, munching on his fist, and ignoring the dancing lion dangling in front of front him.

Alex is next, rocking the pirate monkey pajamas. And of course, our dog Matrim (a.k.a Attila the Hound).

Their favorite activity is supervising my cleaning endeavors, and heckling at the appropriate times.

To act or react, that is the question.

Lately I've been feeling convicted about my parenting. Not convicted like "My-children-are-going-to-unable-to-love-and-will-have-to-spend-years-in-therapy-to-break-the-cycle-of-dysfunction-that-I-have-scarred-them-with. On-the-other-hand-I-hear-prisons-are-nicer-now-more-like-a-boarding-school-than-a-correctional-facility-so-it-it-all-bad?", but a conviction about how I react.

My mom used to say "Act, don't react", to which I would roll my eyes and stomp off, because she clearly did not "get it". Ten years later I finding myself muttering "act, don't react". A perfect example happened as I sat down to work on this entry. Alex was starting on his homework with a pen in his hand.
"Alex, you have to use a pencil. You may not use a pen for your homework."
"That's okay. I'll use my pen."
"Alex, I said you need a pencil."
"I said a pen is fine."

Don't react. Don't react I whisper to myself.

Situations like these pop up every day. Sometimes he just doesn't understand what I want from him, and other times he's trying to find out where the boundaries are. But everytime, I get to make the decision to act or react, and however I decide to act will shape the way he will act later.

On the way home today, we witnessed a hit-and-run at a stop light blocks from our house. A motorcyclist was having issues with his motorcycle, as he was wheeling it off the road, the driver behind him decided to shoulder past. We watched as the sedan hit the motorcycle and then sped off.*
I couldn't help but wonder if the driver's parents exhibited signs of road rage. Did they inadvertently teach their son impatience? I am in no way blaming this man's actions on his parents. I fully believe that as an adult, he is responsible for his own actions. Did he act on his own or did he react to his impatience?
My parents are cautious drivers. I can't recall them exhibiting road rage. But, sometimes I struggle with road rage. A fact I didn't even realize until someone in the backseat piped up one day and said "Dude, it's green!!"
While I am grateful he wasn't calling out obsenities and flipping other drivers off, I am embarrassed that my lack of regard for other people has started to rub off on him.



*We were able to get the license plate number and reported the incident. Sweet husband stayed with the motorcyclist until after the police and paramedics came. He was taken to the hospital for some injuries to his knee and back.

Something about the best laid plans.

We were inspired to start having a semi-formal sit down family dinner once a week. The plan is to have at least two courses and a dessert. No tv, no background music. The first week went smoothly. Dinner was delicious. Dessert was delicious. There was practically an ethereal glow surrounding the whole affair. The next week Sweet Husband was called away. Alex, Spain and I carried on, but the empty place at the table yelled at us the entire time, reminding us that we weren't complete. Then there was last night.

To make up for last week’s sad attempt at Family Dinner night, I planned on dinner AND a game. While I rushed around getting things ready for dinner, Alex sat in the couch and fell asleep. Napping is a highly unusual activity for Alex, but considering the busyness of our weekend I wasn’t too surprised to see him sleeping. What surprised me was burning my lips an hour later when I kissed his forehead.
Sweet husband came home, and moved Alex to our bed, where he slept for an hour before waking up. He stumbled into the living room and snuggled up next to Sweet Husband. The next hour was spent trying to cajole Alex into drinking or eating a little something.

Fast-forward another hour. Sweet husband had made a bed for Alex on the floor in our bedroom. Alex was sleeping, Sweet husband was sleeping. Spain was marathon nursing. By the time my head hit the pillow, I was already half asleep.
Then Alex woke me up at midnight… And again at 12:30. Our dog started whining because Alex was in his spot. Spain woke up and loudly announced that he was starving. Our cat started racing from one side of our bed to the other. Sweet husband, was somehow completely undisturbed by the midnight circus.
I got Spain back to sleep, then snuggled next to Alex until he went to sleep. The next step was evicting the cat and dog. The cat was unperturbed by being shut out of the room, but the dog was deeply wounded. The emotional wounds cut deep. If he had opposable thumbs he would have put on sackcloth and ashes. Instead he had to settle for verbalizing his despair. I went back to bed, trying to ignore the wailing from the dog. At this point Spain realized listening to other creatures lamenting made him hungry, while we nursed, Sweet husband got up let the dog in, who in turn woke Alex up, who wanted to discuss life’s mysteries with me.

Sweet husband did re-exile the dog, and I got to switch from the floor to my bed a few more times, before the night ended. Yes, there was more serenading from the dog.


Tonight I have dibs on the couch.

Metamorphosis in Seven Pictures

Six Years ago my world completely changed. My precious blessing Alex suprised us with his grand entrance. Six years ago I was scarred spitless at the realization that I had to grow up fast.

His first birthday was truly a time of celebration. A celebration of life and love. From a terrifying hospital stay to a roly-poly happy baby. We've gotten to watch his bloom into the young man he is today, and I know he's not finished yet.
Each year his personality has become more intricate and fascinating. We've seen him discover a favorite color. Taste delicious food. Find excitement in places that we've ignored.
Alex is ready to test out his independence. He knows where he is going and how he is going to get there. As far as he's concerned Sweet Husband and I are only along for the ride.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

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NEWBORN 2005

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We're going to the garden and we're goin' get dirty!

Lately we’ve been on a food hunt. We’ve really enjoyed visiting pick-your-own farms in our area, and picking our own fresh fruits. We decided to venture a little further out and we found a peach orchard with the most amazing peaches. We came home with a bushel and a half, and probably ate half a bushel while picking.

Not having internet has spurned me into new depths of pioneer-dom. I’ve gone back to my roots and started canning. I won’t lie, I slightly puffed with pride at the idea that I have stocked our pantry with enough jam to give us plenty of PB&J choices for the next year… Or at least 6 months.
Bonus points to me, as most of them are sugar-free jams. We have:

Agave peach Jam
Agave Cherry Jam
Strawberry Rhubarb jam
Strawberry jam
Agave Cherry-peach jam
Peach jam

When I got bored with jam I ventured into pickles chutneys and syrups. Oh, and an enormous amount of pasta sauce. I can almost smell a self-challenge coming on.




I have to admit. I really surprised myself.

Multi-talented

Today I became fully qualified to start a new blog; Things I’ve melted in the oven.

The latest victim: A bottle of vitamin C tablets


Sadly, I did check the oven before I turned it on. Somehow I missed the plastic bottle tucked in the corner, until the smell of lid liquefying over the oven racks alerted me.




Note to self: Stop storing things in the oven.