So my burden I began to divest

Prior to my recent(ish) decluttering efforts, I lived the life of a serious packrat. My big Year of Decluttering has slowed considerably over the past few months, and I realized a week or so ago that it was almost November and I only had two months left to make good on my promise to MB that I'd get this house whipped into shape by the end of the year. I feel like I've done a pretty good job keeping the common areas of the house uncluttered, and I'm still really proud that I cleaned out Nico's playroom and that it's stayed cleaned out. This is impossibly dorky, but I still go in there sometimes just because it makes me so happy to look around and see a little space that's just for him.

The big things I have left to do are
1. sort / purge the huge stack of boxes in our bedroom, most of which were carried up there from the playroom
2. organize storage space in our room to contain all of my stuff that's currently stored in the guest room
3. clean up the basement

The last item has suddenly jumped to the top of the list, as MB has been asked to host two game nights this coming weekend. I'm kind of glad, truthfully, because I tend to perform best under pressure, and nothing motivates cleaning more than the realization that a stranger is going to see the house. I've been sizing up the mess for about a week every time I've gone down to do laundry, and finally concluded that it's not as bad as it looks. And sure enough, I spent about an hour down there tonight and got nearly half of the worst work done. I was hoping to knock out more of it, but finally decided it was time to blog and go to bed. Even after I get it suitably straightened for this weekend, there will be some long-term purging and reorganizing left to do, but I will take "company ready" as a goal for now.

The best things I found in the boxes of forgotten crap were a working book light, my hilarious framed llama picture, and a small box of odds and ends I saved to mail to my friend Kate. I also found a Barnes & Noble gift card, but sadly it had no balance left on it. That would've been a good story, otherwise.

table side, before


other side, before (it still looks about the same, actually, but I think the photo makes it look worse than it is)


table side, after an hour of work


Goodwill / recycle / trash pile


Hysterical, yes?

(Are decluttering posts interesting to anyone besides me? I love reading them on other people's blogs, but maybe I'm the only one.)

Reading:  The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Playing:   the soundtrack from The Nightmare Before Christmas with a little Mumford & Sons mixed in

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

My favorite things about Halloween weekend:

1. the weather was perfect

2. Nico and his adorable costume

3. after the disaster of last weekend, we got this one right - enforced nap, snack at home beforehand, then outings…and no meltdowns, hallelujah. We went to the annual Halloween zoo walk with a friend and her toddler on Sunday evening and then went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood on Halloween evening.

4. the fact that quite a few houses had a separate bowl of little kid treats like animal crackers and Goldfish…if there'd been a way to identify them ahead of time, we probably would've only gone to those houses.

5. a big group of polite, funny teenagers hanging out on one lawn at what was obviously their own Halloween party, handing out candy to the little kids

Nico's favorite things about Halloween weekend:

1. an hour with the big playground at the park all to himself (which resulted in this, one of my favorite photos of Nico so far this year):

2. scoring no fewer than six packets of coveted animal crackers

3. going for a long walk in the neighborhood with me and his auntie

4. having his toddler mind blown by this white pumpkin

5. the construction equipment parked outside the zoo entrance

Photo Friday

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It's almost Halloween!

So let's talk about Christmas! And some other stuff.

Cold November pain

Is anyone signing up for NaBloPoMo this year? I've done it every year since it was invented so I sort of feel like I have to do it, but for the first time ever I'm really not sure I can pull it off. It wasn't that bad the year I was pregnant and was surprisingly easy last year, but this year…I dunno, man.

And then I rolled my eyes.

I was on YouTube last night to watch the trailer for the badass-looking upcoming SyFy miniseries Neverland and clicked through afterward to watch two allegedly "official" trailers for The Hobbit. The first was more of a teaser than a trailer, since more than half of the footage used came from the existing Lord of the Rings films. The second had more original content, but started with a narrator intoning, "Everyone knows the legend, but no one knows how it all began." Except, yeah, we do, because it was a book first. And I will grant that many fans of the LOTR movies didn't read the books and that many who did read the trilogy didn't read The Hobbit, but still. Hold the hyperbole there, Mr. Movie Announcer.

Seriously?

I tore out a couple of things from the Toys R Us holiday ad mini-catalog thing as possible Christmas gifts for Nico and then looked them up online to see if they'd be appropriate for his age, worth the money, etc. One that I was really tempted by was this Imaginarium brand firehouse / police station playset:

Then I read the description, which includes the following:  "This exciting new Imaginarium Police Station & Firehouse Play Set combines a Police Station and a Firehouse all in one! Ring the working fire alarm bell, slide a fireman down the firehouse pole & watch as prison inmates work out in the jail gym." Wait…what? So, cross that one off the list.

Lame segue

Speaking of Christmas and gifts, how do those of you with young kids handle the whole thing? Do you set a monetary limit and then buy whatever you can get for that amount, or do you set a limit on how many items each kid receives, or some combination of both strategies? Do you have some kind of traditional plan for gifts? I saw a forum post at some point where a woman said that for Christmas every year, her kids get something they need, something to wear, and something to read…so each kid gets a nice but utilitarian item, a new pair of pajamas, and a new book. I liked that idea, but also kind of like the idea of our kid(s) getting one big item for Christmas each year that we wouldn't normally shell out to buy (plus some small items in a Christmas stocking). I'm definitely going to do a new book under the tree "from Santa" each year and already can tell the hard part will be narrowing it down to one book (okay, or two).

Thus far this year, we've set a budgeted amount of money for gifts for Nico (which we'll probably exceed a bit, but that's how Christmas budgets go) which is not extravagant but which I can definitely stretch pretty far using my bargain-shopping wiles. There's not really anything coming to mind to get Nico as his one big gift, and I have a pretty long list of smallish to medium things that I suspect he'd love. Because of this I'm having some debate with myself over how many items equals too many items for Nico at not-quite two. On the one hand, he might be too little to know the difference or remember later how much stuff he got, so maybe it doesn't matter if we go a bit overboard with the number of gifts. On the other, I consider it one of my sworn parenting duties to not spoil the child utterly rotten. Oh, and since MB and I are generally the ones who have to pick up the toys, that also weighs into the decision.

Our issue is complicated by the fact that Nico's birthday is three weeks after Christmas, and he'll almost certainly be receiving a half-dozen new toys from family and close friends at that time. Last year we got him his play kitchen and the Little People Noah's Ark set for Christmas, and other than some books under the tree from Santa and his stocking, that's all we bought. I don't recall buying him anything for his birthday, though I might be mistaken. Advise me, wise internet types…what is your plan, or what do you think mine should be?

While we're on the subject

What are you putting on your Christmas list this year? I have the worst time making Christmas lists for myself, I swear. I can never think of anything I want other than boring, lame stuff like new bras and new trainers and casserole dishes. (Seriously, last year I asked for a casserole dish with a carrier and a rolling pin.) I think my list so far this year is a new pair of small plain silver hoop earrings and a book light. I'm so dull I bore myself!

Obligatory baby picture

After posting those photos of Nico with his crazy hair I finally caved and let MB give him another haircut last Sunday. I was a bit angsty but it turned out really cute (even if he does look way too big now):

(Fret not…the curls came back.)


Reading:  The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Playing:  an old mix CD

Almost-two

Sometimes almost-two is transcendent, like yesterday when I took advantage of a morning off work to take Nico for a walk in the sunshine. He takes walks with my dad almost every nice-weather day, but I don't know how far they go. I figured we'd just set out and wander until he got tired, and we meandered through the neighborhood for about 45 minutes. He stomped through the leaves piled along curbs and at the bottoms of front walk steps, announcing "Nico walk leaves!" He observed with great interest as I showed him how small acorns crunched under our shoes, then collected a handful of large acorn caps which he stowed in the pocket of my jacket rather than his own. He carried a large capless acorn in his small fist for blocks and blocks, his other hand wrapped tightly around my index finger. We crossed the street to investigate a parked school bus, walked across the grassy medians, stepped up and down at curbs. When our across-the-street neighbor came out as we were passing by to put out the mail, Nico -- usually shy and clinging to my legs in the presence of strangers and near-strangers -- marched right over to her and presented the acorn. We spent a bit of time at the playground down the block, then walked back home and had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I was left feeling like this toddler thing maybe isn't so hard.

But sometimes, almost-two laughs in my face. Like tonight, when we took Nico to a really cool fall-themed event and then had to literally carry him kicking and screaming out to the car after he had a giant meltdown in the middle of it (because we are leavers to the core). He seemed so happy to be there at first, and I tried to get him excited about going on the hayrides and seeing a real owl. But once we started walking around, all he wanted to do was walk. If we stopped, he didn't waste time asking us to continue, he simply started thrashing and whining and, if we didn't hustle him quickly onward, would eventually fling himself to the ground. There were cute moments, like seeing him wade hip-deep into a gigantic leaf pile with a look of determination on his face, or how he climbed into the sandbox full of seed corn and walked around in it rather than just digging through it with his hands. And I know that he doesn't know he missed out, that I'm the only one who's sad about the fact that during our hasty exit we lost the tiny plastic snake he got as a prize for pulling five acorns out of the seed corn, but it was so disappointing. I should know by now to keep my expectations in check when taking a toddler into any kind of new experience, but it's hard. It's not that I'm disappointed in him; I'm just sad because I know he would've loved all of it if he'd just stopped being so damn two long enough to try it.

It's not quite best of times / worst of times, but almost-two is kind of kicking my ass.

Photo Friday

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Otherwise occupied

Wonderland

We ended up going to the geology club reunion on Saturday, and even though I was having social-anxiety second thoughts off and on the whole way there, it was fine. Better than fine, really. I had finally decided to approach it with the same mentality as I did my 10-year high school reunion: I'd go because if I didn't, I'd always wonder what I missed. Except this time I was left feeling regretful that we didn't opt in for the entire weekend. We'll definitely be doing that next time the reunion is held within driving distance. We were only there for about three hours total and didn't do a lot of mingling, but we did spend about an hour and a half fossil hunting on a road cut.

We didn't find anything spectacular but it was nice to be out under a perfect October sky, chatting with people who really get something I enjoy in the same way I get it. The fossil hunting is so easy there that you can literally just sit for a moment and you'll start seeing all these little bits and pieces lying on the ground in plain sight. I had forgotten the simple pleasure of sitting and waiting for the fossils to reveal themselves, and the first time I tried, there was this perfect tiny little blastoid lying right there at my feet. MB didn't know what it was, but he recognized the marvel of something that once was alive at the bottom of the sea being forever preserved in stone.


We also took Nico to the fall party that we were invited to, and that was almost a disaster but was more or less redeemed by the end. He fell asleep in the car on the way there and then woke up on the wrong side of the couch about half an hour after we arrived. He ended up staggering around crying for at least half an hour, and it was fairly awful. Nothing we tried to cheer him up worked in the least. He hated the glow bracelets that he loved last month on our camping trip. He didn't want a snack, didn't want to hold his flashlight, didn't want to look at trucks in the driveway. We skipped the hayride because I didn't want to ruin it for everyone by dragging my screaming toddler along for the trip. Eventually he acquiesced to a walk around the campfire and that calmed him down. By the end of the party he seemed to be having a good time, so I'm going to count the excursion as at least partially successful. Right before we left I was pointing out some constellations to MB and noticed that Nico was looking up at the stars, too. I don't know if he's ever noticed them before. I didn't take any pictures because by the time he stopped flipping out, it was dark. Believe me when I tell you that he was wearing a very cute hat.


On Sunday I took him to get his 21-month / Halloween photos done, and he had a ball running around in the photographer's backyard, kicking through leaves and running up a grassy incline while announcing "Nico walk uphill!" He's getting so big, you guys. So big. We're so lucky to know a great photographer who likes to take Nico's picture.

After our photo appointment, we picked up MB and went out to lunch. Nico spotted the boom of an excavator sticking up above the tops of the cars in the parking lot and was very keen to point it out to us. On our way out, MB told me to go pull the car around and walked with Nico over to the edge of the vacant lot next to the restaurant so that he could get a better look at the excavator. It was just a small, simple moment, but it was one of those moments where you think maybe we're doing this parenting thing right. We don't get to spend as much time with Nico as we'd like, but maybe the key is to always be willing to take ten minutes out of a busy day to go check out a dump truck.

Reading:  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Playing:  the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack

Photo Friday

a beautiful Argiope spider, sadly deceased when photographed

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Smartass in diapers

When Nico is doing something dangerous or Strongly Forbidden, I make a sharp "ah-ah-ah!" sound at him instead of shouting "No!" I don't know why, other than I want something very distinct and I mean business. I don't remember saying it tonight, but Nico was walking around earlier going "Mama ah-ah-ah. Mama ah-ah-ah." And okay, it was funny, but also kind of made me feel like a jerk because dammit, I don't even say it that often. So MB decided to help.

Nico: Mama ah-ah-ah.

MB: Say "Mama love-love-love"

Nico: Mama ah-ah-ah.

MB: Mama love-love-love

Me: Mama does love you.

Nico: Daddy love-love-love.

Me: Well, you can get your milk from Daddy's boobs tonight, buddy. See how that works out for you.


(Still accepting advice, too!)

A series of dilemmas

1. the mascot

I was on the English academic super bowl team in high school, an fact that should surprise exactly no one. My cousin, who was a senior when I was a freshman, was also on the English team. In her day, the team made it to the state meet one year. On the way, they stopped at one of those gas stations with the random souvenir section and found a giant stuffed fish on a styrofoam tray, wrapped in cellophane like a fish at the grocery. They bought it and treated it as a team mascot of sorts for a few years. Then the bibliophile and I found it in the back of a cabinet in our team coach's classroom at the end of our senior year and ended up taking it to college with us because we knew the kids coming up after us wouldn't have any idea what its significance was.

Now it's 12 years later, the fish is at my house, and I'm in the midst of my Year of Decluttering. So what do I do with it? I really don't need it, but I feel bad just tossing it out. In a perfect world I could post a detailed Craigslist ad and send it on to be someone else's mascot, but in reality I suspect no one on Craigslist would even get it. I've thought about sending it to the current English team at my old high school (which wouldn't be totally insane since I have a friend who teaches there), but they probably won't get it, either. So what…just send it to Goodwill? Put it up in the attic? Poor old fish. What would you do?

2. the reunion

There is a geology club reunion this weekend that I'm on the fence about attending. The core group that's attending are all older than I am, and the version of the club that they reminisce about is one that I just caught the tail end of, before they all graduated and moved on to other things. I haven't been to a reunion since about…2005, I think. They're usually on weekends I have to work or they're five hours away and it's just not feasible to go. This year it's only about an hour and a half away and I'm off on Saturday, so I've been thinking about driving up just for the day. There are a few people there I'd really like to see again, but I'm concerned that I'll get there and everyone will be hungover and sleeping late and I'll just be sitting around, or that I'll go and just feel all peripheral and not in on the inside jokes and it'll be awkward. Further complication - Nico and I got invited to a bonfire and hayride thing at a friend's house on Saturday night, so I'll have to leave the reunion around 3:30 to drive home and change and get Nico ready to go. So, go to the reunion, or chill at home and go to the bonfire and have a more relaxed time of it?

3. the reception

I'll be going to a reception for a friend's wedding next month, but not the wedding itself as it was a private family-only affair. I went to her bridal shower and brought a gift from her registry then, so I'm unclear if etiquette indicates a second gift in this situation. Normally I wouldn't think twice, but holiday-related budgetary insanity is coming.

4. Hallowean

I'm thinking seriously about weaning Nico by the end of the month. I was hoping he'd just lose interest on his own so I didn't have to push it, but no luck so far. I love the idea of "the baby will let you know when he's ready to wean," but not if it means I'm nursing until he starts preschool. Not to be graphic, but I don't think he's really getting much out of the deal these days anyway, and we'll still snuggle and have bedtime stories and songs, so I don't feel like it's going to matter much to him once it's done. I just don't know quite how to initiate the process. A friend of mine had a chat with her son about it being the last time and then had her husband put the kid to bed a few nights, but Nico historically doesn't go to bed well for MB. Maybe a chat and extra cuddles and after a few days he'll get used to it? Ugh. I told myself I would not feel guilty about this, but now I kind of feel guilty. I shouldn't, I don't think…I almost didn't get to nurse him at all so getting to 20 months is pretty damn good, right?



Reading:  The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Playing  Nightmare Revisited

Photo Friday

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Falling for you

Is it really October already? Cliché ahoy, but Jesus, this year is flying. Fall is my favorite season by far, so I'm loving the crisp mornings, cooler weather, and perfect blue skies. After the brutal summer we had, Fall is just a little bit more wonderful than usual. I get to spend about half of my workdays outside this month and I'm really looking forward to it. The stars have been so clear at night over our backyard this past week or so, too. I didn't think I would, but it makes me miss teaching astronomy at my old job. Last night I stopped to look up at the Summer Triangle on my way back from taking out the trash and saw a meteor. I just hope I don't lose track of all the constellations I knew before Nico is old enough to share them with me.

October is apple cider season around here and man, I don't know what it is about that stuff. I could take or leave apple juice, but I have to have at least one jug of cider every autumn. I took Noah out for a street festival lunch this week and it was pretty great if not super healthy. I decided to pretend that sweet potato fries count as almost-healthy, mostly because it was so cute hearing him ask "Fwy? More fwy?" Apparently Nico is also VERY EXCITED about pumpkins this year. I didn't even know he was aware of the existence of pumpkins, but he was quite adamant about pointing them out to us at the grocery this past weekend. MB and I ended up taking turns walking up and down the produce section with Nico while he declared, "Yay, pum!" and pointed at all the pumpkins lining the aisle.

I was hesitant to spend five bucks on a smallish one when I'm hoping to take Nico to a pumpkin patch this year to acquire one from its natural habitat, but he was so very excited. I ended up letting him pick out a perfect little pie pumpkin for $2.50, and you guys. He was so happy. He carried it proudly to the cart, announcing "Nico een pum!" (Nico's orange pumpkin) and chucked it rather unceremoniously into the baby seat. Once we got home, I put the pumpkin on the dining room table so he gets to see it at meals. He continues to greet it cheerfully, so I think we're getting our money's worth.

October is apparently the crazy month at my new job. I thought May was pretty insane, seeing as we had 2100 kids go through on field trips alone that month, but my work friend told me, "If you don't quit in October, you won't quit." I do like a bit of action, so I'm not too scared, but I have to admit...four days in and it is pretty nuts around there. Ask me again in November, I guess.

Other than work, we've got a few fun Fall things planned. There will be hayrides at the park, possibly a pet parade, a trip to a pumpkin patch, and of course, Halloween. I have always loved Halloween, and Shauna's post over at Pickles & Dimes today has got me looking forward to it already. What about you guys...any fun autumnal plans?

Photo Friday

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I'm probably not supposed to say this on the internet

in case I jinx myself, but I am enjoying the hell out of my toddler these days. And I know parents got on just fine in the days before digital cameras and blogs, but I'm really glad that it's so easy for me to document his smallhood, because it's all moving pretty fast. I try to take a few photos every Monday so I can send them to MB at work, and this week I ended up with a whole series that I kind of love. Sure Nico can be completely impossible at times, but he's also so much fun right now.

Wasn't hodgepodge a category on Jeopardy?

Do want

Clearance shopper extraordinaire Swistle posted about buying a really stinking cute quilt at Target for a rock-bottom price. I went to ogle the quilt online and sigh over the fact that it would be silly for me to buy one in case I have a girl next time, and discovered TWO full-price sets that I would love to buy for Nico. Sadness! If anyone sees either of these on clearance, please text me right away:

Victim of the classic overhype

Several people recommended Bridesmaids, including one friend whose opinions on books and movies I can almost always trust, so I rented it from iTunes last night. I have to say, although I loved just about all of Kristen Wiig's scenes (especially those with Maya Rudolph) and enjoyed the charming and sexily-accented Chris O'Dowd as love interest, the movie overall was not as good as I expected. I realize it's "just a comedy," but is it really not possible to write a witty adult comedy without diarrhea as a punchline? I wouldn't say I disliked it overall, but I'm very glad I did not pay to see it in the theater as I'd originally planned.

Lives up to the hype

I don't actually know if it was hyped a lot, but I finished the NYT Bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children this weekend and I really liked it. The somewhat open-ended conclusion made me wonder if the author had a sequel in mind, but even if he doesn't, I'm not left feeling unsatisfied. (It looks like his publisher has encouraged him to write one...I hope it lives up to the first.) Apparently the film rights have already been sold, and I suspect it would make a really good film in the right hands. It's a weird mix of sci-fi and sideshow, historical photos mixed in with the text, and I do recommend it. Here's a book trailer if you're into that kind of thing, and also a neat short video about the author's trip to find footage for the trailer. (Apparently there are spoilers in the comments, so be cautious.)




Warning: (cute) snake photos

One day this week, a woman walked into my office at work and handed me a tiny snake in a popcorn tin. It was a king snake, a very cool native species that we didn't yet have represented in our menagerie, so the boss declared we could keep it (we usually don't). The very next day while I was out in the field, someone else came in with a second tiny king snake in a shoebox, so now we have two. King snakes are really kind of bad-ass, because they're immune to the venom of native venomous snakes and therefore can eat just about any other snake they want. They're also supposed to be pretty calm and low-key in captivity, so that should be nice.

So far the first one is ridiculously feisty and tries to chew on our fingers when we pick her (it?) up, and the other one is really calm and will just relax in your palm. The teeth on these guys are so small that a bite literally does not hurt a bit, I promise.

To make up for the snake photos

A crappy phone pic that I love for it's hilariousness - Nico striking a sassy pose in a pair of vintage pajamas:

They don't fit very well, but they have cars on them and they're painfully cute, so he wore them anyway.


Reading:  Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen

Playing:  various mix CDs that live in my car

Photo Friday

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Campers have s'more fun *

We took Nico on his first real camping trip this past weekend, since I don't think last year's swanky cabin trip (awesome as it was) really counts as camping. We went with two other couples to one of my favorite parks, which is about halfway between here and Chicago (home of Nick and J-Dog). I didn't really get nervous about the trip, but I admittedly did have moments of thinking I hope this isn't a disaster. We packed carefully, tried to anticipate Nico's needs, and hoped for the best and it really paid off for us.

We took Friday off work so we could leave in between breakfast and lunch, and stopped at about the two-hour mark to eat and hit up Walmart to replace a forgotten hoodie and buy Nico a cool flashlight and some glow bracelets. Nico happily read books and pointed out trucks until just before we got to our stopping-off town, had a bit of a meltdown at the store when we wouldn't let him keep the flashlight without paying for it, and then slept angelically in his carseat for the last hour of the drive. Once at the campsite, we were able to turn him loose for the most part while we set up the tent and unpacked the car. He did have some trouble with minding the boundaries of our site and not going out on the road that first evening, so I (shame!) stuck him in a baby leash so that I'd be able to sneak up on him and snag the end of his leash when he got too close to someplace he wasn't supposed to go. He didn't seem to mind, really, and the next night he minded the boundaries just fine and didn't need the leash at all.

He didn't want to sleep in the tent by himself that night (or the next), but I can't really blame him for that one. He ended up sleeping on my lap by the campfire for a few hours and then slept through the night beside me on our flattened-out sleeping bags once I went to bed.

rocking the baby leash and his "very nice hat"
On Saturday, we went for a hike after breakfast. We planned to do a three-mile hike that was classed as "moderate to rugged" but ended up on the wrong side of the bridge and decided to go ahead and do my favorite trail, a 1.7 miler classed as "very rugged." I remembered the three near-vertical ladders on the trail, but I had forgotten about the 140 steps. Luckily the steps aren't contiguous, and you get to go down about half of them either way you go. The views were awesome as always, and hauling Nico in the baby backpack turned out to be a lot easier than I expected. Even the stairs weren't so bad, though MB did assist by walking up behind us and boosting the pack a little bit for me. Some of my favorite shots from the hike:

After lunch, the others went on a horseback ride and Nico went on his first pony ride. We weren't sure how he'd react but he loved it, though it's hard to tell from the photos. It went so well that we talked about taking him back for another ride on Sunday morning, but it ended up raining in the wee hours so we decided to just pack up our damp belongings and head home.

There were a few rough moments, but overall it was a really great trip and I'm honestly looking forward to taking Nico camping again. I'm actually kind of bummed that we most likely won't get to camp with him again until next year.

playing a little cornhole

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of camping with my parents, and I'm so happy that we're going to get to build similar memories with Nico. It will be so much fun to share the stars and trees and trails and campfires and closeness of our family of friends with him as he grows. I have a feeling we have a lot of fantastic adventures ahead of us.

(more photos on Flickr if you'd like to see more of my cute kid and the nice scenery)


* Title stolen from an adorable T-shirt that my friend Tamsyn sent to Nico for the trip, which sadly did not arrive until Monday afternoon.

Photo Friday

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Mirror

I've always been prone to what can best be referred to as the Church Giggles - when you start giggling at an inappropriate time, and then you can't stop because it's so inappropriate. Also, the annoying pre-laughing at the punchline giggles, where sometimes I'm trying to tell a joke and I start giggling uncontrollably so that by the time I get to the end, I can barely speak (annoying!). Tonight while I was singing Nico's bedtime songs, Indy wandered past the open doorway, and it reminded me of an incident earlier in the evening.

Nico and I had walked over to the playground down the block for a bit, and left Indy in the yard while we were gone. When we got back, Indy was so thrilled to see us that he started leaping around and, before I could stop him, jumped up to pinball off of Nico. Except Indy weighs 55 pounds and Nico weighs 27 pounds, so he pretty much utterly bulldozed Nico. Nico went down in the grass, Indy bounded off with me shouting "No!" after him, and then Nico - bless his heart - got up laughing and chased Indy down the sidewalk. And I know it's not really funny, I should be thinking Oh, what a close call! and wringing my hands or something...but, dude. I thought about Indy wiping Nico out and because he didn't get hurt, it was funny, in that horrible-but-funny way that videos of little kids getting wiped out by animals are always funny, where you laugh and you think I shouldn't laugh because he could've been hurt, but I can't stop laughing.

So when I saw Indy walk by the door, the comedic qualities of the moment in the yard hit me, and I had a brief Church Giggle fit. I think I would've made it through, but Nico saw me struggling not to grin, and he started grinning at me. That set me off again, and then he started giggling, and we ended up in this Church Giggle Feedback Loop. It started with me probably being a bit of an asshole mom, laughing at my poor toddler getting flattened by his own dog, but it morphed into this incredibly sweet moment. At rest and in his frequent moments of serious consideration Nico looks just like his father, but in motion, his expressive face is a mirror of mine. His crinkled eyes, his wide grin, the dimple in his cheek -- seeing it reflected back at me along with his infectious toddler giggles was pretty great. I thought to myself, "This right here, this is reason enough to have a kid."

(so far unscathed by his insensitive mother)

Reading:  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Playing:  The King is Dead by the Decemberists

Things I learned this weekend

by velocibadgergirl, age 30

Wearing cute shoes is a good way to feel sassy.

Riding in a limo is fun even when you aren't drinking.

Drag shows are hella awesome.

Drag queens are so fabulous I can't stand it. Most can dance circles around me, and will be wearing amazing fuck-me boots while doing it.

When I dance to rap music, the resulting photos include slight but still-shameful Inadvertent Duck Face.

My friends are the raddest, most fun chicks a girl could hope to know. Love you guys!

Photo Friday

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Up the water spout

I think my job is inuring me to danger, to a...well, dangerous degree. Yesterday I was gathering supplies for an impending outreach program. I got some stuff out of a cabinet in the classroom, got some other stuff from the maintenance room, and then got some other stuff from another place. As I was leaning over to get something at my last stop, I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye, something on my arm. I turned to look, and there was a goddamn spider crawling across my upper arm, just below the sleeve of my shirt. Now, it wasn't what I would call a huge spider, because a month or two ago I went out into the lobby to capture a wolf spider, compared it to the standard-sized drinking glass in my hand and said, "I'm gonna need a bigger cup." (We kept her in a jar and fed her live bugs that we caught in the office, and were all very sad when she died.) But! With the legs, the spider was probably about the size of a quarter, maybe a bit bigger, so you might well call it huge. In any case, there was a large-ish spider crawling on my person and my entire reaction was to turn my head a few inches to the right and blow the spider off my arm with a puff of air. I didn't even jump when I saw it, you guys. I think I'm becoming way too used to these sorts of things.


Reading:  Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen

Playing:  a Led Zeppelin mix

This used to be my playground

I took Nico to the awesomely toddler-friendly park playground on Monday. (It has ramps instead of steps and is surrounded by a fence, plus all the slides and monkey bars are short.) We were only there for about half an hour and it was only our second visit, but he's asked about it every day since.

This playground was built on the site of my favorite childhood playground, which was the most fantastic pre-safety-standards 1970s / 1980s playground of all time. It had two really tall slides, fireman poles, metal climbing gyms, concrete animals to climb on / crawl under, and this big silver triangular thing with an unclear purpose. It was huge, pitched at an impossibly steep angle, and got really hot in the sun. We always approached it via a running start and tried to get momentum to carry us to the top. I never made it, though I think one of my cousins did once. I'm more than a little bummed about that amazing playground being razed to build one that big kids probably find ridiculously dull, but I also kind of love that Nico loves the new incarnation. I suspect we'll be spending a lot of time there this Fall.

Photo Friday

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Miscellania

The leaves are starting to fall from the trees at work, just a little. I know it's because it hasn't rained much and the trees are just thirsty, but it gives me hope that autumn is coming. Meanwhile, tomorrow's forecast high of 101 degrees laughs in my face.

Are you ever seized with random moments of regret for objects you let pass you by without snatching them up, or things you had but didn't hang onto but should've? I found an empty turtle shell once, the time I volunteered at my old beloved summer camp. I left it at my cousin's house in the country because it was still a little funky, and someone threw it out. Tonight, out of nowhere, I was filled with chagrin that I didn't just bring the shell home to my own house and leave it out in the yard somewhere until it was non-smelly. What a waste...I'll probably never find another whole shell like that again.

Nico knows all of the letters of the alphabet now, at least all the capitals. According to my mom, he repeatedly demands requests that she sing the "ay cee song" while pointing to the letters on his ABC puzzle. While she sings, he spins in a circle and then staggers like a very small drunk. When he's not making himself dizzy, he has learned to run across the house, tiny legs taking comically tiny steps. He can also walk backward and I know it's a cliche but, man...when did my bitty baby turn into this big, vibrant, beautiful, chattering boy?

I have three days in a row off with both my boys this weekend, for the first time in I don't know how long. We don't have any special plans for the weekend proper (see forecast temperature of 101 degrees), but on Monday we're taking Nico on his very first amusement park / water park trip. I'm pretty good at keeping my expectations in check and not getting bent out of shape when Nico is nonplussed by experiences I was sure he'd enjoy, but I really (REALLY) hope he likes it. Anyone else have fancy plans for the holiday?