04.19.2010 -- Hilarious

After his shower this morning, I wrapped Gabe in a towel and set him up to get him diapered. He's laying there, knowing that he and I are about to engage in our recurring diaper struggle: He crawls away, I snag him and drag him back. He flips over, I pin his hips down to hold him still.

This morning, Gabe had a different strategy.

He holds his hand, fingers extended, over his twig and bits and tells me, very seriously, "hot." He repeats, "hot." Here I will translate all that comes through his eyes: "Mom, be careful. I'm hot. If you touch me, you'll get burned." All seriousness. He's really selling it.

"Ooh," I say. I look at him doubtfully, touch his leg hesitantly, then pull back. He burned me! I play it up.

Hilarious.

Big belly laughs. We have found our morning game.

What a funny kid. :)

April 13, 2010 -- Spring Breaketh: an account that waxeth on and on....

Our Spring Break was pretty uneventful, but we tried.

Easter was celebrated with a Putnam tradition: string (yarn) was stretched spiderweb-fashion throughout the house to lead Lucy to four Easter baskets. I put them all together in the garage. She followed a whole skein of yarn upstairs and down while I wound it back into a ball. She did wind some of it, but when I realized how long it would take for her to do it on her own, I followed her and just wound it myself. Gabe toddled around while Brian made puff-up pancakes, then Brian finished up the hunt with Lucy after most of the yarn was in a ball.

Because I got to see Brian navigate over and under string all over the house (remember Catherine Zeta-Jones in that movie with the lazers?) and because of Lucy's reaction when she found the baskets, I am logging this Easter as a success: both were very entertaining. I do wish I had thought to get Lucy's reaction on video. It was similar to the reaction she gave when she found what "The Leprechauns" had left for her and Gabe on St. Patrick's Day (shoes). Wow. She completely surpassed all of my expectations.

She SCREAMS with excitement and squeals. And maybe best of all, she declares how absolutely certain she has been that the Easter Bunny (or leprechauns) would leave her a book of princesses to paint along with treats (or a pair of sneakers). She is equally effusive about the books in Gabe's basket and the (ahem) mascara in my basket.
"I knew it!"

It was interesting to hear her theories on why Brian and I didn't get as much candy: we weren't as good, or as sweet, maybe. We would have to try to be better next year.

After listening to General Conference and painting fairies and princesses, we headed to Brian's mom's for lunch. With Grandma and plenty of cousins and aunts and uncles, Gabe and Lucy were in heaven. Plus, there are some things at Grandma's that just aren't available at home; at the end of this post, there is a mediocre video of Gabe on Uncle Davin's 40 year old hobby horse.

Monday, Gabe was sick with the stomach flu and it snowed. We recovered from Easter. Lucy watched "Babe," painted, and colored.

Tuesday was snowy: We went to the Rec Center for swimming. Lucy left from there to go play at her cousins'. I worked out with (the infamous) Amy in the afternoon. (Gabe loves her...I love her! On the down side, I couldn't point my feet much afterward, or my calves would cramp up.)

Tuesday: Enjoying the snow and recovering nicely!

Wednesday, we made a trip to the (very crowded) Discovery Children's Museum with some of Lucy's best friends and capped off the outing with ice cream. To her delight, Lucy was successful in inviting herself to play at their house afterward.

Wednesday: Lucy in front of the green screen with Kaylee.

Thursday, a beautifully sunny day, we spent outside helping a friend in his yard: Lucy's idea (she's quite taken with George), then got to some of our own yard work. Because all of our time outside was impromptu and I didn't anticipate it lasting, I never did get out the sunscreen. Oh well. Sunburns all around. Gabe got the worst of it, of course. He's now peeling on his forehead, nose and cheeks. I bought more sunscreen over the weekend in hopes that I won't make that mistake again.

Thursday: Lucy with George, showing off a "petrified bird." (A chunk of mulch.)

Friday, we cleaned and tidied like madpeople then spent some time in our back yard with Aunt Monica. Fun! Afterwards, we headed north to Lucy's cousin's birthday party. We are so lucky to have family close enough to spend time with them! In a perfect world, all of our loved ones would be so accessible. Friday night, we talked our niece 'Cole into tending the kids so Brian and I could go out. I got applause from our friends for actually making it out of the house (really--no really..they clapped for me). We had a great time. Interestingly, Zoey picked that night to run off and not come back. I got 6 calls from an unfamiliar number while we watched a movie. I decided it must be important, so stepped out to return a call and discovered that Zoe-the-Intrepid had turned up more than a mile from home. My wonderful sister-in-law came to the rescue. So glad I didn't have to leave to go pick up the wayward dog. (Thank you again!!!)

Friday: Gabe's morning nap in the closet. Note the sunburn. := (

Saturday was pretty normal. Yoga for me, errands with the kids, Cafe Rio, cuddle time etc. Poor Brian wasn't feeling well, so he missed his opportunity to go skiing. There was no soccer because of spring break, but I forgot, so Lucy spent quality time in her soccer uniform anyway.

Saturday: Cuddle time. This is what I came home to after yoga. : )

Mixed in with these outings, Lucy had more good times with friends. She can not get enough time with friends. When one friend leaves or she comes home, she instantly requests more time with someone else. Girl, boy, younger, older, she couldn't care less. (I like that. It makes me happy.) Here's a picture from last month of a playdate she had with the boy she has decided to marry, Davis.

Good taste, right?

Easter Sunday: After riding for a second, Gabe tucks his head to the side for a bit until his auntie guesses what he wants. A trick he learned from his sister?

03.27.2010 -- Happy Little Dude

My sister told me I needed to record Gabe saying "happy," and I did.

Lucy had her first soccer game of the "season" this morning. Season is in quotes like that because it's so short. She really likes soccer, and has made progress: last Fall she started out as the token shy, frightened girl on the team. Today she didn't hesitate. She even scored a goal (in the wrong net)! Ah memories. I did that once. (I was a teensy bit older than 4.)

03.19.2010 --

03.11.2010 -- Happy, Floorplan

Gabe is not a big talker. He communicates effectively using props and a few essential words. For example, one of our low drawers is filled with unbreakables like cups and tupperware. When Gabe wants a drink, he gets a cup from the drawer and puts it in my hands, then looks at me imploringly and says, "Na?" "Na" means drink.

He is getting better at saying "sister." "Hi" and "Daddy" are his best words. "Mommy" comes out of his mouth less often but is very clear as well. Other words he uses include "up" and "doggy." Today, Gabe added to his repertoire: His new word? "Happy." He says it very distinctly. So fitting for our smiling boy.

This is a house. (Floorplan.)

03.01.2010 -- Teeth

Lucy's second visit to the dentist went as well as the first. The difference? Gabe helped himself to a toothbrush from a bottom-shelf basket while I wasn't looking, and X-rays. Not exactly sure why the x-rays were necessary, (maybe the dentist was short for his mortgage this month) but I like the pictures. See the new teeth coming up? I can't believe that Lucy is knocking on the door of the gigantic, awkward teeth of a grade-schooler.

02.27.2010 -- Passionfruit, Lovefruit

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous,
talented,
and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God
that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."

The above speech by Nelson Mandela was originally written by Marianne Williamson who is the author of other similar material.

This blog entry is written in the spirit of the quote above. I try to avoid writing a lot about this kind of thing, but I'm embracing it today:

A long time ago in high school, I wrote a lot of notes. There was one class in particular where a lot of notes were written. I got a terrible grade in that class. The teacher made it clear from the beginning that he didn't care if people paid attention or not. "But," he said. "I don't want you to talk in class. Write notes." A friend and I took this direction to heart and spent a lot of our time ignoring the teacher, passing notes back and forth. There is one thing from our note-passing that has stuck with me for 14 years: the difference between Love and Passion. My friend argued that Love was better, I argued for Passion. He was a lot more mature than I was.

*Before I go further, let me state right out that "I don't know jack" about philosophy. All these ideas are home grown.*

I've been thinking about this lately because one of my dearest friends is enduring the first month of a divorce. It happened unbelievably fast. She was the initiator. She is on a roller coaster of emotion and she's trying to figure out what's most important to her going forward. We've been talking about what goes into a relationship: There is love. With love comes friendship, respect, patience, and peace. There is passion. With passion comes excitement, powerful emotion and yearning.

Love and passion don't have to be mutually exclusive. One would hope that they're not. But in some relationships, they are. Before I understood what I understand now, I was in love with the idea of passion. I argued that Passion is responsible for much of what happens in the world. Art, Music, heroism. My argument wasn't very deep, but I was sincere.

To my more-experienced heart and head, Love is much, much more. (Understate much?)

It's hard for me not to get drawn into big events or ideas that I find myself close to. When I read a well-written, well-conceived book, I'm engrossed. I find myself thinking in terms of the book for a while. When someone close to me is impacted so strongly by an event, like divorce, I find myself thinking in terms of the event for a while. So this divorce, this considering of relationships (specifically and in general) with my sweet, beautiful friend--it has me remembering what led up to me getting married and how Brian and I have grown together.

I remember high school--friends, boyfriends and late nights. I had a lot of fun in high school. I remember college--independence, adventures, friends, boyfriends and late nights. I had more fun in college. There are people I will never forget. People I will always love. People I've met since college who have influenced my life.

But.

I don't think I've ever loved and appreciated my husband as much as I do these days. I love him dearly. He is much more to me than others who have space in my heart. I feel so incredibly lucky to be with him and to parent children with him. He's a good man who understands Love.

Remember the quote at the top? I said that this post would be in the spirit of that quote. I sometimes feel very self-conscious talking about what's going right in my life. I find myself thinking, who am I to be happy and satisfied when there are people in the world who seem to be unhappy and dissatisfied? But "[our] playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you....We are all meant to shine." I think this is true.