I have been waiting for this night for 5 years! FIVE YEARS! And it happened all of a sudden, with no preparation. Bam!
I read my son a chapter book! Yay! It may sound silly, but I have been itching to read chapter books with him since he was a tiny baby (okay, he was never a tiny baby, but you know what I mean) sitting in my lap paging impatiently through Goodnight Moon.
After that, when I weaned him that first night, I sat him facing out from me on my lap instead of cuddled in the crook of my arm and we read board books.
Every night since he was about 6 months old, I (or Daddy or Grammy or Grampa) have read him stories. Picture books. Yes, they're fun, and some of them I don't mind reading over and over and over.
But the holy grail of bedtime reading has been the chapter book. A different chapter each night! It's the beginning of a whole world I get to share with him. A world full of Madeleine L'Engle, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Princess Bride, maybe even Nancy Drew.
A few days ago, I picked up a copy of The Magic Treehouse at Target because I saw it there as I was walking by, it was cheap, and I had been eying it online for months. I'd heard they were fantastic books to start on.
But my little bundle of energy ... well, I wasn't sure he would be up for a book "with no pictuurres!" as he liked to whine.
Tonight I lay down in his bed next to him with three books in my lap. Richard Scarry's Camping Out, Goodnight Gorilla, and The Magic Treehouse #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't want to read the book "without pictuuurres.." and he didn't.
But after we read both other stories, I said, "So, we can turn out the lights now and go to sleep... OR we can read a chapter in this book." Yes, I am that mom.
So, we started reading (what a great book!) and thank goodness there are great pictures on every other page. After the first chapter, he wouldn't really admit it, but he did want to read another one. So, we read chapter two. But I insisted it would be the last chapter.
Then, when I read: "And it was a REAL Pteranadon!" He quietly hissed "yes!" under his breath. OH MY GOD I cannot tell you how happy that made me. I almost had to stop reading to catch my breath.
So we read chapter three. And that really was it. But he said, "Pleeease?" Sorry, Andrew. It will have to wait until tomorrow night.
When you will be the proud owner of your very first bookmark.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
5 things I'm grateful for today:
1 - The very nice man who helped me unload my shopping cart while I had a wiggly toddler in the sling. That was awesome, Very Nice Man. Then Andrew helped him unload his cart. :)
2 - Organic cotton sheets at Target for $40.
3 - Nursing Liliana after her shots this morning, and everyone in the waiting room being very sweet about that and the fact that both my kids were all over the room and not quiet. And Andrew not freaking out when Liliana sobbed over her shots. And when he gave me one of the two suckers that the nurse gave him. Hello, generosity!
4 - Carrying a very heavy boy around to run errands after dinner. Nice treat, something we don't do often.
5 - Leaving the dishes, the laundry, and the sundry untidiness alone and surfing the internet this evening. It is Friday night, after all. The best way to deal with Sisyphean tasks is to just let them go every once in a while. Right?
1 - The very nice man who helped me unload my shopping cart while I had a wiggly toddler in the sling. That was awesome, Very Nice Man. Then Andrew helped him unload his cart. :)
2 - Organic cotton sheets at Target for $40.
3 - Nursing Liliana after her shots this morning, and everyone in the waiting room being very sweet about that and the fact that both my kids were all over the room and not quiet. And Andrew not freaking out when Liliana sobbed over her shots. And when he gave me one of the two suckers that the nurse gave him. Hello, generosity!
4 - Carrying a very heavy boy around to run errands after dinner. Nice treat, something we don't do often.
5 - Leaving the dishes, the laundry, and the sundry untidiness alone and surfing the internet this evening. It is Friday night, after all. The best way to deal with Sisyphean tasks is to just let them go every once in a while. Right?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Trying to Blog More
Can you tell?
2 main subjects today:
Andrew. Apparently, when he’s puked his guts out and retched yellow stomach acid all over the place (the washer was running nonstop today), he is a tame little kitten.
“Mommy? Daddy? You take such good care of me.” It’s pitiful how meek and tired he sounded, sitting slumped over, wrapped in a blanket and watching a movie.
“I love you to the moon and back and to the moon and back AGAIN.”
“I just want to cuddle up with you...”
SO worth the horrible retching and the laundry. Bad mommy.
AND green changes I’m making and/or contemplating:
I finally have given up the Dobie sponge addiction. I’ve been really inspired by the blog “Fake Plastic Fish,” which is at once overwhelming and inspirational. I am not going to be able to remove all plastics from my life, like she does, but I am now painfully aware of my plastic usage. I can’t help but picture all those deteriorating plastic Dobie sponges, as well as straws, bottle caps, and many other plastic things in my life, in the belly of a baby albatross, or washing up on the shores of a Hawaiian beach. I tell myself that MY plastic trash gets largely recycled, and probably ends up in a landfill, not washing away into the ocean. But is that really a consolation?
So, I tossed my last Dobie (my husband was so relieved), and I bought Skoy cloths, which are AWESOME and work way better than a Dobie ever did (and even from Amazon, came wrapped entirely in paper and cardboard, no plastic!). Mostly, however, I bought them to replace the dishrags we keep using up and throwing out.
And for those extra-scrubby moments with the dishes, you’ll never believe what I’m using! Plain old, $2 loofahs! I bought one in the bath section of my health food store (unfortunately it came wrapped in plastic), cut it lengthwise and crosswise into 4 sponges, and I am loving it. Totally plant-based and totally compostable!
Also, I’ve found a crack in one of the plastic lids of my Pyrex dishes. Hm. The dishes may be glass, but the lids are plastic, and don’t last forever. So, I’m on the hunt for solutions. Of course, I have a set of those old-fashioned glass-lidded dishes, but I need something cheap, fast, easy, and sealable for travel. I’m thinking I’ll start saving jars from pasta, etc., and use them for leftovers. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also along those lines, I bought my very first bottle of milk in a glass jar! Very exciting! I had to call my dad to figure out how to deal with the cream on top. This is all part of another endeavor, to stop buying the plastic quarts of yogurt.
That is all!
2 main subjects today:
Andrew. Apparently, when he’s puked his guts out and retched yellow stomach acid all over the place (the washer was running nonstop today), he is a tame little kitten.
“Mommy? Daddy? You take such good care of me.” It’s pitiful how meek and tired he sounded, sitting slumped over, wrapped in a blanket and watching a movie.
“I love you to the moon and back and to the moon and back AGAIN.”
“I just want to cuddle up with you...”
SO worth the horrible retching and the laundry. Bad mommy.
AND green changes I’m making and/or contemplating:
I finally have given up the Dobie sponge addiction. I’ve been really inspired by the blog “Fake Plastic Fish,” which is at once overwhelming and inspirational. I am not going to be able to remove all plastics from my life, like she does, but I am now painfully aware of my plastic usage. I can’t help but picture all those deteriorating plastic Dobie sponges, as well as straws, bottle caps, and many other plastic things in my life, in the belly of a baby albatross, or washing up on the shores of a Hawaiian beach. I tell myself that MY plastic trash gets largely recycled, and probably ends up in a landfill, not washing away into the ocean. But is that really a consolation?
So, I tossed my last Dobie (my husband was so relieved), and I bought Skoy cloths, which are AWESOME and work way better than a Dobie ever did (and even from Amazon, came wrapped entirely in paper and cardboard, no plastic!). Mostly, however, I bought them to replace the dishrags we keep using up and throwing out.
And for those extra-scrubby moments with the dishes, you’ll never believe what I’m using! Plain old, $2 loofahs! I bought one in the bath section of my health food store (unfortunately it came wrapped in plastic), cut it lengthwise and crosswise into 4 sponges, and I am loving it. Totally plant-based and totally compostable!
Also, I’ve found a crack in one of the plastic lids of my Pyrex dishes. Hm. The dishes may be glass, but the lids are plastic, and don’t last forever. So, I’m on the hunt for solutions. Of course, I have a set of those old-fashioned glass-lidded dishes, but I need something cheap, fast, easy, and sealable for travel. I’m thinking I’ll start saving jars from pasta, etc., and use them for leftovers. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also along those lines, I bought my very first bottle of milk in a glass jar! Very exciting! I had to call my dad to figure out how to deal with the cream on top. This is all part of another endeavor, to stop buying the plastic quarts of yogurt.
That is all!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Fives of Today
5 things I want to do when my baby weans:
1. get Lasik eye surgery
2. go on herbal meds
3. wear lots of dresses
4. take a vacation, sans enfants
5. what was the other thing? Start remembering stuff again?
5 wonderful things from today:
1. my husband pouring boiling water into my bath. Twice!
2. Andrew, helping to clean up after dinner
3. fat, naked Liliana, warm and wet from her bath, hoisting one fat leg over the wall of the bathtub and hurtling toward me, grinning.
4. Liliana, stubbornly refusing to make the sign for “milk,” and instead grabbing rudely at my shirt and saying, “NAH! NAH!”
5. Playing tag with Andrew, who moodily insisted that every time I was “it,” the whole playground was base, and every time he was “it,” the only base was way down at the other swingset.
6. Swinging. God, I love swinging, the rush of air and adrenaline when you fall, fall, fall, swing!
5 things I would like to do better, and am totally and utterly failing at:
1. Meditate. Every day. Without fail, at the same time, in sickness or in health, at dusk, for at least 30 minutes. Dreams, anyone?
2. Do yoga. Every day. With my children happily following along. Well, we’re dreaming here, right?
3. STOP RUSHING! Stop hurrying through the folding of the diapers and start appreciating the gorgeous colors of the fabric, the soft creases under my fingers. Stop thinking about writing it down, remembering it, getting it all done, and s l o w d o w n to just enjoy it.
4. Breathe.
5. Write letters. Blog more. Write down what the kids do.
6. Sing more with the kids. Really working on this one!
7. Improve my french. HUGE SIGH. Some things just have to wait.
5 things I would like to do better, and sometimes actually manage:
1. Stop losing my temper with Andrew and remember to think of his perspective, get down on his level, slow down when I give him instructions. Doing really well with this!
2. Make time to read. I would still like to enter the bazillion books I’m “right in the middle of!” into Google Books so I can remember what I’ve read, but at least I’m reading.
3. Work on LLL leadership (shh! don’t tell anybody!). Going very well, I’m learning tons!
4. Get dinner on time. Okay, not so much on time, but at least I’ve had a better plan lately, and it’s not been horribly late. This has helped with bedtime.
5. Spend some time on something I’m creative about. Passionate about. I’ve been taking my pottery class each Saturday, and while my skill is coming along at a snail’s pace, I’m also drawing, which I’ve never really done and am discovering that I LOVE to draw my kids. I LOVE it. It’s the best journal I’ve ever kept.
5 things I smelled today (weird, I know, but it really makes you think about your day, doesn’t it?)
1. Yeasty, gaggy, disgusting yelllow teething poop. (sorry!)
2. The fresh needles of the pine tree on the way to the park.
3. Liliana’s breath.
4. Olba’s oil, in my bath, soothing my head/neck/backache.
5. The sweet tangy laundry detergent, the liquid Andrei bought.
1. get Lasik eye surgery
2. go on herbal meds
3. wear lots of dresses
4. take a vacation, sans enfants
5. what was the other thing? Start remembering stuff again?
5 wonderful things from today:
1. my husband pouring boiling water into my bath. Twice!
2. Andrew, helping to clean up after dinner
3. fat, naked Liliana, warm and wet from her bath, hoisting one fat leg over the wall of the bathtub and hurtling toward me, grinning.
4. Liliana, stubbornly refusing to make the sign for “milk,” and instead grabbing rudely at my shirt and saying, “NAH! NAH!”
5. Playing tag with Andrew, who moodily insisted that every time I was “it,” the whole playground was base, and every time he was “it,” the only base was way down at the other swingset.
6. Swinging. God, I love swinging, the rush of air and adrenaline when you fall, fall, fall, swing!
5 things I would like to do better, and am totally and utterly failing at:
1. Meditate. Every day. Without fail, at the same time, in sickness or in health, at dusk, for at least 30 minutes. Dreams, anyone?
2. Do yoga. Every day. With my children happily following along. Well, we’re dreaming here, right?
3. STOP RUSHING! Stop hurrying through the folding of the diapers and start appreciating the gorgeous colors of the fabric, the soft creases under my fingers. Stop thinking about writing it down, remembering it, getting it all done, and s l o w d o w n to just enjoy it.
4. Breathe.
5. Write letters. Blog more. Write down what the kids do.
6. Sing more with the kids. Really working on this one!
7. Improve my french. HUGE SIGH. Some things just have to wait.
5 things I would like to do better, and sometimes actually manage:
1. Stop losing my temper with Andrew and remember to think of his perspective, get down on his level, slow down when I give him instructions. Doing really well with this!
2. Make time to read. I would still like to enter the bazillion books I’m “right in the middle of!” into Google Books so I can remember what I’ve read, but at least I’m reading.
3. Work on LLL leadership (shh! don’t tell anybody!). Going very well, I’m learning tons!
4. Get dinner on time. Okay, not so much on time, but at least I’ve had a better plan lately, and it’s not been horribly late. This has helped with bedtime.
5. Spend some time on something I’m creative about. Passionate about. I’ve been taking my pottery class each Saturday, and while my skill is coming along at a snail’s pace, I’m also drawing, which I’ve never really done and am discovering that I LOVE to draw my kids. I LOVE it. It’s the best journal I’ve ever kept.
5 things I smelled today (weird, I know, but it really makes you think about your day, doesn’t it?)
1. Yeasty, gaggy, disgusting yelllow teething poop. (sorry!)
2. The fresh needles of the pine tree on the way to the park.
3. Liliana’s breath.
4. Olba’s oil, in my bath, soothing my head/neck/backache.
5. The sweet tangy laundry detergent, the liquid Andrei bought.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
2010 March
Today Liliana walked all the way out to the curb, with my by her side but not holding her hand. I could feel the pure determination, excitement, exploration coming off of her. She is amazing. Have I said that yet?
I also had the strange, wonderful, joyous experience of pretending to nurse both my children! I was lying down on the bed and Liliana curled up in the crook of my arm to nurse, and Andrew crawled up and started slurping on my chest, pretending to nurse. I was looking down at two gorgeous little brown heads and we all thought it was wildly funny. Did you know it’s not possible to nurse while laughing? A small chuckle, sure, but all out giggling? It’s like trying to whistle while smiling, I think. I’d like to get Liliana’s nurse/giggle on video sometime.
Andrew sat at the dining room table today, snacking, sharing with his sister, and singing this song: “Light a candle for peace, light a candle for love. Light a candle for you, light a candle for me. Sing for peace all around the whole world, light a candle for peace, light a candle for love.” Precious.
Plus, I found this picture from June 13 of last year. What’s more to say?
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