The Thing about Having a Blog

Is that it yet another source of guilt for me in a world full of things for which I can muster up guilt. Yeah, yeah.. behind on the blogging and pictures and documenting all the important aspects of my kids' lives.

"It's a TRADITION now!"

Our 2nd annual 4th of July camp-out at Steven's Compound-- complete with our beloved Barry County characters.





Whatchu looking at, Uncle Larry?

The girls goofing around in the woods in the early morning sun.

Baby Mama Vibes

My dear friend Shanna is in labor right now and I am thinking about her so much. I have an ancient phone and am horrible at texting (well, I am mainly just too wordy) so I thought I'd send my thoughts via blog (which she may or may not read once she is the mom of two little ones--- I am sure she will read it in all her spare time).

Here are some of my labor and delivery mantras:

1. Growing a baby and giving birth is, by far, the coolest fucking thing the human body can accomplish... ever... period.

2. My body was MADE to do this.

3. No one ever dies from pain. My body will only experience the amount of pain that it can handle.

4. When this is over, I will once again realize that I am so powerful and amazing. This is the best buzz in the world... ever... period.

5. This last one is less of a mantra but something that hung out in the back of my mind--- this experience is one that I am sharing with centuries of women across the world--- call it solidarity or community or what have you but I felt that a natural birth helped me to create an invisible bond with women from all over the globe.

Happy Birthing Shanna. You ARE amazing and powerful!

More Thoughts on Finger-Suckin'

Yeah, he is really cute when he is so deep in sleep and slurping away. It has also made naptime SOOO much easier. I have recently transitioned to sitting on my yoga ball (thank you Ms. Burrell). That thing was my best friend during my pregnancy (aside from the body pillow). Anyway, we just bounce a few times, he sticks his first two fingers of his right hand in upside down and grabs on to my collarbone with his left hand. Even if he wakes up a bit when I lie him down, he can usually get himself back to sleep as long as he can get his fingers. So... I am not such a hater anymore. I have seen the light.

Finger-suckin' Good Y'all

I think it is official. Tommy is a finger-sucker. He wouldn't take a pacifier and will NOT take a bottle. I was kinda happy that he wasn't that into a "pacey" as Luna had hers longer than I was comfortable with and getting rid of it was sort of challenging (for us-- I think she did fine). We did have a "Good-bye Pacey" party complete with cake and guests so it wasn't too painful of a process.

So with Tommy, I thought we were over the heavy-duty suckling stage. However, in the past 3 days, he has become a HARDCORE finger-sucker: Usually right hand, always two fingers--- sometimes middle two, sometimes first two. I must admit that he is really cute when he is sleeping and going to town but I have some hesitations about it (like I get a choice in the matter). Here they are:

1. I am a germaphobe. Dirt doesn't bother me, or sand or even worms. No, my germaphobia is specific to what I call "hand germs". Doorknobs, grocery cart handles (the worst!), computer keyboards, shaking hands, ewwww. Seriously, what a weird cultural norm. "Hello. Nice to see you. Let me spread the germs from my hand onto yours. By the way, I just sneezed and covered my mouth with my hand. Then I blew my nose a just a tiny bit of snot leaked out of the tissue onto my hand." What is wrong with touching foreheads like the Maori people of New Zealand? The idea of my kid sucking on his fingers someday after handling money or bathroom doors or car keys... is, well... too much for me to handle at this point.

2. Have you ever seen that movie "Thumbsucker"? Dark and creepy and weird. As a high school teacher, I always had a kid or two each year who sucked their thumb/fingers and let me just say that they had "issues".

3. Have you ever taught school/substituted/worked in a library/worked a cash register? "Nuff said. I have a tough time when I go to places like ice cream parlors and the guy handles your money and then dishes up your food. I feel like a freaker but I really wasn't like this at all until I started subbing for elementary schools my senior year of college. I was sick a lot and I became a neurotic handwasher.

4. You can throw away the pacifier but you can't cut off the thumb/finger. This is my control issue, I know.

Like I said, I hardly get a vote in the matter but a mama can fret, can't she?

The Aroma of Asparagus

WARNING: This blog entry is kind of gross.

The other day Luna had a haircut scheduled at the "fancy-nancy" hair salon downtown. I love taking her there for the star treatment AND they have a fun boutique with weird, cool things (I bought her a pair of old-fashioned bike handlebar streamers for $3!). Usually, I try to take her and make it a big girl date but this time, Stephen couldn't get off work so Tommy came along too. It all worked out fine.

After the fabulous haircut and conversation with Alicia the Stylist, we walked up to our favorite spot-- the Food Co-op. That day, they were having their first "100-mile Farmer's Market" out in the parking lot. They'll have it every Wednesday all summer long and it will only get bigger and more splendid, I am sure. Obviously, not much is growing within 100 miles of us right now but we did grab some cookies (made with local eggs, butter and sugar) and some freshly picked asparagus.

I know I am prone to hyperbole but this was the best fucking asparagus I have ever had. It was so tender and fresh. Once you got down to the thicker part of the stalk, it was REALLY sweet in a way I have never noticed in asparagus.

(Here comes the gross part.) My least favorite part of eating asparagus is the scent of one's urine for the next 12 hours or so. I never noticed it until it was pointed out to me as an adult (I probably never ate asparagus as a kid anyway-- not by choice, I am sure). My dear friend Beth mentioned it one time in passing and now I think of it every time I eat asparagus. Well... the smell of one's own urine post-asparagus pales in comparison to this recent experience.

I won't go into much more detail. Let me just say this:

1. Luna wears a Pull-up to bed. She needs one, you see.
2. Luna also has gotten into bed with us most nights since Tommy was born.
3. It was a pretty warm night.
4. I was sitting up in bed with Tommy a lot that night.
5. It was a long and fragrant night.

Milestones

With the second child comes the realization that you have forgotten things you NEVER thought you'd forget: the date on which your little one first smiled at you, first sat up, first pooped on the toilet... truly exciting stuff. It seems I have absolutely NO recollection of anything important in the last 5 years of my life. Other moms are always asking me at what age our little girl slept in her own bed, slept through the night (never), got teeth, ate chocolate, drank a beer, etc. I can't seem to remember anything. Thankfully, my dear hubby is always there to correct me when I pull facts and dates out of thin air.

One of the reasons for this blog in my little head is to document all the events of their short little lives... oh yeah, and to vent so as to maintain my tenuous grasp on sanity.

Anyway, here are some things I want to remember:

4/5/09--- L started sounding words out. While Papa and I slept on a VERY early Sunday morning, she sounded out all the words on Papa's t-shirt--- no small feat at "Building Blocks of Kalamazoo". "WHAT THE?" (that is Luna's other current milestone... I pray she never actually finishes that question)
Anyway, this seems to have happened overnight. She is getting to be quite skilled at sounding out words. I am headed to the library later to get some of those Easy Reader books. Horrible literature but they are really helpful.

4/6/09--- She tied her shoes! Also, while we slept. Actually, she tied the door to her fairy tent thingy closed while we slept but then later tied her shoes. WHAT THE?

4/6/09--- T is working so hard on sitting up! Any time I set him in a reclined position, as in the carseat or the swing or the bouncy chair... well anywhere he sits, I guess... he works so hard at sitting upright that I actually feel bad for him. He can sit up on flat surface with some support but this makes L nervous he will fold up on himself (a good possibility). He is sooo talkative-- especially at 6:15am. He has mastered that open-mouth squeal/squawk thing and will do it for ages it seems. He makes lots of sounds and is most happy when a person (okay, me) is a few inches from his face making all the same squawking sounds and having a bird-ish conversation. He will be so happy and looking you in the eyes and just talking away for ever. He also loves to sing and to be sung too. This works out nicely as L loves to make up songs and sing them directly into his little delicate ear-- high-pitched shrill songs. All about how much she loves him or about how the Queen Bee at school has ditched her for someone with longer hair or all about how she is mad at me and thinks she and T should live somewhere without their parents, except for Grandma and grandpa because they are "nice" or about how the Muppet Show episode with Maria from the Sound of Music (shall I go on?). His latest feat is grabbing both hands and pulling his arms up over his head (sort of-- he can't quite make it). His arms will be over his forehead and he makes all these hilarious faces with his eyebrows all smooshed down OR he is figuring out how to play peek-a-boo! Fun, fun, fun! (I am serious-- hilarity).