ROAR!

I took Noah to The Philadelphia Flower Show for a few hours this evening. Mostly I just followed him around reminding him he couldn't walk on the exhibits - but it was still a good experience. I really enjoy taking him out into the world and showing him new things. It's fun to see him wide eyed aand enthusiastic when he experiences something new. Of course he was a little disappointed at first because he thought The Flower Show would be more of a "SHOW" and less a bunch of flowers. Luckily however the theme was Ireland this year and they had an Irish dancing performance which fit the bill. It diverted him briefly from dancing around the exhibition floor doing his Chinese Lion Dance - a pose from which you see here. His favorite part of the evening however was the Subaru SUV he got to sit in and pretend to drive on the show room floor. Maybe he would have preferred going to The Car Show.

Snippets and tidbits

- As I’ve said before I’m a Stay-At-Home-Mom not a Stay-At-Home-Maid and Mark does more than his fair share of chores around the house. In fact we have things pretty much divided up evenly, though I swear sometimes he cleans more than I do. Apparently I’m not the only one. I do all the cooking at our house since Mark’s not got much experience aside from canned soup and pasta and as a result Mark does almost all of the dishes. One afternoon this week after Noah and I made brownies I was rinsing out the batter bowl in the sink. Noah asked me what I was doing and when I told him I was washing out a dish he said “Like Daddy does?” I chuckled and said “Yes. Like Daddy does. But Mama does dishes sometimes too.” To which Noah responded “That funny Mama.”

- Ever since we happened upon the Chinese lion dancing in Chinatown on Sunday, it’s all Noah can talk about. We’ve watched videos on Youtube a million times, and we just keep dancing, dancing, dancing.

- At the El’s birthday party a clown gave Noah a balloon twisted into the shape of a teddy bear. It’s actually pretty remarkable. The other day Noah picked it up upside down and pointed to the end of the balloon knot which is used for the bear’s nose and asked what it was. When I told him it was the nose he said “I thought it was his penis.”

- This weekend Mark spent an hour fashioning a Play Doh universe with Noah. The game included making spaceships and space men and then introducing the space men to all sorts of earthly Play Doh delights like ice cream, banancas and dogs. On Monday morning after breakfast Noah asked to play Play Doh again, but this time he was stuck with Mama. After many failed attempts and much hemming and hawing I had to call Mark at work to ask him to instruct me in the construction of a proper spaceship. I just wasn’t doing it RIGHT.

- As I’ve mentioned before Noah has two TV times – one every morning while I shower, and one most afternoons while I prepare dinner. He typically watches Sesame Street in the morning, with the occasional change up to Zooboomafoo. In the afternoon it’s almost always Jack’s Big Music Show – and though I think the show is great, even I’m getting sick of it. For quite some time I’ve been thinking Noah would probably like Mr. Rogers, but curiously there aren’t any episodes on On Demand, and aside from things I DVR that is the only way we watch TV. So last week I started recording Mr. Rogers, and Noah adores it. I mean how could he not – there is a trolley. But it really is right up his alley since it’s real people and puppets – and I love all the real world knowledge stuff about people in the neighborhood, jobs, feelings and whatnot. GOD does it bring back memories.

- Art class continues to be a big hit. This week they worked with curvy lines. The coolest of these projects had the kids painting with marbles. We put a sheet of paper in these plastic bins, and then the kids were given a paper plate of paint on which they could roll marbles and then put them on the paper and roll them around. Noah took it to another level when he poured the entire plate of paint directly into the plastic bin – I couldn’t stop laughing. And though the paper was soaking wet with paint, and may have never dried properly, by the end the design looked incredibly cool. He’s a visionary.

- On Monday night we went to Target to pick up a few things, which of course turned into a few million things. When we were leaving the store and the automatic door opened we were greeted by a rather hostile wind. It took my 8 pack of papertowels and threw them off the cart. And Noah, who HATES wind, started screaming bloody murder and crying, since obviously we were all going to die. I hustled him into the car quickly and then went to collecting all our stuff up. While I was stepping away from the car Noah cried out desperately “Mama! Get the paper towels!”

- Noah continues to be a very musical boy. He’s always singing, sometimes real songs and also just singing his words and making stuff up. We’ve been spending a great deal of time recently listening to the Big Band & Swing channel on Music Choice – it’s really fun upbeat listening for us both. And Noah has become familiar with a few of the bigger hits – most notably “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.” He likes it so much I had Mark download a version by Glenn Miller. Every once in awhile I’ll catch him singing “Til I come marching home.” My other favorite little song tidbit that keeps popping up is courtesy of his Dad. Noah was playing with his plastic dinosaurs on a plastic illustrated backdrop to which he referred to as the jungle. Which of course led Mark to sing a bit of “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses – and now quite often I catch Noah singing about being in the jungle, very much in keeping with Axl.

- As the weeks go by Noah gets more interested and invested in the idea of the baby in Mama’s belly. Since I recently explained to him that the baby eats what Mama eats, he will occasionally hand me something like a grape and say “The baby wants a grape, Mama.” And I nearly cried last night when he was talking to the baby and in addition to his normal “Nice to meet you baby. I love you. When are you coming out?” he added “Be safe for me!”

What? Me?

So I’ve been kind up until now and haven’t mentioned the headaches. The migraines. The ones I’m getting almost every day – and even when I don’t have a full blown one I still have a knot of pressure behind my right eye that feels like someone deposited some buckshot in there. Luckily I’m not the vomiting migraine sort. Just the blinding blurry vision, splitting pain and sensitivity to light sort. So not SO bad. Sources have been consulted and yes, these are a pregnancy symptom though I did not experience them last time. Fun. However I can try to avoid common trigger foods that may or may not be contributing to my headaches – peanut butter, dairy, yeast, beans, bananas, avocados, and chocolate. Um… right. Oh and today I overextended myself and hurt my pelvis muscles, so severely at first that I cried because I was worried it was going to cause a serious problem. I’m way better now, but that was scary. Need to knock that off. This pregnancy as a whole seems more difficult than the last, which aside from being voraciously hungry and having some mood swings was pretty pleasant. But maybe I’m just about to turn a corner.

As you know I have an advanced degree in worry. Last time I worried about being inexperienced at caring for a baby, being ill suited for it, going batty being at home and being apt to forget I had a baby and leave it in public places and in harms way. Luckily those fears are resolved, mostly. Now I can concentrate on other things like how hard it would be to raise a girl in our over-sexed society, how we’re poisoning our children with plastics, how I’m going to make these two the bestest and most closest siblings ever, how to make them not hate me and how I’m ever going to balance the needs of two children and ever get any sleep EVER. So ain’t no big thang.

Despite all the time I’ve needed to ferret out for the headaches and the worrying, we’ve actually had a really pleasant weekend. We had the in-laws and Janette, Perry and Jules over for take-out Indian food on Friday night. Yesterday we took a jaunt over to West Philly to visit with the family Juliloquy for a short playdate, had a frolic at Liberty Lands playground before nap and then had Grandma come by to watch Noah for an hour and treat us to dinner at Isla Ibiza. Today we were whisked downtown by the El on it’s 100th birthday – where we happened upon some Chinese lion dancing in Chinatown and then hung at the Septa celebration for the El’s big day. After a sparse, long and sad February – March is more than welcome respite.

As artful as a pregnant lady grocery shopping in pajama pants

Noah started an art class at Fairmount Art Center this past Monday. He seemed to really enjoy it. The class is for two to three year olds and in the one hour period they do about four projects so the kids don’t get bored or lose focus. I was thrilled that the class was only five kids, including Noah and his friend Victor. I think more than that may have been a bit overwhelming. But since the kids are seated working on structured projects with parental assistance and teacher guidance it really is an ideal situation for him. He’s a great listener and student – unless there isn’t any structure and then he just clings. (At playgroup every week he sits on my lap during free play and isn’t happy or comfortable until we get to circle time for the song, story and craft.) Monday’s class focused on making dots – so they drew dots in their sketch books, painted a variety of different sized and colored dots on a large black paper dot, tapped dots in a little piece of copper, and then poked dots in a piece of clay that will be fired and painted during a later class. This was Noah’s first time working with clay that wasn’t Play Doh and he was really disturbed at the residue it was leaving on his hands. He spent half the time picking at the little bits around his fingernails while I reassured him we would clean them off when class was over. The class series itself is a bit costly for only six sessions, but it includes materials and will provide me with more ideas of art projects we can do at home – so in the end it’s worth the dough.

I’m horribly ashamed to admit that yesterday I went grocery shopping in pants I normally wear to bed. Unfortunately I’m in that horrible stage where my normal pants no longer fit and yet my maternity pants aren’t suitable either. Whenever I wear my maternity pants I spend half the damn time hiking them back up over my ass and well it’s hard to carry grocery bags while holding up your pants. Today I am once again in “house pants” but since I was babysitting Ella this morning we haven’t yet left the house. Hopefully I will have the wherewithal to don actual pants when we go to the library this evening. But likely not.

I still haven’t gotten my butt over to Whole Foods to get that Floradix iron supplement. But two things just made it a priority. After I read Missuz J’s comment that cream of wheat was an excellent source of iron I made myself the only two packets I found when I dug through the cabinets this morning. And this afternoon is the first one I can remember in a long time where I didn’t feel like I was going to collapse in utter exhaustion if I didn’t immediately take a nap. So it seems like iron might indeed help me out – which caused me to call the herbal store down the street to see if they carry Floradix so I don’t have to drive across town to Whole Foods. And indeed they do. (Oh and Lonna – it’s vegan safe so maybe you should check it out if you’re still having iron issues.) So if I start taking that liquid gold, or iron as it were, and eating insane amounts of cream of wheat I should be able to conquer the world. Or at least potty training.

Speaking of the evil deed, I haven’t really started potty training. He pees on the potty before bath time every night and again before we put on his pajamas, but that has been the extent of it. Last week I started putting Noah in Pull-ups and encouraging him to tell me when he needs to pee. Rather than doing that we’ve just been having a lot of leaks and rashiness – the pull-up are a bit big and cause a lot of chafing. He really doesn’t seem remotely ready or interested in being potty trained. And since I keep reading that children often regress to needing diapers after a sibling is born, I’m not really in a hurry. Why bother if I’m going to have to do it twice. Right? So I guess I’m going to get him back in diapers for awhile.

There are a few other big things that need tackling in the next few months. The naptime nursing behemoth which remains the same and doesn’t bear repeating, and our nighttime debacle. Noah goes to bed fairly easily every night. We read books, he kisses and hugs Daddy good night, he sits in the rocker with me for awhile, he lies down in the crib and paws at me sitting on the floor next to the crib until he nods off. Between lights out and sleep it typically takes about a half hour, and I’m pretty cool with that. The problem is that he also typically wakes up sometime in the early morning at which time I take him out of the crib and lay down with him on the twin mattress on his floor until morning. Obviously this has to change real soon as come August 1 I will be up at all hours of the night entertaining a newborn. Occasionally Noah will sleep all night in his crib, but the occasions are few and far between. After recently reading an article on sleep incentives I started offering him rewards for sleeping all night in his crib, and though he wants the rewards they don’t affect his behavior at 3 am when he wants to sleep with Mama. So I guess soon I’m going to have to lay down the wretched law and refuse to pick him up and lay down with him. And I feel just awful about this because as I’ve said to Mark “We don’t like to sleep alone but we expect him to want to.” Of course I need to make the change soon so he doesn’t blame the change in the sleeping arrangements on the baby. Ho hum. So much to do and yet it’s so much easier to just avoid it. And yet time ticks on. Only two more weeks until the ultrasound. I can not wait! However it's occurred to me that it will mark the halfway point in my pregnancy and GAH that is SO SOON. We won't ever be ready in time!

Not filled with iron-y goodness

The days fly by, except for the period between lunch and naptime – which drags on for what seems like eons. At my most recent checkup my doc said my iron was low. She didn’t diagnose me as fully anemic but she ordered more tests. It was kind of a relief to hear that there may be a reason I feel like I’ve been put through the ringer. Now I need to start taking some sort of iron supplement. My friend Janette recommended a liquid supplement that she uses claiming it to be a cure all. Of course she also described it as tasting like flowers and metal. Yum. But I’ll probably soon be heading to the store to get me some – as soon as I can summon the energy.

Mark’s been hard at work on his mini-album for that online music challenge. One day each weekend Noah and I have gotten out of his hair for a few hours by going to the Please Touch Museum to see a different jazz performer. They have a Junior Jazz Festival in February and we’ve enjoyed seeing three different performances – Erin Flynn did jazzy kid songs about trains, Louis Miranda did a latin influenced set of singalong songs, and today the drum ensemble Fandango spanned the globe with beats from Brazil, Cuba and Africa. Noah has been really loving the performances and I’m sad to see the series end. I have to figure out what other live music I can take him to see soon.

When we came home today we went to check in on Mark in the basement. A couple of weeks ago when we were at the Franklin Mills Mall Mark pointed out a child sized guitar to Noah and asked him if he might like to have one some day – and since then Noah keeps bringing it up saying he wants one now. Today he told Mark that when he gets his guitar that Mama and Daddy can go to the Please Touch so that he can play in the basement. It certainly seems Noah is catching the music loving bug, and with his shy streak that is a blessing. As Mark says the main reason he decided to learn how to play the bass was because he figured it was the only way in the world he’d ever get girls to talk to him. And well, I met him when he joined a friend’s band so the proof is in the pudding.

I’ve recently become a bit concerned with Noah’s speech. As I’ve noted he is totally verbal, incredibly so and at home he never stops talking and questioning. But he’s also started stuttering a bit. My Mom and Mark reassure me that it’s probably just because his little overdeveloped mind sometimes surpasses his mouth’s ability to get the words out, and that he’s getting stuck on the first sound of a sentence because he’s thinking about everything that comes after before he says it. But it’s still a bit scary. I hope it’s just a common toddler thing and he’ll grow out of it. I can’t imagine how shy he’d become if grew up having to overcome a stutter.

On a more positive note, we’ve had a few good meals as of late. We eat out about once a week, nothing extravagant mind you, but since Noah enjoys dining out and so do we it’s become a regular thing. Sort of a mental health necessity. Just recently my prayers were answered and an Indian restaurant named Tiffin opened in our neighborhood – and better yet they do takeout. Good takeout. Last Saturday we went down to Chinatown and had amazing Burmese food at Rangoon. We hadn’t been since Mark surprised me with a get together of friends there for my 30th birthday. And yesterday we had a lovely lunch at the famous Melrose Diner. Believe it or not our waitress has worked there for 35 years! Can you imagine!

The Oscars are on tonight and for once I can’t be bothered. I’ve always really enjoyed them but this year I’ve seen nothing. Worse yet – I don’t even know what any of the films are. It’s weird to think about since I’ve been a movie geek since I worked at West Coast Video at the age of 16. But our lifestyle just doesn’t allow for movies to be a priority right now and I’m cool with that. I’ll always have a bunch of stuff to catch up with later. Which is something that can’t be said about the cinematic genius that is Amazing Race All Stars – which is currently awaiting me on my DVR so I must go.

Weepy, curious, talkative, tasty, fishy and stubborn business

I’ve planned all week to post a million little Noah tidbits for me to remember and to keep the interested up to date. But it’s hard to start that post because today I had a major Mama meltdown. As I’ve mentioned before I haven’t yet dropped our naptime nursing because on those occasions when I’ve made an attempt to put Noah down for a nap without nursing him to sleep, he’s not slept at all. And today was another one of those. After over an hour and a half of Noah being in his crib, talking, jumping, asking to be let out – I gave up, took him out of the crib, and started crying. And I couldn’t stop. I was crying because I can’t seem to reach a solution and it seems like he’ll never nap without “Boppy.” I was crying because I was tired, emotionally and physically and I needed a nap. And I was crying because no matter how much it’s gonna suck making this change whether it means no nap or not, that stopping nursing my baby boy means he’s one step closer to moving out. And then I was crying because yesterday a woman at playgroup told me that upon having her second child the bond with her first child was changed immediately forever. And then I was crying because I was sitting on the floor weeping uncontrollably in front of my very sensitive and quite concerned two year old. So you can see, I’m a bit of an emotional mess today. A chubby one at that. With acne.

And now the boy. If you know Mark at all you know that he’s smart guy, but more than that he has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In fact it seems he doesn’t’ feel like he can make a fully informed decision about anything because there is always more to know. It’s both noble and self-defeating. So it’s no surprise that Noah already wants to know EVERYTHING. He’s constantly questioning. If you use a word he doesn’t know he’ll ask you to define it. If you’re up to something he needs to know your agenda. If you pass someone on the street he wants to know who they are, where they are going and where is their Mama. A couple of weeks ago we were at my Mom’s place and Noah started in on my Mom’s fiancé with the royal inquisition. The poor guy was on his way out the door with a trash bag and Noah railed him with “What’s in bag? Where are you going? What is dumpster? You coming back?” and Larry just stood there with a quizzical and lost look on his face as if to say “Can I go yet?” This is par for the course. Here are a few things Noah has recently asked me to define: What is close? What is sausage? What is poop? What is exhausted? What is snow? What is June? What is hospital? What makes coffee?

Noah is a master of role playing. He’ll say to me “You are Lisey. I am Hunter. Daddy is Aunt Jess.” Or “I am Pa Joe. You are Oma.” He also loves to make all the toys talk to each other. A typical bath time ritual is for Noah to put his blue tractor on the bath tub ledge in front of a plastic moose and say “Mama, make Moose talk.” And then proceed to say in a deeper voice (because tractors are very manly) “Hello Moose. What doing?” What follows is a long and involved exchange which could be about any number of things – the Disney magic trick he saw in the Thanksgiving parade, the tractor’s job as a counter at BJ’s, or the jazzy train songs that Erin Flynn sang at the Please Touch Museum. I’m always baffled by the things that that tractor can come up with. The interplay is a million times better when it’s Mark’s turn at bath time – his moose is a far superior conversationalist.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned how much Noah loves to be in the kitchen. Our kitchen is the most used room in our house. It’s a nice sized room so we tend to just hang out in there and we have a storage unit in there that actually houses most of Noah’s toys. But aside from that Noah just loves to cook. He likes to help make cookies, pizza, chili – anything I will let him help out with. And when he’s not being my sous chef, he’s at work prepping his own meals. He’s got quite an array of plastic culinary treats and he knows how to use them. And he’s not afraid of using daring combinations for unexpected flavor profiles – he’s a regular molecular gastronomist. He’d be the first to tell you “I’m a good cooker and a chef!”

On Monday we went to the Camden Aquarium with our friends Wendy and Victor. Little Victor is nursing a major fish fascination and is fast on his way to becoming a marine biologist. Noah really loved the aquarium – but his enjoyment was much more like “Cool. Pretty red fish.” The funniest thing was that he constantly asked me to reassure him that the fish could not touch him. This was most pronounced in the shark tunnel. When a shark swum over his head I felt him tense up so I asked “Are you done with this now?” and he said “I’m done with this now - I’m done with this now - I’m done with this now” until we got out of the tunnel. I was also surprised that he was a bit afraid of how dark the aquarium was in some sections. He’s never seemed afraid of the dark at home, but I guess a strange dark place with fish that could swim out at you any moment is a different thing.

I’m often going on about how Noah is my angel baby – and I’m sure that is tiring to read about, so you’ll be pleased as punch to know he’s been testing boundaries and having fits a little bit more regularly. Transitioning from one thing to the next is often a battle. Apparently whatever he is doing RIGHT NOW is the coolest thing ever – and whatever is next sucks royally. So now we are more prone to whiny, crying jags- which are often a charade. I was detailing this new development to my friend Holly today and she said “You DO remember that he’s TWO, don’t you?” But the thing that is killing me the most is that he’s learned to talk back. In recent battles he’s told me that “No, you don’t love me” and it just about broke my heart. And yesterday after I explained to him that the piece of black plastic he had in his hand did indeed look like a trash bag it was in fact a car window shade, not only did he repeatedly tell me “No. It’s a trash bag” but ten minutes after I thought we let the matter go I heard him mutter under his breath “Trashbag.” Where on earth this child got stubborn I will NEVER know.

And as always I have a lot more, but I have to return to my husband, the DVR and a bag of dark chocolate covered pretzels.

Unsung Heroes

So Ms. Elisha and Baby Hunter have come and gone. It was really lovely to have them here and now we are heartbroken to once again have them so far from us. It’s distressing to leave little Hunter at the airport and think about how much he will grow and change until we see him once again. But at least we have digital photos and emails to get us all through and keep us in touch.

Having Hunter here was great practice for Noah. By the end of their visit Noah was helping to bathe Hunter, giving him toys and putting lotion on him. It really was a joy to watch. And it was really an amazing experience watching my little sister being a Mom. She’s not got it easy unfortunately – she’s young and her and husband are barely scraping by financially – but she seems like she’s doing an excellent job of keeping her head up and staying focused on her wonderful little boy and all the joys that he’s bringing to her life, despite the daily grind and sleeplessness. And in my book that is the biggest key to being a good mother.

As for me and my pregnancy things seem to be progressing smoothly. I’d say I’m feeling slightly less exhausted and nauseated, but unfortunately my acid reflux has really started to kick up. When I was pregnant with Noah my acid reflux aided in my enormous weight gain because the only time I wasn’t feeling overcome with acid was while I was eating. Of course my food choices were also to blame. But I think I’m doing a somewhat better job of watching what and when I eat this time around, and honestly I am a lot less starved this time than last. I gained a whopping 75 pounds during Noah’s gestation to end at a hefty 225 – and though I’ve started this pregnancy 10 pounds heavier than the last time, I’ve promised myself to do what I could not to break the 200 mark. So far so good.

So I rarely mention Mark. Part of that is that he’s a more private person than myself and part of it is that I take him for granted. He’s always here helping, working, doing dishes, playing with Noah, and saying supportive and reassuring things. He really is the best. And in the last few months his bond with Noah has gotten a lot stronger. In fact Mark is a far better playmate than I. He’s more imaginative in his pretend play and he even does voices. But not only is Mark a better playmate he’s a better person. In the last year I’ve been really impressed with his efforts to recycle more and be involved in our community. As a member of our neighborhood association he’s working to make a difference even though he sometimes feels his efforts are in vain. Just recently he spent two entire days working to dig holes for 60 new street trees that will be planted to make our area a cleaner, greener place – including one in front of our home. This month Mark’s also spending time making music – he’s attempting to write an entire album in a month as part of some online challenge. So there is your Mark update.

The boy. So much to say. I've been wanting to give you some examples of the constant questioning that we are enduring here – but that will take more time on my part and I just ran out.

Out of my way

And would you believe he drove all the way from Florida?

Pretty as a picture

I'd like to introduce you to my sister Elisha and her son Hunter. A sweeter pair you could not meet.

Good enough to eat

By the end of the visit Noah and Hunter were like two peas in a pod. It made it clear to me that though there will definitely be some family growing pains when we have the baby, that ultimately Noah will be a wonderful help and a sweet and loving big brother.

Soul coughing

We’ve been quite busy and happy enjoying our visit with my wonderful sister Elisha and her sweet five month old son Hunter. The baby is such a jolly little thing, so even tempered and charming. And it’s really amazing and impressive to watch my little sister being a Mom. After a whirlwind weekend of Noah cavorting with various family in Quakertown, we left Hunter and Elisha at my Dad’s place on Sunday, and just in time too. Yesterday morning as I was bundling the boy up to go play at his friend Victor’s house, Noah leaned over and vomited on the floor. It seems he caught himself a stomach virus. Luckily he only got sick twice – once at 10:30 am and once at 4:30 pm and not since – but he’s still running a fever. And of course we’ve been up since 4 am this morning. We’re supposed to head back out to Dad’s today and collect Elisha and Hunter, but all that’s up in the air until Noah seems well. The last thing I want to do is put my sister and her baby on the plane on Wednesday afternoon with a nasty bug. Fun details and photos later.

It's an actual post

Somebody call in the cavalry! Noah Mac and myself are on our own for the next two days. I encouraged Mr. Mark to go to NYC tonight to go see his former band mate perform. (YES – I’m INSANE!) He’ll return tomorrow but probably not until after we leave to go to my cousin’s place for a family thing. And then by the time we get back home he’ll be partying it up at Sean’s 30th birthday shindig so we’ll likely not see him until Sunday morning. This’ll be the partyingest weekend he’s had in years, and for years. Wish him fun, but also moderation and safety. Because what could be more rockin’ than that! And may the bitter cold of this evening remind him of the desolate chill of the indifferent outside world while we his family keep the home fires burning. Ahem…

What have we been up to? We hung at Wendy’s on Monday – Noah and Victor have begun playing really well with each other. They seem to have very complimentary personalities and have begun actually working together. It warms my heart. On Tuesday we went to a Barnes & Noble in NJ to buy Noah some books to introduce the idea of the new baby – and we really dug the store. They have an awesome train table and a daily story time so I think that it’ll definitely be a new favorite haunt. I’ve started babysitting our 18 month old neighbor Ella for a few hours every Wednesday – it’s a couple of extra bucks and keeps Noah busy to boot, so win/win. And then of course playgroup yesterday and our neighbor’s normal Friday playdate today. Tonight I invited a couple of neighborhood friends over for an evening pizza playdate –since Mark’s not coming home it won’t seem like the night with no relief or adult company.

So I’ve a list of things I’ve been meaning to blog about but damned if I can find my list. Guess I’ll wing it.

NURSING
Just recently when people started asking me if Noah was still nursing I started saying “Oh, no” before quickly changing the subject. And people say things like “OH! GOOD!” with a huge sigh of relief as if they had some vested interest and real concern for our wellbeing because we were still nursing. Like “Thank GOD! I knew if that kid nursed one more day he was totally going to turn into a brutal psycho murderer who had a penchant for dressing up like his Mama!” However I’m totally lying. Noah still nurses before his nap every day. The before bedtime nursing was dropped pretty painlessly before his second birthday, but the naptime one won’t die. Mostly because on the many occasions I have tried to put him down in his crib awake at naptime he has never slept. I’m guessing it’s the fact that it’s light out. In fact he’s spent over an hour on more than one occasion just hanging out in the crib without the slightest hint that he was going to nod off. And since I’m dead tired at naptime and need one myself I’ve not been willing to forego the nap. I do figure that a few napless days would wear him out enough for him to nod off one afternoon, but I’ve not felt energetic enough to attempt it. So, for now we still have that one measly nursing session. From what I understand it doesn’t pose any threat to the baby and I don’t mind it because I can see the end on the horizon.

Far more daunting to me is that in six months I will be nursing a newborn. GOD HELP ME! I’m scared. Now obviously I am a huge proponent and advocate for breastfeeding, and I totally intend on doing it as long as seems appropriate for the new baby and myself. BUT JEEZ – nursing an infant is a fulltime job. With Noah I didn’t think I would last to six months. It was painful and ALL THE TIME! My already too large breasts were astronomical. And I was leaking constantly. Plus I’m far too body conscious to whip out the girls in public places and as a result I felt confined to our home. And what the heck is Noah supposed to do while I’m nursing for an hour every three hours. I know I’ll make it through and it’s worth it and yadda, yadda, yadda… but GOD it’s not on my top ten favorite things to do.

And now things the boy has been up to:
- Reading. He likes to “read” some of his own books at bedtime and it’s about the most adorable thing going to listen to him recall some of the words and make up the stories as he goes along.
- Learning. He can identify all his capital letters and tell you what letters are in his name, though not in any particular order. We’re begun working on more number and lower case identification now.
- Sass. There is nothing Noah hates more than not being understood. And sometimes when I can’t make out a particular word he’s saying I’ll just sort of nod along and say “Oh” rather than have him clarify – and he always catches on and says “What I saying, Mama? What I saying?”
- Loving. He keeps excitedly saying things like “We’re having a baby, Mama!” and “I will play peekaboo and the baby will laugh.” He’s also tempered his fear of friend’s infants with obsession. After last week’s neighborhood playdate he began calling the long regarded Baby George by “Baby Ike” – the name of one of his playmate’s infant brother. Every time Mark and I would call the doll George he would correct us and say “Baby Ike!” It was quite a case of muddled identity. I did the only thing I could do to save us all – I bought another doll who was thus named Baby Ike so Baby George could have his moniker restored. Since all the new baby hubbub he’s been much more interested in the dolls. I decided on Sunday to buy him the doll bed I’d been considering buying from Ikea for some time. Before we got to the store I told him we were going to get George/Ike a bed – and he turned a corner in the Ikea showroom pointed to a well appointed Queen with three colorful comforters on it and said “Ike like that bed.”
- Eating. On Tuesday night we went out for Chinese food with our friends Jen & Mark. I guess we eat Chinese fairly frequently – it’s reasonably priced and delicious, and the restaurants are accustomed to catering to families. Plus Noah invariably asks to eat shrimp and dumplings when we go out. Recently we realized how often we eat Chinese when we were at a non-Chinese restaurant and when we told Noah we were getting the check he asked to eat the cookie. He also recently began pulling out the white Hershey flag from the chocolate Kisses and reading them as if they were fortunes. Oddly enough the fortune is always the same. It says “You are my baby sister.” You think it’s a premonition? Stay tuned til March 22 to find out – I’ve scheduled our ultrasound.

FAQs of Baby Eggerts deux

Thanks to everyone for their warm wishes and congratulations! It means so much to us. The following sums up some of what's going on with Project Baby.

How am I feeling?
In a word – exhausted. I take a nap almost every day while Noah gets his – it’s the main reason I’ve not been blogging or answering much email. I’m sleeping away my personal time and it’s worth it. As for sickness – I have a general green, queasy seasick feeling that comes and goes during the day but it’s not serious and thankfully I’ve not become physically ill. Am I hungry – hell yes. But not for anything I’m thinking about making myself. It must be presented to me without my involvement in preparation. Like when I was pregnant with Noah carbs and sugar are high on the palatable list – but so are fruit and vegetables and as of yet I don’t think I’m over indulging too much, at least so sayeth the scale. Time will tell.

Have we discussed the new baby with Noah?
Yes. He knows “WE” are having a baby and he’s both cautious and excited – while of course not being fully able to comprehend the change on the horizon. Generally he’s pretty put off by babies – they cry and are unpredictable, two things he doesn’t like about other children. And when I’ve held the babies of others he has hung his head, cried and hid. None of which is the best indicator of a smooth transition. However the boy is full of love – and in theory likes babies. He’s still carting Baby George around, feeding him, telling him he missed him while he was sleeping, telling him he loves him. When we went to the Please Touch Museum recently he found a baby doll in a crib and then proceeded to carry it around the rest of the museum – grocery shopping, to the barnyard, and on the bus. He put it in a high chair in the house and was agonized but passive when on two separate occasions other little boys came up and took the baby out of the chair, threw it on the floor and undressed it before leaving it behind. He waited until they left, dusted it off, hugged it and then continued to gently carry it around. He’s also started being more interested in real babies – commenting that friends infants are smiling at him or that they have little hands. And of course he’s interested in the birth process – wanting to see pictures of himself as a small baby, hiding under a blanket on my lap and pretending to be born while I say “WOW! He’s so big and SO alert,” and telling me “I have a baby in my beddy… and now he’s in my foot. He’s getting big!” At Christmas time a family member asked Noah where the baby was and he said “In August” and then “In Florida” – which was where his Aunt Lisey had her baby.

Have you been for a checkup?
Yes, but just one. I have an appointment next week. I’m really looking forward to it because we should be able to hear the heartbeat.

Are we going to find out the sex of the baby?
I sure as hell hope so. We found out with Noah and I really feel knowing he was a boy helped me to really connect with the realization that there was a real little person in there. But don’t I want to be surprised you may ask – NO. Babies are uncertainly after surprise after uncertainty. I think it’s nice to know something. My Doc said they will do an ultrasound at 20 weeks and I am counting down the days.

You want a boy or a girl?
Either. It’d be nice to have a girl so we can experience that, but also nice for Noah to have a brother. Not to mention we could use all the same clothes again.

Are you showing?
My pot belly is more pronounced – and depending on what I’m wearing you can or can’t tell.

How does it compare with your prior pregnancy?
I really don’t remember feeling this rundown during the first trimester. Of course then I sat at a desk all day rather than running after and carrying a two year old. But I also don’t remember feeling this… UGLY. Forget pregnant glow. My hair is lank and shaggy and my skin is horribly broken out and shiny. They say being pregnant with a girl sucks the life out of you, and if there is any truth to that then I’d guess we’re having a little miss.

Are you thinking about names yet?
Yes. I never stopped thinking about names. We’ve always had a girl’s name picked out – Muriel, the name of Mark’s late mother. I think it’s old and elegant – and it honors a woman that though I never had the chance to really meet – that I feel a kinship with and whom by all accounts was fun, ebullient and kind. Because of her reported love of the shore and the way she’s been described to me I always picture her as warm, sunny and treasured as the perfect beach day. And who wouldn't want to feel that way about their daughter? Boys names however are tough. I don’t have any true affinities for any particular names. With Noah we had a huge list of names we kept adding to and removing from – and we ended up with Noah because it was the only one we both consistently liked. I also liked that it meant calm or peace in Hebrew – when most boys names mean “warrior” or something equally confrontational. So what are we looking for in a boys name? Old, simple, short, and something slightly atypical without being too odd.

Any worries?
YES! Many. I’m worried about the baby’s health and birth a bit but my biggest worries are about Noah and I. Of course the main reason we wanted to have another child is that we wanted Noah to have a sibling – someone to share his entire life with. However I fully understand that the first year of adjustment is going to be really rough. Noah is SO sensitive and so attached to me that I know it’s going to be tough for him to share me and all the attention he is accustomed to. Yes- he’ll do it, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be easy. And what if it changes his sweet personality? And then there is me. I’ve learned that every Mom worries a bit that they won’t love the second one as much – or that they will have to love the first one less – and I’m no exception to that rule. I am SO in love with Noah, with being his Mom, with his personality, his intelligence and sensitivity – I honestly and sickly feel that he is the perfect child for me and in so many ways he makes it SO easy to be not only a full-time SAHM but for me to feel like a good mom. And I worry that this second child will shatter some of those illusions. As I’ve said – I’d clone Noah if I could – but this child isn’t going to be Noah. He or she is going to be their own person with their own strengths and foibles and I’m already worried I’ll feel like he or she won’t be measuring up – and neither will I. But I guess you have to worry about something. Last time I kept having dreams where I kept forgetting I had a baby and would accidentally leave him places.

Any more questions?

Insha’Allah

Prior to heading off on our honeymoon to Morocco Mark and I did a lot of research, not only on places to stay, to eat, to visit, but also the culture. One of the things we learned was the term “Insha’Allah” – an Arabic phrase meaning “if God wills” that is intended to be used after any proclamation of what is to happen in the future – even something as routine as discussing tomorrow’s weather. I was instantly taken with this idea. I’m not a conventionally religious person, but I do have a real feeling that there are higher powers – other wills at work in our lives besides our own. Saying “Insha’Allah” to me is a really graceful way of reminding myself that as strong as my will for a certain outcome may be, I’m never in complete control. I find that idea both humbling and also freeing.

Fertility issues are certainly an instance in which one is forced to recognize that control is not yours alone. As girls we grow up thinking we could get pregnant at any second, like our uteruses are ticking time bombs – and when we’re ready to have kids we think the only thing we need to make that happen is our decision to do so. And for some that is the case, but unfortunately not for all. Some fight quite a battle with biology and the fertility process, never to win in the conventional way – and some come out the other end with a truckload of heartbreak soon healed by a child that though not biologically their own they can appreciate much more than someone who didn’t have to think twice before they got pregnant. And well, some just give up because all the dead ends, powerlessness and pain is too all encompassing.

As most of you know Mark and I aren’t the most fertile people on the planet. It took us seven months of trying to get pregnant with Noah, and we’ve been trying to get pregnant with a second since he was 9 months old. After a year of trying we met with my OB who proclaimed us not infertile but “subfertile” – obviously we could get pregnant but for us it was more like gambling against the house. We saw a fertility specialist in September who noted that with Mark’s slightly less than perfect sperm count and my luteal phase defect (natural - not just from nursing) that we definitely had an uphill battle. She recommended I start on estrogen or Clomid – and possibly artificial insemination. Of course I was still nursing Noah once a day and therefore couldn’t start taking hormones so at that time we decided to keep giving it the old fashioned college try through the end of 2006 and think about starting hormone treatment in January. To some our consideration of aiding nature may have seemed extreme, but after a year plus of monthly disappointment and crying jags, it didn’t seem at all extreme – just scary.

On Thanksgiving morning I found out we had another thing we could be truly thankful for – I was four weeks pregnant. After sixteen months of trying and an alternate course planned, we could barely believe it was possible we had finally gotten lucky from just gettin’ lucky. So I’m overjoyed to announce that as of today I am twelve weeks pregnant – and we are due to have a second child on or around August 1st, Insha’Allah.

And now I’ve stopped worrying about getting pregnant and started worrying about staying pregnant, having a healthy child, and juggling the physical and emotional needs of two. Stay tuned for all that noise.

Of sisters, saturns and shopping

So Ms. Jess’s visit was a success – at least for Noah. He mostly followed her around saying how much he loved her and asking her to do everything with him. However we were all a bit under the weather and our energy level wasn’t one that allowed us to be quite as adventurous as we are when she normally visits. On Saturday we did make it out to catch a glimpse of those crazy Mummers before hoofing it to a late lunch at More Than Just Ice Cream, but on Sunday we did a lot of nothing. We merely took a walk to the park and then stopped at a coffee shop. Honestly I have no idea if Jess had fun while she was here. I mean she didn’t seem unhappy, but she didn’t seem particularly happy either. Is that her or 11 years old? She just isn’t very expressive. Isn’t 11 a bit young for the whole “whatever” attitude? Don’t get me wrong, she isn’t rude or uncooperative – she’s a sweet and good kid - just sort of not particularly bowled over by things. It's hard for me in a way because I want to see her happy, to do special things with her that she really enjoys - but she doesn't seem to be very effusive at the moment.

On Monday Noah and I had the privilege of spending four hours at the Saturn dealership having the car inspected. On the plus side they have a kids room with a TV, VCR and a bunch of toys – on the negative side it’s a very tiny room and the toys are all sad leftover like a basketball hoop with no balls. I put on 101 Dalmations and after 10 straight minutes of “Who’s that?” “What doggie doing?” “Who is talking?” I was glad he lost interest in the movie. For some reason the boy is not taken with animation. People, puppets, music, live action are all awesome – but cartoons are a yawn. Amazingly we kept busy with all sorts of pretend play instead. Four hours of it. Oh and snack. Lots of snacks. He dealt fine with being sealed in that box for 4 hours, much better than I did. Especially when the bill came.

On Tuesday I took Noah to the Please Touch Museum. We hadn’t been in some time despite having a membership, so it was all brand new and very exciting for the boy. He had a fantastic time grocery shopping, checking us out, and driving the bus, truck and trolley. We also went to two story times – both of which he really enjoyed. He really is an ideal audience member. He quietly hangs on every word – and then when he gets home he reenacts things. So cute. Mark reported to jury duty on Tuesday and was assigned to a case that started on Thursday – and has no end in sight. However I’m happy to report he’s getting home early each day and that makes us all pleased as punch. That night our Ms. Tracey took the bus into town for dinner and our lame company. It was so fantastic to have her visit – I have a special reason to make a nicer meal and Noah has a wacky playmate for a few hours. I was worried when she moved out of town we wouldn’t see her for quite some time, but my fears were unfounded.

Wednesday saw another trip to Ikea. I know - we go all the time. But the boy loves it and it’s such an easy activity to do on a less than ideal outside day. He spent the bulk of the time going from model kitchen to model bathrooms, sitting at the tables, pretending to eat and bathe. I’m sure someone on their security cameras has us red-flagged and the only thing that gets us from not being called into the office is that we always spend a couple bucks there before we leave.

On Thursday morning we finally went back to playgroup, for the first time in over a month. Noah was ecstatic to go and actually so was I. I really missed having core activities planned for half of my mornings. It was nice to get up and say “It’s playgroup day” and just hustle out the door to see our friends and sing songs. And to make the day even more exciting Janette and Jules came to visit in the afternoon.

Today we went to our neighbor’s informal playgroup for awhile but left earlier than usual to have Holly and Susan and the kids over for lunch. Again – we hadn’t seen any of them since before the holidays so it was really great to have some normalcy and have Noah get reacquainted with his little friends.

This weekend is chockablock as normal. Tomorrow we’re off to Old Bridge to celebrate Mark’s Grandmother’s 97th birthday and on Sunday we have a long overdue date with Ms. Patrice.

But of course this was just another weekly page from our calendar and shamefully I don’t have the time or frame of mind for much more. But a meatier post is coming, if anyone but me cares. Oh and how can I forget the most exciting news of the week – yesterday we booked a flight for my sister Elisha and her 5 month old son Hunter to come and visit us in about two and a half weeks. I can’t adequately express how much I’m looking forward to spending that time with them. Maybe because my sisters are each a decade and two decades younger than I, or maybe because I’m the overly maternal sort, I have a bond with them both that to me is also akin to being a parent as well as a sister. And maybe because we all have different moms and over the years I’ve had to make constant strides to be stay a part of their lives – my relationships with them are very important part of who I am. It’s so hard to have my Elisha living so far from me even though it’s been that way most of her life – and seeing her again well it’s about one of the best things that can happen. So yeah – things are good.

Manly gifts

There is no more romantic gift to give your husband for Christmas than a backpack of plastic dinosaurs. But oh, how he loves them.

Chop Chop

I neglected to mention that Noah got his haircut last week. He was an angel in the chair and several stylists and salon patrons commented on how he was better than alot of adults. He really loved going to the salon and has several times pretended to be our stylist Heidi and cut my hair. Oh and of course the lollipop helped seal the love affair.

The eyes of a child

Can you tell Noah enjoyed the New Years Eve fireworks? Or maybe he's just high on being up til after midnight. Possibly he's drunk on power. Whatever it was, he was lovin' it.

Now it's a holly jolly mess

I just haven’t had the opportunity or the inclination lately to spend much time on the computer. I’m just feeling a bit exhausted and over extended after all the holiday hubbub. My house is in a complete shambles, it looks like Christmas threw up on it – with half opened gifts and partially put away decorations everywhere. It’s depressing me just thinking about it. In fact I should be tidying up right now, but somehow the blog got priority today.

So now that the ho-hums and blahs are out of the way – the holidays themself were really fantastic. Noah was in seventh heaven. Santa, Mama and Daddy were modest in their purchases, but he was delighted nonetheless. Among his stocking stuffers was an astronaut Spinbrush which is what he mentions when you ask what Santa brought him. The grandparents however were less modest in their purchases and he got a train table, a train set, and a rocking horse as his primary gifts. Luckily family members also heeded my cries and put money into his education savings accounts and stuck with small gifts like markers and Play-Doh. Noah’s primary play activities now are all sorts of imaginative play where he acts out everything from baking cookies, the Nutcracker/Mouse King battle, a doctor checkup (sometimes with his new doctor kit sometimes with the drill from his tool kit), being a cat locked in the basement all night, appearing in the circus and accidentally breaking a window. Next on the play agenda are all sorts of arts, building, puzzles and trains of all sorts. Oh and of course books. We read all the time.

And have I mentioned that he talks NON-STOP. Seriously. I hadn’t even realized how much chattering he does until I went out for a few hours the other afternoon and when I got back I thought “Holy crap. That boy doesn’t take a breath.” And he knows everything. His vocabulary is insane and his questions are unstoppable. This morning he asked me “What are fireworks?” which seemed an even harder question than last nights query about why his fingers get wrinkly in the bath.

What did the adults get for Christmas? Cash, thankfully. It’s just so nice to pay down that credit card bill. It’s not a fun gift to shop for but sometimes it’s what you really, really need. We also got some clothes, a DVD/VCR, a veggie chopper, some gift cards and a new set of knives. It’s all about necessity here at House of Eggerts. With the never-ending charity and understanding of our family members we are able to scrape by with me at home with Master Noah. And for that no amount of thank yous seem sufficient.

So what else has been up? Last week I took Noah to the Academy of Natural Sciences to see the dinosaurs and the butterflies. He absolutely adored it – especially the live animal show we saw in the auditorium. He keeps reenacting how the woman brought out an animal and then took guesses from the audience on what it eats and where it lives. Last night he was doing the animal show with Mark when he said that our cat Parker lived at home with his Mama. When Mark asked who was Parker’s Mama Noah initially said Spy, our other cat. When Mark laughed Noah corrected himself and said that he was indeed Parker’s Mama. Mark asked him what Mama’s do and Noah said they get lunch. He then insisted on getting Parker new food and water. The only downside of the Academy visit is that I think looking at the life-size dinosaur displays may have triggered Noah’s recent talk about a monster with black feet that is in our house. The fear hasn’t gotten too serious yet, but we have had to search the house twice to make sure he wasn’t here. We also went to meet Mark for lunch at work last Friday and have my “work luncheon.” We went to Lemongrass for fantastic Thai food and discussed my job efficiency and career goals. Not sure if Noah is my boss or my direct report though – I should probably ask for an employee flow chart.

Sadly our plans to see my sister Jessica last week were delayed by her being sick, but I’m happy to report she’ll be joining us this weekend. Noah is counting down the seconds until she gets here. I had hoped her being here last week would alleviate some of the post-Christmas mood crash since it was hard and disappointing to tell Noah that Christmas was indeed over. We even got rid of our tree early because it was hard to keep telling him Christmas was over but yet all the vestiges of it were here.

I’m VERY excited that it seems my sister Elisha and her son Hunter will be visiting us sometime in February. I’m just so excited I could burst. I don’t know how I’m going to let them go back to Florida though. Someone might have to forcibly hold me back.

On New Years Eve we attempted to take Noah to a Baby Disco celebration complete with music and a countdown to noon. I mistakenly thought since the venue was large that we didn’t need advance tickets. After we stood in line for a half hour we were told it was sold out. We were able to placate Noah’s “I want to go to party” by taking him to a delectable lunch at Honey’s, and then to the world series of toddler activities – the pet store and Ikea (where he played in the blueberry basket and was undoubtedly infected with the ick from which we are all now suffering.) After putting him down for a late nap we kept the boy up to midnight to walk over to the river and watch the fireworks. He LOVED them. The noise “(They go bang, bang, boom, boom!”) especially. It was indeed a magical way to welcome the New Year – and a reminder of all the exciting things that 2007 have in store for us – more time together appreciating our lives and each other. For me it really doesn’t get any better than that.

Oh and there are a million funny things and precious moments, but damned if I can remember them right now. Plus I better go put some stuff away. Or at least figure out a new way to post photos.

As succinct as the Gettysburg Address

Do you have any idea where the hell time goes? Criminy. I blink an eye and a week has passed. It’s insanity. And all this beta blogger nonsense and the change in Picasa picture posting has me irritated. I’m too old to adjust, dammit. Why do they keep messin’ with my programs? (Said while waving my cane at the screen.)

Think I can manage a quick review of the last week? Sure. But I can’t promise it will be all that interesting. Last Saturday we had a family-visitin’ day. First to Mom’s place to bake Christmas cookies. Her boyfriend has a family tradition of making Christmas cookies with his Grandkids and asked us to join them. It was lovely. Especially when Noah spent almost an hour chasing the 5, 6 and 7 year old girls around and Mark and I didn’t even have to keep tabs on him. Then we headed to my Dad’s where we ordered Chinese takeout and everyone watched me decorate the tree. Noah spent a good deal of time chasing Oma around the house and that seemed to be exactly what she needed to put a smile on her face. Sunday we went to Drexel’s Christmas party. It’s for the entire staff of the University and since about 1500 people attend it’s not entirely lavish, and there is no open bar. But the cranberry punch is delish and they have magicians and story time for the kids. The big draws this year were a performance by the Rockettes and you could get your family photo taken and superimposed on a bunch of silly backgrounds. We stuck with a snowy forest landscape. I know – we’re boring. The party was held in the Great Court, which is (as you can see from the link) stunning, and also the building in which Mark works. However as striking as it is, it doesn’t lend itself well to the sheer size of the party. It’s not only a bit too crowded and hard to navigate, it’s also very sparse on seating which is difficult when you have a toddler. But seatless though we were, we still had a nice time.

On Monday we decided to spend a few hours of the 60 degree day (is this REALLY December?) at Morris Arboretum with Wendy and Victor. On Tuesday we went to Toddler storytime in the morning and then Janette and Jules came by in the evening. Yesterday I had an unpleasant bathroom emergency at BJs, and though I go there for the sole purpose of buying that child giant vats of apple juice and Cheezits, he decided not to be kind and discrete and instead repeatedly and loudly asked me if I was pooping. Ahem. Somehow I survived that. In the evening Mark watched Noah so I could go by some stocking stuffers. I realized just recently that since I told him that Santa will fill our stockings, that I better indeed put something into those belonging to Mark and myself.

Today we met my former co-worker and friend Jeff downtown for lunch. Again with the Chinese food. I’ve got some weird obsession about it lately. The dumplings in particular. After he treated (Bless your heart Jeff! Even after just closing on a new condo!) he sadly had to return to the office and thus did not get to join us when we headed to Macy’s to (YUP) once AGAIN go see the Dickens Village “puppets” and the light show. A grandmother sitting next to me with a cranky two year old little girl asked “What did you do to get such a beautiful and well behaved child?” To which I replied “Got lucky. Got very, very lucky.”

So what do the holidays have in store for us this crazy week? Tomorrow night we pop in to my friend Patty’s Christmas party – long enough to taunt the drunken singletons with the cuteness of our offspring, but not so long that they see what it’s like when said offspring becomes overtired and slightly less manageable. On Saturday we head to Jersey to have lunch with a friend of Mark’s from high school. He and his wife are in staying with his parents over the holidays, that is if they caught their flight out of Colorado despite the massive blizzard. And afterwards we’ll stop by Mark’s Dad's place to “see the tree” because no yuletide season is complete without tree seeing. Hopefully their tree is less crooked and haggard looking than ours after it’s been pawed at by a two year old on a daily basis. On Sunday I have a frenzy of cleaning and cooking while awaiting my Mom, her boyfriend, Mark’s Dad, his wife and Mark’s 94 year old Grandmother for dinner. And if we all survive that, with no food poisoning or whatnot, we’ll head to my Dad’s the next day for an early dinner with my Oma, my brother and his kids, and then to my Mom’s in the evening to see more relatives. Good grief. I’m beat just typing that. I’m hoping to also get my sister Jess to come and spend a few days with us that week, but that hasn’t yet been set in stone.

Okay. So that was far from quick. Sheesh. Sorry. I hope you all have a holly, jolly holiday (if you celebrate that sort of thing) – and that the chaos, the bills and the gifts are just a fleeting blip quickly wiped out by your enjoyment of time with your loved ones. As flawed and wacky as they (and we all) may be.

See you next week with photos of festive festivitiness!

Surely you have more places we could hang some more balls. I mean seriously. We need MORE! More balls.  

It's a dark and blurry. But no other picture (or words for that matter) could possibly express to you the joy Noah felt helping to decorate the Christmas tree. Mark snapped this as Noah said "I did it!" as he triumphantly hung a ball on the tree.  

Noah took a momentary break from eating sprinkles to pose. I couldn't get him to understand that he wasn't supposed to be eating every cookie he decorated. Maybe next year.  

It's holly and jolly.

As you know we are doing the whole Santa myth here, and doing it wholeheartedly. Noah is pointing out every Santa he sees, plastic ones on porches, blow-up ones in the grocery store, lit ones in neighborhood windows. And he gets so excited. It really warms my heart.

What I’m not doing is the Santa threat. I was actually quite taken aback a few weeks ago when the mother of one of Noah’s playmates started telling the kids that they better not be naughty or they won’t get gifts. OH NO. That is not in our Santa tale. And certainly not for two years old. I told Noah that Santa brings gifts for nice boys and girls and since he is such a nice little boy he will be getting presents. The funny thing is he thinks he already got his gift. After he sat with Santa at the Gallery he was given a toothbrush, so when you ask him what he wants from Santa for Christmas he says “a toothbrush.” It’s gotten quite a few chuckles, and even a “Ahh… how sad.”

After two weeks of battling my own cold, Noah caught it this weekend. I spent two nights sleeping upright with him on the couch so he could continue to breath. He didn’t get too ill, just really, really mucousy. But despite the snot we kept on keeping on for a busy pre-holiday weekend. We hit two Christmas parties on Saturday – a cookie making toddler one in the afternoon (where everyone was snotty) and then a adult soiree in the evening where we stopped in and ran out before the childless folk got restless. On Sunday we got our tree – and Noah adores it. He often wakes up in the morning and asks to go see it. And he wants to continue decorating. Despite his protests we had to put the ornaments away before he tipped the poor tree over under their weight. Now he’s permitted to just move them around – luckily we have all plastic balls. After decorating and naptime we went downtown for another gander at the light show and puppets before having dinner in Chinatown. Cause nothin’ says Christmas like dumplings and fried rice. Yum.

After the festive weekend Noah was a bit worse the wear cold-wise so we hibernated on Monday – he was in his pajamas all day. But he was back to his active chipper self on Tuesday when we met Janette at Ikea and let the kids run wild through the decorative living rooms. Love those Swedes. Yesterday we went to check out a different playgroup and found ourselves the only English speakers aside from the facilitator. They were really welcoming but since I couldn’t talk to any of the other mothers I don’t think I will be returning to that group.

Today the boy and I did some shopping and were both rewarded for our good behavior with a lavish lunch at Chikfila. I’m just about done my Christmas shopping and though it won’t go down in the record books as being the year I gave everyone exactly what their little hearts desired- they are getting something and that’s all I’m up for at the moment. If only the thoughts I have about perfect gifts instantly materialized without the prerequisite spending and shopping. But ya know what – Noah is going to be super psyched to get some craft supplies, Playmobil people, a tool set and a doctor’s kit – and that’s what matters most.

What else goes on with Master Noah? He has gained the uncanny ability to pick out recognizable carols on even the quietest store speaker system. “It’s Rum-pum-pum song Mama!” And nothing could be cooler than “Fra-tee the Toe-man.” He’s also still loving the Nutcracker – he’s jumping, leaping and spinning around as well as playing with the wooden ones I got to decorate the house. (Sidenote: I returned the Nutcracker video to the library yesterday IN our late VCR. Mark broke the VCR apart to get the tape out but once he did we realized that the tape was running through the entire mechanism and there was no way for us to get it out without cutting it. Oops.) And though not holiday related I have to mention that Noah has become such a big helper. He wants to help do everything. He just wells up with pride and says repeatedly “I’m helping you Mama.” He’s also definitely entering his “kids say the darndest things” stage. As I we were exiting the house yesterday he said “Mama, you have a penis?”

Setting out on the El for our holiday adventure this morning.  

Hanging out with the crowd, hungry for holiday light show magic.  

Nothing wrong with checking out the shoe selection while waiting for the light show.  

They make quite a pair.  

Let's have some fun now, before I melt away.

This year I’m truly enjoying the holiday spirit thanks to Master Noah. He’s so excited – and not because he’s getting gifts – but because of the magic of Christmas, the traditions, the music, the lights, the stories. We’ve been reading tons of Christmas books, listening to carols, watching the Nutcracker ballet and opening an advent calendar door each day. On Sunday night the three of us went to City Hall and Rittenhouse Square to see the trees and lights – and Noah was really excited, though he was a bit disappointed because he thought Santa would be at the tree. (Though honestly – limiting a two year old to one piece of chocolate a day is not easy. We have at least one meltdown a day because he wants to open another “Santa door.”) (Oh and said Nutcracker tape from the library is now stuck in our VCR, and yet not playable. On the plus side I was able to DVR the ballet on PBS last night so now Noah can watch it again, on the negative side I might be returning my VCR to the library.)

This morning I mentioned the idea of going downtown to see Santa. Noah, still in his pahjamas, said “I go upstairs to get my shoes. Be right back.” Needless to say we hustled out of the house. I was a bit apprehensive about how Noah would handle sitting on Santa’s lap, but as always he shocked me. It also helped that, surprisingly, The Gallery Santa rocks. Not only does he have the real deal hair, but since there was no line he told me “Let him approach slowly and talk a little bit so he gets comfortable.” It worked like a charm. When Santa finally asked if he wanted to sit on his lap and tell him his Christmas wish Noah said yes. Of course he blurted out “Trolley-Choo choo-bus” before he was even on his knee. Noah was feeling a bit too cautious to give an outright smile, but we did get a bit of a grin, and afterwards he kept talking about how nice Santa was. It was sweet.

Next we headed to see the train display at Reading Terminal (small and LAME) and then to Macys. After checking out the cool window displays, we went to see the weird ancient animatronic Dickens Christmas Village. I told Noah they were puppets so he thought they were pretty cool. At the end they take you in to see “Father Christmas” who was literally like a twenty something kid with lots of fake white hair, a feigned English accent and lots of rouge. AWFUL. We just went right through. Then we found a spot on the floor of the shoe department to wait for the light show to begin. When it was over Noah wanted to see it again – and didn’t take kindly to me saying they weren’t going to repeat it. So when he asked to see the puppets again – off we went for the second go around. And then we walked to the Bourse where we sat at a cafe table and shared a salad before getting back on the El.

The whole time we were out I was struck by two things. First, WOW he’s being so good. He really is such a sweet and special little man. I am truly blessed to have such an obedient and thoughtful child. I am constantly flabbergasted by it. And second, THIS is what Christmas is about. It’s not about what is under the tree. It’s about the wonder, the magic, the mystery. It’s about doing special things with your loved ones. About making memories and keeping traditions. God, I’m really loving this Christmas already.

Now if only someone else would do my damn shopping.

Hodge Podge

- On Thanksgiving morning Noah had asked to watch Oobi- but before we put it on he saw a snippet of the parade and he was hooked. Lucky for us (or unlucky as the case may be) I recorded it since Noah has been asking to watch some of it almost every day. In particular he wants to watch “The doggy one” in which Goofy miraculous appears during a trick promoting Mickey’s Magic Show, the rousing performance by Singabration, and the Christmas medley featuring dancing elves and toys. If I didn’t so love watching him enjoy it, I might have clubbed myself by now.

- We have started prepping Noah with the prerequisite Christmas lies about Santa and whatnot. He’s really excited for what sounds like “Kimsump.”

- Though Noah obviously had a penchant for horses, I had not yet given him a book about them – bad mother that I am. Last week we went to the toddler story time at the library only to find out that the theme that day was indeed horses. Of course he loved it and we brought one of the books home. “Giddy Up! Let’s Ride” by Flora Mcdonnell. It’s a week later and Noah has the book memorized. You ask “How does the cowgirl ride?” and he says “Yeeha! Yeeha!” “How does the jockey ride?” “Faster and faster. Faster and faster.” “How does the princess ride?” “Jingle ringle. Jingle ringle.” “How does the rahjah ride?” “Rumpetta- trump Rumpetta-trump.” It kills me every time.

- I don’t know how I’ve gone so long without mentioning this. We play blocks A LOT. And for some unknown reason whenever you ask Noah what he is building he says “A sour cream store.” With as many as that boy has built, Sam Breakstone better watch his ass.

- My Dad keeps a bowl of Hershey Kisses out on his end table and since the moment Noah had his first one he goes straight for the bowl as soon as we enter the house. On Thanksgiving morning we pulled into Dad’s driveway and still in his car seat Noah said “I want chocolate.” Dad also takes out to dinner fairly regularly when we visit. Last weekend when I told Noah that we were going out to a restaurant for dinner he just assumed his Pa Joe was going to be there.

- “You’re my best friend, Mama.” It melts your heart. Even if he keeps telling everyone their his best friend. Today it was his plastic lizard.

- For his birthday Patrice gave Noah some Crayola bath tub tints and now he’s hooked. We used the last of them tonight and I’m fairly certain he won’t bathe without them tomorrow. Either I’m going to be making a mad dash to find some more or Noah’s gonna have a hard time going cold turkey.

- Christmas is coming and I've already started my bah-humbug shopping attitude. My solution to some of that is to buy at least a portion of my gifts from charities that retain a portion of the profits. That way even if the recipient doesn't give a crap about the gift whose suitability I've spent forever pondering , at least someone in need has benefitted before it gets shoved in a closet or regifted.

- Oh and I'm ill. Nothing big. Just cholera. Somehow we'll get through. So far I'm thanking my lucky stars that I'm the only one afflicted.

Vignettes

Though I don’t really consider us to be potty training Noah, we do put him on the potty before and after his bath. He pees on the potty every night and while I do congratulate him, I try not to put too much emphasis on it.

On Friday in the midst of getting the house in shape for our Black Friday Leftover Potluck Party, we decided to give Noah a shower since we wouldn’t have time that night for our bedtime bath ritual. Afterwards he spent a great deal of time running around our room naked. Suddenly he cried out “Potty, Mama! Potty!” And when I looked over at him I first saw his very distressed face before I realized he was pooping on the floor (thankfully not the new carpet). I kind of squealed before Mark made me realize I was having a negative reaction, and then I just scooped him up mid-poop and stuck him on the potty where he continued to go. When it was all done we congratulated Noah for pooping on the potty like a big boy.

At the party I was holding Noah and telling Wendy that Noah had pooped like a big boy on the potty. Noah looked earnestly at Wendy and said “I pooped on the floor, actually.” We just about died.

***

Mark, Noah and I went to dinner at A Full Plate Café. Noah was looking at a plastic flashcard book my Mom bought him when he was a newborn. It’s always been a good bet for keeping him busy in a restaurant or in the car. Each page has a picture of an object and the corresponding letter of the alphabet. He’s looked at it enough to turn to the first page and say “A is for Apple.” But now he’s actually starting to look at all the letters. He’s beginning to read. Tonight he read to us “O R 2 Jeff – Goldfish.”

I think I'm already stuffed

I was feeling crestfallen on Friday. Earlier in the week I was really excited when a new friend of mine had decided to take me up on my babysitting offer. She had been putting her 15 month old daughter in daycare from 8:30 to 12:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so she could have time to do some freelance graphic design work. However even after a few months her daughter had not seemed to have adjusted, so she was really excited about my offer. And I was excited that I knew and liked them, and I’d be making some much needed cash. However the fates taunt me and on Thursday her daughter had her first ever good day at daycare. And now of course she doesn’t want to pull her out just as she is getting adjusted. So I’m back to square one. Ho hum. Luckily I had a couple of inquiries about when I might be available so hopefully something pans out.

On Friday night we did babysit a little 18 mo girl who lives down the street from us while her parents went to a concert at the Kimmel. Noah and her were a great pair – running around after each other giggling. She was excited to follow him and Noah wasn’t intimidated. It really was a good mix. On Saturday we went to Frannie’s second birthday party and the mix wasn’t so good. One of Noah’s little friends scares the bejezus out of him. He’s not very verbal and so he resorts to loudness and exaggerated movements, he’s also a close talker and he wants to play huddle all the time. Noah asks about this boy often and looks forward to seeing him but when they are together I can’t get Noah out of my lap. It’s a shame. The boy is really sweet too – he’s not aggressive just excitable. I was going to invite his family to our place for a gathering of friends on Friday, but decided not to so that I won’t have to carry Noah around all night. And I feel just horrible about it.

What else have we been up to as of late? Well we spent a couple of hours this weekend cleaning out our concrete slab/yard. It had been rendered unusable this summer when a neighbor’s tree overgrew our entire space and banished any chance of sunlight. Therefore it was covered in leaves, damp and mosquitoes for months. Much to my delight the neighbor finally had the tree removed and as a result we were able to sweep out our yard and let the slab dry out. Noah has even been blowing bubbles and hanging in the sandbox out there. We were heartily saddened when our dinner plans with Juliloquy were cancelled due to HPR’s illness on Sunday evening – Noah had even baked them pumpkin oatmeal muffins. But on the upswing we can look forward to getting together with them again soon.

And the boy is of course super-lovable every day. Any negative moment I might have is fleeting when faced with his sweet and sunny disposition. Some of his most common sayings are “I want lovin,’” “Cuddle me,” and “I want kiss you, Mama.” (And today he repeated me when I said "Oh JESUS!" when a guy flung open his car door in front of me as I was trying to drive down a narrow street. Oops.) This isn’t to say he doesn’t have his testy moments, because he is TWO! But he is still thankfully such a sensitive, caring and thoughtful boy and his moodiness and testing passes quickly. I normally just have to mention a time out and he falls back into line quickly. (Knock on wood!)

Of course we have been on our normal schedule this week. We had playgroup today. Tomorrow we’re meeting Wendy and Victor at the library in Port Richmond for story time, and then headed over to their place to play and chat. Wednesday is music class and last minute Thanksgiving grocery shopping to prepare our bring-along dishes. On Thursday we celebrate our abundance with lunch at my Dad’s and dinner at my Mom’s (with the in-laws also in attendance.) And on Friday we’re having a few folks over for our Black Friday Leftover Pot Luck. It should be a lovely holiday. Hope yours is filled with appreciation, family, friends and love.

We could all use a little Jeanne Bice.

Hey. How’ve you been? I know. It’s been awhile. Your hair is getting really long. I like what you’ve done with it. Oh thanks, yeah – new shoes. Where have I been? Hard to say really. Nowhere in particular I guess. And yet busy. Ya know, doing not much of anything. Just following a routine, enjoying life and my family. Not much more than that to say. But I’ll try.

Yesterday I sent an email to a neighborhood parents listserv offering PT childcare in my home. Ideally I’d love to watch another toddler like 9-2 pm, twice a week. It would bring in just a little extra income to help fight our burgeoning debt, but not have a huge impact on keeping Noah active and involved on a daily basis. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

This weekend my 11 year old sister Jessica came to visit. We enjoyed a beautiful warm weather day at the Zoo on Saturday and made the best of a rainy Sunday at the Art Museum, followed by a tasty late lunch in Chinatown. Noah of course loved having his An-Jess here and is missing here dearly. Whether Jess had a good time or not, I can’t say. She seems to have started that quiet, brooding tween thing – and though I don’t think she had a BAD time, she certainly wasn’t as happily expressive as she has been in the past.

Sheesh. The holidays are coming and so the scheduling has begun. Who is going where on what day – trying to see everyone and balance all the expectations. I don’t want to disappoint anyone. I get freaked out about it every year. Almost as freaked out as I get about gifts… well, not nearly THAT freaked out. My Grammy called this morning asking what we wanted for Christmas. I have no earthly idea. Noah is up to his ears in clothes and toys from his birthday – and yet I am expected to give all my family members strict orders for what the boy should get for Christmas. It’s lovely to say this – but he doesn’t need anything. And then the BUYING! Coming up with penny-pinching thoughtful gifts for everyone that won’t just get shoved in closets is impossible. If I had the cash I’d just buy everyone gift certificates to cool stores and restaurants they might enjoy, but even those don’t always seem to get used. This year everyone is getting Quacker Factory. What could be more FESTIVE than sequined Santa shirts for all?

And the boy is still amazing me every day. His language skills are amazing. It’s hard for outsiders to see because he can be so shy, but at home he talks CONSTANTLY. And he’s a little bossy too. He loves the game where we just run around the kitchen table and he says “Be horsey! Be kitty! Stop! Dance around! Get down! Sleep! Wake up!” And he’s still obsessed with Beck and those puppets. (I know the youtube link no longer works but you can go to www.beck.com, go to video and then select the SNL performances or the robot video for “Hell Yes.”) This morning shortly after he awoke he said “Mama is puppet. Noah is robot. Daddy is Beck.” And he doesn’t miss a thing. Out of the blue he’ll start talking about how his playgroup is in Fishtown, and if we’re in the car I should “Drive Broad Street.” I say something once and he repeats it the next day, leaving me wondering where in the hell he learned that. And as smart and big as he’s becoming, he can’t be seduced by me telling him what big boys do. Nope. He says “I’m baby, Mama. Not big boy. I’m baby.”

Scientology rocks

And the call goes up “Watch puppets, Mama? Want watch puppets.” I’m guessing we’ve watched this clip nearing 30 times in the last couple of days. I can't get near the computer without hearing the request. Today we even watched the robots.

There are no real birthdays without balloons.  

Delish! 

Love found and lost. The day after Halloween Stella's Mom dropped a bomb - her husband got a job offer and they are moving back to Atlanta... in a week and a half. Today we went to Stella's house to say goodbye. This is most likely their last hug.  

Run over by a birthday truck

Deep breath. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind – culminating in not one, but two lovely parties for Master Noah. Both were well attended and sufficiently celebratory – so I think we did a bang up job. The toddler house party seemed a bit too ambitious – what with 12 toddlers, 3 infants and 22 adults attending – but it proved to be an excellent idea in the end. The kids were well behaved and the parents were very excited to hang out with other parents, talking and drinking beer. And best of all Noah really enjoyed himself – I had visions of him clinging to me the entire time wondering why all these damn people were ruining his birthday – but he had a blast. I think it was a plus for him to have the home team advantage. He had a couple of moments of wanting to be held or far off in a corner playing on his own, but for the most part he was totally interactive and enjoying himself. And that is SUCCESS. The family party was an interesting proposition because my mother hosted not only her immediate family, some friends and her in-laws, but also my Dad (they were divorced when I was five), my half-brother and his kids. A truly blended family makes for some awkwardness, I was concerned about my Dad feeling comfortable and Mark was concerned about his Dad, but generally it was a hit. As always we worry far more than we need. Everyone was there to celebrate Noah and that is the real icing on the cake. We’re really blessed with a group of loving, supportive people who know how important it is to us that we all be together.

The best part of all of it is that this year Noah knew the parties were for him and was so excited to see his loved ones and know they came for him. Oh, and they brought presents.
And good lord – THE TOYS! I have so much gear here that I could open a daycare center. Of course the morning after his first party we asked him what he liked about it the most and he said “Happy Birthday cake! I blow on it.”

I could say SO much more – but I’m beat and have no focus, so I will spare you for the moment. We thank you all for your warm birthday wishes.

Of all the photos ever taken this is my favorite. This was Noah moments after he was born at 8pm on 11-04-04. He was so small, so precious and so primal. He changed my life forever - infinitely for the better. I will be forever thankful for the person he is and the person he has made me. Happy Birthday Noah Mac! 

Months ago I asked Noah what he wanted to be for Halloween. I explained to him that he got to dress up as something and showed him pictures in a catalog. Without faltering he told me he wanted to be a "neigh neigh." I wasn't in the least bit surprised. Sure, I would have loved to dress him as something badass, but the boy knew what he wanted. Except I didn't know where in the hell to get a horse costume. I scoured the internet. And the only ones I found were on ebay. His costume was ridiculously cute in a sort of annoying Anne Geddes way, and it kind of looked like it could have been a squirrel costume, but it also had a button on it that you pushed and it played a horse sound. And well, that is just super cool. Plus there weren't any other horses to be found, not at his playgroup party and not in the neighborhood, and so I give points for originality.

We didn't go trick or treating - but our neighborhood park had a halloween parade. Parents just met at the park and then marched the kids around the block. Noah walked almost the whole route holding hands with Stella - she's The Very Hungry Caterpillar in the background. You may recall the picture of the two of them holding hands at the apple orchard. I'm beginning to think they are a thing. Mostly because Stella demands it. Her parents had to hustle to catch up with us during the parade because she was asking to be with Noah. She cried when they were seperated at the end of the evening. It may be love.  

Princess Janette and the dastardly dragon Jules joined us.