back in the floriculture saddle

Spending my weekend with pretty little things again; this time with a color-theory class. Also, I'm developing a crush on ornamental kale. (And I made the mistake of vocalizing my distaste for gerberas {I feel like they scream instead of sing} ..... no brownie points for me).

hard times

(Pardon my redundancy - crawling and potty training have taken over my life - for now)
Apparently learning to crawl is still traumatizing. Only now we throw the madness that is Sir O "helping" into the mix; no wonder there are tears.

Sir O - too smart for anybody's good

It took all the willpower I had to grab the camera before intervening. I left the Captain strapped into his high chair while I was cleaning the bathroom. I came back to find Sir O had put the Captain's bib on him, put the tray on the highchair, gotten babyfood out of the (locked) fridge, and taken it upon himself to feed his brother. At this rate I will have a shock of gray hair before I'm 30.

my excuse

Potty training in earnest has proven to be far more mom-intensive than I was anticipating. (And I was already dreading potty training far more than I ever feared labor and delivery) It's sort of eaten up every discretionary moment and brain cell. (Hence the blog neglect) But I think it can be done...... eventually. Seriously, how did a pussy like me end up with such a strong-willed, quick-witted child?

We'll eat you up, we love you so...

Scrumptious - in a squishy baby, kiss your neck, induce baby talk in adults kind of way.

mia

Sorry, it's been too humid to post. (100% humidity friends, thank you hurricanes) My brain has melted.

But for your entertainment, here's some rejected posts I almost started:

1. The one about how Sir O took a pair of scissors to the couch cushions.
2. The one about the Captain's healthy (rampant) separation anxiety.
3. The one about the kooky effects of long-term sleep deprivation.
4. The tales of my from scratch dinners of late, with some recipes nobody but me would be crazy enough to try.
5. The one where I debate what in the world I should do with my hair... since ignoring it doesn't seem to be working for me.
(I've got the loveliest mom-halo right about now)
6. The one where I ramble endlessly about how Sir O needs a back yard with a fence and how that would solve most of my problems.
7. The one where I detail all the cleaning and organizing I've been doing/trying to do/intending to do.
8. The one where I tell you how much fun we've been having making homemade popsicles and cutting almost everything we eat into shapes.
9. The one where I tell you that Mr Renn has applied to 5 residencies, and I hope to know in about 5 months where we'll be moving to in about 9 months.
10. The one where Sir O has started placing deliberate choking hazard-like objects all over the floors of the apartment?
11. The one where I hope we can still be friends, even though I didn't get around to composing any of these........

vid-o-rama

Sorry folks, the fam wants to see the Captain's progress. He's all over the place.

your smiling face

This is intended for the relatives and those who are not easily bored.... but I love it.

More of the same

One is still insane, the other is still not sleeping.
I don't know what else to tell you.
(I promise the Captain was promptly rescued... as always...*sigh*).

Real Love Letters

Dear Sir O,

Life has been busy since you discovered your agency. You are the type of kid who needs to know exactly where the boundaries are at all times, and the only way to know is to test them. I wish I had as much energy to enforce the boundaries as you have to test them. But God has designed kids to have more energy than their parents, so there must be wisdom in that.

I have loved watching you define and create your relationship with your new brother these last few months. I was so worried that you would decide not to like him; but you have developed a sense of ownership over him that I think I love. (Except when you tell me to go away, because he's your brother). You're an instinctively good about sharing toys with him, and you are forever wanting to be the one to take care of him, whether you're capable or not. You seem to be developing a capacity for empathy, which excites me. The one thing I was most anxious about when you were born was that you'd grow up to be kind. And while you aren't always kind, especially to me, you have the instinct to be; so I'm hopeful.

I have to be careful how I teach and handle you, because you've started using all of my own tactics back at me, with rapid fire. Sometimes it feels like an ugly fun-house mirror. When you yell "no", or slap my hand.... yikes.

I thank my lucky stars that your spiky temper has a short memory. I've yet to see you hold a grudge for more than five minutes. You are still cuddly at this age, though significantly more-so when you're tired. You've also kept your funny habit of playing with your ears when you're tired; it gives you away every time.

I am going to have my hands full teaching you all I should. First and foremost we have to figure out some impulse control; that seems to be your weak link. We're usually fine until you get an irrational impulse; then BAM.

I love watching you get excited over things you will soon enough be too "old" for. I wish and hope I could teach you to overcome peer pressure and never suppress excitement, but I know my power is limited. You are so good about saying thank-you without provocation, and you're making headway with "please."

I love when we go for walks and you want to pick everything up, as though you could hold the whole of outdoors in your hands.

I kind of love how you consistently wipe your nose on your sleeve, only I also kind of hate it. Same with wiping your hands on your shirt while you eat.

I love how you have started to sing along to everything, whether you know the words or not. And you always expect me to join you.

I think it's cute how you remind me to exercise when you're stalling before your afternoon nap. It's even cuter watching you march along with me. (Although dog-pile on mom in the middle of her pushups is a little unwelcome).

I love your lean little body that can never hold still. I love how you streak around the house after your bath, though I don't understand your towel-aversion.

I love how you love storytime at night, and it's fun to watch you develop favorites - especially when they were once my favorites. I love how you will ask me to sing the same song over and over again while you wave your arm (or a glow stick) and conduct me.

I love it when you pray; even though you haven't learned to love it yet. Your little independent spirit kneeling in prayer makes my heart light.

I hope I have a long while yet to do right by you. I hope someday you will know how hard I tried.

Kisses,
Mom
My Dear Captain,

If you are only being sweet and easy now so that you can terrorize me later, I need you to reconsider. But if you are being sweet and easy now because it's just who you are, then I think we can make this work.

I worry a lot about the many ways I inadvertently neglect you because your older brother is a bit of a squeaky wheel. Thanks for not minding too much. I promise I am trying.

I'm doing much better at remembering to feed you regularly. Thanks for putting on weight splendidly despite my previous failings. Thanks too, I suppose, for not fussing when you were mildly hungry, and waiting until you were famished to speak up. I am working on that. I'm also banking on that helping you sleep longer.

Which reminds me. When are you going to knock it off with this light-sleeper thing? You still wake up every two-to-three hours at night, only long enough to require me to be awake, then you slide back into sleep. It's a cruel trick kid, and I'm so over it.

If it has anything to do with your perpetual anxiety about being sat-upon, kicked, smothered, picked up, or smushed by your brother.... I'm sorry. I'm doing my best. At least he likes you! I promise he's not doing it out of spite, he just gets these confounded impulses.....

Thank you for thinking I'm the coolest thing ever. Thank you for watching my every move with interest. Thanks even for fussing when I leave the room, even though it's inconvenient. I'm glad that you like me that much, it makes it easier to give you all my energy and to give up my sleep.

Your eyelashes finally fleshed out into thick, dark, adorableness. You were born with blondie eyelashes that were hard to see at all. Your blonde hair is like a miracle to me, having been a gorilla baby myself. I touch it a lot, to make sure it's real.

You think so much of the world is delightful, and your laugh is sublime. I'm trying to remember to share your perspective. I wish I could spend more time pondering the world from your perspective, right along with you. I also wish I could nibble at your neck more. We've got to figure out how to get the house to clean itself....

Your little rollie-poly body is delectable, my dear. I love holding you and squishing your dimpley legs.

Thanks for being patient with all of us. Thanks for loving all of us, even your brother who scares you a little. When he makes you laugh I think I am in heaven.

Love love love you,
Mom

Scoot

Mr Renn predicts he will be entirely mobile before the week is out.

What to do?

Sir O has been on a bit of a hunger strike lately... excluding contraband fruit snacks.
In an attempt to get him more involved in his food, we had a cookie-cutter veggie lunch today.
I sliced a parsnip, eggplant, green and yellow squash into 1/8"-1/4" pieces, and let Sir O cut them into shapes with mini cookie cutters. He made it about 2/3 of the way through before he got tired of it, but he kept insisting on doing it "all by myself." We must have arrived at that age. Then I sauted the veggies in butter, added oregano, sage, and parmigiano and we ate! Only, if I'd been smart I would have started cooking the parsnip for a while before the other veggies. By the time they were cooked through the eggplant were overdone and mushy. But it still tasted good! (And Sir O ate it, which was the point)

Introductions

Captain, meet sleep.
I hope you two can sort out your differences, because I insist on remaining friends with sleep.
I think today I leave you two in the room alone with one another until you are fast friends.

more of the same

Sad lack of blogging, I am aware.
Been nursing my overgrown pile of books to read.
And nursing new teeth.
Somehow that seems to be about all I can handle right now.

Our Evening

Pretty cool, eh?

The Captain was not impressed.

How Far?

How far is a dream?
As far as a star
High in the sky?

How far is a dream?
At the close of the day
A dream is just
A pillow away.

- Leland B. Jacobs

and at 'em

We've been picking up momentum at our house.
And by "we" I mean "I've been..."
Because you know houses, homes and mamas are.

And momentum is good, here's what's been working:

I'm exercising with a goal of 3 times a week. I've been using the postnatal boot camp by Lindsay Brinn because the workouts are short and sweet and to the point. I usually have about 15-20 minutes max before Sir O is getting into deep and irreversible trouble, so this works well. Her drill-team smiles occasionally make me want to throw a shoe at her, but you can't have it all.

I've been taking my role of "nurturer" more seriously and have been making dinner from scratch almost every night. This is making a huge difference in how our evenings shape up and I like it. I've been mostly using this cookbook that we bought at a cooking class then forgot about. The dinner recipes have been excellent, the desserts a little meh. But the Curried Butternut Squash soup got rave reviews, so it's a keeper.
ETA: My variation on soup recipe:

4 TBSP butter
2 lbs - ish butternut squash peeled, seeded, and diced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, diced
1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
1 TBSP curry
1 Cup Cream
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Saute squash, apples and onion in the bottom of your soup pan. Add everything but the Cream, salt, and pepper and let summer 15 minutes until veggies are soft. Go at it with an immersion blender, puree until homogenous. (Or transfer to blender and back). Add Cream, salt, and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes until thick. Serve chilled or warm.

Both boys have slimy noses and I swear I've strained my nose-wiping muscle. Until I see Sir O trying to wipe his glazed face against random surfaces (His bed, his dresser, the carpet), then I find it in me to wipe some more.

I've finally set some goals and begun a schedule for sorting through all our "stuff" and getting it ready for our move next spring. I'm really hoping to make the actual "move" as painless as possible. I made a list of big cleaning/sorting projects and small projects, so that hopefully by the time we start packing in earnest there will be nothing lying around that isn't worth taking with us. We'll see, sometimes I dream big and real-life can't keep up.

Also I've found some fabulous music for doing the dishes to.
This and This both help me get my groove on and the time flies.

What helps you keep the fire lit under yourself? I need all the momentum I can muster.