Jonah figured out how to take his diaper off and you know, throw it across the room or wear it on his head. He does this with or with our poop in it.....

AWESOME!!!

no nap

Jonah is on a nap strike. which of course made him a complete and total disaster today. the 2 teeth he's cutting didn't help matters. so up since 4:50AM. he ran around the house and yard all day yelling at furniture and trees and taking things out of one place and putting them some where else. he has his own organization system i guess. he has also been famished all day. he just kept wanting more food. i obliged of course. but man he was putting it away.

so now he is in bed. thankfully!!

I plan on sitting on my ass and doing nothing for the rest of the evening.
dishes I'm talking to you here. I hope you and the dish washer didn't have any plans for later cause you guys aren't getting together tonight!!

Funny Vs Dangerous

Let me set the scene:
I am sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee reading the big business owned media's version of what's going on in the world. Jonah is watching Sesame Street. Peter has already left for work.
I'm knee deep in an article about the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and I hear hysterical laughter emanating from my child. Now he loves his SS but he's seen this video 100 times so I doubt it can be from something Grover did. I go over to see what all the hub bub is about and find him sitting on the bass drum of his drum set. How he managed to push the whole thing over with out me hearing a crash I do not know. But needless to say he thinks sitting on the drum is unbelievably funny and frankly so do I. Then he takes it one step further and stands up on the drum, (see photo #2). Ok here is where being a parent gets tricky.
He is having fun, he is purposely doing something to be funny. I love when he does that. He has his Daddy's sense of humor. I want to encourage this type of behavior but....Standing on a drum and jumping up and down is 1. liable to break it and 2.dangerous.
"We don't jump on our toys, do we" I ask. (Peter and I try not to say "No" unless its a serious danger situation.) "Look at you. How much fun. Let's stand the drum set up again and play with it using the stick now." Nothing. The kid looks at me like I'm crazy. He's jumping on a drum while watching Sesame Street and I expect him to stop. What am I nuts? I reach out to pick him up and guide him in an action change.

And then.....CRASH! He tumbles backward. Thankfully he landed on a stuffed animal. He wasn't hurt at all but was a little shocked. A sort of "I was just having the best time, why am I on the floor now" expression.

We pick up the drum set together and start banging away. Smiles, fun, then he tries to climb on top of it.

Ok. So should I have removed him immediately from sitting on it as soon as I saw the situation? Should I have stopped it when he stood up? Should I not have laughed?

I want to encourage his creativity and independent actions. I want him to feel free to repurpose things. A chair isn't just for sitting, put a blanket over it and its a fort kind of thing. But I don't want him to get hurt in the process.
He's a kid, there will be injuries. I understand that. But when do I step in and be preventative and when do I step back. Is it irresponsible of me to let him do something that may end up with a boo boo?

Can you play your shirt?

Pictures from Peter's Bday BBQ. His birthday really isn't till the 27th but we celebrated early. The new grill worked like a champ. and beer, bocce, and brownies were enjoyed by all.

I gave him a shirt with a playable electric guitar built in it. YOu can find it here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/interactive/c498/zoom/

He hasn't really had one to play since the mold made him get rid of guitars, banjo, ukulele, drums, etc. I thought this would be a good temp till he gets a new one. It has this little amp you hook onto your belt. It was really funny. And thankfully he liked it.

I have a problem of getting presents for Peter that he doesn't really like. The problem is that I listen to him. He says he wants something, I file that knowledge away for a later date, then I get him the item for Christmas, bday, etc, but it turns out it was more of a spur of the moment "I want that" than an actual one. But I think after 5 + yrs of being together I've learned. At least I hope I have.

Jonah continues to amaze me. Tonight he picked up his PJ's and put them around his neck and pointed up the stairs. Um so you want to go to bed? Yeah he says. He says Yeah not yes. Put them on him and away he went. couldn't believe it. He is cutting 2 teeth at the moment so maybe that's why he is extra tired. I just hope he doesn't wake up at 4AM!!

The Ice Cream Run!!

We live in a small town. It used to be all one but in the 1800's they made a canal smack through the middle so now there is North and South. North is all residential and South is where the shops, restaurants, B&B's etc are. In order to get from N to S you have to drive over a very very tall bridge. But....in the summer you can take a 3 minute ferry ride from one side to the other. It runs mostly on the weekends. But thursday, well on thursday night they have the Ice cream run, On the S there's a fabulous Ice Cream shop that uses local ingredients and milk and cream from a diary on the outskirts of town. It delicious and delectable. And you get a discount on your scoop if you take the ferry, $1 a scoop, yes please!!

Last night we kept Jonah up past his bedtime so we could do the Ice Cream run, and let me just say it was well worth it. And not just because I got adorable pics of Jonah in a life jacket.

He was sleepy but rallied like a champ, especially after we let him have his first taste of ice cream. One lick was defiantly not enough for our little boy.

It was so good I couldn't stop for one moment to take a photo of said deliciousness!! Don't worry I'm sure we'll do it again!!

Oh and the bbq is back on. scamper scamper scamper, things need to find a place to hide while other folks come in!

Meaning to clean

So I sorta cleaned the house yesterday. Lets call it the beginnings of cleaning the house. Listen, I would love to be a great house keeper, I really would. I get my lack of skills from my parents. They believed that a house doesn't have to be super duper organized and spic and span. Playing, reading, cooking are much better uses of time than obsessively cleaning. I agree but then when we are having people over I have to scramble to declutter, put away the mound of clean clothes that are residing on the dinning room table, and pick up toys.

One set of my cousins are the crazy about cleaning their houses type. Everything in their homes is white, couches, carpet, counter tops, etc. When my mom and I would go their we would be afraid to sit down for fear of staining the chair. When you eat they sit next to you and wipe away crumbs. It borders on the ridiculous. But that's how they are happiest. It's just not for me.

I recently watched a documentary on the Shakers. (This is going to be a really simplistic explanation) They believed that you should do everything perfectly because everything you do should be to glorify God and by doing it perfectly it would glorify Him. I understand their point and all but I'm imperfect therefore everything I do is going to be imperfect. And I don't think my imperfect actions glorify God any less. So as I hurried along finding places for XYZ I kept thinking of the Shakers and their work ethic. I decided that doing my best not doing it perfectly but my best was really the greatest thing I could do.

Then Peter comes home last night and says that the party is off, to be rescheduled at a later date. Time conflicts and all. I was relieved, elated, and sat down to knit. Which is what I wanted to be doing all along.

FYI

The pity party is over folks. Nothing to see here.

I'm back on track!!!

Today Today Today

Today is one of those days.
I woke up determined to have a great day even though I have to clean the whole house and not a normal clean the house but a we're having people over for Peter's birthday on Saturday kind of clean, you know a company clean house. I have never nor will I ever claim to be a good house keeper. I don't like doing it but it must be done is my attitude. We always have clean dishes and clean clothes but there is usually a pile of dirty ones ready to take their places.
SO I set out today to do the million things on my to do list that I don't really want to do. And I decided that I was going to have a good attitude about it!!

That was this morning.
Now its the afternoon. I got a lot accomplished but.....I love my child, he's the most wonderful fabulous interesting person, however, today he is having a serious TODDLER DAY. Mom's you know what I mean. He just is being the fabulous little boy that he is with a major dose of stubborn, my way or I'll scream mixed in.

According to Jonah: why only draw on paper-why not the stairs, and crayons aren't only for drawing-eating them is super fun too, and I'm going to sit in a mud puddle while mommy puts the clothes on the line and scream like crazy and have a major fit when she wants to take off my dirty clothes before going in the house.

Nothing terrible, just normal kid stuff. I love that he's opinionated. I love that he's curious, determined, independent. I think its getting to me cause I need to be cleaning and don't want to (did I mention that?) and really would much rather play in a mud puddle with him.

Fingers crossed that a nap is going to take place!!

Knit night tonight will set me right!!!

And by the way, saw Erin yesterday who I haven't seen in 11 yrs. I don't feel old enough to have friends that I haven't seen in 11 yrs. Thanks "old friend"!!

Punk Rock is here to stay!!

Some mornings I just can't get it together. This usually happens on a Monday. I'm tired, I don't feel like anything, I just want to stay in bed under the covers for the foreseeable future. Coffee has no affect, inspirational words have no meaning. But life must take place, breakfast must be made, children have to be played with, life must take place.
In these all too frequent instances I reach in my back pocket and pull out my secret weapon......I put on a punk rock outfit.

Back in the day, as you can see from the above picture I had a more rocker edge. That blue spiky hair is still my absolute favorite way that I have ever had my hair, bar none!!!

Now when I say I put on a punk rock outfit it is a toned down more muted affair. Joan Jett and Joey Ramone would happily pass me by in Walmart (were he still alive) without ever uttering "there goes a rocker chic". but it is about as puck rock as I can get these days.

It makes me feel good. Strong. Full of life.

And in reality punk is much more about that than the clothes anyway. the movement started to die when it became about the clothes. There are many people who I think are punk rock that would never be decked out in a mohawk: the Dali Lama, Jesus, Maya Angelu, Dorothy Day, my mom. They don't care about the establishment, they don't care what is current. They do care about what is right and wrong in the world and look for ways of changing it. They focus on the collective not themselves.

I may not be the bar going, up all night partying, sleeping till 3PM, girl in her 20's but the essence of her spirit still resides inside of me. I can call on her any time and she is always there to say "fuck you negativity. I'm a rocker chic and nothing is going to get me down"!!

Friends Seminary Class of '95!

Yeah that's me in high school. Had a slight James Dean obsession...and for the record I thought I looked FABULOUS!!!!

This weekend is my 15 yr high school reunion, which makes me feel incredibly old.
(I'm not feeling grammary today)!

Ok so I feel old.

One bright spot is that I get to hang out with my best friend from high school Emily. We may not talk every day or every month for that matter but when we get together its like we are 16 again hanging out on her bedroom floor talking about the most important dramas of life.
Now with Emily I'm happy its like we're back in high school, for the rest of the folks I'll be seeing the same thing will be true but in a not so good way. That's my fear anyway.

I went to one of those alternative, progressive private schools in NY. Where every one was super cool (except me) and tried to out weird the person next to them. Angst ran ramped. It was artsy and fashion forward and ultra something that I never understood.
I was the girl who didn't go out much, wasn't in the know, and certainly wasn't followed. But while I had my "I wish I was more like....." moments I didn't have a pity party or anything like that. My school was actually perfect for me in many ways. It had this major focus on community service and I got to volunteer in some amazing places. Not many schools would let you take off the month of May your senior yr and miss finals to go volunteer in Ethiopia.
I loved it but lets not forget it was high school so I hated it too.

At our 10 yr reunion I got in trouble for talking during meeting. Ah it brought me right back.
Peter came with me, we were just dating then, but he came and immediately wished he hadn't. He commented that I reverted into a high school version of myself and ......he didn't think that we so great. I told him that the same thing happens to him when we hang out with his old friends and its just part of life.

This yr it will be me, p and the j man. I know some of us have gotten married in the last 5 yrs, some of us have kids. I look forward to seeing the changes but I'm sure I will more than anything see the sameness.

These people have seen me at my worst: the Ani/Bonnie incident, and the 8th grade trip, and at my high school best. My fashion foibles: 20 necklaces at a time (what was I thinking), my prom dress (again what was I thinking), and the times when I looked semi ok, examples of those are much harder to think of.

Great times were had even if they didn't seem great at the time: again I'm blanking on examples, but I'm sure we had some......YSOP, Ex-Ed, (feel free to fill in the blank here)

So I'm going back to high school at 33 and taking my family along for the ride. I plan on gossiping, making fun of people, and loving every minute of it even though I'll act like I hate it at the time. Just like I did when I was actually there.

Single stream recycling starts in our town tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!! No more storing everything in our laundry room and then hauling it to the dump. Now I can just put it all out on the curb every other friday and away it goes. I love recycling. I love the idea of it, the purpose of it. I love that it allows me to not feel so badly about buying certain things due to the packaging because I know it wont end up in a landfill.

Knit night once again was perfection. women of all ages sitting around discussing the world and our lives while creating amazing needle crafts at the same time. so inspiring, so important. community community community. while we each create something individually we are creating something collectively. ladies you raise me up!!!!

Watch the doc "Beautiful Losers". You can down load it for free on Netflix. It shows one of P's favorite pieces of art in Coney Island......

i love my boys!

cooking dinner for my guys. spinach pasta with brussel sprouts and home made sauce with home grown basil. roasting turkey from the farm down the road. j seems to have been born a vegetarian. he doesn't really eat meat which is fine by me and p. we have both been vegetarians in the past and discuss going back at least twice a yr.

waiting for p to get home so I can go to knit night. i love knit night so. but he is stuck in his advisers office trying to figure out his school schedule which is super important of course.
not that my knitting is unimportant or anything but clearly school gets priority over my hobby.

saw more houses today. um is there anywhere to live that's in our budget and fabulous? maybe one will work out but it will need work, lots of work I fear. and uh lets be honest p and I don't know how to do that kind of stuff. our wonderful families would of course pitch in but we can't rely on them to do all of it.

jonah loves music and watching him dance makes my heart happy.

find me a home

So um I'm a total dork. Any one who reads this...all 3 of you....knows this.

I had to break up with my Realtor. There is nothing wrong with her, I just found her completely and uterly annoying. Every time I had an appointment to go see a house with her I dreaded it. Isn't the stress of making the biggest purchase of your life enough without the added stress of having to hang out with someone you can't stand in order to do it?
Ok so by break up I mean I stopped calling her and have been ignoring her calls. A guy once did that to me and I got the message (eventually) I'm hoping she will too.

I decided to go on trial house viewings with 2 new realtors. One yesterday and one today. So here is why I'm a complete dork. I am sorta nervous to meet these new people. I'm spending way to much time thinking about what to wear, what will they think, etc. The fact of the matter is that as long as I buy a house they could really care less which pair of jeans I wear.

Susan, who I met yesterday, was nice and plain spoken. She really seemed like she was trying to get a feel for what kind of house we're looking for. Today I meet Jim.

Maybe one of these days I'll meet the right house cause really that's the point of the whole thing right?

Post Mothers Day Ramblings

Photo of Me, Mom, Peter, Jonah, Julie, Mike, Rosemary, Lauren, Mike, Sofia, and Cali after the Mothers Day Breast Cancer Run/Walk in Philly.

Had the most wonderful Mothers Day Weekend!! Friday my mom came down from NYC. Peter came home with flowers and wine. Love that man!! Had an amazing seafood feast collaborative effort dinner. Rock fish, shrimp, the last of my first homemade pesto, eggplant and sweet potato fries.

Saturday mom and I went to the town yard sale. Scored some major finds. Cast iron corn bread mold, 6 glasses with birds painted on them, 14 kid friendly videos, some pilsner glasses, 2 chairs and a couch!! Photos to follow.
The couch is hideous but i'm hopeful that something can be done to change that. the chairs are outdoor ones that i am going to re purpose into indoor ones. They need cushions and some feet.

Then me, mom, peter, and jonah went to Newark, DE for some errands and walking around. Also a stop by the local fair trade store to celebrate fair trade day with some free fair trade chocolate and coffee. I'm not one to pass up free chocolate or coffee ya know!!!
Mom loved the store. The re purposing is amazing and I may have to splurge on the soda can top purse for Alex and Christina's wedding. I'll justify it by the fact it was made by street children in Brazil.

Then off to dinner at the Yacht Club in Chesapeake City. Ummmmmm so it was AMAZING!!!!! South Beach took a vacation this weekend. Escargot in hazelnut butter for my app. followed by filet mignot smothered in crab royal. which is crab and melted cheese. Did I mention we also got baked brie drizzed with raspberry sauce.
It was a super amazing meal.
We went to bed at 9:30!! Food coma all around.....

Sunday woke up at 4AM. Let me repeat that on mothers day I woke up at 4AM. I've heard that some mothers sleep in and get breakfast in bed on mothers day. But I woke up at 4AM so we could be out the door by 5:30 to get to Philly for the Breast Cancer walk. Lynn and Tom I should have taken you up on your offer to sleep at your house so I didn't have to get up so early. Next yr I'll be there!!
We all got up ate breakfast and were out the door by 6AM. Only 30 min late which for us is pretty impressive. Made it to Philly and drove around forever for parking but got to the walk on time. It was me, mom, peter, jonah, peter's mom, sister, and brother, his brother's father in law and his daughter Cali. Cali slept the whole time. Jonah did not! He did ok in the stroller for the first 2 miles but for the last one was not having it and Peter carried him. It was 40 deg and windy. Not the best weather but we had a great time chatting, walking and being inspired but all the amazing people around us.

Then went to Mike's wife's families house for brunch. Her family is large and welcoming. We have differnt opinions as to what is a child appropriate movie however. For example I DO NOT feel that Step brothers is appropriate and they do. My sweet baby boy heard more curse words in 2 hrs then he has heard in his entire life. And I am certain that _ _ _ _ _ on drums is going to be planted in his subconscious for the rest of his life!

Mom, peter, me, and jonah left and went to Pat's to share a cheese steak. can't leave philly with out a cheese steak, when you've given your diet a vaca that is.

took mom to the train station and left for home. We had all been up since 4, including the j man and we were spent. J and I took a little nap in the car but poor peter had to drive.

Decided to go to sushi for dinner to complete my fabulous weekend. FYI always ask what brand the wine is cause $7.50 for Kendal Jackson pretty much sucks but the sushi was great and the prefect end to mothers day.
Came home and had to cover my garden due to a frost last night. Frost in May, not cool mother nature, not cool. But when I went out this morn to uncover my beautiful garden the watermelon had doubled!! And our first tomato decided to pop out. Its green and adorable. Its supposed to get down to 40 tonight and I may cover again. The strawberries however I don't think are going to make it. That is 2 yrs in a row that the strawberries have died. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it makes me want them even more.......

So we were all exhausted and delirious. Peter put J down and P and I were in bed at 9. Fast asleep, blissfully asleep. 11:30 screams, baby boy screaming, crying, inconsolable, tears, did I mention screams...the piercing screams of a sweet baby having his gums ripped open by a new tooth. I rocked, I gave milk, I hugged, kissed and snuggled. Ambesol did nothing. Of course we had no motrin or tylenol because of the recall and nothing was working. At 12:15 P ventures out to the all night store to try and get something anything to help our baby. He found one bottle of generic motrin left on the store shelf and raced home with it. By this point I had gotten Jonah quieted down to a whimper by a combination of milk, ceiling fan and the lion king. Peter walked in carrying the meds like a golden egg and we gave it to little man. Then we had a discussion about whether the lion king is an appropriate movie for him to watch due to the hyenas.
If anyone has any thoughts on this topic I am curious. I think its on ok movie, Peter doesn't. And let me say that it did calm j down. But we put in Babe. I was terrified that changing the movie would send him into hysterics but he was fine watched a little of the film and went back to sleep. Then so did we.

But 6AM came and he was back up. That's around his usual wake up time.

And now today is in full swing with laundry and cleaning.

My weekend was wonderful. I didn't change a diaper and Peter did the majority of work.
Thank you Peter and Jonah for such a great Mothers Day!!! And thank you both for making me the mother that I am!!! I love you!!

grateful

things i am grateful for today:
1. my wonderful supportive husband
2. knit night
3. jonah's love of dancing to any and all music including church hymns
4. my garden
5. my laundry line
6. the sound of birds at 5AM
7. other mom blogs
8. my incredible family
9. sushi
10. the view of the water from my house