Festival day!

A lovely Saturday was had by all this past weekend. Got some mommy time at a resale event by myself while Gram took the babes. Got Jack's fall wardrobe for about $50! Then Bec and I took Jackie boy to play at the bounce houses at the Lincoln school fall festival. He loved everything about it, not just the bounce houses but eating pizza and popcorn and brownies and getting a baloon sword and running into the neighbor family there. When did he get to be such a KID??

We met Nat downtown to explore the Ingenuity Festival for the evening. It was located on the Detroit-Superior Bridge this year. It's a great space... I am not sure I love Ingenuity being there, as I rather liked the way it sprawled into some unused neighborhoods of the city. I think Cleveland could manage to support a Bridge Festival AND an Ingenuity Festival, in my opinion. Still-- it was a neat venue and a lovely, if breezy, evening to be out. Jack had fun drawing on walls, playing with cat puppets, and dancing to music . His favorite part was walking over the river on the metal grates, and stopping to look down and exclaim "OOOH! Look down THERE!!" every single time there was a gap to look through. Much to amusement of passers-by and the chagrin of his mom-who-is-afraid-of-heights. "Yes, Jack, yes I see it down there...", studiously avoiding looking down, myself...

It is fall-crisp out these past few days (thank you!!) and the leaves are turning (quite brilliant, really) and it will be October this week. Wow. Trips to the Orchard and LakeFarm Park to schedule in. Nat's off to a wedding this weekend; friends Jamo and Casey visit the weekend after that. Life flies on...

20 weeks tomorrow.

20 weeks on the inside meant halfway there, halfway to a girl and going clothes shopping, anticipation and oh-we're-not-ready and wishing time could fly all at the same time...Marking the minutes and the days in that way that only seems to happen during pregnancy.

20 weeks on the outside means I am just tired. This whole two kids, working fulltime, going to the gym mama thing-- it's wearing me out, people. So much that the weeks are blending together and I am just glad we're taking a few pictures to mark the time.

I lust after the weekend all week long, looking forward to the possibility of more than 5 interrupted hours of sleep, the possibility of doing more with my time at home than simply feeding myself and the babes, and getting them into bed. Then it's here, that longed for weekend, and I work so hard to grab at life and fit it all in to those two days, while still managing to clean the bathrooms, that I'm more tired when its over than when it began. Sigh.

Nat noted to our Farley's friends on Facebook that "summer is never more than 9 months away." One month gone from it and I am full of yearning to have summer break back again... Perhaps I should begin to mark my time towards that milestone. By my count we're looking at the 14 weeks along...

In the midst of it the kiddos keep growing up. That's another regret about the weariness-- that I feel their milestones and miraculousness blurring by me so fast, that I am not there for it all, or not energetic enough to be a full participant. That I'd rather be vegging on the couch than playing, that I'd rather be asleep myself than rocking a baby back to sleep over and over again. When they both will be this small for such a short, short time. I'd like to get an extra wick to burn, so I can do it all for just a few years, please, so I can soak it all up the way I should...

Jack had his first day of "real" preschool today, the full 2 1/2 hours with no parents in the building. He went in and stayed happily and came home with a tie-dyed tissue paper hat (which was later turned into a hot air balloon to carry around his bumble bee. Of course.) and a copy of The Little Engine that Could from the school library (which was the ONLY book he wanted to read tonight). And he is just so grown up. He acts out dramas with his "fly plane" and the firefighter dinosaur and he collects rocks and seed pods on walks. He talks up a storm and refuses to listen and that charming smile of his! He is so handsome and funny and frustrating and perfect all at the same time, in all his boy-ness. With his big feet and his hair that won't lay down and the two temporary tatoos slowly fading on his forearms and the way he giggles when he runs. Even when I am tired and he doesn't want to go to bed, even when we have the same talk every night about why the lights need to be turned out, even when he wants me to help act out the same play scenarios on endless repeat or he won't get a move on so we can make it to the library or he refuses to eat his supper--- I love him.

The girl-- well, right now may not be the best time to update on her as I am blogging to pass the time while we listen to her cry. Trying and trying to get some semblance of good sleep back, some semblance of the way she slept when she was 7, 8 weeks old... no such luck yet. In the midst of sleep deprivation and frustration with a cry-it-out process that seems to be taking weeks rather than days to be effective, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that little girl is a remarkably happy baby all day. Content to watch the world go by from her bumbo or the beloved exersaucer. Ready with a room-lighting smile and furious kicking anytime we turn our attention to her. Always shiny-eyed and happy when she's outside. Last night she tried valiantly to roll from her back to her belly while holding her feet. She really, really adores Jack's bumble bee toy and she is ticklish and she has that squeaky laugh that's almost too much to handle. She's sort of this proto-person these days with a thoughtful regard for the world and an intense love for her brother (she seems to find him as funny as I do). She's a cute baby, that Ivy Jane. She just needs to sleep...

Me too. Goodnight all. Pictures to come tomorrow.

19 weeks old

growing right along...

Milestones this week:

Ivy is really starting to play with toys-- grabbing them, moving them around, chewing on them, turning them and examining them. Too cute. She does this slow motion grab where she studies the object and then oh-so-carefully reaches out her open hands until she makes contact, little lip pouting out in concentration...

We gave her a first taste of solids this week. some rice cereal mixed with breast milk... there's this little bit of me that is hoping by starting her on food earlier we'll ward off the picky eater syndrome, that we messed up somehow with Jackie...I know, a month and a half is probably not going to change a thing, but at any rate she has seemed interested in our food so we gave it a shot. The first batch was a bit thick, I think, and it all came right back out of her mouth. Tonight I think she actually managed to swallow a few watery bites, and kept opening her mouth for more tastes for quite a while.

Tonight's other experiment was bathing the kiddos together in the big tub. I just plopped Ivy's baby tub in there-- thank goodness for a long tub!-- filled with nice warm water for her, then filled the rest all tepid and bubbly the way the boy likes it. I think they both enjoyed it a lot. Ivy was all smiles, like usual at bathtime, but they did seem to be directed at her brother. And Jack had a blast piling one toy after another into her tub -- "This one is for my sister!"-- pouring little capfuls of his bathwater in for her, and putting bubbles on her tummy. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Oh yeah-- the girl can sit in tripod for a good 15 seconds ad can sit up tall, reaching out for something, for 2 or 3 seconds, before she topples over and laughs about it.

She is only taking about 15 minutes of crying to settle down to sleep in her crib these days-- an improvement, really. Now we are just hoping for the return of sleeping from 9 til 4am or so. Please. Anytime, Ivy Jane...

Pretty Picture

Pretty baby.

Pretty tired mama. Morning calls in T-5 hours. A full day. A full life, these days. Teaching is nonstop, it seems, and then the rush to home or Lakewood, to the park or dinner swap or choir. Two hours of bedtime with babes. Spin class in the morning, promising sweat and adrenaline and a guilt free day. And right back at it.

Promise I'll write about these kiddos some more, soon. In the meantime the moon is full and the September air is glorious and I hope the sunset for you was as stunning as the one I glimpsed here, headed up the Marion Ramp to Memorial Hall for choir...

On my own...

Had a "mommy day" with the two-some today, in an effort to give Nat some uninterrupted stretches of time in which to work on the dissertation. It was a lovely, temperate and sunny day out and I took the crew out to the west side. An underwhelming visit to a resale event (kiddos were terrific there, really, but I think I am better off without kids OR the giant stroller when I actually want to shop) followed by the world's most idyllic visit to Rocky River Park wherein Jack played on the equipment, Ivy laid on a blanket, we picnicked on the grass and the lake was blue. We topped it off with a trip to Starbucks before coming home for some napping (for the kids) and cleaning (for me) and then off again to Target. A dinner of a frozen pizza and some Cars on the tube to close the day. Nice.

In talking with Nat we concluded together that its not really taking care of the kids that is the hard part. In fact, the little darlings are pretty easy to deal with, most of the time. As long as you are not trying to do anything ELSE while taking care of them. As long as their needs are paramount and they are your sole focus, all is fine. Its when you try to, say, clean the house or do something for yourself, like use the bathroom, that things get tricky. So my day today, on my own with the kids, was rather a lark, thanks to going into with the mindset that I would do nothing else besides spend the day with them and keep them out of the house.

Parenting would be a great deal easier and generally more fun, I think, if the rest of life would just stop getting in the way...

...and the things he doesn't say...

Add this to the "you know your baby is growing up when" list:

The boy no longer uses the term "choo choo house". He told me so. We were on our way to Eton place, to visit the train table at Barnes and Noble (previously termed "the other choo choo house") and I asked him if he wanted to go there before or after Trader Joe's. And he said, "NOT choo choo house, Mommy. Eton place!"

The end of an era....

The things he says... part 472

Or somewhere around there.

I never cease to be amazed and amused at the things that come out of the boy's mouth. And he is amazing these days, a full conversation partner with this amazing memory and adorable lapses of grammar that don't in the least affect comprehension of his message but rather make it more fun to listen to...

But this post is in honor of some things he's been saying for a while, the sort of things which seem like such a part of his repertoire that he'll say them forever. Except he won't say them forever. So here they are.

*Conversations about "minos": As we drive along, he (of course) point out every motorcycle he sees. Then, invariable he asks Nat, "Do you WANT it, dad? Do you want THAT mino??" And he likes for Nat to say yes, and then, every time, he says either, "But somebody else is riding it," (if it's being ridden" or "But somebody else is going to ride it" (if its parked) or "But somebody won't give you money for it" (if it's for sale). With the saddest, most sympathetic tone to his voice. Every time. Poor daddy, all the constant disappointment. At least he has Jack to console him.

To be continued. I have so much more to capture about him. As always. But bedtime calls. As always.