Happy Valentine's Day

Last week, Dave's uncle passed away suddenly. I wanted us all to go, but it wasn't going to happen at eight months pregnant, so I stayed with the boys while Dave traveled to New Jersey for the wake and funeral. Will has been talking a lot about Uncle Bill and Heaven, drawing pictures for him at preschool. Finn will randomly say something like "I miss Uncle Bill"--obviously parroting one of us, but still pretty sweet.

On the same day (within minutes) that we got that bad news, we also got the wonderful news that my friend Mindy was in labor. A few hours later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

I guess that's fitting, right? I'd like to think Uncle Bill gave baby Grace a high five as they passed each other in opposite directions.

Losing a member of the family and gaining a member of our (and our kids') inner circle has made this Valentine's Day a little more special, and easier for us to count all of our blessings with infinite gratitude. Case(s) in point:

Will wore this shirt today to school and informed me that his nickname was "Heartbreaker--because that's another language for 'I love you.'"

GiST, Easter Edition

Grandparents who live nearby. Uncles, aunts and cousins who come to visit, entertain, and even feed your baby. Easter at a church where everybody loves your kid and asks if you bringing him to his first holiday mass means "you're ready to get involved again with the young adults, and maybe you can lead an ARISE group this year?" (I love feeling needed and missed. As if you didn't know.) Pink polo shirts with flipped collars on baby boys. Stomping, pounding, baby-waking neighbors...because they remind me that some things aren't worth worrying about. A walk in the sunshine, alone with a sleeping infant in a stroller and my thoughts to keep me company. Finally: friends and relatives with great news...congratulations, Leah, on getting into Columbia's principal-in-training graduate school!

It's the Little Things (and the big ones too)

ONE

Watching a six-month-old try to crawl and stand.

TWO

Washing sheets, covering duvets and planning meals

in preparation for a visit from family.

THREE

Getting fitted for a late-April wedding...

in a beautiful kelly green dress.

FOUR

Playing "Where's mama? There she is!"

until your cheeks ache from all the laughter.

FIVE

Talking to your best friends on the phone.

(Wishing you were talking to them in person--

and that you all lived next door to each other--

but feeling happy to be talking to them, period.)

SIX

Figuring out how to make time in life

for all the right things

with the help of your truly wonderful spouse.*

SEVEN

Watching the Twilight movie on demand.

Some things never change. :-)

* Does anyone else feel that the words for spouse--husband/wife/life partner, etc. are dangerously formal in a lot of contexts? Sometimes I just want to use the lifetime-commitment equivalent of "boyfriend," you know? Or maybe that's just me.

Fun Stuff for Monday

BFFs

1. Solid food.

There has been a definite feeding trajectory: Will ate all the time, then he ate more but a little less frequently; then he was downing more bottles than anyone really should, so we started with the solids. 

The first week was a bit annoying, since he liked spitting the spoon and its contents back out; we tried a trick from a mom in my group, popping a pacifier or the bottle in his mouth directly after the food in order to teach him to swallow it. One week later, suddenly, he could do the spoon. That made things A Lot Easier.

So far we've tried Gerber Organics and Earth's Best: oatmeal cereal (we mix that with everything to chunk it up and get Will's digestive system going), sweet potatoes, peas (I just made my first batch of homemade peas, too), apples, pears, prunes, carrots...today he ate homemade mashed banana, and later this week he'll taste avocado for the first time.

He likes everything.

My final note on solids: if the first phase of eating was CONSTANT and the second was MODERATE, this one is somewhere in between. I'm always either preparing or spooning or cleaning up, but I have a lot more fun with it. Will's in the high chair playing with toys, I'm talking to him as I mix some veggies or clean a bowl, and we're interacting and making each other smile or laugh. It's actually a lot of fun.

2. Benjamin Moore.

We're painting four rooms in preparation for the big switcheroo. We are moving Will into one of the back bedrooms now that he's sleeping consistently for 11 hours, so that I'm not banned from using our bedroom and bathroom while he sleeps and naps. 

I've already mentioned my love for Benjamin Moore's Lavender Blue, but alas, that color is getting muted (the nursery will be the new office) by a couple of coats of Lenox Tan. My new favorite, although we have nowhere to use it, is Blue Heron. It's a dusky slate-ish blue, and it is so gorgeous. The end.

3. Speaking of paint, I adore the hardware store we go to, Swartz True Value, on Watertown Street. Everyone is helpful and all the tough contractors like to coo over Will, which is sweet. When I was pregnant, one guy made sure I wasn't going to be getting up on a stepladder. I like Watertownies with hearts of gold.

But today I ran into my first condescending (though well-intentioned) customer. This man asked me if I was getting ready for the painter to come to my house, and he said it laughingly--not meanly, but with an implication that I too would laugh at the mere idea that I could be painting a room myself. I take his point...as a woman, surely I would just end up with the paintcan on my head, Montgomery White leaking down the pink apron covering my I HEART DAVE tee-shirt.

"Oh yeah, I'm all set for him," I replied. "And his name is...my husband!" I don't know why I thought this would be a great comeback, considering I was just admitting that I wasn't going to be doing any of the work (which is wishful thinking, considering I'll likely be painting alongside Dave for the bulk of the process). Oh well. I suppose delivering enlightenment to the good-natured-but-mildly-sexist among us will have to wait. :-)

4. Fourteen is Enough.

Another regular at the store (am I obsessed with this topic or what?) asked how old Will was, commented on how cheerful he was, and then said, and I quote: "How 'bout that Octomom?"

I replied with the obligatory, "Yeah, I know, right? Crazy!" to which he said, "How wouldya like to deal with all those kids?" before turning to Will and saying, "How would you like seven brothers and sisters, all the same age as you?"

It was like he was spelling out the Octomom story for me...and for Will...and he kept going. THEN he wrapped it all up by saying, "You know what the worst part is? The media! They won't stop talking about it. Just leave her alone!"

It was so confusing. He had clearly been anti-Octomom, and now he was anti-anti-Octomom-media, so maybe he just liked to disagree with others.

5. Cousin love.

In NON-hardware-store-related news (shocking, I know), we are going to New Jersey this weekend for three days to see Baby Michael and the rest of the clan. The cameras are charging and the Pack 'n' Play is already loaded into the trunk.

6. Revelations.

There's this amazing thing called "spending one evening cooking and getting four meals out of it." What is the meaning behind this magical phrase, you ask? Well, all you have to do is get TWICE the meat you would need for one dinner and cook it ALL TOGETHER IN THE SAME DISH. If you do this with two separate meats (such as steak and chicken), you can get two nights of steak and two nights of chicken, simply by reheating said meat. 

Cutting edge concept, I agree, but please, no autograph requests. I do it for the love of the game.

7. 321.

We went to our friend's belated Mardi Gras plus birthday party on Saturday night. We left Will in the capable hands of my sister's au pair, drove down to Providence with Lauren (who would like me to note that she got ready in record time), and spent four hours remembering how fun it was to spend an evening at the Leone Lounge.

(I call it that because this house has a handmade bar, cafe tables and flatscreen in one room; an entertainment system the size of Montana and another flatscreen in the living room; a huge wraparound deck with a firepit and hot tub outside; and the coup de grace, the two televisions BEHIND THE MIRRORS IN BOTH BATHROOMS. )

Lauren walked around all night saying, "I can't believe this house. No, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS HOUSE." Although she was a little frightened of the space-age TV-mirror situation. (Yes, you were.)

Happy Monday.

Grateful

1. New projects.

2. Warm weekend weather.

3. "Babies' night out" with Mo, Dave & Ryan. (Yeah, we took Will to a bar last night. A busy bar. What?)

4. Pop-up illustrations to keep Will interested in reading books. (Oh, sorry, did I say reading books? I meant eating books. But hey, they're books!)

5. New moms' group starting this Wednesday thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyougod. (It's been three weeks since the last one ended. Needless to say, I am a leetle bit excited.)

6. Speaking Of Excited: Did you know that there are only two episodes of Battlestar Galactica left? And Starbuck might be a half-cylon, and her dad might be Daniel, and ....... if you had told me five years ago that I would be completely engrossed in a sci fi soap opera whose premise was basically "humans v. the robots they created," I would have laughed heartily. The joke is obviously on me.

7. Speaking Of Excited, Part II: Do you know what tomorrow is? Tomorrow is our nephew's birthday. Doesn't 3-10-09 have a nice ring to it? We can't wait.

Don't go anywhere! There's an honorary #8, 9 and 10 that can't wait for next week:

8. Brendan turned four on Saturday. Happy Birthday!

9. Skype isn't my favorite because it allows everyone to see that I don't put makeup on, wash my hair, or get dressed in anything non-stretch many days of the week. It's sad, really. But Skype is still pretty great because we get to see Dave's side of the family, and they get to see Will. Meanwhile, Will likes to watch their faces but is mostly interested in trying to stuff the computer mouse in his mouth.

10. A baby who can sit up all by himself. Yay! (I was going to post a series of pictures, but Blogger keeps flipping the orientation around and I'm tired. Plus, with more photos, the cuteness might just be too much.)

The pajamas are the finishing touch on the masterpiece of cute.

Running Out of Titles

What I'm grateful for today:

-Healthy, happy babies like Holden Shear and Grace Welsien, who have kicked off baby season with an adorable bang.

-Awesome friends who revive (awesome) blogs and say nice things about me on them. :-)

-Nature's Promise frozen vegetables on sale at the grocery store. Yeah, it's a stretch, but these are supposed to be small things...

-The Bachelor season finale Part I tonight, Part II tomorrow...why do I care so much? Who can tell?

-March. It doesn't feel like March, what with this mighty Nor'easter closing schools and churches and whatnot, but it is March, and that might count for something.

-Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst. You guys, I'm totally a gamer now! Mm, maybe not. But it's a fabulous naptime indulgence.

-Playing Lexulous on Facebook wiht Julie. In fact, it's the only reason I go on Facebook ever. Indeed it is, for me, the "saving grace" of Facebook. See? How I tied everything together right there?

Hope everyone's having a lovely start to March.

Small Things Monday

1. Hosting Kerry for American Idol.

2. Shopping at the outlets with Lauren.

3. Eating cheese puffs for dinner; quenching the resulting thirst with raspberry soda through a straw.

4. Listening to Will laugh when we startle him or growl "BUBBA!" while grabbing and tickling his feet.

5. Remembering to relax and enjoy, especially this past week. Coparenting is fun.

6. Eating chocolate chip cookies while the chocolate's still piping hot. (Husbands who bake are also fun.)

7. Making playdates with Will's best baby friend, Ryan (and his cool mom, Mo):

My mom's so desperate to hang out with your mom, it's nuts.

Grace in Not-so-Small Things

1. Dave is on vacation. (Sort of...he is still working from home a little bit, but the way I look at it: if he can stay home with Will while I go to the grocery store on a Monday afternoon, he's ON VACATION--for my purposes, anyway.)

2. Will has four teeth (that we can feel) coming in; all four are on his UPPER gumline. No book or website will believe us, but it's true. There's not a whole lot of grace in all the drooling and whining, but I can say with all the foolishness and naivete of a first-time mama that it's kind of cool to see and feel this proof that Will is going to be a real person with real person teeth sometime soon.

3. Aforementioned almost-real-person-with-teeth is staying awake for longer stretches, and has been for almost a week now. While this means scrambling for extra wintertime activities to keep baby occupied (just waterboard me and get it over with already, 'kay?), it also means a hint of fewer naps to come, so that my day isn't broken into quite so many mini-chunks.

4. I'm already almost at my goal for the March of Dimes walk, thanks to my insanely generous family and friends, and I've taken advantage of Alro's passion for all things charitable and convinced her to walk with me on May 9. Three cheers for adult companionship!

5. Uncle John came to town for a track meet and managed a quick playdate with Will:

Gee, do you think Will had any fun at all with him?

6. I am no longer pregnant and therefore can actually take Nyquil when I get a fever & cold combo. (Although it worked the first night and then not at all thereafter. The point is, I was free to take whatever medicine I wanted. Huzzah etc.)

7. All of our wedding ceremony AND reception AND after-party AND honeymoon pictures are now available for your perusal in one giant photo album. And photos from Will's christening are in a gorgeous brag book my sister gave us. Now to finish that 2008 scrapbook. (Waterboarding? Anyone?)

Another GIST List

Mondays are goooooood. We've got a lot of grace to be grateful for today:

1. A visit from Aunt Jen, complete with coffee, pizza, Doritos and magazines. But not all at the same time.

2. A weird Clooney movie.

3. A four-month-old who sleeps from 8:15 at night to 7:15 in the morning. And again from 8-9 a.m. Sweet, sweet nectar of the baby gods.

4. Deciding to take Sundays (mostly) off from chores and errands. They don't call it a day of rest for nothing.

5. Dave's weeklong vacation starting in four days.

6. Hand-me-down baby books...especially ones containing the word "Oops" over and over again, causing Will to laugh uproariously with his crazed-caveman grunting giggle thing.

7. The good half of the Love Actually soundtrack. (I'll take Joni Mitchell, Wyclef, Eva Cassidy, even the Sugababes; I'll leave the random Kelly Clarkson song and definitely The Calling. Ugh. But, I know, we're focusing on the good stuff, so YAY for the album-half-full!)

GIST 4

1. Chocolate chip cookies, baked nachos, white sangria and Jordan Catalano in Lauren's basement.

2. Going under budget at the grocery store. It's like a winning scratch ticket, but you worked for it.

3. Baby smiles, baby laughter, baby chins...

4. Celebrating Valentine's Day early.

5. All-Seasons Salt.

6. Complex characters, thought-provoking plotlines and mesmerizing suspense, but only for a few more weeks. [Hysterical crying ensues.]

7. Thirty-nine years of marriage. (Happy Anniversary, Grandmom & Grandpop!)

GIST 3

1. Tastefully Simple slushy sangria (thanks, Kerry!).

2. A new HD cable box with DVR for the same price as our old service...so I can record normal-people shows and watch them at my odd hours.

3. Celebrating my grandfather's would-be-100th birthday.

4. Caramel-and-white-striped sheets and duvet cover.

5. Will riding a red Rody. (And, um, alliteration?)

6. Elfa playroom shelves and drawers. So. Organized. Also. Pretty!

7. Taking a very extended break from spending money in order to enjoy what you already have. (See above.)

GIST 2

1. Don, our driver on the Miss Bustonian bachelorette bus this weekend.

2. The way Will sits on my lap and hits the keys on my laptop, just like the true son of a computer engineer.*

3. Essie nail polish in Fiji.

4. Edamame succotash and 365 brand fruit-flavored soda from Whole Foods.

5. The return of Battlestar Galactica, a show that actually answers your questions every couple of episodes (I'm looking at you, Lost).

6. Reading the book Little Hoot to Will while he tries to turn the pages.*

7. Finally conceding defeat to the pro-Facebook contingent, and eagerly awaiting Kerry's FB tutorial.

*I think it's confirmed: Will is a tactile learner. :-)

Saying Grace

This is a great idea, so I'm aiming for weekly participation with a list of seven.

1. Painting a room with Benjamin Moore's Lavender Blue.

2. Waiting for friends' babies to arrive.

3. Making your own teriyaki sauce.

4. Taking your time at the Container Store.

5. Reading about people's hair quandaries.

6. Eating half the taco dip out of a large Pyrex dish.

7. Planning wedding showers.