Lots of new memories and changes in our family over the past few months, though. I started doing a childcare exchange with a good friend, so on Thursdays week I take care of her little girl (who is now 2) and on Mondays she has James. This allows Adam to have an additional day to work, which has made a big difference in his income and also just giving him a bit of a break. I guess it'd be easy to write about how challenging the adjustment was to taking care of two 1 year-olds all day, the funny, frustrating, and fantastic moments that leave me totally beat on the couch at the end of the day. But I think I'll skip it. We all know how hard it is. Diapers, snacks, bibs, socks, mittens strewn about the park, the mischief and the mayhem that never ends. But what really comes to mind when I think about caring for someone else's baby is how precious they are. I've babysat before, and was a nanny in my early college years and have quite a bit of experience taking care of kids. But now that I'm a mom it feels totally different. I hold Emma in my arms and wipe away her hair from her face, or her tears from her eyes, or just her blueberry stains from her cheeks and I feel an intense love and protection for her that I didn't understand before. I know she means everything to my friend - I know she is her heart beating outside of her body. I know my friend has rocked her, and sung to her, and wiped these same cheeks and changed these same diapers and treasured all the same sweet moments. When I see other mothers (and parents, but mostly moms) I feel a sense of solidarity and compassion and understanding that I didn't used to have. Sometimes I even see kids and babies at the store or on a walk and I immediately look at them and smile, or make sure they're okay. When they cry, I notice. My heart notices. Because there's a mama out there just like me - a regular woman who has done the extraordinary business of birthing, nursing, rocking, soothing, holding, guiding, loving that little person until they've felt like their arms would fall off. A mom who thought they couldn't possibly stand another minute of the crying or the mess or the "why the hell has it has been 7 months since I've had a haircut" moments. I see children now and this is what I see - all of the moments. And I know almost every mom loves their babies more than anyone could ever understand. So when I step in to comfort, feed, hold, play with and love another child...I give it my heart.
Most of our days together would seem to the outside to be pretty low-key. We have our routine, we do breakfast (almost always oatmeal, always bananas, sometimes eggs), dance to music to get our energy up, and go outside. We almost always walk to the park together, or just play in the yard unless it's totally pouring. And the kids are pretty hardcore Oregonians, lemme tell ya. They can put up with a lot more gray and wet than I can. We eventually wind down and wander in, and there's some mix of quieter, indoor play (book reading usually, toys, potty time for Emma) and slowing down while I make lunch. The kids eat lunch and play at the table while we "talk" about our day or do the alphabet or things like that. Both kids go down for their naps around 1, and usually sleep until 3. Sometimes I nap on the couch if I'm really tired, other days I do quiet chores like laundry or bills or throwing something in the crock pot for dinner. Some days I just hang out on the computer. In the afternoon we do whatever we're feeling like that day. Blocks, playing on the slide outside, having a snack, taking a random bath, whatever. A few times I've ventured out with friends for an outing - on Valentine's Day we went to the zoo, on Emma's birthday we did an indoor playground, and we've driven out to some new parks. But mostly we just kick back and live the good life at home. And a good life it is.
This is how I walk two kids to the park on a chilly February day!
Emma photobomb
It's all fun and games...until someone gets their head kicked.
James's favorite foods - bananas ("Mann-uh!") and yogurt ("goat!"). Proof that there's really only one important quality in a high chair - easy of cleaning!
James's first bubble bath. He loved it, of course, especially when his papa dropped all his plastic balls in with him. I am not too particular about a lot of things, buying organic body products being one of them. We use Johnson & Johnson and Dove soap (what our doctor recommends to clear up occasional ezcema flare-up.) But we got this really nice non-toxic, easy-on-the-skin-and-body California Baby bath bubbles in James's Christmas stocking and I fell in love with it. It only has natural oils (which make up the "cranky baby" scent) and is easy on James's skin. Plus it makes awesome bubbles. I've tried some natural bath products that I wasn't too keen on but this one I love. We already used the whole bottle!
Sometimes Bear has to come to dinner. It's not optional.
Hanging out at my mom's house in Eugene
James trying to "push" his Grandpa Mark around the kitchen....this is a game James will absolutely delight in playing, but after the first time we get pretty tired of it. So it's always a treat for James when a new visitor will indulge him in his favorite game.
James, showing off his true feelings about Valentine's Day...
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