I Have Blessings...

I don't know if there is a thing as a stress-free holiday, but I wouldn't mind trying it out sometime. Our trip to Ohio hasn't been smooth sailing, and I was feeling a little "woe is me" earlier today, but I took a deep breath and remembered that I am blessed to have...

• A crying baby at 2:00 AM who won't go back to sleep and a 2-year-old who crawls into bed with me and proceeds to kick me for the two hours available for sleeping. Because it means I also have days with a giggling baby, who looks at me with adoring eyes and a 2-year-old who can't stop hugging me and saying she loves me. 

• Ample access to medical care...even on the holidays. Thank you urgent care (for treating Nick's ear infection) and bless our 24-hour on-call pediatricians (for talking me through his hive outbreak). Although one of these days, I would love to get through a holiday without either of you,  there are other mothers who would give up every holiday for the rest of their lives from the promise of access to a doctor for their babies. 

• A stomachache from eating too much and frustration trying to fit all the leftovers into the fridge. There are millions of people starving right now and would be happy to help make my life a little easier by solving my food storage problems for me. 

So, yeah, life can disappoint and things don't always live up to my expectations, but at the end of the day, I don't have much to complain about. I have blessings all around.

My Biggest Blessings of All! Happy Thanksgiving!

8 Months Old!

Nick is two-thirds of a year old! Which is terrifying to me, because these last eight months have gone by in a blink, so that means he's going to be one way too soon. But, for now he's still me sweet roly-poly baby boy!

Nick is officially on the move, so it's time to start baby proofing some things and paying better attention to what's within reach. He's not crawling on his hand and knees, but does a mean army crawl and is pretty speedy with it. He also can get back to a sitting position from him stomach

He's very vocal and has moved on from his "dadadadada" sounds to the much coveted "mamamama," which means I have a shot at his first word!

To commemorate eight months, I tried for a clip of him army crawling, but Lainey kept video bombing it. So, enjoy a clip of him laughing instead:

So, THIS is What Adults Talk About...

Sometimes I get to do fun things through my job. My company has a table for a series of Global Leader luncheons with varioius speakers. Some are great; some are boring. Yesterday, was a great one with Chris Matthews as the guest speaker. At first, I was a little bummed, because Tom Brokaw was supposed to speak and had to cancel, but I think I enjoyed Matthews' speech and subsequent Q&A much more than I would have Brokaw's (and we got a free, signed copy of his book Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked.)

The book is about the relationshop between Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill and how even though they were complete ideological opposites, they managed to work together and get things accomplished. Now, I was just a wee girl during that administration and haven't particularly studied it in-depth, so I'm taking Matthews at his word that things indeed got accomplished (outside of little stuff like ending the Cold War). Matthews' critiqued our current political leadership and their inabaility to do anything other than name call (and he was completely hilarious, doing so). If you know anything about Chris Matthews, you know he's liberal, but he was just as harsh on Obama as he was Boehner. He just ended his diatribe on Obama's inability to assemble a cohesive leadership structure in his administration by saying "and I like the guy." Boehner didn't get that hedge.

I won't go into a recap of recent Capital Hill showdowns or an editorial on why our governement is broken, because I think, left, right or moderate, most people agree we've got a pretty big problem on our hands and are sick of watching our elected officials not do their jobs. What I really want to write about is how much I enjoy going to these events--whether it's someone as recognizable as Matthews or the CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, whom I'd never heard of, but gave an incredibly thought-provoking talk on global food production and demand.  These talks give me a chance to think and feel like an educated adult. I rarely get to watch the news anymore and only occasionally find the time to scan a newspaper, so I often find myself feeling really dumb and unaware in group conversations these days. One could argue that I could be reading up on current events right now instead of writing this post, and it would be a valid point. But, this blog gives me a little creative outlet and I really enjoy keeping it. I'd rather be clueless on the latest in Syria, but have cute Halloween pictures of Nick and Lainey posted for my family and friends. So, my co-workers may not get dazzled with my insights on chemical weapon disarmament, but my loved ones get to see Nick as Eeyore. It's all about choices, friends.

So, I'll take my slivers of intellectual stimulation when they are conveniently offered to me and get the rest of my news from the Daily Show playing in the background as I fall asleep at night. Perfectly acceptable.

I am looking forward to reading the book,though. Just as soon as I get to Night Film by Marisha Pessl and NW by Zadie Smith...and finish Anna Karenina. I am embarrassed to say I started AK about a week before Nick was born. He will be eight months old next Friday. Again, choices my friends, choices.

Happy Halloween!

Well, our Halloween wasn't the prettiest of days, wet, wet and more wet, but luckily the temperatures popped back up into the 60s, so it made it bearable to get out to a few houses for Lainey's first trick or treat. Mark took her, while I hung back with Nick, waiting for the throngs of trick or treaters I had heard about in our neighborhood. Alas, either the weather kept them in or they all headed out before we were home, because we only had maybe 20 kids. It really bummed me out. I think I was expecting the excitement of my childhood with loads of kids roaming the streets all decked out in their costumes. Then again, in Delaware, we had set trick or treat hours where everyone goes out during the same two hours, so it's all very concentrated. In Chicago, there are no parameters--you could head out at 3pm or 7pm.

But, while trick or treating didn't quite meet my expectations, the party at Lainey's daycare was really cute and fun. I'm going to have to start entering these shindigs with my video camera rolling, because once I again I arrived to Lainey dancing her heart out in the middle of a big circle of parents and kids. There was my little Pooh Bear shaking her bon-bon and twirling 'round and 'round.  The rest of the festivities centered around controlling cookie intake and rotating potty-training toddlers in and out of the bathroom as quickly as possible (they don't exactly understand the concept of "holding it"). It's always fun to see Lainey playing with her classmates, whom we hear so much about. And it's nice to hear from other parents that their kids come home talking about Lainey all the time, and apparently in a positive way, which is reassuring given her problems with hitting and other aggressive behavior (oh, have I neglected to blog about that ongoing issue? Details, details).

Yes, there was also a party in Nick's room, but he doesn't know what's going on yet, so we kind of skipped it. We had planned to hang out for a bit with Nick's class before heading home, but Lainey was way too wound up from her festivities to be contained in the very crowded Koala room. Plus, we still wanted to get home for trick or treating. So, my smiling, happy Eeyore just got scooped up and carted away. I didn't so much as say "hi" to the other parents. I kind of felt bad about that, but got over it pretty quickly. And to future Nick, who may one day read this and think we cared less, please know that we never went to your sister's parties when she was your age either. Mom and Dad aren't "minglers," and the infant room parties are more about the parents than the kids. 

Finally, I am very glad we took time to dress the kids up on Sunday and do a little photo shoot, because amid all the chaos of yesterday afternoon and evening, we weren't able to get any good shots. Lainey refused to pose for any pictures at daycare and Nick was screaming to be fed when we got home, so his costume came off pretty fast and never made it back on.

Enjoy the cuteness of Pooh Bear and Eeyore!

Photo reel in action!

Cookie Time!!!

 

Someone's not done trick or treating!

BUSTED!