The Gianino Family

Today is my birthday. This week I asked Brendan what he thought I wanted for my birthday and without even the slightest pause, he said, “Nothing. Just me.” It’s true. And I love that he knows it. My morning started with a boy climbing on top of me in bed and whispering “Happy Birthday Mommy!” in my ear. As soon as I thanked him, he said, “Let’s go play!”. Daddy was going to try and let me sleep in until at least 6, but Brendan really wanted Mommy to get up. I gave it a shot – “Mommy needs one more minute, okay pal?”. My eyes were closed, but I could feel his little body frozen in place, and then a quiet little voice said, “would a hug help, Mommy?”. He gave me a hug and I sprang out of bed lickety split.

I was treated to a sleepy rendition of happy birthday as we enjoyed a pre-play family wake-up on the couch:

Since it’s my day, I’m going to unwrap a few of my favorite presents from the past week(s). In the spirit of birthdays – I never got to write about celebrating Grandma’s birthday. Grandma’s birthday is June 17th, and in recent years (aside from last year!) poor Grandma has had to share her special day with Father’s Day festivities. We went out to dinner, and had fun being together – but really, a celebration for Grandma that involves Brendan can really only mean one thing: ice cream. So we took Grandma to our new favorite spot. She tried a few tastes, carefully selected two scoops – and the proceeded to share more than half of it with her Grandson. Brendan tried Grandpa’s, and tried Mommy’s – but quickly went back to Grandma. These two eat ice cream like it’s their job. It was fun to watch, not so fun to put him to bed…

Grandma and Grandpa also gave him a toy rocket ship and a book about rockets and space. Brendan opened it and said, “Oh! It’s just what I wanted!!”. Mommy and Daddy had no idea. But clearly it was true because he has been reading his book and new vocabulary is sneaking into his conversations including “Launch pad”, “nastronaut” (I refuse to correct him…. astronauts work for nasa, don’t they?) and the ability to count down backwards from 5. They also gave him his first pair of light up shoes which are contraband at school (superheroes are outlawed, so only outlaws have superheroes?) but they are his very favorite attire at home and on weekends. Often times he just brings them over on his hands and says, ‘watch this!’

Also on the birthday theme, Daddy captured the singing at the school cupcake party:

Brendan has been transitioning out of the Teddy Bear room, and into the Shark room. It’s been going fine, although we really miss the Teddy Bear teachers… Last week I went to see him after his first nap in the Shark room. I walked in and saw him sitting on his cot talking the ears off of two of the older shark ladies who were just waking up as well. I walked up and he casually looked over and said, “Oh hi Mommy! I was just telling them about swimming.” Then he went back to his story. It was a dramatic story with many chapters – he showed them how you use your arms, how you kick your feet, that you wear googles and that he got goggles for his birthday and that he also had a birthday cake that had toys on it. The girls were just sitting there trying to figure out what to make of the new guy. Good thing Harper wasn’t in earshot. Daddy and I realized that with all this talk about swimming, it was time to go back to Hamilton Pool. We had another great visit with a fearless Brendan who was jumping into the pool, sharing his toys with the “little” kids, and who generally acted like he owned the place. We culminated with his very first fudgesicle that came out of the coolest vending machine I’ve ever seen. It involved an ice chest and a robot – and of course, ice cream. Winning situation all the way around.
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Several days later Brendan told Daddy that the robot ice cream was the best ice cream he ever had.

Well, I’ve procrastinated long enough. There is one more story that needs to be told. Last weekend we went back to our new favorite pizza place. It’s by the beach, they brought in their pizza oven from Italy, and they give out free florentine cookies after the meal. It’s a beautiful drive out there, and Brendan wanted his window down so he could ‘whistle for the animals to come out’ and so he could play with the breeze:

As we waited for our dinner, Daddy and Brendan did a little exploring outside. They found a surf shop that had a sandbox built right into the floor. Brendan had to bring me back to see it. We couldn’t stop to play though, because our food was arriving:

We ate dinner, somehow managing to spill the same glass of water three different times – but peaceful other than that. Then after our free cookies, we took a stroll back to see if the surf shop was still open. It wasn’t. Sadness. He seemed to get over it though, and he and Daddy raced around the field.

Brendan started running a little too far out of range and I asked him to stop – then I told him to stop – then I had to take off running after him. He was headed toward the parking lot, and Mommy was scared. I caught him and said, “Brendan – when Mommy says stop you have to LISTEN!”. He started laughing. “Brendan, this is NOT funny, you need to take this very seriously.” More laughing. Mommy did not like this at all, and Daddy was about to lose his temper. I sat him on a rock and had him take a timeout. And even though Mommy came back and explained the importance of both listening for safety reasons, and taking feedback seriously – he was not remorseful. We walked back to the car in silence. Daddy had gone on ahead of us and I explained to him what had happened. We drove a little ways, and then I took one last chance at a teaching moment – this time with a slightly more positive tone to my voice. The crisis had clearly passed, he had either learned or not learned, and it was time to move on. He listened to my words, and then silence again. A tiny, “sorry” emerged from the backseat. “Thank you, Brendan – Mommy is sorry too.” And then, in the same small voice, “Mommy? Would a potamus help?”. It did help. Daddy and I exploded in laughter and so did our son. That little sweetheart was looking for a way to break the tension and take back the moment – and he offered up his very favorite funny word. “Would a potamus help?” is now a family favorite for clearing the air. I firmly believe in helping Brendan learn how to be a big boy. He did this laughing thing one other time – and Grandma has a theory that this “angry” tone is so out or character for Mommy that he thinks I’m playing around. Whether that theory is right or wrong, I need to help him learn that some moments are serious. I love this quote: “Discipline is helping a child solve a problem. Punishment is making a child suffer for having a problem. To raise problem solvers, focus on solutions not retribution.” (L.R. Knost) We learn what we can from each moment, then we move on. I know Brendan will continue to learn how to be safe, and he will grow his listening ears over time, but being able to put the past in the past and move on is a quality that I also want him to embrace. Resiliency. It’s a trait he is helping Mommy and Daddy to learn as well.

So now I’m 43. Nine years ago I “celebrated” this day by having to shave my head. 3 years ago I truly celebrated from a hotel room in Iowa. I have never worried about getting old. I’m not particularly worried about wrinkles, or the next phases in my life. A good friend of mine moved away just after Brendan was born – we keep in touch, but not as much as we’d like to. I recently sent him the link to the pictures from Brendan’s birthday party because, well – because he’s really Spiderman, and I thought Spiderman of all people would appreciate the party. He (Spiderman) ended up reading through a good portion of the blog and came to a conclusion. He said it was so good to see me “actualized”. This is a person who knew me in my darkest days of mourning what I thought was the loss of my dream. He saw me struggling to find a new identity. Turns out what I needed was not a new identity, but a new perspective so I could find the one true path to my dream. And what I know he could intuit from reading my mommy ramblings is that I’m no longer searching. I still have a lot of growing to do and so much to learn, and there will be many ups and downs along the way – but it’s against the backdrop of finally becoming who I was always meant to be. Three years ago I declared that I have always been 40. But 40 wasn’t any kind of magic number, other than the year I became a mother. I have always been Brendan’s Mommy. It feels good to be at peace in my own skin – to have weathered the storm of uncertainty, and finally feel actualized.

Planning Brendan’s birthday party is one of my very favorite things to do. Lots of people might think that spending a lot of time getting ready for a three year old’s party is a waste of time – that it’s a day they will only have foggy memories of at best. But for me, it’s an excuse to plan a day completely centered around celebrating the boy whom I love most of all. I try so hard not to do the things that I, personally think are fun, but to plan every last detail to be things that will delight him. The first two birthdays, I had to guess what he would pick if he could express his wishes. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that bubbles and scoops (both the ice cream and construction varieties) were his most favorite things – but this year, I could ask him. I will admit that what he told me was that he wanted a Superman party, but one of the things I hope to instill in this little man, is that he should never want to be anyone other than the very best version of himself. He is a superhero. And so is everyone else. So I took his request, altered it ever-so-slightly, and delivered him a Superhero party focused around my favorite hero… Super Brendan.

Since we had his party at school, and didn’t want any of the kids to feel left out if we didn’t invite the whole class, we decided that for this year, we would just invite the people who are special to our whole family. Not everyone could make it, and Mommy was so late mailing the invites that I sent out an email invitation instead – but we had a really nice group. The Uncles even flew in to join us – and we were not only delighted, but relieved to have them. I have this crazy desire not to do any of the party set-up until Brendan goes down for his nap – it’s so fun to have him wake up in birthday land. This means that as much planning and preparation and as many lists as I make (I can hear you all laughing from here….) there is an inevitable mad dash once he’s tucked into his bed asleep. It’s probably the closest I come to a bridezilla. But Chef Brian didn’t even raise an eyebrow when I put him to work preparing our high-end menu: Grapes, carrot sticks, marshmallows, strawberries, cheese puffs, and star shaped ham and cream cheese sandwiches on white bread. It wasn’t until Brian asked if I wanted him to create another dish for the adults that I realized perhaps it was silly to serve a menu of Brendan’s favorites when 75% of the guests are adults. But sometimes it’s nice to have an excuse to be a kid again – and besides, I know that the only thing people really want to eat is Grandma’s cake.

With everyone’s help, almost all the set-up was done before the first calls of “Mommy?!?! Daddy?!?!?” came from upstairs. He knew when he woke up from his nap it was birthday party time, and as he slept I snuck in and hung his brand new Super Brendan costume just where he’d see it as soon as he woke up. From the moment he opened his eyes, it was pure magic. He couldn’t wait to change into his outfit, and as I announced his decent down the stairs to the family below, he fully embodied his character.

Just in case, I had a “B” on one side of his cape, and the Superman “S” on the other. I let him choose, and I was pleased he went with the “B”. He walked around the yard, both with me, and all by himself, and took it all in – just as I had hoped he would.

And then he saw the cake… and for the rest of the time until we cut the cake, he was transfixed. I’m not sure whether he was more excited about eating it or playing with the toys, but I do know that Grandma let him sneak a few licks of frosting on his finger. I caught him trying to stick his little finger in there one time and told him no – we couldn’t do that, we had to wait until we cut the cake and shared it with everyone. Grandma looked at me with a stern look and said, “Mommy – that’s HIS cake.” I reminded her that when I was a little girl she NEVER would have let me do that. She sheepishly agreed, but I caught B with frosting on his face, and what happens with Grandma, stays with Grandma… Lucky for us, it was the largest birthday cake in human history. Bigger than our wedding cake – and it turned out that we barely even touched the one tier that Brendan could get his little fingers on. It was an incredible cake – thank you Grandma.

As guests arrived, they were asked to suit up (if they weren’t already… many people came in their own awesome uniforms), and get their identification card issued at the SRO – you know, the Superhero Registration Office.

Then as they demonstrated their Superhero skills at the party, they got a star punched onto their card, and collected a different prize from the prize wheelbarrow. Thank goodness Rob ended up letting me keep the wheelbarrow from last years party – it comes in so handy for rides, and for birthday parties. If anyone needs to actually haul something, let us know…

The Superhero Acts that had to be demonstrated:
HELPER: Rescue some poor animals trapped in crumbling buildings (awesome skyline courtesy of Daddy)

STRENGTH – try to break free from a sturdy chain

SMART: Find superhero matches in a game of memory (Mommy always tries to work that game into any affair)

BRAVE: Gather your courage and walk through the ring of fire
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FAST: Try to win against the fastest guy we know…. Daddy. One of my favorite moments was when Uncle Frank managed to beat Daddy and commented, “I’ll bet you haven’t one a race all day!” Brendan heard this and said, “C’mon Daddy – lets go race and win together.” I tear up just thinking about it.

KINDNESS: This was an undefined task… each person had to figure out and demonstrate their own act of kindness. With the crowd we had, this was the easiest one of all.

Then it was time to sing to a shy birthday boy, let him make a wish and blow out his candles – and FINALLY, eat the cake. Of course, Grandma had an entire small cake just for Brendan.

We were lucky to have Uncle Joel there taking photos, (NOTE: all really awesome photos in this post contributed by Uncle Joel) and at the last minute we thought to try and capture a few family shots – but the Superhero was on a little bit of a sugar high. I’m sure it was a SuperSugarHigh.

There are many moments and people that I didn’t get to capture with photos – but I will remember that everyone seemed happy and relaxed, and that equals a good party for me. Because there were activities for me to help with, I couldn’t stay in the kitchen doing things, and got to interact with everyone. I liked that. But watching Brendan’s face as he experienced his third birthday party is a gift I will always hold in my heart.

We’ve already started the celebrating for our favorite three year old. Technically it started this past weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, but I’m going to write about that when I’m more awake. For now, I just wanted to always remember that this was the first day I got to bring in treats to school for my son. It was so much fun trying to make just exactly what he wanted. He was a real trooper and tried one for me last night to make sure they were okay. And he also told me how I should do the frosting on the “3” cookies. I took his advice, and he was right – of course.

My favorite part of the experience was actually when everyone sang happy birthday to him. He went through a whole range of emotions from shy to elated:

And then the cupcake eating began!

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We invited some of his favorite big people at work too.

After we finished up, B and I went around and shared some cupcakes with his past teachers and other friends, and then we played hookie the rest of the day and had a picnic with some baby ducks. Other than starting the morning with the worst skinned knee he’s ever had, it was an awesome day.

I created a photo album on my computer tonight labeled “Brendan 3 years”. When it sorted alphabetically I realized that I have a 3 day, 3 week, 3 month… and now 3 years. I remember each of those albums as if they were yesterday – can’t believe my baby is three. Almost.

I’ve been feeling ‘busy’ lately. I don’t know why, exactly – things picked up at work a bit, and there are lots of exciting things to plan for at home, as well as the usual chores and the yearning to do some deep late spring cleaning. But ultimately I know that busy is a state of mind. It’s a perspective that I am in complete control of. I’ve been talking to Rob about the summers of my childhood – the long days on the calendar that seemed to go on forever. The opportunity to be ‘bored’ which presented the opportunity to create new fun. Craft projects that took days to complete, new games to play, adventures and exploring and s’mores, swimming and sprinklers and tanlines and freckles, long road trip vacations, books to read and write, vegging out in front of the tv for a while, collecting things, sleeping in and not having to be anywhere, bare feet and the smell of sunscreen – sea air and rollercoasters, lemonade stands and a little spending money, staying up way past bedtime, bbq’s and koolaid and homemade ice cream and popsicles dripping down my elbow – watching the sun set, camping out in the back yard to look at the stars. Freedom to stretch out and breathe. Space to form new ideas and perspectives on the world, time off from the normal routine. That’s what I want for Brendan. Or that’s what I want to re-live through Brendan. Both are true, I think.

So many moments I want to collect up and put in jars to open again and experience later – after Brendan has outgrown another ten shoe sizes, when his summers are spent out with his friends rather than begging Mommy to play with him. I love when he says, “actually”. I love the way he says it, but I also love that he uses at the most perfect moments. He saw a picture of someone sneezing and said, ‘Mommy – he’s bless-you-ing!’. He went to Charlie’s graduation recption (graduation from the daycare at school, into kindergarten) and Charlie said, “Brendan, do you want to come meet Teacher Sherri’s daughter? She’s a TEENAGER!” Brendan responded with a very adult look on his face and a matching wave of his hand, “Okay, but I can’t stay TOO long.” He reminds me at times that even though he is a big boy, “I’m still small, Mommy”. He will not go to sleep – but as we sit in the dark magic happens – he calls one foot Spiderman and the other foot Superman – and they play and talk and have adventures. Or he tells me stories of school – tells me how Teacher Kelly says, “Oomph” and that it’s what you say when you are getting up. Or tells me about “San Diego” even though he has never heard about it at home – he tells me “it’s a store where they have lots of animals”. Sometimes Mister independent pushes me away, but most of the time if I try and leave he tells me, “No, Mommy – I love for you to stay here”. I love all of it. And I want to slow down and enjoy all of it more. To remember that’s my choice to make.

He took his first ride on a pony – made more exciting by his favorite stories of “Trigger”, Daddy’s made up horse. Trigger and Brendan and Daddy go on all kinds of adventures while often times Mommy is “at the pretzel store”. Brendan made up his own horse and named him “Trigger 2”. He’s dark blue. Brendan is endlessly asking for Trigger stories, and I have only heard Daddy try to dodge the request on two occasions.

Daddy is full of magic – for Father’s Day I asked Brendan questions about Daddy to make into a gift, and one of the things he told me is that the thing Daddy loves most about him is that they go on adventures. I think that is probably true. This weekend we went up to have breakfast at our second favorite spot, and to get the boys haircuts (and lollipops because they were both good…) and then they went out to visit the inlet of water right near there where they always visit while Mommy pops into her favorite little store. They always look around for rocks to throw in, but because this is a paved section of downtown, they never find any. But this time, Daddy had a surprise. He had collected up a whole bag of rocks from around our neighborhood, and brought them so that Brendan could throw rocks in the water. And that is the perfect illustration of why I love this man. From the moment I met him, I knew he would be that kind of father. I know Brendan will remember many things about his Dad – and most likely he will never even be surprised that Daddy has collected and carted a whole bag of rocks with him to wherever they are going. Because Daddy will always do that. But some day, he will realize that being able to take Trigger stories and bags of rocks and a great many other magical things for granted is the greatest gift of all. I know this, because I now appreciate my amazing Dad even more for all the things he let me take for granted.
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They interviewed each child at Charlie’s totally amazing graduation ceremony – 4 questions. Tell everyone your name, how old are you, what is your favorite class memory, and what do you want to be when you grow up? Only one child out of more than 20 responded that they wanted to be a Mommy. And even she wanted to be a “rockstar mommy”. As far back as I can remember, a Mommy was all I ever wanted to be. I don’t know what Rob wanted to be when he grew up, but I’m certain that this is what he was born to do.

Mommy: did you do some painting at school today?

Brendan: nope!

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Let the record show that on June 1, 2014, Brendan Gianino was already playing ball.

Let the record also show that no matter how much time I spend with this little man, it’s never enough. I can’t get enough of listening to each and every thing he chooses to say, looking at his sweet little face, and watching the kindness that flows out of him into the world. And also the silliness.

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He tells awesome stories, he gives hugs to all the kids in the neighborhood, he rides his bike like a champ, he reminded me today that they needed more nap time diapers for him at school (I had forgotten, and he genuinely reminded me). He not only talks about race cars but also which cars have spoilers, and which motorcycles are choppers or cruisers or racing motorcycles. Every single person at work who drives a motorcycle knows our son. I also taught him to sing a really cheesy broadway rendition of “Tomorrow” from Annie. I write him notes and put them in his lunch, and even though he can’t read, he keeps them with him all day. His teachers tell me that he sleeps with them at nap time. I love every single solitary thing about him, and I think he can feel that. And he still keeps getting better and better each and every day.

We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, and said hello to the Uncles! Uncle Brian graduated early from culinary school, but he came back to graduate with his class. We were thrilled to have them visit! Uncle Brian drove out first so that he could participate in some fun with his classmates. We enjoy this ‘fun’ because it means doggy bags for us! In fact, I think Uncle Brian cooked every single day he was here. Even the nights when he had gone out before we got home from work, there was a delicious homemade dinner waiting for us. He is so incredibly kind and talented – in addition to being an amazing Uncle and friend. And Uncle Darin isn’t so bad either! =) He flew in on Thursday night and we all spent the weekend together. Uncle Darin woke up early with Brendan each morning, and loved sending Brendan in to wake Brian up. It was a really nice visit, and only reminded us how much we miss having them next door.

Several months ago, Aunt Lisa brought in a very special hand-me-down for Brendan – a really cool big boy bike with training wheels and a shark painted on it. Brendan loved looking at it, but his feet couldn’t touch the ground when he sat on the seat, so we stuck to admiring rather than riding. Suddenly this past week, he decided to get on the bike and start riding. His feet touched, and he was off. I’m not sure how he knew that he was ready, but he was. He started out doing circles in the garage, and we quickly graduated to the open road.

We also tried out the local pool, and holy cow – what an awesome place. There is a huge dedicated kids pool with slides and sprinkly spouty things to play in – and the water is the same shallow depth throughout. There is also a big pool where it gets deep, but all along the length of the pool are steps, so the kids enjoy playing in there as well. Brendan continued to amaze us with his newly developed comfort in the pool – he splashed and played and went down the slide with the bigger kids like he owned the place. We loved it – it was like a vacation in our own town.

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Other random sillies included a viking in the back seat, and wearing a mustache into school. He kept pointing to it – you know, in case anyone missed it.

Friday marked 9 years since the day Rob and I were married. The celebrations have changed a bit – but the love is more deep and real then the day of our wedding. We showed Brendan our video and he was sort of interested, but couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t there. We talked about how the wedding was one of the many things that Daddy and I did on our way to find Brendan. With his birthday coming, he has been especially interested in the story of his birth. He can tell you all about how he was in Meredith’s belly because Mommy’s baby belly is broken – and then Daddy got the call from Meredith that it was time! And how Auntie Gabe came over to stay with Chelsea while Mommy and Daddy raced in the car to the airplane, and then raced in the airplane to Iowa – and then in a car again to “Waterloo Iowa” (I love hearing him say ‘Waterloo’). He loves hearing about when the nurse told us that he would only drink a little bit because his tummy was so small – but that Brendan cried and cried until Mommy and Daddy finally figured out that the nurse didn’t know how much OUR baby could eat! Anyway, this morning while Daddy took the puppy on a walk, we were watching Curious George and Brendan said, “Can we watch the one where you and Daddy get married?”. Mommy has never grabbed the remote so quickly. I asked which part he wanted to see and he said, “The part where Mommy and Daddy get married and Mommy looks beautiful”. This time he watched everything extra carefully. He loved the part where Daddy starts to feed me cake but first pretends that he is going to eat it instead. He loved the part where Grandpa and I are dancing and suddenly we start being silly and everyone claps and laughs. And then when the part came on where Daddy and Grandma danced, I got a little emotional when I explained that some day if Brendan got married, that he and Mommy would get to dance just like that. He was cuddling in my lap and put his hand up to take mine. While Daddy and Grandma danced on the movie, Brendan and I danced in the living room. It was a moment I’ll never forget, and a story I’ll probably tell at his rehearsal dinner some day. As we sat back down, I told Brendan that before he was born, this day had been the happiest day of my life – but that when he was born, that became my favorite day. It’s not because being a Mommy is better than being Rob’s wife, it’s that being a family is the culmination of everything I’d every hoped for.

When Daddy got home and I tried to explain everything that had happened, I turned into a big pile of happy tears. And then Daddy finished up the project he had been working on for 6 hours – he made me homemade donuts. Daddy is a crazy man sometimes. I have never even attempted to make donuts, and after watching Daddy, probably never will – but man were they good. And filled with love. Which is probably why Brendan ate two all by himself.

Harper’s Mommy picked up the camera to capture her daughter being sassy, but also ended up with some priceless sentiments about Brendan. These twoIn an improbable case that you do not love appalachianmagazine.com generico levitra on line results after use of the Volume Pill? Be assured that the level of excitement in your relationships will never be higher as they are proven to be effective. All these appalachianmagazine.com cialis 5 mg brands are highly popular for their occupational safety products. This is a complete stress to the man s penis which eventually leads the person helpless and tends the person to face erectile dysfunction. canadian pharmacy viagra I could download the file and that was so much high priced that all of the common generic viagra soft people cannot afford it. have to get married, because we are going to have some awesome footage for the rehearsal dinner.

It’s been almost a week since their departure, and I’m just now sitting down to look at pictures and remember the happy times we shared with Snow Grandma and Snow Grandpa. Those names stuck, by the way. Love it.

Snow Grandma still wasn’t feeling well, but after almost calling off the trip, she rallied and was a trooper throughout the entire stay. We let them rest the first day of their visit, but then we kept things hopping for the weekend. It started with a trip into school for Brendan’s Play Ball awards ceremony. There was only one other parent there, so we were a little confused on when and where it was happening – or whether it was happening at all. It was, and we were in the right place. After their session, Coach DeeDee sat them all in a circle and distributed a sort of report card, and a medal! The kids could all recognize their own names and it was cute to watch them get all excited.

After the ceremony, we took a couple adult hours to run out to a few wineries. Other than my allergies going crazy, and one crusty wine lade, it was a very relaxing trip.


The next day we went out to our favorite breakfast at Boonfly, and then on to do a little outlet shopping. Brendan and Daddy found a baseball game being played at the park nearby, and chose that over shopping. Brendan came back telling us all about how to run the bases, and he is hitting balls like crazy! Not off the tee, but pitched balls! We were shocked when he actually hit one over the fence and into our neighbors yard. I think Daddy was also shocked at all the tips I have to offer from my softball days.

We hit the farmers market for a little jumpy house + waffle extravaganza, and then grazed our way through the rest of the aisles. Grandma even treated for face painting – Brendan looked at all the choices and picked a rocket ship!

Somewhere in here Brendan had a tired moment and didn’t like something Mommy was doing. He looked at me with a furrowed brow and said, “Mommy I don’t like your pretty dress!”. It cut me deep. He is still the king of awesome comments – more every day then I could ever relay. He knows that police help people, and he knows that the little lane on the far end is where you go when you have a flat tire or run out of gas. Last night we saw a car that had clearly been pulled over, and the policeman was giving him a ticket – Brendan said, “Oh look! That police is helping that guy with his flat tire!”. Glass half full kind of guy… He also makes a “home alone face” and is pretty good at cuddling up on the couch. Still in love with those feet.
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We went to the pool at Grandma and Grandpa’s hotel two days in a row. The first day was similar to swimming sessions we’ve had in the past – B hanging out by the steps, doing a little splashing, etc. The second day, he turned into a little fish right before our eyes. He was wearing his pool float from his cousins that he had never shown much interest in, but suddenly all our talk about how to kick and paddle his arms kicked in (pardon the pun) and he realized that he could propel himself around the pool. Suddenly he didn’t want Mommy or Daddy’s help – he wanted to do it all by himself. And he got himself from one end of the pool to the other, multiple times! He loved it. We will definitely be spending a good portion of the summer at our local pool – and probably in a swim class as well. He’s ready. Grandma took a few pictures and videos, but I can’t seem to find them in my stash, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

We said a sad goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa and had just a couple nights until The Uncles came to visit! Brendan had been in bed for a few hours, and Mommy and Daddy fell asleep on the couch. I woke up around midnight and got up to go upstairs to bed. As I looked back to wake Rob, I did a double take. There was Brendan, fast asleep on the floor with his head on one of the couch pillows. He has made his way downstairs a couple of times – most of the time we are awake, one other time we were asleep and he woke us. This time, he just pulled up a pillow and went to sleep with his family. His whole family – because Chelsea had fallen asleep with her little head over on Brendan. Thank goodness my phone was nearby.

It’s naptime, the uncles go home tomorrow, and I’ve got two desserts in the works – so that’s all the catch-up I can squeeze in for now. Remind me to tell you about his new hatred for nail clipping, and how we solved it with marshmallows. Marshmallows make everything better.

Hope your Memorial Day Weekend is filled with enjoyment!

Every day feels like mother’s day to me – I don’t need a special day to celebrate my favorite job in life. I don’t mean that in a curmudgeonly way, just that every day I get to be Brendan’s Mom feels like the most special holiday ever. But it does feel good to get to recognize all the important Mom’s out there – that way they have of kissing away all the owies and turning babies into functioning people. It’s amazing to me all that I took for granted until I became a mother.

I was treated to a beautiful Mother’s Day brunch at school, with homemade pancakes, berries and all kind of flowers and signs and love filling the room. Each Mom received a special painted pot with a bulb growing inside – and a card where each child had said what they loved most about Mommy (B said, “That she gives me loves and kisses”.) It was very sweet. And my son is a ham in social settings. And someone photo bombed us with their eye.

This video, while sweet, is nothing spectacular – but I just realized the awkwardness in the fact that Brendan is sitting right between his two twin ‘sweeties’, and Harper, his faithful girl.

I got extra time with my boy that day because we forgot his lunch at home (first time EVER), so we had a Mommy/Brendan date to Starbucks at lunch, and then took a stroll around the duck pond. We got back right at nap time so I cuddled up with him and he fell asleep with his head on my lap. Not a bad way to spend the day. Unless you were actually a person who needed to get work done. But that whole thing is entirely overrated.

Oh, there was also some face painting recently at school – Teacher Regina even made him some special bunny ears to go with his new face. Love her so much!

Then came Mother’s Day weekend – on Saturday Daddy suggested to Brendan that they needed to go out and do some things without Mommy. B didn’t like that at all. With a very concerned look he told Daddy that Mommy could come, and then turned and took my hand and said in the most sincere voice ever, “Mommy, you wanna come?”. Best Mothers’ Day present. But turns out they had plenty of other tricks up their sleeves – a giant balloon, flowers, gifts – and the best card in the whole world where my little man answered a series of questions about his Mommy. Love, love, LOVE.
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We also went down to visit Grandma and Grandpa at church and had a really nice visit with everyone there – including plenty of extra hugs from Grandma and Grandpa. Plus, he got to wear his Easter outfit which was still nice and pressed on the hanger – right where we left it on Easter Sunday.

We also got to go to our first friend-at-school birthday party. It was so much fun! Held at a park right by where I lived for so many years in SF with swings and slides and they even rented a giant pirate jumpy house – parents got to jump too – hooray!!! Brendan was convinced that since Sid had cupcakes at school that there would be no cake – but SURPRISE – there was a cake! I didn’t get many pictures because obviously I was having too much fun. But in the car after the party, our little pirate passed out immediately.

So many happy moments every day. He is talking up a storm and I will never tire of everything he shares with me. Even when he is in a contrary mood, just hearing his voice brings me so much joy, but I love hearing the funny phrases he comes up with on his own including calling himself, “Mr. Brendy” or “Mr. Pickle”, the phrase, “Lickety Split”, and of course the continuation of the potamusing of America.

Tomorrow is a special day times two because it’s Meredith’s birthday (hooray! send her presents and happy wishes!) and Brendan’s Boston Grandma and Grandpa come to visit (or “Snow Grandma and Grandpa” as he has named them).

Last week I mentioned that for earth day the Teddy Bear class planted a garden. This week when I was putting Brendan to bed one night, he said, “I never get picked for gardener of the day.” Having never heard of Gardener of the Day, I asked what it was and how one got picked. I was told that you had to be a good listener and make good choices during circle time. Just that day Brendan had a particularly hard time doing both of those things, so it was a good opportunity to talk together about how to practice those very important skills. He brought it up again on the ride to school the next morning, and once again we talked about that he could choose to really work on those things, and that I was sure one day he would get picked to the be gardener of the day. When we got to school I confirmed the gardener of the day story, and let them know that B wanted to work extra hard to be a good listener and make good choices today. I didn’t lobby for my son to get picked, I just wanted them to be aware that this was something he was really working on. Later in the day, I received this message:

I went down to visit and said, “Brendan – you did it! You must have been a really good listener and made really good choices because you got picked as the gardener of the day!” He looked up at me, smiled and said, “Told ya.”

This week was also extremely warm in the bay area, and the kids had all kinds of fun in sprinklers and various kinds of water play. They all have bathing suits at school, but after a morning mud puddle extravaganza, the bathing suits weren’t fit to be worn again, so I went to visit and found this:

Converse hightops and motocycle boxer briefs. Love it. He has also invented a new word: “willn’t”. At first we didn’t understand what word he was trying to say, and then we realized that it was always used appropriately as, “will not”. Why shouldn’t it be a contraction? I willn’t be surprised if this word becomes the new trend sweeping the nation.

We lucked out and had Grandma and Grandpa come to visit this weekend. We took them up to Petaluma on Saturday morning to one of our favorite breakfast places and then to get the boys haircuts after. They were amazed at what a big boy he was as he sat in the chair all by his big self getting his cool haircut:

And then we all cracked up as he tried out a new move. We did not teach him this and have no idea where he picked it up:

(am I including another video of essentially the same thing? yes i am.)
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(and yes – even one more. because these are like little happiness snacks for mommy.)

We did some waggoning with Grandpa:

Then we all did a little lounging on the couch together before naptime. I think everyone but Brendan fell asleep.

Holy cow – I look like a giant in this picture!
Now I’m going to go have a husband homemade brownie, and some Grandma homemade ice cream and then fall asleep on that same couch.

Daddy and Brendan are enjoying the last rays of sunlight, so I thought I would catch up on a few more moments:

– When I arrived to pick up B from school one day this week, they had Pavarotti opera playing – and all the kids were dancing around. Not one of them was enjoying it more then Brendan who also sung to me all the way home. I will be updating my iphone playlists accordingly. In fact, currently listening to “Nessum Dorma” on the fancy headphones Daddy treated himself to before the trip. Both Mommy and Brendan approved the purchase.

– Daddy was on the floor wrapped in a blanket while Brendan tackled him. He was reminded, “Daddy – that blanket belongs on the couch, cause the couch is soooo cold all over!”

– Did I already write about B telling Scarlet that her hair, “smells like purple”? I think I did…

– One night on a spontaneous whim, we went to the Thursday night food truck event that happens in the Presidio right by work. It was a great way to have dinner with Daddy even though he had to work late. And Brendan loved the sunset right next to the bridge and the bay and the cargo ships, with lots of wide open spaces to roam. And to my horror, he also enjoyed rolling around in the grass.

– We love hide-n-seek – we play with Daddy at home and laugh and laugh and laugh, and we even play in the car.

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– One morning B looked extra cute. I wanted to take a picture and told him to make an “I love you face”. Here it is:

– He thinks “Hippopotamus” is the funniest word ever. I think I already talked about “Teacher Potamus” being one of his first jokes. We continue to potamus things all the time. Recently one of my friends at work, Emily, who happens to work for me and also has a son in B’s class room sent me a mail that she was bending over to pick something up and Brendan called her a hippopotamus. She happens to be very pregnant right now. I had to explain that being potamused is a sign of honor and love in our family. It’s sortof a tough one to explain… especially to a pregnant lady.

– For earth day, each class room had a garden party where they planted things in their school garden. They do so many fun things at that school.

– Some days he still falls asleep on the way to work. Some days we make it all the way into the class room without him waking up. On those days, I skip my morning meetings.

Each day that I don’t write down memories, some fade away. It makes me a little bit sad, because there are so many moments each day that I think I will never forget. I know that they all blend into a beautiful light that colors the way I see everything, but still… a little bit sad when I forget details. I played single mom this week while Daddy was in the UK so life got a little busier. A little cuddlier too, turns out B is extra cuddly with me when Daddy isn’t around – especially during the sappy parts of “Tangled”. Sigh… We are so glad to have Daddy home, and I’m finally writing down some of the things I remember from Easter weekend.

I remember the sermon. I’m sure our minister would be happy to hear that. No surprise that it was on the resurrection – but what wedged itself in my heart was the reminder that we need to experience the resurrection in a personal way. To be reborn again and again. I’m a big believer in every day miracles, in moments where I realize that there are infinite fresh starts – opportunities for a ‘clean slate’ as my Dad would say. I don’t think it takes a big stretch of the imagination to guess that Brendan resurrected my heart in a big huge way, and that each day he expands my heart more and more and more. Brendan is a clear sign to me that God knew what he was doing with my life. And B helps me to see all the little moments that tell me the same thing – the butterflies, the clouds, the rainbows, sparkles on water, magic in traffic, the opportunity to share a hug or an M&M. He also helped me to re-see a moment that happened early Easter morning. I had carefully assembled the cutest Easter outfit for Brendan – a Navy blue blazer, tie that matched the cuffs on his white shirt – everything an Easter outfit should be. Mommy and Daddy carefully matched their outfits to his, and so did Grandma and Grandpa. Daddy carefully pressed everything and hung it on the hanger so that we could change him at Grandma and Grandpa’s house right before church (i.e. after our traditional Krispy Kreme donut run on the way down). We were two exits away and I said to Daddy, “You got Brendan’s outfit, right?”. His silence and the look on his face was not reassuring. Needless to say, Mommy was crushed. I will admit that I was close to bursting into tears. Brendan was still in his pajamas with no Easter outfit. I sat in silence and took the last two exits to remind myself that Easter is not about new outfits or being perfectly dressed. And that my joy was not sitting on a hanger back home, but sitting with me in the car. When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s I quickly took stock. Since Brendan is in big boy underwear, but still not pooping on the potty (!) I had brought a back-up pair of shorts. At the last minute I threw in a short sleeved white tshirt that didn’t have too many stains. I had some new white tennis shoes. Not too shabby – certainly better than pj’s. And then I looked over on the dresser in my old room and saw a pretty blue sweater the color of Brendan’s eyes. I picked it up and realized it was one my Mom had knit for me when I was a little girl. It looked a little small, but I tried it on my son. The sentimental value of him wearing that sweater outweighed the fact that it was a tad too small, and far outweighed the perfectly fitting outfit I had intended to put him in. Daddy apologized for not putting the outfit in the car, and I told him I now realized that it was meant to be forgotten.

At church, our boy was excited about everything – seeing his grandparents, the singing, the children’s sermon…

and then he insisted on leaving with the big kids for the rest of children’s church. Daddy went with him, but they returned just as Grandpa was delivering the prayer for communion. I thought B might call out for his Grandpa, but he just sat and gazed at him – and I caught the eye of our minister watching the scene with delight. Grandma cheated and offered Brendan a communion wafer – something she NEVER let me do when I was a little girl. What happens at Grandma’s stays at Grandma’s extends to church apparently, where she continued to feed her Grandson every sugary treat he showed even the slightest interest in. No wonder he didn’t nap…

They had an epic egg hunt after church. EPIC. There were so many eggs, and there were special gold coins that got you big bags of treats. And Brendan was an active participant.

He continues to want to have egg hunts every day at home. He has us fill the eggs with his tiny race cars, and gets excited as he opens each one.

Also, I was looking at Grandpa and suddenly realized he had a very inappropriate sticker on his jacket. He claimed the minister’s wife stuck it there for an event they were doing, but I wonder. At least his wife didn’t seem to mind.

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Then it was time for our family photos:

And then back to Grandma and Grandpa’s where we were hoping the Easter Bunny would visit. We were also hoping for a nap, but as I mentioned, that didn’t happen. (thanks Grandma) Turns out the Easter Bunny really is magic, and found a way to get everything hidden in time:

There was also some bubbling and some wagon time:

There are so many more pictures (HERE Mom), and so many more memories, but two boys want to play hide-n-seek-swords with me, and I think you get the idea – it was a very nice Easter.

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Before I head to bed, and also before it becomes Monday, I just wanted to write myself a few notes on the weekend. We traveled down to Cupertino for an exciting event: My parents 50th wedding anniversary. It was a pleasure to celebrate with them, and to remember highlights from 42 of the 50 years I’ve spent in their marriage. My Mom loves to tell the story that when I was about Brendan’s age, I put an arm around each of them and said, ‘I’m so glad we got married!’. And I am. I also love the story of how they met – it was a blind date set up by various people over a long period of time. Awesome. We decided to take a little family trip and stay at the hotel where we stayed after Rob and I got married. It’s about 5 minutes from my folks, so it works out nicely for many reasons.

Saturday was also my 9 year cancer survival anniversary. When these yearly markers started rolling around, they were a big deal. The first year, we took our postponed honeymoon, and I had a couple inches of hair that I was pretty proud of. The next years brought extravagant gifts form my husband like diamond earrings and a trip to Miami. This year my husband gave me a beautiful bouquet, and I loved it. I loved sitting at the wine hour at our hotel, in the same spot where we used to sit during chemo – where I would watch other brides walking by and long to be living my wedding day over again. Or the days just beyond chemo where we talked and dreamed – about how and where and when we would ever afford a house, about what we wanted our marriage to be – and most importantly, about how we would start our family. There really wasn’t ever anything as important as that question. And as I’ve said a million times, if I had only known that my path was leading to Brendan, I would have smiled the whole way through. I’ve cried more tears, both happy and sad, in that wine hour spot. So this visit, it was nice to just sit with my husband, drink a little wine, and not talk about a damn thing.

And Brendan had fun with all of it. He liked the hotel, and the lobby with the fish, and the fountain for wishing, and the ‘medium pool’. On the way down he cried because he wanted to see Grandma and Grandpa, and today he cried when we left the hotel. He likes Cupertino too. He sure loves his Grandma and Grandpa – and aside from the treats he has come to almost expect when he visits them, he was presented with a very special gift – Grandpa had made him a wagon. A beautiful wagon that he designed himself, and that will be an heirloom for generations to come.

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Oh, and while Rob and Brendan were out for a walk, he had to stop for a quick poop break.

He’s still not pooping in the potty – but he only very rarely has a peepee accident!

We got home, and we didn’t get all our chores done. But I’m guessing we’ll somehow survive the week. And I haven’t decorated B’s seasonal shelf for the past two holidays, but he still seems to be making it through his days. Instead we rode bikes, and blew bubbles and made matches of all the fish that stick to the side of the bathtub, and of course – we played with race cars. And when it was time for sleep, B wanted all of us to read a story together in his bed. He told each of us where to sit and when Daddy started reading the book he selected, he did his Brendan thing and wanted to know, “what’s that guys name?”. Most of the characters he asks this about are not named, but we’ve learned that B likes it better if they have a name. So we make one up. Tonight I offered, “Tyrone”. Daddy laughed at my choice, and Brendan laughed and said, “noooo Mommy, it’s not Tiny Rone!”. Then Daddy and I both laughed hysterically. And then Brendan did a perfect imitation of his parents and said, “Oooooookkkkkkayyyy… caaaaaalm your body. It’s not time to play anymore. Take a deeeeep breath.” This did not help me stop laughing. He is SO funny. And SO fun. And I love being with him every second of every day – no matter where I am or what I’m doing. No matter if it takes longer to get things done, no matter if I’m exhausted. Every single day I don’t think it’s possible to love him any more than I do, but each day he expands my heart to hold more love and more joy.

This week my favorite story actually began with sadness – which could almost be an alternate six word life story for me. I was coming from a meeting at work when I felt the unbelievable Mommy urge to go see my boy. This happens often, but this time it had more urgency. I walked into daycare and found Teacher Regina cuddling Brendan on the bench in the entry way. She asked if I had gotten her message – I hadn’t. She had just called to tell me that Brendan woke up from his nap incredibly sad. That’s not a normal occurrence for him. He slithered right into my arms and we held each other tight. He didn’t want to talk for a while, but eventually I discovered that he had a bad dream. We decided to take a walk. We went to see the yoda fountain and climb on some rocks – and then he wanted to go see Daddy. We got all the way to Daddy’s office (he wanted to be carried the whole time… still not himself) and found that sadly, Daddy wasn’t there. We hung out for a little while hoping he would return, but finally decided to walk back to class. He was very excited because I told him that on the way back we could stop and get a treat a Java the Hutt. When we got there, he looked at all the choices and decided that he wanted to get a cookie for Daddy. I let him pick one, and then asked what he would like – but all he wanted to get was the cookie for Daddy. Brendan loves cookies, but he didn’t even ask for a bite, he only asked that I keep it safe until we could give it to Daddy. I almost cried. My baby woke up very sad, and the thing that made him feel better was picking out a treat for someone he loves. It reminded me a little bit about when his Daddy and I were first dating – Rob called to tell me that he had an awful day. I said that we could just talk the next day if he wanted, and he said, “I was actually going to ask if I could make you dinner”. I will never forget how I felt as I went over to his house, and found a table set with a basket of chips, some salsa and two beers. He sat me down to snack and we flirted while he made me quesidillas. I probably had an inkling I’d marry him right at that moment. So anyway, I have wonderful men in my life – and Brendan did end up sharing that cookie with Daddy on the way home, but his biggest smile came not from eating it, but from the moment he got to present it to Daddy. Mommy’s heart can’t take beauty like that.

And then there was the evening we got home from work and as Brendan got out of the car, he said – “OH! We drove right over the Sunshine!”. He was really looking at something, and repeated himself again. When I went in close to look, I realized that there was a bright sunbeam on our driveway, and the only thing blocking it was Mommy’s car. It looked like we had driven right over the sunshine. Evidence below:

When I took the puppy on her walk this morning, I was presented with pure magic: the sunrise illuminated rain drops all over a hillside of tall bright green grass, and low puffy clouds hovered around the little valley of our neighborhood below. And then, as if straight out of a children’s book, a rainbow emerged from the clouds. Perfection. Except the rest of my family wasn’t there to share it with me. But when I went to visit at school today: rain that suddenly cleared and gave way to rainbows (and outside play time!) for me and my boy. On the way home: all three of us in the car together saw more and more rainbows. They were everywhere today. A little sun, a little rain – and one little boy who let me view my world through rainbow colored glasses. Because it’s my favorite story, and it couldn’t have started without a little sadness.

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I have been trying to justify the ‘when life gives you lemons’ bracelet from Kate Spade to celebrate my 9 year survival anniversary, but I realized that’s not quite my thing. Life didn’t just give me a bunch of lemons – life gave me a whole bunch of sunshine, and some rain too – and that’s how I found my rainbow. Sorry Kate Spade, but I’m going to need a rainbow collection: STAT.

Oh boy, this week! It started off with the return of mommy’s ear/sinus infection, but the good news is this second round of antibiotics seems to be knocking it out. I’ve been sick since New Years Day, so I’m ready to start some health in the second quarter.

Brendan has been working on potty training on his own for a while – meaning he voluntarily holds it even though he is wearing a diaper and then does a great job going peepee in the potty (or in some cases, the bushes.) We’ve had a stack of big boy underwear around for a while – super heroes, animals, pirates, motorcycles, briefs, boxer briefs – a nice selection. But he has remained uninterested, which has been fine with me. I’m a big fan of diapers – very convenient invention. At times when he doesn’t want to get dressed we give him a choice of diaper or big boy underwear, and he always chooses the diaper. But on Tuesday, he picked the big boy underwear. Rob and I shot each other a look and decided to go for it. He picked the superman ones. Of course. Here are some very candid shots of Mr. March moments after he put them on for the first time:

Day one: NO ACCIDENTS. How is that possible? Because as we are learning about our boy, he thinks and ponders for a while, and then when he’s ready – he’s ready. (Aunt Lisa pointed out that this is JUST like me. She’s so right.) And in the week that has followed there have been a handful of accidents – but almost all of them have happened *just* after he says, “I have to go potty!!!”. It’s a timing thing. We’re working it out. Plus there are treats:

We haven’t dipped into the big M&M jar yet – those are for a poop in the potty, and we aren’t quite there. Mostly he saves his poops for just before nap time when he gets his diaper on. There was one day that he said he wanted to try making a poop on the potty. Of course it was just before we were leaving for school, and Mommy was already late for a meeting. Listen people, I have priorities, so we sat together in the bathroom and read many, many books. 30 minutes worth of books. And still no poopy. There was one other poopy accident at school, but for those of you who already think this post is full of too much information, I’ll spare you the details. At least most of them. Let’s just say that Mommy’s sinus infection keeping her from smelling much of anything, was not a good combination with putting the bag of clothes sent home from day care directly in the washer. Let’s further say that Daddy spent 45 minutes cleaning the dryer (including the removal of the lint trap). And let’s close by saying that there were many, many re-washings of that load of laundry. Moving on.

We also went on Brendan’s first real field trip. It was actually the first class ever to take a field trip in the Teddy Bear room. I like to think Brendan inspired it. They were concluding their studies of the moon, and this was a trip to a cool space museum and planetarium. It was on a Saturday so everyone just met there, and had a good time hanging out together until nap time. Some of my favorite moments:
Watching Brendan and his favorite teacher, “Teacher ‘Gina”:

The vortex ball thing – Brendan LOVED this. If he had his way, I think we’d still be there sending the balls into orbit. But he still did a great job sharing with the other kids so everyone got turns.

The “nastronaut suit”. This is what he calls them and I smile every time. Everyone always refers to them as “an astronaut”. Sounds right when you run it together.

We asked him what his favorite moments were and he said, “The planets (in the planetarium) and the balls (in the vortex thing)”. This became a chant for a few minutes as we were putting him in the car, “The planets and the balls! The planets and the balls! The planets and the balls!”

Nothing like a space museum on a rainy day to tucker a boy out. He fell asleep in the car mid-snack:

Rob took me to this same museum on one of our first dates. Actually, we can’t remember if we ever really made it to the museum, but we do remember sitting in a little Mexican restaurant recounting every moment we had spent together since our first date. Easier to do when you’re two weeks in. So we took the sleeping boy opportunity for a car date – we tried to find the old Mexican place (gone) and a bakery I used to hit every time I was in the east bay for the chocolate chip meringues that were roughly the size of my head (that place is one too, but I re-created the meringues when we got home). Our date wasn’t a total bust though, we ended up with some deep dish pizza and some freshly made ice cream. You know, healthy stuff…

Lastly, I’m pleased to announce that Brendan seems to share my affinity for shoes:
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(these photos were courtesy of Harper’s Mommy)

And just a few more of my tiny favorites:
– That is favorite color is no longer blue. It’s “Dark Blue”.
– His over use of the phrase “just a little bit”
– At first it was “just one more minute..!” then it was “just two more minutes…!” Now we’re up to three.
– Hearing him count, and get to twenty with a few jumbles now and then.
– Waking up in the middle of the night to a small boy standing by my bed gently caressing my face and smiling.
– The way he laughs a happy laugh and says, “Yeeeeah!” when he is really excited about an idea.
– When we were leaving the farmers market, he got very sad because he had not gotten Mommy a flower. (my heart….) Luckily there are some nice ones for him to pick for me in our garden.
– Watching him with baby Scarlett – seeing how gentle and loving he is
– Hearing him tell stories. He thinks of as many things as he can, and uses as many words as he can.
– Watching him incorporate new words into his vocabulary. The other night he kept telling me something was poking his ‘meatball’. After a few rounds of guesses and pointing, I realized he was referring to his EYEball. (He and daddy had just had a discussion about eyeballs. Mainly about how Brendan should not poke them.)
– This week I was getting dressed and not feeling good about my outfit – my son looked at me and said, “Mommy, that’s a pretty dress.” I kept it on.
– Brendan is a big boy, but he knows he is still my baby. Sometimes he tells me that he is ‘still small’. Today he told daddy, “I’m your sonshine!”
– The way he looks into my eyes when we are lying together in his bed at night, smiles at me and says, “this is fun!”.

I look at all the kids in the jumpy house at the farmer’s market. I have always loved babies and children, and watching their real experience and reaction to the world around them. But now I’m almost embarrassed to say that they have all become just shadows dancing behind the boy who lights my world. And I understand that this is what having a mother means. That for one person, you are the only sun in her universe – the one whose light radiates the very brightest. There is nothing you can do that is not wrapped in that all encompassing light of her ever-fresh and everlasting delight. And every baby jumping in that jumpy house is the sun lighting someone’s world. It’s such a beautiful thing.

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Happy weekend!

Happy St. Patrick’s day from two of my luckiest charms.

What a weekend. Daddy had his second lasik surgery to fix what went wrong the first time. It was slightly nerve wracking because everyone says lasik is fool proof… but something went wrong the first time, so it was hard not to be a little worried. I’ll spare you the expense – it went perfectly and now his ‘bad eye’ is even better than his good eye. Whew. You’ll notice some fancy goggles in pictures throughout the weekend.

Grandma and Grandpa were there when we returned home, and had made one of my favorite meals of the whole year – corned beef and cabbage and leprauchan pie! And the little man takes after his Mommy, because even though he doesn’t love to eat meat, he could not get enough corned beef. He even stole many pieces off my plate. I can see I’m going to have to start hoarding. I didn’t have to share my pie though, because Daddy had requested homemade ice cream – and everyone but me chose that for dessert.

(please pretend you don’t see our messy garage)

As usual, Grandma and Grandpa come with many surprises which this time, included a Superman kite. Brendan couldn’t wait to go out and fly it. Luckily there is almost always a little breeze that kicks up in the evenings – even on on our 80 degree spring day.

We also had to show off the new scooter.

Saturday Rob and I had to head in for his follow-up appointment so Grandma and Grandpa finally got rid of us and had Brendan to themselves a bit. We came home to decorated shamrock cookies and a happy boy. Uncle Frank and Auntie Jess came by with Miss Scarlett who is now a full 6 weeks old. It was the first time Brendan had met her, and he was so sweet and gentle – he very lightly touched her feet and head, shared his toys, and also announced that he liked her. We spent some time in the backyard and Brendan decided that Daddy should give him a ride in the wheelbarrow.

This is the wheelbarrow that I bought as a ‘prop’ for B’s last birthday party. I was supposed to part with it because we really have no need for a wheelbarrow – but turns out there is one pretty good reason to keep it.

Saturday night, before Grandma and Grandpa left, Brendan came running into the house yelling for me – “Mommy! I need you!!!!” I sprinted downstairs and found that my son needed me because “the sky is so pretty right there!”. The fact that my boy recognized the beauty in the moment, and knew his Mama would want to see it too is one of the highlights of my weekend.

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Sunday morning was a trip to the farmers market that included three rounds of bouncy house, 2 waffles, many fruit and vegetable samples – and what is becoming another tradition, Brendan choosing some flowers. He really loves flowers and I love to watch how he picks them out. I try very hard never to influence him – I want him to pick the ones that speak to him. Today he happened to choose some that the nice flower lady decided were not her best representation, so she threw in another bunch for free. I think they are beautiful. Although two bunches proved a little heavy for Brendan to carry.

And as he was browsing, the flower lady presented him with a free bloom. Brendan announced that it ‘looked like sunshine’ and held it close the whole rest of the trip. Watching the look on peoples faces as they see him with his flower is almost as good as watching B with his flower.

And just in case that wasn’t enough excitement for one weekend, we also took Brendan to his first symphony. Our local symphony was doing a Disney program especially aimed at families. Not only were they playing music from Disney movies, they even had a big video screen showing stills and short clips from the movies they were featuring. We knew Brendan enjoyed music, but we weren’t sure if he would last the whole concert. He did. So patiently, so well behaved, and so joyfully. And although I couldn’t film him watching the performance, the images from today will always stick in my mind: watching him so little in his seat hugging his program close to his body with his mouth slightly open in awe – seeing him excitedly applaud with the rest of the audience – watching him wave his arms around at intermission, mimicking the conductor (or ‘the professor’ as Brendan called her) – hearing him exclaim, “Holy Cow!” at one point during the show, talking about how he’d like to play the standing bass (or the ‘big mintstrument’ as B called it), and then changing his mind saying, “it would be toooo heavy. I want to play a medium one”. So many amazing moments lived vicariously through my boy experiencing them for the first time.

And then after the show, they had an ‘instrument petting zoo’ where kids could get up close to the ‘minstruments’ and even try them out. Even though he had just sat still for so long, he was so excited to wait with the other kids to try not just one, but almost every instrument they offered.

It was an awesome. Then we went to the pond and watched Brendan fly with the birds:

Oh yeah, and we got Brendan’s school pictures on Friday! Aside from the funny hair combing the picture people did, I love it.

Sigh, what a lucky family we were to have all this fun in one weekend.
Mom – many more ‘minstrument’ photos here.