Documenting a Good Day

I just started reading through a book (I was actually giving to my friend) called "The Happiness Project". I realize I've got a lot to be happy about, so I'm documenting my day (which just happened to be Easter).

7:00ish AM... with plans to attend 8am church, it seems a bit impossible that I was still lounging in bed at this time. There were a few cranky words between Jamey and me when he came up at 7:15 and asked if we were still going. But somehow we managed to pull it off. Arrived to find a seat inside, walking in just before the processional went down the aisle.

8-9:30ish... kids were relatively good in church (Cam loudly asked where the Easter Bunny was) and we stayed for donuts and coffee afterward.

Between 9 and noon, the kids found their Easter baskets, ate the heads off the bunnies, played with the sidewalk chalk and bubbles, we all ate delicious Maple Syrup french toast (recipe courtesy of my mom) and were ready for play. Jamey commented how going to 8am church really opened up our whole day for more things!

12:45-2:45PM - biking. Despite a really windy day, the sun was shining and we decided to head out on bikes. Had a great ride, stopped at the park by Bender Pool and had some play time before coming back.

Other afternoon activities: playing at St. Matt's playground, mowing the yard, baking up lasagna, spending an hour browsing through Barnes & Noble.

Finally, the kids got to use their new bubble bath and shower gels for clean up (never were they so excited to take their baths/showers!) and everyone was in bed. Jamey and I watched a DVD I'd rented on Saturday; "50/50" supposedly a bittersweet comedy with Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I did laugh, but I also cried.

First Summer Project

I have a long list of projects for the summer. It usually carries over from one summer to the next; I think I've got items on this list that originated four or five years ago.

This is a bedside table project for Cam's room. I finished it in early June (but am late getting it posted!).

BEFORE:

 

Materials:

• Night stand: $10 on Craigslist
• Paint: free (found leftovers from other home projects)
• Hardware: re-used original hardware with a fresh coat of hammered nickel spray paint (also on hand from another project)
  

AFTER:

Cam is very happy with his new table. He stores lots of things in the drawer: marbles, stickers and various little cars. Every night, after we turn out the light, he reaches over in the dark and grabs a car out of the drawer.

Posers.

Halloween 2010: Cam the Viking and Willa the Mad Scientist.
While I hate to carry on the stereo type, Willa made an awesome mad scientist!

365 Days of Cam

I'll repeat the mantra of every parent (or anyone, really, enjoying life): 'I can't believe how fast it's gone!' Tomorrow we will celebrate 365 days of Cam. 365 days ago tonight, I was sitting on this very same green couch, but much less comfortable. More than ready to meet this new little combination of Jamey + Lisa.

I try not to make broad comparisons between Cam and Willa, but often it's just so blatant that I have to acknowledge. Cam seems so violent with his toys - beating them together or throwing them on the ground. Willa clopped toys together, but it seemed more in the spirit of making music than destruction. On the other hand, at this age, Willa went until she crashed, while Cam finds moments of calmness. I turned around last night from cleaning up dinner dishes, and he'd drug a blanket into the dining room and was just laying there quietly resting. Frequently he walks up to me, and just rests his head on me - anywhere, as long as we're touching.

Living in this house is like constantly being in the middle of some type of psychology experiment. I'm looking for the two-way mirrors or discrete video cameras. I am waiting for the psychologist to come out and explain that Cam's behavior is normal for a one-year-old male, that Willa is going through a phase clinically labeled the "seven-year bipolaritis syndrome' and she will soon grow out of radically shifting moods and easily bruised feelings. The professional will also tell us that we are model parents and he/she would like to feature us in a book about his/her research. Yes, that's what my fantasy's are now featuring!

On day 354 I will dream about my babbling, wobbling, beautiful boy. Tomorrow we will put a chunk of sugary cake on his high chair tray. He will either smash it into his face, savoring, finally what has been withheld. Or he will simply throw it, just like everything else.

Having Our Cake

Things don't always turn out like I plan. Actually, things rarely turn out just as I plan them, but almost always things seem to turn out OK or better.

Cam and Willa both have January birthdays. Considering we live in the midwest, I should count it lucky that this is the first time we've had weather-related issues surrounding a birthday.

Our original plans involved meeting up with Gramma and Grampa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelly and the boys, at a water park near Minneapolis for a weekend. We'd celebrate three birthdays: Mom, Willa and Cam are all within seven days.

Instead, Mother Nature intervened. SD had warnings for freezing rain and ice. We had rain, rain, rain. Despite my disappointment, I couldn't blame them for not wanting to drive in those conditions.

I think I was more disappointed than Willa. She was awesome. Cam didn't seem to mind one way or another. We went to "Plan B" & met some friends at a new local aquatic center, went out for pizza, then back to their house for cake. I'd ordered this cake from Jules Bakery last week, and was so looking forward to her delicious cake. Even though I knew we'd be eating it all week, I couldn't bring myself to cancel the order. It continues to be DELICIOUS!

Of course the birthday celebrations continue...Willa has a party with school friends at a local gymnastics center on Saturday. And we'll have to let Cam smash cake into his face on Thursday. Mmmmm....more cake.

The Second Time

One bit of wisdom that stuck with me from one of the numerous parenting books I read when pregnant with Willa went something like this: your new baby should join and/or fit into the life you already live, your life should not stop and revolve around your new baby. I think Jamey and I did a decent job of taking this to heart, but of course things change drastically when a new person enters your family. While I wouldn't say we redirected the sun to rise and set on the face of Willa, I would say she has become our true north.

There's nothing like a baby to shake things up. With #2, there seems to be very little choice but to fit him into the already established order of our universe. Teeth need to be brushed, bedtime stories read, lunches packed and stories created. Cam graciously fits into the spaces between.

I often wonder what he's missing. I remember the bedtime routine we had with Willa, even as a newborn. One of us would rock her with the last bottle, and the other would read long stories from a story book or Dr. Suess picture book. Does "second-hand" reading count when Cam sits in on Willa's bedtime chapter books?

There was so much thought and preparing for Willa's arrival. I read countless books on pregnancy, parenting, feeding and sleeping. I researched diapers and formula and car seats and strollers. We had seven different baby name books. I wrote an entire journal full of thoughts and letters to my unborn child. I made none of these preparations for Cam. It's like there was an open space in the puzzle and we didn't have to look twice to know he was the part that fit.

I took a picture of Willa in the same spot every day for the first 30 days of her life, just so I could see how much she changed and grew every day. I take pictures of Cam when Willa says "take a picture of me holding my brother like this."

Then I have to think about the yin to this yang. What has Cam gained by being second? First, he's gained a much calmer and more confident set of parents. We called our pediatrician, Dr. Judy, every day the first week we had Willa home. We brought the finger nail clippers to our two-week appointment with her because we were afraid to clip her nails. We've already trimmed Cam's nails several times. We know we can't "break" Cam or permanently wreck him if we let him cry a little. We know he's OK even if he spits up a little. We don't panic if he fails to poop every day.

Cam gets the benefit of Willa. He's so lucky to be the recipient of her special songs and stories and affections. She reads to him and it melts my heart. She makes plans for him and predicts their future and wishes it would be OK for her to marry him some day, but if they can't get married, at least they'll live together forever.

Cam gets our lessons learned from the first round - although I often wonder if we've learned anything that would make us change the way we do things. For now, I've decided not to worry about it.