Archive for January 3rd, 2007

For so many years, I held my son and my relationship with my son as my parenting standard. I’m sure most parents who only have one child for a number of years do the same. I thought we had a great relationship (we do) and I thought I was a pretty good mom (I was). But this time, it’s so different. I can’t say that I love Liam more because that’s a bald-faced lie. But it’s different. I’m a lot more patient, for one. I thought I was pretty patient the first time around. For a young (I was 23 when Harry was born), inexperienced mother, I was pretty patient. I’m pretty mellow by nature anyhow so I wasn’t the sort to get all wound up over the small stuff. That said, this time I find myself enjoying the little day-to-day moments so much more. I’m not all caught up in wanting to move on, move forward, get through. I’m happy to blow raspberries on his belly during diaper changes and enjoy a little extra snuggle after the afternoon nap. I revel in the many ways he’s learning new things every day. Watching him chomp excitedly on his new toys or gum the satin-y edge of his blanket brings a smile to my face, instead of worrying about when those teeth are going to come through already. We’ve been rather lackadaisical about feeding him solids, mostly because I don’t want to rush things. If he’s not that into it right now, why push it? He squeals with delight and I laugh instead of rubbing my temples and wondering when his nap is.

Each moment is so incredibly precious. I don’t know if I’m more aware of this because I’m older, wiser, more mature (I hope), or if it’s because of everything we went through to have him. Or both. Probably both. Definitely both. If I’d had Liam two years after Harry like I’d wanted, I don’t think I’d be the same mom to him that I am now. It’s not to say that I’m glad we went through hell and back (and through again… and back again…), because HELL NO, I’m not. But there is a difference. And it’s worth noticing.

Right now, Liam is playing in his ‘Sauce, thrilled with all of the wonderfully nubby toys to chew on. He loves that exersaucer. But, unlike with his brother (and I’m a little embarrassed to admit this), I’m not as likely to let him sit in it for too long at a time. I get him out as soon as he seems tired of it/I think he’s ready to eat/he needs to be changed/its naptime, whathaveyou. But I do love watching him play in it. Especially when he finds the little mirror and gets THRILLED by it, like “Who is that incredibly handsome guy?” Who wouldn’t be totally charmed by that? I take it little by little, moment by moment. I don’t want to rush this.

Filed under General Snark |

Wow, I was SO totally going to post this yesterday.? But I didn’t.? I’m not entirely sure why, but the only excuse that halfway works for me is that I was in the business of getting… back in business.? It’s hard to recover after the holidays.? Things were so bleeding INSANE for a good two weeks around here.? We took the last weekend to just shut ourselves in and let our brain cells regenerate.? So yesterday was sort of a shock and I feel that today, I’m better able to deal with my daily life.

Ahem. Anyhow.? Monday was a fun, fun day. We hung out at home in our PJ’s for probably longer than was wise.? But it felt good to be on our own schedule for once.? The idea was that we would go out and spend our gift cards.? Except, not so much as it turns out.? We didn’t ever get to Barnes and Noble for Harry’s card.? And I went to JC Penny to try to spend mine but I got overwhelmed.? Everything was on sale.? And I didn’t know if I wanted to use it on clothes, or shoes or a handbag…? I still don’t know.? And we decided, rather last minute, to go see a movie.? So I didn’t have a lot of time to hem and haw.? We did purchase a gift while we were there (yes, totally not done with Christmas shopping) so all was not lost.

We went downtown (the only theater whose matin?e prices go until 5:30 on the weekends and holidays) and saw “Night at the Museum.”? Which was so fun and so cute.? Harry had to go to the bathroom two times during the movie and once just as we were getting out.? So I’m not sure what that was about.? Liam had a GREAT time.? He was wide awake for the entire show, but never fussed.? He did, however, start to squeal with delight on several occasions though.? It was so cute, but I was worried that people would get annoyed.? So I tried to keep him as quiet as I could.? It was fun, though, to see him have such a good time.? It’s a good movie, so I recommend it for anyone wanting some fun, family-fare to go see on the weekend.? Very clever and Owen Wilson was my absolute favorite.? I tend to adore him in any movie he’s in though, so I may be biased.

After that we went to Chili’s for dinner where we proved once again that we’re the cheapest people in all of creation by how proud we were that we kept our bill for the three of us under $20.? We were going to go to Home Depot (another gift card) but it was CLOSED (as if!) so we went to Super Kmart which never fails to give me the heebie jeebies.? But I did get some cute (cheap) Christmas cards for next year.? Because YES, I will do cards next year.? I WILL.

I have so much to catch up on, blog-wise.? I want to talk about a bunch of Christmas stuff that I forgot to post before.? I want to discuss some resolution/goal type stuff.? So hold me to that, dear readers.? Right now, I’m gonna dive back into some more design work which I am SO behind in it’s not even remotely amusing.

Filed under Family Circus |