NOT a Stay at Home Mom

Props to all of my stay-at-home parent friends. Holy buh-jesus. I am NOT a stay-at-home mom.

I had both kids at home yesterday. I started out really strong. We had breakfast. We did art projects, including one that Jack told me was "for Martin Woofer King." Ryker put stickers all over an envelope and seemed thoroughly pleased with himself. Then Jack and I threw a tiny bouncy ball into a tiny cup to see if we could get to "five and five." We had time, because Ryker was busy emptying all of our kitchen drawers. Then we played basketball.

It was somewhere right after that where I lost my groove. Jack wanted to watch a movie and suddenly it was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Snuggled up with my kids, I fought to stay awake. I made it, but only barely. I let Jack watch two of the Pixar shorts that followed the movie. I fed Ryker, but realized that he had eaten kid-versions of snack food all day. Oops.

Then I put Ryker down for a nap, and suggested another movie for Jack. I curled up on the couch and after awhile he mentioned he was hungry again. It was 1:30, and he hadn't eaten lunch when Ryker did. Oops. So I fed him, we cuddled and watched a movie. Then I gave him his vacuum and pointed him in the direction of the dust-bunnies. Once Ryker woke up, I decided we needed to get out of the house, but we didn't have that much time. So our outing? We went to the car wash. Ryker was not in his happy place. To calm down, we drove around Lake Nokomis. I thought it'd be nice and peaceful and we'd see all the pretty snow. Jack spent the drive insisting that I drive our van onto the lake, and me explaining that I didn't want to fall through the ice and into the water, and that NO, you can't just wait down there at the bottom for someone to come pull you out.

So that was my stay-at-home day. Not very educational or nutritious for the kiddos. I DID read part of Dr. King's speech, and Jack came and stood right next to me to listen. But other than that, the only lesson learned was that it takes a special kind of person to be able to stay at home every day with their children. And the stay-at-home parents I know all do a VERY good job of it. I'm impressed.

Little Things I Love

1. Chuck returning from vacation
2. My boys laughing and playing together
3. The sound of a basketball going through the net
4. Hugs
5. Fleece sweatpants
6. A fire in the fireplace (or fire pit)
7. Singing
8. Pets
9. Fresh sheets
10. Kicking the snow off of the wheel-wells of the car (don't ask)

Typing

Jack's sitting next to me at the computer as I am messaging someone. He goes "I want to write my name" and I prepare for a discussion about how you don't write with a computer, you type, and here are the keys and here is how you press them and do you see the little letters and numbers on them?

Instead, he reaches across me for the J - then goes "now Shift?"

"Umm, yes, actually"

Jackson

"There."

I guess he knows how to type.

Feedings

Warning: If you are squeamish about nursing moms, or moms who nurse for a longer time than "normal," stop reading now. I'm serious - I don't want to make you uncomfortable. This post is more for me than anyone else.

So tonight was (I think) the end of nursing with Ryker. And yes, that means I nursed him until he was almost 18 months old. As I was putting him in bed I said to Chuck that that is the last time I feed a baby myself. That's a really surreal feeling, as it was one of the best things I have done. I felt like I wanted to write about the whole experience while it was still fresh in my mind.

I definitely planned to nurse my kids. In the beginning Jack and I had a rough time. For the first two weeks of his life, Jackson went 90 minutes on, 90 minutes off - all day and night long. We got him on a better schedule finally, but it was still hard. I remember crying during feedings - partially out of pain and partially out of frustration and a feeling of failure. Chuck kept encouraging me and getting me to go just one more week, and then another, and surely enough we found our rhythm. After awhile we started cutting out feedings one by one. I say "we" on purpose - I tried very hard to pay attention to what Jack seemed to need and feel comfortable with, and to do the same for myself. The weening was very natural. Finally we were down to just a morning feeding, which would only last a minute or two. We were in St. Louis and he started to nurse but sat up immediately, pointed at the kitchen and signed for milk. That was it. We were finished. He was fifteen months old and I was grateful for the experience.

With Ryker it was easy from the beginning. I knew what I was doing and he was a good eater. I was fully expecting to stop earlier than I did with Jack. I knew my time was much more limited, both because of having two kids and because of my job. But the months just flew by and we were still doing feedings. For quite awhile it was morning and night, and then in St. Louis (not sure what it is about that place) he stopped his morning feedings. We've still been doing the night feedings, until tonight. He sat in my lap and I got ready - but he sat back up and covered me up. And that was it with him.

I know that nursing is an incredibly personal decision, and that every mom and child must figure out what's best for them. For us, it worked. I've taken my share of criticism, seen glares, stares, and gaping mouths. But I listened to my kids, my husband, and myself and I'm proud of that.

Off-topic

As Jack and I were coming home from school today he started quizzing me about Martin Luther King, Jr. I was so excited to have a grown-up conversation with him.

Jack: "Was I alive when he was alive?"
Momma: "Nope. I wasn't alive then either."
J: "Yeah, I wasn't alive and you weren't. And not Daddy, not Ryker, not energy bar....Would that be a big meal?"
M: "Huh?"
J: "Energy bar, waffle and orange juice."

I thought it was funny in a childish sort of way that he couldn't stay focused on the topic, until I realized that most of my conversations veer off the intended path and onto a more chocolaty one.

The Language is Coming! The Language is Coming!

We have two very communicative little children in our house right now, and they are both on the verge of major breakthroughs.

Ryker is figuring out how to communicate better and better each day, and is now showing us that he knows more signs and words than we thought. The two new ones are "hot" which comes out more like you are in a huff "Huh!", but which he accompanies with a sign; and "bobbies," which are balloons. We watched the movie Up about fifty times this weekend - a movie in which balloons play a starring role - and each time we'd start up the DVD player, Ryker would start screaming "BOBBBBB-BIESSSSSSSSS!!!! Bobbies! Bobbies!"

Jack is VERY close to reading and is writing new words every day, all on his own. He's sounding words out and writing things like "bed" and "mom" and "logan" (a friend at school). He also noticed that the word "Chart" on his Vacuum Chart "starts the same way Charlie does." The kid never showed interest in reading or writing until a few months ago and now he's really taking off. It's adorable and he's SO proud.

I thought we might be on the verge of teaching Ryker how to use the toilet too. After his bath last night he wandered, naked, to one corner of his room, turned around to face me, and squatted down. I leaped over to him yelling "No Rykie!", scooped him up and ran him to the potty, as visions of no-more-diapers danced in my head. But then he sobbed, thinking I was dropping him forevermore in the potty-prison. So we'll have to wait on that one.

The Songs

I got Jackson to sing for the camera (not that hard to do). The Christopher Columbus song is the one he did as a solo. The other one is another song they sang at their concert. I have issues with the lyrics - we told Jack that that is "one version" of what happened. Poor kid has to deal with hippie parents. Anyway, enjoy.