The Visit

I'm visiting Sam's preschool tomorrow. I thought he would be excited beyond belief to have me there. But every time I bring it up he says, "Visitors only stay until we go upstairs." He must have reminded me of this 3 or 4 times now. I'm thrilled that he loves his school so much, but the kid could show a little excitement.

Meet Me In the Middle

I spent a good part of my day visiting middle school classrooms, and I have to say, I loved it. We have some talented teacher candidates doing fine work with kids while also learning how to teach. 

One of my favorite moments was when a teacher referred to a "recent" adaptation of a film that was produced in 2009. 

"2009?" One girl guffawed. "That's not recent." 

It's true. If you are eleven, 2009 happened when you were six. Almost half a lifetime ago. 

Middle schoolers always put things into just the right perspective. 

We're Bound For Better Weather

Life is eating me up over here. So much that when I accidentally deleted my bookmark to my very own blog several weeks ago, it took me until now to even think about the blog and fix that error. You should know, I do love the blog. What's the trick, I wonder, to posting more often? How do you super bloggers do it? Please let me know.

One Step Ahead

There were so many meetings today. Many, many hours in a row. They were interesting and informative but what I really wanted was to get back to my office to finishing planning tomorrow's class.

Now, here it is, 9 p.m.

After putting the kids to bed, cleaning up the toys, gathering the supplies for tomorrow, tossing the diapers in the wash, and co-constructing the shopping list with my wonderful partner who is now at the store, I am just sitting down to tackle the class-planning task.

It's okay, though. I dig the new job, and some day it won't be so new.

Oh, and look at me, I'm also keeping up with the blog.

And there was music, too.

Sam seemed to really dig preschool today. He told us all about a frog who kept saying he was "just a green boy" and how he had to fix just about "everything in that school" with the tools they had in the toolbox.

Sam's three, though, so he also told me right before nap that he didn't like school and never wanted to go back.

Then at dinner he wondered why he didn't have to go to school on Wednesdays and "how many days away is Thursday?" Next, he talked his dad into a quick trip to Menards to get a toolbox just like the one at school. And a hard hat. If possible.

Now our school-aged-boy is sound asleep. Dreaming, no doubt, about his cool new school.

Milestones

Sam starts preschool tomorrow (PRESCHOOL!), and Eloise is crawling (CRAWLING!). So it's about to get crazy round here. Tonight, during the ritual madness that is our bedtime ritual, Eloise pulled herself up to her knees in her crib while Sam jumped up and down maniacally on the other side. They were both belly laughing. Dave and I stopped what we were doing to watch from the doorway. I'm going to try to remember that moment. It doesn't get much better.

Good Night Moon

Well, we did it. We made it through the first week of the semester. I successfully taught my first doctoral level course, and Dave successfully fed, bathed, and put two kids to bed on his own. Actually there were a few bumps in the first session of my class, but from what I could tell, things were all smooth for Dave. The three-year-old was already asleep when I got home and the babe was chilling with a book in her dad's lap.

Overall, I think we can do this.

The Great Outdoors

Right now my husband is outside pointing a laser at a family (posse? cohort?) of raccoons. They are generally nonplussed by his presence and don't seem to mind the red light in their eyes. 

This is a problem. 

Tomorrow I'll be calling animal control. They will arrive with a can of cat food and a cage. They will catch a raccoon overnight and then take it away to be killed the next morning. That's just the circle of life, if you want to look at it that way.

20 Minutes With One Hand

I would have so many blog posts if I could type while pumping.

Dear Summer,

Okay. So I didn't do very all on the Equation Challenge. At all.

But in my defense, it's been a crazy summer. We just finished the first week of the summer institute over at the writing project. And while I love it, it comes right on the heels of teaching another two week course. Which, by the way, I also loved. In the meantime, I am working on a couple of conference proposals, a conference presentation, and a book chapter. I'm also trying to close out a few projects at work before starting a new job in August which requires planning to teach a brand new course and learning the ins and outs of the entire English Education program at the university.

Also, I have a six-month-old and a three-year-old who require a lot of attention. And this I love more than anything.

So. Summer. I'm totally neglecting you. Sorry about that.

2O = LtD

I draw an imaginary line in the sand every time I have to put Sam down to sleep these days. Today the line was 2 times Out of the room and I Lock the Door. That took about 30 seconds. 

I feel badly about this, but let's face it, I'd never be sitting here writing this if I hadn't drawn that line. I'd be chasing that boy around the house and taking deep breaths. 

I prefer this. And when I look at Sam on the monitor reading his books and lying down to rest now and then, I think he secretly prefers this, too. 

Sam > His Parents

Sam loves to draw out his bedtime routine. I mean, 

d   r    a     w    i    t    o   u    t. 

So, it's especially annoying when, every night, Sam pops right out of his room after we finally get him down. What do we do? We put him down again. And again. And again. And again.

Tonight during pop-out gazillion when Sam walked into the family room, I sat down, let out a sigh, and said, "Well, Sam. I'm done putting you to bed. You might as well get comfortable and play with your trains." (You should know that this was not my greatest parenting moment -- and also not my worst.) Sam looked at me, squished his face, and said, "But I want to go to bed." That sure was news to me, people. So we trotted off to bed for put down gazillion + 1. 

If bedtime is a competition (and it sure feels like one), Sam is winning. 

Excitement + Late Night = No Inhibitions

You know how there's always one kid who gets a little too close to the performers at a kid's concert and everyone wonders how far that kid will go until he's actually standing on the stage with the musicians? Apparently that was my son last night. Becky, the fiddle player, was very nice and took Sam's hand to bring him back to his dad. When Sam told me about it later, he acted like it was no big deal. Like he and Becky go way back.

I + F ≠ ODB

I'm struggling with some mastitis again, and the Infection along with the Fever has me sitting at home tonight while Dave and Sam enjoy the Okee Dokee Brothers at the Minnesota Zoo. Sam has been looking forward to his first late night event for quite some time. He absolutely loves the ODB (often I have to pretend to be in the band with him and we put on shows in our living room). They're quite good, actually, and I'm sad to miss the show. You should check them out if you'd like. Me? I'm heading to bed.

40M + 3E ≠ Productivity

Eloise slept for only 40 minutes and during that time Sam successfully escaped his bedroom 3 times. This does not make for a productive nap time for me. #thebestlaidplans

4SB + 2DMB = 1BP

I'm sitting here looking at four spider bites on my abdomen and approximately two dozen mosquito bites in various places on my body. The mosquito bites are annoying and the spider bites unsettling. I think we might have a spider or two in the bed with us. The funny thing is I was just telling Cassie the other day that I liked the spiders (she killed nine one evening) because they ate the other bugs. I'm retracting that. The spiders are not welcome here any more.

(p.s. I realized that if I didn't just write something, anything! tonight before bed all would be lost on this blogging challenge. One blog post at a time.)

A + L = MM

New Blogging Challenge!

I have long thought that a new challenge would be the only way to really get me blogging again. And here's the test. As I understand it, we have to frame our posts around some sort of equation. I think it's going to be hard. And worth it. Here goes.

Allergies + Lactation = Miserable Mama

All of the pieces were in place for a lovely weekend at the cabin. Great company, good food, beautiful weather, happy children, and tree pollen. Oh, wait. Tree pollen makes for a terrible time at the cabin when the only drugs available are not compatible with breastfeeding. I have been sneezing pretty much nonstop for three days. And if I could have, I would have scratched my eyes out a millions times.

So, lesson learned. Find the drugs that work with nursing and take them in abundance.

Just Like That

Eloise is no longer six weeks old. She is, in fact, 4 months old and, can I just say, the sweetest little thing that ever existed. 

Here's proof:

Some days, when the stars align, both kids actually sleep at the same time. This is rare and a dream come true. And it's happening right now. 

Quick! I'm going to open a book before it all goes away. 

Sixth Week Adventure

Eloise gave us a bit of a scare yesterday. I awoke to the sound of her choking at about 6:15 and found her struggling to expel a large amount of mucous. When turning her upside down and patting her back didn't work, I ran her to the basement where Dave was getting ready for an early work meeting. He took over the effort to clear out the mucous, but it just kept coming. We retrieved the bulb syringe and spent the next 20 minutes battling to keep her clear and breathing. While I ran to wake Sam and get him ready for what looked like a trip to the ER, Eloise decided to turn a shade of blue and Dave decided to call 911.

Before I knew it, we had five of St. Paul's finest from Fire and Rescue standing in our kitchen. By this time Eloise had stopped choking and was breathing fine. She was lethargic, pale, and clammy but breathing fine. I took the ride with her in the ambulance and by 7:00 she was getting checked out by the ER doc. After an examination, RSV test, and EKG, he declared her in generally good health despite a small cold that seemed to have caused the extra mucous and the choking. We were home by 9:30 with orders to observe her and return if needed.

I am grateful for a number of things related to this event. That I heard Eloise choking and realized the sound differed from the grunting we hear throughout the night; that this happened while Dave was still home; that we knew what to do with a baby choking on mucous because we saw a nurse clear out amniotic fluid when Eloise was choking on it the day after she was born; that Sam was absolutely cooperative when it counted and was even somewhat elated to see firefighters in action and spend part of his morning in the ER where he saw doctors and nurses using the very "tools" he pretends to use every day; that none of the healthcare professionals made us feel we had made a mistake when we called on them to help an infant who turned out to be fine; that Eloise just has a small cold and this incident is most likely an isolated one; and that she's sleeping right here next to me as I write this.

Lulu

May I introduce Ms. Eloise to the blogosphere! She's looking like her mama in this particular photo, and I have to admit after having a son who looks so very much like his dad, I am pleased that she's acquired a few of my characteristics.

Life is a little crazy and totally wonderful right now. I allowed myself to forget what it's like to get so little sleep, but other than that I'm loving life as a mother of two. Sam adores Eloise and is very sweet to her (while also being pissed with his parents that he has to share our time and attention). Some days are certainly harder than others, but I am infinitely more calm this second time around.

So here's to blogging Eloise in 2014! You know, for the one reader I have left.