We’re Home…Again.

My first loaves in our new home. I'm home.

          It has been a long mental hibernation for me.  As many of you know, I gave up TV and Internet in observation of Lent this year.  It was 40 quiet days of reading, playing with my little one and a bit of much needed prayer and reflection.  During that period, we moved out, my mother visited, we moved in and now we have arrived at a new pit stop– we are parents to a One and a half year old.  I am on my way to no longer citing my son’s age in months.  He was 9 months in the womb, 12 months, a baby, out of the womb, and now at 18 months a toddler and 6 months from being a 2 year old, hence, the year and a half.  I started to make a list of things that he now does so that I can list them here and never forget.  Of course I can no longer find that piece of junk mail that I jotted the list on so I will try to remember.

          For my mother’s screen saver, she maintains photos of Pelé from all of her visits and I am amazed each time when I see how young, how chubby, how bald he was with each passing visit.  These days his favorite words are “tractor/truck”, “keys”, “wheel”, “bye-bye” and “taxi”.  His favorite book is “Don’t Let The Pigeon Ride The Bus” and “The Good Night Train”.  He loves the way that his Papa reads them.  If he gets his hand on a Kleenex or a roll of toilet paper, he will proceed to blow his nose with it and then wipe himself (with his diaper on or off).  A cow is a “moooooo” and a hen is a “bar-bar-bar”.  He has started to tell us when he needs to “pee-pee” or “co-co”.  More times than not, he lets us know after he does it but what is important is that he does communicate it and knows that it is happening*.  He occasionally removes one side of his diaper or unzips his footsie to let us know that he needs to be changed.    Our baby has discovered his nostrils and no belly button is safe from his prodding.  He is fearless with the exception of friendly cats and vacuum cleaners which send him running in the opposite direction.  He enjoys hanging and swinging from bars, tables, chairs, and any other surface that he can dangle himself from.  His dance of choice is Samba.  He recognizes the music and his feet just starts to move.  He is now 26lbs and 35 inches (nearly 3 feet).

          We’ve enrolled Pelé in a soccer class.  The class includes children between the ages of 18 months and 2 years.  I’ve decided to put Music on hold for a bit because I found that he would spend most of the class time running around and hiding behind curtains or just looking out the window.  I’ve always said that what is most important to me is that my child(ren) be exposed to as much as possible and if they stopped showing tremendous interest, I’d move on.  He loves music- drumming, piano, maracas, tambourine, recorder, the kazoo.  We still have occasional jam sessions with Papa but his grandparents will cover one extra-curricular activity per semester (10-15 weeks) and I thought it best to try something physical this time around.  So far he is enjoying it.  Of course there is no structure in terms of the actual sport at this age but he is learning to kick the ball (first and foremost) and then kick it into the goal.  Learning how to run from one side of the field to the other (while playing Red Light, Green Light).  Most important, he’s gaining discipline from watching the other children.  It’s fun to watch how he interacts in that setting.  I am learning that he certainly moves to his own drum.  For years I swore off ever teaching any child of mine animal sounds and “high fives”.  It always seemed so pointless to me– I am just NOT the “high five” type and why the hell does my kid need to know how to sound like a duck?  Alas, I am a parent and if I had a dollar for every person on the street and in that damn soccer class who has asked my son for a “high five”, I could fly to New Zealand and back.  Pelé would just stare and I would make excuses for him– “Oh, he doesn’t do high fives”.  It took my mother attending one class and coming home and teaching my son how to “high five” and how to huddle for me to finally break down and conform.  He is so happy when he gives a “high five” and he loves to bark like a dog when he sees one.  It’s his way of saying, “That’s a dog, Mama, and I know what sound it makes, want to hear?”  Our children are going to be who they are going to be.  All I can do is be a parent, not a critic.

          We love our new home and our neighbors and now that we’re up and running again, we intend on keeping up with blog postings.  The photo is of my first breads made in our new home.  It was a rye recipe (I don’t recommend getting bread recipes from a British cookbook…it always tastes like something is missing).  It was great with arugula, mustard, salami and beer cheese.  I’m still on the look out for a great pumpernickle recipe though.  One that uses nuts, raisins and sesame seeds.  Pass it on if you find one.

          One other thing that I should mention.  If you haven’t made overnight oatmeal in your slow cooker yet– you must try it.  I’ve never had such wonderful oatmeal in my life (not even in Scotland!)

*For those who have been following our EC posts, we are now using Snap-EZ trainers and hemp nighttime inserts and we love them.  If we could do it again, we would start out with them for diapers too as our BumGenius diapers are now loose on the legs due to worn out elastic that the Snap-EZ’s do not have.  The BGs are fine for the day but will leak at the leg if he is lying down for a nap or at night.