remind me to just stay home next year

Today was the New York City Marathon. The race starts in Staten Island, then crosses the Verrazano Bridge where it cuts straight through our neighborhood. The necessary street closures require everyone to plan ahead when deciding where to park their cars or, as in our case, how they'll maneuver the alternate routes on public transportation.

I braced myself accordingly for a longer commute to church. Luckily, Blake's bishopric meeting, which had originally been scheduled for 8:00, got canceled at the last minute, so he was available to help me get the boys to church. We both had to be there at 9:00 for Ward Council, so we left the house at 8:10 to account for the extra couple blocks we'd have to walk to catch the bus.

Upon arrival at the bus stop, a block beyond the street designated for the marathon, we learn that instead of being able to catch our bus here, we'd have to walk an additional eight long avenues to where we could pick it up. With two little boys, no stroller, and a time limit, that just wasn't going to happen. So we turned around and back track a few blocks to catch the train.

We hop on a Manhattan-bound R train at 77th Street and, at 36th Street, transfer to a Coney Island bound D train. The D train would take us to within a few steps of the church, so as long as there were no major delays, we could still maybe get to our meeting on time.

But of course there were delays, or, rather, service changes on the D line which called for all Coney Island bound D trains to travel on the parallel N line. Which for our trip meant that we had to do some back tracking and then ultimately get off at Avenue U, a good 10 minute walk from the church.

You do what you have to do, so we sucked it up and did our best to take the service changes in stride. (But let me tell you, I was thisclose about two dozen times to just turning around and going home. Ask Blake; he'll tell you.) We finally arrived at the church at 9:30, halfway through Ward Council. Blake and I were exhausted, Garrett was wired, and Caleb was starving. In short, we made it, but we were a mess.

So let me just state here in writing so that I don't forget next year when the day of the New York City Marathon rolls around again: Just Stay Home. Stay home and watch the marathoners run through your neighborhood. Your sanity will thank you later.

(Okay, so that's probably just all talk. You know me -- I'll be at church. Because in case anyone is curious, the trip home did go slightly better, thank heavens. It still took a long time, but it wasn't as riddled with rotten luck as our earlier trip had been. It was a long, hard day, though, for reasons beyond our frustrating trip to church, reasons too many to count and complain about here, and I'm so glad that it's over.)

garrett this month

Sitting where I am at the end of October, I'm realizing that Garrett has been a incredibly busy boy this month. Here's a sampling of what he's been up to:

- He's become very polite. He says please and thank you like it's going out of style. Can I just tell you how endearing it is to hear him say thank you when I open a door for him?

- He has pretty much completed the transition from the crib to his bunk bed (though sometimes we still use the crib as a method of convincing him to stay in his bed after we've tucked him in).

- At least once a day, and often more, he'll sit next to me on the couch and let me read him books. He has lots of favorites, but the one which right now will guarantee to get a good laugh out of him is The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too!

- He's figured out how to break through the child lock on one of the kitchen cupboards and likes to help himself to uncooked spaghetti:

I love how he goes straight past the box of goldfish crackers in favor of the dry pasta. What a weird kid.

- He's talking more. It's a language that very few people can understand, but he speaks it and and uses it to actually communicate what he wants, so I'll take it. A few samples of Garrettese include:

• "Da boo" for that book (as in, read me that book right now or I'll flip out)
  
• "wa" for water, milk, and sometimes juice
  
• "can-ee," for -- you guessed it -- candy
• "boppa," for apple
• "whun," as he holds up one finger to mean he wants one more
• "ite" for turn on or turn off the light, and
• "ee-whun," said in a singsong voice, which, because he says it as he picks up his toys, I'm pretty sure is the "Clean Up Song" he learned in nursery.

- He's also suddenly decided that he likes to talk on the phone. Like actually talk on the phone instead of just holding it up to his ear, grinning, as he listens to whoever's on the other end talk to him. Of course, in order to get him to talk you'll need to prompt him by asking him questions that are sure to get an answer -- things like, "What does the cow say?" Several times a day he'll ask to call either Dad or Grandma. He's usually sitting down next to me when I let him make the phone call, but, just like his father, he prefers pacing around the apartment as he converses.

- He is recently obessesed with things being hot. "Da hot," he'll say pointing to the oven or the radiator or, more frustrating, his food. We never give him a plate of dinner too hot for him to eat (in fact, there are many meals we eat served cold), but no matter what it is or its temperature, he'll hover his hands carefully over it, pronounce it too hot, and then won't touch it again. (I think he's just using this as an excuse to get out of eating something he doesn't want to because he'll inhale a glass of hot chocolate.)

- Speaking of obsessions, his latest VHS favorite is Chicken Run. I love the way he tells me he wants to watch it: he sticks his hands in his armpits, flaps his "wings," and says "run, run, run."

- He has always been interested in our piano, but lately he has taken that interest to a new level -- the level in which he thinks he's actually playing. He's figured out not only how to turn it on, but how to get the demo songs started. Then he'll set some sheet music up on the stand, pull the rocking chair over, and "play."

- Not only did he not flinch for his flu shot, but for the first time in recorded history, he didn't scream during a haircut.


- He climbs on our windowsills, which he knows very well not to do. But of course he does it anyway. I have never been more grateful for the guardrails we have installed on our windows.

- He's learned how to whistle. Well, sort of. He can do it, but it hasn't yet developed into a talent that he can turn on and off at will. In fact, I'm not completely certain that he knows exactly what it is he's doing (see video below -- but watch quick: he only whistles during the first 2 seconds. My favorite is what he does at the end when I ask him to whistle again).

baby, it's cold outside

The weather has turned chilly, and I'm getting ready to hunker down and stay mostly indoors for the winter. Caleb just goes with the flow these days, but I'm not so sure that Garrett feels the same way I do about limiting our excursions in the great outdoors. Which means that I need to find ways to keep him happy and busy within the confines of our small apartment (read: I don't want him watching Chicken Run, his new favorite, over and over all winter long).

I don't have very many natural "preschool teacher" instincts, so creativity in this department is a little challenging for me. For the past few months, I've been keeping my eyes and ears open to different activity ideas that Garrett and I can do together indoors. One of my favorite resources has been my friend, Amy's, Serving Pink Lemonade blog. If you have young children at home, you should check out her great ideas of ways to spend quality time with them. Unfortunately my limited access to craft supplies somewhat inhibits my ability to take on a lot of her fun ideas (though rumor has it that a Michael's just opened up on Manhattan's Upper West Side, making it the first decent craft store in this city that is actually accessible to me, albeit still a bit of a trek from where I live). At any rate, here are some of the project and craft ideas I think we might be able to tackle:

• Make construction paper collages. Yesterday we made one of autumn leaves and hung it up on one of our white kitchen cupboards. Garrett enjoyed gluing the bits of paper so much and was so proud to see his artwork hanging up that I think we'll make more. I'm envisioning pasting face pieces on a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, ornaments on a tree for Christmas, snowflakes for winter, hearts for Valentine's Day, shamrocks for...well, I think you get the idea.
  
• In the same vein, we could glue macaroni on paper plates. My youngest sister once created the life cycle of a butterfly using four different pasta shapes. I always liked that school project of hers; maybe Garrett could make one, too.
  
• Make bean shakers.
  
• Make cereal necklaces. Garrett [sort of] helped my mom make some during her visit. They were more fun for him to eat than to make, but I'm willing to give these a second try.
  
• We could finger paint.
• Or hang butcher paper up on the wall for him to color on.
  
• And then there's always the playdough option, which we could make and then play with. Or we could just buy some and play with that.
  

I'm assuming (or is that hoping?) that there will be some nice-ish days this winter, and on those, if I'm feeling brave enough (public transportation is still incredibly daunting with these two little time bombs I gave birth to), perhaps we could venture on one of these outings:

• The Brooklyn Children's Museum. They have occasional free hours, which is a definite plus.
  
• Or we could go to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. They also have some free hours, though they are more limited.
  
• Garrett loved the Transit Museum, so we could always go back for another visit.
• He also can't seem to get enough of the animal exhibits at the Museum of Natural History.
• If he's being a good boy (and I have a bit of pocket change) we could stop in for a treat at our local cupcake bakery.
• Of course, there's always Storytime at the library every Wednesday.
• If the weather is abnormally decent, we could visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (on a Tuesday, when it's free) and, while we're in the neighborhood, we could take a ride on the carousel in Prospect Park.
• I've always wanted to go to the Museum of the City of New York. They apparently have an ongoing exhibit called New York Toy Stories, which is -- you guessed it -- a collection of toys owned or made by New Yorkers.

Other things I've thought of that we can do while we're puttering around the house:

• The Fisher Price website has free online computer games that Garrett has enjoyed in the past. He always loves an excuse to play on the computer, so I might as well make it educational, right?
  
• Or we could lounge around watching YouTube videos. He LOVES YouTube. It doesn't matter what the video is, he gets a real kick out of sitting on my lap staring at the screen. There seems to be a good supply of Sesame Street segments available to stream.
  
• Building a fort out of blankets kept us occupied on a few cold days last winter, so we'll probably do that again. Only this time it'll be much cooler because we'll have a bunk bed at our disposal.
  
• Garrett loves to work his special magic in the kitchen, so I'm sure some afternoons will be spent baking.

This might be enough to keep us busy for a while. But then again, Garrett's world is incredibly fast paced, so for all I know, this could only get us through mid-December. And so I turn to you, my ever-helpful readers. As far as I'm aware, most, if not all, of you have experience with toddlers, and it is to you that I am going to solicit some brainstorming help.

• Do you have any suggestions of activities I could add to my list?
• What about resources, online or printed, that I coud look to for more ideas?
• And this isn't exactly brainstorming help, but do any of my fellow Brooklynites want to join me in any of the above-listed endeavors? It's more fun to be cooped up inside if you've got good company to be cooped up with.
  

a big day at the doctor's

At Caleb's 2-month well check-up this morning, I learned that, according to the numbers, he is measuring up just fine, having done a healthy amount of growing in the last six weeks. Here are his stats:

Length: 23 3/4 inches (up from 21" at his 2-week appointment)
Weight: 12 lbs 12 oz (up from 8 lbs 11 oz at his 2-week appointment)

Beyond the numbers, however, things got a little more interesting. Not bad, per se; just slightly atypical. To begin with, he does have reflux, though by all accounts it doesn't seem to be as bad as Garrett's was. It does, though, help to explain his colicky fussiness. The doctor said that reflux typically peaks at 4 months, so if it gets any worse in the near future (ie: a marked rise in Caleb's crying), we can put him on an antacid. Caleb is also prone to blocked tear ducts, especially in his left eye. Apparently this translates to an almost guaranteed eye infection every time he gets a cold. So, that'll be fun. If things on that front don't start looking better by the time he's about 9 months old, we'll likely be referred to an opthamologist.

The doctor also confirmed my suspicions that Caleb is both slightly tongue-tied and has a belly button hernia. The hernia is nothing to be too concerned about as in almost all cases it's only a cosmetic issue; it should close up on its own (hopefully sooner rather than later because his belly button seriously grosses me out). As for his tongue, there's no need for intervention yet because it's not hindering his eating. If it poses a problem to his speech down the road, an ENT can clip it at that point.

And then it was time for shots. Caleb was a trooper -- the sort of trooper who screams hysterically when poked, but a trooper nonetheless. Either because it's my second time around watching my newborn get vaccinated, or perhaps because I'm so used to hearing him cry, it was just business as usual from my perspective. In fact, I was phased so little by it that I asked the doctor about a flu shot for Garrett. Five minutes later, Garrett was getting poked as well. For the record, he didn't even flinch, which apparently just goes to show that eventually shots are no big deal. (Caleb, did you hear that?)

So, a big day at the doctor's. Both boys are sleeping off the excitement. Which, now that I think of it, I should be doing the very same thing. It's exhausting hauling two small boys (in the rain) to the doctor's office. I really would rather not have to do this again until the next well check-up. Three cheers for good health!

pumpkin picking

This morning I took the boys out pumpkin picking. Unless you have a car to drive out to a bona fide pumpkin patch, or want to take a long train ride over to Long Island or up to Westchester County, or other such places outside of New York's city limits, picking a pumpkin to carve for Halloween is a somewhat different experience. Instead of hopping between garden rows to find the biggest, roundest, most orange pumpkin available, we hopped between various neighborhood produce stands to find one we liked. Because it is the week of Halloween, the pickings were pretty slim, but that did not deter us, and after a relatively brief search on foot, we found one that was average sized, mostly round, and not too dinged up which we purchased and brought home. Maybe later this week we'll carve it into a jack 'o lantern.

bravo -- but let's wait until next year for the encore

It's over. The first Primary program under my direction is over, and I couldn't be happier. Though the presentation wasn't without its quirks, it was charming nonetheless. (It always is, though, isn't it? Remembering the fact that no matter how imperfectly the program runs, this Sunday is the favorite of the majority of ward members was my saving grace.) Everyone -- leaders and children -- did a wonderful job, and their hard work was very apparent. The Sunbeams stole the show, just like everyone expected them to. My favorite was the daughter of my friend, Melanie, who not only sang loud and clear, but also, because apparently she learned the song lyrics phonetically, with her very own words. It was great.

Now that I've directed the presentation of the annual Primary program, I have a better idea of how to do things next year -- what to change, what to keep the same, how to do things differently so as to make the whole affair a little less stressful. And even though I am glad (read: completely and utterly relieved) that it's all over, I have to admit that I got a little teary-eyed as the children sang the final song. There's nothing quite like hearing children you've grown to love share their testimonies of eternal families through simple and beautiful songs.

for caleb at two months

Dear Caleb,

The time I will have you as a tiny baby is fleeting, and as much as I love watching you grow, it's hard to watch these precious moments disappear into the past. Because I don't want to forget what you are like at two months, here are some things I love about you as you are right now.

What I love most about you these days are your smiles. Over the last few weeks they have evolved from awkward little half smiles to full smiles shared when coaxed and now to big grins given often without prompting whenever you are happy. Though he never asks for them like your dad and I do, your brother Garrett has the talent of making you smile spontaneously, which makes me think that either you think he his a hoot or you love him as much as he loves you. Probably both.

I love to see how your little world has grown as you've developed your ability to focus and follow movement around you. You love to watch people, and when something catches your fancy, you'll stop and stare intently as you soak in everything you can about this new or otherwise interesting object.

I love that you are growing and are, by all accounts, a healthy baby boy. Every day you are stronger and a little less floppy. In fact, you are holding your head up so well that the other day we abandoned the infant insert for the baby carrier in favor of allowing you to ride in it like the big boy you are becoming. You loved it, and cuddled up against my chest and slept as we continued our outing.

And speaking of cuddling, one of my favorite things to do with you is, in the quiet of Garrett's afternoon nap, curl up together on the couch where you, just as tired as your big brother, will fall calmly asleep against my body. Sometimes I will drift off to sleep, too, to the relaxing and rhythmic sounds of your breathing. I love, too, that in the last week you've decided to sleep for longer than short three-hour stretches. Six hours may not be a full night, but it is a beautiful thing in my book.

I don't so much love your colic, but I do love that lately you have had more good moments than bad. It makes me think that if we're not over the hump yet, we're at least perched on top of it. I'm trying my best to enjoy every moment with you, and though the colic makes it difficult sometimes, I do love that it means I get to hold and rock you more than I probably would if you were a calmer, more happy baby.

It is a delicate balancing act to make sure that I divide my attention as fairly as possible between you and Garrett, and I fully realize that it is not easy to be the second child. But I want you to know how much I love you, my sweet Caleb. My world is not complete without you in it.

Love,
Mama

circus act

At two years and nearly four months, Garrett is a full-fledged, certifiable terrible two-year-old. He is into everything and is tornado-like in his ability to tear the house completely apart in a matter of minutes. He is loud and full of boundless (and boisterous) energy. And he can throw a royal tantrum right alongside the best of them. His stubborn nature sometimes makes me feel like I'm attempting to discipline a brick wall, and his mood swings make a pregnant woman's raging hormones look mild in comparison. At the end of a relatively calm day spent with him, my nerves are completely shot, and all I want to do with him is tuck him tightly into bed, close the door, and revel in the next ten Garrett-free hours. There are other days, though, his charmingly sweet and silly sides notwithstanding, that I wish I could pack up my wild thing and send him to the circus. Do you think they'd take him?

the last few days

Blake's sister, Kimberly, blew into town earlier this week, and I don't know how she did it, seeing as she flew in from Texas, but she brought with her New York City's first winter storms. The weather these last few days have been very cold, rainy, and windy -- perfect weather for sightseeing, let me tell you. However, we have managed to have some fun while she's been here. Here's a photo sampling of what we've been up to.

We played with the parachute at the library during story time.


We went for a walk along the promenade (and then devoured some Brooklyn pizza afterward).



We went to the Met (where we saw Vermeer's The Milkmaid, which is visiting the museum on loan).


We took a walk through Central Park.


We helped our good friend Elizabeth celebrate her first birthday (and Garrett helped teach her how to blow out her candle).


And then Garrett taught everyone how to play with Elizabeth's new stacking toy.


In the meantime, Caleb has been doing a lot of smiling.


We've also baked cookies (which, I think, actually bake and taste better as brownies), watched our fair share of internet TV (The Office, 30 Rock, and our new favorites, Community and Modern Family), and went shopping in Herald Square (mostly at Macy's and H&M). We've shown Kimberly a few of the New York ropes, including introducing her to the busy crowds of people with their sometimes aggressive, sometimes incredibly friendly personalities. Most of all, though, we've had a good time. Even if the weather doesn't improve, I'm sure we'll enjoy the rest of Kimberly's visit with us.

a daydream involving meatloaf

Garrett loves meatloaf. Aside from strained pears, which hardly count because they came from a Gerber jar, it was his first favorite food. Tonight as I watched him happily shovel meatloaf into his mouth, my mind wandered to the day, several years from now, when Garrett is picked as Student of the Week in his first grade classroom and asked to make an "about me" poster to hang on the bulletin board designated for spotlighted students.

"Mom, what's my favorite food?" he'll ask me, not because he doesn't know, but because he can't decide.

"You know," I'll tell him, "You've always loved meatloaf."

"Oh yeah!" he'll say as he scurries off to add this aspect of himself to his poster.

And then I'll worry that maybe he should have chosen pizza like all of his classmates do. Because what six-year-old picks meatloaf as their favorite food and then tells the world about it? And I'll think back to the time when my youngest sister, Chelsea, on her Student of the Week poster, claimed ketchup as her favorite food because, according to her, it went with everything (especially macaroni and cheese which, if you'd watch her prepare herself a plate of it, you'd be tempted to ask her if she'd like some macaroni and cheese to go with that ketchup). And she was proud that her favorite food was different, and not pizza like everybody else chose -- until the kids at school started to tease her. Would the kids tease Garrett for loving meatloaf?

My mind snaps back to the present where Garrett, with meatloaf smeared across his cheeks, is grinning at me from across the table. And I think that unless he learns how to aim his fork a little better at his mouth, claiming meatloaf as his favorite food will be the least of his -- or my -- worries.