16 months later...

...we've gone video!

At 13 months, Mizz was learning to walk. Three months later, his Dad finally learned how to deal with video.

As for me, well, just listen to the video.

I got a new job!

OK not really a new job per se, but an additional one. Starting in February I will be teaching a class for parents and kids (separately thank god) about the effects of divorce on children. Washington County is pretty darn progressive in that it recognizes the significance of divorce on families and mandates participation in the program. Given this and the fee that is required, I imagine that some of the parents may not be thrilled to be there. As a parent, I certainly know what an added burden can feel like. I am confident though that I will be able to win them over with my winning personality and brillance. Actually, I do really enjoy leading groups like this and am really impressed with the program. Also, it is a great opportunity to get connected to an agency I really respect and do some work with kids. To top it all off, the schedule is really flexible and as of now, I am just signed up to teach Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for two hours each. Yay me!

Finding Meaning

Thanksgiving Morning. I have to admit I found myself thinking, "what's the point anyway?" In my mind, the day had become nothing more than a meal for me. We weren't able to fly to see family or the friends we have spent many Turkey Days with in the past. Am I really interested in celebrating a Pilgrim holiday? More seriously, I couldn't shake my sadness about the clients that I work with and what the beginning of the holiday season means for them--for many, it is a reminder of their isolation and need. But we had people coming over and I had to get with the program. Perhaps not so surprisingly, once I got started, my mood quickly improved. I continually forget how satisfying it can be to follow a new recipe and create something exciting. Half of the fun of it was that Dave and I tagged team well and took turns cooking and entertaining Mizz. As the day went on (complete with an emergency, very last minute trip to the store), I got more and more excited. My anxiety about getting everything done in time evaporated as it became clearer that we were going to get everything in the oven. We were having friends come over and were going to have a good meal! My cheesecake looked amazing (Thank you Alma for the recipe)! Dinner was an hour and a half later than I had planned but it didn't matter because we had fun talking with our guests and watching Mizz. I love watching other people enjoy Mizz and vice versa. So it turned out to be a nice holiday after all because of the people present, those that I spoke to on the phone, and those in my thoughts.

I Hug You

What a shot! How great is it that after I have just accosted him with a trip to the mall and then a massive photo shoot, he still comes over and hugs me?!? And I captured it to boot! Man, it was a long day, but he sure is adorable.

No time to blog, sleep, or eat

Darn you Alma, for lending me the Memory Keeper's Daughter. I have given up many opportunities for sleep and undisturbed eating so I could read this really well done book. I am deliberately not reading the book in all one sitting because I want to have time to mull it over. As it is though, I finding myself wanting to skim pages to find out what is going to happen next, something I never do.

So time is a-wasting and the book calls. I'll just note that Mizz and I just braved the Children's Museum again on a rainy Sunday. Despite the crowd it was really fun and adorable to watch Mizz play in the water area and mini grocery store. Now hopefully he will settle down and take a nap.

Building Rivalry

I think Mizz is jealous of my tower building skills. It's the only explanation I can come up with for why he keeps knocking my beautiful creations down. I have been on the verge on designing some truly awesome buildings and he insists on barreling through them with an evil grin and sick laugh. Should I be concerned?

I miss my spouse

Minding Mizz just ain't the same without Dave. If nothing else, part of the joy of parenting is sharing it with your partner. Telling Dave on the phone about Mizz's daily antics isn't the same as experiencing them together. I also can't help but wonder what Mizz understands about his Daddy's disappearances. I do know that he is thrilled when he returns. So am I.

Goodbye Goodnight Moon

It is official. Mizz is no longer a baby anymore. Yes, I know that he is 16 months old, but up until the last two weeks I could still savor our sweet bedtime routine which involved a bottle, a cuddly baby, and the sweet cadence of the Goodnight Moon. No more though. The routine started to flag when Mizz began insisting on walking around while he drank his evening libation. Alright I figured, this is my cue to cut out the bottle, and sure enough, Mizz didn't even blink with the switch. The last four nights he has pushed aside the Goodnight Moon and made a beeline to the crib. So no more storytime. I still get the cuddles though, because he is absolutely enraptured with his pop-up Wheels on the Bus book. We read it a lot. He actually goes ballistic if I try to delay the reading or steer him toward another book. It's all pretty funny considering he used to regularly start bawling at the windshield wiper page.

Ice Cream Man

Here's the promised pic of Mizz after scarfing down some homemade ice cream. It was gratifying to see the ingredients that went into it. We are going to have fun experiementing to find the perfect recipe!

Today Mizz and I seized the sunshine and made use of the baby backpack and went on a stoll around the neighborhood. Yesterday we did the same and ended up getting soaked. Mizz was singing in the rain for awhile and then he started screaming in the rain. Oh well. We have both been going crazy being so cooped up. The only fun that Mizz seems to come up with is trying to break into or get things that he is not supposed to have. This is not as fun as it sounds for me who is supposed to be holding the line and setting limits. Half the time I want to crack up, the other half of the time I want to lock him up in a padded cell.

He is sleeping right now and I am praying it is a two hour nap and not one of his bogus 1 hour and 15 minuters.

Enough rambling for now, I am reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter and it is riveting because you know there is a train wreck in the making. At this point though, I don't know if anyone is going to survive. Gruesome stuff, really... Must go read.

Playing Catch Up

I am currently running behind in everything (even more so than usual). Mizz has another ear infection and this one came complete with its own little surprise. This morning Mizz woke up covered with red bumps. While I started raking through my memory of scary rash-having diseases, somewhere my rational brain kicked in and I realized that he was most likely having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic prescribed yesterday. After a fun hour and a half visit to the doctor, it seems that the Mizz is allergic to penicillin. So now he is on a regimine of Benadryl and an antibiotic which I hope he will tolerate. Recently Mizz has enhanced his gagging skills and after some nasty projectile incidents with Tylenol, I am nervous about 10 more days of med administration. Ok enough about that. I promise to compensate for the gross talk with some really cute pictures soon. But now, after many short nights and long days at work, I want to sleep.

It's getting better all the time...

I used to be mad, but now... The Beatles song has been running through my head since I read about Rumsfeld. Good riddance. C'mon Virginia, show your stuff! Buh bye Santorum. Hello Nancy Pelosi! The results are better than I have dared to hope. Let the recount madness begin. Scarily, now the freaking Democrats actually have to do something. At least they don't couch themselves as the Moral Right.

Weekend Update

I've come down from my sugar high and am finally able to post again. No seriously, my folks have been in town and it has been pretty busy with all the visiting, eating, and general brouhaha that Mizz creates. He got an early Chanukah present--his very own kitchen set. He loves it! It's got doors to open and shut, knobs to turn, and spatulas to toss. He dances to the noise of water boiling! Adorable. Mizz has been showing off his word recognition skills and dancing moves nonstop. He has also been showing off his once robust, but now picky eating habits.

This just in: For the first time ever the New York times is endorsing no Republican candidates for Congress. Astounding.