... walking with your husband and the same two dogs down the same stretch of beach at the same time of year as you did when you got engaged eight years ago, but this time with your children in tow.
... jumping in the car with your two boys and two dogs to go for a pre-bedtime drive around town, only to end the drive about 10 seconds later as you pull up to the jetty at the perfect time to watch the sun set over Wells Harbor and decide that watching the sunset on the beach in your jammies is a much better idea.
... sleeping with the windows wide open so you can listen to the sound of the waves as you drift off to sleep and wake up to the crisp, cool air.
... watching your four-year-old go from not being able to pedal a bike to riding it back and forth across the street the next day to "Uncle Shailer's driveway" like his dad did as a little boy.
... watching the same little boy count the days until Pappa Ken would arrive so he could take him on a bike ride "all the way to the stop sign" [down Drakes Island Road].
... cramming five adults, five children and six dogs into a small cottage so you can spend Labor Day weekend with family.
... plopping your one-year-old son down in the sand on the beach for the first time since he learned how to walk and seeing the twinkle in his eye as he walks as fast as he can to the ocean, carefree and fearless.
... watching as your family plays baseball on the beach -- your husband as the pitcher, your four-year-old as the batter, your one-year-old as the "catcher" and your nine-year-old golden retriever as the outfielder -- while your ten-year-old soaking wet golden retriever sits in your lap (you and the dog being "the people" which is what your four-year-old calls the fans), and realizing this is one of the best moments of your life.
... looking on as your two children play with their cousins on the same beach that four (five???) generations of your husband's family have spent their summers and realizing that although it has changed a lot, it really hasn't changed at all.
... catching up with friends you haven't seen in a whole year and feeling like no time has passed at all.
... giggling on the inside as you watch your son and his Crazy Aunt Melissa as they try to dig all the way to China, stopping periodically to listen to hear if they can make out anyone speaking chinese.
... digging trenches and building sandcastles with Granny Annie on your last day on Drakes Island and realizing that she is enjoying it just as much as her grandson and that you have never seen her look so lovely.
... being so exhausted by the end of the day that even the luxury of being able to watch your beloved Red Sox on NESN cannot keep you awake past 8:30.
... realizing you could have packed a bathing suit and one change of clothes and still had plenty to wear during your 9-day stay.
... getting tears in your eyes as you cross the bridge on the way off the island, knowing that a whole year will pass until you get to experience this slice of heaven on earth again.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Morning
Today was one of those mornings when I was truly so thankful to be a mommy. Weekday mornings are usually a frenzied and frankly semi-nightmarish experience, what with trying to get kids fed, ready for school and out the door in a somewhat reasonable timeframe while simultaneously trying to get parents showered, dressed and ready for the day. The last week has been even worse since Chase has decided to get six teeth all at one time. To say he has not been sleeping well would be an understatement, and he (well, all of us, really) has been extremely grouchy as a result of the lack of sleep and general irritation getting six teeth at once brings. There has been a lot of crying (both boys), a lot of screaming (Chase), a lot of sighing (Casey and me), with some attitude problems thrown in (all of us).
I leave you with that background so you can understand the complete shift in the air this morning. First of all, Chase slept through the night for the first time in days. He woke up pleasant and talking to himself in his crib. Then, he let me get him dressed without having a complete meltdown. He giggled a lot. He talked up a storm. Not that we haven't seen glimpses of all of these things during this excruciating teething process, but they have come in bits and pieces speckled throughout long days of aggravation and it was so nice to see all of them together in a 5 minute time-span first thing this morning.
As is typical on a Thursday morning, Casey and I were supposed to have an early morning meeting at work. With that in mind and with both boys mercifully still sleeping, we rushed to get ready for work. As Casey was hurrying out the door, he picked up his phone only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. With extra time on our hands for a change, Casey decided to take Riley to get his haircut while I waited on Chase to wake up. By the time Chase was up and I had enjoyed more of his cheerful company than I'd realized, Riley's haircut was complete. Chase and I met Casey and Riley in the parking lot at the barber shop and the three of us watched as Chase took his turn getting his hair cut. We were still a little ahead of schedule as we made our way out of the barber shop. Casey had to head to work but I took the opportunity to take the boys to Dunkin' Donuts for our traditional post-haircut treat. It was there that a true miracle occurred: both boys sat in their seats, smiled, behaved, were polite (Riley), didn't throw food (Chase) and were generally wonderful to be around. We spent at least 30 minutes watching cars go by, talking to other people enjoying their morning coffee, and eating our donuts. It was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to not rush them along and just enjoy their company on a weekday morning. It was also the first time in awhile that I felt like I had it all together as a mom.
I would be curious to know if the morning was a success because it was not rushed or if it was because Chase's happy disposition has returned or if it was because this morning was the first morning in months where the air was cool and crisp and not humid and overwhelming, or if it perhaps was a little bit of all of those things, but whatever the cause, I am thankful and happy to have spent a morning with two delightful little boys.
I leave you with that background so you can understand the complete shift in the air this morning. First of all, Chase slept through the night for the first time in days. He woke up pleasant and talking to himself in his crib. Then, he let me get him dressed without having a complete meltdown. He giggled a lot. He talked up a storm. Not that we haven't seen glimpses of all of these things during this excruciating teething process, but they have come in bits and pieces speckled throughout long days of aggravation and it was so nice to see all of them together in a 5 minute time-span first thing this morning.
As is typical on a Thursday morning, Casey and I were supposed to have an early morning meeting at work. With that in mind and with both boys mercifully still sleeping, we rushed to get ready for work. As Casey was hurrying out the door, he picked up his phone only to find that the meeting had been cancelled. With extra time on our hands for a change, Casey decided to take Riley to get his haircut while I waited on Chase to wake up. By the time Chase was up and I had enjoyed more of his cheerful company than I'd realized, Riley's haircut was complete. Chase and I met Casey and Riley in the parking lot at the barber shop and the three of us watched as Chase took his turn getting his hair cut. We were still a little ahead of schedule as we made our way out of the barber shop. Casey had to head to work but I took the opportunity to take the boys to Dunkin' Donuts for our traditional post-haircut treat. It was there that a true miracle occurred: both boys sat in their seats, smiled, behaved, were polite (Riley), didn't throw food (Chase) and were generally wonderful to be around. We spent at least 30 minutes watching cars go by, talking to other people enjoying their morning coffee, and eating our donuts. It was the first time in quite awhile that I was able to not rush them along and just enjoy their company on a weekday morning. It was also the first time in awhile that I felt like I had it all together as a mom.
I would be curious to know if the morning was a success because it was not rushed or if it was because Chase's happy disposition has returned or if it was because this morning was the first morning in months where the air was cool and crisp and not humid and overwhelming, or if it perhaps was a little bit of all of those things, but whatever the cause, I am thankful and happy to have spent a morning with two delightful little boys.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Running Buddy
Oh teeth, how I wish you would all just break through already. I want my happy baby and good sleeper back!!! Last night was a brutal night of sleep. Chase spent two and a half hours straight crying, screaming and tossing and turning in his crib. Poor little guy was so uncomfortable and absolutely nothing I did to calm him down worked. I held him, I rocked him, I rubbed his back, I bicycled his legs, I talked to him. He was having none of it. It was almost like having a newborn all over again, except possibly worse because his crying is SO MUCH louder and more agonizing now.
So when he woke up early this morning screaming uncontrollably, I was not exactly bright and chipper, not that I am generally bright and chipper in the morning anyway. Not wanting him to wake up the entire household (Riley had been up late by his standards having a playdate with some friends and Casey had been up extremely late by anyone's standards at the Bears-Panthers game in Charlotte), I decided to pluck Chase out of his crib and get him out of the house quickly. Holding a large, squirmy baby while changing my clothes, pouring a glass of milk and putting on my shoes proved to be a challenge, but I succeeded to do all of the above and get him out the door without him crying.
It was a hot, humid North Carolina morning as we made our way down the driveway. I am completely out of shape, not that it would matter in conditions such as those, but for the next 48 minutes (who's counting) I ran around our neighborhood and Graylyn pushing my sleepy little guy in his stroller trying to coax him back to sleep. Sleep did not happen, but something equally as amazing did: I actually enjoyed this early morning exertion. And Chase seemed to love watching the sun rise, listening to the birds chirp and the cicadas hum, and taking in all of the people and places we encountered. We saw other early morning runners, people walking their dogs, dads pushing their also-tired babies in strollers (must be that Saturday mornings are for mommies to sleep in???), fountains at Graylyn and cats on the prowl.
Don't get me wrong, given my preference at 6:30 in the morning, I'd probably choose to be snug in my bed, but this was a pretty nice alternative. For both of us.
So when he woke up early this morning screaming uncontrollably, I was not exactly bright and chipper, not that I am generally bright and chipper in the morning anyway. Not wanting him to wake up the entire household (Riley had been up late by his standards having a playdate with some friends and Casey had been up extremely late by anyone's standards at the Bears-Panthers game in Charlotte), I decided to pluck Chase out of his crib and get him out of the house quickly. Holding a large, squirmy baby while changing my clothes, pouring a glass of milk and putting on my shoes proved to be a challenge, but I succeeded to do all of the above and get him out the door without him crying.
It was a hot, humid North Carolina morning as we made our way down the driveway. I am completely out of shape, not that it would matter in conditions such as those, but for the next 48 minutes (who's counting) I ran around our neighborhood and Graylyn pushing my sleepy little guy in his stroller trying to coax him back to sleep. Sleep did not happen, but something equally as amazing did: I actually enjoyed this early morning exertion. And Chase seemed to love watching the sun rise, listening to the birds chirp and the cicadas hum, and taking in all of the people and places we encountered. We saw other early morning runners, people walking their dogs, dads pushing their also-tired babies in strollers (must be that Saturday mornings are for mommies to sleep in???), fountains at Graylyn and cats on the prowl.
Don't get me wrong, given my preference at 6:30 in the morning, I'd probably choose to be snug in my bed, but this was a pretty nice alternative. For both of us.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Indy 500
It seems that Chase is obsessed with riding in his "Crazy Coupe" recently. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Terry are here visiting for the weekend and poor Grandpa Jim made the mistake of agreeing to push Chase around in the car. Little did he know that Chase would fall asleep in the car while being pushed (an absolute rarity -- the kid NEVER falls asleep in anything but his crib). I guess he'd had a big day at school. The difficult part of this was two-fold: first, Chase would wake up instantly if my dad stopped pushing the car around, so my poor dad went round and round and round and round in circles around our circular driveway for at least 30 minutes; second, it was extremely hot and humid out during this adventure so my poor dad was drenched by the time dinner was ready and he could stop pushing Chase around. We improvised a bit and did Oberon pit stops where either Casey or I would hand off a nice cold beer to my dad as he continued to do circle after circle. The good news is that the Crazy Coupe has cup holders and since the drink-stealing bandit was asleep inside his car, we didn't have to worry about him trying to snatch it. Poor Grandpa Jim complained about the "marathon" he had just completed, but secretly I think he loved pushing his young grandson around while Riley rode his bike in circles right next to him.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Playing with the "Big Kids"
It is so much fun now that Chase can walk around. He thinks it is so much fun to try to keep up with his big brother. Today we went over to our friends' house for dinner. Their daughter Olive is Riley's age (you may recall her from prior posts -- Olive was his first girlfriend and although their romance has dwindled, they still remain friends (thankfully because we like to hang out with her family) and their son Finn is about 5 months older than Chase. It was incredibly fun watching the kids all play together. We still have to closely supervise all of them (and especially the younger two), but it is awesome to be able to enjoy a little bit more adult conversation now that the kids can play and (mostly) entertain themselves without needing us to help them interact. The highlight of the evening (for me, at least) was when we turned on the song "Wagonwheel" and all four kids started dancing. A completely idyllic moment where all 4 kids were having a ball and all 4 parents could sip on their drinks, smile and think, "Life is truly good."
Friday, July 19, 2013
Growing Boy
For the last 12 months, I have worried constantly about Chase's size. As mentioned numerous times, he hated to drink (likely due to severe reflux) and until we introduced solid food to his life, I felt like we were force feeding him every day. As also mentioned, this kid LOVES to eat and he will eat pretty much anything. Well, it's finally paying off. At his smallest, he was in the 7th percentile for weight, which is very close to being considered "failure to thrive." I'm not sure what exactly "failure to thrive" means, but it sounds scary and I didn't want him to get there. I am happy to report that in the last 3 months he has gone from the 9th percentile in weight (which was already a big improvement) to 19th percentile. That is definitely within my comfort zone.
Official stats: 20 lbs 10.5 oz (19th percentile); 29 inches long (50th (ish) percentile) and head circumference is 74th percentile. Doctor reports that he is growing well. Atta boy!
Official stats: 20 lbs 10.5 oz (19th percentile); 29 inches long (50th (ish) percentile) and head circumference is 74th percentile. Doctor reports that he is growing well. Atta boy!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Say What?
It is strange... it's like Chase somehow knows that he just turned one and now all of a sudden his language skills are taking off. That's not to say that he's actually SAYING anything, but it is becoming quite clear that he understands what we are saying to him. His only word (if you can call it that) at this point is "dah" which is always accompanied by him pointing at something, so the loose translation of "dah" is "what's that?" (at least the best I can tell).
The spoken word aside, he does seem to know how to use certain motions to respond to what we are saying. For example, if you tell him to say good bye to someone, he'll wave enthusiasticly (same being true for "hi"). If you ask him if he's "all done", he will shake his hands (sign language for "all done"). This gets confusing at times because he knows shaking his hands is the correct response, but it doesn't always mean that he's actually all done eating. Sometimes he is (which becomes quite clear when he starts throwing food if you leave his tray within arm's reach), and sometimes he'll wave his hands and then keep eating. Oh well.
His favorite, I believe, is giving high fives. If you ask him for a high five and hold your hand out, he will slap it with all his might and then start giggling.
Every once in awhile, I'll swear that he says "mama" (especially when he's crying because I've had the nerve to close the door on him when I go to take a shower) or "dada" (similar context) or "Ry-ry". One night I swore he said "bye-bye, Ry-ry" when I told him to say good night to his big brother before I took him up to bed. Not sure if he actually knows those words or not, but either way, it sure is fun to be able to communicate with him. His sweet little voice is music to my ears (the crying and screaming as his only means of communication were not).
The spoken word aside, he does seem to know how to use certain motions to respond to what we are saying. For example, if you tell him to say good bye to someone, he'll wave enthusiasticly (same being true for "hi"). If you ask him if he's "all done", he will shake his hands (sign language for "all done"). This gets confusing at times because he knows shaking his hands is the correct response, but it doesn't always mean that he's actually all done eating. Sometimes he is (which becomes quite clear when he starts throwing food if you leave his tray within arm's reach), and sometimes he'll wave his hands and then keep eating. Oh well.
His favorite, I believe, is giving high fives. If you ask him for a high five and hold your hand out, he will slap it with all his might and then start giggling.
Every once in awhile, I'll swear that he says "mama" (especially when he's crying because I've had the nerve to close the door on him when I go to take a shower) or "dada" (similar context) or "Ry-ry". One night I swore he said "bye-bye, Ry-ry" when I told him to say good night to his big brother before I took him up to bed. Not sure if he actually knows those words or not, but either way, it sure is fun to be able to communicate with him. His sweet little voice is music to my ears (the crying and screaming as his only means of communication were not).
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