Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Memories

P is at the age where the magic of Christmas is now making sense.  We got to decorate the tree entirely this year.  Last year we had to start the ornaments 2' up from the bottom branch because she kept taking them off.  She is being patient with her gifts and knows she has to wait to open them.  However, because her birthday was not too long ago she calls all presents "happy birthdays".  


We all have our own memories of Christmas.  Mine involve mid-night Mass, few gifts and always playing one of the biggest junior tennis tournaments in the world, the Orange Bowl.  Tennis took over making gingerbread houses or decorating with the lights or anything else about the holiday.


It recently dawned on me that P's Christmas memories are in our hands.  We are about to start sculpting how she will feel about the holidays for the rest of her life.  Lets face it, it's our childhood memories that set the tone for this time of the year.  With this in mind I'm making a list of what I want Christmas to mean to P and our future children. 


I want Christmas to have a feel of warmth and family. I want us to have special, traditional meals and to bake cookies and gingerbread houses.  I want them to remember a home decorated with lights and great cheer.  I want them to know the reason for our season as Christians but I want them to know it's only one of a few interpretations for why we all celebrate.  I want them to know its a time to give and share. I want them to get gifts but  I do not want to make it about the gifts. I vow to not have a tree with tons of gifts under it, regardless of how well we are doing financially.  With the toys and other "physical" gifts they get I also want them to get the gifts of responsibility, freedom, courage, strength.  Gifts that are more gifts of life and growing up.  I mostly want them to feel special and loved beyond anything ever known.


I'm really not sure how I'm going to make all this happen. Maybe starting with a few goals and adding on every year will get the job done.  

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Getty


We've done some fun things in the weeks since I've last blogged. Best adventure was going to the Getty. I've taken P to the Getty Villa several times but this was her first time to the Getty off the 405.







Their kid's section is amazing. Absolutely amazing!  It's divided into five separate rooms or cubicles, each inspired by art throughout the center.  One room had a giant, backlit, manuscript wall where the kids could draw on it like a dry erase board.  P LOVED it!   She's moved on from a paining phase to a drawing phase so this was her cup of tea. 







The next room was inspired by the King Louis bed located in the museum. This version was small but took up the entire space.  It was done just like the real thing with ornate, blue silk with tassels and rolled pillows on each end. It also had a cubby with books all devoted to beds and sleeping.  P loved bouncing on this bed and grabbing books. 







The third room was inspired by a sculpture I saw when we entered the museum.   The room had foam tubing all connected at various places on the walls.  P could take the tubings out and reconnect them as she pleased.  


The fourth room was inspired by a Hockney painting and it was filled with mirrors to "mirror" the effect Hockney did in his painting. I know P didn't quite get it but she did find it interesting. 


Last was a spot where the kids could draw their own masks. The inspirational painting was one with lots of faces looking at you. I forgot to look up the artist bc I was too crazy following P with crayons and the three masks she was attempting to create all at one time.  







After spending about an hour in the kid's center we went outside to the garden. P saw where we were going and took off running.  She ran and ran and ran. The garden is a maze that leads to a lowered center.  As you're coming in it feels like a giant drain. P was a little drop of water making her way down. 


This was the perfect adventure: she got culture, creativity and exercise!  I couldn't have been happier and  neither was P.  As we drove out of the parking garage she said "ahmazeeeing time Mamma, ahmazeeeing time" and then fell asleep before we hit the first light. 

Friday, November 6, 2009

A year ago....


This was P's costume last year. She loved that little cat she's holding.  It was the first toy she actually went after in a store.  She wouldn't let it go, so I had to buy it.  I figured if I made her look like her favorite cat she would want to wear her costume and I was right.  She LOVED it!  Ironically, someone stole her cat that night.

I started sewing when I was round 11.  Since then I've dreamt of making my children's costumes.    I was in tears sewing P's first costume.  I was so happy, as I was again this year.  These are the things that make me extremely happy.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween 2009

P is a chicken this year and hubby and I are cheeeken faaamers.  She's still in love with chickens after chicken sitting the neighbor's over the summer.  


I did a Martha Stewart costume. It turned out great. She loved it and wanted to wear it all the time. I was blown away by her coordination when walking in her "chicken feet".  They were hand-washing gloves stuffed and stretched over her shoes.  My God the girl amazes me with her coordination constantly.


Tonight she ate candy. I don't like her to eat it but I'm also not such a nut that I wouldn't allow her to have any on this given night.  She had about 6 pieces.  Enough to give her a sugar rush that had her jumping over and onto the couch for a good hour.  


I am in love with my child.  Making her costume myself makes me feel so good and it's the realization of a dream I've had since I was a child. 

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Pre-pregnancy list

I went to the dentist today. Second of two visits to get a "half crown" finished. I can tolerate pain in most places on my body but my mouth NO WAY. Thank God babies don't come out of our mouths.

I had not been to the dentist in so long I'm embarrassed to say when exactly. It was time, and it is one of the last items on my list of things to get done before I'm pregnant again. The list's contents go something like this: start taking vitamins on a daily basis, get a physical, get lump on breast checked, see dentist, get hair colored. I just need to make my gray hair disappear so I can be in my early 30's again.

Yes, it's time to stop trying to not get pregnant. I've been pregnant twice. The first time was with P. The second time I had to terminate the pregnancy at 6 months because our baby had hydrocephalus. It's a condition where the head fills with fluid and prevents the brain from developing. In our case, the baby had no cerebellum.

The two pregnancies were very different. Hindsight is 20-20, but the second one felt off from the beginning. So, being a former athlete with all my superstitions well rehearsed I'm going back to the things I did with P just for good luck.

The decision to have children was one my husband and I discussed since our first date. Yep, I'm the kind of girl who sits down with a guy on a first date and says "I want to be married and starting a family by the time I'm 35". And my husband is the kind of guy who doesn't scare easily. He rises to the challenge. Except, it took him 3 years to be 100% confident he could be a good father. Ok, 90%, 80% ...somewhere around there.

When we were both ready it was more of a "it'll happen when it happens" mindset than a "what time of the month is it?". To our surprise it happened on the first shot and because we were both so busy it took 9 weeks to realize I needed to take a pregnancy test.

The second pregnancy was planned. Scheduled. I tracked everything on the calender. Periods, sex, results of pregnancy tests; it was all written down. We wanted the kids close together so I was kind of in a rush. I also didn't want to go through the third trimester during the summer again. I wanted an early spring delivery and therefore I had a window of time to get the job started. I took the magic out of the process.

This time I want to relish the entire process. I want to let this next child choose when he or she wants to come into our lives. I want to enjoy the sex with my husband and feel the same way I did on the afternoon we conceived P. I don't mean to sound corny but it felt peaceful and magical. I couldn't have loved another human being more than I loved my husband. I think it was that feeling that made P.

I am scared to conceive again. I'm scared of going through anything like the last pregnancy. Or, even worse, I'm scared of not detecting complications until the child is born. However, yesterday I was in the car when I got a brief feeling about the next child. It was a good feeling. Something whispered to me and said " this next one you will meet" and I had a brief vision of holding a baby after delivery.

I know it sounds hokey to have visions. Except, every great thing in my life I have visualized before it came into my life. So, I know my third child is out there somewhere in the universe. My dear child we are waiting for you. Your father, your sister and me, are all thinking about you and want you in our lives. We are ready when you're ready. We love you already more than you'll ever know.


Thursday, August 27, 2009

There's a shark in my bathtub.


Two things I put on our baby registry right away were the Boon Bath Goods and the Boon Frog Pod. I thought they were so cool and well designed. I had this idea that I'd be able to educate my daughter on colors and shapes right away instead of having pointless bath toys.

I remember putting my little "blob" in the tub for the first time and thinking "Great, now what? What do I do with all these toys and her?" Obviously it was months before we started using them and it's not until now at 21 months that the Bath Goods have become a favorite.

Today I had a flashback in the tub. I almost started a routine I use to do with P when she was about 8-9 months. I would put her Munchkin Squirtin' Sea Buddies in the tub and then ask for walrus, or sharkie or starfish. At first I pulled them out and sat them on the side of the tub one by one but it wasn't long before she was doing it herself. I was so ecstatic when she started recognizing them by name. Today she can pick out anything you call for in the tub, from Shamu to drain stopper.

I took it a step further when we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium for her first birthday. I brought all the Sea Buddies to the Aquarium and showed them to her when we saw the real creatures. Man the connections made that day were incredible! It made sense to her! She knew who those sea creatures were. That night I think she believed the ocean had followed us back. Amazing!

Today I am not so involved in the bath time routine. I sit back. She plays on her own and I feel that imaginative world going on is really important so I do not disturb it. I interrupt just to brush teeth, soap and rinse.

There's a shark in my bathtub.


Two things I put on our baby registry right away were the Boon Bath Goods and the Boon Frog Pod. I thought they were so cool and well designed. I had this idea that I'd be able to educate my daughter on colors and shapes right away instead of having pointless bath toys.

I remember putting my little "blob" in the tub for the first time and thinking "Great, now what? What do I do with all these toys and her?" Obviously it was months before we started using them and it's not until now at 21 months that the Bath Goods have become a favorite.

Today I had a flashback in the tub. I almost started a routine I use to do with P when she was about 8-9 months. I would put her Munchkin Squirtin' Sea Buddies in the tub and then ask for walrus, or sharkie or starfish. At first I pulled them out and sat them on the side of the tub one by one but it wasn't long before she was doing it herself. I was so ecstatic when she started recognizing them by name. Today she can pick out anything you call for in the tub, from Shamu to drain stopper.

I took it a step further when we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium for her first birthday. I brought all the Sea Buddies to the Aquarium and showed them to her when we saw the real creatures. Man the connections made that day were incredible! It made sense to her! She knew who those sea creatures were. That night I think she believed the ocean had followed us back. Amazing!

Today I am not so involved in the bath time routine. I sit back. She plays on her own and I feel that imaginative world going on is really important so I do not disturb it. I interrupt just to brush teeth, soap and rinse.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Seeds


I planted herb seeds with P not too long ago. She helped me put them in our "pot", which is really our broken wheel barrow. Every day we water the "seeeeeds" as she calls them. I show her the tiny budding sprouts and roots.


I know she's too young to really understand the whole concept of what is happening. I am hoping that on some subconscious level I'm starting to plant my own seeds. I hope sooner than later she'll start to entertain concepts like consistency, patience, daily growth and that all great things take time to build. I'm hoping to have a concrete example of what "instant gratification" is not for future years.

We'll see.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Hair Cut



Today I gave P her third hair cut. Twiggy is my inspiration for how I style it. For now, I find short hair to be easier for me and P. Also, I'm hoping that my bi-monthly trims will make it thicker. Don't know if this is fact or fiction.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Drinking Glasses


For the most part, P drinks out of real glasses.  I am very cautious about the safety of plastic so everything P puts into her mouth I make sure is BPA, phylate, etc. free.  I'm not really sure why I ended up going straight to glass with drinks.  I remember 6 months ago going through a two week phase of breaking almost a glass a day, if not more.  And just the other day I realized we were way past that now. 

P also skipped sippy cups and only uses the bottle for night time.  The sippy cup skip happened when we went home to see my parents in Florida over a year ago.  P was 5 months old and saw everyone drinking water and she wanted to do the same...water out of a cup.  I went to find sippy cups immediately but she didn't want them.  

I'm not sure how I'll train the next kid. Part will be determined by their personality but I don't think I'll be able to juggle broken glass with two kids. One was such a juggle especially when she broke our Perrier glasses from France that shattered into millions, literally millions of pieces on our tile. I was obsessed with finding every shard because I was worried P would get cut as she was still crawling at the time.  But I must say, now I love to see P drinking from a glass.