Monday, January 30, 2006

Update: 15 months


Dear Adrian;

First let me apologize for being remiss regarding the updates on your past two months of life. I have plenty of excuses, none of them are particularly good ones. Now, on to the good stuff!

If there was ever any doubt that you are a little boy, this past month will have put all of that aside. Our days consist of trucks, blocks, tractors, and making farting noises by blowing into our hands. That's the only thing I do that is regarded as consistently hilarious--and your laugh is so rewarding and contagious that I have no plans to stop. Farting noises aside, you still have a love for jewelry and dressing up. You've finally come around to wearing hats, so the 6 I picked up at the Halloween clearance are getting regular rotation. My favorite would have to be the construction helmet-diaper-socks ensemble you put together.

You still won't eat any green vegetables, but you're eating half your weight in fruit daily. You also have developed an affinity for pancakes, marshmallows, and anything off of my plate.

Oh! And the climbing! You've been caught scaling the microwave (which lives on the floor due to a lack of counter space), furniture, and the dining room chairs (but only if there's someone in them). All of this wouldn't be such a big deal, but you seem to have no concept of edges and have tumbled repeatedly to the ground. My favorite is when you're on the couch: you turn so you're facing the back of the couch and then proceed to hang your butt off of the front of the couch, which ultimately yields a surprised look as gravity takes over.

Every day is like a marathon as you are now taking only one nap a day and spend your waking hours alternately running all over the house or eating. At the end of each day I marvel that I've made it and try not to think about the fact that it starts all over at 6 the next morning. You wear me out--but I love you and I'd rather do this than have to leave you with someone else all day.

You're my favorite.

Love,
Mama

P.S.--You can start saying Mama any time now. Really.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Mark your calendars.

This was the first truly god-awful, miserable day that I've spent with Adrian since he came into the world nearly 15 months ago. I knew that they were coming, I just didn't know how exhausting they'd be. I spent ALL of my energy today trying to keep my cool. And I am drained. Sapped. I have no energy for any of the projects I was going to attempt tonight: run a set of block prints in the studio; cook dinner; clean the bathroom; mop the kitchen floor; upload, edit and post pictures to web.
I realize that half of today's awfulness stems from the fact that Adrian's a little under the weather with giant boogers of doom, but the other half I cannot account for. I just spent 15 minutes cleaning baby poop out of the bath tub (how glamorous the life I lead, no?), plus another 10 scrubbing his urine out of the living room carpet. When he runs free, he pees freely.

So I'm off to throw a frozen pizza in the oven, knock back a glass of wine, and stare blankly at the television. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel up to regaling you with cute stories of the boy wonder, like how he says 'cheese' but pronounces it 'chiss' or how he squints in anticipation of the camera's flash.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

deaf or just stupid.

So I've been living in this state (Illinois) for 9 months and just yesterday I realized that our senator's name is Barack Obama.
Not Morocco Bama, as I had previously thought.
Sometimes my own ignorance really surprises me.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Back in Central time

We've been home for--what is this, Wednesday?--a day and a half.
In that time, Adrian has caused me to have at least one case of mild cardiac arrest. It's just like Sarah says, they are totally listening to you.

Monday night, I'm on the phone with my mother-in-law and she's telling me about how someone she works with has a baby that's about Adrian's age and how this baby's favorite thing to do is to climb onto the coffee table and jump off. And I said to her, thank goodness our baby isn't interested in climbing up onto things.
Tuesday evening, we're putting away groceries and Adrian is chasing the cats. I load my arms up with things that need to go down the hall to the pantry, turn around and this is what I see:
Adrian, atop a box that contains a 7 piece glass barware set.
I shout "oh, holy fuck!" because my arms are full and at any second he could fall and bash his brains out on the tile floor. Aaron drops what he's doing and comes bounding across the kitchen, and removes Adrian from the box, as I empty my arms of all the pantry-bound glass bottles and try to swallow my heart back into my chest cavity.

Since when did Adrian become a box-climbing monkey baby?!

Since I was fool enough to open my mouth and say otherwise.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

One tired baby

I think that it's a darn shame that my mom doesn't live closer. Purely through her ministrations, Adrian has been tired enough to request an early bedtime for the past 2 days.
He's been a little cranky today, and I think it's safe to say that we're both looking forward to going home. We miss Aaron and our boring little routine.
It was great fun to see everyone (Karlee, Janya, Lyre, Kathleen, Fuz, Susyn, Judi, and I feel as though I'm forgetting someone) again, and I do look forward to our next visit, but it's time to go home.
Adrian has developed one new trick to add to his repetoire: he shakes his head "no". And means it. Used to be he'd just shake his head like that to make his inner ear go all wonky, but no more! Now he can tell me just how he feels. He's been adding a little flair to the end of the head-shake; sometimes it's a full-head tilt to the side, other times it's his eyeballs rolled up into his skull. Either way, he's fairly pleased with himself.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

the zoo! and other adventures.

Adrian and I have been in Arlington for 4ish days now. In this time, we have seen Jono turn 20 (egad!), Adrian biff it on the driveway (again), and old friends.
Today Adrian, Gramma, and I went to the National Zoo. We did not see the pandas. We did see hippos, elephants, giraffes, otters, various small mammals, apes--the orangutans were enjoying a snack of popcorn and Adrian repeatedly tried to reach through the glass to retrieve it from their hands. He also tried to go home with three other families of small children; going so far as to chase after one little girl saying "baby! baby!" with outstretched arms. He's going into a monastery tomorrow! No contact with girls until he's 45!
Adrian has also braved the gauntlet of whirlwindy dog tails on numerous occasions. He's become so heavy-handed with the food dispensing that Blaze assumes anything that falls to the floor around Adrian is food, leading the dog to try (and fail) ingesting crayons, plastic animals, measuring spoons, and a rubber spatula.
Good times.
Tomorrow we get to see some more friendly faces, including a jaunt to Gramma's place of work.
Now I am going to go eat some tasty tasty salmon with my parents.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

De-lurk! De-lurk!

You, out there!
I know that you stop by on a regular basis to see what's what.
This week has been declared de-lurking week! The idea is that you tell us, the blog writers that you're actually reading. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
So, you can say hello!
Tell me if you prefer hot cocoa or tea.
Tell me how you like your potatoes.
Tell me the first teacher who made a positive impact on you (Hello, Mrs. Bumgartner!)
Or, tell me your pirate name--mine's Black Calico Meg.
Just say something!

De-lurking week is brought to by the lovely lady at Paper Napkin.

Now, I'm off to de-lurk at a few sites meself, matey. Arrrr.

(Photo) Adrian and Elmo--a one-sided romance. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Jono's here!


(photo) The guitar lesson Posted by Picasa

Jono, my younger brother, arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon. He's settled right in and is already sharing his musical leanings with Adrian.
I love watching the two of them interact--each is equally interested in what the other is doing. And, as we all know, Adrian loves an audience.
Jono will be here until Sunday, and then Adrian and I will fly with Jono to Arlington where we will spend a week with my parents.
I plan on consuming my weight in almond croissants from the corner bakery while at home. I love those things. I would live off of them. I would live in a house made of them. I would probably trade in my car in exchange for a lifetime supply of almond croissants from Pastries by Randolph.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

ain't nobody dope as me...

because i am fresh from my first shower in days.

plumbing problems resolved! (see bitch and moan)

We can now do laundry and run the dishwasher and shower and flush the toilet! (But not before I had to drive down to the fast food joint to poop.)

I take back every cruel word...I love you, indoor plumbing.

bitch and moan

I am annoyed.
Truly, deeply, to the core of my being. I am just this side of pissed off.
And I have to ask you, Internet, why does NO ONE EVER LISTEN TO ME?!

We're having plumbing problems--they follow us wherever we go--so I call the landlord and say "hey, mr. landlord, we're having some plumbing issues which could turn right serious right quick. Please send someone to SNAKE THE LINE"
Then I get a call from Mr. Property manager, we set up an appointment and everything is hunky-dory. (Yes, I said hunky-dory. Yes, I expect to be mocked for it) But hours later, the problem escalates, so I call back mr. property manager and say "hey, when I flush the toilet, it sounds like it's raining in the basement. any chance we could get someone out here tonight?" And they said no-can-do, there are ever more serious plumbing problems on hand at the moment. So bright and early, mr. plumber shows up and replaces the wax ring under the toilet--stopping the basement rain of bacteria water. However, the LINE IS STILL CLOGGED. And this particular plumber doesn't snake lines, so he has to call mr. property manager and mr. property manager has to call mr. line snaker. So I'm waiting to hear when we can expect mr. line snaker and whether or not we'll need to rent a port-a-john until Monday. Because (file this under TMI) this is not a household that can wait 3 days to poop.
When I asked for someone to come snake the line did he think I was kidding? Obviously he doesn't know of my experience with clogged lines and the sewage flood of 2003--an experience from which I will never fully recover--but when I ask for something, I expect to get it, dammit!

Enjoy the photo of Adrian --because who doesn't love a baby with a mohawk?
(and don't cry for me, Argentina)

(photo) Punk-rock, baby! Posted by Picasa

Sunday, January 01, 2006

It's 2006.

It's 2006. That's two-thousand-six.
I've often told Aaron I look forward to being old and crochety so I can start stories with "back in aught-five, we used to have paper money" and other ridiculous utterances.

But I'm not really writing to tell you something you can figure out by looking at the calendar. I'm writing to tell you of the great gift exchange of aught-five.
We returned today from Aaron's parents' place, or as I like to call it Chez Flecker, after having our belated Christmas. With scheduling what it was and Aaron's mom working retail it just worked out that Christmas gifting and New Years' fell on the same weekend. Twice the celebration; half the driving!
Adrian made out like a robber baron--we may not need to buy him anything but clothes for the next year and a half. Not that the tide of toys ever stops coming in. Our living room is officially overrun with toys. I have accepted the fact that this is what happens when you have babies.
Toy manufacturers of the world, I have two words for you: VOLUME CONTROL.
He's finally gotten over tearing into the wrapping paper, but he has to be coaxed into opening present after present. He would open one and be perfectly content to play with the contents for the rest of the day. But we were on a schedule--racing towards bathtime--and so we managed to open more gifts than the Queen. And I have to tell you, as grateful as we are for everything it also makes me a little sad to think of all the children who didn't get much of anything. (mental note: more Toys for Tots next year)

Aaron received socks, socks, and more socks. He narrowly escaped being gifted with sweater vests. Sweater vests: a nice gift, for someone else. Aaron is notoriously hard to shop for. He claims he needs nothing, which is partly true but not entirely. The real truth is that he likes to get it himself.

I received lots of lovely things, but the best thing of all was adult conversation and help with Adrian. It's always nice to have a little extra help, and even nicer when your baby gets to spend time with people who really love him.
(But honestly, what's not to love? Have you seen the pig face?)

Now we're just waiting until my brother shows up...and by waiting I mean cleaning.

Happy New Year everybody!