The Two Year Old

So the boy has finally turned two. In many ways I can’t believe I have a two-year-old. As we all know, the time flies. On the other hand, I think he’s so smart I have a hard time believing he’s only just turned two. I don’t know many two-year-olds, so I don’t have much to compare him to, but sometimes I think he’s a genius. But I recognize that all parents think that.

He is also very sweet. The other night he came into my room at four in the morning wanting to join us in our bed. I was tired and decided not to fight him. I pulled him up and lay him next to me. He threw an arm around my neck and sighed, “Mama and Vincent. I love you mama.” I don’t care how much you hate to be awakened in the middle of the night, that melts your heart.

To celebrate his birthday we invited daddy’s family over for breakfast on Saturday morning. Neither Grandma nor Grandpa was able to make it, but all the aunts and uncles and all the cousins but one made it. Kind of a miracle since we told most people the night before. He got WAY too many presents, but he hasn’t complained yet.

On Sunday we celebrated with mommy’s family at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. He loved the train candle holders that Grandma put on his brownie “birthday cake.” He didn’t eat any dinner, but had about four brownies. He woke up crying a lot that night, I blame the brownies.

This morning he got dressed up in all of his new birthday snow clothes and went out to face the weather while Daddy shoveled the walks. He waddled down the stairs and headed straight out into the snow–face planting it after about two steps. We were going to go to Zoo lights tonight, but with all the snow gave up on the idea. I think he enjoyed waddling around in the snow just about as much.

We love that little guy and can’t believe how much fun he is.

High School

1. Did you date someone from your school? No. I was anti-serious dating for high school students. But there were many I would have gladly dated otherwise.

2. What kind of car did you drive? Red Toyota truck that was older than me, then a white chevy truck.
3. Were you a party animal? No. I ran with really Mormony crowds.

4. Were you considered a flirt? I don’t know. I was definitely a flirt, but not a successful one. So who knows?

5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir.  One of the best experiences of high school. We had a fantastic director who demanded excellence. He gave us all kinds of experience that I will never forget. We got to go to California on choir tour. We sang in temple visitors’ centers, a school for severely handicapped students,  the Capital Theater, and tons of other places. Our director gave us the opportunity (if we were so inclined) to feel the spirit at school and at school activities.

6. Were you a nerd? Kind of. A nerd who had all the right friends.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? I was a varsity slacker, but who’s gonna make a team out of that?

8. Did you get suspended/expelled? no

9. Can you still sing the fight song? Yes. But only because I relearned as a teacher there. And by the way, I think our school song rocks. It’s completely untrue, but it supports the right values.

10. Who were your favorite teachers? Dahlquist (Choir) and Mckee (Japanese).

11. Where did you sit during lunch? In the hall or on the infamous “bench.”

12. What was your school’s full name? Payson High School

13. School mascot? Lions

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? For sure. I know that makes me a geek or immature, but high school was good times. Mom and Dad paid for everything. No job. Friends galore. It was the life.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? Singing in the choir. And it was so boring I didn’t go when I graduated with my associates or my bachelors.

16. Where did you go senior skip day? no idea. but i’m pretty sure i didn’t go to Lagoon.

17. Were you in any clubs? How else do you meet boys?

18. Have you gained some weight since then? I have gained and lost exactly* 3 million pounds since high school (*not an exact number). Luckily, I currently weigh less than when I graduated from high school. Woo hoo! But that’s not really saying much. I was always a fatty.

19. Who was your prom date? Matthew Angus Mortensen

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I sure am. In fact, I’m planning it if no one else is. (The jerks didn’t do s 5 year).

Asia Lily

A very cut girl I know was kind enough to write a blog all about me! I was so flattered I thought I should return the favor.

Here are some things I like about her:

The way she screams at ANYTHING. I walk in the room and she screams. I poke her sides and she screams. I say her name really loud and she screams. I throw machetes at her and she screams. It’s a hoot.

The way she thinks about what’s best for people instead of just what she wants. She is very mature for her age in this sense. She really looks at the whole picture and makes decisions based on the long run outcome, not the immediate satisfaction. She is better than most adults I know. On the 4th of July her dad was buying fireworks and she kept telling him he needed to save his money and buy a couch first.

She always acts excited to see me no matter how long it has been since we’ve seen each other (which these days is a lot less often than I’d like). And she doesn’t want to just play with me. She wants to help me too. She will change my baby’s diaper, clean his room, feed him, whatever I need.

Her giggle. She gives it freely and frequently and every time she does it makes me giggle.

And about a million other things that I can’t think of right now.

Girl’s Retreat

My sister-in-law, R, turns the big 3-0 this year. Sometimes these milestones can be a little disturbing and/or depressing. To combat this possible side effect, R plans big celebrations. This year she planned a girls’ retreat to the Oregon Coast.

The greatest thing about this vacation was that it was totally relaxing. We spent most of the time just reading, talking, playing games or walking on the beach. We were out in the middle of no where with nothing but beautiful scenery around for miles. Perfect.

It was so green and the temperatures were so moderate that Ian and I want to try to move there in a few years. While I was there I realized how ridiculous it is to live in a place that is too hot to go outside 3 months a year and too cold to go outside 6-7 months a year. Why not move to a fabulous place like Oregon where (near the coast) it never gets too warm or too cold?

This is me getting clobbered by a wave. My sister-in-law saw it and could have warned me, but decided the picture op. was worth it. She was probably right, but it sure was cold.

We stayed in a little condo right on the beach. This is the view from our back porch. It was great to be able to just walk down to the beach whenever we wanted and to hear the ocean as we went to sleep at night.

Vocabulary

My 18 month old has turned into quite the jabber mouth. He talks at me constantly and has such a funny personality. I have been so proud of how quickly he is picking up words that I had to get it down before I forget.

Here is a current list of words in his vocabulary (which to me means words he uses on his own, without prompting).

shoes, mama, daddy, Budgie, Bubba, Grandpa, Grandma, Rhoda, Lia, please, thank you, Isis, doggy, duck, cow, horse, truck, bus, train, ball, teeth, J.J., monkey, go, button (as in belly button), bird, gone, back, mine, bath, moon, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, more, loud, read, book, car, cookie, no, bread, cheese, water, bed, hi, hello, see ya, bye, out, down, up, walk, bottle, boo, kitty, head, hurt, lap, rock, apple, baby, pool, sun, strawberry, banana, Kris.

Wow, that’s almost 70 words! What a kid. Can you tell I like him?

Lonely Dreams

After seven months of sharing our bed with the cutest toddler in existence,  we finally decided it was time to move on.  My first project for my (hopefully) sleep-filled summer was to transition Vincent to his own bed, in his own room. It went much more smoothly than I ever imagined it would. At first.

For the first two weeks he went to bed peacefully and only woke up once or twice a night. I was pretty sure he was the best child ever. But then something changed. I don’t know if it was separation anxiety or loss of interest in the “new” bed. But suddenly our perfect child didn’t want to sleep in his own bed anymore. He would wake up in the night, and when I went into lay with him he would continue to cry. Instead of calming down and going back to sleep he would point toward my room and cry “bed, bed.” Heartbreaking.

Last night was a real throw down. I read v 4 books and he still wasn’t asleep. So I lay down next to him and closed my eyes. He whined and complained and called for Daddy. About 10 minutes later Daddy came in to see if he could help. He turned off the lamp, and then the crying started. We both lay next to the bed and tried to get him to copy us. After another 10 minutes Daddy decided he wasn’t helping and decided to leave. That’s when the screaming started. After another 10 minutes Daddy came back, knelt down and said, “Mommy and I make our decisions together, if Mommy says you have to go to sleep then I agree.”

In a sigh of defeat V collapsed into Daddy’s arms and hugged him until he was completely calm. Then he wadled  over to his bed, lay down and went to sleep.

Spoiled Surprises

One thing you might not know about me is that I am an excellent gift giver. Let me amend that–when it comes to my husband I am an excellent gift giver. For Christmas this year I completely surprised him with a dog–something he desperately wanted but never thought my dad (our landlord) would approve.

His birthday was this month and I wanted to get him something good. But I had no ideas! Everything I could think of was boring and practical: wallet, belt, sock, blah, blah, blah. So I decided on a different kind of surprise–a surprise party. Now I knew going into it that I enjoy giving and planning surprises much more than my husband likes receiving them. This is yet another way that he is like my mom and I am like my dad. My husband (and my mom) would much rather be in on things and have his (or her) opinion known than be surprised. I decided to proceed  as my dad usually does–with an “Oh well.”

Thanks to the wonderful world of myspace I was able to contact all his friends without making him at all suspicious. His sister, who lives above us in a mother-in-law apartment, offered days in advance to take him video game shopping on his birthday to get him out of the house for me. Everything was arranged and ready.

And then his birthday came. 10 a.m. rolled around and he wanted his video game. We tried everything to stall him, but to no avail. I spent the rest of the day trying to think of something, anything to get him out of the house. But all he wanted to do was play his new video game. Finally about 15 minutes before the party I just broke down and told him that I had a surprise planned but I needed him to be gone for a half an hour.  Just as he agreed his best friend Dave pulled up.

I managed to get Dave and his crew in the backyard unseen. I thought it was a success. Five minutes late Ian called. He had recognized Dave’s car outside our house when he was pulling out. The gig was up. I told him to come on back. A few other friends showed up before he did, and that was a surprise since he was still only expecting Dave and co, but it certainly didn’t go over as planned.

Despite my inability to manage a surprise party, we still had a great time. Ian really enjoyed himself and got to see some friends he hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Alias Grace Review

Although Atwood is one of my favorite authors, this book really didn’t grab me. Considering the undertaking I think she did a fantastic job. But the “secret” that the whole book revolves around was too easily figured out and surprisingly unresolved (that or ridiculously resolved, it was a little vague). It felt unnecessarily long, and I also found myself not as enamored with her writing as I usually am. I usually can’t read Atwood without a pen in hand, but I only marked one part in this whole book.

Life with the telepathically challanged

My son, Vincent, is almost a year and half–a very fun age. He has come to realize, despite our greatest attempts to hide it from him, that his parents aren’t perfect. He has learned that we are not telepathic. Despite the great disappointment that I”m sure this was to him, he is learning to communicate. It is one of my greatest joys in life to watch him figure out how to tell me what he is thinking. A couple of months ago Ian was working late and I was trying to put Vincent to bed. He kept fussing and whining and just wouldn’t go to sleep. I was really starting to lose my patience when he sat up in bed put his hands up in that common questioning gesture, shook his head and said, “Dada, Dada?”

I thought my heart was going to melt. I told him that Daddy was at work and that he would be home later. He lay back down but still was restless. About ten minutes later he sat up and asked again. I decided to call Ian and see if that helped. I told Ian the situation and handed Vincent the phone. He sighed, a far-to-adult sigh, took the phone, and placed it against his ear. Ian told him(Vincent) that he(Ian) would come home as soon as he(Vincent) was asleep and that he loved him. Vincent sighed again, handed back the phone, and went right to sleep.

Yesterday we were at my parents house and Vincent wanted to get up on a stool. He got frustrated by not being able to do it on his own and started whining at me for help. I knew he didn’t know the right words, but I try to encourage him to find ways to communicate, so I said, “Don’t whine, tell me what you want and I’ll help you. He thought for a second, then with one hand he pointed at his bottom and with the other he patted the seat of the stool. I was so proud of him.

Summer Celebration Cow

With only 10 hours left of work before I am free for two months, I find myself doing and saying strange things. Yesterday, one of my students decided that she wanted to hang a stuffed cow from my light. “Don’t let anyone take it,” she pleaded and I promised…to try.

So today as my students are all noticing this strange hanging cow they are inclined to ask, “What’s with the cow?” Now, if you teach Jr. High you will understand why I “lied” to my students. For those of you who don’t, try to imagine 45-50 thirteen year olds all asking the same question and none patient enough to listen to a longer-than-four-word answer. Teacher survival rule number 148: choose your battles, sometimes appeasement is better than enlightenment. My response was that it was my summer celebration cow. Strangely, that seemed to be all the explanation that most of them needed.

I think I may make this a new tradition. Three days before the end of school, the summer celebration cow must be hung, upside down, preferably from a light fixture. The summer celebration cow must remain untouched for the final three days. And on the third day the cow must be thanked for the beauty of sleeping in, the peace of being responsible for only a handful of people, the incredible self esteem boost of not hearing moans, groans, and Utah curse words directed at you every time you open your mouth, the fulfillment of being the stay-at-home mom, the wonder of having no nasty emails or phone calls to respond to, and the magnificence of having time to read a book intended for adults. Then, and only then, may the summer celebration cow be lowered and retired for another year.

And then maybe I’ll eat a steak.