When Emry was born, I had three living grandparents. Now, as he approaches his second birthday, I have one.
Emry and my Grandma Syl, New Jersey, June 2012
I was doing a puzzle with Elan this morning, remembering when he first started liking puzzles two years ago. He was six inches shorter then.
At the end of a 7-hour flight just me & my boys, June 2012
When Elan was Emry’s age, he had the same gorgeous wispy-curled blonde hair as Emry ... more
Hide and seek, Emry & Elan, July 2012
Park, pool, pizza -- a trifecta for happy (& then sleepy) boys.
Throw in a little hide & seek in the plaza of a beautiful shopping center and two gigantic pink-frosted heart cookies...what more could a little boy want?
Emry, before the hivesThe title of this post is ironic.Over the past week, I feel as if I am being engulfed in fuss. Elan tends toward fuss naturally. Although his pre-K teacher and others who see him in a school context have a hard time believing it, the kid melts down faster than a popsicle left on a blacktop parking lot. In Palm Springs. In the summer. When it's 112 degrees.Emry is usually more even-keel, and is much more the type ... more
We stayed firmly on the beaten track in Costa Rica. We went to typical tourist sites. This was intentional. Mikhail and I - and Mike and Maud, the friends we were traveling with - have done a lot of traveling off the beaten track. At times way off. But for this, our first international travel with kids, we decided that typical tourist amenities were right up our alley.
In Monteverde, we went full-on nature-tourist. We visited a butterfly/insect exhibit, ... more
We went to Costa Rica.
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I think Tabacon Hot Springs is my new version of Eden.
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Hot rivers and massage-style waterfalls.
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Black-bottomed pools of varying sizes and temperatures set into the jungle.
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At the base of a volcano.
There was a ... more
Popa Al in June 2008, at my sister's wedding
It was one year ago today that my Popa Al passed away. I just scrolled through the post I wrote about him that day. It was good to look at the pictures and think about him.
I am glad to be able to say that I remember him often, not just on anniversaries. Part of this is because Emry reminds me so much of my grandfather - his blue eyes, the way his little face is ... more
Lemon mint water, September 2011Take one lemon, given to you by someone who grew it in their yard, and one bunch of mint, given to you by someone who grew it in their yard. Combine.Take the medicine before the headache comes fully on.Complete something, anything, but preferably something small that's been bugging you, like a mosquito whining in and out of your ear. Then recognize its completion.Cut the lemon into quarters. Pluck the mint leaves off the stem. For once, do not practice restraint. ... more
My grandmother's china, 4 a.m.It's 4:48 a.m. and I'm baking banana muffins.Some weeks just go like this. We start off all shiny and new, thinking of the things large and small we're going to accomplish. On Sunday night, we either have visions of success or trepidation. Does it matter which we expect, when the end result just seems to come to fruition on its own, a product of moon phase, cycle phase, life phase, sleep phase, what?On Monday, I was swimming laps, ... more
Another crazy morning with 2, April 2012I want to write about having a full plate. How my current slate of two part-time paid grantwriting jobs, one part-time volunteer job at Elan's preschool, full-time mama/wife/runner of the household, and still trying to do that other writing, that creative work that feeds my soul, is too much for me. How my 2 days of full childcare, while I still feel their luxury, are eaten up in a flash. And yet I have ... more
Not 18 months yet, not at the beach, Emry, February 2012I'm writing this on the other side of a migraine. Well, halfway to the other side, at least. Now that Emry's not nursing anymore, I should probably look into migraine medication. Of course, some people say, "if it were a real migraine, you'd be prone in a quiet, dark room." And I say, "how I would love to be prone in a quiet, dark room!" Who are these people who can drop everything and ... more