christmas presence

21 - 29 December.
2 grandmas, 1 grandpa, 1 great-grandma, 1 uncle, 2 great aunts, 1 great uncle, 6 cousins, 6 second-cousins.
Many, many presents.

Z loved the experience. The flights there and back, all the attention, the relentless dismantling of granny's magazines, chasing the cats, dinners with new foods and faces.

He came home with several new toys and lots of new tricks. He purses his lips in an "o" and giggles as he says, "ooooooh." He wags his tongue up and down "lbblbllb llbllb lllblllla." He claps, especially when he hears the first few notes of, "if you're happy and you're know it..." Using his walker, he chases us around the house. I've stopped counting how many steps he can take on his own - today he walked across the living room and through the kitchen before sitting down to take a rest. One of his bottom middle teeth finally broke through the gums - that makes 3 teeth. He eats raw, baby carrots and loves green beans and beef. He's learned to stack blocks and can place plastic rings on their holder. He dances when he hears music and throws balls over the gate at the top of the stairs and watches them bounce. He points to things he wants - like the corner of the kitchen for a banana (where we keep them). He sometimes uses a spoon to put food into his mouth, but mostly he uses it as a drumstick and the highchair tray as a drum. He can push his new truck around on the floor like it's driving somewhere.

Photos and video on the way...

laps

The main living area of our house, the top floor, is shaped like a barbell. On one side we have the living/dining/kitchen room on the other side we have the sleeping/washing area divided amongst three rooms (master suite, Z's room, Z's washroom). Connecting the two areas is a 30 (?) foot hallway.

He woke up from his afternoon nap and played with his toys for a while then he started walking. We walked from his room to the living room, around the kitchen island, then back to his room. Turned around and walked back to the kitchen. We walked this circuit at least 3 times.

He's not walking on his own, he's holding my hand, but I suspect he won't be holding on much longer... especially with the audience that he'll have next week.

her perfume lingered on his jacket...

It was inevitable. He needed to spend time with other people and I needed to get back to work.

hehe.

Yesterday, we survived Z's first day of daycare. Survived. Ha. It really wasn't that dramatic, a little, but not really. One thing I've learned about major milestones is that they come and go more quickly and less painfully than I anticipate.

From 9:30-12:30, Z went to daycare and I spent time in the neighborhood near his center. I had breakfast at Noah's, talked on the phone with a friend from high school, ordered coffee and caught up on personal email. I was *supposed* to work - to make money to pay for daycare - but I couldn't quite focus enough to do that. A combination of caffeine, nerves, and excitement.

Tomorrow, he'll go from 9:00-1:00. I have a 9:30 appointment at the University, so I *will* do some work.

i'm back!

I'm back at work, back to the gym, and I have my energy back. It is a chain reaction: working means we can afford the gym. Rejoining the gym means all of the benefits of exercise - stress relief, personal goals, stronger immune system, and more energy plus we have 10 hours per month of "free" childcare (additional time is $3 per hour - what a deal!). It also means more activities for me and Z - we start swimming lessons in January.

Work is completely different. Instead of 40++ hours per week, I'll be working a max of 18. Last week I worked 6.5 hours. I have new tools to play with and I don't have a backlog of email and documents that I need to organize. I'm starting with a clean slate and intending to keep it clean and organized! I have time to play without the seemingly never-ending pile of email, phone calls, and meetings. Last night, I spent 3 hours reading blogs! Today, I listened to the podcast of Bruce Sterling's keynote from the IDEA conference while Z and I played in the living room.

I used to spend energy keeping life and work separate. I was worried that working from home would mean never leaving work - and it's true, I didn't. But, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. There is a boundary that is needed, but there is also a seamless flow that needs to develop. I'm not sure if I'll figure it out this time around (will I ever truly "figure it out?"). At least I'm allowing myself more room to experiment and having more fun doing it.

Work and working out are back in my life but I am not back where I started - thankfully. It's been an amazingly beautiful and challenging year and I am thankful for the directions in which we are all growing.

sick day

Today isn't Z's first day of daycare because the vomit on Wednesday wasn't a one-time thing...plus it's coming out the other end, to boot(y). When talking with the doctor about how to keep him hydrated she told me that the results of the allergy test were back and he was allergic to *everything* on the list except corn. That means: soy, egg white, egg yolk, peanut, walnut, pea, wheat, milk, and whatever else was on the list - some other nuts and...I couldn't write fast enough as she went through the list. We meet with the allergist next Tuesday. [sigh]

She said to expect the vomiting to last 3-5 days and the diarrhea up to 2 weeks...which means he may not be starting daycare next week either...and until we sort out his allergies, I suppose that is a good thing.

If you would like to give me a holiday gift, I need 1001 rice recipes for the curious toddler.