motherhood, politics, faith & whatnot

I had a dream last night that A was walking around on his own. I’m glad my brain is trying to warm up to the idea because I think he’s going to be walking for real very soon. Wah! He’s such a joy at this stage. He’s pretty laid-back, except when he’s eating and then you better keep it coming or else. He’s very smiley and is learning how to work it. He’s been shaking his head back and forth for about a month and I’ve been calling it his Kanye*West move — you know the one from the “Gold-digger” (I’m not sure that’s spelled correctly, but then I’ve never really tried to spell gold-digger before. . .) video. But even though A is a keen dancer, he’s really shaking his head when anyone says “no” to him, like when he’s chewing on Matchbox cars for instance.

He likes to bounce up and down when he hears music. He’s very dextrous wih his hands and is doing things that I don’t remember D doing at all, like passing things back and forth between hands. He’s got a killer pincer grip. He’ll actually hold a cookie between his thumb and forefinger and bite/nibble around it. Not something that we are familiar with around here where people tend to swallow things whole without biting or chewing, giving mommy many heartattacks and making her wonder why on earth she isn’t CPR-certified.

J’s going to be out of town at a conference beginning tomorrow through the next week. Great timing, hunh? This conference is the same time every year. Like we don’t have enough going on or anything. Our 10 year wedding anniversary is next Friday for one thing. And what else? Oh yeah, Christmas.

The Daily Kitten

I went into a “Christian” bookstore today, part of a chain, I think. I was looking for an Advent calendar for the wee ones, Advent studies for our Sunday School class, and possibly a creche, also for the wee ones.

I walked around the store, past all the aisles with books by all the prominent televangelists, past the giant Bible selection, past the Veggie Tales section, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. You’d think a “Christian” bookstore would have a whole section on Advent/Christmas, right?

So, I asked the clerk if they had an Advent section — perhaps I had missed seeing it. She looked at me kind of blankly, “You mean like Christmas?” “Um, yes,” I replied. “Hmmm, I don’t think so. . . , but I’ll check with my manager.” OK, yes you do that. I’ll be heading out the door past all those flashy televangelist tomes. Advent stuff. In a “Christian” bookstore. What was I thinking? Silly me.

please don’t use my favorite coffee mug. I’ll tell you what it looks like so you’ll know which one I’m talking about. It’s a piece of pottery with a turquoise/aqua glaze on it and the Ocracoke Coffee Company logo. J has one too, but its shape is a little different and it’s more of a deep royal blue in color.

I don’t mean to be stingy with my stuff or anything and if you used it once, then I’d probably be OK with it, but don’t coopt it for the duration of your stay. OK?

almost. We are one month away. We are down to 4-5 feedings in a 24 hour period. When he turns one year and we start giving him whole milk, we’ll decrease it more if he’s agreeable. I know that we could just keep going indefinitely, but I’m ready to have my body back to myself. I’ve so loved that I’ve been able to nurse my babies. I know that I will cherish all the intimate moments. I wish there was some way to capture the experience. I’ve taken a couple of pictures, but I think they might be creepy to anybody but me when the boys are older. (Am I the only one who thinks about that? Hi Daniel’s girlfriend, have I shown you the pictures of him nursing when he was a baby? Man, did he like to nurse, and I had to practically pry his brother off the boob with a crowbar. . . . Hey, where are you going?. . . OK, you can see them later. . . ).

I was looking at Andrew as he nursed today, watching his expressions and how his eyes moved and blinked. I could see the remnants of the newborn who latched on like a pro almost a year ago. Trying to take it all in, trying to savor these quickly passing sweet moments of babyhood. These are the memories we’ll think about the most in our old age, when our babies were young.

back to something less involved, I could see that I had posted something 3 times.

Just wanted to make sure that you had checked it out!