Saturday, October 23, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
I will be 41 tomorrow, and have never been happier in my life. Declan is getting smarter and more wonderful by the day, and I am amazed at his command of words. He says please and thank you, and sorry when he hurts someone. He is funny and so sweet. He is going to the potty regularly and making poop too. He just made poop on his potty today, and is doing so well considering his age. I am so crazy that I took a picture of his first poop! I just was so proud, and he was too. It was a little slower going for the poop than the pee in the potty, but I figured out that I had to keep him naked so that I could recognize the signs, and quickly put him on. Now he says "Butt hurt!" so I know he needs to go. It's too funny!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
So sweet
Today we were playing blocks on the floor and it was lunchtime. I started to get up to go fix lunch and Declan said "together?...us?" and grabbed my hand. My eyes welled with tears, and I felt so incredibly blessed to have such a sweet child as my companion in life. I love that we are together all of the time, and am so fortunate to share his early years with him. I wouldn't miss it for the world!
Mommy and me preschool!
What a lovely day today! I got up this morning feeling great. I guess it was a 24 hour bug, or maybe it was the chanting I did last night. I decided that I would just get on with it and take Declan to school. It was a great idea. Even though we were a bit late, I'm glad we came.
It has been so wonderful being a part of this Mommy and me preschool in Marinwood. I love it out there and I feel right at home. So many amazing things to do here for the little ones! I demented myself to death searching for the perfect place for Declan's first school experience. I read thousands of websites and found a great one! Here is the link : http://www.marinmommies.com/preschools I also searched on YELP to find out the real low down honest reviews from real Mommies and Daddies and the word on the street. This place really is a winner.
First of all, it is held in the Marinwood Community Center, where there are so many fun activities are happening anyway...a great place for families to bond together. It is right next to a fire station with big bright yellow fire engines right there for the kids to freak out over. Lots of music programs and enrichment activities that really are amazing.
What really hooked me was the director Susan Press. What an amazing woman! She is an artist herself, and is an accomplished writer. Here is her biography:
Susan Press has been the Program Director since September of 1986. Her background includes a graduate degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a teaching credential from California State University at San Francisco. Susan taught art at the junior and senior high school level for eight years primarily in the Piedmont School District, with her first year at Miller Creek School, here in the Dixie District. Marinwood has had a preschool since its beginning as a community center. Susan began the Parent-Toddler Program in 1989 and the Threes Together in 1990. She has also taught art in the Dixie Schools through the Youth In Arts Program.
Susan writes a column on parenting for the Marinwood Review.
“Coming to Marinwood and the preschool-aged child, has been the best surprise gift in my life, second only to parenting. I am continually blessed by meeting the most loving families and honored to be trusted to work and play with all these incredible children. There is not one aspect to this job that I do not enjoy and continually learn from. My focus as a teacher is to help each child to feel safe, loved, good about themselves and excited to come to school each day.”
Such wonderful families as well. I have made friends with a lot of the Mommies, and had a play date with a nice lady named Kimberley and her lovely son, Jamie. They live in Marinwood Estates, and it is surrounded by mountains. It is a beautiful, new community, and is a fantastic house. Declan and Jamie have made friends at school, and Kimberley is very cool. Declan loves to crack Jamie up! Today we made a coin purse together as a craft. She laid out fabric markers to decorate the little white coin purses with, and they had cute gold coins inside them for the kids to play with! How cool! Every craft that we have made here is useful, beautiful and thoughtful.
I am going to try out "The Little Gym" in Sausalito tomorrow. Kimberley says it is great, and Jamie loves it. I love Sausalito, and it looks great online, so we are going to give it a go. I'll let you know how it turns out.
It has been so wonderful being a part of this Mommy and me preschool in Marinwood. I love it out there and I feel right at home. So many amazing things to do here for the little ones! I demented myself to death searching for the perfect place for Declan's first school experience. I read thousands of websites and found a great one! Here is the link : http://www.marinmommies.com/preschools I also searched on YELP to find out the real low down honest reviews from real Mommies and Daddies and the word on the street. This place really is a winner.
First of all, it is held in the Marinwood Community Center, where there are so many fun activities are happening anyway...a great place for families to bond together. It is right next to a fire station with big bright yellow fire engines right there for the kids to freak out over. Lots of music programs and enrichment activities that really are amazing.
What really hooked me was the director Susan Press. What an amazing woman! She is an artist herself, and is an accomplished writer. Here is her biography:
Susan Press has been the Program Director since September of 1986. Her background includes a graduate degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and a teaching credential from California State University at San Francisco. Susan taught art at the junior and senior high school level for eight years primarily in the Piedmont School District, with her first year at Miller Creek School, here in the Dixie District. Marinwood has had a preschool since its beginning as a community center. Susan began the Parent-Toddler Program in 1989 and the Threes Together in 1990. She has also taught art in the Dixie Schools through the Youth In Arts Program.
Susan writes a column on parenting for the Marinwood Review.
“Coming to Marinwood and the preschool-aged child, has been the best surprise gift in my life, second only to parenting. I am continually blessed by meeting the most loving families and honored to be trusted to work and play with all these incredible children. There is not one aspect to this job that I do not enjoy and continually learn from. My focus as a teacher is to help each child to feel safe, loved, good about themselves and excited to come to school each day.”
Such wonderful families as well. I have made friends with a lot of the Mommies, and had a play date with a nice lady named Kimberley and her lovely son, Jamie. They live in Marinwood Estates, and it is surrounded by mountains. It is a beautiful, new community, and is a fantastic house. Declan and Jamie have made friends at school, and Kimberley is very cool. Declan loves to crack Jamie up! Today we made a coin purse together as a craft. She laid out fabric markers to decorate the little white coin purses with, and they had cute gold coins inside them for the kids to play with! How cool! Every craft that we have made here is useful, beautiful and thoughtful.
I am going to try out "The Little Gym" in Sausalito tomorrow. Kimberley says it is great, and Jamie loves it. I love Sausalito, and it looks great online, so we are going to give it a go. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
SICK TODAY
UP at 2 AM with vomiting and explosive diarrhea...it hit me like a freight train! It went on that way every two hours on the hour. Running desperately to the shower in the middle of the night with all of this happening all at once is the most out of control, helpless feeling. Not to mention being awakened from a dead sleep by sharp pains right in the middle of my stomach which made me heave and double over. I had defecation streaming down my legs as I held back the vomit with sheer will. I quickly staggered from my bed just in time to make it to the shower before we needed our carpet cleaned in a BIG way.
Luckily, Patrick had an easy day so he took care of Declan's morning routine for me. What a Prince! He took off work, and is still here at 2:43 in the afternoon. How kind and thoughtful he has been, looking after he and I, making rice and bringing me ice chips.
I find it very difficult to be sick, and I rarely am. Patrick told me it was the first time he has seen me sick, apart from morning sickness which doesn't count. This is God's way of saying you must take a break. You are taken care of. You can slow down and rest. I haven't vomited since 10 :00 this morning, so I think the worst is over. Whatever was in my body that didn't belong got violently evicted! I am eating the BRAT diet...you know, bananas rice applesauce toast, so that seems to be helping.
I am very lucky to have someone who loves me unconditionally, in sickness and in health in the truest sense of the words. I have had glimpses of it from time to time in relationships, but it was never my soul mate...my twin ray. I was looking for a best friend that I could trust like family, and I wasn't going to settle for less, even if that meant roaming this earth alone until my death, with nothing but Yogananda and a good dog and cat for sweet companionship. I have my deep scars from my parent's divorce when I was 15 that had kept most men at bay for so long. I am proud to call Patrick my best friend, and he is the first man that I have ever had a relationship that was the "best friend/brother turns into lover" thing with, and was a good friend and roomate for at least a year before we fell in love.
Declan likes a group hug every day, and if Patrick and I are hugging, he will squish himself in the middle. It is soo cute! Well, the other day he made up his first song "Best friend Daddy best friend Daddy Best friend Daddy...best friends!" Yesterday during our group hug he said " Mommy Daddy best friends!" From a kid's perspective, who could ask for anything more? I will be 41 this October 24th, and I couldn't be happier. I have blessings that are so out of control, that if you went up to me in 2005 and told me this was going to happen I would have laughed in your face. Big tough girl loner! Nyeeeeah!!
Luckily, Patrick had an easy day so he took care of Declan's morning routine for me. What a Prince! He took off work, and is still here at 2:43 in the afternoon. How kind and thoughtful he has been, looking after he and I, making rice and bringing me ice chips.
I find it very difficult to be sick, and I rarely am. Patrick told me it was the first time he has seen me sick, apart from morning sickness which doesn't count. This is God's way of saying you must take a break. You are taken care of. You can slow down and rest. I haven't vomited since 10 :00 this morning, so I think the worst is over. Whatever was in my body that didn't belong got violently evicted! I am eating the BRAT diet...you know, bananas rice applesauce toast, so that seems to be helping.
I am very lucky to have someone who loves me unconditionally, in sickness and in health in the truest sense of the words. I have had glimpses of it from time to time in relationships, but it was never my soul mate...my twin ray. I was looking for a best friend that I could trust like family, and I wasn't going to settle for less, even if that meant roaming this earth alone until my death, with nothing but Yogananda and a good dog and cat for sweet companionship. I have my deep scars from my parent's divorce when I was 15 that had kept most men at bay for so long. I am proud to call Patrick my best friend, and he is the first man that I have ever had a relationship that was the "best friend/brother turns into lover" thing with, and was a good friend and roomate for at least a year before we fell in love.
Declan likes a group hug every day, and if Patrick and I are hugging, he will squish himself in the middle. It is soo cute! Well, the other day he made up his first song "Best friend Daddy best friend Daddy Best friend Daddy...best friends!" Yesterday during our group hug he said " Mommy Daddy best friends!" From a kid's perspective, who could ask for anything more? I will be 41 this October 24th, and I couldn't be happier. I have blessings that are so out of control, that if you went up to me in 2005 and told me this was going to happen I would have laughed in your face. Big tough girl loner! Nyeeeeah!!
GOING POOP!
Declan and I have been potty training for a couple of months now. Nana got him a step stool, underpants and potty cover for his birthday in July, and I got him a Freddy the Frog potty many months ago. He has been doing great with going pee, but not so great with the poo. I have been keeping him naked when we are home so that he can quickly sit down when he needs to go. It has been working out really well, and yesterday he sat down and pooped in Freddy! I was so proud.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Declan Turns Two!
My sweet baby boy turned two today. Nana and Grandaddy are here to visit which makes it very special and amazing. I feel so blessed to have such a dear sweet special child in my care. He is so kind and full of joy and life. So many cool things have happened. He is a very aware spiritual being and he is so smart. I was reading a book by Nichirin Daishonin, the founder of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Buddhism, and Declan pointed to his name and said "Buddha!" I was shocked. He instinctively knows what is good and is so expressive and emotional. He is a perfect mimic and has a great sense of humor. Such charisma!
We are now going to gymnastics on Tuesdays with Teacher Juan at the St Anselmo Rec Center. He is such a great teacher and wears Yoda masks and demonstrates on the trampoline with fabulous tricks that make the babies crazy! He has "circle time" at the start where he briefly stretches the toddlers out while singing songs like "Hickory Dickory Dock" and "ABC." At the end of class he takes out a rainbow parachute and all of the toddlers get on top while all of the adults hold the edges and sing "Little Red Caboos!" The Rec Centers here in Marin are amazing! They offer so much to do for new Mommies and for everyone. He is also going to swim lessons at the Strawberry Rec Center with Daddy on Sundays. That's a great way for them to bond and spend quality time together, not to mention I get a little "me time!" ; )
Giving birth to Declan was the hardest thing I have ever done. Afterwards I felt like the winner in a prize fight against Muhammad Ali! He was big, and at times I didn't think I could do it at all. It was difficult being pregnant because I puked every day for 9 months. EVERY DAY!! I felt like a water buffalo, but all of the pain and unpleasantness is nothing compared to the joy I feel looking at my gorgeous son every day!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Music Together!
We were invited to come to a class at the Discovery Museum by our new friends Cathy and Benton, and we liked it so much, we signed up. I met Cathy at Corte Madera Park a while ago, and she was so kind and helpful about things to do here in Marin for toddlers! It has been challenging for me to be in a new town without any pals with a new baby, and I was happy I met such a good person. Declan's new words are : Auntie, Cathy, Bent Bent, (Benton, his new friend from Music Together) guitar, bark, flower, bench, up step, down, Kate, driver, (screw driver) cow, sheep, goats, penguin, there are so many now it's hard to keep up!
Declan is sweet and kind, and has a tender heart. It is as if the very sun itself were behind his eyes! So full of life and joy! A Blessed Jewell, so precious. I feel like the luckiest Mommy in the whole world to be blessed with such a magic, dear presence. He is like a little politician wherever he goes saying "Hi!" to everyone he sees! One sweet older woman in Molly Stones, the funky, local market here in Bon Air Shopping Center, said "what a gregarious young man!" That describes him entirely. He reminds me of the best parts of my Daddy, (also a Leo)warm, confidant and sweet.
He is very spirited, and can be aggressive with the head butting and kicking. It really got to me when he hurt me a couple of times pretty bad. I yelled at him and got in his face one day, which immediately brought a halt to the vicious body kicks he was delivering while I was trying in vain to change his blowout poopie diaper. Poop everywhere!! I just was so ashamed I lost control, and so sad and disgusted that we were covered in poop, that I started to cry! I can't be too hard on myself..it is not easy to be a good mother, if it were everyone would work as hard as I do. I keep my serenity most of the time, but I just lost it that day. I really scared the little guy, and that just sent my self esteem to the floor.
I must remember that tomorrow is another day to be amazing, and I am only human. We all have pitfalls and challenges daily, and it is our reactions to these events that determine our destiny and happiness. I lost my temper. Big deal. I am not the first Mommy to blow a gasket, but it just feels so AWFUL!!! I don't want to hurt him in any way, and yelling is definitely very hurtful. Peace be with me. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I wrote this poem on that day ( Kosen Rufu means World Peace)
Kosen Rufu Within
help me with this anger
this demon inside of me
help me to be peaceful
help me to be free
show me the way
to forgive myself
for the violence
with word and deed
I have committed
against the innocent
in my lifetime
the shame
and regret
for causing fear
and intimidation
in the eyes of
another
help me to find
the kosen rufu
within my own
body and soul
and sit in that peace
for the rest of my life
giving out peaceful
vibrations
no matter what
remaining even minded
in the face of whatever
Declan is sweet and kind, and has a tender heart. It is as if the very sun itself were behind his eyes! So full of life and joy! A Blessed Jewell, so precious. I feel like the luckiest Mommy in the whole world to be blessed with such a magic, dear presence. He is like a little politician wherever he goes saying "Hi!" to everyone he sees! One sweet older woman in Molly Stones, the funky, local market here in Bon Air Shopping Center, said "what a gregarious young man!" That describes him entirely. He reminds me of the best parts of my Daddy, (also a Leo)warm, confidant and sweet.
He is very spirited, and can be aggressive with the head butting and kicking. It really got to me when he hurt me a couple of times pretty bad. I yelled at him and got in his face one day, which immediately brought a halt to the vicious body kicks he was delivering while I was trying in vain to change his blowout poopie diaper. Poop everywhere!! I just was so ashamed I lost control, and so sad and disgusted that we were covered in poop, that I started to cry! I can't be too hard on myself..it is not easy to be a good mother, if it were everyone would work as hard as I do. I keep my serenity most of the time, but I just lost it that day. I really scared the little guy, and that just sent my self esteem to the floor.
I must remember that tomorrow is another day to be amazing, and I am only human. We all have pitfalls and challenges daily, and it is our reactions to these events that determine our destiny and happiness. I lost my temper. Big deal. I am not the first Mommy to blow a gasket, but it just feels so AWFUL!!! I don't want to hurt him in any way, and yelling is definitely very hurtful. Peace be with me. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I wrote this poem on that day ( Kosen Rufu means World Peace)
Kosen Rufu Within
help me with this anger
this demon inside of me
help me to be peaceful
help me to be free
show me the way
to forgive myself
for the violence
with word and deed
I have committed
against the innocent
in my lifetime
the shame
and regret
for causing fear
and intimidation
in the eyes of
another
help me to find
the kosen rufu
within my own
body and soul
and sit in that peace
for the rest of my life
giving out peaceful
vibrations
no matter what
remaining even minded
in the face of whatever
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