2011
July
29
I was unhappy as a teenager. All I wanted was to be an adult. I despised school, but not because I was bad at it. I just wanted the freedom to make my own decisions and shape my own life. I wanted my own house to shift the furniture around. I wanted a husband to recreate the relationship that I saw in my parents. And later, I decided that I wanted children. Lots of them.
Now, I have all of those things and I am very happy. I have everything that I need and there aren’t many things that I desire. The only thing that’s missing is my house. We’re saving money for a down payment, but it’s uncertain how soon we can make my dream a reality.
I met Eric and two of his coworkers for lunch yesterday. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant. This art was hanging next to our table. Some of the guys snickered at the woman’s bare breast, but I was enamored with it. It depicted my idea of paradise. I’d love to be the woman in the painting, cuddling with my baby in a hammock with a pet goat at my feet and gazing at my house across a pond.
2011
July
27
In a perfect world, we would take our sons for a walk every evening after dinner. The exercise and the fresh air are obviously great, but I also love it for the time it allows Eric and I to talk without distractions. When we’re sitting at home, we’re inevitably splitting our attention between our computers, the television, our iPhones, the kids, and each other. With the kids strapped in strollers and our media left at home, all we have is each other!
Most nights we make excuses to avoid going for a walk. Lately, it has just been too hot. But tonight we finally did it – for the first time in a few weeks!
I pushed Sam in one stroller while Eric pushed Dash in another. Dash is always perfectly quiet when we go for a walk. That is, until he sees a dog. Then he’s all “gah! gah! gah!”. That’s his word for “dog”.
I ordered two different double strollers from two different companies over the past month. Both of the orders were cancelled because the products were out of stock! I gave up on getting the exact model that I wanted and ordered a different one from Amazon this morning with free two-day shipping. It should arrive on Friday. Just in time for me to take both boys to the beach next week by myself!
2011
July
27
Each summer, we camp with all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins on Eric’s mother’s side of the family for a reunion. This year, we met at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. It was the first time that many of Eric’s relatives met Dash and Sam, so I was happy that I felt well enough to attend just one month after giving birth.
We rented a minivan for the trip so that Eric’s mom could ride with us and so that we would have room for all of our camping gear. I was afraid that being in a minivan would make me want to buy one. Thankfully, it actually made me appreciate my tiny Honda Fit even more!
Minivans are just so huge. It was great to have it for the trip, but I don’t need that much space on a daily basis. I’ll probably have to get a minivan when we have three kids, though. There’s no way I can cram three car seats in the Fit.
Dash eating an orange in the minivan.
We hiked every day. There were several caves and gorges in the area. The main attraction was Old Man’s Cave. Supposedly, a hermit named Richard Rowe lived there after the Civil War and is buried inside.
During one of the hikes, we found a waterfall with a swimming hole beneath it. The kids had so much fun swimming and splashing. Dash was happy to throw rocks for at least half an hour, but we found out the hard way what happens to a diaper when it gets saturated with water. The seal at the back of the diaper exploded and the absorbent gel oozed out. Very gross.
Dash and Sam were well-behaved on the long ride from Virginia, which was a pleasant surprise. However, difficulty revealed itself when we tried to get Dash to sleep each night. I thought that he was just too excited from being around so many other kids. Or maybe he was reluctant to sleep in an unfamiliar environment. But looking back, Eric insists that Dash couldn’t sleep because I was giving him iced tea. I didn’t think that caffeine would have such a strong affect on a toddler. Oops!
The nights that Dash refuses to sleep have always been the hardest part of parenting for Eric and I. When we feel like we’ve tried everything and we’re missing out on sitting around the campfire with the other adults, it’s easy to feel resentful. But once Dash finally falls asleep, how can you be angry at something this precious?
This was Sam’s first camping trip at just five weeks old. He got passed around quite a bit, and I carried him with me on all of the hikes.
Three of Dash’s cousins brought their bikes camping. Dash had seen bikes in a few of his books, but he called them “momo” because he couldn’t differentiate them from motorcycles. By the end of the camping trip, we had taught him how to say “bike” properly and he was thoroughly obsessed with them. We’ll be buying a bike for him very soon.
The highlight of the trip actually happened when we were almost home. We’ve been potty-training Dash for a few months now, but we haven’t been very consistent. He will pee in the potty if his pants are already off, but he hasn’t learned how to tell us that he needs to pee or ask for help pulling down his pants.
Which is why it was so surprising when he said “poopoo” in the car. We were skeptical that actually needed to poop. I thought he might be trying to trick us into letting him out of his car seat. But we pulled over anyway and sat him on his training potty. And sure enough, he pooped! I was so proud.
2011
July
26
While we were getting Dash ready for bed tonight, he found some of his bath toys and dropped them in an empty trash can. “Uh oh!” he said. “Uh oh! Uh oh!”
He couldn’t reach the toys because the trash can was too deep. I laughed at him dubiously and said, “You’re resourceful. You’ll figure it out.” Of course, I knew that he would need to tip the trash can over to reach his toys, but I didn’t have any confidence that he would actually think of that, let alone within SECONDS.
As soon as I turned away, he had the trash can on the floor and was crawling in to retrieve his toys. His cleverness never ceases to amaze me. Just a year ago, he was a lump of baby who just cooed and cried. Now, he’s a real boy with critical thinking skills!
