Lil' L: 16 Months

I don't do this often on my public blog, so I'd thought I'd offer a quick report on our lovely young son.

At 16 months L has just taken off (literally--out the door, even) in his development into quite a rambunctious little boy!

New words (he knows not what they mean, necessarily) and short phrases, mostly picked up in the past two weeks:

Cookie

Thank you

I love you

No

Gogo (his grandma)

Olga (his secret girlfriend)

Duck

Mama

Manamana

Dada

Guggenheim (i.e. the museum) 

Playing with household chemicals.

Other tricks:
He's learned to close the door, take his shirt off his head once his arms are out, eat with a fork, drink from a cup (and pour the contents all over himself), put laundry in the dryer (and take it out), open and close containers, pull wagons, play the xylophone, do down dog (the yoga pose), play the piano in Relief Society (i.e. in the middle of class), give hugs, and more of the old standards: clap, high five, kiss (with his mouth wide open), shoot baskets, RUN, go back and forth through any form of tunnel, wield knives, break any glass object, stick bobby pins in electric outlets, etc.

Mmm . . . applesauce.

Foods he likes:
Oatmeal (latest recipe: 1/2 C oats, 1 C whole milk, cinnamon, dash salt, 1 pack Truvia, sometimes dash nutmeg or a little vanilla. Mmmm.), tamales, pasta, steamed broccoli, Greek yogurt + our fresh-canned Oregon strawberry sauce!, hamburger, falafel, RICE, black olives, any fruit, bacon, sausage, chicken, lettuce on occasion (with dressing), green beans, tomato sauce, pizza, gyros, Indian food, ravioli, pasta fagioli, lasagna, spinach, cucumbers, quinoa, couscous, cold cereal, anything with cinnamon, milk, etc.

Foods he doesn't like:
Beans (with a few exceptions), peanuts (because he breaks out in hives and pukes), avocado, almond butter, sandwiches, raw carrots, cold cheese? (hit or miss), potatoes (also hit and miss), Greek olives

Favorite baseball pajamas!

Sleeping Habits: 
7:30pm-7:30am like a rock
Nap from approx. 11:00am-1:00pm
Occasional catnap in late afternoon.

Sleeping locations:
Anywhere! His crib, daycare cots (although daycare is a thing of the past), Pack n' Play at the Jamison's, mattress on floor at company's house, our living room floor, carseat, couch, etc. Takes after his dad--out like a light. Exception? CHURCH. There shall be no sleep from 10:00am to 1:00pm at church, just running around like a crazy man.

Wearing Mama's showercap.

Hobbies:
Dancing, rolling in pillows, biting, climbing, rocking horses (a new discovery), running down hallways, "flopping," rocking himself in the rocking chair, playing piano, being outside, meeting new people (i.e. running off with strangers), playing in sofa cushion tunnels and forts, reading books in 10 second increments, sleeping, playing with any and all kitchen utensils, opening and disemboweling drawers, climbing into the oven drawer (and thankfully not the oven itself), dipping hands in the toilet bowl, brushing hair, taking baths, making music/banging drums.

XOXOXOXO

Aren't I the best?

24.5

Trying really hard.

As of Late

Last week I nearly stayed home from church, I was so distraught after trying on dresses I wore at 8 and 9 months pregnant the first time that didn't fit at all at only 5 months this time around. On some days I feel wonderful and fit, and on others I feel like my belly is the size of a barrel being carried around on the body of an elephant. Pregnancy is so beautiful, and yet so horrific.

Again, I'm wondering if my body will ever be the same. I guess it never will be "the same" in the sense that I continue to grow older, and bearing children seems to have a way of aging the body--or at least torturing it with hormones going up and down, joints expanding in and out, hair rapidly growing and falling out, feet swelling and shrinking back, water weight building up and sweating away. What a ride.

The only thing that makes me feel confident that I might at least feel "normal" again is exercise, my saving grace. I had cancelled my gym membership for a while after L was born, wondering when I'd have the time to go, but I re-upped about a month ago and have been attending a 5:30am spin class and yoga classes here and there.

The 5:30am MWF class must sound completely crazy, especially for someone like me who is SO NOT a morning person. But as I don't sleep all that well, being pregnant and all, if I'm not sleeping I might as well go do something, I figure.

The world is quiet and dark until I arrive at the gym and there is this whole bustling group of odd people there, the morning exercisers, who seem to have discovered some great secret to life. I've actually enjoyed joining this crazy society of people. If you have children, 5:00am is such an opportune time to do a few things before the tasks of the day get rolling. And if you exercise early, you don't have to do it later or shower later in the day or eat into family time. I kind of like it.

I'm also loving spin as a low-impact "sport" that doesn't require jumping around and bouncing with my huge stomach that simultaneously demands an intense, sweaty effort. I'm terrible at structuring my own workouts, so over the past few years I've relied completely on classes with knowledgable instructors to tell me what to do and make me work harder than I would on my own. It's a lot cheaper than having a personal trainer, I guess.

But it's not for everyone; I brought Sam and he didn't like being bossed around by some know-it-all tough guy on a stationary bike talking about how little body fat he has. And despite the anonymity, working out with other people around to watch you isn't great if you're self-conscious about what you're doing. For me, I like being with other people--I'm less likely to slack off when I see everyone else working hard and enduring the hour.

So that's the latest. I've been working out so much, and I am SO FAT. That's life these days!

Literary Influences

I unearthed this from the application I submitted for an MFA program in creative writing two years ago. I was accepted to the program but declined the offer. This short list proves to me that I don't read enough; most of these books I read in my teens. I don't read or write nearly as much as I did then. I struggle to read books now because I'm easily bored (or distracted) and rarely finish what I start unless it's crazy-riveting enough to be worth staying up all night absorbing. Who knows who might be the next great influence if I were to pick up reading and writing with the same intensity as I used to.

__________________________

Literary influences on my writing include

Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, the memoir that inspires me to dive into the depth of my own life stories, discover my voice, and someday win the Pulitzer;

Dave Egger’s Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which teaches me that writing an honest, epic memoir can be done with flare long before death or age sixty-five;

J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, a work of fiction that feels far too real and makes me want to write the next great American novel;

Louise Plummer’s The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman, a young adult novel by a former professor that taught me how writing what I know does not limit me to nonfiction;

The Book of Mormon, a book of scripture which reflects the spiritual longings I have, like ancient and modern prophets, to publish my revelations, keep a record of truth for future generations, and create worlds of my own, just as did my Maker.

__________________________

If I were to add to this list now, I would include Hemingway and Faulkner with theirs streams of consciousness; Terry Gross of Fresh Air, who encourages me to ask thoughtful questions; and Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead, who has helped me reflect on the value of reflection.

Who are your literary influences? Not the authors whose books are favorites, but the authors (or books) who have influenced your voice?

A Conflicted and Unspoken Relationship with Gnomes

The Formal Announcement: It's a . . .

. . . baby!

Yes, I'm a total jerk and pulled the rather passive aggressive move of announcing Lambson Baby No. 2 at the very end of our very long-winded Christmas Newsletter. I thought, well, if so-and-so were really my friend they'd read the whole thing and be thus "rewarded" with our little secret. So after Christmas when a few friends were totally surprised to find out the news, I thought, "Ha! You didn't read it! Fail! I win!"

So if you were too lazy (and I don't blame you), here's the formal announcement: we're expecting!

Due Date: June 20, 2012.

Father: Sam. Yes, I am monogamous.

Current Gestational Age: 20.71428 weeks old

Age Distance from Our First: Approx. 19.666 months

Nickname: Blueberry

Weight: (Heavens, no, not mine.) Approx. 1lb--ahead of the game, apparently. According to my unreliable sources, if weight actually multiplies by 15 from week 20, we're gearing up for a 15lb baby. Pray for me.

Gender: Well, wouldn't you like to know! To keep you interested, all shall be revealed at the conclusion of this post. Yes, you actually have to read more than just a paragraph. Can your internet-affected attention span bear it? Too bad for you--either way, I demand your attention on such rare occasions as this. Thank you very much. So . . .

Is it a girl?

Or it a boy?

 

 

Here's Bean at 20 weeks. See a resemblance?

Our 20-week anatomy scan yesterday, and it was a much better experience than we had with the tech we worked with last time (i.e. she looked at the baby from the wrong angle, saying she could find no heartbeat and he might be dead, and shared that she didn't really like kids but preferred her dogs, etc.)

Check out that adorable spine!

I loved our tech this time, Larissa. She was very personable, answering my questions and sharing what she was doing with great detail. She looked at the liver when I asked about the liver and other things to satisfy my curiosity. I love going to the doctor just to learn more about medicine.

Blueberry looked very healthy on all accounts and was a very, very active baby during the whole process, waving and kicking and twisting around. Such fun!

And now, for the moment of truth! Dun dun dunnnnn! We're having a . . . 

. . . boy!

We're thrilled! Any name suggestions?

To Seek Betterment

I’m kind of a negative person—glass half empty, if you will. But I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing. For one, I’m constantly learning to accept myself for who I am, someone who teeters between mellow and melancholy; and secondly, I am one who is constantly seeking for betterment. If the glass is half empty, I ask myself, By George, what do we need to do to make this glass full? Why walk around with a half empty glass in the first place? Who poured this glass? Where’s the pitcher? Give it to me. Let’s improve this situation.

But, I admit, on occasion I just want to toss the whole glass in the sink.

Perhaps it goes along with a perfectionist paradigm in which nothing and no one are perfect, but this doesn’t dissuade from pursuing perfection. For example, if my house is messy, which it usually is, that is an example of a half-empty glass I yearn to fill by remedying the situation.

I guess I’ve been thinking about this as I evaluate what is now a past experience of being a full-time working mom. It’s been about three weeks since I switched to part-time, working Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays now that the busy season has passed. I’m learning again how to relax when I’m at home and let go of the pressure I felt having two hours in the evening to do a day’s worth of chores, wifery, and parenting. I’m learning to pace myself again. This also includes learning how not to be a complete couch potato during the day just because I can. That’s probably my biggest problem when I’m home all day, really. Almost nothing motivates me to get out of the house or work on a meaningful project—but a job will.

What I learned as a mother working full-time was a deep understanding of physical exhaustion, which leads to mental exhaustion.

On the other hand, what I learned from being a full-time mother confined in a small apartment with little contact with the outside world was mental exhaustion, which leads (for me) to physical exhaustion.

A healthy balance of physical and mental exhaustion is what I’m looking for. A life void of any exhaustion (or work) would be hardly worthwhile to me. From what I hear, parenting is the greatest source for both mental and physical exhaustion around the clock, and yet the occupation with the greatest reward. A high-stress job that requires 80-hour work weeks or what have you might have a similar effect.

Anyway, I diverge. What I wanted to do mostly, is apologize for my negativity. I find that no matter what my life situation is, I am constantly wondering how it could be better. It’s not that I’m displeased with or ungrateful  for whatever circumstances I find myself in, but I am always looking for ways that my life can be more enriching and meaningful to not just myself, but others. I want to maximize the effect of my life and my influence on others.

And so this blog is just one of the forums on which I ask questions and evaluate the areas of my life that I would like change for the better. Not that the water in my glass tastes bad or isn’t the stuff of life; rather, I love the water so much that I want more of it. And if I could, it’d be nice to have enough for not just myself.