The Good Old Times

Before I had any children, I remember that I frequently complained about the fact that I was "so busy". 

Then I had Kai.

And as I looked back at those child-less years, I'd marvel at how much time I actually used to have.  Now with a child, I was "busy".  What had I been complaining about before?  Having a kid ate up your time and left you with hardly any for yourself.

Then I had Ryder.

And I looked back at those relaxed and luxurious years of having only 1 child.  Oh boy, did I have time back in those days!  Having 2 kids consumes pretty much all of your time, especially since neither one of them is in school yet.

And then I went back to work.

That was this past Monday.

And though it is only part-time (I teach at a local college), I vividly remember last week when I thought I hardly had any time to .... [fill in the blank].

This week: I went back to work, I met with my friends to plan another friend's babyshower, I baked devilish amazingly yummy absolutely the best-I-ever-tasted CRIMINALLY good brownies, cleaned my house in preparation of a house guest who is arriving for the weekend, did groceries and...it's only Wednesday.

I need more time. 

In general.

Especially to sleep.

And to blog.

I have defaulted on my blog.

But I'm writing now.  And that's what counts.

So, I am not going to write about work and how my classes are ridiculously large for the performance class (Public Speaking) that I teach, how much I hate large groups and all the things I will do (within my power and within the boundaries of the law) to decrease the size of my classes and therefore increase the quality of what my 'kids' will actually learn.  No, I am not going to write about that.  I am also not going to write about the ridiculous time my alarm goes off in the morning and how last night I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep because Kai woke up screaming when he couldn't find his lovey and a few hours later Ryder woke up because...well, I don't know why.  He just did.

I don't know exactly what I am going to write about.  I do have some photos that sum up the last week, before returning to work.

We had a series of hot days last week; perfect to go to the beach one morning and spend a few hours in the sand.  No, we don't swim in the Pacific here.  We're in SoCal, the water is freezing down here.  Up to my ankles, that's as far as I will go. 

While Ryder was stylin' in his very own way, Kai was completely engaged in play and fun with his girlfriend.  Girlfriend and beach.  It hardly gets any better.

{Photo by my friend Amy}

After I had Kai, I often wondered what any additional children would look like.  I know that sounds funny, but when you have one little-me version of your husband walking around, that's all you know.  Brown hair, brown eyes and stubborn (David would argue that Kai got that from the both of us.  Don't know where he would get that from. My husband's got such an imagination...) .  That was the type of child that I had managed to create.  Imagine how surprised I was when Ryder had strawberry blond hair and blue eyes.  I am often still amazed with the idea that I can also make blond babies.  How cool is that?  I'm so versatile!

And my beautiful blue-eyed, drooling, teething, massive amounts of food-consuming baby just loves his feet.  I think it's too early to call it a foot fetish, but he certainly is excited to have these wonderful pieces of play material attached to his legs (and within reach).

Oh, the joy that feet can bring to little ones.  It's a delight to see and I simply can't get enough of it.

It's Been a Week...

A week ago, I was kicking back on the beach in Santa Barbara.  Oh my, how I wish I were there right now.  It almost feels as if I need another one of those weekends.  I think I do.

I haven't had a chance to write and even right now, there is a hamper full of laundry waiting to be washed, 3 loads of clean clothes that need folding, a bedroom and bathroom that need cleaning, a salad that needs to be made for tonight's BBQ and 2 kids who both are not falling asleep. 

Yet here I am, taking a moment for me.  Lovely.

2 days after Ryder cut his first tooth, he cut his second.  Exactly the same as Kai did, only 2 weeks earlier.  He is about to venture out in crawling territory, but the kid is so incredibly top heavy (23 lbs. at almost 7 months of age, wearing 24M. clothes) that he has a hard time getting himself in motion.  It's funny to see.  It reminds me of Kai at this age.  He hardly crawled and went straight to walking.  I have a suspicion that Ryder might do the same.

Other than that, he is loving his solids.  I find myself so much more laid back with him than I was with Kai.  As much as I would love to start making my own baby food (all organic, just like I did with Kai), it is just too much at the moment.  Besides that, my freezer is popping out of its seams as it is, as it is filled with frozen breast milk, which leaves hardly any space for the grown-up food, let alone frozen baby food.  As soon as he can, Ryder is going to enjoy our 'human' table food as I am already soo done with the jarred version.  However, in the 2 years between the two kids, Earths Best has come out with a ton of new flavors, which makes this process just a tad more exciting.  If not for the baby, then at least for mom.

On Wednesday Kai finally made it to the dentist.  All went well; everyone (including dad and the dentist) survived and Kai walked away with a cool robot and a Sesame Street electric toothbrush.  The pay-off for him?  Ice -cream.  Something he made sure he reminded daddy of all the time while he was in the dentist chair...gives a good impression on our parenting doesn't it?  Except for the bedtime sippy, we are now a sippy-cup-free-house and are transitioning to regular cups.  Obviously, this leaves mommy mopping and cleaning a bit more than she would like.

These days naps are hit or miss for Kai.  He will gladly play by himself in his room for 2 1/2 hours after which the afternoon is usually a bit challenging as he is tired, but when he sleeps, he sleeps well.  However, he tends to prefer the floor over his bed.  Really?!?!  David contributed it to the fact that "he is a boy".  That's it?  Oh well, he has the choice of sleeping on the floor or his bed.  If he prefers the floor, then I assume it has something appealing his bed doesn't have.  Whatever-that-may-be.

Finally, potty training.  Or should I say "Potty Training Refusal"?  Potty training isn't really happening in this household and it looks as if we're still a long way off.  I finally got Kai to sit on his seat by giving him 1 M&M's.  I put it on the sofa.  It worked.  I put it on the toilet lid.  It worked.  I opened the lid and put in on the seat.  It didn't work.  And that's where we're stuck.  On the toilet seat.  He will not sit on it.  I can offer him the entire bag of M&M's and he still will run away screaming.  I'm seriously starting to think that maybe I'll be training both boys at the same time in a couple of years... :-0

And then there is Monday...this upcoming Monday...the day-after-tomorrow... The day that I am returning to work.  Sigh...  I'll only be teaching 1 class in the morning on Mondays - Thursdays, so it's not bad.  I'll be back by 10am, but it does mean that I will not be there 4 out of the 7 days to see Ryder's bright and smiling face when I walk into the nursery.  It'll mean that I won't be there 4 out of the 7 days to sit with Kai on the sofa while he watches Sesame Street and Curious George.  I'll miss it.  Then there is all the extra work that comes with work: grading assignments, keeping track of attendance and dealing with students who think they don't deserve a certain grade.  Ah, the things we get to look forward to as the Fall semester fast approaches.

On that note, I am going back to my housework.  Kids are still not sleeping, so who knows how long I actually have until all hell breaks loose and they request their immediate release from either crib or train table.

Oh, and the Friday Faves...they'll be back next week.  I am sorry for skipping this week, but with this only being half of what happened this week, I just didn't get to it.