More Two-ish

Now that our boy is getting closer to turning 3, he's acting a little more "two".  He's crying a little longer when he does cry, and maybe being upset a little more often.  The best strategy is still to mostly leave him alone and let it blow over.  I'm sure the stress in the atmosphere around here isn't easy on him, and the craziness of Nerdstar being home a lot more.  I'd say right now the thing that upsets him most is when one of us leaves the house without him and the other Ma. 

I'd say one of his favorite things to do is just run.  Run relays from here to there.  I think he could run a couple of miles given the space and ability to not get distracted.

One of the cutest things he's done in the past week or so is try to sing.  I love it.  And what makes it so funny is that we don't understand a word!  Now, he can sing along a little bit with his dance tunes like Blame It On The Boogie and Heaven Knows, he's also starting to learn the "rock yells" in songs like Dancing With Myself.  But this is just him singing by himself out of nowhere. 

Several months ago, his speech/developmental person showed him a game on her iPad.  When Nerdstar's sister gave her a kindle for her birthday, we found that same app for Noah.  It's the best thing ever when we need to entertain him so we can finish our meal at a restaurant.  It has four or five different little games to it.  It has a little monkey in the corner that says what to do, and then jumps up and down and says "good job" when you get things right, or shakes it's head no when you get them wrong.  Noah loves saying "good job" every time!  One of the games is moving four puzzle pieces into place.  For a while we'd help him move his finger, then this past week or two, he started being able to do it on his own.  One game is to pick the one item out of four that is different - somehow he's done that perfectly from day one.  Another game is a matching game with eight tiles, like concentration.  Today, he's been able to do that all by himself a few times.  It's so cool to watch him learning.

He's also starting to tell me when he poops.  Maybe he'll be potty trained before he's four!

Speaking of poops (and all moms of little ones do!) I finally became a little concerned that his poops were no longer solid.  They were a gross wet mess.  We decided to completely cut out apple juice, even though he didn't drink that much of it in his water.  About the same time, we decided that the cause of his remaining red bump breakouts on his face might be related to milk drool when he sleeps, so we switched to almond milk.  (Mostly because Nerdstar already had some she was drinking.)  Turns out, it was probably the milk causing the runny poops.  And the derm said it probably is his drool causing the skin problems.  We're using vaseline type stuff on his face to help keep the drool off.

We still feel like we won the baby lottery when we got him!  He's so damn cute!  Oh, and he's so very social!  He loves running around seeing what kids are out in the neighborhood and going and sort of hanging out with them.  It's still not really "playing together" but he loves being around them.  He's also always saying "hi" to people whenever he walks by them, or if he's sitting, when they walk by him.  So sweet! 

Oh yes, I almost forgot.  Noah will not survive Nerdstar being home all the time for long.  I cannot tell you how much more he eats when she's home.  It's at least twice a much!!  

Not Funny

A few weeks ago when we were getting a little work done around the house, I joked that maybe we were starting to get it ready to sell.  A week or so after that Nerdstar mentioned there was a job opening down in San Antonio, but it was a very, very long shot.  Another week goes by and they actually call her for an interview.  Wow.  I think it was at this point I started packing the house, imagining a new house, and working out all the logistics of a cross country move in my head.  Ugh.  That went on for two weeks, my very busy head, and then the Boston bombing happened.  It was at the end of that week that she found out the project in San Antonio had lost it's funding.  Sigh.

I really thought for those few weeks that this was finally our opportunity to get out of the DC area and back home to Texas.  Yes, the logistics are complicated, but the new company was even going to pay for the move.  Can't beat that deal.

Also, during all of this time, Nerdstar's job has gotten worse and worse.  We don't understand why, but they just seemed unhappy with her no matter what she did or tried.

Friday, she lost her job.

Now, I had just spent the past week trying not to be disappointed that the San Antonio job didn't work out and trying to be thankful to God that our lives here are good, you know, a steady job, a decent house, great weather, good health.

There have been many times over the years I've told God He's not funny.  This is certainly another one.

Instead of two weeks notice, her company has this weird thing called being "on the beach" where she goes into one of their more admin. buildings and tries to find another project within the company for two weeks.  If something doesn't materialize, then that's it.  There is also a slight chance of a job with another company she used to work for that's in the same building she was just working in.

Anyway.  We've been saving and saving and telling ourselves that when the job thing ended here, we'd pack it all up and move back to Texas.

So, we've got a lot to sort through, decide, and see what happens in the next month. 

14 Years!

Today is the 14th anniversary for these two bad moms.  It's hard to wrap my head around that many years.  7 in Austin, 7 in other parts of the country.  So many road trips.  So many moves.  And our boy Noah.

Heh, it's actually 15 years.  We're so old and it's been so long...  we'll chalk it up to motherhood.

I wrote this back in 2003 for my first blog.

A Little History
updated December 1, 2003

In March of 1999 I was recovering from a devastated heart and was totally bored. The two years prior to that I'd met a lot of women online and those "flames" tended to burn out pretty fast. I hadn't seriously dated anyone since I'd broken up with my first girlfriend about eight years earlier. I was also getting a little tired of being alone all the time and was dying to get laid.

One Wednesday night, I met Nerdstar in a chat room and a couple of hours later talked her into calling me. It was funny. I suggested that she call and she's like "when?" and I'm like "NOW". So, she did. We talked for a couple of hours. She'll tell you she was hooked from that moment. She really liked my voice and could tell I smelled nice. (I'm still questioning how that was possible!) At the end of the phone conversation I said, "come on up and see me." She was living in Houston with her grandparents at the time. She said, "when?" I said, "well, what are you doing this Friday?" I think she was too in shock to say no.

That first night was a precursor of so many things it's not even funny in retrospect! She calls at one point about two blocks from my apartment complex and says where she is. AN HOUR LATER, I find her wandering around the parking lot in front of my building. I should have known then it will always take her an hour to do something that should take ten minutes. I'm still getting used to that.

To make us both a little less nervous we go out for dinner. We just went to Chili's, very safe. All thru dinner she speaks only in nonsequiturs. After almost every sentence she spoke I'd think "huh?" This was clue number two of how things would be. She's not the best in the world at communication. What was working to her advantage that night is that I was looking to make out not make conversation - hehehehehehe. At this point I'm thinking, ok, she's nice enough, she came all this way, and she's cute... what the heck.

We go back to my apartment and are hanging out and she asks if I still want that massage. I say, "sure". At that point she goes to this grocery bag she's brought, pulls out the wine, the candles, the massage oil, the works. I was impressed!!

Some background... she had told me she was new at this whole lesbian thing. She'd had a weekend fling with a guy while in the army, but other than that had never really dated anyone and had never had sex. And she's 27 at this point. How crazy is that?

We hung out all day Saturday, went out to eat and stuff. Then Sunday when it came time for her to head back to Houston she kept saying, "five more minutes" until it was about 8 p.m.

The next weekend she came to see me too. But then, she was about to have Army reserve drill for two weeks. On another wednesday, we're on the phone and I suggest we meet halfway between Austin and Houston for a night before she has to leave for drill. Unfortunatley, on my way there my car broke down. But, we both finally make it there. The next day she suggests that we get my car back to Austin, then I drive her to Houston and keep her car while she's gone. At this point I've known this girl for two weeks. This was another hint of how things would be - she takes great care of me!!

I went to see her a couple of times while she was at drill. The advantages of being a lesbian sometimes cracks me up! It was no big deal for her to sneak me into her room in her barracks.

About a week after drill and she's back in Houston I talk her into moving in with me and finding a job in Austin. The timing was good for her because she had just finished a class she was taking and was looking for a job down there.

I always tell her she's a one night stand who still hasn't left. It's your typical lesbian U-haul story.

One of the Big Boys

We can't tell you how much Noah wants to be one of the big kids!  Most days after school there are boys of various ages, I'd say from 3 1/2 to 9 or 10, out in our cul-de-sac playing basketball or generally running around.  We keep saying, they're not bad kids, but most of them haven't been taught any manners or social graces.  That said, we're so thankful that they're all nicer to Noah than they usually are to each other. 

New Pics

That's some seriously bad, cute bed head!

 

 This is Noah's little fleet.

 

 

Our Sweet Boy

I've long worried that Noah would pick up my favorite cussing phrases.  So far, that hasn't happened.  He did pick up my saying "thank you" to just about anything he does.  There is no telling how many times a day I say "thank you" and "good job".  Now, anytime you hand Noah something he says, "thank you" or "thanks".   It's so cute and sweet.  And he thinks it's funny when you say "you're welcome" back.

Last spring and summer when he was walking and running some, but was still pretty little, he loved watching the older boys in our cul-de-sac running and playing ball, usually basketball.  Now that it's just warm enough to head outside in the afternoons when the kids get home from school, he wants to be right back out there with them!  Now, these kids aren't bad kids, but they haven't exactly been taught to be good kids.  What's cool is that, so far, they're usually nice to Noah.  They understand he doesn't speak well enough for them to understand him much yet.  And of course, he's way too young to really play with them, but they don't run him off.

I already worry, though, that our boy is too sweet.  That he'll be the kid the other kids take advantage of, the kid they have fetch things for them, or whatever.  The other day, two kids were playing with sticks, so Noah spent a long time picking up all of the sticks around and handing them to them.  When we go to this play area with other kids his age, he's the one who ends up having the ball or toy he's playing with taken - and he just sort of looks at them and moves on to something else until the toy or ball is free again.  He never fusses or grabs it back.

Mostly, I stand back and watch, make sure he's not upset, redirect him some.  I told Nerdstar the other day to not be surprised if I deck someone in the future for not being nice to our sweet boy.

Kids Need Boredom

Yes.  Kids need to be bored sometimes.

Lying in the yard, looking up at clear blue sky until I was totally lost in it is one of my favorite memories.  Even as an adult, I've had tons of "empty" time, no tv, no radio, not even a book, and I think it's something we're missing these days. 

I'm so glad Noah is fine playing in his room by himself for a while every day.  We're trying hard to resist him playing with phones and tablets and apps for as long as we can.  If they're always doing something with whatever device is in their hands, they'll miss out on so much, including the simple art of making small talk while waiting. 

I can't state how often I'm tempted to move to "the country" for our sanity and Noah's future.