Harry's Angel Cat

I should preface this with the fact that we have a 12 year old black cat named Carmen. She is very shy around the boys. Our other cat, Mumu, age 9, is a grey tortoise shell and more friendly. In fact, she often sleeps with Harry. This story from Harry came out of nowhere. I wanted to preserve it so we can tell him when he's older.

One morning last week, Harry asked me, "Mommy? Where's my white Carmen?" I told him Carmen was outside and he said "No, my white one." I asked if he meant my stuffed kitty, Mimi. Nope. He kept asking every now and then, so I asked him who was white Carmen. Here is what he told me, over the course of the day (we had a few conversations about this, all very consistent).

"My white Carmen is hiding in the bushes. He makes that boo-boo (points to leg) all better when we driving in Mommy's blue car. Mommy driving and my leg bleeding. White Carmen came and licked my boo-boo in the car. My black one (Carmen) can scare me. Not my white one. I can hold him. "

None of this actually happened. He has not had a cut on his leg while I was driving. This had to have been a dream, but he's been talking about it for days. I think it's kind of nice to dream about a cat who heals boo-boos, though. I'd let white Carmen move in any day.

Spring!

I know this blog has been silent. I can't use Blogger at work anymore (new Firewall) and that is usually my only uninterrupted computer time. I can safely bet that I don't have much time right now either, so here's some tidbits.

Harry spent most of today outside and just at 5 pancakes (and counting...). I think he's going to sleep well tonight! He is putting 4-5 word sentences together and has had 4 ear infections this season. He's been diagnosed with mild hearing loss and we may be looking at tubes. His sensory seeking behavior ramps WAAAYYY up when he doesn't feel well and it has made for a long winter.

Nathan is learning how to clap, has his top two teeth just breaking through and is cruising all over the place. He says Mama and Dada and lots of other sounds. He has a laugh and smile that are bigger than he is. He's enormous, however. Some of his 18 month sleepers are getting hard to zip. I think he and Harry will be sharing a lot of clothes.

They are really starting to play more together. Bath time is hilarious, as is seeing Harry make Nathan laugh. I'm so glad we are getting some nice weather. I think a little relief from this cabin fever will do us all some good!

Says You: Update

Fun pronunciation guide to Harry's speech at 28 months. (A few more added, 11/25)

Back-u-beaner: vacuum cleaner
Dut Buster: dust buster
Water-a-can: watering can
Lawn mowder: lawn mower
Dorge: George (i.e. Curious George)
Pood: food
Leaf bowder: leaf blower
A-bate: bass (i.e. Daddy's bass)
iPah: iPod
M-num-m-num: M&M's (bribery tool!)
Moobie: movie
Docker: doctor
Duckter: conductor
Dukin Donit: Dunkin' Donuts
Nana: banana
Carming: Carmen (our cat)
Hottie: sorry
Hahdee: Harry
Cared: scared
Lemon-Aidan: lemonade
Whoa-mee-dee: rosemary
Open-ador: open the door
Vidideo: video

I know there's more. He talks all the time these days. Such a huge change. He'll resort to grunting and pointing when he's tired, but mostly it's like having a tiny echo around here. Good times.

All You Can Eat

Nathan is at that stage where everything in the world is DELICIOUS! Nothing is too metallic, or fur covered. One would not want to miss out on something TASTY just because it wasn't FOOD! Nutritional value be dammed! You never know where you might find something nourishing. Places such as...

Harry's Little Red Racer Wagon!
The cat bowl!
That door jamb!
Mommy's pajamas!
All over the carpet!

Luckily, he is only scooting backwards, but he is fast! And determined! To taste everything! So, don't stand still too long, unless you want to be savored. You might be just the snack he is looking for!

Harry & Nate Update, October 2009

(This is going to have to be the new format around here. I simply cannot get enough time to write two separate updates one their "monthdays" anymore. If there is anything major with either one of them, I'll try to do a separate post. But, I have to face facts that my computer time is extremely limited these days.)

Dear Harry & Nathan,

We are getting into the swing of our Fall routine. The days are jam packed from one end to the other. I'm up and out the door by 6:30 every morning and home by 4:30 every afternoon. Most days I don't get to see you guys awake before I leave, but sometimes, Harry hears me moving around and calls out "Mama?" and I get to have a quick snuggle before I go. It's been hard to separate from both of you, but particularly Harry, as he understands more. On Monday morning this week, he was up and trying to prevent me from leaving my tugging at my blouse as I buttoned it up saying, "Home!" I think he thought if I didn't get dressed for work, I could stay. It always slows down my routine to have to stop and get juice and toast for you, Harry, but I love those early morning moments, when you are still sleepy-eyed and bed-headed. You are always more willing to snuggle at that time of the day, before your energy kicks in.

Nathan, however, you are nearly always ready to snuggle. You are a snuggler by nature. I get to snuggle you all night long in bed and listen to you snore and talk and laugh in your sleep. You are happy to be held by just about anyone and you love to just look around and smile. Last week, everyone came to work with me early one morning (due to car trouble) and you smiled at everyone you met. You are not to be outpaced by your brother, however. You are already on all fours and rocking, threatening to crawl even earlier than he did. You were rolling across the floor earlier too - by 3 months. Rolling, however, is for chumps, apparently. You love nothing more than to scoot your self backwards across the room now, leading to several occasions of your parents looking into the living room and saying "WHERE'S NATHAN?!?" only to find you behind a chair or potted plant.

As much as I hate leaving both of you, I love our evenings together. I get excited driving home just thinking about your smiles when I walk in the door. Harry has been having a lot of trouble with my absence and wants Mama TO. HIM. SELF. at the end of the day. He cries and tells Daddy to "Take Nate!" when it's nursie time. He runs to me saying "Up! Up!" and practically jumps in my arms. 2 year old love is intense and physical, I tell you. Harry wants to be in contact with me at all times, being held, hugged, kissed or holding hands. It's so sweet. I wish I could bottle his affection and save it for when he is a sullen teenager.

The best part of the evening is after bath and jammies, we have "Double Snuggle" time. We all pile on the couch under a blanket, I nurse Nathan and Harry sits on Daddy's lap and we watch something on TV. Lately, it's been "Punkin Moomee" (It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) but sometimes its "AH AH!" (Curious George) and we might introduce the Muppets (this one is pronounced correctly, for some reason). I wish we could get Harry to settle using books, but he needs the visual stimulation of a video to focus him and keep his body still. He's been that way from day one. After our video time, I give Nate to Daddy and take Harry to bed where we snuggle to sleep using my iPod with some soothing music and video. (As of last week - no more driving to sleep! Hurrah!) Then, it's back out to nurse Nate down and try to get ready for bed and the next day.

I cannot describe how happy you both make your parents. You are both so amazing, I have to stop myself from gushing about you to anyone who will listen. There is a song that captures these days very well for me (well, except for the last line)

If they asked me, I could write a book
About the way you walk, and whisper, and look.
I could write a preface
On how we met
So the world would never forget.

And the simple secret of the plot
Is just to tell them that I love you a lot.
And the world discovers
As my book ends,
How to make two lovers
Of friends.

I could just go on and on about every little thing you both do. About how you make us laugh and smile and gawk. We are exhausted and exhilarated every day. I feel so lucky to have both of you (and Daddy too!) and love watching you both grow and change and become yourselves. So, I'll stop there before I write a book.

Love,
Mama

Quiz Time!

Here is a hypothetical situation for you.

Suppose your baby is having trouble sleeping, unless held or otherwise pressed against his mother. Suppose his mother works full time and has a long commute and is very stressed out by this, but is doing her best to accommodate the baby's needs. Suppose your older child has been plagued by sleep troubles his whole life, making the subject of sleep quite fraught with tension, to begin with. Take a moment to imagine that.

So, given that, let's say, on this particular night, the baby's mother has been holding said baby in her arms and nursing off and on for 3 hours. It is 9 PM. Let's say, in an effort to remain sane, she reached for her iPod and accidentally wakes the baby. Let's say that the baby waking is kind of the last straw and makes the mother give up and want to get ready for bed, since she has to be up at 5:30 anyway and will most likely be up nursing several times before then. She is visibly frustrated. So, the mother then gives the baby to YOU and asks you to hold the baby while she gets ready for bed, which will take no more than FIVE MINUTES.

What would you do? Would you,

A. Hold the baby for five minutes.

Or,

B. Hold the baby for 2 minutes, think that the baby has gone back to sleep and try, despite your knowledge of the above situation, to put the baby in the crib in and effort to "help" the mother get some free time, thereby waking the baby and possibly the older child (due to screaming baby), and thus unleashing the wrath of the mother upon you.

Take your time before you answer.

Harry Joseph, 26 Months Old

Dear Harry,

Above is you wearing your favorite accessory, your "a bike" helmet. You always say "a bike" instead of just "bike" which is quite adorable. And you can spot one at 100 yards. Or on a package of yogurt, or in a magazine, or a billboard. You will be saying "a bike" and by the time we figure out where you saw it, it's gone. They are everywhere. We got you a lovely tricycle for your birthday and you were having none of it. You wanted "a bike". So, after a few weeks, we broke down and got one with training wheels (though I wish we had done a balance bike). You still want all the other kids' bikes (and toys and balls) but you do think your "a bike" is pretty cool.

Speaking of kids, you just LOVE the big kids on the next block. You say "kids" like "geds" and you drag us to the front door saying "Ged! OK!" wanting to walk over and see if they are out playing. The youngest ones on that block are 6 years old and they are all very nice to you, but it proves to me that we need to help you find some friends your own age. You are doing a drop off playgroup for EI and have done well. Tomorrow, we are going to your "Future Classmates" playgroup for the first time. I hope we can get some social outlets going for you. I think you will love going to school. As it is now, you ask for "Goop (group)! Go? Go?" nearly every day.

One of my favorite moments in recent days came from you figuring out the concept of "all gone" or "all GA!" as you say it. You have discovered your pockets lately, after I showed you you could put an acorn in one on one of our walks. You were wearing a hooded sweatshirt with pockets one day that had pants that matched, but had no pockets. We were playing with your piggy bank and you had taken off the sweatshirt when you suddenly got the idea to put the coins in your pocket. You pulled at your shirt and pants looking for a pocket for a moment. Then you looked at me in bewilderment and said, "Pocket all gone!" It was priceless.

On the other side of things, we have had a big adjustment this week with my return to full time hours. This was also my first time having to deal with a long commute during rush hour from our new house. On a good day, it takes 45 minutes. With traffic, 90 minutes. This means that I have to leave home at 6:30 AM, before you wake up. This makes Mommy very sad. I have cried on my way to work every day this week. First, I miss you SOOOO much. Second, I really, really miss you. Third, and I just figured this out today, this is the first time, since switching careers from teaching/playing to library (The playing is on hiatus for now. No time.), that I really felt like I had joined the "rat race". That I had really left the old Bohemian freelance days behind me. That I am the breadwinner. That I work Full Time. Capital F. Capital T. It has been true for a while, but now, having two kids, living in the suburbs, leaving at 6:30 AM every day, it has really sunk in. And it is hard. Harder than I ever imagined. I have always worked and always wanted to work, but I was not prepared for how hard it would be to leave my children. I always assumed I'd just go back to how things were before. Not true. My priorities have shifted, as has my world view. It's staggering, really. I know it will get easier, but I will always, always regret not being able to be home with you more. Especially during these early years.

So, please give Mommy extra special hugs when she comes home every day. I need them just as much as you do. Maybe more.

Love,
Mama