be like them

One of the great things about our somewhat forced move was that the new house we found is bigger. And since we won't be buying new furniture for a while, that means we have something that we've never, ever ever had in all our days-- space. A room with almost nothing in it. After being crammed into small apartments and a bigger-but-still-small house, it is glorious.

Our would-be living room has instead become the running-around-in-circles room. We run around and around and say I'm gonna get you! to whoever's in front. 

This room has one item of furniture-- our small digital piano. The kids figured out how to push the demo buttons a while ago, but with our new space, dance parties to the classical, Christmas and children's demo songs (everything from Clair de Lune to I'm a Little Teapot) have become a daily custom.

The other day we were dancing, and I stepped back to watch them. Isaac played DJ while Bethany was breakdancing. They spun around with their blankets, rolled on the floor, chased each other, and giggled. I'm sure they didn't wonder for a second where their clothes were. They were so carefree. It made me think, I want to be more like them.

 

the boy

If I didn't make it clear in my last post, Isaac is a very special boy. His laugh is infectious, his energy is endless, and his emotions are strong. Whatever he is doing, he is focused and serious about it, and it's nearly impossible to pull him away. He also hardly sits still and bounces quickly from task to task, making it a bit tricky for photography, but here's what Isaac looks like these days.

The two loves of his life, basketball and cars. At the playground, Isaac tries to play basketball with the big kids. One day he walked up to a group of kids and said, Hi. Ball. Then he followed them around and played commentator, saying Aw, miss! or Made it! every time they shot the ball.

Here he was saying cheese but would not take his eyes off his work.

He took this torn piece of paper towel, stuck it on his face and said, Mustache! (When did he learn the word mustache?)

Bedhead

Pirate Isaac

Whenever our neighbor pulls out his bikes, Isaac is there too.

A rare moment of calm.

Someone's been watching Mommy.

Isaac loves his burrowing places. He's worked hard to find some new ones in the new house.

Trash day is an exciting day for Isaac. Not only do we get to watch the truck pick up all the cans, but Isaac then goes around the neighborhood and lines the cans back up along the curb. If I let him, he would roll each one back to everyone's side yards, but opening up people's gates is going a bit too far.

Isaac is also fascinated with the mail man. He'll follow him around when he comes by our house, and always wants to sit in his truck, which the mail man kindly allows.

Daddy makes a mean green drink. So does Isaac. Only, Daddy's is made with spinach and whatever fruits and veggies are in the house. Isaac's (look closely) is made of rocks and miniature Toy Story figurines.

Mister, we love you so much!

invincible isaac

There was a time when I thought we would be having lots of twinjuries in this household, with two very active babies. I pictured them getting the same scratches and bruises at the same time, and I pictured them hurting each other-- you know, twinjuries. But no. It's just him. Always, only, ever Isaac. Bethany has hardly had more than a minor scratch or bruise. I am not sure whether to add this to my Differences Between Boys and Girls list or just chalk it up to my ultra-curious, and not very cautious, child.

Documenting Isaac's injuries here is a bit of a risk. I don't feel like I'm a bad mother, but listing them all out this way really might make me seem like one. (I certainly felt like one, each and every time.) In my defense, I really do keep a close eye on these two, and our homes have always been very well child-proofed and even pretty well Isaac-proofed. They are not the same thing. You'll see...

BROKEN GLASS. We can start with the most recent. One evening about a month ago, as I was getting Bethany changed for bed, I heard a crash that came from the kitchen. Whenever I hear a crash my mind immediately forms a decision tree (see right). It didn't sound like glass, but something in the pit of my stomach told me to run anyway. Sure enough, I found Isaac in front of the open refrigerator, surrounded by shattered glass and water, barefoot, and looking completely shocked. (We like to keep a few of these in the fridge, filled with water. Now we just keep them on a higher shelf.) The pad of his left foot started to bleed, and when I couldn't flick off the tiny speck of glass there, I grabbed some tweezers and pulled out an 8 mm-- that's according to my husband who works in mms all day-- shard of glass that was sticking straight up into Isaac's little foot. After a few minutes of TLC and a band-aid, he was off and running again like it never even happened. (Jared & I then spent the evening and following morning sweeping, mopping and vacuuming over and over. Sheesh.)

PLAYING WITH KNIVES. I was out for much of the day at a baby shower for my good friend from New York, Katie. (Wow, I meant to blog about this way back when it happened in December. It was SO FUN to see her, and see her so beautifully pregnant!) Just as the shower was ending and people were starting to leave, I get that call from the daddy. The one that starts with, Everything's okay, but... And then the detailing of things that are not okay. Jared had been slicing some apples for the kids, left the counter for a minute (geez, that's all it takes!) to help Bethany with something, when Isaac slid a stool over, picked up the knife with his right hand-- blade up-- put it on the apple, used his left hand to push down on the knife, and sliced a couple fingers. The calm of Jared's voice didn't let on to how bad it was. It was deep, but clean enough of a cut to just glue back together. We were worried about scarring but it healed so well and so quickly!

HEAD FIRST FALL. This was a bad one. Do you know what sound it makes when a 20-month-old's little noggin hits a gigantic rock, 3 feet down? Have you ever punched a watermelon? (Me neither, but you can imagine, right?) Isaac had crawled through the beams of our deck and lost his footing. This one made us both cry together.

As always, within minutes he was back to playing. Our friends that were over when it happened came back later that day to install some safety netting around the deck. I still watched him like a hawk and checked on him obsessively while he slept over the next few days.

THE BLACK NAIL. It's awesome when injuries overlap. A few weeks before the head injury, Isaac had smashed his finger in the back door. The nail turned black and eventually fell off. That episode lasted so long it probably overlapped several injuries. Of course both the nail and the head also overlapped our family pictures. We thought about editing them out but decided not to. This is our boy!

MYSTERY BRUISES. And scratches. For instance, where did he get this almost black eye?

ELECTRIC BURN. Has anyone called CPS yet? Oh my... We were at my parents' house last summer, and 17-month-old Isaac was playing with the neighbor's water feature. Little lamps ran right along the stream, which was beautiful in concept but in retrospect was quite horrifying. It was reasonable to assume, in my opinion (and defense), that the lamps were off because it was daytime, and also because they were, well, not shining as on-lamps typically do. What we did not know was that the lamps were in fact on, but the bulbs were out. Worse! Isaac made this discovery when he put his wet hand a bit too close to a lamp. (I was actually reaching for him in a panic when it happened but he was too quick.) Water + on-lamps + out-bulbs. Just don't do it. You could see the three prongs in his little circular burn. Awful. So glad it wasn't worse!

Before any of this there were all the things that earned him this nickname.

Deep breath.

Okay, it's a good thing I can't think of any more! That was meant to be light-hearted but rehashing all of these together was pretty heart-wrenching instead. This is an unusual amount of injuries, right? I only have my daughter to compare to, who is coordinated and cautious. Is it a boys vs. girls thing? Is it just my special, curious child?? I know I'm not the only mom to experience the heartbreak of kid injuries. Tell me what you think!

wait, there's more

I found more from Harbor Cove on Jared's phone and knew I couldn't help myself so I didn't even try. (This time with video!)

harbor cove beach

For all of you who are planning to visit us here in Santa Paula, California (which is all of you, right?), I have excellent news: we are finding more and more great places to go all the time. Today our find was Harbor Cove Beach.

A friend had told me months ago about a beach that was so great for the little ones-- with teeny waves, lots of sand, and minimal crowds-- that it was nicknamed Mommy Beach. Of course, I didn't tell Jared about the nickname until we had been enjoying it for a while, but sure enough, we hardly saw anyone who wasn't a mom or a toddler. (We actually hardly saw anyone at all! Benefits of having some Tuesdays off.)

Being at the beach with two toddlers normally means that I am on high alert, but this was an incredibly relaxing morning. Jared dug an enormous hole that fit both kids in their entirety, and the kids helped with (according to Bethany) making really big sand castles!! Isaac would run out to the water and then squeal and run away when it started chasing him back, until he eventually got more brave and just laid down on his stomach to wait for the little waves to roll in. We all just played and played and played... until it was time to go home for possibly the longest nap of their little lives.

When you come here, we'll take you.

it's bananas

This morning at breakfast, which was a mix of two cereals topped with sliced bananas, Bethany said, I don't like bananas, and proceeded to remove the banana slices from her bowl and place them on the table.

Isaac, who had been happily eating his bananas, also began to discard them but before he could finish removing them all, Bethany said with a mouthful of bananas, I like bananas.

So they both went back to eating bananas. And then asked for more bananas.

I don't know why I try to keep up!

(Unrelated to bananas.)

In other news, we are getting settled, again. We have a 90% unpacked and functional household. As for those boxes we haven't opened since our last move (only 9 months ago, but still!), it is very easy to leave them in whatever closet or cupboard they were initially shoved into, and not go back through and organize/purge like I know I should. So, I am really enjoying the new house when I don't think about that, and I am almost always not thinking about that. Yay. It was a tough move but it happened fast and we are all happy to be here. Even my opinionated B girl: My don' like Old House. My like New House. Phew!

eye of the storm

* Two and a half weeks ago: we found out our landlord wants to move back into her house in August. We have really grown to love this house and our neighbors and are so not ready to let them go.

* Two weeks ago: we spent day and night searching for new homes to rent, meeting with real estate agents, and coordinating with babysitters. We quickly found a house we really wanted.
* Five days ago: we got permission to get out of our current lease early and signed a lease for the new house. Later that day we left for Hawaii.
* Today: we got back from our short trip to paradise.
* Tomorrow: we will start moving into our new home.
* Eight days from now: Jared will see his very first patients in his own private practice.

I was telling a friend about how we were already feeling a bit overwhelmed with Jared's practice start-up, his other jobs picking up, and the Hawaii trip all happening at the same time-- on top of regular life that seems too busy most of the time-- and then we found out that we would be doing an impromptu house hunt and move right in the middle of it all. We joked that the Hawaii trip wouldn't be the calm before the storm, it would be the eye of the storm.

And it was. We caught our breath and had the one-on-one time we didn't realize we needed. Hawaii is so amazing! I'm so glad we finally got to go.

The madness returns tomorrow. I don't know if this blog will ever catch up to all the posts I've written in my brain, or all the gazillions of pictures I've taken. Probably not. So for now... the kids are still cute, the husband is still wonderful, this mama is still crazy, and this little spot we've carved out in Southern California is feeling more and more like home. Speaking of homes... gotta go make a new one!