When Did He Grow to Be So Tall?

I don't know if the first day of kindergarten makes other parents play an infinite loop of Sunrise Sunset over and over again in their heads for weeks preceeding, but it does for me. What the hell happened to time? How can Liam being starting kindergarten tomorrow, when he was just a six pound three ounce baby in my arms a couple years ago? Two years tops. Every single day of his life I have been so in love with him, so amazed by him and who he is. From the moment he was born he has been thoughtful, calm, gentle, engaging, spiritual. A poet scientist. An old soul. Eric and I have joked (sort of) that since some have said they might look for the next Dalai Lama in the U.S. they should stop by our house. I have no idea how I got so lucky to have this kid. When we brought him to the doctor for his first appointment, he was 6 days old. It was freezing, and my mom had totally freaked me out asking me why we would be bringing a tiny baby out in that weather to a doctor where there could be sick people. Eric had to call them a least a few time to make me assured that it was the right thing to do. The doctor, who was just a month out from retiring, who had presumably seen at least thousands of babies, first said, "Hmm, that can't be right" and he had the nurse re-weigh him. Liam left the hospital four days earlier weighing 5lbs 12 oz. Tiny, but fit as a fiddle, no jaundice or anything even though he was born in December. Now, 4 days later the nurse said he weighed 6lbs 10 oz. She re-weighed him without his diaper and he weighed 6 lbs 7 ounces. The doctor was impressed. I was worried. "Is that ok, is something wrong with that?" "No, not at all. It's great but usually they don't gain weight so quickly. He must be a breastfeeding pro." And then the doctor did his exam. And about a minute into it, as he looked at Liam and Liam calmly, thoughtfully looked back at him, the doctor turned to us and said, "He has a remarkable disposition. I am serious. You don't know how many parents would do anything to have a baby like this. You are very lucky." Now maybe he said that to every set of new parents, but he was 100% right. And I know everyone thinks their kid is amazing and perfect, but I also know that Liam is awesome and special and I am so lucky. And I am happy for him to be starting kindergarten because he loves learning and playing, but I am sad for me because I love being with him. And honestly ever since Aidan was born there has been so much sleep deprivation (not all because of him) but anyway I just haven't had enough energy to make the most of my time with Liam, and now I will have less of it. I knew I would be sad but I didn't know it would be the kind of sad that comes in waves and pushes my heart into my throat and makes my eyes well up with tears even while I'm at the public service desk at work. To help myself through this I either think about how I spent approximately 1.63 million hours searching in vain for a superhero backpack for him that promised not to be full of lead and razor blades, and then we looked at the 11 backpacks that did have such a claim but were all ugly, and then he agreed to get an outer-space-themed crocodile creek backpack this is made in China but says it's safe and their company has never had a recall. And now I am sewing some superhero patches on it and he is happy. Or I picture him sitting at the kindergerten snacktime, spreading brie cheese on little wheat crackers and drinking pomegranite juice, and that makes me happy. (For the record I won't be sending that snack with him to school, but it is one he likes.)
At least, for now, he is still small.

Train Crashes and Tornados and Teething - Oh My!

I think Led Zeppelin says it best, "I'm having a nervous breakdown, drive me insane." Unfortunately in my case it's not a cute girl induced nervous breakdown, it's more the stress of the random and not so random weirdness that seems to come with life as you get older. Which, btw, I realized lately that I no longer really feel old, the way I did when I was 28 or 29. And that is because I've realized that back then I WAS old, for a young person. But now I am YOUNG, for a middle-aged person. And somehow that brings me comfort. Anyway, here are some pictures from the tornado. I was at work when it hit, evacuating people to the safe area, thinking it was probably not much of anything. But as soon as I pulled out of the garage to head home, I could tell something had definitely happened. Huge old trees were toppled all over the place, and I had to vary my route a few times. (And a. I love love love weather excitement and b. I hate that seriously at least half, if not more of, the old trees in my neighborhood have been lost now, do to weather or illness. bummer.) When I got home there were people outside milling around, inspecting the damage, even though it was dark and the power was out. Fortunately my power came back on the next day (thanks in part to my brother who works at ComED) but we did lose a refrigerator's worth of food and had some damage to the garage and the yard.








Here's the aftermath of the brush cut up:


And here is a picture of Liam with his sunflowers, that were getting pretty tall before the damn tree fell on them and smooshed them. As God is his witness, He'll plant again!! (fist shaking toward the heavens)

I Want a Do-Over (or, Everybody Must Get Stoned)

The weekend started with a breakfast that included me and my four favorite boys. Then we whisked the three littlest boys to my in-laws for their first over night stay since Aidan was born. Next stop - 90 minute massages for me and Eric. Doesn't that sound amazing? Except for some reason shortly afterward, (i.e. near the start of our freedom,) I became soooo tired I could hardly muster any energy for the rest of the ENTIRE DAY/NIGHT/NEXT MORNING. Curses!

I don't know if I can blame it entirely on the massage, though I know that was a part of it, (even though they've never affected me like that in the past) but I'm sure my perpetual state of near-exhaustion contributed too. We did go out for lunch (Pick Me Up) and dinner (Ben Pao) and a movie (Midnight in Paris at the Century Center Cinema) and picked up The Tourist on the way home and watched that, and the next morning we went to that sexy, shimmery place called Home Depot to get mulch. So I can't say all was lost, but really, when you have a weekend to yourself and you feel like you've been given Phenobarbital, you get to complain a little bit, right?

However, as a consolation prize I did chip a small piece of my tooth late last week. (Not "my tooth" as in my one and only tooth, but "my tooth" as in one of my teeth, most of which I still have.) Why is that so awesome, you ask? Well a. it didn't hurt, b. it didn't require a root canal or any other horrible procedure and c. when I went to the dentist today he gave me the badass-feel-good-hookup, that only gets better the more you breathe. Plus then he reenacted the Tonys for me, and let me tell you I don't know who was higher. All my tensions and stress melted away, and everything was once again happy in Donnaland. So the lesson I learned is that next time Eric and I have a weekend to ourselves I should create a dental problem for myself and then go to the dentist. Let the games begin.

Ah, hindsight.

ps. Blonde on Blonde is the perfect album to listen to on a beautiful summer day riding home from grandma and grandpa's house in the country.

Firsts

This weekend was one of firsts. We went to Saint Louis to party with my 90-something year old aunt who's been a nun for 75 years. It was Aidan's first time hanging out with a bunch of nuns, and they totally dug him. (As an aside, I can say from experience when visiting another of my aunt's who is a nun, that there are few things cooler than having a crabfest with nuns in Baltimore. I am not joking. If you ever have a chance you have to do it; it will blow your mind.) The nuns dug Liam and Brendan too, though many of them thought Brendan was a girl. He took it in stride. It was also Aidan's first time in a pool (I know!) and a shopping cart (I know!) and it was the first time Liam and Brendan swam around in the pool without holding on to me or Eric. (Let's be clear, they were wearing swim vests.) It was the first time Aidan was caught outside in an incredible downpour. We were at the Anheuser Busch brewery and the only reason we really went there was to see the Clydesdales. It turns out that you can take a free tour (plus $34 for three stuffed Clydesdales) and the first stop is the stables with the Clydesdales. En route there was an insane downpour, and while we were walking to the stables the wind was practically blowing us over. Then we got sequestered in the stables, so they brought out one of the amazing, huge horses and the dalmatians were running around and the kids totally loved it. (I was only a little worried that we might get stampeded if the booming thunder spooked the 2500 pound horses, but they were very calm.) And going back through the storm to the main building and getting soaked to the bone was "so awesome," said Liam. The trip made me realize that A. Brendan has come so so so far, since he was very good with only minor tired-related meltdowns and B. Aidan really does have a totally different life being the third child. In six days he will be one. Unlike Liam and Brendan by this point in their lives, he has never been on a plane (for God's sake Brendan flew to Ireland when he was 5 months old!) I already mentioned he had never been in a pool or a shopping cart, he's never been outside the Midwest, he's never been to a Wiggleworms class at the Old Town School of Folk music, or any series of classes for that matter. But hopefully he has as rich of a life because he has two adoring brothers who include him and watch him and dote on him. And at least now he can say he's been to St. Louis - a first for all three of them!




After the rain...

The Cutest Thing Ever, part II

I walked into the laundry room yesterday, and noticed that right inside the door, on the other side of the cat door, there was a whole collection of small toys. Aidan must be putting little toys in there through the door. Like how the Brady Bunch kept losing their things and then they found out their dog was stashing things in the doghouse.

Also, Aidan's new favorite thing to do is climb up onto the first step of the stairway, stick his feet straight out in front of him, and monitor whatever happens in the front room. Then, after a while he falls off the step on purpose, then climbs back up and falls off again on purpose. Repeat.

Imitation Is the Highest Form of...?

Brendan: When I grow up I want to work at two places. Number one, Orbitz. Number two, the library.

Liam: When I grow up I think we should all work somewhere where they do science.

Brendan: Actually, when I grow up I want to work at three places. Number one, Orbitz. Number two, the library. Number three, be someone who puts tattoos on. Number four, a bone treasure hunter.

??

To Kathy and Megan

and anyone else who points me to articles about bookbugs; this is what my plan is:

I'll run it past my director to see if they could microwave the books before I touch them.
Me (to patron) "Sure, let me grab that off the shelf for you. I'll be back in about 18 minutes. I just have to run down to the staff kitchen."
Me (putting on latex gloves) "I'm going to take these 47 books for Mends and Binds and run them through our microwaves. Can everyone please keep your lean cuisine out of the kitchen for a while. Shoot, where is my hazmat suit?! I KNOW I put it on my cart last week."
Me (on phone with patron) "I'm sorry I won't be able to get that for you. Well yes, it is on the shelf, but someone's using the microwave right now."

The problem with my comedy is that A) it's not funny and B) I keep going way too long. I'm just hoping if I go on with it long enough it will eventually GET funny. Like the one time with that airplane joke that never ends. My best and only laugh. Oh well, and the John Ritter Water God joke. But that's just a classic. No one can screw that up. Liam actually did it once completely spontaneously. And I laughed. Boy did I laugh.

Also, Kathy, thank's for my new favorite word, jackhole. It's reminds me of how the world opened up for me when my sister broke out "jagoff" about 16 years ago.

Next post...NOVA!