Rain Rain Go Away

A month ago, the weather was oddly warm for a few days and Judah got to try out his summer gear.

Since then, it's been dark and rainy, which was something I loved as a no-baby person.  But let me tell you, lotsa rain + toddler is not a happy combo.  Judah's like a ferral dog that needs to run around outside many times a day.  Being cooped up in our small apartment is like pure torture for him.

But as if that wasn't enough, he has developed a deathly fear of umbrellas.  Don't ask me how or why, I have no idea--but the guy will FREAK out if you carry an umbrella.  And if you actually OPEN it, watch out!  He will shriek as if his life were ending.

Once Judah came with the Spouse to pick me up at the BART station and he started running away from me and crying cuz he saw I had an umbrella on me (not open, mind you, just holding it).  Spouse had left to bring the car around so it was just me and this crazy crying kid.  I swear everyone around me must've thought I was trying to kidnap him as I kept trying to grab him to keep him from running into people and garbage cans, drunk with fear.

Anyway, if you put it all together you get one pretty wet and cold mom and kid.  We HAVE to go out to let Judah stretch his legs and we can't use an umbrella.

I'm glad we don't live in Portland.

Take a Hike Judah!

I've been snowed under by a Massive Work Project for the last 3 weeks and finally came up for air today.  I'm supposed to work 30 hours a week, but lately it's been 50+.  Argh.  Gotta love corporate law.

During it all, I've missed my little goobers a lot.  Usually I get home an hour or so before his bedtime, exhuasted, starving, and generally not in full-toddler-engagement mode.  That means spouse has really stepped up and picked up the childcare slack.  I have to give some mad props to Mr. Daddy-Daycare.  And for the hundredth time I think--how the heck do single parents do it?!

And I'm now so behind on blogging, I only have pics of what happened a month ago.

A month ago, we went hiking and Judah LOVED it.

He proved he was definitely the product of two people who love taking walks. If the spouse and I had a "couples" hobby, it would definitely be walking.  (That's me in the back--mom, hovering shadow, human coat hanger).

I was worried he would run off the trails and fondly caress the occasional poisen oak and dog poop alongside the path.  But generally he stayed on target.

Until he came to some colored flags in the dirt placed by some landscapers.  He pointed to the yellow flag and said "Yellow!" and the blue flag and said "Boo!".  I thought, wow, my baby's a genius.
 

And then he pointed to a red flag and said "Yellow!"  It would be okay if that was the only time he did it, but subsequently, he's mistaken red for yellow a lot. 

Now I think, my baby might be sort of colorblind.

I Think It's Time

Warning: Reading this post while eating may be hazardous to your mental health. There, you've been warned.

I think it may be time to potty-train Judah now because:

(1) His poop is finally clumpy and solid (unlike runny newborn poop) and it smells AWFUL.  I used not mind the smell but now it completely makes me gag.

(2) He's vocal about his poop, although not very accurate.  In fact, we're pretty sure he outright lies because...

(3) He absolutely hates diaper changes.  This has always been true, but now there's a new dynamic.  He will pull on his newly diapered crotch and whine "Tight!  Tight!" and it's not at all tight.  I don't think he knows what "tight" means.  He's probably trying to say that it's uncomfortable because he would like to feel the sweet freedom of air, or the gentle touch of cotton.  I don't know.  Either way, he hates when I strap a diaper on him.

So the only real question is--train on a toddler potty or on a smaller toilet seat?

I'm kinda leaning towards a small toilet seat so I don't have to wash out his poop and pee all the time.

Thoughts?

DONE!

Hey y'all. Just wanted to give myself a shout out--hey gurl!

What for?

For finishing Anna F*ing Karenina 2 days ago. Trust me, it was NOT pleasant.

Russian novels do not mess around. They are looooong. Really, really looooong. With a lot of descriptions of philosophical ideas and scenery from the countryside.

When I was about 20% of the way through, I really wanted to stop reading it. Snooze-fest. But I'm not a quitter. I hate quitting. So I doubled-down and went for it.

And yes, I may have skipped hundreds of pages about the abovementioned topics and lesser characters.

I really just wanted to know what happened to Anna Karanina. Well, I'm not going to ruin it for you all, but girlfriend gets batsh*t crazy. Let's just say I do NOT understand that character at all.

And in the end, it seems like the book was not about her after all. It was about this dude named Levin and how he came to faith in Christ. Wierd, right?!

Crazy Russian novelists.

Remember That Time

Judah,

Remember last week when we played an impromptu game of hide-and-seek?

You shut yourself up in the laundry room.  I ran and hid behind the stairs and called out "Where's mama?"

You opened the laundry room door literally 1 second after you had just closed it and looked around for me.

After a few seconds I gave you a hint with my voice and you came barreling towards me.  I lunged at you and shouted "Gotcha!"

You giggled and ran toward me and then, at the last moment, shouted "No mo! No mo!" (translation: no more) and ran back to the laundry room to start the cycle all over again.

Your peals of laughter are like crack for an addict to me.  I can never get enough of that good stuff.  It's like all the joy of living, sprinkled with sunshine, baked with love, and all wrapped up in baby chub.  Okay, that definitely sounds like I'm on crack.

Anyway, we played this 9 or 10 times until I finally held up a finger and said "Last time Judah.  La ultima.  Last time."  And you held up one finger in response and said "Ah-kay.  No mo."

You're so good at accepting the "last time" convention.

We have so much fun together!

How I Know I Married the Right Guy

Recently I heard about a new phenomenon that neurotic suburban parents do to give their kid an extra advantage in life--redshirting.

Redshirting is when you hold your kid back from kindergarten so that he or she will be one of the oldest kids in the class (and thereby one of the smartest and most developed kids as well, so the theory goes).  This practice is spreading like wildfire across suburbs in the US such that the median age for a lot of kindergarteners is now 6 instead of 5.  Pretty soon they'll have to move it back to 7, then 8, and then we'll see boys shaving in kindergarten!  Just kidding.

But seriously, this kind of advantage is pretty well supported, most recently by pop-academic Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers.  Gladwell writes about how a small edge gives a kid a bigger edge the next year, which gives him an even bigger edge the next, etc. until it snowballs into a great advantage--this is what Gladwell terms "cumulative advantage."

The more developed kindergartener gets a bit more attention from the coach, who will develop him a little more, and becomes the better player in 1st grade, and 2nd grade, and eventually the star player in little league. 

Although it works in sports, most parents who 'redshirt' do it for social reasons.  They want their kids to be the leaders, the popular ones, the alpha dog.  They want their kid to go from success to success, snowballing their sense of confidence and esteem in themselves.

Spouse and I recently watched a 60 Minutes episode on Redshirting and looked at each other in disbelief.  After we clicked off the TV, he turns to me and says:

"I don't want Judah to be a winner, or the most popular kid, or the top dog.  What I want most is for him to be kind, and compassionate, and gracious, and charitable."

"Wow," I thought to myself, "I sure married the right guy.  Those are exactly my values too."

But then I said, "So...you want Judah to be an anti-jerk.  That's basically the opposite of you.  Ha ha."

Hey, we all want our kids to be better than ourselves!

Old Navy, Old Faithful

Work has just gotten insanely busy, but let this be a testament to my unwavering devotion to both my blog and my baby. Even in the midst of mountains of paperwork, I will take 10 minutes to dash out this entry.

Gosh I love Old Navy--purveyor of cheap and chic fashions for the whole family AND thoughtful retailer that provides kiddie activities in the store.

Judah can entertain himself for a long time trying to hold as many balls in his hands at once, dropping them, and picking them up again!

I'm not going to lie. I go to Old Navy all the time as a free baby activity play center.

Actually, it's not exactly free. I always end up buying something!

Up and Down!

Before we head into the weekend, I thought I'd do you all a solid and post pics of my baby's new skillz.  And it's a pretty accurate preview of what we'll be doing for a large chunk of the weekend!

Yes peoples, it is nothing short of amazing. He can now climb the steps and go down the slide ALL BY HIMSELF!

Of course, it requires a lot of cheerleading and coaxing from the peanut gallery below.  Judah often forgets what the 'goal' is and wanders off the reservation.

But once he makes it to the top of the slide, he's pretty much guaranteed to make it to the bottom.  Sitting one's own butt down in the right spot is still a little challenging though.

 

Look at my big boy!  All by himself!