Rascal - An Apt Name

A few weeks ago Eric's sister and her family were in town for a short visit. Eric's sister really likes horses, so her mom arranged for Michelle to go riding on some friends' horses. I decided to tag along. I had a lot of fun. Except at the end when I got bucked off. (Since then I've been surprised to learn how many other people have been thrown off of horses. It seems like at least one third of the people I've mentioned it to have said that it's happened to them before too.) I started on a different horse, but midway through Michelle and I switched. This horse didn't want to keep up a quick pace, and he kept slowing down. I had to get off a couple of times to get my saddle and stirrup fixed. Finally I had him going at a good pace, but the saddle was still loose. Michelle shouted for me to slow down so I could get the saddle tightened. I tried, but at that point Rascal (the horse) just took off. Then I screamed for him to stop, at which point he probably thought, "Ha! She has no idea what she is doing!" (He was right.) And then he bucked me off.

It happened really quickly. I landed on my shoulder/back first and then continued my flip and banged my lower hip/back. I didn't break my neck, but I'm still having a little trouble with my back. I'm not really sure how long to let it bother me before I go see somebody. And I'm not sure who to see. A chiropractor? Maybe, but I definitely don't want the kind who will tell me that my eyeballs are in backwards and my liver has traded places with my spleen and I need to come see the chiropractor for the rest of my life to keep my body in order. Maybe a physical therapist? But do I need a referral for that? But maybe if I just give it a bit more time it will get better.

Virtuous Pet Names.

My friend got a canary for Mother's Day. When I asked her what she planned to name it, she said she wanted to give it a name that would remind her son to behave. Something like, "Don't Say Potty Words." Or "Be Obedient."

If our family were to get a pet and name it some sort of quasi-virtue name, these would be on our list of possibliities:

• Don't Run Away. (Either that, or Stay By Mom and Dad.)
• No Shouting.
• No Hitting. Or Kicking. Or Biting. (That's a new, really weird thing he's been doing.)
• Take It Easy.
• Don't Stand on Mom's Feet.
• Eat Your Dinner.
• Don't Throw Toys Down the Stairs.
• Put It Back.
• It's Okay. He's Just A Little Baby.

If you were to name a pet some with a name that serves as a reminder to your children, what would it be?

Sleepovers

We love to play board games with friends. Now that we have kids it's a bit harder to get together with other couples to play board games late into the evening. For the most part we've had good luck getting Ike to sleep in a playpen in other people's homes. Now that he sleeps in a regular bed and is fully capable of climbing out of a playpen we weren't so sure he'd be such a good sleeper in strange places.

Two weeks ago we went to hang out with our most frequent board game friends. When we arrived at their house their older two kids were pretty much down for the night. We made a few suggestions for what to do with Ike like having him sleep in a room by himself and putting a child lock inside that room, but ultimately we decided to put him down on the floor with our friends' kids. But there was one caveat. The dad of the other family would be the one to put him down.

It worked like a charm. Jon (our friend) told him to lie down and told him that all the kids were going to sleep and he needed to go to sleep too. He had his monkey and his blanket, and he needed to be quiet, close his eyes, and go to sleep like the big kids. No yelling. No getting up.

I suspected it would work because he sleeps on the floor at his sitter's house, and she's only had to send him back to his napping spot once. He's very obedient for people who are not his parents.

We went to play games with another set of friends this past Saturday. This time Ike slept on the floor in a guest room, and again the dad in the family told him to go to sleep and stay on his sleeping spot. He did end up waking up before we were ready to go, but it wasn't a matter of disobedience at that point. He was just disoriented and scared, so I held him while we finished our game. Once that game was over we headed out.

On the way home from our friends' that evening Eric and I discussed how good our little boy is for other people. We're working on a plan to have other people put him to bed every night. Any takers?

Where I've Been

I have felt for a while now like I'm always on the brink of having my life in order. Life is so different with two kids. More so, life is very different when one of those kids is a toddler who used to play independently for large chunks of time but now demands a lot more attention and interaction. And the other kid requires more attention than the first one did as a baby. You would think after seven months that I would be in the swing of things. In reality, after seven months I'm just learning to let go of a lot of things. One of those is this blog. I'm not quitting altogether, but it's just not a priority for me right now.

Cleaning is also not a huge priority. Earlier in the year I figured out that I am capable of working, preparing good food for our family and maintaining a clean house. But I'm not capable of doing all of these things simultaneously. So I basically called it quits on cleaning. I notified Eric, and we've just been doing the best we can to maintain some semblance of tidiness. I try not to beat myself up when it gets chaotic, and Eric has filled in a lot of gaps. (Our house is still not as clean on a day-to-day basis as I'd like, but it's something I'm learning to deal with.)

I'm learning, much to my dismay, that I don't know how to play. When I deliberately set time aside to interact with Ike I usually find myself in a pickle because I don't know what to do with him. We read a lot, but occasionally reading doesn't interest him. We sometimes watch movies or clips on YouTube, but if I'm setting aside time to be with my boy I don't want that time spent in front of a screen.

I'm getting better at playing (mostly by just mimicking the things that Eric does with him), but it gets tedious very quickly for me. I'm not a kid at heart. I'm a grownup at heart, and I think I always have been. When Ike grows up and looks back on the activities we did together they will revolve around him "being a helper" to me as I cook and clean. I'm sure those things are important, but they're probably not as fun. (Especially when the whole time we are cooking I am telling him, "Don't touch that." "Put that down." "Don't stir too much." "No, the oil doesn't go in yet." "Plug it back in." "Don't sneeze into the bowl." "Don't lick the clean dishes.")

So that's where I've been. Trying to balance the responsibilities I've chosen.

Felix - Seven Months

Felix is seven months old. He can sit up (as you can see). He usually doesn't sit up for long, but he is capable of doing it. He can also crawl - sort of. If he really wants something he will stretch and squirm until he gets it. I think by next month he'll be a full-fledged crawler.

I feel like seven months is a magical age. This kid sleeps really well now (mostly). He has so much personality and is so interactive. Ike is even starting to engage with him a teensy bit more. He loves to eat, and he loves paper (to eat). Felix is incredibly squirmy, but I usually don't remember it until somebody who is not used to holding him comments on how wiggly he is. If you are holding him while you are sitting down, he will probably try to stand up. He also loves to flail his arms when he is excited. Or when he's not excited. He just likes to be moving all the time. (He gets it from me.)

Even though he's fairly short and light for his age, (third percentile for weight at his last checkup), he has pretty chubby thighs. Felix wears clothes meant for babies aged 3-6 months. Most of those clothes still have plenty of room. He's also really bald (like his brother). (In general he's looking more and more like his brother as he gets older.)

This past week he went to the sitter's with his older brother, and he seems to have adapted well to that. I sure did miss him while I was at work, though.