Currently Issue 5

I absolutely love doing this currently link. It has brought me to other blogs of other mothers whose kids are around the same age as Cole. To me, that is the cat's meow. I really try to stick to the theme, so this week was a bit of a challenge because a lot is going on in my head right now, but I can't share everything just yet.

Mama is currently ...

remembering what it's like to not have homework hanging over her head. Remembering what an awesome lady her grandmother was to her and wishing she had the energy to drive down to LI and visit her. Remembering that I signed up for an evening yoga class that starts next week. When next week comes, will I remember to go?

learning how to enjoy the summer without worrying so much.

wishing for oodles of cucumbers next CSA pickup so that I can make my yummy bread and butter pickles. Wishing for a Tried and True way of easily falling back to sleep at night. I've been waking up every night worrying about this or that and it sometimes takes me an hour or more to go back to sleep. Sometimes I'm up for so long I realize I'm starving and then nothing is going to get me back to sleep except food.

considering getting a pop-up camper. We're big tent campers, but this pop-up camper would be a gift and we'd just have to pay for some repairs and to get it on the road. However, we'd have to store it on the side of our house and we'd be one of those people with a (sort of) vehicle parked on the side of our house. That and it'll probably cost around $500 to get it on the road. The upside is that it'd be great to have if we encounter rainy or cold weather and it could extend our camping season by another month or so. Did I tell you about our rainy but fun weekend camping with the Canadians? I will be posting about it soon. (Have no fear Randalin, I'm married to a photographer. I assure you he took several hundred pics. I distinctly remember an adorable one of Kale with marshmallow all over his face.)

cooking dinner again. Ever since I was placed on 4 months of pregnancy bed rest before Cole was born in 2010, Keith has taken over the duties of cooking. As a result, he's a bit controlling now when I'm cooking. And me cooking happens about once or twice a month during the school year and much more often during the summer. I try to welcome his advice, but when you're being critiqued on how you cut the mushrooms or which goes in the sauté first - the garlic or the onion - it's hard to be comfortable in the kitchen. Last night he showed a good amount of restraint. He volunteered to cut up the garlic and the onion and then when I gently reminded him that I was going to continue cooking, he graciously stepped away and let me at it. The result? A yummy pasta dish with leftover chicken, garden peas (shucked by yours truly), farm spinach, garlic, and spring onion.

Cole is currently...

remembering he has a toddler kitchen and cooking up yummy goods. For the past few days, he's been making pizza in the oven and cutting up fruits and vegetables, baking cupcakes and offering them to us. "Happy Birthday!" he'll exclaim. Or "Happy Father's Day!"

learning how to fall asleep on his own. Sometimes I'll tell him I'm going to make him another bottle or go to the potty. If I don't hear anything for a few minutes, I usually don't return and know that he is falling asleep on his own. Last night I crept back in to see what he was up to and he had the blanket (which was hanging from the crib) covering his face and he was kicking his leg. But he was trying. I crept back out and he fell asleep.

wishing he could watch Fresh Beats meets Gabba Gabba over and over and over again. This special episode drives the kid totally bonkers. He's practically electric with excitement while watching it. He squeezes his fist, squeals, and laughs at everything. That had to be the most clever merge of television shows they could have ever come up with.

considering quietly walking over to one of the cats, but then thinking better of it and screeching and running.

First Day/Last Day

First day of summer vacation.


And I awoke at 6 a.m. Figures.


I wanted to share something Cole did the other day that was super sweet.
He took one of his little people, put it in a miniature sleeping bag (we have a Little People camper set) and placed it inside his shirt and said, "I put him on my Doo Doo" and said "Aaah" after he placed the little person underneath his shirt on the left side (where he always used to nurse). Then he walked around with the little toy person in his shirt and said proudly, "I have him on my Doo Doo."


Last day of day care.

Yesterday was Cole's last day at the day care he's been at since he was 3 months old. It was a bitter sweet goodbye. He waved to his friends and said, "Bye Friends!" before saying goodbye to each and every one of them. Then he said goodbye to the director (who he has become very attached to) and said, "Good bye Little Hands!" (the name of the day care). It was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes.
I gave the director a hug and Cole cheerfully left. 

Then on the ride home we were getting really close to home and Cole kept saying "We're home!" and I said, "Mama's home for the summer!" and he said, "Mama's home..for the summer?!" 


I think it will dawn on him next week just what that really means. 

Toothbrushing, Potty Training, Not Breastfeeding and other Misadventures in Parenting

Our toothbrushing triumph:

Cole may not love to brush his teeth, but he absolutely loves when I floss his teeth (which is even better than brushing in my opinion). Why? Because the floss is mint flavored and because I show him his food and say what exactly the food is that I've just flossed out from in between his teeth. Sometimes he'll take a guess (usually the food I identified the day before). The only problem with this is that Keith - who is terrible about brushing his own teeth - can NEVER remember to encourage Cole to brush his teeth when he gives Cole a bath. And since Keith doesn't floss, you can imagine what doesn't happen.

Potty training regression:

Cole won't even flush the toilet for us, let alone sit on it and pee or poop. He was great about it for months, doing it before he went to bed on a consistent basis. Then something happened - I have no idea what- and he suddenly doesn't even want to flush the toilet. Flushing the toilet used to be his favorite past-time! He wants nothing to do with the toilet or his potties. The only use he has for one of his potties is to stand on it when he's looking out his bedroom window. I have NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED.

Not nursing but still touching:

As you may remember, a little over two weeks ago, I had to stop breastfeeding for medical reasons. While it hasn't been an easy road since then, it has gotten a bit better. Although Cole still asks for Doo Doo when I get home (and it just about breaks my heart when he does), he is satisfied with this: touching Doo Doo. It's obvious to me how comforting Doo Doo is to him. I feel like it would be cruel for me to not let him touch it, especially since I didn't intend on weaning him like this. So most night's this week, Cole has fallen asleep in my arms while touching Doo Doo. It is just too sweet for words. That he loves this part of me so much that he still wants to have a connection with it, shows me what a loving human being I hold in my arms.

Currently Issue 3...or... 4

So I'm pretty late on last week's "Currently" issue. I'm going to link up with the most current link up but use a mixture of last week's and this week's themes. Hope you don't mind.

Mama
Working at ending this dang school year. I have three more days left. Every day I am spending every second grading and hoping I can grade everything in time for my report card deadline.

Obsessed with Grey's Anatomy Season 8. I've started to watch it on my Kindle and the iPad we are borrowing, but it is very difficult when one is trying to close out the school year and do last minute grading. My obsession is my reward at the end of a hard day - that is of course if I don't pass out first.

Craving pickles. I've been on a bit of a pickle buying spree recently. Each jar of pickles that I bought though just didn't meet my expectations. One was too spicy. The other just had a weird tangy after taste that just didn't seem quite right. And now I am on the hunt  -just don't tell my husband. I'm sure he doesn't want more pickle jars taking up precious space where his beer should be in our refrigerator.


Writing in my one sentence journal. Even though I've been a major journal slacker, I still try to keep up with it as much as I can (a bit more than this blog - sorry, dear readers.) My latest entry was from Father's Day. I'll share it with you:

On the way out of Shaft IIA (an old mining quarry that surrounds the beautiful Stony Kill Falls), Cole points to the cliffs on the Gertrude's Nose Trail (which, incidentally, is my absolute favorite trail) and says: 

"There's a mountain. We should go up there someday." 

That's my boy.

Laughing at this funny fact during our planning for our upcoming camping trip: Randalin's partner, Kris, calls Keith, Cole, and I "The Americans." And since I can remember Keith calls Kris, Randalin and Kale The Canadians. We all had to stop to catch our breaths from laughing so much when we discovered this funny coincidence of names.

Cole
Working on his moves for the Car Wash Dance, a dance he learned about while watching his newest favorite show - The Fresh Beats Band. He is usually inspired to do this dance when he has a hose in his hands.

Obsessed with every part of Keith and I. He has taken to telling us, "I love your hair, Mama." or "Dada, I love your chin." Then he proceeds to touch and sometimes kiss the body part. He actually kissed my knee the other day and he even tried to kiss my foot, but I wouldn't let him.

Craving fruit. After dinner, he is more than satisfied with a fruity snack - be it apples, blueberries or strawberries. Sometimes he makes requests like melons, and is usually satisfied with a substitute if we don't have what he wants.

Writing his name. Of course he doesn't write it, write it. But he'll scribble something that is supposed to resemble his first name and middle name. The kid is so good with names he remembers his middle name!

Laughing at being tickled or mommy wearing a silly hat or playing a game of peek-a-boo. It doesn't take much to set him off into a fit of giggles.

What you didn't know about your child's books

I love the children's books we read to Cole. But I've discovered some things while reading the same books over and over and over and over again:

-The man with the yellow hat practices some real free range parenting if you ask me. How does he just happen to let George out of his sight so easily and find him just after he's gotten into trouble? George is either really lucky that he gets to experience so much during his curious adventures, or he's going to get really effing hurt someday!

-Emily Elizabeth is always forking over money for Clifford's gigantic mishaps. Sometimes the narrator tells us and sometimes it's just obvious. She's got the green and the angry person is holding out his hand. I guess money is the answer to all of our troubles, eh?

-The ending of nearly every story that is not part of a series is you guessed it - bed time. It boils down to this: we love spending time with our kids, but at night, we really want to them to GO the F*CK to SLEEP so we can get some shit done.

Moving on to Greener Pastures

They say the grass is always greener. I always keep this in mind when I hope for change. But I still want the change for some reason or another. And I am usually happier on the other end.

This time, the change I wanted is pretty monumental for me, professionally speaking. Not as earth shattering as switching from a career in journalism to one in education. Nor am I leaving my district. But it's still pretty big to me because it will be completely new. Starting in September I'll be teaching 9th grade. High School. I've taught 7th and 8th grade for six years now. That's all I've ever known. But this school year, more than any year, it really started to gnaw at me, and then by March it was eating away at me.  I realized that I was teaching some students who were at the height of immaturity, and I started to lack the nurturing patience that is required of someone dealing with pre-teens on the cusp of becoming teenagers. Seventh grade may be in the veins of some dedicated teachers, but it's just not in mine. I was ready to teach older students. I made my request known to my supervisor and despite some obstacles bumps in the road, my transfer request was granted at the end of last month.

This last week has been spent trying to move out and move on. I've got over 400 books in my classroom library and I was forced to part with many of them. I am saving several large tupperware containers of novels for Cole when he gets older, but the rest are going to my colleagues for their classroom libraries. I had old files, old posters, just crap everywhere. Today and yesterday I finally collected everything that I thought I would need and lost the rest in the myriad garbage cans at school. And this is all while trying to grade the 120 essays I assigned on May 29.  That's right. Queen of Procrastination and Princess Hypocrite is sitting right here. "Don't wait until the night before!" I always tell my students.

Next year, I will be in a new building with new colleagues. I will be teaching in unfamiliar classrooms that may not have the technology I am used to. (Back to overhead projectors - oh boy!) So, this summer I have my work cut out for me. I have a bunch of books to read and re-read, lots of planning to do, and, above all else, I have to ready myself for teaching high school. The good thing about the switch is this: Ninth grade is just a step away from 8th grade, so it is not as intimidating as if I were to start teaching 12th grade. I may also have some students I taught last school year. Familiarity could help us all adjust to our new surroundings.

Currently Issue 2

Cole is...
reading books every single night. We have our afternoon and nightly ritual of books. We'll read one or two books after dinner. And we'll read another 3 or 4 books before sleep. His favorites are: Dandelion, Goodnight Moon, and Mommy's Little Boy. He can recite the first 3 pages of Goodnight Moon and he often quotes lines from Dandelion in appropriate situations. For instance, when he and Keith were leaving for Keith's father's house last Sunday, Cole wanted me to come. He said, "Come, Mama" and then a minute later, he said, "Come as you are" a line from the book.  Yes, my kid is making literary allusions and he's only 2.

loving the rocket ship. He will often cut dinner short so he can go inside the rocketship and shake the crap out of it.

eating whatever strikes his fancy. "I want an ice pop!" (instead of dinner) "Mango? I want mango!" (while we're driving home up the mountain.) His newest favorite snack is rice cakes. Because he can't have Doo Doo after school anymore, I give him a rice cake to snack on for the ride home. He munches on this thing the whole way home and absolutely loves it.


drinking lots and lots of whole cow milk. He's always had a lot of milk, but now he's having more than ever before. We went through a half gallon in a matter of days. Gramma Carolyn appropriately commented that we might need to get a pipeline installed directly into the house.


looking forward to "Mama home?" He is so happy for the weekends, because he knows I'll be home. He doesn't quite understand it yet, but I think he's getting the idea that pretty soon (only two weeks now) I'll be home for the.entire.summer. Score for Cole!

Mama is...


reading lots of non-fiction and lesson plans for non-fiction. This past week was horrible because it was the second to last full week of school and I still had not gotten my unannounced observation. Students had started to check out (metaphorically) and I was wondering how I was going to drag out this Omnivore's Dilemma unit so that my supervisor would see an awesome non-fiction lesson. I got my wish when on Friday she came to my 4th period class and observed one of the best lessons of the week. What did she see? She saw my students bring in their own processed food that they analyzed for corn-dervied ingredients. She saw them do this in groups and got to listen in on the conversations they had about the ingredients and the food they eat at home. 


loving my Kindle fire. I finally finished Season 7 of Grey's. And in the last episode, I saw the most amazing thing - an Ergo carrier prominently worn by two major characters. One by a baby-wearing daddy, and another by a new adoptive mama.


eating fresh, organic veggies and fruit from our CSA, which finally started this past week. We've really been making an effort to eat more local food. We've been going to the farmer's market for about 3 weeks in a row. And while we're there, we also stop by the butcher that sells grass fed meat, poultry, and eggs.


drinking lots and lots of seltzer. At some point this summer, but not now, I'll explain this one.


looking forward to two weeks from now. Two weeks from now will be my first true summer weekend. It is on that weekend that I will have absolutely NO homework. And I will be having a 
fun time camping with some very special blogger friends. 




Thank you to Randalin and Wendy for creating this awesome link up and inspiring me to write.

Our Journey Comes to an End

It saddens me tremendously to even write this post. And I don't want to dwell on it. But I must share.

This week, my breastfeeding journey with Cole came to a close. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my life. Also, one of the most stressful, as I knew it would cause Cole (and thereby, me) great sadness. It was a choice I made for the health of my breast. I had been dealing with a cut on my nipple for about five weeks. (I think the cut originated from none other than that damn milk blister that plagued me for months and months). I had seen one of my midwives about it and she had prescribed me an anti-bacterial/anti-fungal ointment. She had said that if it didn't heal in a week, I should see the breast specialist I saw back in January, and that I should consider stopping the nursing.

I gave it 3 weeks. I thought it was getting better but it seemed to come back every few days. Imagine a cut on another part of your body that heals and then opens up again. It stings, it hurts. It can even bleed. It's a Staph infection waiting to happen. Finally, this past Monday while I was going to work, I realized that the only way for it to COMPLETELY heal was to stop breastfeeding. I had tried getting Cole to nurse a different way and that was unsuccessful. I think after two years it's awfully hard to get a child to improve his latch. I talked to him about it, but I just don't think he truly understood. I tried to get him to nurse for just 5 or 7 minutes at a time and it made him very upset when I tried to end before he was ready.

So Sunday night, June 3, was the last time we nursed. There have been times previously when I have thought to myself, this could be the last time we ever nurse. But I didn't think of it that night. I was laughing too much.  Why? Because the nursing session was on the funny side. Keith and Cole had come back from visiting Keith's father and that side of the family. Cole and I were nursing on the loveseat and Keith was sitting on the larger sofa. Keith kept talking and excitedly telling me about the afternoon. (I had to stay home and plan my lessons for the week). During Keith's excited re-telling he would stop occasionally to ask Cole a question. And Cole would stop nursing (ouch!) and answer or repeat what Keith said. Finally, I said lightheartedly - "Would you let him finish, please?" So, Cole stopped nursing again and said, "Dada, yet (let) me finish!" With that he nursed until he was finished and ready to play.

The past week, has consequently, been a really tough week for me. Not only was I dealing with my guilt over this decision, but I was also stressed out at work. I couldn't wait for the work-week to end. Monday afternoon was the most difficult part of the week, because it's when reality first struck Cole that he wasn't going to get Doo Doo anymore. And the residual guilt and sadness from that lasted all week for me. I saw the breast specialist to be sure I had made the right decision and she agreed that it needed at least a week to heal on its own. She said pumping would aggravate it even more (which I had done Monday and Tuesday). Within a week, my milk supply would be gone.  She was so wonderful though. She saw the pain in my eyes (I nearly started crying right there) and was very compassionate and even gave me her number in case I needed any more help.

All week, I was also dreading the morning wake-up request for Doo Doo, which occurred Saturday morning. But he handled it like a champ. He asked for Doo-Doo, I said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any more Doo Doo." And just as I was about to suggest a bottle of milk, he asked for it.

So, our two-year breastfeeding journey has come to an end. I know that most people don't get to two years. I just have to accept that the decision I made - to wean before my child was ready- was the right one, because it is one I made for my health. And for the health of other children in our future.

Two Year Photo Shoot

Last week, we did a two year photo shoot in the same place we did Cole's one-year photo shoot - at Split Rock, which is a trailhead on Mohonk Preserve. The special feature of Split Rock is the stream that flows over a waterfall and the swimming hole that follows the waterfall. It's appealing for a photo shoot because there's a lot of shade and it's a diverse location - woods, open field, stream, giant slabs of rock, etc. Cole loves this place so much because it's perfect for rock-throwing and cooling down when the temperature gets too hot. It's also a great people-watching place. Further down the trail, there is a nude beach, which we usually don't venture to, only in the off-season when it is empty. But the people (many out-of-towners) who frequent the swimming hole/waterfall are interesting enough for any toddler.

The "split" in the rock
where the water flows

Here are my picks (some of which you may have seen on Facebook) of the fantastic photos my husband took of Cole. We just did a family shoot at the same place with Peter, so I will be writing a blog post featuring those photos sometime in the next week or so.

Currently: Issue 1

I'm linking up with Randalin over at Harvesting Kale because I just love reading her "Currently" posts, and I think a link up is a great idea. Because of Randalin and the wonders of Instagram, I've found a lot more likeminded mamas in this here blogosphere.

Mama

Cooking local food and grass fed poultry and beef. Can you tell I've been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal. Vegetable. Miracle? Unfortunately, that was the first half of the week. Holiday weekends always screw us up. So the second half of the week, we cooked barely anything. We've also been going through some schedule changes lately and the end result is that we ate out way too many times this week. We're hoping to get back to regularly scheduled programming very soon.

Wearing my summer wardrobe. To me, though, summer {work} wardrobe is this: bermuda shorts, capris, skirts, and light tee-shirts. And don't forget sandals. I think I've been wearing sandals since March. And it's good to have practice, because when you teach in a 95 degree classroom you have to go to work prepared. (Although nothing can truly prepare you for what it is like to almost pass out in front of a bunch of 13 year olds.)

Wanting this school year to be over already. It's been a tough year for New York teachers. So much change, so much uncertainty. So much that people still don't know and don't want to believe. I'll be glad for that Friday in June when I can walk out the school doors with a little less homework and a lot more playtime.

Listening to lots of new (mostly female) artists on Pandora (like Ingrid Michaelson and Brandi Carlisle). I am also listening to the inspiring audiobook called What Teachers Make by Taylor Mali. If you ever get the chance to watch him perform the poem of the same name, you will never be the same. It is awe inspiring and a giant "F You" to anyone who ever thinks or says disparaging words about teachers and their paychecks. Can you tell I'm trying to work on my potty mouth?

Watching the 7th season of Grey's Anatomy. I missed the last two seasons because having a child prohibited me from being lucid enough to watch said television show at 9 p.m. on a school night. So, I've been watching the 7th season on my Kindle Fire because we have Amazon Prime and the first 7 seasons are free. Yes, my husband gets me a Kindle Fire for Mother's Day and I have watched television, blogged, and checked Facebook six hundred times, but I have not yet read a book. No fear, I downloaded some seemingly trashy romance novels and will be reading those in exactly 3 weeks.

Cole

Cooking up ways to get me into his rocketship so we can fly to cool places like the moon.

Wearing all new swim gear because he grew out of everything from last year. He's also wearing new Keene sandal shoes and new Tevas. He's also almost always a big smile if he's in or near water: a stream, a water fall, the pool.

Wanting to learn how to ride his new balance bike, but still feeling like it's falling. 

Listening to two things. First - The sounds outside. He can tell birds, the annoying rooster that lives down the street, whenever a lawn is being mowed, if someone is riding their motorcycle or a truck. I never in my wildest dreams thought my kid would be able to tell someone's lawn was being mowed on the other side of the neighborhood, but he has super sonic ears.  Second - Toddler Radio on Pandora. Whenever Cole starts to get cranky, or even if he's in a full blown meltdown, all I need to do is turn to his favorite station and we're getting our wiggles out in no time. It helps if I try to put on hats that don't fit and dance around like a maniac. He winds up imitating me (making my ridiculous dance moves look adorable) and cracking up so hard, he forgets that he was ever crying.

Watching the birds look for food, the neighbor's cats wait for their owners, and the various vehicles that pass by our house on a regular basis. Who needs television when our neighborhood is so entertaining? The other day, when we came home from day care, we got out of the car and all Cole wanted to do was watch an older man mow our neighbor's lawn. 

Two. The Birthday Bonanza

Cole's 2nd birthday was on a Sunday, so naturally we started celebrating on Friday night. Heck, we'd been telling him all month it was his birthday. We actually started celebrating on May 1. Can you tell I'm a birthday freak? (I, too, have countdowns that begin on April 1).

Us: Cole, it's your birthday soon. How old are you going to be?
Cole: Two months!
Us: Two years!
Cole: Two months!

We put a lot of things on an amazon wish list, like we did for Christmas, in case family members wanted to get him a gift. (And he got a ton of awesome gifts from that wish list). Win Win for Cole!! Then, Dada and Mama had to decide what to get him. He has developed a love for spaceships over the past 6 months or so. And he loves loves loves Yo Gabba Gabba.  So, naturally, we bought him a giant cardboard space ship and some YGG accessories (see below). Wait. What was that first part? The part about the cardboard space ship? The people with the tiny house decided to put something gigantic into their already limited space? The answer to that is - if it made our kid happy, we didn't care. Until Keith put that thing together on Friday night. That's when we realized we might have a little problem. Luckily, we had the wherewithal to move it out of our living room - where it seemed to take up half the room - and into the dining room to an area of (mostly) unused space (only when we needed to open the front door - but who cares? We have another door). Then, Keith did the strangest thing on Saturday morning. He woke Cole up at 7:46 a.m. to see the rocket ship. Keith must have been dreaming about it or something, because Keith rarely wakes Cole up on a weekend. I also knew the exact time, because I had already been up for two hours blogging trying to get some work done.

We stupidly didn't think to capture the first few moments Cole walked into the dining room and found the "rocket ship," but I recorded the excitement once he got used to the idea and actually went inside. He just said over and over like he was trying to pinch himself from the sheer excitement: "I'm in a rocket ship. I'm in a rocket ship!" Then a few seconds later, "Blast off!!!"

Keith did capture his joy later that night.

"I go in my rocket ship?"

The small party we had the next day was perfect for Cole. He felt so happy to be around his family and when they sang to him, he basked in the warmth of their words and their love. He simply looked at everyone and smiled back. Then it was on to the presents. Cole is now aware and understands perfectly what a present is. I have to say that he showed amazing restraint in the face of all of these wonderful gifts he was given. He listened to me when I told him that he had to merely open, look and move on to the next. Lucky for everyone who got him a gift, he showed great excitement every time he opened a gift. There was no groaning or throwing it aside.  He wanted it NOW, but he was willing to wait with the promise of something ELSE around the corner.

He nearly had a conniption when we told him we couldn't put this gift (from Papa Joe and Gamma Fern) together right then and there.

Cole's very first lunch box.

DJ YANCE HAT! YAY!

Cole loves watermelon. So does Keith. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to it and, judging by Cole's poops the few days after eating it, it goes in the same way it comes out. WATER!! Anyway, here are some adorable pics.

Friends of Friends. Love it.

Our little artist finally has an easel thanks to Gramma.

And a birthday would not be complete without balloons - something else this kid simply adores.