My baby turns 13!

May 2, 2018May 2, 2018Leave a comment

How is it that my little pumpkin girl is turning 13? It seems just a breath away that I was walking down the street calling Jon to announce our pregnancy. I was at the corner of Grandview and Third when Jon answered his cell phone.

He had traveled out of town that weekend to hang with his best friend, Paul. He answered the phone and I think we made chit chat for a minute. I can’t recall exactly how I brought up the pregnancy but I do recall the reaction, pure silence.

There were a lot of “oh my gosh” statements after the silence – a symbol of both joy and fear. We were having a baby! What the heck would happen once we had a baby? We are pregnant! How the heck were we going to handle a newborn?

I recall the first three months of morning sickness. I sat at my desk at Carlile Patchen, and stared into my computer screen hoping that the nausea would subside. I craved giant-sized hamburgers. I longed for chocolate and pickles. The thought of toothpaste made me want to throw up. It was so strange to have all of these sensations. My belly did not start to expand until about the fifth month of pregnancy. It was only then that I could show off my little baby bump. I would rub that bump as if the more rubbing I did, the healthier you would be.

It was around that time that Jon and I found out the sex of our little nugget. I swore I would have a boy. I have always been a tomboy, always been aggressive, loved my sports, and hated dresses. I was positive the universe would deliver a boy to me. I also figured Jon would want a boy even though he kept saying the cliche-ish line “I don’t care what sex it is as long as it is healthy. ” I laid on the table while the nurse pressed the wand hard against my belly. She moved it around and around and finally asked us if we were ready to learn the sex.

YES!

“You have a girl. ”

How was that possible?! How could my testosterone-laden body produce a girl? Whereas I was in shock, Jon was not. He took it all in stride – happy as a peach to have a baby girl. I, however, had major trepidation. That would mean we would have a mother/daughter relationship. Heaven help me. I had past experience with a mother/daughter relationship and it was a struggle. I remember calling my mom to announce that we were having a girl. Her reaction: “oh.” We both must have still harbored a bit of PTSD from my teenage years.

It took a while to get used to the thought of having a girl. I remember walking Cy, our dog at the time, and thinking “how will I ever love a human being as much as I love my loyal pup?” What was my problem?! Yet, although those thoughts went through my head, I still spent countless hours rubbing my expanding belly and listening to Free To Be on any car trip I took.

And then the day came. I went into the doctor’s office for my 9 AM appointment after I had taken a 3 mile run and lifted weights earlier that morning. My doctor performed her weekly exam. While she felt around, she poked her head up.

“You are going to have a baby today.”

What?! I was not having any contractions; I did not feel weird at all. Wasn’t there supposed to be some big revelation that I felt the baby was coming? I called Jon on my way home and told him that we were having a baby. His reaction was the same as mine had been. I arrived home and told Jon I was going to take Cy on a quick walk. He thought I was crazy, but he allowed me to do it (he knows me all too well). We got to the hospital around 11 AM; by that time, I was starting to feel some contractions. They felt like mild cramps, nothing to worrisome. The doctor checked me out around noon, and asked if I wanted to break my water to speed up the process. By that time, my mom had arrived from Cincinnati. We decided to go for it. It was not 20 minutes later that I was sitting on my green yoga ball pushing myself back-and-forth from the hospital bed. The contractions were getting worse. Breathe, Breathe. Breathe. That is all I could hear. It began to hurt worse and worse. But I was in it for the long run with you, baby girl. I wanted to feel every single ache. And boy, did I. There was a period of time where I was on my hands and knees rocking back-and-forth and feeling like I would not be able to survive another minute. Then the contractions would calm down a bit and I’d be able to breathe. But then they would start right back up and I would want to cry. Jon and my mom championed me through it right by my side. Finally, the nurses told me I could turn over and start pushing. What a relief. I pushed so hard, so quickly that I busted all of the blood vessels in my face. I wanted you out! I got to see the top of your head in the mirror and I could not believe it. There you were. All of that belly rubbing produced this little pipsqueak. I pushed one final push and before I knew it, I was holding your little 7 pound body in my arms. What a day.

The politically correct thing to say next is I fell completely and totally in love with you in that moment. Not so much. It took a while to absorb that intense bond between mother and child. At first, as I stared at you while she slept, I felt too many emotions to feel that deep connection. Would I do alright as a mom? Would you love me back? Were you getting all your nutrients? Craziness. And the questions running through my head! Why weren’t you taking my milk? Why didn’t you want to snuggle on my chest rather than move all around in every direction? Why did you have to get up every hour?!

As I became more confident in my role as a mother and you clocked in a greater amount of time on this earth, the connection clicked. My heart exploded with love and adoration for my baby girl, and I swallowed up all of you. And then, there was no turning back. I loved seeing you round, buddha face in the morning (even when you kept me up all night). I could not wait to get out of work and pick you up. I loved taking you on long walks, and having you touch the bark of different trees or smell the scent of different flowers. I couldn’t wait to walk up to Stauf’s with you on the weekend, and have everyone fawn over how cute you were.

I would read the book, Someday, to you nearly every night. The mother in the book watches her daughter grow up, and expresses has hopes and dreams for her daughter along the way. I would tear up every time I read it. One night when you were in preschool, I finished reading it and had those tears in my eyes. You looked up at me as you sat on my lap in that yellow rocking chair. You had tears down your little buddha face.

How biased I was to assume I would have a boy because I had so much testosterone and hated dresses? Sure enough, you were known as “the muscle” at preschool because you would defend some of the timid kids when kids were picking on them. Don’t mess with my girl; she will put you on her place. Heck, you are able to pick up your mom without a problem (there is no doubt your physical dominance is directly from your mom and dad).

You continue to want to be a daredevil. One of the presents you asked for your 13th birthday is a hot air balloon ride. You also asked to skydive (you know your mother will not agree to that) and bungee jump (no way). You will try anything. We love your intrepid spirit.

You continue to forge friendships with a wide array of people. Girls that love sports; girls that love boys; girls that love video games; and even boys. You get along with anybody and everybody that crosses your path.

You love to hug people. You sometimes even ask to hug a family friend you just met. You have no fear of jumping into any conversation. We love your willingness to embrace.

You are the goofiest, dork of a girl at times. You are not scared to make fun of yourself. You are not scared to act like a total fool around people. We absolutely love this about you. The more self-assured you are, the better it will be as you get older. Keep that goofiness about you and do not care what other people think.

You love school this year, as always. You love broadcasting in the mornings, hanging out with your friends, and going to your sporting events and practices. You loved your softball season with the bus rides to and from softball games. You are easy-going and spirited.

Quite simply, Ri, you are a great kid. Dad and I hit the jackpot with you as our first born. You have given us immense joy, and we know that you are going to knock this world out as you continue to get older.

Happy 13th, love!

Mom and Dad

These days.

May 26, 2015Leave a comment

My ideal day is waking early for a morning workout and coming home to take a walk to Stauf’s with Ri and Mario. I love it because we are all present in the moment. We notice the cardinal tucked in the mid section of a bush. We squeal at the bunny darting out of a flower bed. We touch the needles of the pine tree in the alley and I reminisce to them about when they were babies and I placed their finger on a needle and yelped “ouch” and they smiled at me in delight.

The kids still get excited to scope out a table at the coffee shoppe. They recently added high tables and bar stools to the shoppe so I knew they’d go for those. Mario steps up on the lower rung of the chair and lifts himself into the seat. Maria gets water for us all. I order bagels and a coffee. We sit at the table and play War and crazy eights (with Grandma Menkedick’s cards from 1963). When I win at the war between Mario and me, Ri laughs because I get one of Mario’s aces out of it. Mario reluctantly hands it over. This is the one place that the both of them remain in good spirits while playing a card game – must be the chill atmosphere.

It takes a lot for me to relax – as Jon says “you never stop.” But I can sit in that coffee shoppe with these kids for hours and have no desire to move. There must be some relaxer drug in those bagels.

Maria’s stomach was hurting her after she finished her bagel and chai tea latte – she spent a long time in the bathroom. I went to check on her after Mario and I thought she may have passed out. There she was looking miserable and holding her tummy. My girl likes to go at it in life – no matter if it’s partying at the pool or eating a bagel smothered in cream cheese.

So what do I have her do to recover?

Bike to the river with Mario and me. I figured she needed to move that food out of her system so she needed to move her body in order to accomplish that. It would be worse for her to go home and lay down. Right?!

So there she was biking next to me looking miserable. Mario was up ahead biking away in his own little world, loving the freedom he had. We arrived at our old stomping grounds shortly after we departed. It seemed to take such a longer time when I had them both in the double stroller (hmmm, wonder why? maybe the 100 pounds I had to push slowed me down). Ri immediately went to lay on a big rock to rest her tummy. Sweet girl.

Meanwhile, Mario was in heaven. He loved looking at the different rocks and throwing them in the river. As we tried to skip a few, he said to me “I remember coming here in the stroller with you and Ri and eating my timbits.” The kid doesn’t remember much so I was excited to hear that he remembered our river trips. We searched for unique rocks after Ri rested a bit. Mario would find one and run over to show Ri and me. He found one with a fossil in it that he thought was cool. They both discovered round, smooth ones that they decided to paint for Emma on her first day of babysitting them. We watched the tiny birds fly in and out of their hive nests situated in the corners of the bridge overpass. Pure delight. These are the moments to slurp up and recall when you’re having an annoying day.

Ri started to peter out on us after a while so we called it a day and headed down the bike trail to home. Ri was my trooper riding her bike with a tummy ache. She wanted Jon to pick her up badly but I told her she could make it. I’m quite sure she was cursing me in her head but she did it and with each small feat like that, I’m convinced she’s gained another layer of grit. Mario was like a teenager biking far ahead of us but stopping at every stop light and waiting for a green light. He likes that independence.

Maria looked at me when we pulled into the driveway. “Are you proud of me, mom?” “Absolutely”, I told her.

I walked inside the house and Mario was guzzling water. “Hey, mom”, he said flatly sounding just like a teenage boy.

Please let me not forget these days.

Happy 10th Birthday to our Buddha Girl!

May 21, 2015Leave a comment

How is this baby ten years old already?

My heart rests atop the knot in the middle of a tug-o-war rope. One side wants you to stay my little Buddha baby and one side wants to witness you continue to grow and learn and feel and experience. The above picture is your daycare school picture at 6 months old. I dressed you up in your maroon turtleneck and little wool skirt and you sat up perfectly straight for the camera. But there was no smile happening for that cameraman. He tried and tried – wiggling funny animals your direction and making ridiculous faces – but you’d have none of that action. You were probably contemplating the meaning of his existence as he engaged in those antics (and thinking “keep acting crazy, I’m not cracking a smile!”).

Grandma Meg’s friend had this comment when looking at your sweet face: “if you want to draw Maria’s face, you just draw a perfect circle.” She was dead on. We called you our Buddha because of that perfectly round head, those eyes in full contemplation, and that full belly. I remember how you would lay in your crib and suck on your binky while rubbing the satin part of your pink bunny against your face. Just rubbing and staring at the ceiling.

And you used to lay your head on my shoulder with your arms draped over my arms. Mouth open and drool coming out of the side. I would find any mirror I could find and look at you sleeping against me. How strange it was to have this little being completely dependent on me but how much I completely and totally loved it like I could have never imagined. I couldn’t wait to come home from work to play with you, hold you, rock you, read to you. And you must have felt the same way because you stayed up off and on throughout the entire night until you were 20 months old! You clearly wanted as much time with me and dad as possible. And now look at you – 10 years old and just as contemplative as you were at 6 months.

You’ve also inherited a bit of feistiness and fearlessness in your ten years, which makes you quite the handful at times. But you always engage people with compassion and love and understanding, which is not something exhibited by a lot of people your age – or any age – for that matter.

Example: Mario was not listening when I told him it was time for bed. He kept playing around and jumping on the bed and I had enough. I yelled at him and told him I was sick of him not listening to me. He began crying and ran to his room. You approached me as I washed my face and began your diatribe: “Mom, I really don’t think it’s fair that you yelled at Mario. He is used to you allowing him to jump around on the bed and act silly because you usually let him get away with it each night. I know you are probably tired tonight because you had a bad work day but I think you could have been a little nicer to Mario and he would have listened.”

You were at once standing up for your little brother and being gentle to the one you were up against (me). I think you are a born lawyer and would be able to sway a jury to your side in a heartbeat.

Another example: You were listening to Mario beg to get his ears pierced because he thinks it’s cool and dad continued to refuse his request. You sat quietly for a bit and then started in on dad: “why can I get ears pierced and Mario can’t? What’s the difference? Is it because he’s a boy and I’m a girl? Is that fair?”

You are thoughtful about your arguments and are fairly quick at responses to your “opponent.” I’m telling you, Judge Maria would be a judge I’d vote for….

You continue to embody a most caring heart; you are always concerned about people’s feelings and love to see folks’ smile. We were getting ready for a city-wide garage sale and you wanted to donate all monies you got from the sale of your items to a local shelter. When your little brother is dying for a new toy, you are the first to try and buy it for him with your piggy bank fund.

We’ve struggled a bit this year with self-doubt and worries that you aren’t good enough. You can tend to give up on something and then dive into negative thinking. These pre-teen years will continue to bring on those doubts and worry and I will work my hardest to talk you through them and listen to you. I have seen you do a good job the past few months talking things out more with me and your grandmas and your aunts, and we promise to continue to encourage open dialogue as you navigate these lovely pre-teen years.

But this year has also been a huge turning point year for you, sweet RiRi.

You have enjoyed a diverse group of friends. You do not have one best friend that you can’t live without; rather, you have a lot of friends who you feel comfortable hanging with for a play date. You are perfectly content doing a range of activities depending on the friend: playing barbies, climbing trees, jumping on a trampoline, drawing pictures, riding your bike, doing science experiments or watching tv.

You decided to play soccer! And now claim it as your favorite sport! This is the girl who absolutely detested it in years’ past and refused to give it a thought. It does not come particularly natural to you but you try hard and usually give it your best at practice and at games. And, you even ended up as the top scorer for your soccer team this Spring with two goals! I was so proud of you that I leapt off the bleachers screaming “that’s my girl!” Not embarrassing at all for you, I’m sure.

You got in the geography bee! There were only five fourth graders and five fifth graders to qualify based on high test scores and you were one of the fourth graders; and there was only one other girl in the bee (a fifth grader). You studied for it fairly routinely (a little nudging from me at times) and ended up one question away from being the student who moved ahead to the regionals. You got all of the first ten questions correct without batting an eye. You were poised and collected while the question was read and when you answered. Others shifted in their seats or twisted their hair but you remained super cool (this is you looking super cool heading off to school)!

You participated in Girls on the Run! Now this was another mind blowing occurrence. You hate, and I mean hate, to run. So if the program had been just about running, there is no way you would have agreed. But in reading about it, it focused on leadership skills and building self-esteem. I really wanted you to participate because you are at an age when it is so important to learn about self esteem and positive thinking. But I still knew it would be a hurdle to get you to participate because of your hatred for running. So I talked with you about it numerous times and explained to you that it wasn’t focused on the running and that you could run as fast or as slow as you wanted. Plus, it would give you time with your girlfriends. I knew that part would help win you over as you are always up for social hour. You hesitantly agreed and I am so proud of you for continuing through it this Spring. The first few weeks you begged to not go – you were bored and you dreaded the running – but I made you go and you always ended up saying “it wasn’t too bad.” And then, holy cow! You had a practice 5K to get you prepared for the race at the end of May. You dreaded it. You went to sleep on the eve of the practice run and cried about having to get up the next day and do it. I kept encouraging you and thought of you throughout the day you ran it. When I finally got hold of you after practice, you sounded exhilarated. I asked how it went and you exclaimed “it was good!” You ended up finishing it in 35 minutes and you even asked if you and I could take a little run on Saturday mornings. I about fell out of my chair at work, and the rest of the day I beamed about you and your perseverance (but don’t worry, I know you’d rather bike any day of the week!).

You learned the violin and performed wonderfully at the Spring concert! I am so proud of you sticking with it through the year even though there were days you did not want to practice. Learning an instrument and understanding melodies and comprehending notes will benefit you in many ways; one benefit is being able to Skype with Uncle Jack and play music with him!)

And you continued to teach me to take risks and push myself out of my comfort zone. I still can’t believe you got me to parasail with you this Summer. This is an activity I would have never accomplished absent my daring daughter taunting me and making me feel wimpy for not trying something a nine-year old had no fear doing. So thank you, Ri, for keeping me adventurous and daring!

Dad and I are constantly amazed by you and know that you will only amaze us more in this tenth year of life. We love you a gazillion times over and are overjoyed to be your parents!

Happy 10th Birthday, Ri!

Watching Ms. Elena

December 18, 2014December 18, 2014Leave a comment

God bless it’s hard to watch a six month old baby! I forgot what those days were like with Ri and Mario – where they need pretty much constant attention and cry like banchees when their mama leaves. I was whooped after an hour and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the front door open. Ri gave up after about 20 minutes and played video games with Mario. Smart girl. That actually helped me because Elena appreciated the quiet and sat with me for 20 minutes chowing on her sweet potatoes! But holy cow, it took my undivided attention to keep her happy.

Yes, the selfies actually helped. She likes looking at herself in the mirror. My only goal was to not have her crying when Sarah got home. I had to prove I was a worthy babysitter! Mission accomplished. Once Sarah walked in the door though she was a much happier camper.
And Ri was back in full-on mode following Sarah and Elena everywhere. Sar asked if Ri wanted to hold her in the Ergo Baby and Ri jumped at the chance. Did that work out good or what?!
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She walked around with her for 25 minutes straight; Elena’s eyes fixated on the Christmas lights and objects throughout the house. And, of course, on her awesome older cousin. Now I know the magic bullet when we babysit her next time….
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Precious

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014Leave a comment

This happened on Friday night.

Jon treated Ri to a father/daughter dinner and let her pick the destination. She chose Bravo. The girl goes classy. They dropped Mario off at Kids Night Out first and then went out on the town.
I was busy driving home from Toledo Ohio after an entire day participating in a mediation at the courthouse. I dreaded the drive all week but in the end, it was rather pleasant. Timbits, coffee, the sunrise, and NPR for two and a half hours with no interruption was quite amazing.
Ri and I drove out to the farm on Saturday to visit the munchball baby girl (forget Sarah, Grandma Meg and Peepaw)! She was so excited all morning to leave for the farm and refused to come home until late on Sunday so she could get maximum time with Elena. She is fricken cute as can be.
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We took Rocco out with us so he could run around the farm like a wild man, which he promptly did. He refused to sit in the trunk when Ri was in the back seat so she allowed him to lay his head on her lap the entire way.
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Ri was in seventh heaven when I left her at the farm. Baking cookies with Sarah and changing Elena’s diapers. She is a baby whisperer at age nine – she is gonna make big bucks as a babysitter in a few years. This picture Sarah took of her reading to Elena makes my heart sing.
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Look at those chunk a lunk wrists! Eat her up!
Meanwhile, Mario and Jon hung out together. Mario’s favorite person to hang with lately – his pops. Jon can do no wrong. If Mario overhears me asking Jon to do the dishes, he butts in and tells me how dad has had a hard day and he should be able to relax. If I comment on my strength when I pick up a Christmas box, he puts me in my place by telling me dad is much stronger. But I’m not complaining – I think it is precious. Jon is great about taking him to his basketball practices on Saturday and Sunday and watching him play for two hours. And Mario loves having his undivided attention. I went to watch him play on Sunday and it was a trip watching him move up and down the court with his buddies. It was also sweet to see Jon rooting him on.
I think he liked having Jon and me all to himself for a day. I woke up with him on Sunday morning at 6:45 am (heaven help me) and played Wii Kartz with him for an hour. He was so excited that I would play with him. Obviously, doing homework with him, taking walks with him and eating with him pales in comparison to playing Wii with him. And then Jon played Wii basketball with him. He was in such a great mood. But the best was when we arrived home from his basketball practice at 1:30. He threw off his coat and ran to the family room.
“Come on dad, let’s watch the Bengals beat the Browns!” He flipped on the tv and sat on the couch right next to the spot Jon always sits.
Precious.>

Soothe It!

September 20, 2014Leave a comment

I fell in love with this article the moment I read it. So I read it over and over and over again. It hit me on a personal level as the author talks about her struggle with her newborn’s refusal to sleep, and her questions on how we self-soothe as a baby through adulthood.
I remember being up multiple times a night with Ri and Mario trying to soothe them back to sleep and trying to calm my own emotions so I didn’t lose it and scream my head off. I immediately picked them up at their first cry and fed them or rocked them or read them a book. My arms became their soothing balm. I look back and think maybe I should have allowed them to cry it out more but in the end, I treasure that time since I now battle for kisses from them at ages 9 and 7. I got a lot of snuggle time with them when they were babes. A lot.
My self-soothing probably lied in the same experience – holding them in my arms. Rocking them back and forth until they calmed down and laid their small noggin’ onto my shoulder. Feeling each breath as if it was coming right from my chest. I would have never believed that I could function on 2 hours of straight sleep per night but I did – for many months. I also would have never believed that I would not rip someone’s head off after only getting 2 hours of sleep a night. But I never did (although I did cuss my sweet hubby out a few times…).
I appreciate that this article reminds us that we all must find our self-soothing measures or else we begin to go downhill – fast. As the author states:
“It’s a million little moments when we do our best to draw on our own sensory genius, our own self-awareness, our own faith, to feel okay in the world.”
After a really crappy day at work, I still find that my go-to soothing measure is my kids. Playing frisbee with them, hugging them, drawing pictures with them, taking a walk with them – all of these activities calm me down and shift my perspective back to where it should be. And ice cream, that always works, too.

Gratitude to the core

July 5, 2014July 5, 2014Leave a comment

I find myself feeling grateful so very often these days. The gratitude
is down in the core of my being – entrenched and unmovable. I find myself getting worried about losing the feeling because that would suck, I think to myself when I get caught in my “what can I worry about today phase.” I can’t remember a time in my past that this sense of gratitude was as strong, and I want it to stay. It makes me calmer and more content and more compassionate.
The kids and I went to Cincy on Friday to visit my mom over the holiday weekend. I had memories of Ri as an infant and me heading down on a Friday after work to sleep for an entire night while mom got up with Ri every two hours. And memories of Ri and Mario playing in the Timbers pool while Grandmas Heile and Menkedick sat on the side of the pool belly laughing at their antics.
We brought Rocco with us which ended up being great. He played nicely with Lou. We were going to leave him with Jon but when we went to load up the car, he ran out and hopped in the trunk and refused to budge. We even yelled “Treat!” but to no avail. He did great in the car. Just stared our the window and laid down. Stared and laid down.
We hit Blue Ash pool even though it was freezing. Mario and Ri loved the slide. They showed off their swim strokes to Grandma Lolo. Then we headed to the baby pool for old times sake. Besides, it was 20 degrees warmer. Aunt Julie came to swim with us and revved things up with her energy. She grabbed Ri and I to go off the diving boards. She got everyone in line – from old to young – to play follow the leader. We were doing splits, touching toes, you name it. Hysterical. Ri watched her aunt in amazement. Julie even went down the slide with her. TMF – Julie’s signature letters for “too much fun!”

As we headed to the car, Julie announced “I’m sitting in the way back!” Ri and Mario pleaded to sit with her for the half mile way home. Hysterical.
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When we got home, Grace was back so the kids played downstairs while Liz and I caught up. That lasted a while but then they begged to go to the park. I love Blue Ash park so it was not hard to convince me. Plus Grace-bug is irresistible.
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We arrived home to pizza and a little Walking Dead for Mario and Grandma Lolo. It was just like old times (minus the Walking Dead!).
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I drove home with two happy kids in the back seat, an exhausted pup in the hatch, and the contentment of a day well spent.
We woke up on Saturday morning and headed right back out again. This time Jon drove. He dropped us off at Riesbecks and headed to big Mario’s to do farm chores. The kids and I went to the farm to visit baby girl Elena. She is growing like a weed at 9 pounds. Her face has changed from a newborn face to an infant face in the matter of two weeks. I could not believe it. And her little thighs had some meat on ’em! M&M were so happy to hold her and love on her.
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Elena even opened her eyes for a while and took us crazy Menkedick Ionnos in full force. It’s precious to hear her cooing and sighing and breathing on you. She is vocal – there is no doubt she will voice her opinions just like us Menkedick gals.
Ri begged to stay out on the farm. She wanted Mario to stay, too, but he wanted to come home with Jon and I. Ri was not swayed; she had no issues waving goodbye to us.
Jon drove Mario and me home. Mario watched Willy Wonka and I read some Vela. Every few miles I’d glance over at Jon and a smile would form on my face. And the awesome feeling of gratitude swelled through my core.>

Packin’ It In

March 17, 2012Leave a comment

We headed out of Cincy on Friday night with Cheez-Its, Diet Coke, and apples. We were set for our rush hour drive down I-71. Half-way through the trip, I found a kids size bag of M&M’s in my side pocket so all was good. The kids watched Tom & Jerry and Maria drew pictures as she glanced up at the tv. We burst into my mom’s house in record time; traffic was surprisingly light on the way down. After playing on the treadmill for a few minutes, and eating some Girl Scout cookies, we headed over to Julie’s to pick up Gracie for a park trip. Gracie is about the cutest little thing possible. I venture to say that she may even compare to my munchkins when they were her age. You must want to eat her up. She loves her “Aunt Mary” so I get big hugs and kisses when I come over.

Liz let Gracie come to the park with us while she picked up Laura and they got pizza for dinner. Liz warned me that Gracie would not want to ride int he stroller but I told Liz that Gracie had never seen the “Cadillac” of strollers before. Sure enough, when Gracie saw the BOB, she hopped right in it as comfortable as can be. Maria strolled Mario and Gracie nearly the entire way to the park (she loves playing mom). Maria took control of the climbing wall, as she always does. The girl may just be a professional climber one day. She has amazing upper body strength and she scales up the wall like she’s spidergirl. It is awesome to see. It’s funny how she likes these “untraditional” sports like rock climbing and frisbee while Mario enjoys the more “traditional” sports like baseball and basketball.

The kids tried to find frogs for me in the stream but had no luck. They did get plenty wet though. Maria likes to go off on her own and “think” as she puts it. I keep a distant eye on her but she does enjoy her space. Mario feels like he has to do the same so he announces that he is going off, too, but inevitably within two minutes he is calling for me to show me something. I like how they feel comfortable enough to go out on their own (just as long as they tell me first!).

After the park, Liz and Laura graced us with LaRosa’s pizza. The best pizza ever. We ate at Julie’s house, and Mario ate three pieces of pizza. I almost fainted. He has a little appetite lately. After dinner, the kids went downstairs (Julie’s basement is the play area for the kids and is heaven-sent). Liz and Laura and I got some alone time to talk, which was also heaven-sent. I love their love for family and their respect for who I am. The two of them are a lot more strict in the discipline area and tend to lean more conservative than me, but they have a respect for how I raise M&M, and we have a healthy dose of ribbing with one another on our parenting styles (Laura is like a second parent to my kids and Grace).

We all traveled over to my mom’s for a viewing of “Babies.” My girlfriend had recommended it to me and I was excited to think of watching a movie that wasn’t animated or geared towards four-year-old boys. The movie turned out to be a delight, especially with Liz and Laura’s quips here and there. It is about four babies growing up in different parts of the world – the San Fransisco, rural Mongolia, Tokyo, and Africa. It follows them pre-birth to age 1 or so. The movie does a great job showing the immense differences in the cultures. The only constant is the breast-feeding mother, and the cats. Each house had a cat that provided pleasure in one form or another to the babes. I found myself getting a tad annoyed at the San Fransisco mom. She did a lot of the activities that I did with M&M but putting her up against the other mothers made the things the SF mom did look ridiculous. In one scene, the SF mom was in a class with her baby where they were listening to African music and waving their hands back and forth overhead in a dance-like motion. The baby stands up and makes a bee-line for the door. “That’s right, get out little one,” quipped Laura, and we all laughed. After seeing the African women with their babies sitting in the dirt, with flies swarming around them, with smiles on their faces talking it up amongst each other, it was hard to take seriously the group of five white parents trying to sing African songs with their babies. However, I fully admit that it may be something that I would do with M&M to introduce them to other cultures’ songs. The kids were intrigued with the babies. They enjoyed certain scenes like the African baby eating mud and water from the ground, seeing the Mongolian baby taking a bath with a goat coming up from behind to drink his bath water, observing the Tokyo baby trying to put a toy together and getting upset each time she failed, and watching the American baby take a poop in her diaper (with all of those memorable “poop” faces). They also enjoyed Laura’s and Liz’s comments throughout the film. On the way home to Columbus, Maria and Mario made the same comments while watching the movie in the car. What influences those girls are!

After the movie, we hit the sack. The kids slept on the floor – Mario in a sleeping bag that he thought was awesomely cool and Maria in a regular blanket because she allows Mario to have what he wants. She was actually burning up for some reason so did not want to be stuffed into a sleeping bag. They slept until 7 am, which was a gift to me. By 7:45 am, we were in the stroller heading to Marx Bagels for our bagels and cream cheese. Heaven on earth. Pumpernickel combo toasted burnt with cream cheese. Maria has fallen for the strawberry bagel. Mario eats a small bite of the raisin bagel. After the bagel shop, we hit the pet store and found a floppy frisbee. I was charged after looking at three different places in Columbus. The kids have taken to frisbee but we lost our old floppy one and the plastic one I bought produces much pain when they fail to catch it and it strikes them. Mario wailed the last time we used the plastic one, and now he is gun-shy with the floppy one.

We headed to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Cincinnati at 11 am. I had been looking forward to the parade for the last few days. In all my years growing up in Cincy, I never hit the parade even though I lived in Clifton and worked downtown for years. Also, the kids had never seen downtown since we always stop at the Blue Ash line. I had big plans to go to Bicentennial Commons and the Riverfront but those were squashed after the long parade.

We partied on Fountain Square for a half hour before the parade, and then found a good seat on Fifth Street (thanks to Laura pushing us along). The parade brought much excitement, especially when the participants threw candy at us. I scored a green cowboy hat, and Mario scored a fireman’s hat. Maria got mega compliments on her green hair. The kids loved the clown that was part of the parade. He walked out in the middle of the road and dropped his pants. They laughed so hard. We loved the Irish dancers and the bagpipes. But after an hour and half (and hardly any candy), the kids got restless and we took off. We were all exhausted. Laura had to do round two with her girlfriends, and I had to get us home to Columbus. So, it was definitely Energy Shot time and time to head home (only after we took a glance at our mom and mine’s old Clifton house and reminisced about our time living together).

When we got home, Laura surprised Maria with a rockin’ Big Time Rush home-made shirt. It is nothin’ but cool with BTR on the front and ruffles on the bottom. She looks too cute in it. She got it a little muddy later in the day and she freaked out crying that her shirt was dirty (she never does that with any other shirt)! Laura is a sewing machine and has started a blog, Finding Red Fern detailing her escapades. Laura also has stored an inordinate amount of facts in her brain. She has answers to anything – I mean anything. It always amazed me when I was with her the things that she would know. Maria has since picked up on this fact as Laura blurted out random facts during the Babies movie and then gave descriptions of things at the parade that only Laura would know. When we were driving home, Maria questioned me from the back seat: “Why does Laura know so much and my mom doesn’t?” Lovely.

We played frisbee outside of my mom’s condo in the parking lot. Then we played jump rope. My mom bought a jump rope for her exercise kick and the kids became interested. We twirled the rope as they tried to jump. Again, Maria did surprisingly well. Again,it is those random, non-traditional sports that she enjoys. Mario did alright, too, but again, he is much more proficient at picking up a ball and bat. We had to take the dogs for a walk before we left so we dropped by Julie’s to pick them up. Maria always takes Butters because he is heavier and pulls harder. Mario takes Willie because he is a piece of cake to walk and he allows Mario to do anything he wants. M&M love dogs, that is for sure. They are very gentle with them and always patient.

We finished up the day with a bath (and the duckies that the kids remember from times past) so they smelled fresh for the ride home (I almost passed out on the ride down to Cincy because Maria took off her shoes and her feet reeked!). We arrived home to beautiful skies (it had called for rain). We played outside the rest of the night. Maria and Mario built a rock wall for me in the front yard and brought blankets and pillows out in order to be able to lay down. I love that they engage in these activities. Anything outdoors makes me giddy. When it got dark, I laid with them on the blankets and we found stars in the dark blue sky. Not an easy task with the immense amount of clouds. It was idyllic for about 5 seconds and then Mario shot up and jumped on me and acted like a monkey. He could not sit still. We lasted another 10 minutes before we packed it up and moved it inside for nighties and a book.

As I unpacked our clothes (I pack as if I will be gone for a week for an overnight stay), I grinned. Then I smiled, Then I smiled wide. What a jam-packed St. Patrick’s Day full of new adventures and old ones. The kids built a rock garden. We ate bagels and cream cheese. Gracie warmed us up. We saw clowns and bagpipers. Butters and Willie let us walk them. We learned to jump rope. What a wondeful life we have.

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Babies