Bagels, Basketball, Birth Control & Breakfast For Dinner

I'm beginning to realize that staying home with your kid is one of the coolest jobs around. I'm bummed that it will be short lived, but trying to live in the moment of grunts, laughs, and slobber. There are some rough spots. Let's say you really have to go to the bathroom...I mean really have to go. Seems easy: Bring the kid up to the bathroom with you and do your thing. Not so simple. If you're upstairs, you need to close the baby gate to the stairs. If you're downstairs, you have to close the baby to the stairs. We only have an upstairs option. Anyway, now he has a choice of rooms to play in. Of course, I can only hope he goes into Zoe's room where I can see him. Things get a little murky in our room, but he should still be safe. Unfortunately, what Eli has decided is that he wants to get into everything and anything possible in the bathroom. Not only that, it involves the garbage can, things that lurk behind the toilet, and any of those strange corners you just don't want your baby getting into. As I'm trying to negotiate Eli's safety, you have to remember that I'm still sitting on the toilet. Awkward, right? Remember back when I mentioned that Eli really likes bagels. The other day, he happened to be upstairs with his bagel while I needed some time in the bathroom. As he ventured into the bathroom with his bagel to cause havoc, I had the great idea of tossing his bagel into Zoe's room to buy some extra time. I was hoping he would actually crawl into Zoe's room to fetch the bagel. Eureka! It worked. Not only that, he decided to camp out in Zoe's room for a few more minutes to play with a doll house while munching on his bagel. Mission accomplished.

Eli with quite possibly the very bagel played on our first ever bagel 

fetch.

It seems like Zoe has week after week of non-stop activities which keep us on the move. We just finished up a very busy week including an orchestra concert and a basketball game, plus some great skiing yesterday. The concert took a lot of energy from parents and students, for a mere two minutes in the spotlight. These concerts get a little more serious once kids are in sixth grade. This gives them some practice in the spotlight, albeit, for only a few minutes. I guess that's the purpose of them. Zoe is the one on the left playing the violin.

Zoe's basketball game this weekend was exciting. The kids played really well. Zoe went from having stage fright in her first game to really getting out there and playing during this game. Most importantly, she was having lots of fun. Here, Zoe got the ball. She ended up fowling because she traveled, but it was great to see her get in the game!

 

Eli has been doing a lot of standing. He loves to stand while holding onto something, and then raise his arms in the air. A few days ago, he decided to take a step. It was very exciting.

I'm really getting into a groove of taking care of Eli. I don't try to get too much accomplished since I'm home for Eli. I normally enjoy cooking. The other day, Eli napped soundly enough that I thought I'd prep and make dinner. I picked an easy dinner from a Moosewood book. I have a reputation in my family of being able to eat pretty much anything. I don't like to waste food. Sometimes, things that could be compost, I will eat. I could not eat this dinner I made. Laurie was a trooper. She is usually the picky eater along with Zoe. She managed to get most of her dinner down. I couldn't eat another bite for fear of some awful repercussion. It ended up being a cereal night. I actually wrote in the cookbook that this recipe is "terrible" and "do not make". I was so proud of myself for managing a child and making dinner. But, I tried and failed that day. Parents who do this all the time...you rule.

Bad, bad, bad!

Definitely a cereal night

Root Veggie Curry - Do not attempt at home

I recently took a nice, long walk up through Cornell Campus. It was entertaining to walk past the young people while I pushed a stroller. When you walk downtown with a sleeping child, people give a lot of oohs and ahs, and "look at the baby, isn't he precious" especially when the child is sleeping. I don't seek it, but it just happens. Walking through campus, I got looks of fear. Eyes shifted down and away, young men looked panicked as they walked with their special lady friends. Girls had the "I better run out and buy an ept just to make sure" kind of look. I may have been reading into things, but maybe not.
I happened across a bumper sticker that I had to take a picture of, down on Stewart Ave. One, because it was funny, and two, because if this bbq place exists here in Ithaca, I want to try it, so I needed a pic to remember the name:

On that note...

The Embalmer-Mobile, His First Playdate, The Basketball Game, and Other True Stories

Recently, Eli had his first play date.  It went well. Eli and Mossimo regarded each other and set about to play near each other. Once in a while, there was a grunt here or there, an embrace or two, and some random screaming.

Eli (on the right) and Mossimo playing

Zoe has been playing basketball through her school. Her games are on Saturday. This past Saturday, the girls were all set to play 3rd grade boys from another school. The boys did not show up, so the girls played against each other for fun.

Zoe is the blur on the left with the white shirt

Some time ago, Laur and I sold one of our cars and have been living ok with one car. My father-in-law, who is a mortician, recently bought a new car to accommodate, as he put it, "three bodies instead of two". Since he had paid the insurance on the two body holder, he offered it to us to use until April. The Astro Van comes complete with room for eight with seats, or two who have passed on, without seats. And, if that isn't enough, it has vanity license plates with EMBALMER on them. We get a lot of looks from people. Anyway, part of the highlight of having season passes and getting to go to Greek Peak every weekend for Zoe, is to ride in the back of the Embalmer Mobile. In fact, I can get her to go just about anywhere with me if I take the van. She doesn't question the sinister stains on the floor, but the can of insect spray in the back cup holder has her freaked out. The van has come in handy for our trips.

The Embalmer-Mobile

Zoe in the back of the van with the stains and bug spray...still smiling.

Zoe and I had a great afternoon of skiing on Sunday. Something happened today that I'll probably always remember. Every parent should want their child to surpass them in every way at some point. Today, I feel like Zoe did that with skiing, at least in terms of risk taking and trying something new. The hill we've been sticking to has some challenges. Zoe takes the challenges. Today, I was put-zing down the hill. I stopped for a second to check on Zoe, and she was a small dot way in front of me bouncing down the mogul side of the slope.  I realized at that moment that it happened...she surpassed her old man.  Good for her!

Snow and tears

Eli is falling asleep on me as I write. I had these grand notions of getting him out into the snow this morning. I should have known it might be a disaster when he threw a fit while I was putting on his snowsuit. My better judgement told me it was nap time, but I had to get him outside. After much wrestling and crying, I did manage to get him dressed. With camera in hand, I got him outside and plopped him in the snow expecting something magical to happen. Unfortunately, he could barely keep himself upright. He kind of did this slumping thing to check out the snow. Eventually, he started crying again while I stood there and laughed at the scene, which I was unable to photograph. The most I have from this experience...

Eli and I finally did get outside. We did a little shoveling, and walked around the block.  He observed the snow falling. He seems mildly interested. I remember Zoe almost diving into the snow head-first when she was his age. I guess Eli is getting over surgery and that may be holding him back a little.

We're having a great afternoon. Lots of peekaboo and chasing. Everything is a game for Eli. This second, we're taking a break from each other, and he is discovering the world of the changing table, wait, not, he is crawling to the books while making car noises. Now he appears to be attempting to climb the book shelf. Ok, no. Toy train. Clapping hands. Big empty diaper box. Hurt himself. Crawling to me. Bye.

Eli has discovered the joys of peekaboo!

Recap: Eli feel asleep in seconds...probably 15 minutes after the above picture was taken. Often, some reason to cry is often a catalyst for sleep. In this case, he hurt himself on the empty diaper box. That's right...tons of toys and he chooses to play with an empty box. Typical!

Zoe found time to play in the snow after school.

Catching up...

Eli's surgery came and went. We're dealing with after effects, which we expected. All in all, the experience hasn't been as traumatic as I thought it would be. More exhausting, than anything. Here is a picture of Eli in the Recovery Room. In this picture, Eli is doped up on morphine. Poor kid. He is back to being his wild self.

Zoë and I went skiing on Sunday. Conditions are getting better. We spent most of our day on Illiad, an easier black diamond. Zoë is doing really well skiing, and I'm skiing better than I ever have, which isn't that great. The parabolic skis really help. The quote of the day:
Daryl: I think I just heard someone say Wienerville, Pennsylvania
Zoë: There must be a lot of boys there.

It's been an uneventful week, but nice anyway. My parents came in today to help out. We went to the Lincoln St. Diner. This was Eli's first diner experience. I think he liked it. If you're in Ithaca and have a penchant for good diner food, this is your place.

1-5-11

Tired, sick day. I have a nasty cold. I even went to the Dr. Worried about Pneumonia. I'm fine...just a cold. Eli slept on me for two hours this morning. He was very easy on me. I tried to sleep, but couldn't. I missed the walk.

When Zoe got home, I took the kids to the sciencecenter. If you're ever in Ithaca with kids, it's worth stopping there. If that wasn't enough while being sick, Zoe needed basketball sneakers. We made our way to the sneaker shop, and Eli slept the whole time in my arms while Z tried on shoes. Here's what she picked:



The new sneaks

 

Laurie had to work late tonight, so Eli and I had a snack. He really likes bagels. I was feeding him some banana, and he spotted his bagel across the table and pointed to it. This bagel has spent the better part of the day being dragged around by Eli, so you can imagine what it looks like at this point. Wait, I'll show you.

Eli and his bagel

Basketball practice tonight from 7-8 and bed! Saturday is the first game. Tomorrow, Laurie, Eli, and I head to Rochester. Eli has surgery on Friday. Probably no postings until Monday. I managed to video Eli climbing the stairs today. Tough holding the camera and making sure he does not fall backwards.



1-4-10

I blew it already. Generally, the fate of everyone waking up in the morning rests on my shoulders, whether I'm working or not. I had to piece the events together this morning, but I figured it out: We use the iPod to wake us. Well, I turned the volume up on the iPod, but failed to set the alarm. We woke up just as Zoe was supposed to be going out the door. Zoe took it very well. Amazingly, she was only ten minutes late. Apparently, Eli had been up for a bit, but was playing between us quietly. Laurie saw that it appeared lighter than usual for when we usually get up. You can imagine the panic that ensued. Eli was very tired. Here is a picture which was taken minutes before he fell asleep with ease this morning.

Not happy...

The problem is, that I had to pick up Zoe for an appointment a few minutes after Eli fell asleep easier than he ever has before. During Zoe's appointment, we took a walk. He had some sleep time, transferred to the car when Zoe was ready, dropped Zoe off at school, picked up coffee for Laur and I, and met Laurie at home for her daily lunch visit. After that, Eli and I had some play time:



Naughty boy...playing in the dirt.



Then, a walk up Gunn Hill and through the Ithaca City Cemetery. It was such a sunny day, I had to get Eli out during his nap.

Minutes before sleep...

Toast.

The cemetery.

Then, back down the hill to beautiful Linn St.:

Lily the dog looking on.



Zoe (yellow coat), arrived home with her friend Hannah just as Eli and I got home.



1-3-11

Nice walk with Eli to the bank and book store. He slept for an hour. Woke up in the book store while buying a calendar.

When we got home and he woke up, he thought it would be fun to slobber on my face.

Practiced standing up without holding on to anything.

When Zoe got home, I took her rollerblading down the street. Basketball next.

Music playing today: Grateful Dead at Winterland 6-17-75 and Olympic Arena 10-17-83