Who's In Charge, Here?

Seven Signs That My Kid Is The Boss of Me

1) I adjust my schedule according to his every need. Think Anne Hathaway's character in "The Devil Wears Prada" - Ethan is my Meryl Streep. If he wants/needs/demands something, I hop to it. (What, you want lunch? But not your lunch - you want my lunch? Well, I was kind of hungry, but what's mine is yours! No, take it, please, I really shouldn't have more than a Diet Coke for a midday meal, anyway. After all, that baby weight isn't going to lose itself!)

2) Six out of the six CDs that my car's stereo changer can have loaded are of the kid's variety. Nursery songs, silly songs, songs that are impossible to get out of your head. (I could serenade you with seven different versions of "If You're Happy and You Know It." Some will end with jazz hands.)

3) I get paid in kisses and hugs, smiles and laughs. And smeared crackers all over my pants. And spilled juice boxes. And an army of soiled diapers... but mostly in kisses and hugs. (Seriously, though, babies are priceless. And broke, apparently. I keep checking the mail for my monthly mommy paycheck, but it never comes.)

4) The vast majority of the sentences I say out loud throughout the day are horribly gramatically incorrect. I have to fight the urge in conversations with adults to simplify my sentences to two or three word utterances. ("Ethan want up? Mama help? Good asking!" can quickly turn into "Ryan hungry? Sarah make meal? Good eating!")

5) Instead of movie theaters, restaurants, and bars, a hot date now consists of trips to the park, Babies R Us, or a kid's play place. Our darling little one is a perpetual third wheel. (Feel free to read this and feel compelled to offer to babysit. Really, feel free!)

6) I have so many job responsibilities, I bring my work home with me. I also bring my work to the grocery store with me, to the post office with me, and sometimes to the bathroom with me. (Labor laws flew out the window the second I went into labor - there's no mandatory 15 minute break and 30 minute lunch in this household!)

7) While watching an episode of "The Wiggles" - not that I let my toddler watch TV, of course - I have been known to exclaim aloud, "Oh, I love this song!" when the fab four start to sing a particular tune. (I'm partial to the Captain Feathersword-related ditties "Captain's Magic Buttons" and "Blow Me Down.")

Though he's taken over my life, he's completely captured my heart, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I'd elaborate on all of the mushy gushy stuff, but I think I hear my boss calling me now. Can't be late - he'll make me pay if I dawdle!

Be Careful What You Teach...

I bet if you have a toddler, or have ever interacted with a toddler, or have even ever seen a toddler, you've wondered how much of what we say gets through to them. For goodness sakes, they barely even speak English, how could they possibly fully comprehend the language?

It's been really interesting to observe little glimpses of understanding over the past few months. Ethan will follow simple commands (i.e. - Get your duck! Take this to Mama! Go find the other sock!) on a daily basis. During our flight to Dallas, we kept Ethan from melting down by recognizing the tantrum warning signs and quickly asking him to "turn on the light" as a preemptive strike. Sure, the constant on and off clicking of the overhead reading light may have bothered other passengers, but probably not more than a screaming baby would have!

We've also focused a lot on stairs safety. We spent a good portion of our holiday vacation trying to keep Ethan from running full steam towards one of the many stairwells at Mima and Poppa's house. The "Backwards Slither" technique wasn't working, so we switched tactics to the "Sit and Scoot" technique. By the end of our vacation, Ethan was automatically dropping to his bottom a few feet before the first stair, and scooting down slowly and safely. Hurrah! However, perhaps we emphasized this a bit too much. What we've seen as a result is a complete over-generalization of his newfound skill. Whenever Ethan encounters two surfaces with even the slightest degree of grade change, he drops to his cute baby bottom and scoots to safety. We're talking carpet to tile, concrete to gravel - you name it, he scoots across it! He eventually does figure out which surfaces are safe to step over/around/onto, but in the learning process he's completely wearing out the seats of all of his pants!



Oh well, better safe than sorry!

Snow Bunny

Whew - is anyone else exhausted from a whirlwind of holiday traveling and events? Ryan, Ethan, and I went to Dallas for Christmas, had a day upon our return to readjust to our time zone/unpack/decompress, celebrated my *first annual* 29th birthday (...because no matter what Father Time says, I will not be turning 30. Ever.) the following day, and then woke up the next morning and drove up to our usual spot in the Sierras for a wintery New Year's celebration. I'm tired all over again just writing about it!

Christmas in Dallas was literally a record-setter this year. For the first time since the National Weather Service began recording snowfall in 1898, the area received a measurable amount of snow on Christmas Eve. Three inches, to be exact. Now, yes, I am from the East Coast, and, yes, I am aware of the Great Blizzard of '09 that wreaked havoc on the Mid-Atlantic, but this was big news for Texas! Winds were gusting upwards of 50 mph, the roads iced over after sundown, and there was nary a snow plow to be found since they are never, EVER needed in that area. It made for quite an exciting trip to our candlelight Christmas Eve church service, that's for sure! Luckily, we were in a car driven by an experienced Michiganite-turned-Coloradan who could more than handle himself behind the wheel in a snowstorm, and did not end up in a ditch like several other drivers we passed.

Poor Ethan had a cold for our entire Texas trip, which turned him into quite the crankypants. As a result, we don't really have any photos postable photos of him or our festivities. However, we do have pictures from our New Year's trip. This has been a Notch Family tradition for the past five years, and we absolutely love it. The town we stay in has a population of less than 100 people, is right outside of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and has exactly four commercial buildings (used loosely... very loosely) - a lodge that can accomodate about twenty people, a restaurant that seats about the same, a gift and ski shop, and a general store. All of the buildings are owned and operated by one family. It's tiny, quiet, peaceful, idyllic, and relaxing. When we were there last year Ethan was just a wee little thing, making this the first year that he really got to experience playing in the snow. It took him a few minutes to warm up to the cold crunching under his feet, but he was a pro snow-walker in no time and really enjoyed running around.




From our family to yours, here's to a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2010 filled with laughter and love!

Enjoying the View

Change is good, and in that spirit we decided to spice up our holiday travels this year. Instead of flying back to Washington, D.C. to visit my family for Thanksgiving, we picked a location, rented a house, and all met up there for the week. This was all Ryan's idea, and I have to publicly give him credit for devising such a brilliant plan for our holiday! Speaking of Ryan and his brilliance, he has launched a new website for Ryan Notch Photography, which is absolutely stunning. I encourage all of you to swing over and check out his work!

There really is nothing like the scenery in the American West. We did our best to take advantage of the beautiful landscapes around Sedona, and tried to get outside as much as possible. We also took advantage of having grandparents with us to babysit - a luxury we don't have back in California. Ryan and I went on a hike together on the Brins Mesa Trail one afternoon.


He took his 4 x 5 camera and I had the digital, so you're getting not only one, but TWO pictures on this blog actually taken by me! Can you believe it?


Since we were so close, we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. I'd never seen it before, and was blown away by how breathtakingly gorgeous it is. Ethan had a great time barreling at a full run towards the railings, until I ruined all his fun by putting him in the stroller. Now that he knows how to walk, he's completely over the whole stroller thing. He's also mostly over the "carry me" thing, unless I happen to need my arms to complete some household task. Then, and only then, will he want to be held. But I digress.


Cashing in another babysitting chip, we dragged Mary out on a hike to the top of Bell Rock. Treacherous at times, the hike was a fun challenge for the three of us (well, for two of us at least - Ryan's a real outdoorsy type, so it was a piece of cake for him).


The view was unbeatable, and once we scaled enough of the walls to get to the top we had some time to sit and take in the calm stillness of our surroundings.


Our next adventure was a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad. Their website touts the ride as "Arizona's Longest-Running Nature Show" and after chugging along with them I'd have to say I can see why! The engine winds through the canyon at a crawl of 12 mph, which makes it easy to take in the sights and snap some photos. As the route goes through Prescott National Forest, you're surrounded by natural landscapes for the entire ride. The few exceptions to this are two houses that were grandfathered into the zoning laws and the ghost town of Perkinsville. I use "town" loosely, by the way.


Ethan was the train's unofficial ambassador, and took his title quite seriously. In order to fulfill his duties of passenger greeting, he ran up and down the cars, waving and blowing kisses to those he passed.


Considering that the train departed at two, that Ethan's nap time was supposed to begin at two, and that the ride lasted four hours, Ethan did an amazing job of holding it together on the trip! Of course, having an animal sound baby application on my phone helped keep him calm in the final stretch of our journey.


We had so much fun, and are already in talks about our next joint family vacation. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we'll see you in 2011!

Untitled

I sat for hours trying to come up with a narrative that would do justice to Ryan's images from our Thanksgiving trip to Sedona, Arizona.

I finally came to this conclusion:







Sometimes there are no words.

Ahhh, California, How I Love Thee.

I feel so lucky to live a state with such a diverse and beautiful landscape. It's honestly one of the things I love the most about the Bay Area. Drive in any direction for a few hours and you'll find cliff-lined beaches, bone-dry deserts, snow-capped mountains, and sky-scraping redwoods.

We took advantage of being so close to one of the most incredible National Parks and recently set out on a road trip to Yosemite. Ethan was practically perfect on our journey. He didn't nap much, but was happy and calm, fascinated by the sights. We heard quite a few "Ooooooohs" coming from the back seat as we travelled along, both due to the beautiful landscapes and the big trucks that would pass us on the freeway. Turns out Ethan has a thing for vehicles - the bigger and noisier, the better.

Not daring enough to attempt tent camping with the E man, we rented a little cabin at a campground right outside of the park. It had a petting zoo and playground to keep Ethan entertained, though he was just as happy playing in the dirt. When Ethan was sleeping, Ryan and I would play nerdy board games outside by the light of our lantern. We held a rousing spades tournament. We grilled dinner over a fire. We unplugged and unwound. Okay, we didn't really unplug... the campground had WiFi. But close enough.

If you haven't been to Yosemite, I highly recommend it. The landscape is so impressive, and (WiFi access aside) it elicits a sense of peaceful isolation. Being a newly proficient walker, Ethan shunned his stroller and wanted to discover the park on his own. This was only a problem when we were on the edges of cliffs - which counted for about 85% of the vistas we explored. Thankfully Ryan had a no-fail trick up his sleeve to keep Ethan happy while being carried: the Daddy Shoulder Ride. Worked like a charm, every time.
*For a closer view of the beauty of Yosemite, click on the image to display it in a larger size!*

Fox in Socks Crew with Flu

(*Fox in Socks is one of my favorite books, and I humbly post this with apologies to the incredible Dr. Seuss!)

Crew.
Flu.
Boo.
Blue.

Crew with flu.
Boo, we're blue.

Look, sir. Look, sir. All the crew, sir.
We're all sick with the swine flu, sir.
We're all sick and boo we're blue, sir.

First, we'll run, not walk, to doc's block.
We'll whoosh in without a knock, doc.

Please, doc. I don't like this flu, doc.
My fever's hot and I am blue, doc.
I can't control my hacks and coughs, doc,
It's hard to turn those acks right off, doc.

Just a few short days ago, doc,
We went to play outside all day, doc.
We went to ride the Tilden train, doc.
Had Mima and Poppa to entertain, doc!





















Did someone sneeze and make us weak, doc?
Make us wheeze and feel so bleak, doc?

Take the meds and stay in bed, now.
Never let your germies spread, now.
Quarantine yourself instead, now.

Come Halloween we were still ill, sir.
No candy sacks for us to fill, sir.
No tricks or treats for us, but still, sir.
We dressed up and had quite a thrill, sir!





















Superman, come save the day, please!
Take away the cough, ache, and sneeze!
Rescue us from H1N1, sir!
We've had enough, and now we're done, sir!





















Thankfully, the flu chose not to stay.
In ten days our symptoms went away.
Leaving us with lots of time to play
In Yosemite Park (a post for another day)!