Sunday, October 26, 2008

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pumpkin fever


Hola. So today we went to this really cool (ha) pumpkin festival. There were cannons shooting pumpkins, performing pigs, 150 craft booths (I didn't look at a single one), many food options (which almost killed me as I am on day 7 of the South Beach Effin Diet), pony rides....you get the picture.


Well, it was a warm, WARM day here in Florida. Jonas was fairly perky when we got there. But after awhile he didn't want to do anything but sit in the stroller. Usually when I ask him to smile for pictures he is a real ham, but he just looked sad (see new header picture). So we decided that he was tired,and we left. When we got home, he felt really warm to me. I took his temp and it was 102.4. OMG. So I basically drug my poor child through the pumpkin festival with a temp and it was already hot outside. I made sure he drank lots of fluids, and gave him some motrin. About an hour later he was totally back to normal. Sigh.
I have no idea why we are so obsessed with him yelling, "YEE HAW", but here's a video from the pony riding portion of the day. (This was one of the first things we did, I think he was feeling pretty good here.)



Friday, October 24, 2008

Just cuz

Have a happy Friday!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Mommy Magic

For several months now, G and Jonas have been going to inflate world ( we called it bouncey) for an evening of bouncey awesomeness every Friday night. Friday night I work at my internship till about 7pm and then I go home to unwind. This particular night I couldn't get my boys out of my head. So, when I wrapped things up with my last client, I loaded up my stuff and headed out to bouncey. I felt this strange sense of urgency to get there.

I parked next to G's truck and I walked, and then ran into the building. I entered the first room and turned right and ran right into my guys. Geoffrey was holding Jonas...G looked at me and said, "It's bad". I then noticed that Jonas was sobbing. I moved behind G so I could see J's face and it was bleeding. As soon as he saw me he held out his arms. I grabbed him and we walked out of the circus like space into the calm of the front room. My boy was sobbing, blood trickling down his lip, onto his chin. I asked for a wet paper towel. When J gets upset, he does this, head twisting thing that really sucks to watch. He is so present in his fear and saddness. I asked the woman behind the counter if she had any bubbles..I knew I needed for him to slow down his breathing. No bubbles. I pulled my hair out of my headband and had him blow my bangs out of my face. We did that for a few minutes and he calmed down. I knew I just needed to hold him till it passed. With tears still streaming down his face, he looked at me and said, "I'm happy Mommy."

I don't know what he meant. He was not scared anymore, he didn't want me to be scared. But what he said to me was this:

I got hurt and my mommy magically appeared. I am happy mommy...that you were here when I needed you.

Now, I know as well as you do that Geoffrey would have handled all of this just perfectly without me there. But that I got to be there...that I was led there...

*******************************************************************************

I had a dream a few nights ago where Jonas and I were in a body of water. I saw that a shark was coming. I threw Jonas away from the shark and sucessfully averted any harm. Once I got to where he was and was holding him close, someone came by and cut him with a sharks tooth on purpose. I was distraught, so much so that it woke me. I sat up in the bed and began to cry. What is the lesson? I can do everything in my power to keep this child safe, but sometimes, bad things are just going to happen. I can be there to help heal the wounds.

I can only imagine that life will be full for this child. I cannot spend too much time thinking about all the ways to prevent him from experiencing pain. For me, pain was just one part of the journey to who I am now. Denying him the experience of deep saddness and moving through struggles would be a crime.

I just hope he remembers that when he is scared and hurt, that I will always be here to hold him till it passes.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Practical Parenting

The economic crisis is real and it is hitting home. Instead of worrying about it, I have decided to just teach my child some practical skills. We are starting out with the "how to sleep on a park bench and stay warm" skill. Please note that he is covered in the Christian Science Monitor...so...it will have to be an upscale park bench.


Friday, October 3, 2008

A boy and his cat


So, I am posting this very, very long video because I am so
full of joy over the amount of empathy my son has. The dialogue
pretty much goes like this:
Sadie : Meow (can I go into the garage?)
Jonas: are you hungry?
Sadie: Meow (of course but..can I go into the garage?)
Jonas: What's wrong?
Sadie: Meow (seriously, can I go into the GARAGE?)
Jonas: Ahhhh
Sadie: Meow (look dude...I just wanna go in the garage!)
Jonas: You're OK
This continues until he remembers that he doesn't really
love cats, he loves Thomas the Tank Engine.