Mom Remembers

Soren has gotten much better at standing up on his own. He will now stand up unaided for an extended period of time, even if he is in the middle of an empty space. He used to stand up only when he was right next to a table or chair, probably so that he could grab it if he felt unstable at any moment. But now, there is no longer the need for that mental safety. He is brave and strong enough to stand all on his own. This is such a common occurrence now that I even managed to run and grab the camera and snap several photos last night before he sat down. *** On Valentines Day he made a very humorous and disastrous attempt at walking. He was playing with a flimsy doll stroller at his friend's house. It looked very much like his walker but it was not built to support any weight at all. He was standing up, holding the handles, and he took a few confident steps forward, completely expecting the stroller to sustain him. With each step it slipped further away from him until he f...

It's been exactly three months since the start of my last menstrual cycle and so, of course, I have known that I was pregnant for a while. But, as a part of my whole paranoia about this pregnancy, I hadn't taken a pregnancy test until this morning. I didn't want to get a positive and then loose the baby. But the more time that passed, the more excuses I had to forgo the exciting pregnancy ritual of peeing on a stick. It seemed silly to rely on a test when more and more I could feel the life growing in me. Or maybe I'm just too cheap to buy a $15 test when I already know the answer (or will in a few more months at no extra charge!). But Friday night I mentioned to a friend that I hadn't yet taken a pregnancy test. She told me she had a spare and offered it to me. I took it, laughing. I used it this morning. Even knowing everything I did, it was still exciting to see the little plus sign appear in the window. It took hardly any time at all to materialize but e...

Tonight I was a good mom. It doesn't happen all the time so it's very refreshing when it does. Soren was really tired and cranky when we were trying to wind down and get ready for bed. Every time we got near his crib his whining would change into piercing shrieks, with legitimate tears running down his cheeks. And although I knew he was probably really thirsty, he was throwing his cup of milk all over the room. So I turned off the lights and sat down in his rocking chair with him. He pointed with a squawk at the bookshelf, hoping for a story. But I knew that one book would blossom into a million and wouldn't help him calm down at all; my son is a greedy, voracious bookworm and one story just wets his appetite for a dozen more. Instead of getting a book, I cradled him in my arms and sang songs. I sang "Waltzing Matilda", "I Know My Father Lives", "I Lived in Heaven", and " Still Alive ". Surprisingly, he didn't resist the cud...

I decided last week that I was going to start doing the dishes in the evening rather than letting them wait until morning. That small change has given me a new perspective on my family and an added opportunity to love and appreciate my husband. In order to do the dishes, I need to spend about 20 minutes in the kitchen directly after dinner. Soren is very clingy about that time of day but Scott has started playing with him while I work. They usually assemble legos or puzzles together on the living room floor, which is a good opportunity for Soren to demonstrate the verbal and physical prowess is developing. Scott often hurries to grab the camera and take videos of Soren's extensive babbling. I can hear them laughing and it makes me unbelievably happy. I didn't know it would become such a precious time of day to me or I would have implement such a plan a long time ago. After I finish the dishes, I often come sit on the living room floor with them. Scott and I curl up togeth...