A Few Nice Things for Mom

1. I'm getting my quarterly hair cut next week! We'll see if the stylist recommends long hair with layers or a concave bob. Right now anything would be an improvement. It needs body. (Have you ever noticed that almost EVERY shampoo and conditioner out there is for hair with too much body? It's very hard to find the right shampoo for my thin, fine, straight hair.)

 

 

 

2. For the first time since I left the first trimester of pregnancy, I weigh in the 120's. I swallowed my pride and decided to count my calories -- ugh! My weight was plateau-ing, then increasing. So I decided to do something different. There is an easy app for counting calories, and it's FREE. So, I downloaded it and started watching my intake. This has helped tremendously. Aging, combined with lots of traveling this summer and hosting and going out, has made it almost impossible to lose or maintain a healthy weight without calorie-counting. Rich bought me a subscription to Cooking Light, which has also been helpful. I love that he's the type of husband who's not pushy, but supportive ... who let's me know he finds me beautiful at 164 pounds (9 months pregnant) and 150 pounds and 130 pounds. The decision to lose weight was entirely my own and was made because I wanted to feel better physically and psychologically. I'm working on losing just a few more pounds and then will focus on maintenance.

 

Don't Laugh! I know it's so close to the 130's but it's STILL the 120's. And this took a lot of effort!

 

3. Rich did the laundry for me on Monday. I love him!

 

 

4. Isaac is becoming a Daddy's boy. Anymore when Rich comes home, Isaac wants to go immediately to him. I think, in part, Isaac is interested in what Rich has. Nevertheless, it's interesting to me that he's making the shift from wanting to be around me all the time to sometimes preferring his dad.

 

 

 

5. We hired our wedding photographer to get some family photos. Isaac was mildly cooperative.

 

 

 

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Tidying: A Boy After My Own Heart!

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A Little Laughter for Your Morning

Isaac has a little machine-gun-laugh that he likes to pull out these days. He often uses it when he's excited, like when he's in the middle of a "long" walk or when he sees someone he likes. He also pulls it out during moments of silence with lots of people around, like at Mass. He gets a lot of positive attention when he does this. So it's become a staple of his social life.

 

 

 

 

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Why Gender Matters

One goal I think about a lot is maximizing Isaac's intellectual potential. People have been told for a couple of decades now that "boys mature slower than girls" and that "boys are academically behind girls." Today, we see in some cases a 60/40 ratio of women to men attending college. I ask myself: are women really that much smarter than men in general? Or is something else happening?

 

 

A friend of ours suggested I read Leonard Sax's book "Why Gender Matters," labeling it a well-researched, scientific piece that neither assumes too much, nor addresses too little. Sure enough, Dr. Sax, M.D., Ph.D., is a UPenn graduate, whose work has been published in all of the peer-reviewed, critically-acclaimed periodicals. He has appeared on all the major news channels and NPR. His book sheds much light on the issues we face. His thesis: There are no differences in what girls and boys can learn. But there are big differences in the best ways to teach them.

 

 

 

Interesting tidbits I'm mulling over now:

 

1. When the main emphasis in kindergarten is on learning to read at the expense of other less structured and more developmentally appropriate activities, many boys tune out and turn off. Those boys develop negative feelings toward school that are likely to persist and color the child's entire academic career. ... Deborah Stipek, now dean of the School of Education at Stanford University, has shown that boys who fail to do well in kindergarten develop "negative perceptions of competence," and those negative attitudes are "difficult to reverse as [they] progress through school." (Pg. 96, 2005, 1st Edition) 
2. In Montgomery County, MD (where Sax was while writing this book), over 95% of teachers in kindergarten through third grade were women.
3. Funding from the American Academy of Family Physicians sponsored a survey of all the doctors in the Washington (DC) area to answer one question: Who first suggests the diagnosis of ADD? The results: in the majority of cases the diagnosis of ADD is made by the teacher. Not by the parents, nor the neighbors, nor the doctor.
4. There are dramatic differences in how well boys and girls hear.
5. The structures of the male and female eyes are completely different.
6. The rate (and order!) of the development of the male and female brains are different.
7. How pain feels is different in men and women.

Dr. Sax is a huge proponent of gender-exclusive education, particularly for math, science, and literature. You watch a snippet in the video below.

 



 

Disclaimer: Chapter 6 may be a little off. I skipped it.]

 

All of these things, in addition to my own experience, have encouraged a lot of discussion between Rich and I these days.

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Unplanned Massachussetts Trip

Last weekend, we drove up to Massachusetts to visit my uncle, who was unexpectedly hospitalized. He appears to have a good prognosis, though more test results will determine more. I'm so glad we got to see him and introduce him to Isaac.

 

 

Isaac was intrigued by his stature and deep voice. He stared at him for a while.

 

 

We found an outstanding local florist, who came up with this to display the suggested adjectives: "cheerful," "reds, oranges, and/or yellows," "happy," "in a vase," and "get well." I thought she did a great job!

 

 

Coincidentally, the hospital is in the same town as the plaintiff in one of Rich's big cases. By all appearances they employ 50% or more of the town's dwindling population.

 

 

They don't seem to be hurting at all. They own a wing at the hospital where Uncle Jack was. It is several floors. Everything is brand new.

 

 

Clearly, the town was once economically thriving. The center is beautiful.

 

 

It is also the home of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

On Sunday, we found a quaint church in Windsor Locks, CT. It had at least two priests and a deacon.

 

 

Everything was beautiful! Once again, this is why I am a morning person. The sunrise made everything look phenomenal.

 

 

 

 

Isaac handled the trip remarkably well, considering it's length (7 hours). He was a happy little diversion for Uncle Jack ... as were we AND some of his amazing neighbors, who are taking care of many little details for him this week. What a blessing they are!

 

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Almost There!

Yesterday, Isaac walked 15 steps on his own. Today, he walked 28.

Here's a little something Rich captured on video.

 

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Chocolate Cake for Breakfast

 

Yes, Rich pulled this one this morning.

 

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Visitors!

One nice thing about staying home with Isaac is that we can host out-of-town guests much more easily. I am able to take field trips during the day. In fact, I think Isaac does really well when he gets to explore a new place. Yesterday we went to Mount Vernon with my friend, Alix, who brought these amazing homemade scones all the way from Delaware. Yum!

Alix has a little boy named Abe, who Isaac met for the first time. We tried to show Isaac what "gentle" play looks like. It's not his forte.

Mollie showed her amazing mamma-skills. (Thanks for retrieving him from our bedroom one hundred times!)

The three of us studied in Rome in the fall of 2003, which I absolutely cannot believe was almost a decade ago! That was a bonding experience and took my college friendships from a level of superficiality to reality. I still talk to most of the people I hung out with from this point in college onward. It was so great to catch up with these ladies!

Apparently, there was something incredibly interesting on the floor.

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Me: the Montessori Wannabe

[Phone photo/video: It was just that kind of week.]

Letting iBoy play with the pan. He learned how to open the cabinets with the locks and pulled out the lid. So we made a compromise: closed cabinet, but he can play with one big pan. He loved this!

I totally am on-board with almost all of the Montessori priciples. However, I'm not naturally the Montessori type at all. I don't like sticky banana fingers touching my nice clothes which I carefully selected and carefully wash and dry. But if I don't embrace this part of parenting (finger foods, feeling things, touching dirt and grass, hugging mommy before washing hands, etc.), Isaac won't learn. Or, perhaps more devastingly, he might think that I love him conditionally. And which parent wants his child to believe that? Sooooo, we are working on detachment, my least developed virtue. My house looks like a tornado ripped through it and I have an old roommate and her new son coming to visit us in twenty minutes. But Isaac is happy. How's that for progress? 

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The Forced Break

Consistent with my time working, I am sick after completing a marathon of commitments. Isaac and I have canceled three meetings this week so far and may need to cancel a couple more. I have that cough-sickness which doctors have told me in the past is a virus, though that's about all they know. It keeps me up at night and induces a low fever. Hopefully this one doesn't last six weeks!

Meanwhile, Isaac is having a grand old time with mommy on a slower pace. He's discovered how to use our blanket basket as a stool and to look out the window. He spends a lot of time doing this and talking to me about what he sees every day. He is so excited about learning.

He's becoming a more confident walker, and is taking more risks like trying to walk between greater distances with toys in his hands. He can walk for a long distance holding just one hand and takes about three steps unassisted. He's also started to stand on his own. I've been told that around one year children's comprehension really begins to soar. We shall see...

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County Fair

We introduced Isaac to his first county fair on Sunday afternoon.

He had a hot dog and homemade ice cream, which he loved very much.

We also showed him the animals in the children's petting pavilion.

We avoided all fried foods, which made my Lose It app very happy this morning!

And we found a nice patch of grass where Isaac could crawl around -- near a cover band -- where we sat and enjoyed a perfect sunset and good tunes.

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Shopping with a Baby

1. Place child in cart seat.

2. Fasten seat belt.

3. Shop.

4. Child tries to turn himself around; his leg gets caught; he screams.

5. Turn child back around; re-fasten seat belt; shop.

6. Repeat steps 4 & 5 fifteen times.

7. Listen to other shoppers tell you that your poor child has his leg caught.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 fifteen times.

Despite the very interesting shopping experiences I've had of late, we've managed to save $40 a week the past two weeks. We're watching our calorie intake and transitioning Isaac to a balanced meal of solid foods. This is actually a really enjoyable part of my week: keeping the grocery bill low, eating healthy and tasty meals, and using all of the food we buy. I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing those things well. They are harder than one might think.

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I Spy A Beach Ball

I see something I want.

I'm not interested in my rubber duck anymore.

I must get that ball.

Hopefully, I can get to it before my friend.

Seized! It's all mine.

Let me just take it over here and stare at it.

Hmm, this isn't any fun all by myself. And it looks like they're having fun over there. Maybe I should share...

Would you like the ball?

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Breakfast

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Home Sweet Home

Our trip home was seamless. We boarded and closed the cabin doors early. Isaac hardly cried. We were sitting next to a middle-aged special ed teacher, who could not have been more understanding toward us. Isaac shouted out, "DAAAAAA!" at random points along the way. He napped. And we arrived thirteen minutes ahead of schedule. It could not have been better!

It was so nice to see Rich again! Isaac had a huge smile for his dad and started shaking with excitement when he saw him. There's nothing like a small child to remind you about what's really important.

And in keeping with the saved-time we experienced on our flight, our neighborhood was having a BBQ that night. So, when we arrived at 6pm, grilled food was awaiting us. This type of thing makes me really happy. And it's nice to see our condo fees being put to good use!!

We grabbed hamburgers, a hot dog, and cold drinks. Lucky for us, Isaac really likes hot dogs. He may have enjoyed this more than we did.

I don't do soda much, but these really hit the spot.

We ran into our neighbor, who also has one son. She's a big fan of Isaac.

As we sat there and caught up, I thought about how blessed we were. It was just a year ago that I was 8-months-pregnant. We were happy to learn that we could finally buy a home and move in before we had this baby. I always wanted a place of my own with a well-manicured lawn, small enough to keep reasonably clean, close to all of my shopping needs but not overly-crowded, and close to a Catholic church. The Lord answered all of my prayers and even threw in a pool to boot! Sometimes I need a change of pace, though, to remember all the gifts that I have, including the gift of my family. This trip was a great opportunity to do just that!

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