Olen’s still mastering his name. If we ask him what his name is, he says “Oh-no”, which is so cute it just reduces me to a puddle of goopy goo. Close enough, kid. (And if you correct him, I might stab you.)
He’s started singing a lot this past week — not just singing along with things or hitting the last word of every rhyme, but actual unprovoked singing and instrument playing throughout the day. So when he sings “Happy Birthday” while banging on his xylophone or our piano, he sings “Happy Birthday Oh-no! Happy Birthday to Oh-no!”
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One of the ways we prepared Olen to go to preschool was by practicing separation at the house beforehand. I’d go to my office in the basement and tell him I had to go to work while he got to play with Dad. He got so used to saying goodbye for me to go to work at home that it was almost tear-free at school. Almost.
The other day on the way home from school he was chattering about his day. “School! Mama has to work day! Kids take a nap! Mama back real soon!” I always wonder what he thinks I do while he’s at school (or while he naps, even) so I just asked.
He responded, “Mama have work!”
“Yes, okay. What does Mama do for work?”
“Mama put away the work.”
Okay then. I think I’ll try asking again later.
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We have always had the habit of eating out several times a week. As a result, Olen is usually really well-behaved in restaurants. I emphasize usually, because lately he’s started freaking out when the food comes to the table, grabbing and screeching and flailing arms. It’s like he’s doing his best impression of a monkey hopped up on goofballs — and it’d be pretty comical, if it weren’t for all of the weird judgy stares. So, we started talking to him in the car beforehand about how we behave in restaurants, really emphasizing that he’s not to grab food (which could be — and often is — hot), keep his volume down, et cetera.
The other day we were driving all around running errands and as we passed by one of the restaurants we frequent, Olen shouts from the backseat “No grab food! No screaming! No crying!”
Well, as long as our expectations are clear!
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The last step of Olen’s bedtime routine is a backrub when he gets in bed. Ideally one of us would rub his back for a few minutes and then kiss him goodnight and leave, but he’s just not ready for that yet so sometimes the backrub part can last forever. I can always tell when he’s really close to falling asleep because he always makes a final request. Often, it’s asking me to rub his back — in true Overlord fashion –while I’m rubbing his back. “Rubba back,” the sleepy voice says. “Rubba baaaaaaaaack.”
I always think of Olen as so big, so grown-up compared to the tiny smooshy baby we had two years ago. He’s so independent, walking (running) around, talking (singing), telling stories, expressing his needs and wants! It’s hard for me to look at this boy I know, still growing every day, and reconcile what I know of him with the fact that he’s two. And he’s so tiny compared to this big, big world he’s going to conquer.
I’ve been drinking tea (instead of coffee) for the past few months. I wish I could drink coffee all day, but I’m prone to anxiety and I do like to be able to fall asleep each night, so tea it is!
I really like minty teas. Peppermint is good, but I’m always looking for something with a little extra flavor to it. Over the holidays I found Candy Cane Green Tea at Trader Joe’s.
It was so so so delicious, TPS and I blew through the first box in less than a week. It was a warm cup of vanilla, peppermint, and cinnamon. It was heavenly and we each drank several cups a day. When I went back to get more, it was gone for the season. I wept at the prospect of having to drink Sleepytime tea for the next 10 or so months. (You bet I’ll be stocking up next year.)
I had the brilliant idea to ask a few friends to check their local Trader Joe’s stores for me and now there are 4 boxes coming to me from California (where people apparently drink less tea than in Maryland, or maybe their stores are better stocked).
While I’ve been waiting for the Pony Express to deliver them, I looked into other sources. Rumor has it that the Candy Cane tea is just a repackaged Candy Cane Lane tea from Celestial Seasonings. I checked amazon, but the prices were fairly outrageous. (At the time of this post, it’s come down a lot, to $9.99 per box and just 8 boxes left; I might have to snap some of those up.) I ended up falling down the deep, deep rabbithole that is “Frequently Bought Together” and based on customer reviews I bought a box of the only slightly lesser-priced Celestial Seasonings’ Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea.
Apparently it smells just like a sugar cookie.
I paid $9 for this box of tea. It is no Candy Cane Green Tea.
That aside, it does have a real cookie scent, but not like a sugar cookie — maybe more coconutty, like a macaroon. However, I’m not a coconut fan (except coconut oil, but not for eating anyway) so it’s not all that appealing. The taste is kind of flat, but it’s still drinkable and it’ll definitely tide me over until my stash of Candy Cane Green Tea arrives.
Now, I’ve just got to figure out how to make 4 boxes of tea last 10 months…
As Olen and I were sitting at the kitchen table having a snack on Monday afternoon, it started to snow. It wasn’t a serious snow, it wasn’t going to accumulate. But it was beautiful and when I told Olen to look outside at the snow, he got so excited. As soon as he was done eating, I bundled us both up in our warmest jackets/gloves/hats and we went outside to wander around in the snow.
It wasn’t sticking at all, but it was coming down pretty significantly. I taught Olen to stick his tongue out and try to catch a snowflake. We laughed and stuck out our tongues.
He was all smiles as he practiced his new word: “flurries”. Since then, even though it’s only rained, he’s been talking about snow, asking for snow. As it should be in January!
My job is done.
Last month I saw a Lifehacker article about how to take great holiday photos with your iPhone and ferreted it away for future reference. My favorite tip was to use your headphones as a remote. While I like to think I’m fairly graceful with my movements, I’m notoriously unsteady with cameras of all kinds.
We’re in a train phase.
Using the headphones as a remote also was a good test to see if my iPhone camera’s constant focusing and refocusing while I’m trying to line up a shot was a problem with the camera or a problem with its operator. (For once, it might be the camera.)
I use Instagram from time to time, but whenever I do I long for the feeling I had when I used flickr more a few years ago. Somewhere along my timeline, the intrusiveness of all of the sharing and tagging and meta got in the way of just taking a photo just for the sake of taking a photo. And then sharing it, because I can.
I ate this apple yesterday.
I used to love digital “toy” cameras (pencam, wristcam), taking all of the complication and settings out of photography and replacing them with the acceptance of flaws, even those that weren’t created by the camera’s shortcomings. Having that same atmosphere in a social app must be so freeing for so many people.
This quote — about Instagram — hits me with a pang to create:
As I used the app more and more, something surprising happened: I became increasingly observant of the world around me. Walking to the subway the other day, I spotted a backhoe parked on a corner and got curious—what could I do with that?
Replace “the app” with “the iPhone camera”. Filters shmilters.
I should be so lucky to remember I’ve got a powerful photography tool in my pocket, in my hands, all day every day.