Yes, I still blog. Harumph!

So I've been accused recently of not maintaining this blog anymore. Not accused really ... just my 10-year-old niece, Allie, mentioned to me that her parents were talking in front of her about how I didn't keep the blog up anymore. So, JAY AND DEBRA, this blog post is for you.

Actually, they're kind of right. Between Facebook and Twitter and having a preschooler and toddler and a husband who's constantly trying to show me and read me things from his favorite magazines (I don't kid ... he just walked up to me to show me a house in Mother Earth built from dirt bricks and I had to shoo him away), it's been really hard to get on here and blog. Despite the fact that I promised myself that if I quit my job I would write more. Turns out I meant less. Whoops.

But this morning, Wilder is at his friend Owen's house. Not his first sleepover, but the first where he was actually fully cognizant of the fact that he'd be somewhere other than his own little comfy bed with his parents 20 feet away all night long. A little background: Jerry had shoulder surgery a week and a half ago, and ... OK, I might have been freaking out a little bit about how I was going to handle those aforementioned small people and the one-armed love of my life. And I might have unloaded some of this freak-out on my friend Carmen, Owen's mom, to whom I've become pretty close over the last couple of years. She and I have kids the same age and, though we're not all that alike in some key ways, our differences seem to play well off each other. She's inspired me to be a better housekeeper and I've inspired her to, oh I dunno, probably blow off the occasional bathtime in favor of a cold drink and relaxing moment.

So, anyway, Carmen being the good friend she is, she offered to -- after Jer's surgery -- have Wilder for a sleepover. You see, Owen and Wilder are two peas in a pod. Wild, unfocused and high-spirited boys who often completely ignore the repeated entreaties of their mothers in favor of doing whatever the hell it is they'd rather be doing anyway. They're also both completely adorable and loveable, but just read that last sentence again, and it might explain again why Carmen and I have become so close. We're like foot soldiers together in the war of raising 3-year-old boys who do not listen. I know this applies to practically every 3-year-old boy out there, but trust me that Wilder and Owen bring it to art-form status. If you don't believe me, come spend an afternoon with them. Carmen and I will be glad to help you get over your doubt by going out for coffee and pedicures while you yell, sweat and run your way to confirmation.

So, back to Wilder's sleepover. As of 5 yesterday afternoon, he's been at Owen's. And we've been here. With Hunter. Alone. We took the opportunity to pretend that we're parents of the blissful one child again and went out to dinner. We strapped Hunter into a high chair and ate and drank really strong margaritas and cast looks of pity at the couple near us with their two kids. It was great fun. And we've been enjoying Hunter, whose personality and desires are often overshadowed by his big brother.

You see, people often mistake Hunter for the calmer child. They'll ask me: Is he really always this mellow? (Which I think translates into "How high is his IQ?," because in public, around people he doesn't know very well, Hunter can be quite the mouth-breathing, blank-stared little guy.) And the answer is that he's not. He talks constantly and he LOVES a good game of peek-a-boo almost more than he can stand and you can't take Hunter outside without walking to the opposite side of the block with him (and he's glad to go without you and will have a downright come-apart if you try to turn him around before his little toes are perched on the last square of that sidewalk). He really and truly embraces life with near the level of vim and vigor that his big brother does. It's just that in the blur and noise level that that brother brings to the table, it often gets lost. At least for now.

Just this morning, Jerry and I both got up early to take advantage of our alone-with-Hunter time. I think we were both encouraged and inspired by last night, when we found just how much we enjoyed his company alone. He ran around the house unmolested by his big brother, choosing toys that were not ripped from his hand. Jumping around on the couch w/o being tackled. Cuddling with parents who were not being tugged and body-slammed by another small body. We both wanted more of that. And so did Hunter.

Anyway, I have to cut this short (I know, I know ... it's LONG, but I've been accused of not keeping it up, so I had to cram a lot into one post). But Jerry and Hunter have headed back outside and I can hear the fun being had without me. And that just will not do. So I'm signing off to spend time with my dear little Hunter. Honey, I wish we had more moments like this (not that I don't miss your brother terribly and can't wait to go pick him up), and I'll try to make sure we do. You are such a magical little boy. Don't think for one moment, EVER, that no one notices that.

Florida photos

I had intended to post photos of our trip here, but time has gotten away from me again, and since I've already posted them on Facebook, I figured I'd just link to them here and you could all see them there. So here they are.

The trip was amazing, and just what we all needed. It was great to see and spend time with family, see the shuttle launch and spend as much time on the beach and in the ocean as we could. The boys were both trepidacious about the water at first, but were splashing around like they'd been in it their whole lives by the time we left.

Jerry is having shoulder surgery tomorrow to replace a torn rotator cuff. It is supposed to be a pretty minor tear(though it's causing him plenty of pain), and the recovery should be OK. But he'll be in a sling for five weeks.

The boys are doing great. Hunter is starting to mimic everything his big brother does and it's entertaining as hell to watch this. Of course, they don't always get along, and this has resulted in one facial wound this week. I'll post pictures later.

I'd love to write more, but the boys just won't seem to let me lately. Logging off for now and will try to post more later.

A day at the Mote

We've been in Florida since Saturday, in Cocoa Beach first and now in Bradenton Beach for the last few days. We had two days of solid sun pretty much, and today's forcast called for some rain, so we decided to do something in one of the nearby towns. There's a research aquarium near here called Mote Marine Laboratory.

It sounded pretty cool, and when we figured out that our Dallas Zoo membership would get us in for free (the two organizations are reciprocal partners), it was a done deal. So glad we went. It was a pretty amazing place, as evidenced by the fact that we spent more than four hours there. All kinds of marine life, holding tanks where you could touch things like sea cucumbers, sea urchins, saltwater hermit crabs, rays of all kinds, etc. Then a seabird rehabilitation center, and a separate building that housed sea turtles, manatees and dolphins. There's also an immersion cinema, where filmgoers use video consoles to help determine the outcome of the short films played there. We tried that but the boys were too young to last.

All in all, if you're ever near Longboat Key or Sarasota, Fla, with kids, I highly recommend this place. It was awesome. I'm bummed I won't get to take the boys back anytime soon. I have a few photos I'll post later, but we talked about the trip just as the sunset tonight with Wilder. Here's some video of that.

Wilder movin' and groovin'

A little video of Wilder singing and dancing to Woody Guthrie's "Car, Car (Riding In My Car)," as performed by Donovan. Notice: HE NEVER STOPS MOVING. Ever.

Mama and the boys

A couple weeks ago Jerry shot this photo of the boys and me. We have these little yellow flowers growing in our front yard that we're sure the neighbors hate, but we won't treat them to get rid of them. Look how pretty they are! Anyway, I love this shot.

A violation of the open-door policy

Just now, Jerry had taken Wilder into the family room for a little downtime before he goes to sleep. I took the opportunity to change into something I could lounge around the house in, and then to pee. I closed the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open. There stood Wilder, an impish grin on his face, with one arm behind his back.

"Mama! I have to show you something!"

"OK, what is it?"

He pulled his popscicle out from behind and proudly displayed it. As if the orange goo around his mouth hadn't already given it away.

"Good?" I asked.

"Uh huh!" Long pause. ... "Mama, what you doing with this DOOR CLOSED????"

"Well, Wilder, believe it or not sometimes I actually shut the door when I have to pee."

Stares at me. "OK then. Pee." Closes door. Runs.

Haircut day

I took both the boys to have haircuts today. Wilder's poor mop needed rescuing from what I did to him a few weeks ago, and it had grown out enough to be fixed, and Hunter's hair was just starting to take over his cute face. I can't believe how much more like little boys they both look with the cuts. And, for his first cut ever, Hunter did great. He zoned out for most of it, but started grinning like a jack-o-lantern when she was near the end ... I think he was just so damn glad to have his hair out of his eyes and not tickling his ears anymore. Anyway, when we got home, I really wanted to get some photos taken of them. Not an easy task these days as they both have a very hard time sitting still, particularly Wilder. I swear if we could harness the energy of 3-year-old boys in this world we wouldn't need coal, oil, wind, solar or nuclear fuels. Phew. But I got a rare treat this morning, along those lines ... both boys decided that sitting in my lap in our big comfy chair while watching Sesame Street was OK, and I had a blissful 10 to 15 minutes of relative calm and good snuggling with these two cuties. Here are a few of my favorite shots from this afternoon's photo session:

Right after Hunter smacked Wilder in the head. Great facial expressions ... Wilder: "Mama! He hit me!!" and Hunter: "Uh oh!"

I was jumping all over the room trying to get them to sit relatively still and look at the camera at the same time. They were more concerned with sitting on each other's head, trying to fall off the couch, etc.

The money shot.

Brothers in giggles.

Wilder suddenly noticed the scraped knee Hunter got last night and hadn't even noticed himself. As Jerry says: "Kid don't feel pain." But W. was very concerned, like the great big brother he is.

Self portrait of my recent haircut as well. I think I get weirder looking the older I get.

Reason No. 2.396 to love Hunter

You know that full-body grin that Ray Charles did when he was happy? It was like, being blind, he never realized how other grown men didn't do that, and so he did it anyway, and was thereby able to show the world just how much joy it gave him? Yeah ... Hunter does that. It's so friggin' great.