School starts tomorrow -- sneef -- and a few photos

Wilder starts pre-school tomorrow. We're totally prepared for this new ruffle in our morning routine: the clothes are laid out, the backpack is packed, the forms are signed, supplies packed and all I have to do is hit "brew" on the coffee pot in the mornings.

So yep, everything is pretty much ready. Except for maybe my heart. It seems like just yesterday my baby boy was born and I was holding his squishy little body in my arms and he was squishing up his eyes, gazing into mine, as if to say, "Oh, so you're the lady who's been carrying me around bitching for all of eternity." I know it's cliche as hell, but it just goes too fast. I know that if you multiply these last lightning-quick almost-four years by just four, he'll be driving a car, getting ready to graduate from high school, with his little brother not far behind him. There is nothing to prepare your heart for how quickly time flies and how fleeting it seems that they're in your nest. I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the drop-off and orientation in the morning without shedding a few tears. I'm hoping I can hold it all together until I get in the car and then get a good cry on the way home.

All that said, I AM looking forward to more alone time with Hunter. He doesn't know it yet, but he's my workout partner. A few weeks ago, I got this crazy notion in my head that I was going to run a half-marathon in December. Now I've bought the new shoes, the new jogging stroller and all but paid my entry fee, which I'll probably do this week. So yes, little H and I will be at the lake three days a week (at least), pounding the pavement. Hunter LOVES the new stroller (it has an iPod hookup so he gets to jam), so he'll enjoy it. I, however, am truly scared at how my body will respond. Keep my knees and hips in your prayers.

Enough rambling. Below are some photos from the last couple weeks. Enjoy and love to all.


The boys had just woken up from their nap and were cuddling on the couch. They really do seem to adore each other and it makes my heart sing to see things like this.


Posing with the new jogging stroller at the park. I call this Wilder's "Blue Steel." (From the movie "Zoolander.")


Flying down the slide with unadulterated joy. This kid hasn't met an adrenaline-enhancing experience yet that he hasn't enjoyed full throttle. I fear I might be holding my breath for the rest of my lfie.


One more cuddling pic, just for good measure.


There is no food that Hunter does not love rubbing over his face and head. It just so happens that oatmeal is the hardest to remove.

Our day at the zoo

On Friday we hit the Fort Worth Zoo with my friend Liz and three of her four kids, twins Madelyn and Hannah, 4, and Jack, who's almost 2, I think. It's an hour drive from our house and I was thinking it had better be a darn good zoo for that commute. Not only was the drive pleasant and quick, but the FW Zoo rocks. If you ever get out this way, I highly recommend it. I'm already hoping to go back when the fall weather sets in.

Below, some pics:

Fort Worth Zoo: August 2009

Hump day, indeed

Two phrases I never thought would come out of my mouth, uttered within two minutes of each other just now:

1. Do what you gotta do. Dry hump the pillow. Then get off of it so I can put it back on the couch.

AND

2. If I catch you licking the TV again, you're going to time out.

Clearly someone's feeling, uhh, tactile here at our house today.

Big Praise

I was just called "the best mad mama in the world" by Wilder. I guess that's OK with me. I'll have to work on getting him to drop the "mad" though. ;-)

Scenes from a Thursday in August

Hunter hasn't been feeling well for a few days. We've all gone through this round of crud, but it's been relatively easy on the rest of us. Hunter, on the other hand, hasn't been feeling so hot. And his brother's been running around the house pointing at his face and yelping "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGIES!" as if a Chernobyl-like incident has just occurred on his brother's upper lip. It can get to a kid.

So today he's feeling better, and I woke up determined to get out of the house. Keeping these two inside for a few days on account of a cold is no fun. No fun at all. We were all walking around, I think, with a few extra facial tics on account of being tired of walls around our heads. And, frankly, a little sick of each other.

So we hit the lake, then had lunch with friends, then naps and, after waking, we headed to the nearby TC Shaved Ice, which is about five minutes from our house, has a drive-thru and serves, as Jerry put it when I told him, "stone-cold sugar." Then we sat in the front yard and ate to our hearts content. Hunter ended up wearing half and eating half and is still stained a bright shade of red. But he sure enjoyed it, as he slurped happily through it for 20 or 30 minutes, stopping only occasionally to murmur "mine" and "yummmmmmeeeeee."

Here are some pics of our day.

After tiring themselves out at the playground, the boys sit on the bottom of a hill near the lake's edge and watch some folks fish while snacking. There were THOUSANDS of dragon- and damselflies at the lake today. I was really kind of amazed that Wilder, who can be a bit neurotic about bugs sometimes, hardly even seemed to notice. Hunter just screamed "cocka!" at them, believing they were tiny birds. I do this bird call every time we see a bird come close -- "caw-CAW!!" -- that Hunter has just malappropriated as "cocka." The nannies at the park seem amused that my kids keeps uttering "shit" in Spanish.

A self-portrait of H and I. It was a hot day!

Early in the shaved ice experience, and clearly not knowing where styrofoam ended and the sugary goodness began. By the time he finished, those shorts were pretty much ENTIRELY pink, including the booty.

Wilder keeps a paranoid eye on some birds, whom he was convinced were going to try to make off with him. Like I said, a little neurotic sometimes.

A happier demeanor after having the physics of the impossibility of bird-on-human kidnapping to him.

The bi-yearly portrait

So I've taken to taking portraits of the boys every six months (or so I'm trying), in February and August. Here's the latest:



Going to put the previous ones in a Picasa web album that I'll link to here once I get it done, along with some outtakes from the photo shoot. It gets harder every time to get them to sit still and not tackle each other for a few seconds so I can get a half decent shot. But I think it's worth it ... I love seeing the changes in their little faces, though it hurts my heart just a wee bit to see them growing so quickly.

Tomorrow, Wilder and I go meet his new pre-school teacher, Miss Cherry. I love that she has such a memorable name, and she's supposed to be the teacher-in-demand at this place, so I'm really hoping we like her.

More photos TK in a post soon, including a series of pics where the boys try to make Jerry's head pop off. Pretty funny stuff.

xo, k.

The fine art of flattery

When we put the boys down at night, we read books and sing lullabies to them. Well, we do that for Wilder. Hunter is often so ready to go to bed that he can't be bothered with our little rituals, pushing the book aside and lunging for the crib. I'm sure that'll change. In the meantime, we do this for Wilder, and he looks forward to it so much that threats of no books or no singing work as great deterrents against any anti-bedtime protests. As in:

"I don't WANNA GO TO SLEEP!"
"Well, OK. But I just won't read you any books."
"OK. I'll go."

He doesn't get the anti-logic of his argument yet, thank goodness.

So, during the day, when he goes down for his nap, I do a little mini-version of bedtime wherein I read him one quick book, turn on his lullabies and leave the room. Today, just now as I put him down for his nap, he asked if I would sing after I read. No, I answered, we only read at naptime. No singing.

"But Mama," he implored, "you're the best singer in the whole world."

Somewhere in Phoenix, my father is reading this and laughing, as he's always been the first person to point out -- insistently, I might add -- that I cannot, in fact, carry a tune.

Still, you gotta give the boy credit for learning the subtleties of fanning a person's ego. It's like those co-workers I used to have that insisted I made better coffee than anyone in the office. I knew they were blowing sunshine up my ass, but I still made the coffee.

For the record, I didn't sing. I'm learning to stand my ground. ;-)

The darndest things

So Jerry and Wilder went to the store a bit ago and brought home some fresh produce, among other things that little boys and their papas get when they go to the store (it's always a surprise, and I love to go through the bags and consider the conversations that revolve around those purchases).

Anyway, Jerry bought an acorn squash. Just now, Wilder walked into the kitchen and told Jerry that he had to put that outside for a squirrel. Jerry told him it was for dinner tonight.

Wilder: "No, Papa. It's not for people. It's for squirrels. A BIG SQUIRREL. You have to throw it outside, Papa."

He would not be deterred, and left the kitchen in a bit of disgust at his father's ignorance of common-knowledge squirrel diets.