What Did You Do All Day?

Most recent achievement: Luke stands up without pulling himself up on anything!

We all know the story of the under-appreciated homemaker whose husband comes home at the end of the day and asks, "What did you do all day?" as if the wife has sat around eating bonbons in her pajamas all day relaxing, when the truth is she isn't out of her pajamas yet because she hasn't had a moment to herself to shower much less get dressed, and the bonbons were all that was readily available without any preparation, and in fact zero relaxation has happened since several hours before the husband even considered waking up.

That homemaker is not me. And that husband is not Derek. But the power of this story is in the truth of people's misconceptions about homemakers, mothers, and anyone who spends their days with children. As this two minute video so clearly shows, we cannot stay in one spot for more than a few moments. Before babies are moving independently they require constant supervision, but are fairly easy to tote around while you do chores. As soon as they are moving, you can say good-bye to peeing in private, doing the laundry without spilling soap on the floor, putting dishes in the dishwasher without the baby climbing up onto the dishwasher door and grabbing for the knives, or typing at the computer without little hands reaching up and pushing the page down button in the middle of your sentence and then throwing a tantrum when you tell them no and give them a different toy. Phone calls sound more like, "No, Luke. Sorry, just a sec-" instead of, "You've got to hear this cute sound Luke is making!"

As baby gets older his awake hours become longer, which means time to yourself becomes more rare. But awake hours also become less and less your own as you spend more time chasing down a deviant toddler. How funny to watch somebody else's child wander down the hallway and start pulling the toilet paper off the roll! Aren't they something, *smirk. How exhausting to be constantly closing doors, correcting bad behavior, and cleaning up the pile of food which is forever appearing beneath the high chair.

But don't get me wrong. It's not all tired feet and baggy eyes. It's also awkward moments of watching your child eat food off the floor in front of your friends, seeing your son notice his reflection in the television screen and laugh hysterically, cuddling up and reading a story before nap time, making snarky faces and hearing your baby giggle with delight, recognizing your child is holding the book right side up, and turning the pages from right to left (now where'd he learn that?), hearing little footsteps come walking down the hall, your child walking straight to you with their teddy bear held up over their head to be hugged, a tiny boy clinging to your legs with his face pressed between your knees asking to be held.

La Cucaracha

Below: The progress Derek and Harv made on the deck before lunch on Saturday!

Luke's vocabulary is really expanding. Today I'm certain he said, "La Cucaracha" while playing his maraccas. Not really. But he actually said, "Milk", when he wanted his sippy cup! And he's pretty good at saying, "A' duh", when he is "All Done".

Speaking of all done, Derek is hoping to have the deck and all the siding done next Saturday (except for the stairs off the deck). It's a tall order, but if he could get it all done in the next week or two, we can have Luke's birthday party outside (weather permitting!). We had frost over the weekend and even though I covered all my plants, two of my peppers and one of my tomatoes burned pretty badly. I'm still hoping they'll recover.

Tonight we are celebrating our anniversary with Harv and Helene by going out for dinner. It is nice to not have to think about making dinner. Although I made chow mein for dinner on Saturday and the leftovers have been SO GOOD. I am definitely making chow mein again soon!

Deck Plans

The wood arrived for our deck today! Derek is working on it tonight and tomorrow, more pictures to come next week.

Quit Smackin' Yourself

This is a glass in the sunset, sitting on our couch.


When I turned this video on a minute ago, Luke walked into the room with a block in each hand. He smiled at himself on the computer screen and then went, "Ahhhhhhh" and smacked himself in the face with a handful of block! *wince*

In The Box

We don't play with toys from the toy box anymore. We just play IN the box!

I am so glad yesterday is over and next Tuesday is six days away. Wow am I tired. I got home at quarter to twelve last night. Living in the high latitudes here the sun stays out much later than it does in California in the Summer. As I left Winnipeg at 10 o'clock the sun had just set and the sky was brilliant pinks and purples. What a drive! I listened to my "O Brother Where Art Thou?" CD on the way home and to this particular song at least four times:
"Kiss me mother
Kiss your darling
Hold my head against your breast
Wrap your loving arms around me
I am weary
Let me rest"

The country, bluesy beat and the lyrics really suited my mood. Today Luke and I are back on track with naps and are catching up on laundry and watering the lawn. It's a nice sunny day, and Luke is wearing shorts and his "Beetle" shirt with the anatomically labeled pictures of beetles on it.

Daddo

Turns out I am "Daddo" and Derek is "Dadda". I just figured that out today. Not much to write about today. I am feeling rushed and tired with driving into Winnipeg. But I will get to see Jolene for dinner today, and last Tuesday I had dinner with Megan, so it's really been nice to go in early for that reason. I'm feeling a little depressed about making friends, joining a care group. There have been a lot of frustrations in the last few weeks. It's just so hard to get "In" in a small town. Everyone already has their routines, their friends, their ideas. But I keep trying, and in the meantime I get to have dinner with people who I have old, established friendships with.

This is my vegetable garden in the back corner of our lot. In the picture you can see the diagonal line we were going for from the corner of the deck into the vegetable garden. Someday there will be an arbor at the corner of the garden. Someday there will be a deck :) For now we have the bones. And I love going outside during Luke's nap and checking on my plants. Luke comes out with me lots too. He eats the weeds...he's better than a cow because he eats the weeds and doesn't leave big piles of poop all over the lawn. The big floppy dead-looking one is a rhubarb that we are keeping our fingers crossed will revive. Click on the picture to enlarge. The red cups are covering tomatoes (from the wind), and I have pumpkins, squash, beans, green and red bell pepper, a row of raspberries, sorrel and rhubarb out there too!

It's All About Books!

I filled Luke's hood up with blocks while he was sitting INSIDE the seat of the race car. He kept reaching behind him, over his head, around his waist, but his arms are too short! I was hysterical. Derek finally rescued him.


chocolate chip pancakes

Saturday Luke wandered down the hall to his bedroom by himself. I called out to him from the couch and a few minutes later I heard him step-step-stepping back up the hall. Shortly, he came into view holding the book "Teddy Bear". I praised him and he handed me the book. Before long he was back down the hall and he returned bearing, "Are You My Mother?". Then "I Spy", "ABCs", and "Whales". Finally he went to his room and returned carrying his green frog puppet, smiling like he won the lottery.

Watch: Right past the toy box, to the book!