Things I want to remember about my day with Matthew yesterday:

- He woke up quite happy. He’s been sleeping well again and readjusting back to Pacific time. So that is nice! He’s always so excited to see me in the mornings. He smiles largely and immediately puts his arms up to ask to come out of bed, after playing halfheartedly with some dolls. I ask him, “Where’s your baby doll?” and he picks him up, hugs him, kisses him, puts him up to my face to kiss him and then throws him harshly aside, done with pleasantries and ready to start his day.

- As he was playing with some foam blocks he got for Christmas, he put one into a large box (the one that held his Tonka Truck he got from his grandparents) that was standing upright. After reaching into it and finding he was unable to reach it, he came over and tugged my arm. I asked him, “What happened?” and he pointed at the box and said, “There!” (his version, rather, is “duh!”) so I went over and helped pull out the two foam blocks he’d dumped in. He walked away smiling.

- Matthew got thirsty. I asked him if he wanted me to get him some milk, and he marched over to the living room door and tried to open it. I opened it, and then he marched over to the kitchen and pointed at the refrigerator. I poured him some milk and he marched away sucking happily at his sippy cup.

- Matthew got hungry. I told him I was getting some food ready for him and once I got his little sandwich together, I asked him to get into his booster seat, which he did - he marched over and tried to unbuckle the straps (he’s fascinated with the straps lately and buckles them all up not too long after he’s last used them) and climb in at the same time.

- Matthew wanted to go outside. He kept going at the door and then tried to go down the stairs, so I acquiesced. We went to the park and Matthew had a grand time.

- At dinner time last night, I made Matthew cry. I foresee a lot of angst in teenage years coming up. He was eating cinnamon french toast I made for him (after hoovering an orange - this boy is addicted to citrus - he had his mouth wide open and constantly grunting waiting for me to peel and give him wedges of orangey goodness) and decided to play with the food by throwing it on the floor. I grabbed his hand and told him “No!” sternly, that we don’t throw food on the floor, it’s not nice, and if you’re all done, tell mama “All done!” He stared at me momentarily, his eyes grew big and watered up, lip quivering, and then he opened his mouth and burst into tears! I pulled him out of the booster seat and we cuddled for a moment before he ran off to stand behind a chair and stare at me sullenly before he decided I was okay after all and came back for more snuggles. Then he finished munching a little more before he was totally done.

I know this is probably not the last time something like this will happen, but the big watery eyes? A killer, man.

Written on December 31, 2006:

I do not have a list of things I want to do in 2007 resolution-wise; all I do know is that I have 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. I want to make the most of each of those days and not give myself too much shit if I don’t. Own each day, good or bad, and be present in the midst of it all. Experience each high, each low, and just be.

I think I did that pretty well.

I am inspired by The Day Zero/101 in 1001 Days Project. 1001 days from tomorrow is Tuesday, September 28, 2010. Follow my progress here.

Happy New Year!

July 14, 2007: Matthew turns 1.

July 20, 2007: My last day of work in Chicago

July 24, 2007: California, here we come.

A trip to DC to visit my girls - June 2007:

…in misty and foggy northern California. It was a HELL of a return trip - just yesterday we were traveling for approximately 17 hours. We left Tallahassee at 12:50pm, arrived in the airport at Jacksonville at 3:30pm, our flight was delayed and didn’t leave until 6:30pm, the transfer in Houston was 30 minutes delayed too, then our stopover in Las Vegas was held up waiting for connecting flights - which they didn’t tell us they were doing for over an hour. M slept for shit (shocker) on the plane. We were supposed to arrive into Oakland at 11:25PM. We didn’t land until about 1AM! Didn’t get home until about 2AM - Josh spent the night at his grandmother’s, because she was headed out to a wedding in southern California, so bright and early they could load up the dogs and bring them to our place.

Dogs, you say? J’s grandmother just got a new poodle puppy, Bibelot, and Ava is ecstatic beyond belief - I think she thinks she’s a puppy too. They are LOUD but they are cute, so it’s an acceptable situation. And thank goodness we have hardwood floors, because the papertrained puppy is not quite papertrained. And we’ve discovered that at some point, Ava was papertrained, because I caught the little sneak squatting on the paper. She hasn’t had an accident at home in ages.

Josh graduated from grad school in May, on Mother’s Day, after Matthew spent a few days in the hospital with RSV.

Memorable events:

At the end of April, we moved into a new apartment. 2 days later, it was time: my uncle was about to die. We flew back to be with family.

I miss my Jo Jo every day.

At my cousin’s wedding in 2006:

Happy post-Christmas haze!

We flew into Jacksonville, FL on Christmas Eve, with one brief pitstop in Ontario, CA, and a layover in Nashville. We finally got to Tallahassee around 11pm that night and in general we have been pretty zonked and exhausted. Matthew has done pretty well here, despite crotchety old Patches the dalmatian, who is a few years past his prime and arthritis-ridden. Poor pooch.

Matthew was terribly spoiled loot-wise, and as I sit here in the dining room and type this, there are legos and trains and books and other assorted bits of evidence that there was a Hurricane Matthew in the area. He loved opening the gifts, loved helping us open our gifts, and was just in a super mood, despite not getting much sleep the night before.

And I, apparently, either have been a very good girl this year or my husband has been conspiring with his parents:

It is a Canon Rebel XT, and I kid you not, I burst into tears when I opened the package. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted a better camera than the one I’ve had or how much being able to capture life on film (digital or otherwise) means to me. It is amazing and I’ve already taken over 150 pictures, thankfully not all of which will end up on flickr.

Only the cutest ones will eventually, like this one:

Also, I got a haircut:

It’s 10 minutes until 1 eastern time, which means in a few Josh is going to be starting work. I accidentally put my running pants into the wash, but as soon as they’re dry I’m taking Lillibelle, the non-barking/Matthew-loving dog out for a run.

Happy holidays!

Memorable events:

I attended a conference in Orlando and didn’t have a place to pump, am labeled hysterical by a breastfeeding debate forum, and gave women a bad name. And this was all before breakfast!

Matthew started crawling in April:

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. And to those who don’t, happy Tuesday.

Onward with the year in review:

Matthew’s first Chinese New Year. We ate entirely too much food.