Blue chicken pox

Earlier this week we were at the mall & my charmer son scored some lovely blue circle stickers from a couple of sales clerks doing markdowns. I have been finding them everywhere - on Paul's diaper, on the bottom of my foot, etc. Today he decided to cover his face, legs and hair with the stickers, which made him look like he had a bad case of blue chickenpox. As I type this he is continuing the sticker brigade with Sesame Street characters (he is finally out of blue dots). It appears to be a very serious process. Anyway, here's the pic.

My mom date

Being a full time SAHM is lonely. Without a job to go to every day and interact with other adults, it becomes difficult to, well, meet other adults. I try to take Paul to the library, playground, zoo, etc. and make small talk with other mothers, but it generally does not progress past the casual conversation. I find myself feeling strange, like this is some sort of club that I don't really belong to. So I joined this online mom's forum, where I could remain comfortably anonymous and still interact with other people. It is local, and I figured if I met someone interesting that we could meet in person and have a play date. After a few failed attempts, I finally had my first "mom date" this morning. I call it this because it felt a little like a blind date. I worried about whether or not we'd recognize each other, what she would think of me, whether or not my son would behave himself.
I got there and saw a woman who I though might be my "date" but she didn't make eye contact. After about ten minutes we started making conversation. I heard her call her daughter's name, which was, coincidentally, the name of the daughter of the woman I was scheduled to meet. Hmm... I mentioned this. Ah-ha. She was indeed my mom date. Turns out she is a very nice person, and Paul & her daughter got along well, even exchanged a nice hug. As lunch time grew closer, I found myself feeling, once again, like I was on a blind date. Did she like us? Would she give me her number, so we could have another play date? What exactly is the etiquette in these situations?
Navigating friendships via motherhood is proving to be tricky, but hopefully I will find some new friends for both myself and Paul. In the meantime I am thankful to those friends who, though far away, are close in my heart.

Can you repeat that?

I know that endless repetition is part of toddlerhood - but sometimes I feel like I am living in the movie Groundhog Day. For example, every morning when I am getting ready, Paul reaches into my makeup drawer and after applying excessive amounts of chapstick (at least he is putting it on his lips now and not his tongue), he will inevitably pull out the tweezers and recount the time that I used them to remove a splinter when we were in California. His description is always the same: "Tweezers. Maria house. Splinter hand." (holds up hand to demonstrate splinter removal) "OUCH! Got it. Good job, mommy." (thumbs-up) I tried to explain to him that tweezers are not just for taking splinters out but also for tweezing eyebrows. This was a bad idea of course, because then he wanted to tweeze his own. Oops.
It seems to me the repetition is most often used to recount painful events. Like the time on the playground when he went down the slide too fast. Every time we drive by (the incident was in April btw), he says: "Playground. Head. BONK!"
I have also learned that if we must be extra careful about what we tell Paul these days. I've been looking for a new job, and CJ told him one night that I needed some privacy to prepare for an interview and that finding a job was very important because it meant Paul could go back to daycare. Every since that day, I've had to endure endless rounds of: "Mommy job. Paul back daycare." It doesn't help that we pass two daycare centers on our way into town. As soon as he sees them, the "Back daycare" serenade begins. Sigh. Not like I don't have enough pressure trying to find work without my two year old nagging me!!

A trip to the lake

Back in college, I babysat for this wonderful family who were basically my "home away from home." They moved away shortly after I graduated, but maintained their summer cottage nearby. The girls are now grown (one is in college, the other a senior in high school... yes, I am officially OLD) but thankfully we are able to see them every so often out at the lake. This past weekend we made a trip out there for the first time since Paul came home. He was delighted to meet everyone and had a great time jumping on their trampoline & feeding the ducks.

The paperwork is in!

Well, it took us about three months to get it all together, but we finally got the dossier paperwork sent in for our second adoption. I had been waiting on a statement from our bank and poor CJ had to keep calling and harassing them to send it to us. I decided to send in the packet minus the statement, and the agency received everything yesterday. Thankfully the bank statement came in the mail today & I can send it in tomorrow. We should be starting our home study soon - yipee! I have started talking to Paul about having a sibling. He thinks it is great, although I doubt he fully understands what that means. He isn't happy when one of the cats gets too close to something of his and has been known to shout, "MINE!" at them. Alas, I know it will be a good thing long term, even if it means some jealousy & adjustment at first. CJ & I are excited, but a little nervous as to how this will change our family dynamic. But we have many months to adjust to the idea & for P to soak up solo time.

Weekend thrills

We had a great 4th of July weekend. My bff from high school, Kelly, was in for the long weekend visiting her brother, and I was able to get in some quality girl-time. Friday we went to my cousins' for their annual picnic & Paul had a ball jumping on the trampoline. Saturday we spent the day with CJ's family on his sister's new boat - the weather was PERFECT & we had lots of fun in the sun. Finally got to meet my newest nephew (who is already 8 months old!!!) He's a total cutie. CJ tried wake boarding for the first time, and I tried tubing. Yikes. A little too scary for my taste! Paul learned how to drive a speed boat. Mostly he drove us in circles. He enjoyed himself, with CJ breathing a sigh of relief that our son likes the water. Sunday we did more swimming at Kelly's brother's house. Paul is becoming quite the fish. We are blessed to have so many great swimming opportunties.