The Apple

The other night Isaiah behaved in his typical picky toddler way at dinner. Dessert #1 was frozen yogurt (those yogurt tubes stuck in the freezer) and he ate about half of it. Then he said "I'm still hungry!" As if he were a person capable of rational thought, I pointed out that he should have eaten more of the dinner we offered him - (which included the toddler staple, grilled cheese). But, not really having it in me to deny a hungry child any food, I asked him if he wanted some fruit. He asked for a pear. No pears, how about an apple? OK.

I brought him a few slices of peeled apple (like most kids, he doesn't like the skin and this is how he always eats apple) to which he shreeked (NO! I want the whole thing). I was feeling impatient at this point so instead of giving him a new apple, I brought the other half of the apple. That didn't fly and he threw it on the ground. We scolded him for this, to which he responded with a major melt down. I want the whole thing! Over and over. For a few minutes we tolerated the melt down and explained that he shouldn't throw food, etc. He reminded us that "I need food for my body to grow!" Despite my better judgment about not caving in to whining, I finally brought out a whole apple - red delicious. He held it in his hands, victory at last.

Then he said in that whiney-I really-needed-to-nap-today-but-I-skipped-it voice "But this doesn't look like an apple! It's not round!" Incredibly, I then brought out a Pink Lady (great name) apple, he took a couple of bites and was done.

The Ultimate in Laziness

The other day as I vacuumed our bedroom rug with the depressing knowledge that within a few minutes it would be covered in lint again. It's a red rug with no pattern that looked great in the Pottery Barn catalogue, but within a couple of days of owning it I realized that it was a huge mistake. I don't think of myself or the rest of my family as particularly messier than average, but with this rug it was suddenly made clear just how much our cat Sasha sheds and how much food makes its way from the kitchen to the rest of the house. The worst was that vacuuming it would provide at most a 15 minute sense of order. When I was working full time, the rug was one more item on a long list of things that made life feel out of control, but now that I'm home on maternity leave, it rose to a new level of urgency.

Then it dawned on me. I don't have to be held captive to this rug! I posted it on Craig's List and within a couple of days it was gone. I initially asked $250 for it but after discovering that it had huge dents in the bottom from the bed, I just wanted someone - anyone - to take it away! So I listed it for free. The woman who picked it up turned out to be from Liverpool, so I also had a rare opportunity to talk Scouse with another person fluent in that harsh, colorful tongue.

Now our bedroom's wooden floors look great even if they are covered in a sandy lint. At least you can't see it. Next in my sites - Isaiah's clothes. The whole clothing concept - totally overrated. He loves being naked and if there aren't any clothes then there isn't any laundry. Win, win. Look for his wardrobe to be posted on Craig's list soon.

What a weekend!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday - a perfect day for taking the ferry to SF to go to the farmer's market. This is one of those things that's been on my "list" forever and we were finally doing it. I was fully aware that this was more for me than for the kids, but sometimes my needs come first dammit! So we loaded up the car around 9:15 (an impressive start time for us these days) and got to Jack London Square with plenty of time for parking, etc. The ferry ride over was lots of fun - you can see what a good mood Isaiah was in by the smile in that photo with Shayna on his lap. But as soon as we got to the crowds at the Farmer's Market, things spiraled downward.

Shayna woke up for one thing (how dare she!) and Isaiah suddenly fixated on riding a cable car - out of the question given our gigantic stroller. The next two hours were spent trying to distract Isaiah from various unattainable desires, the next one being getting right next to the water. Josh explained that the only way to get closer to the water would be to be at the beach. To which Isaiah replied, "Yes, I was to go to Hawaii. Now!" And so on.

My poor friend Michelle was accompanying us around the market during these fun moments, likely questioning why she had chosen to have children - she's due in 4 weeks with her first. I noted that she needn't worry - she'll have about 18 months to fall in love with him or her before they reach the bratty stage.

For me the lesson of the day was really about living moment by moment. Because there were wonderful ones. Like when the food finally arrived, Shayna was sleeping and we all dug in to delicious fries while the sun shone on us in one of the most beautiful spots in SF. Definitely better than another lunch at home. The hard part is not letting those awful, both kids crying simultaneously moments spoil your mood.

The return ferry ride was fine and we managed to get the kids to nap for an hour in the car afterwards by driving - our latest coping mechanism. I feel guilty about the needless CO2 emissions, but it really feels like a matter of survival, so in that sense it's hardly needless.
Does that sound like a pathetic justification? It's meant more as a sheepish admission that I just don't always have the energy to make the "sustainable choice" these days, especially with two kids now. I'm definitely using more disposable diapers with Shayna at an early age and I am throwing in the towel on G-diapers. Too much work flushing those damn things down the toilet! Sorry but I have so many things I'd rather do with my rare moments of free time than tear diapers in half, not to mention constantly having to wash the wraps due to blow outs.

Isaiah woke up in a great mood after his nap and that night we had a big breakthrough - he went back into his bedroom. It had mysteriously become scary to him and for two whole weeks he hadn't set foot in there. Not wanting to traumatize the little guy for life, we moved his crib into our bedroom, but even this hadn't assuaged his anxiety. Josh somehow landed on the culprit - his new wooden train set! We packed it up, called the train table a race track instead, and just like that the evil spell was lifted.

The next huge breakthrough was on Sunday when Josh stumbled upon Isaiah sitting on the couch with his diaper off, checking things out down there. An adorable conversation transpired about why penises get bigger sometimes, which led to the question, "would you like to put on some underpants?" which led to "would you like to try to make a pee in the potty" and by the end of the night Isaiah had used the potty consistently. We are so proud! He's terrified of making a poop in it and he got nervous about wearing underpants to preschool today, but he did use the potty at school so I think we're well on our way!