Mimzilla’s One More Thing…

I’ve been working on a Birthday blog but I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to finish it off. Some of you have made requests for blog updates so I thought I’d provide a small video for your viewing pleasure. Last Saturday, Walker took us to the zoo and one of his favorite activities is to run through the tunnels and test out the acoustics. I captured the moment for you to share. (It was the Zoo’s birthday as well so they distributed crowns to celebrate and Walker is donning his “Junior Zookeeper” vest.) You may want to turn down your volume a tad as the small person does pack quite a strong set of lungs.

Also a note: Walker went to his two year old check up and he weighed in at 28lbs 2oz (55%), measured 35″ (70% although they measured him lying down so I think he’s a bit shorter…) and had a head circumference of 48.7cm (55%)

Walker loves water.

He loves his bath and he’s quite fond of puddles. I found that out the hard way when we went for a walk which was cut short because Mommy didn’t realize that puddles were like the Muses to the ancient sailors — toddlers are unable to resist their calls. Walker was no match for the fantastic muddy puddles which called to him after a big winter rain and he jumped right in without hesitation. (Unfortunately I also hadn’t learned to keep an extra set of pants, socks and shirt in the diaper bag either.) Puddles will stop Walker in his tracks and it takes lots of persuasion to divert him.

Walker now goes to the beach on a regular basis — we went three times this past weekend — and he likes to play with his bucket and shovel, filling it with sand. He then orders one of his parents to retrieve buckets of water so he can then immediately pour it out on the sand (brine shrimp and all) and order us back for more. He’s still afraid of the waves so we don’t have to worry about him surfing anytime soon but he does love to jump in the small puddles and rivers left behind from the receding tide. The video is from our trip on Saturday but our Sunday excursion will remain in my memory as one of the best times I’ve had with Walker. The tide was extremely low and there were lots of little rivers with little “lakes” of water that went up to Walker’s mid-thigh. We rolled up his pants as high as they’d go and Walker ran between each river and waded into each and every lake multiple times. He had so much fun going from dry land to deep water and back. He balanced on the side of the lakes and he thought it was fantastic when his feet sank into the wet sand. After about twenty minutes he was drenched from the waist down and up to each elbow. Not thinking he would be swimming at the beach, we were unprepared with no towels or extra clothing. But, we did have our own duds so we stripped him down to his diaper and bundled him up in Daddy’s big gray hooded sweatshirt. Walker couldn’t have been happier and Mommy felt like she had just witnessed happiness personified.

On the topic of water, today was Walker’s first swim class. He was very excited when I told him he was going swimming with Grammy J this morning. He immediately got down on his tummy on the floor and moved his arms as if he was doing the breast stroke (his form is better than mine already!). He then said “water?” which, as I’ve already said, is his favorite element. Here’s how it went in Grammy’s own words:

We had our first swimming lesson today and it was a great success. Only three kids in the class—Walker’s the oldest, an 18 mo. old and a year old. First we got changed. Walker is very good at taking off his shoes and socks and putting them in the locker (we’re going to work on having him put the socks into the shoes…but that’s for next time) and then putting my shoes into the locker. I unbuttoned his shirt and he did his best to take it off but the arm thing is sort of tough. Anyway, we both got into our respective suits and headed out to the pool. Of course first we had to take a shower; it was sort of a token shower on his part.

Then we got right in. The teacher is a nice young man whose name I think is Doug. The first 20 minutes was teaching the adults what to do to get the kids used to being in certain positions. For instance, lying on the back was practiced by singing twinkle, twinkle and looking up at the ceiling. Then we played with a rubber octopus and Walker would throw it out in front of him and kick his legs and reach for it. He sat on the side of the pool and sort of lunged out to me. He’d hold onto the side of the pool with his legs up and push out backwards. He was great about trying everything. We also worked on blowing bubbles; homework is to practice this in the bath tub starting with humming. Then the last ten minutes we played in the shallow end (where he could stand) with various toys.

The teacher was very complimentary about his water skills. I think next week we may advance to jumping from the side of the pool to me. Then back to the showers. We used the handicapped stall which had the shower handle you could detach, which he really liked. Then we put our suits in the machine that spins around to get all the water out of them. Then to the most exhausting part….getting us both dry and dressed. I decided to go first so I bundled Walker up in about three towels and sat him on the bench while I quickly got dressed. Then it was his turn. He’s not as good at putting things on as he is at taking things off though he did retrieve our various shoes from the locker.

He was hungry and polished off a bar in about five minutes and then fell asleep (really asleep, not dozing) on the way to Sophia’s. A good time was had by all.

And now on to some other items.

There were two things I left off the last post in the “overheard” section.

• “Vroom. Vroom. Beach”: When we leave in the morning, Walker thinks we’re somehow going to decide that rather than going to school we should drive to the beach.
• “Go Mamma. Go. Go. Go Mamma. Go!”: Walker yells this when we “jump in pants” as Daddy holds him aloft and Mommy slips his pants on over his legs and his tush. “Mamma” is replaced by “Daddy” when Larry is in charge of slipping on the pants.

The other thing to mention is Walker’s new found love for his Toddler bed. You see, he’s going to be two in ten days and I figured it was time for him to start spending time in his own bed. I wanted to make a big deal out of the fact that we were going to get rid of the crib and he’d now have his own big boy bed to sleep in. Taking a page from the successful parenting book, I thought about ways to turn the transition into some sort of celebration (similar to the ceremonies where kids give their pacifiers/bottles to little kids who need them). I thought about doing it on his birthday or putting a big bow on the bed. But then I had an epiphany. Walker loves Elmo and we got him a training potty with Elmo that he loved so much he carried it around the house as if it was a regular chair to sit in at any ol’ time. Why couldn’t Elmo help with the bed? I found some Elmo bedding that was perfect for his new Toddler Bed and when it arrived in the mail, Larry and I couldn’t contain ourselves. Rather than make it a surprise, we ripped open the box and the moment Walker saw the Elmo sheets he demanded we put them on the floor so he could try them out. The next day, Larry converted the crib to the Elmo decorated toddler bed. When Walker saw it, he immediately jumped in the bed and crawled under the covers. He continues to play in the bed and pretend to sleep so we know he is thinking about what it’s meant for — not just jumping on the bouncy mattress or launching him off the bed and on to the floor. At first, he would play in the bed until it was bedtime and then he’d demand stories and sleeping on the big mattress. But after he fell asleep Larry would put him in his new bed until he’d awake and then he’d crawl in bed with me. After a few days, he started snuggling up to me in his bed and we read stories. He still won’t fall asleep in his bed either as he goes to sleep or after he awakes in the middle of the night. But he adores his bed and we know it’s just a matter of time before he’ll demand to sleep alone in his big boy bed with Elmo.

Last night, Walker, Larry and I attended Shabbat Family Services at Temple Emanu-El. It was absolutely fantastic. I didn’t really know what to expect but one of Walker’s friends at day care attends regularly and she and her mom thought it would be neat if Walker could go with her. Walker looked dapper in his corduroys, sweater vest and a little paper firefighter hat he had made four days prior (and has only removed it to sleep). I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to eat a snack but just in case, I brought his milk and a cereal bar. As we walked into the building we were greeted by scads of little kids running around and large bowls of snacks. OK, this was clearly not going to be like the other services I’ve attended.

We found seats at the front of the sanctuary and Walker sat quietly next to his friend while kids seemed to multiply as they ran around the stage, the floor and well, everywhere. All young ones had chosen some sort of instrument — bells, a triangle, castanets — so I grabbed a little something for Walker. The service started and the chaos didn’t subside, but it seemed to follow the flow Rabbi Mintz and the guitarist created as they led the congregation in a variety of Hebrew songs. At one point, a little boy behind us appeared on the floor between my legs as he crawled under the benches to retrieve a stray tambourine. Kids were dancing around the stage and one little boy seemed to be hiding behind the ark. Surprisingly, there was only one casualty. An adorable curly-headed girl about 2 years old and her 4 year old sister were playing by three little steps and one of them tripped causing them both to fall down the stairs. Some tears but nothing serious and frankly, I’m not sure I would have even noticed had it not happened right in front of me. Walker was a bit overwhelmed for the first half hour but did smile and clap and play his instrument. He really came out of his shell and joined the dancing kids on stage after singing the Shema complete with hand and dance moves. At the end of the service, kids were exhausted and famished (despite all the food they ate as evidenced by the many raisin boxes, cookie bags, and cheese stick wrappers). Walker seemed to love it and Larry and I both felt it was a special time linking him to a special community in San Francisco. So, I think we’ll regularly attend what I’ve coined “Jewish Gymboree.”

Today we had a bit of an adventure. Walker fell asleep in the car and he wouldn’t wake up even when we told him it was time to play at the beach. We decided to give him some nap time so we thought we’d try to find a new beach and traveled to Pacifica, a town we’ve only gone through on the way to other destinations. We found a little sunny cove and as we peered out past the waves we saw a small whale making his way South. He wasn’t far off shore and Larry and I tried to point out the spout and what little of the whale we could see to a drowsy Walker. We choose to believe Walker saw his first whale today.

I also thought it would be a good time to document a few things we’ve recently heard Walker say:

• “I’m fo-wahr”: Walker’s response when asked, “How old are you?”
• “Hello? Hi. I did it! Bye.”: The one way conversation he had in his toy Star Trek tricorder (and by his, I mean, the one that was Larry’s)
• “I’m stuck.”: Pick one of any number of times when Walker finds himself unable to do something he wants to.
• “Hide-oo”: The request to either join him sitting on the floor of Larry’s closet with the doors closed or create a fort in the living room to protect us when building houses with blocks.
• “No-no-no”: Delivered in sing-song tone and complete with finger wagging. Used when Mommy or Daddy are doing something Walker finds distasteful.
• “Mamma. Room. Now!”: A direct order to leave the room I’m in and go somewhere else.
• “Beee-CH”: Used either matter of fact or in a pleading tone but always a request to go play in the sand at the beach. Often requested first thing in the morning, upon returning from day care and once, in the middle of the night while he was talking in his sleep.
• “Wahdder”: Like many small boys, Walker is fascinated with water. He enjoys playing in puddles and will ask us to create some if they don’t exist naturally. He also sends one of us down to fill up his bucket at the beach which he immediately pours into the sand.

I must also take a moment to say that I had a fantastic birthday. I did nothing for my fortieth birthday which was just what I wanted. I took Walker to day care, went to the gym and then to the chiropractor. I returned home and Larry and I crawled in bed to watch a movie on OnDemand. I don’t even remember what it was. Then, I took a nap. And then it was time to get Walker. To top off a perfect day, my brother and his girlfriend made us dinner. And not just any dinner. Fresh caught Abalone that Thayer pried off the bottom of the ocean floor only hours earlier. They prepared everything (which is very involved and requires much pounding of small slices of meat with large mallets) while I drank too much wine.

It was a perfect birthday. Relaxing and filled with love

Tomorrow is my birthday but I was presented with quite a treat upon my return home this evening…

Larry and Walker decided to inform the neighborhood (and passersby) that I am now part of what my HR friend calls “the protected class.” This broad gesture was the pinnacle of an already wonderful day — on my desk I found beautiful flowers from a friend’s garden and one of my staff orchestrated a surprise party complete with chocolate cake topped with STAR WARS action figures and sparkly pink candles (I was sent home with more cake which was even better tonight)!

Tomorrow I’m taking the day off and I plan on dropping off Walker, going to the gym, visiting my chiropractor and spending the rest of the day watching movies on OnDemand. I may even take a nap.

As long as I get lots of hugs from certain little and big boys, it will be a perfect day.

Larry was very excited about the LOST finale and in preparation, bought Walker his very own Dharma shirt.

As I’ve previously mentioned, Walker is now talking a lot more. About two weeks ago he started with “HELP ME” which was often said in a raspy, breathy voice as he was straining to do something (like push the exercise ball through the open baby gate or pick up something heavy). It is reminiscent of the delivery of the very same line in the old version of the THE FLY (for anyone with knowledge of B-level 1950 Sci Fi movies).

He’s started re-purposing some of his oldies but goodies… He still loves to say “I DID it!” when completing some task — whether it’s something major like jumping off the ottoman on to the floor without falling or something minor like sitting in the chair). But this phrase has been expanded to include other pronouns. It started when Walker was eating and was particularly grumpy. Walker is a bit possessive of his belongings and food falls squarely in the “MINE!” category so when Larry reached over and stole something off his plate, Walker got mad and started to cry. I asked him what was wrong. He stopped crying, pointed a finger accusingly at Larry and declared “He DID it!”

Since we’re on the topic of eating, Walker has found a new favorite food item. KETCHUP. Initially he liked it with hot dogs but he’s concluded it’s a condiment that goes with many, many yummy morsels. If I don’t include it on his plate, he walks over to the fridge, demands I open it and points to the bottle until he gets a dab on his plate. As we watch him eat we’re a bit stunned at the combinations he seems to enjoy. Our personal favs are the fruit/ketchup combinations such as watermelon-ketchup and strawberry-ketchup.

At least he’s eating.

I have to provide a bit of an update on the exercise front. I’ve faithfully continued my trips to the gym and I’m running 3 miles a few times a week. I went for a “complementary” personal training session which consisted of a very beefy man measuring my heart rate (apparently it’s very, very good), my flexibility (above average) and my body fat (also above average — oops). He then tried to sell me on personal training time. Ah, yes. Of course. I was particularly amused when he asked me how much time I’m able to commit to the gym. “35 minutes,” I reply. He’s a bit stunned. “Um, you can’t make it an hour?” “Well, remember that 2 year old we discussed (and you said running after him didn’t count as exercise)? Yeah, well, I’ve got 35 minutes to go to the gym and I consider that pretty good.” He clearly doesn’t have kids.

But I digress from my original point. I’m continuing to visit the gym and I’m feeling really good and my clothes fit better. (I’m sure they’d fit even better if I didn’t come home and have a glass of wine or two plus a handful of Hershey’s Miniatures each night…) But going to the gym is a lot of work. Yes, the exercise is hard. But there is other work to support this effort that requires more than expected energy and attention. There the extra laundry with all the sweaty clothes and the gym towels. And there’s the shopping. Yes, the shopping. I have to get some new shoes and exercise clothes and well, I have to get some more “unmentionables” because I’m too tired when I’m packing my bag to sort through my drawers to find underwear and socks that don’t have holes or played out elastic. So there you go. The gym impacts my life in ways I had never imagined…

On a parting note, I must say that I have watched the “Space Bag” commercials on television for quite a long time and I always thought they were a bit silly. But one morning, must have been around 6am or so, I saw the commercial while watching Barney and it occurred to me I had a few tubs of maternity and baby clothes a that were taking up a lot of room. So, during my sabbatical I decided to buy the Space Bags at Costco and give them a try. I’m a convert. These things have saved me significant storage space and I know the clothes will stay clean if I happen to dump a bunch of mud on them (you have to see the commercial to fully appreciate that last statement).

So perhaps next I’ll try the Sham WOW!

This was the best Mother’s Day ever. OK, granted, I’ve only had one other one for comparison but really, this one was pretty spectacular. We made it a long weekend. Larry and I dropped off the Little Man, packed up the car for a weekend at Sea Ranch and headed off to a 10:30 showing of the new STAR TREK movie. (Turns out we crashed a corporate event at the 10:30 showing — a company full of geeks playing hooky — priceless.) We picked up a sleepy Walker who presented me with his Mother’s Day present from Day Care — he made me a cupcake (all the kids helped), a fabulous plate, and a very nice Mommy certificate. On the way up to Pop Pop’s house, we needed to get out and stretch our legs so we stopped off at Fort Ross, a former Russian/Eskimo/Indian trading outpost. Walker practiced running and going up and down stairs all by himself.

The rest of the weekend was just as fantastic. Walker played outside, ate really well, slept like a log, and his verbal skills exploded! He loved getting Tickle Buzzies from Pop Pop (before falling asleep, Walker gave me one), playing on the exercise equipment, and dragging his fire engine around the meadow.

I won’t make anyone cry with this year’s posting like I did with last year’s tribute to my mother. This year, I thought I’d list a few of things that make me happy that I’m a mom:

• When Walker calls me “momma” but especially when he calls me “mommy” (he tried it out for a few days last week)
• Big huge hugs with tiny little arms
• Snuggling with Walker on the couch
• Sleeping cheek to cheek with his arms around my neck
• Hearing him giggle
• Watching him blow bubbles
• Hearing him use a new word for the first time (today he said “beeeEECH”
• Watching him draw pictures
• Singing songs with him (our new duet is “Itsy Bitsy Spider where he says “spiDER” the first time but sings “Barney” and “Elmo” the rest of the song)
• Interactive bedtime stories — he yells “spOOOOON” or “I’m not NITE NITE” in his new favorite books
• Hearing an unsolicited “Ank Oooo” (which is the polite boy saying “thank you” unprompted)
• Holding hands
• Playing Ring Around the Rosie
• Hearing “Hi Momma” (with the wonderful clapping and yelling in delight that follow)
• Watching him sleep
• Kisses, snotty and otherwise

So essentially, anything and everything about Walker makes me happy to be a Mom. He makes my world a better place. It’s sappy and I suspect a sentiment shared by each and every Mommy out there, but there it is. He thrills, excites, exhausts, and fills me with love.

Happy Mother’s Day to every mom out there — especially to those women to loved and shaped me — Mommy, Janie, Shirley and Mommo.

Walker discovers balloons at his friend Lucas's first birthday. It didn't really occur to us that Walker hadn't spent much (or any) time with these wonderful things. He didn't really want to share once he figured out how fun they were.

I sit here drinking some wine, looking over work email, and pondering my return to Adobe.

I had one great vacation — not because I went somewhere exotic or did something unique or fascinating. I had a great vacation because it did what vacations are supposed to do — rejuvenate and relax you. The last three weeks were filled with a balance of working for Adobe and AiT/Planet Lar, completing things for the household, and doing things just for me. The result is a significantly smaller TO DO list, a more functional computer, a new blog, a trimmer me, and a tidier home and finances.

I must begin by saying I love being a mommy and I wouldn’t change anything in the world. However, I must say, the last few weeks have reintroduced me to the feeling of TRUE ACCOMPLISHMENT. Let me explain. I’m the Girl of 100 Lists (the Go Go’s song is my theme) and my lists are written with a small box to the left of each item. (A former boss gave me no end of grief about this format for my multi-page lists.) Each time I complete a task, I take a moment as I make a solid, confident check in the box. For a particularly significant item, time stops for just an instant, as if to honor the effort it took.

All parents will understand that a small human puts a crimp in life as you knew it. My 100 lists became 1000 lists over the last two years and every weekend I’d get stressed because more boxes were created than were checked on my lists. As I thought about my sabbatical, I considered packing up the family and using our miles to go somewhere fantastic. But the more I considered these scenarios, the more stressed I felt. Then a friend said something about her “staycation” and the more I thought about what that meant for me, the more comfortable I felt. So, Staycation it was. And it was great. I’m relaxed and I suspect our home appraisal will be higher.

Some Staycation highlights:

• Run/walk each day making it up to running 2.75miles at a stretch and watching the full FIREFLY series in the process. Oh, my pants fit better and I joined a gym near work so I, my family and co-workers continue to reap the benefits of my exercise regimine. (And I mean my stress reduction, not my better-fitting clothing.)
• Lunches, errands, and a movie with my honey
• Creating a home office, cleaning the guest room, taking stuff to the safe deposit box that should have been there a year ago, balancing all the finances, and meeting with the insurance agent
• Digging through and eliminating two years of crap on the table in the living room so it’s recognizable (and usable) as a table
• Weeding in the front and back and planting a few nice things that should do well in our sandy and windy backyard.
• Shopping
• Going to the Genius Bar to have them fix a the small problem with my email — oh yeah, years of emails DISAPPEARED when Adobe upgraded my system software… but they’re back now
• Migrating my blog to www.mimzilla.com (Were you paying attention? This will be addressed later)

There were many other things that were accomplished but I won’t bore you. Just know that this goes down in Mimi’s history as one of the best vacations ever. And why? Because I rediscovered the euphoric feeling of efficient TO DO list completion. And because life doesn’t stop when you’re on vacation. Things still happen like your dryer breaks, PG&E must inspect your solar installation (we’ve made more than 100 kilowatts than we’ve used), your fence breaks in two places in a wind storm, you and everyone in the family get a horrible cold, and you need your electric service replaced to your house. Had I been somewhere exotic, I’d have to try to deal with most of these things upon my return. However, with my fantastic staycation, I had the time to deal with it AND do a bit of exercise.

Adobe has a shut down in June and I’m already planning a day-by-day TO DO list.

WE’RE MOVING

You may have noticed that one of the highlights was that I’ve moved the blog. Yes, this is the final posting here. All future postings will be at www.mimzilla.com. It’s time we move to a more permanent URL. Please update your bookmarks. For those of you subscribed to RSS and emails, I’m really, really hoping you won’t have an interruption in entertaining posts.

Walker update

No post is complete without some Walker news. Our little guy is using more functional words. “I’m hungry” and “Want go home,” “Drink,” and “Move” have been added to other important words like ball, Barney, Elmo, Hop, Tweet (the bird, not a 140-character online post), YeeHaaa, Whee, Oh My, Boy oh boy, and Um.

Walker went a whole week without being sick! But alas, he’s got a runny nose again. Today, we were preparing to visit our friends Adrienne and Jim and Larry grabbed Walker’s hand to put his shoes on. “Did you put lotion on his hands?” he asks.

“No, that’s snot,” says Mommy absentmindedly.

“Mmmmm, creamy,” was Larry’s reply.