Thankful

While yesterday was not X's first Thanksgiving, he was a much more active participant this year than he was last year. We had the pleasure of spending the holiday afternoon with one of my oldest friends and her family -- sort of my surrogate family. It was a really lovely afternoon, but the hubs and I were typical anxious first-time parents -- of a toddler. We never quite relaxed while X investigated every nook and cranny of the strange new house where we spent the afternoon. A lot of "Don't touch!" and "Come over here!" and "No-no!" while we took turns running behind X, bent over at the waist. Meanwhile Mr. & Mrs. M., my friends' parents, kept telling us, "It's okay. We know how it goes with toddlers!" We just never could quite let our guard down the way we would at home or even a more familiar friend's home. Nonetheless, it was a nice afternoon -- spending Thanksgiving in a place where we felt welcome and loved is truly a gift.

It got me thinking, though. We are still a pretty new family, and we haven't yet established any holiday traditions. I think that next year, we will begin celebrating Thanksgiving at our own house. Even if it's just the three of us. Traditions have to start somewhere, right? We'll start small. Maybe in time we will be able to repay the favor to those who have taken us in over the years, so we didn't have to spend a holiday on our own.

Nature Walk

We have the worst yard on the block. Full of roots and big pines and oaks. Right now, the leaves and acorns and pinecones are thick on the ground. No lawn, to speak of. Rocky soil that is a mixture of clay and sand. All on a steep slope. I constantly enter contests to win landscaping services and have tried again and again to get our yard fixed up on HGTV, all to no avail. Our yard is not a very friendly place for a 14-month-old toddler to play.

But, yesterday, walking across our yard from the front door to the curb, and then back again to the backyard, I discovered that our yard is actually perfect for a nature walk with a small boy! It took us about 20 minutes, as X squatted down beside big rocks of various colors and shapes. We picked up and threw acorns. X plucked the flowers off of countless dandelions, leaving a trail of headless stems behind. Twigs and sticks were picked up and examined. Tree bark presented a lesson in texture.

All the while, X was chatting happily in his own language, smiling along.

It might be the worst-looking yard on the block. Certainly it's no place for cartwheels and somersaults, or a round of croquet. But, it was just perfect for a little one's curiosity about the wonderful things we grownups almost always overlook.

Hair Cut

Curly Locks! curly locks! wilt thou be mine?

Thou shall't not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine

I gave X his first (minor) hair cut yesterday. His hair is so long, and so curly, and so beautiful that I didn't want to cut it at all until he wanted it cut, but it kept getting in his eyes during mealtimes and subsequently he would get food in his hair at breakfast, lunch and at dinner!

Alas, the haircut day had arrived. I only trimmed the front, though, into little tiny bangs because X kept moving his head! It is pretty much the worst haircut ever. I also almost cried after cutting off even just a few of his curls. He looks sweet, though, like a little old-fashioned boy.

He also looks like Bartholomew Cubbins from the Dr. Seuss story!

Sunbeam

There was a bright sunbeam shining into X's room this morning, the day after Hurricane Irene. We are far enough inland that the storm didn't do much harm to our property -- a few small branches and lots of pinecones and acorns are down all over our yard. The weather is always insultingly glorious after a major storm, isn't it?

X used to love to play in sunbeams. When he was not yet mobile, I would sit him down in a sunbeam and he would smack it with his hands and try to pick it up, and sometimes try to taste it on the floor (yucky!). When he started to crawl, he would go into the front hallway and sit in the sunbeams from the setting sun, and follow them as they climbed the wall. Random bits of sunlight were a delight to pluck at on my shirt, or my arm.

It seems he barely noticed the play of the light on his bedroom floor this morning. He didn't shriek with delight, or try to grab up the glow. He is the sunbeam, now.

One Year Old

X's birthday was on Tuesday of this week -- one year old already!

I'm sad about the fact that I spent the day at work, which, of course, I regret now. X was a little grumpy grump when I got home due to some major teething pain, so it was pretty anticlimactic.

We had a small celebration last Sunday to do the traditional first birthday cake and presents, with some friends. I made cupcakes from scratch because we suspect X has an egg allergy or sensitivity -- so he's a total hippie kid, having eaten vegan for his first ever cupcake! He seemed mesmerized by the candle and didn't really know what all of the fuss was about (of course!) but he took everything in stride.

The night of his actual birthday, I rocked him to sleep and sat holding him for a while, thinking back over the last year. There were so many transitions, so much that my husband and I had to figure out, so much that X had to learn and master. It's astonishing how much he has grown, and even more amazing that I have been blessed to have been there for each and every day.

Happy birthday, funny boy. I love to watch you grow!