Only a month late

Yes, Samuel had his first birthday party a month ago. Yes, I have been slow uploading the photos. But I have this thing with continuity. I HAVE to post my photos in order. It’s a problem I am trying to overcome.

But the important thing is that we DID have a party. And even more importantly, PEOPLE CAME. And even more important than that – I managed to get Thomas to wear something other than sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt.

Oh, and despite the fact that I was hosting this party, I still managed to take a surprising amount of photos. I know, shocking!

We had bubbles

BIG bubbles

This is Samuel’s girlfriend. 🙂

Look at this sweet one. She’s a little too young right now but she’ll be kissing and punching Samuel in no time.

The best thing about American birthdays in May is that it is warm enough to have an outdoor event – and sometimes hot enough to play under the sprinkler.

And that is sometimes enough to bring out the child in anyone.

I would hire her as my nanny any day (or maybe just let her be an aunt to my children).

There were also a few adults in attendance, but they were mainly invited just to wrangle the children

Lucky for me, Samuel LOVES Emily. 🙂

The biggest part of these parties, though, is the shock I feel every time we get together and I see these children that were just babies yesterday and now suddenly seem so grown up.

About 5 minutes

I estimate that I have approximately five minutes before Samuel wakes up from nap, so just going to share a few quick things that are in my plans for this long weekend.

Taking more photos of everday life. My camera has been taking a little break lately but I miss having those daily reminders of what we do every day – and the feel of the camera in my hand. I also need to take advantage of the fact that the rose garden near our house is only in full bloom for a few days.

Working on my patience with Thomas. He and I have been challenging each other the past couple of days and I think we need a few non-stressful days to get back on track.

Getting this one healthy. He had a fever of 103.5 yesterday. Right now the round-the-clock doses of Tylenol and Motrin are helping but we’re keeping an eye on him. I called the nurse yesterday and she said it could last up to 5 days! He’s relatively happy when the drugs kick in which makes the whole thing bearable. It’s just hard to watch when the drugs start to wear off and he just lies there moaning. Poor baby.

Eating lots of ice cream. It’s going to be a warm weekend and if that gives me an excuse to partake in a little gelato, then so be it.

Oh, and sitting in my house on the evening of July 4th, listening to fireworks, hose at the ready and praying that my children will sleep through it. I know – what a party pooper. I can appreciate beautiful fireworks displays as much as the next person, but it’s the personal displays that worry me.

So instead of enjoying them in person, I’ll watch out the window and play a little game of “which is the firework and which is the gunshot?” (we live in a neighborhood where sometimes it’s a tough call).

Now that I’ve sufficiently freaked out my family back home, I’ll sign off. Happy 4th of July to my US neighbors and happy Saturday to my Aussie ones (I guess it’s still 4th of July though…)

Nicole

The long and winding road: Benema at the beach pt2

You can read about the first half of our day at the beach here.

When you’re traveling with two small children you need to think carefully about planning your trip around nap times. This is especially difficult when one of the children is still taking two naps. Before Samuel was born, I had forgotten about the inconvenience of the late morning nap.

But sometimes you have a day when you just get the timing right and our trip to the beach was just that type of day. Both boys slept in the car on the way to the coast int he morning and woke as soon as we arrived. We played on the beach and had lunch and, by the time we were ready to continue our drive down the coast to catch the alternate route, they were both ready to pass out again for an hour or so. Not only did this ensure we were avoiding two cranky children, but the adults were able to stop the car a few times on the way to take in the sights without having to worry about getting the kids in and out of carseats.

We had one primary reason for driving the long way home – the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We have driven by the factory a number of times but have never ventured in – once arriving 5 minutes after it closed (one of the more frustrating moments of my life).

This time, however, we arrived many hours before closing and we had two freshly napped children – nothing was going to stop us.

The first thing that hits you in Tillamook is the smell of cows and cow manure. It’s not pleasant, but I suppose it’s necessary and a good reminder that some animals work hard so I can eat that delicious sharp Tillamook Cheddar. Still – makes me grateful that I live some distance from the source.

The visit begins with a view of the factory. It was mesmerizing watching them cut the cheese (yes, we heard the jokes).

And then the walking tour leads to the store and…samples!

(My brother teased me for taking this photo at the time but I bet his mouth is watering now. You’re welcome, Ben.)

The finale – ice cream all round. I think Thomas would have had a meltdown if we didn’t get ice cream. He chose chocolate (of course) and ate the entire thing.

And of course we couldn’t leave without the goofy photograph.

Then we got in the car and drove back to Portland. The end? Not quite…

There’s a story that members of my family like to tell over and over again. It involves a windy car ride from Sydney to Melbourne, a stop at the cheese factory where we ate ice cream and cheese samples and a little girl who didn’t have time to tell her father to stop the car before throwing up all over the back seat and her two brothers. My mum and my brother Ben are particularly fond of telling this story at every family gathering.

Well, I have some good news. Now Ben has a new story to tell. We were just miles from home and Thomas had been quiet for a little while – he didn’t seem quite himself. In hindsight the signs were there, but at the time we really had no warning. Poor Curious George was collateral damage and had to be washed three times and sprayed with febreeze before I was finally able to get the smell of vomit out of his fur. Thankfully we had a few days to air out the rental car before returning it.

Thank you Thomas for changing the subject, although I apologise in advance for the fact that your uncle and grandmother (and possibly your aunt) will still be talking about this incident when you’re 30.

Broken Hearted

He’s still tiny, can only say a few words (well, we think they’re words) and is not even walking (although has been teasing us for months), but this child has so much power over me.

For a few months now, he has been a Daddy’s boy. That’s not a bad thing – it gives me a bit of a break – but still, as a mother you secretly want you child to prefer you. In fact, it seems wrong if they don’t. I carried him in my belly, nursed him and spent every waking moment with him for the first few months of his life. Don’t I deserve to be the favourite for just a little while longer – at least until he is three when his strong personality and stubborness will make him the perfect daddy’s boy.

It hit an all time low the other night when Samuel would NOT come to me. He gripped onto Kei’s shirt so tight that I had to peel his fingers away just to put him to bed. He bent his back and squirmed in an effort to get out of my arms.

In the safety of his bedroom, between stories, we had a talk. I told him how much it hurt me and how much I loved him and he responded by pointing to a picture of a rooster and babbling something. (The kid makes no sense). Then the next morning as soon as we reached daycare he couldn’t wait to get out of my arms again and reach for his teacher.

Everyone tells me it’s a phase but a large part of me feels guilty – for giving up on breastfeeding at 7 months, for no longer having Wednesdays off which means he spends more time in daycare than with me, for being busy whenever we are together – getting ready for daycare, cooking dinner, getting ready for bed.

… But one more possibility crossed my mind tonight. My eyes were hurting yesterday so I wore my glasses for the first time since I had Samuel (I usually wear contact lenses). Maybe Samuel didn’t like mummy in glasses.

Still, I made sure I spent more time with Samuel tonight. I put the laundry on after he had gone to bed, and we had frozen pizza for dinner so I didn’t have to cook and had more time to play. I think it worked a little bit. He was not afraid to come near me and we had a few moments of bonding over play food and wooden blocks.

Just to be safe, though, I’ll be putting my contact lenses back in tomorrow.

9 Favorite Photos Of 2009

It was difficult to narrow it down to nine, but I work well with limits. I also limited them to family/life favorites and landscape. OK, I still couldn’t limit it to nine, but I did my best. I’ll post client favorites soon.