5 year old checkup

M has his 5 year old checkup this afternoon. For some reason, it is making me kind of excited and sad all at the same time. During this visit, he will be getting shots for kindergarten which suddenly makes it quite real that my baby is going to kindergarten in the fall. And I'm wondering where has the time gone?

It feels like just yesterday we were coming home from the hospital - Matthew was in his little white onesie which at newborn size was way too big b/c he was SO small. He had his Pooh hat on and it was cold, so we were worried about keeping him warm enough. I think Brian drove 5 mph home the entire way from the hospital and I sat in the back with M. The next few days are a haze of no sleep, repeat doctor's visits for his jaundice and absolute joy that he was here. Now, I look at him - he can pour his own milk into a cup, get himself dressed and even likes to help cook his own breakfast when we have time. Where has the time gone?

I think I have been a pretty "in tune" Mom - aware that he will grow too fast and trying to seize every opportunity to experience each age with him. (Except for a good part of his 2's after Colin died when I feel like I missed out on probably more than I know. But, I don't want to know b/c that makes thinking of that time even more painful than it already is.) Yet, in spite of my awareness, things still slip through, I'm sure.

I just want to freeze him right now sometimes - young enough that he still turns to me when he is sad or hurt or feeling bad. Young enough that he likes to cuddle in my lap and read books and will still sometimes let me give him kisses and big bear hugs. I know in the not too distant future, I will watch him pull away and have to let him go. He is growing up and I need to let him do that. And, part of me is excited to see the wonderful young man I know he will become. I see glimpses of it showing through the little kid he is now. But, there is a part of me that mourns each of these milestones, knowing that I will not ever see this time again, but at the same time happy to watch him growing and maturing into such a wonderful person.

Smooth Hair

It is kind of interesting to see how things change. I spent most of my childhood wishing for curly hair - and eating bread crusts to make this come true. As a tangential comment here - it was a) uncool of my parents to lie about this and b) sort of silly to do anyway b/c as everyone knows the crusts aren't any healthier than the rest of the bread. As a result M has never been forced to eat a crust in his life b/c really who cares??

Anyway, back to the curly hair. I wanted it. I didn't have it. Now my handsome son comes along with beautiful blond wavy hair and the one thing he would like to change about himself? His hair. He wants his hair to be "smooth" which I think means flat. He will put water on his head and pat it down trying to make it "smooth". In fact this morning when we got to school he looked and me and said (accusingly) "Why do you always forget to make my hair smooth?" And, this got me thinking. I don't make his hair smooth b/c I love his wavy hair. I think it looks great! It is the hair I always wanted. But, I realized today that I have to respect his opinions, especially about himself. If he wants smooth hair, he should be allowed to have smooth hair - or at least as "smooth" as we can get it. So, starting tomorrow I will dutifully smooth down his beautiful hair when he asks me to - and I won't even tell him he has to eat bread crusts in order for that to happen.

M the Chef

M received a kids' cookbook for Christmas from our good friend Aunt S. I have to admit that my first thought was "oh goodness what was she thinking!" b/c it is a Paula Deen cookbook and I find Paula really, really annoying. However the cookbook itself is great - lots of good info on table manners and how to set a table, etc at the front. And then, the recipes are fab for kids. Well, M has become quite enamored with this cookbook. He would make his own breakfast, lunch and dinner out of it if I let him. Last night we made "bullseyes" for dinner (bread with a hole cut out and an egg fried in the middle). He is Mr. Rules anyway, so he gets very particular with me if I don't follow the recipe exactly. He can read the recipe so he is constantly double checking me to make sure I followed the rules. For example, it called for a circle cutter, but I only had a heart shaped cutter for cutting out the bread. After some intense debate (either use the heart or we don't make these, was the basic gist) he agreed to use the heart. Then I tried to eat the cut out heart from the bread. The following exchange ensued:
M: You can't eat that!!
TG: Why not?
M: We need it for the recipe.
TG: No, it is just extra, we can eat it.
M: Does the cookbook SAY it is extra and you can eat it?
TG: Well, no, I just know.
M: (studies the cookbook intently) It doesn't say it is extra, you can't eat it.
TG: Fine... (I know my parents would both be chuckling at this payback of stubborness for sure)

I come from a long line of cooks - I remember fondly cooking with my Nana and my mom as a kid and always enjoyed it. I also took 3 years of gourmet cooking class in high school (over my mom's objections - she wanted me to take sewing - I had to point that out yet again, mom! Of course, had I taken sewing I could have made him his own apron instead of relying on Nanny to do so, but hey that is what Nannys are for!) I love to cook - it is both a creative process and fun for me. So, it thrills me that he loves cooking so much. I'm not particularly good at playing transformers or super heroes and it is exciting to have something to do together that is fun for both of us.

As I continue to struggle with our "decision/circumstance/fate" to have an only child, I try to find joy in all the things that are so great about having "just" one child. Cooking together is definitely one of those things. I think that I would be much less inclined to throw my dinner plans to the wind and let M cook whatever he wanted if I were chasing 2 little people around the house. I also couldn't just jaunt off to the grocery store to purchase the missing ingredients for monkey bread or some other fun delight if I had to take into account other people's naps, etc. (Besides my own, of course).

I think that next week I might pull out the Cooking Around the World cookbook for kids that was mine when I was little. We have could have some great fun with that!!

What a Day!

Wow! What a great, inspiring day! In lieu of actually being in DC, B and I tried to travel on down to the Civil Rights Museum to watch the inauguration but it was filled to capacity by the time we arrived. They turned away so many people, it is too bad that they couldn't have put the big screens outside where more could have watched the inauguration. There was a very nattily attired older black gentleman who got turned away and I felt really bad for him. I'm sure this is an amazing day for him and it is a shame that he couldn't watch with others at such an historic location.

I'm very excited for the change I hope will come in this new administration. I'm hopeful that we can mend fences with other countries and rekindle past alliances.

I think that M was more excited about Obama becoming president than he was about the snow flurries this morning and that is saying something! Can't wait to pick him up from school and watch the recorded inauguration with him. What with Barack Obama and his favorite cellist Yo Yo Ma both being on there, he will be very happy! See, even small people can feel the excitement of change that is in the air.

I have the sweetest son

I try really hard to keep work holidays as family time - easier said than done since my office is in my home and I sometimes have a hard time resisting the pull of work email...

This morning, we had pancakes for breakfast at M's request. He helped make the pancake batter and at one point I looked over and he was blowing kisses into the bowl. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm just adding some love." After they were ready, I put the pancakes on the table and M looked at me and said "Thanks Mommy for making such a great breakfast" and then gave me a kiss and hug - isn't that sweet?

While cleaning up, I was listening to some oldies on my iPod and the song "Life Could Be a Dream" came on - M looked at me and said "Hey that song is from the Cars movie." I chuckled to myself thinking that the song has been around way longer than the movie, as I'm pretty sure that I first heard it as a child on an 8 track in my dad's Sirroco and it was already old then :-) As I type this blog entry, I am listening to him in the background singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." I guess he has oldies on the brain. Now I need to work on his 80s repertoire.

Disney

So, we just arrived home from our family trip to Disney World and what a great, but exhausting trip it was!! We stayed on site at the Wilderness Lodge - a very cool hotel designed to look like the National Park lodges that one would have found in the 20s and 30s. The lobby was open to all 6+ stories and had giant totem poles and teepee chandeliers. It also had a replica of the Old Faithful geyser - a fact that B and I found way more exciting than M did.

We hit all the parks and have to say that Animal Kingdom was the least favorite. There weren't many rides that were 5 year old friendly, although the dino dig pit was a hit! The safari was fun too - we got to see lots of animals on the ride. M really loved the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We got to "meet" Lightning McQueen and Mater (CARS movie) and Buzz Lightyear and Woody (Toy Story) at the Studios. They also had a very cool Star Wars ride and a fun 4-D Toy Story ride - both huge hits! At the Magic Kingdom, M really liked the Buzz Lightyear ride where you shoot lasers at targets and It's A Small World. On the 3rd or 4th time on IASW, I finally realized why he kept asking to ride the ride - he really was smitten with the little Hawaiian hula dancers in the ride. He also enjoyed meeting the characters and has a very full autograph book.

At Epcot, we had a blast on Soarin' - a simulator ride that is like hang-gliding over the state of California. M and B also really loved that ride. Made us all want to travel to California on our next trip. M also liked the belly dancer we saw in the World Showcase - you should have seen the smile on his face when he was watching her!!

The one character he really wanted to meet was Robin Hood, but I asked several "cast members" and was told that they didn't have RH anymore - bummer. On our very last day, we were sitting on the Magic Kingdom train pulling out of the station when I looked back and there was ROBIN HOOD! At that point we just had to ride all the way around (about a 20 min ride) and I was so nervous that he wouldn't be there by the time we made it back. But, our luck held out and M got to meet Robin Hood, Friar Tuck and Prince John. Robin Hood was great and spent lots of time with M. When M met Prince John, he told him "You should be a nice prince!" It was really cute.

I really enjoyed experiencing Disney through M's eyes - he just thought it was all so magical. Except that he pointed out to me on Day 2 that he could see the zippers on the back of the characters' costumes and they didn't speak so he had figured that they were not the real characters - too smart for his own good sometimes... I also really enjoyed being able to devote my entire attention to doing Disney with him - when he was tired we went back to the hotel and when he wanted to do something, that was what we did b/c for the most part B and I didn't have any pressing agenda items to cover. It made for a fun and mostly tear free trip.

On Saturday M asked if we could please return to Disney tomorrow. For now, he'll just have to live with the memories. He is still singing the songs from the Hoop-De-Doo Revue dinner show we attended. I think that he had a great time!

And, finally, my wonderful husband, B, actually thanked me for planning the vacation when we returned home and told me what a great time he had. Isn't he great?

Welcome!

Okay, finally getting caught up with the 21st century and starting a blog for our friends/family to follow us on our latest and greatest adventures. We are a family of 3 who loves to travel and have "adventures" both close to home and far away. B and I both love to travel - we've been to Paris, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Puerto Vallarta and some great US escapes together. Since M joined the party almost 5 years ago (yikes!) our family travels tend to stay closer to home, but I do have the kiddie passport ready to go so we can travel at a moment's notice. M has been to several great locations including Seattle, Asheville (pronounced Ash-uh-ville by M) and Nashville (Nash-uh-ville). He has played guitar on the stage at Ryman Auditorium and took a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine in the mountains of North Carolina. We also enjoy going to music festivals and other festivals closer to home. Since we live in Memphis, we have lots of great options for music practically right outside our door. Some family favorites are the Hill Country Blues Picnic in Potts Camp, MS and the Folk & Heritage Festival downtown in Memphis. Our most recent adventure took us to the "happiest place on earth" - Disney World.

Mom duties are calling me - more on our latest trip later on.