Tuesday 29 May 2012

rebuilding old bridges

Yesterday I had such a good day that I forgot to write. Oh well, I think my favourite moment from Sunday was a three or four way tie anyway. Let's see if I can remember. There was:

-watching Isaac take almost every single item out of a box, exploring each one as he went
-making up with Sean after a fight
-Sean whispering to me when all three of us were in bed, "Isaac keeps licking me." Oh, that son of ours. Life will never be boring with him around.

Though yesterday was an all-around good day, I think my favourite moment was reading an email from an old friend from whom Sean and I had been kind of estranged. I won't go into details, but reconciliation and peace are beautiful things. It's no fun having someone out there who you think has some reason to resent you. It's great, on the other hand, to reconnect with someone to find that there are no hard feelings.

Sunday 27 May 2012

laundry

Strangely enough, my favourite moment from yesterday involved laundry. Laundry does not normally feature as a highlight of my day, but there you have it, anything is possible. Yesterday I got our week's worth of laundry done in three loads! Only three! Pretty exciting, eh?

I won't bore you with too many details about our laundry situation, but let's just say that Isaac, though he may be less than three feet tall, sure knows how to make a lot of laundry. Between his clothes, and my clothes, and sheets and blankets...you get the idea. Then, there's been the extra laundry that comes with moving and settling in. Sometimes it feels like it's never going to end. So, three loads...all I can say is wow.

Saturday 26 May 2012

riding

Yesterday's moment:

The car ride with Sean, Isaac peacefully conked out in the back. Just riding, talking, making fun of songs on the radio, hanging out with my best friend, happy that it's Friday.

Friday 25 May 2012

iced coffee

It's so satisfying to discover that you can make something at home just as well as they do in restaurants. Let's face it: we're not made of money. So when you can enjoy one of life's little luxuries without spending your retirement funds it feels pretty good.

We are having unheard of weather for May. Someone has decided to skip spring altogether this year and jump right into summer. We don't have air conditioning, and someone at some point decided it would be a good idea to paint most of the windows shut. So it's hot. I'd forgotten how in the summer everything just feels sticky. It's this kind of weather that has me craving frozen coffee drinks. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, and in the heat I don't enjoy my tea as much, so getting some cool, sweet drink from a cafe (or, with our budget, more likely Tim Horton's) just feels like such a treat.

The chaos of renovations and unpacking makes me want to treat myself more, but it also means that we're on a tighter budget so I'm really trying to rein myself in. Living in the city makes it all the more tempting as there are now coffee shops almost within arm's reach. Anyway, after a little online research I discovered that iced coffee is really very simple to make at home. Using the "cold brew" method I don't even have to get out my coffee maker. Hooray!

Yesterday I enjoyed my first cup of homemade iced coffee. Getting to experiment with my own blends and save money at the same time...well, let's just say it tastes pretty sweet.

Thursday 24 May 2012

little hands

Yesterday was a tough one. Isaac is cutting a tooth and was being somewhat of a crank-monster; we picked out paint for the kitchen, which stresses me out because it always seems like such a big decision, and it never turns out the way I think it will; and Sean FINALLY finished the trim in the bathroom (yay!). So as I was laying in bed I tried to decide on my favourite moment. Was it when Sean hung out with Isaac and I instead of getting work done on the house because he knew I was just about all babied out? Or was it the funny but slightly disturbing incident of Isaac trying to bite the bars of his crib (It was no easy task, let me tell you, but he was determined) as I was putting him to bed?

I had just about settled on the former moment when Isaac woke up. After nursing him, rocking him, carefully placing him back in his crib and oh-so-quietly sneaking out of the room, I buried myself back into bed. Five minutes later he woke up again. So back up I get, and repeat the soothing process. Once again I successfully sneak out of the room. This time I hadn't even hit the bed before he woke up again. It must have been the teething, because his mommy-radar was set on ultra sensitive last night.  

I decided to give up the dance and bring him into our bed. After some initial squirming he rolled over towards me and gently patted my face with those little baby hands as he fell asleep.

Now, to truly appreciate why this was my favourite moment of the day, you have to understand about Isaac's hands. They are not just sweetly-dimpled instruments with which he explores the world, they are also Claws of Terror. Claws of Terror that pinch and squeeze and scratch, and make their way up your nose with a force one would not have believed of something so small and chubby. So, last night, when those Claws of Terror transformed back into little searching hands that seemed to say, "Where are you Mama? I just want to make sure you're still near me," well, let's just say those are the moments that I want to hold onto.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

favourite moments

I've decided to try each day to find and write about a favourite moment. I know, I know, sometimes those kinds of blogs make me want to puke too. I'm not doing this to brag about my perfect life with my perfect family (cough cough); rather, I hope that taking the time each day to think of the good/funny/beautiful things that happen will help me find joy amid the frustrations of unpacking, organizing and renovations. It's more like an exercise in cheerfulness than anything else. 

So, here goes. My favourite moment of yesterday was Sean and Isaac forehead to forehead screaming at each other. This may sound odd but Isaac has entered a screaming phase lately (mostly happy screams). He is definitely determined to push his voice to its highest decibel. He has also been trying out different kinds of screams. There's the full-on shriek. Or a more throaty yell, with almost a hint of a growl. Or, one of my personal favourites, the puppy-like yelp. While this habit can be annoying (like today in the library) and more than a little grating on the ears, it's also pretty funny. Sometimes we scream back at him, and he thinks that's pretty cool. Hence, yesterday's moment: Sean and Isaac with their faces pressed close together screaming for the pure joy of it. I wish I had had a camera ready.