Last week wasn’t the relaxing time I was hoping for. Ironically, though, I think I got the rejuvenation I needed from my annual work retreat, which took place Monday. It’s a full day of working. I never work a full day, so you would think it would wear me out. But it’s strategic planning, and I thrive on that. And I love my coworkers and would hang out with every one of them just for fun…which is basically what the retreat feels like to me. Add to those factors that a full day in a meeting means a full day of my wonderful mother taking care of my kids, and you can see how I might leave work feeling refreshed.
Noah is 11 months old. He says “Hi”, and mimics the sound and action of my kisses (you know, that exaggerated “mmmm-muah!” sound you make with little ones). He will be walking on his own any day now. Last week he started taking his first steps holding hands, and this week he loves to do it, and balances by himself a few seconds at a time. He has a temper. He gets angry when he is disciplined, and when I set him on the floor and he prefers to be held he slumps right over with his head on the floor between his legs and hollers. It’s ridiculous, and I like it.
Aria talks nonstop. Like, nonstop. I get overwhelmed by it at least once a day. She speaks in full sentences now, and I love to hear how her mind works. She likes to be a helper, priding herself on “my do it for you!”. She loves to read. Every night she takes a book to bed with her and looks at the pictures until she falls asleep. She is becoming very familiar with her many books in that way, and sometimes she “reads” them to me by narrating what she focuses on in the pictures.
Last Saturday I took the kids in a pool for the first time. Aria didn’t want to get in at first, and Noah found the water too cold. I helped Noah slowly adjust, and then he happily floated around in a baby floaty for more than an hour. Aria eventually decided it was safe to get in a raft, with her shoes on (they’re waterproof). Then she decided on a more exposed raft. Then the water, with her Puddlejumper and shoes on (they had to come off, though, because it turns out they float) and her uncle holding her. Honestly, I think the appeal of hanging out with Uncle Dave is what got her in the water. She adores him. After lots of going back and forth between me, Dave, and the rafts, she ended up quite comfortable in the water. By the time we got out she was blowing bubbles and letting go of me to float on her own. I was proud of her. Unfortunately, we were all in the water, so I don’t have any pictures.
The Tony Awards aired Sunday, and Hugh Jackman took the opportunity to remind us all why he is universally loved. His secret? He has no ego. (Okay, yes, the fact he is phenomenally talented and ridiculously good-looking doesn’t hurt.) How many superstars can you name who would agree to do this? And he doesn’t just do it. As with everything else he undertakes, he nails it. (CBS must be keeping a tight reign on YouTube, because theirs is the only video of this I could find, and it’s bad. Sorry about that.)
