Wednesday, January 28, 2015

To Summarize

Hello Internet! Have you missed me? Actually, don't answer that.

I've been away. There have been so many things that have happened, almost all of them good, but things, you know? They eat into the available time.

A few months ago we kicked off this new thing called having a social life! It's awesome! I highly recommend it.

As new parents, we alternated between a lot of We're-Too-Tired-For-This-Shit and Adorable-Family-Togetherness. We seem to have hit a sweet spot where we are more rested and can therefore stand an occasional night of revelry. Considering the hassle of finding a babysitter and then having to pay them, we've just been having game nights at our house after Mr. Man goes to bed. If you haven't already done so, get yourself some friends (preferably those without small children so they don't have to pay a babysitter either), some Cards Against Humanity, and some alcohol. Just resign yourself to the fact that alcohol + reduced sleep (you know you're still getting up absurdly early, damn kids!) will make you feel like crap. It's totally worth it...once in a while.

It finally happened! We met some baby friends! Parents who are similar to us and have kids near Mr. Man's age. And they are smart and believe in science and breastfeed/babywear/cloth diaper/hippy stuff just like us! We've had more playdates in the past month then all of Mr. Man's life. One of these playdates even included snowshoeing and a winter picnic under a stand of cedars. Pretty cool, right?! R and I are very stoked.

Of course, there were the holidays, which were a blast with a little guy who is so easily fascinated: lights! trees inside! toys! more lights! There was much revelry and spoiling of the toddler.

Mr. Man also talks now. Like, seriously, with words and often whole sentences. It is so fascinating to get insight into what your toddler is thinking about and remembers! He talks about things that happened days, even weeks ago. He asks for specific things (sometimes not so awesome as, I'm sure you know, toddlers are tyrants). He really likes being naked and talks about that way more than it actually happens. My favorite so far came about when we told him he was going to take a bath: Mama see, Daddy see, Mr. Man naked boy!*

*Obviously he said his real name and not Mr. Man. Don't want you to think I'd lie about something so important.

The baby monitor has become my new favorite thing. I love hearing him talk to himself before he falls asleep. Except when he's being a [insert obscenity] and decides to yell "Uh Oh!" or "Drink!" or "Book!" or other toddler sleep diversion technique. You don't need the monitor for that.

Also, Mission Lazy Pants is in full effect. In an effort to be more consistent about our exercise, R and I bought a chalk board for our room and are tracking our workouts. I also am tracking how much I walk the dog because I have been horribly neglectful. So far so good. We can sometimes get a good workout with wintery sports like snowboarding, sledding (Yes, that's exercise. Don't believe me? Go put on all your heaviest clothes and walk up a hill one million times while carrying 20+ wiggling pounds of toddler), and snowshoeing, though all the snow is heading to the wrong side of the country this year and mostly we've had rain. The rest of our workouts are at the gym.**

**Pro-tip, I only let myself read my new kindle book while working out.

OH, and I am trying to plan my garden. We've learned some things (like Aspens grow faster than you imagine and will shade your garden) about gardening in the last couple years. I'm going to try and use that knowledge for the power of Good, and Right, and Vegetables!

Okay, I realize that this is just a laundry list of things that have happened. Not nearly as entertaining as you deserve. I promise better quality, if not frequency, in the future. I just had to spit all this out on a page. Bits of life on a page, you know?