And there were tears all around

Yesterday, the boys started daycare. T, of course, greeted school as an adventure. He ran off to play, barely noticed that I left, and even chose to stay for the afternoon when I came to get F at 12:30. He talked excitedly all evening about all the fun stuff he did at school and was super excited to go back this morning.

F's reaction was very different. He was completely happy as long as I sat on the floor with him (yesterday, 2 hours and today for an hour). If I so much as got up to walk across the room the waterworks started. After I got him down for his morning nap yesterday, I left him for about an hour and half. The teachers said that when he got up he was in a good mood and only cried a few times. So I guess that's good news. Today was much the same. I stayed for an hour today, because I have to leave to get a tooth filled (woohoo!). He was happily eating puffs when I kissed him on his fuzzy head and told him goodbye. The teachers distracted him, but he saw me leaving and the crying was loud and constant. :( When we got pregnant with F, I thought "well, he'll be almost a year when I start school." Of course, I expected another baby like T. T would have been totally OK with daycare at 10 months. F, not so much.

Yes, I know it's going to get better. Yes, I know school is the right thing for our family. Yes, I know it's only 3 days a week. None of those things stopped my tears or made it any easier. It makes the idea of just delaying school for a few more years seem very attractive. Is this actually the right decision?

Hooray!

The rate of circumcision of newborn baby boys has dropped to 32.5%, as of 2009.

A new marriage and old friends

The primary reason we were back in Oz this week was that one of Ry's best friends got married. We convinced the grandparents to watch the boys for 30 hours of uninterrupted, kid-free time with good friends. It was one of the most fun and certainly the most interesting weddings I've ever been to.We got all dolled up. We clean up pretty good I think.

E and his new wife are both of Israeli descent. The wedding was conducted in both Arabic and English by two Byzantine priests. It was beautiful, even if I didn't fully understand what was going on. The reception kicked off with these dancers. They were pretty impressive, especially when they brought out the swords a few minutes later.

We got to hang out with our friends, have a few drinks, eat delicious food and make merry.

And the table centerpieces shot fire. No, seriously.

E and N spent most of the reception dancing or lifted above the crowd, as they danced around them. It was a beautiful wedding, a beautiful day and a beautiful couple. I wish them the very happiest of marriages. Congratulations!

Holy Moley, He's Eating Pizza!

We had lunch with Ry's Mummu and Papa, who were traveling through Oz on their way home. They hadn't seen F since he was about 4 months old, and so were quite impressed with his ability to put food away. He had some blueberries and raspberries, some bread and then some pizza. Mummu kept mentioning what a good eater he was "A good Finn!" Then she looked over and said, "Holy Moley, he's eating pizza!" Quote of the day.The boys got along famously with their Great Mummu and Great Papa, and we had a great time catching up with them. As much as I love our home and our friends, I always get bummed that we don't live closer to our families. Still, we had a great visit.

Spelunking

Technically, we didn't spelunk. Our path was clearly laid out and lit, but we certainly felt like explorers when we went to visit Carlsbad Caverns last week.

We came prepared with good walking shoes and light jackets for the steep, wet trek into the caverns. I read this sign and giggled, saying to my mom "that's hilarious." The very earnest park ranger told me that the sign wasn't meant to be funny, it was meant to make you aware of the rigors associated with the walk. I was thoroughly chastened. Of course, every time I saw one of the rangers in the cavern I thought "We here at the Park Service have no sense of humor that we are aware of."

Even after the stern talk from the Park Ranger, we were excited to go.

This is the natural entrance to the caverns. It's crazy steep.

And this is the last glimpse of daylight from the cavern. They call it the Twlight Zone because a lot of animals get lured into the caverns only to fall to their deaths. It's a fairly full fossil record down there.

There were lots of interesting formations that would have looked more at home underwater than underground.

F was less than intrigued.

They also made really good use of lighting. This particular formation is call the Whale's Head because, well, because it looks like a whale's head.

My Uncle J was excellent with T. He let him look into all the nooks and crannies and helped him peek over the walls. T, for his part, is an outstanding spelunker. He whispered and walked slowly so he "didn't wake up the bats." He even had to remind us loud adults a few times.

F was sleeping or crying. But I guess you can't expect a 9 month old to get too excited about a big cave.

I highly recommend the Caverns. It's an otherworldly experience and one you're likely to remember for a long time.

9 month baby

Yesterday, F had his 9 month check up. As normal, he's, well, normal. He weighed in at 23 pounds, 3 ounces and was 30.5 inches long. That puts him in the 90th percentile for both. He also hit all of his developmental milestones (if barely), like waving bye bye and pulling up on the furniture. He has 5 teeth, eats everything we put in front of him and looooves his bath. He thinks his brother is uproariously funny and often gets in giggling fits just watching other people laugh.

He's a big, gorgeous, normal boy. I wouldn't have him any other way.

Highs and lows

Yesterday the boys and I flew from El Paso, TX to Philadelphia after our fun visit with family. I'll get some pictures of our trip up soon. My stepdad travels like crazy and he was able to get us first class tickets for the flight home. It rocked.

My mom flew the first leg with us. We had 4 first class seats between the 4 of us. They didn't serve a meal, since it was a short flight, but we got all the drinks we could drink and crazy lots of room to kid-wrangle.

Our second flight was over 3 hours. I was looking forward to it about as much as I'm looking forward to having my second cavity filled. While we only had 2 seats, they seemed huge. T and F both took a nap for the first 45 minutes of the flight, so I got to snuggle a baby, pat a boy and have a glass of white wine. (I figured I should at least partake of one free adult beverage in first class). Then we split a plate of pasta that the flight attendant had so helpfully saved for us. T was in little -boy heaven when the ice cream and caramel brownie came out for dessert. He played DS, I baby wrangled and we chatted for the rest of the flight. Both boys were complete angels. Our flight attendant and the nice folks sitting around us complimented the boys as we were leaving (one even gave a little round of applause!). It was a lovely time. I wish the boys were always such darlings.

Ry met us at the airport and we got home, got kiddos in bed and spent some time catching up. We didn't get into bed until midnight since I'm on mountain time at the moment. Then, around 3:30 am I was laid low with a nasty GI bug that kept me in the bathroom every 15 minutes for about 12 hours. So far I've kept down a glass of room-temperature Sprite today. I'm not pushing my luck, but did manage to get a shower when Ry took F to his 9 month check up. Thank God for my husband. I'm not sure how I would have gotten through today if he hadn't stayed home from work. Now I'm off to do some more re-cooperating.

Stunning

These pictures are some of the only known color pictures taken of Depression-era small towns and rural areas. They are breathtaking. Go take a look.

So funny, so wrong

4 Generations

That's me-age 30, F-age 9 months, GGJ-age 77, my mother-age 52, and T-age 3. It's pretty amazing, really.

8 Things: The I've been gone a long time edition

1. My Unlicensed Assistive Personnel course went beautifully. The boys loved being with their Mummu and Tantie. In fact, by the end of the 3 weeks, F would play with someone else even if I was in the same room. I couldn't have asked for a better transition for the boys. I think daycare will go much more smoothly because of their experience.

2. After 3 days in the hospital, helping people with baths, taking vital signs, feeding and caring for patients I feel even more convinced that I've chosen the right career (finally). I'm really looking forward to getting into the nuts and bolts of nursing.

3. I have decided that I will care for my parents at home for as long as humanly possible. I saw some sad stuff during my brief stay at the hospital.

4. That said, I also saw some great stuff. I want to be the 90-year-old lady I cared for who had us all in stitches.

5. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are awesome. That's all.

6. I'm really glad that nursing school is not 5 days a week. I went into serious kiddo withdrawal by the end of the first week. Three days a week is going to be the perfect balance of school and kiddo time.

7. A day after class was over and the family left, the boys and I got on an airplane to go and visit my Aunt, Uncle and Grandmother in NM. While both boys were very good, I still don't recommend the 2-on-1 flight to anyone any time soon. Thankfully, my mom met us at our layover and helped with the second flight, baggage claim and car rental.

8. We're having a great time, but that's a subject for another post. I promise it won't be another 3 weeks this time.