I did roughly 800 loads of laundry on Saturday, Jon and I cleaned and ran a bunch of errands, we got to hang out and relax as a family AND we were able to see good friends that we haven't caught up with in months due to super-busy-third-year-med-student-don't-even-think-about-governing-your-own-schedule schedules.
Three things from this weekend are worth noting:
1. Our son is 11 months old today!
2. Yesterday marked David's first ride in a wagon (video forthcoming). For our little boy, life is sweetest outside, in a wagon, with buddy Miranda, being pulled around the block by Uncle Keith.
3. Today was David's first trip to a pumpkin patch! Cue pictures!
These are our friends, Wyatt, Ryan and Margie. They suggested that we get together at the pumpkin patch--a fabulous suggestion.
There was a corn pit! This was the first time any of us had ever seen one--so neat!
Wyatt showing David how to traverse the corn pit.
David, not as enthusiastic about le corn pit...
"There's corn EVERYWHERE! Will someone please take me out of here now?!"
Oooh, and then we went on a hay ride! Second only to the wagon ride, life is pretty sweet sitting on a bale of hay while getting pulled around by a giant tractor. Plus, Jenn was wearing her most pumpkin patchy shirt. Like being held by a picnic:)
I know he looks skeptical, but he really did enjoy it. Lots of "oooh!" ing and pointing at plants and scarecrows and butterflies.
Change of scenery--sitting with dad, mid "ooh."
There was also a hay maze (next to the corn pit)! Perfect place to explore.
Walking to dad in tiny green cords:)
Practiced some more walking in the grass by the pumpkins. T-Rex posture.
Step...
Step, step, step!
I was quick enough to snap this photo, but not quite quick enough to keep the dirt out of his mouth... He is a little boy.
Ok, I know that two in a row just looks reckless, but he started out by trying to push the wheel barrow, and then discovered that the handles would be perfect for chewing. Too cute not to photograph.
This place was beautiful. By the end of the day it had gotten a little muggy, which is why our son looks discontent, but we all had a great time AND we found the perfect pumpkins to grace our porch!
Its funny, everyone tells you that when you have children, "everything changes." Admittedly, I put this in the same column as the wonderful advice of, "get as much sleep as you can now." That is to say, the 'of course' column. Now, nearly 10 and half months later, I can say that I have absolutely been changed by becoming a Dad. For example:
The other day my Dad sent me a song that he said I should listen to as it regarded fatherhood. The song is called The Walk by Sawyer Brown. I wasn't able to listen to it that day, until finally this afternoon while in the midst of hanging out with my son that I remembered the email was waiting for us. So David and I pulled up the song and pressed play.
The first thing that struck me was: Man I've heard this before. Turns out, it is a song that my Dad used to play often when I myself was a kid. I remembered the song well, but had never paid attention to the lyrics. I listened along, and realized how profoundly my life has been changed by my son David. I noticed motion to my left and looked over at my son:
Not only was he listening to the music, but he was dancing along. I want to thank you Dad for sending me this song, it brought back amazing memories of childhood with you. I greatly enjoyed the walk with you, and look forward to the walk with David everyday.
As I watched my son dance, its hard to describe exactly what I felt at that moment. I leaned over, scooped him up, and told him how much I love him. It was at this point that, out of nowhere, a piece of dust flew up and into my eye.
Fact: I can last about three days on sub-standard sleep before I begin damaging myself.
This is a threshold that I suspected in high school and confirmed in college. Now, as I wife and mom, I just try to minimize the damage.
Our poor kiddo has been sick all week (talk about sub-standard sleep--he has been such a trooper), and Jon has to work nights this week for his OB rotation, so we've all been struggling with both quality and quantity of rest. In the last seven days, I've managed to:
Slice my finger with a paring knife (this is the first time I've ever cut my fingers in the kitchen, ever);
Bruise both hips (I'm still trying to figure that one out... I'm pretty sure there were two separate incidents);
Whack the outer part of my right elbow on a fire alarm at the pediatrician's office;
Whack the inner part of my right elbow on something else angular at home (I can't recall what it was);
Drop the baby monitor on my left foot;
and the piece de resistance--I very nearly crashed into the crib after tripping over the glider ottoman in the baby's room the other night when I went in to feed him...
Nine years of ballet--I'm convinced I would have broken something by now had I not had that kind of training.
All of this said, I don't think I'll need to wear mittens or use circles of paper with safety pencils at work, I just need to move a little more intentionally. A tired, hurried Jenn is a clumsy Jenn, but a tired, deliberate Jenn keeps her fingers intact.
*When I Googled "clumsy" for some inspirado for this post, the first link I stumbled (ha!) upon was a youtube video of Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. I watched for one minute and twelve seconds before deciding three things: 1. That's not the kind of clumsy I'm talking about... 2. The song is like a virus and I'll likely be humming the first minute and twelve seconds of it for the rest of the weekend; 3. I bet she could help it if she too were more deliberate.
