Christmas Wagon

 This is the best wagon ever.  Not just a little red wagon, but an all-terrain, steel-based, wooden-sided riding and pulling machine.  It was delivered to our house from Grammy and Grandpa Wilson right before we left for NY, and it was all put together under the tree when we got home.  A friend who was staying at the house put it together for us--what a treat!





One of the many new things Benjamin has learned in the last month is how to talk on the phone.  He holds the phone up, as in the picture above, and makes human-like inflections into the phone.  He carries around our old cell phones and talks all the time.  I think this is one of those things I wouldn't have approved of before I had a baby.  But it's either let him have his own or deal with the screams when he sees me with mine.   We do make compromises.

JB took him on a walk around the block in his wagon this morning.  He is a proud little boy.

Today we are recovering from our Northern journey.  More to come...

Christmas in October

What a truly strange year when the Christmas tree is up and the fall foliage is in full array.  In NY this would be mid-October and here it is mid-December.  And so warm we're wearing our spring clothes.  

B has enjoyed the christmas tree, especially, as you can see in the picture below, Eggbert the talking egg who figured large in our childhood Christmases.  Benjamin will get to meet Eggbert this year in NY.   I remember loving the Christmas display with Eggbert at Devitt's.  A giant talking Christmas egg may be a little scary for B.  Maybe it should be scary for all of us.  

To back track just a bit, I don't think I posted any thanksgiving pictures.  Have I said how much I enjoyed hosting our first Thanksgiving at home?  I loved it.  Friends came over and contributed much, and we ate and hung out at the house ALL DAY.  We had live music in the house all afternoon.  And a rousing game of Settlers later in the night.  We have enjoyed our other Thanksgivings with family, but there is something special about hosting the meal at our house and cooking in preparation for our own feast.  Loved it.  

And the fool-proof pie recipe (secret ingredient: vodka) was excellent.  I will be using it from now on.  

After such a brilliant day, you can imagine the let-down when both JB and Benjamin sick (like days of throwing up sick) in overlapping succession the week after Thanksgiving.  It was bad.  Took Benjamin-to-the-doctor bad. Once Benjamin was on the mend, I realized how emotionally exhausting it is to have a sick child.  Even though I was not sick myself, I did not have capacity to teach Sunday school for the pre-schoolers like I was supposed to that week.  I prepared for it, and had it all planned out, and then Sunday came along and I just couldn't do it.  I am very thankful for the people who were ready to take over for me on a moment's notice.  

Ah nap time.  Let's hope B sleeps just a few more minutes.  The pictures in this post have nothing to do with the post itself.  They are just a few I took of Benjamin on our trip to San Francisco, a month ago now:  arriving at the SF airport, "drinking coffee" at Philz, posing with "our" mural in Balmy alley, and walking the soggy grass at Golden Gate park.  

But that is ancient history.  I am thankful this week for getting to work for two whole days on my own writing and research.  JB's mom came down for a few days to watch Benjamin so I could meet a journal deadline.  I cannot express in words how much I appreciate her ability and willingness to do that!  The best way to get to know someone is to spend a few solid days in his or her company; I think Sarah and Benjamin certainly got better acquainted.      

At this time last year, I don't think I was ready to get back into my own writing/research work again.  I don't know if it was dissertation burnout or my inability to multi-task (i.e. watch a baby and do anything else), but I was not ready and I did not know if I would ever be ready again.  This week I was excited to be editing part of my dissertation to send out to a journal for publication.  I am relieved that I haven't lost the desire to write about literature.  Which is good because I have also committed to presenting a paper at a conference in March, so I have to keep working (hi Stephanie!).  

So today, B and I are getting re-acquainted.  After doing my own work, whether it be teaching, lesson planning, writing, putting together a newsletter (which I need to be doing this week...), I always feel more energized to do the other work this life demands:  grocery shopping, menu planning, yogurt making, laundry, baby minding.  All of which I did this morning.  I kind of feel like patting myself on the back.  

Leaf pictures ...

Here's a little pre-thanksgiving post.  Has it really been a month since my last one?  Hmm.  

The leaves are finally falling from the trees here in Waco.  I guess the drought and the late heat slowed them down.  We still have basil growing in the garden!   

Above is our nod to the requisite baby-in-the-leaves picture.  He didn't actually like being in the middle of the leaf pile very much--he wanted to keep moving.  

With his gator!  His clicky-clacky alligator (a birthday gift from Aunt Amy) clacks along behind him all around the house and up and down the driveway. The last picture below is too blurry, but it gives you a sense of speed, I think.  He still falls quite a bit, but he is able to pick himself back up and get going again pretty reliably too.  

And tomorrow...Benjamin's second Thanksgiving.  And our first Thanksgiving hosting at our house.  We'll have a group of 10 tomorrow for dinner, and everyone is bringing something, so instead of frantically making pies and stuffing tonight, we are going to watch a little something on TV.   JB is going to get up early to start smoking our turkey, and I'm going to get started on making apple pie with a new "foolproof" pie crust recipe.  We'll see.  

I am thinking of all of those specific people who I know will be reading this blog entry in the next few days, and I am thankful that you are in my life.  Far away as we are . . . Love from Waco!  

Don't just skip to the end of this post for the exciting news!

Benjamin's first birthday was almost two weeks ago now, and I'm just getting around to posting pictures.  In my defense, a few things.  The day after B's birthday, we had a little house concert in our backyard, so birthday party planning lead right into music party planning.  I thought a lot about having both in one weekend and decided that with enough preparation, I could do it and still have fun at both events.  I was right.  The birthday was low key, and I had at least a month to work on the concert, so I did actually enjoy being with our friends and family celebrating Benjamin and making and listening to music.   

For the week after the party, I was preparing to take my child with me to San Francisco without JB for a church related event.  Our friend Gabriela accompanied us on this trip, so I didn't feel completely like a single parent for the weekend in SF, but when Benjamin was crying in the middle of the night and tossing and turning all night when I finally let him sleep in the bed with me, I felt pretty alone.  Please don't misunderstand me:  I loved San Francisco.  We were staying in the Mission District with all of its interesting murals, coffee shops, and restaurants.  We took long walks viewing beautiful architecture, admiring gardens with lemon and orange trees, and finding absolutely exquisite coffee on every other street corner.  

But I don't think I would try to travel again with a one year old and without JB. 

On the way home I was thinking many virtuous thoughts about how much I appreciate JB's daily contribution to raising Benjamin.  And then a day after we got back, JB threw his back out and I felt once again like a single parent.  After a couple of days home from work and a few prescription muscle relaxers later, he's feeling a lot better, but it was a rough couple of days for all of us.   

So, yes, I'm just now getting to pictures.  First, above, a classic birthday picture of a child enjoying a cardboard box more than his birthday gifts.  Indeed.  He did love the box.  

I think Benjamin had a very special first birthday.  I only wish his Wilson side of the family had been able to be there to celebrate.  Benjamin's Smith grandparents were here, however, and he had fun drumming on granddad's cajon, a spanish drum, and playing his new glockenspiel with his grandmommy.  JB made us a grand feast of smoked meat for a birthday dinner, and we had lovely weather for eating outside on the back porch.  B gobbled down sweet potato fries like they were candy.  Our small group from church joined us to celebrate with cake after dinner.    

The cake is supposed to be in the shape of a monkey (or a gibbon).  It didn't turn out perfectly, but I really had fun doing it.  That was the extent of the party theme, folks.  A gibbon cake.  And gibbon faces from father and son.   

We had fun opening gifts from the Wilson grandparents the next day.  I love it when birthday celebrations last for days.   

And now, a reward for those of you who stuck with this entry to the end (or skipped to the end):  Benjamin Henry is walking!  He took a few steps last week right after his birthday.  Until this weekend, he kept taking just a few steps between me and JB, but then at the Dallas airport, on the way home to Waco, just after we learned that our flight to Waco had been cancelled, Benjamin suddenly decided to walk from me over to some friendly strangers in the waiting area.  And today he really took off.  He pushed my hand away when I tried to grab it this evening, and just walked clear across the room, squealing with delight the whole way.  As JB was rehearsing downstairs for playing at Farm day this weekend, I was following B around as he walked in and out of each bedroom, just so pleased with himself.  Every time he fell he pulled himself up and got going again.  What an amazing sight to see your child walk with confidence and pleasure for the first time!  

Here's our newborn with his little cone head, one year ago today.  The memories of that day are so vivid for me that is hard to believe that a year has passed.  On the other hand, the memories of difficult times with Benjamin over the last year are also quite vivid, and those memories remind me of how long the year has seemed at times.  So today marks one year of being out of the womb for B and the one year anniversary of the experience of giving birth for me.  I have spent so much time processing that experience this year that it does seem like a milestone for me as well as for Benjamin.  I think I can finally say that I would go through it again.  Someday.  Don't get excited.

I think the next picture is from Benjamin at 4 months?   And then below we have our one year old with a classic Benjamin face:  all scrunched up like a rabbit and making a whizzing sound with his mouth and nose.   He does this especially when he sees something he wants, and in this picture I'm pretty sure it's me that he sees.  At one year old, Benjamin has discovered separation anxiety.  He still gets excited to see daddy, but if I'm in the room, he has to be with me.  Sweet, but also exhausting.




At one year, we can start to see Benjamin's personality starting to come out.  He is a happy child, pretty laid-back, and filled with curiosity and wonder.  Even his separation anxiety is not very bad--I've seen MUCH worse.  He loves to be around people and does well with strangers and other babies.  So far, he doesn't seem too fazed by a crowd, but does have his limits.  His mischievous streak comes out when he finds stairs to climb and thinks that he is climbing away from me.  He squeals with delight when I "chase" him up the stairs.  Brazos brings out this side of him too.  He plays a little game with the dog that has something to do with taunting her with his toys.

At one year, Benjamin is going through an amazing period of transition to being a toddler.  Sometimes he still looks so much like a baby and then sometimes when he looks at me I see a sense of recognition, a knowledge of the world around him that makes him look like a little boy. One minute he is crying to be held, and the next he smiles proudly as he walks holding on to our fingers.  He fumbles and throws things around and then he turns blocks in his hands and stacks them with a amazing deftness.  In the morning he fusses and acts like he doesn't understand anything, and in the afternoon he says "bye-bye" and "bebe" for baby and "da" for dog and "da-da" for daddy.  He constantly surprises me when I try to teach him a sign and he learns it or give him a command like "put the duck in the cup" and he does it.

I can't wait for you to see him this year!

A little getaway

I can't wait to do a little post about Benjamin's first birthday on Friday.  But in the mean time, a few good pictures of our almost-one-year-old B.  He is almost walking and likes to toddle around holding onto fingers.  

We had a little getaway to Houston this past weekend to visit some friends who used to live in Waco and to attend a family wedding.  Benjamin loved playing with our friends' children (and all of their toys--especially the dolls!) and we loved getting to relax and catch up with our friends, eat good food, and share our musical .... eccentricities?   Is that fair to say?  And by "our" I mean the husband-folk.  What are the chances that two people anywhere will both own (and try to play) accordions?  

Benjamin loved the music, and also enjoyed the swing in their backyard:  

We had fun dressing Benjamin up for the wedding the next day.  I think he liked dressing up--and all of the attention that came along with it.  I guess we all liked getting dressed up.  We don't do it very often.  

More on Friday.  B is waking up from his nap and doesn't sound too happy.  

I'm thinking about the old home place this week.  Here are a few things that remind me of my family in NY.  One is this old sewing table made out of a HEAVY iron (?) sewing machine from who knows when.  Mom's mom, the grandfather I never met, made it into a table, if I'm remembering right.  It traveled down to Texas with me early in my grad school career and I've lugged it around with me ever since.  HEAVY.  Now Benjamin pulls up on it and gets closer every day to pulling the plants down.  Meanwhile I'm trying to figure out where else to put them... 

Looking at the picture again, I remember that the crate he is leaning on and the chair behind the table also made the long journey from my parents' basement to my various Texas homes.  

In the picture below, mom painted the picture of a caterpillar that hangs in Benjamin's room.  Right now he's more interested in The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  But I look forward to the day when Benjamin points to the picture and we can make the connection between the two caterpillars and talk about his grammy together.  

We read him stories here every night before he goes to sleep.  It's a pleasant little scene isn't it?  

The Rooster Stage

JB and B in gardens with White Rock Lake in back 

This past weekend, Benjamin has started to crow like a rooster.  When he talks, a kind of cock-a-doodle-do sound comes out of his mouth.  JB thinks it is funny. I'm going to send him to live with the chickens down the street.  

Grandmommy and Grandad Smith got to enjoy Benjamin's crowing this weekend during a spontaneous trip to Dallas.  JB's cousin just happens to be house-sitting for some people with a spiffy house and in-ground pool in the heart of Dallas.  They want their house to look lived in--so we lived in it!

We spent much of the first really nice end-of-summer weekend outdoors.  Sunday morning Benjamin climbed on the giant toad fountains at the Dallas arboretum and botanical gardens as daddy and grandad discussed the names and relative merits of the ferns, salvias, and sweet potato vines along the way.  What a truly beautiful, magical place the arboretum is.  As we walked through the lush, colorful landscaping, I couldn't help but think of the dry brown fields and dying trees we passed on the drive up to Dallas from Waco.  In a NY botanical garden I wouldn't think as much about the hard work and constant attention it takes to maintain such an oasis, but in Texas during a long hard drought, the beauty of such a place almost makes me want to weep.  I know it must take an outrageous amount of water to maintain the arboretum, but until watering the flowers means not enough water for people to drink, I think an oasis of green like this helps keep us Texans sane.

Thanks to grandmom and grandad, mum and dad also got to explore Dallas by themselves for a few hours.  We took the Dart into downtown dallas and walked the ghost-town arts district.  The sculpture center and art museum were full of patrons, but walking further down to the brand new performing arts center, the crowds disappeared.  There is just nothing around there to do when there is no show playing.  Great architecture and fancy sculptures are not enough to attract the crowds when there is not a coffee shop, restaurant, or ice cream place in sight.  The crowds were all at the newly renovated mockingbird station, where we found a replica "Irish" pub right there next to the rail station.  A circle of 15 musicians were playing some leisurely Irish tunes while couples and families sipped their Guinness and iced tea.  Right there a couple of stories up from the highway in Dallas, Texas.

In the Poetry Garden 

The food was good this weekend, as usual when we are out with the Smiths.  Benjamin had his first Ethiopian food (Bethany did too, for that matter).  The spongy injera bread was perfect for him.  And he thought this lemon at the Flying Fish was pretty good too.  It kept him occupied while the rest of us ate oysters and fish tacos before heading home to Waco.  

On our way out of Dallas we stopped at Half Price books to get some more board books for B.  Since I started this post talking about roosters, I will end by talking about the Little Red Hen.  Is anyone else even a little disturbed by the lesson of this tale?  I was reading it to him in the store, and when I got to the last page, I turned the book over to see if I a page was missing.   On the last page the little Red Hen eats her bread and butter by herself under a tree as the pig, sheep, and mouse who didn't help make it look on in dismay.  Responding to selfishness with her own selfishness?  How about the pig, the mouse, and the sheep (or whatever) realize the error of their ways and bring some jam and tea to offer the hen so they can all have a picnic together? 

Needless to say, I didn't buy the book.  I'm keeping my eye out a more ethical re-telling of the little red hen.  In the mean time, I'll keep sharing my bread with our own selfish little rooster.   

All this week, I had been trying to figure out  why I was so unmotivated to write a blog entry.  As I was talking on the phone with Stephanie, she mentioned the blog, and I realized that I imagine my blog audience to be primarily my family, and I've seen my family so recently (and they've seen all my pictures).  We were in NY for a wonderful visit the first week in August.

JB and I enjoyed lots of time to get out without baby with so many willing (insisting) babysitters around.  It was thrilling and relaxing to have so many people around who love him as much as we do.  I only wish life had worked out so we could be closer.

But we especially enjoyed our time in the outdoors, with and without B.  As you can see on the pics above, they have green grass in NY--and they don't water it.  (I don't want to think about how much of our water bill has gone to keeping our grass greenish in TX this summer.)   We got to go hiking and biking and swimming in the mountains and we took a great trip to the city with Sara and Sean.  A perfect day in the city:  MOMA, nice dinner at a sidewalk table, a good play, and perfect timing on trains and cabs.  More about NY if and when I get some more pictures that we took with my parents' camera.

The Smith grandparents came for a visit not too long after our NY trip.  Sara and Hank gave me a chance to get ready for my class this semester by watching Benjamin in the afternoons.  I wasn't staying up late every night to finish my syllabus for a new class because of them--what a relief!

We're kind of pictured out after vacation, but JB took a few pictures of Brazos the other day for some sort of teaching  illustration he was doing for his Journalism class.  Isn't this a great mid-air shot?

So classes have started again for both of us. As much as I enjoyed my freedom from school this summer, I'm glad to be back to teaching part time.  I'm teaching Brit Lit for the first time, so I've been catching up on my Chaucer lately.   I'm no Chaucer expert, but it was fun to see the delight in my students faces yesterday as they learned they could decipher Middle English poetry.  The class went great except for three things:  the sweat dripping down my leg as I walked into class in a new skirt,  the furtive head-shaking and blank stares I received when I held up the anthology I expected them to have for class, and the lack of internet connection in the classroom.   Everything did or will work out, but I am still peeved that I can't get an internet connection in a building on campus.  This makes no sense to me.  

On a happier note, some Benjamin 10 month milestones:  turning pages of books on his own, holding up a cloth on his own to play peekaboo, starting to wave bye-bye, climbing stairs, recognizing and even saying da-da and maybe ma-ma, recognizing works and phrases we say regularly like milk, bath, brazos.  And the beginnings of separation anxiety.  

Portrait with Baby and Vegetables

Just a few pictures of little B from this past week.  We grew all three little veggies in the above picture.  

Two pictures below are B's new favorite game:  acrobatics with his father.  It's safer than it looks I'm sure.  And of course a picture from Ellen's visit (lala on another blog).  We were honored with two visits on her Great Southern Tour of 2011.   Of course Benjamin decided to take an epic nap right before her second visit, so this picture is from the 15 minutes that they actually spent together after he woke up.  Why are epic naps always so ILL-TIMED??  It was nice to be able to spend the time with Ellen by myself though.  

Sigh.  I love visitors.  

Ready to go

I tried to tell him that we're not going for a few weeks yet, but Benjamin is just so excited to see his grandparents, Aunties Sara and Karen, and other friends.  He is so eager he's climbing up onto and into the suitcase.

Actually, I took the suitcase out specifically for him to climb on.  This morning we lowered his crib after I found him standing up in a precarious position when I went in to check on him at 6:30.  Poor Benjamin is quite good at getting up, but doesn't know how to get down.

The suitcase will probably still be out by the time we leave for NY at the end of July.  We are all looking forward to seeing the Wilson side of the family--and getting out of the Texas heat.  I hope you are picking blueberries for us up there!