Let's start over...

So I think my last two blog posts have set kind of a negative tone for the new year.   Let's start over.  First, we'll go back to Christmas and remember the wonderful time we had at Grammy and Grandpa's house.  Ben was old enough this year to really get into making a gingerbread house with Grammy.  

And he loved sledding and making a snowman in grammy and grandpa's yard.  

So did Eliza Jane.  We took turns pulling her around the yard and she just laughed and laughed.  I know it looks like the children are under-dressed but it was at least 60 degrees outside and the snow was gone by the next day.    

So this was not our finest moment of the trip.  I think I was the one who suggested a group picture at the END of what was otherwise a lovely day at Mohonk. For that I am truly sorry and I humbly repent.  So yes, only half the group and perhaps some forced smiles.  But there you go.  We really did have a wonderful visit and were sorry to leave...

We are already looking forward to a visit from Grammy and Grandpa at the end of March.  Until then, we are enjoying the start of a new semester for me, a new, more structured and pre-school-like classroom for Benjamin at school, and a lighter schedule overall.  I truly feel like a more sane person after letting go of some responsibilities that had just become too much with the arrival of Eliza jane.  JB is taking the semester off of teaching, I am only teaching one class, and I'm no longer editor of the newsletter I was doing.  

So with this new schedule, we are finally getting to things like potty training and exercise!  We've been half-heartedly trying to get Benjamin to use the potty for a long while now, but after holiday travels we finally faced the fact that he was going to need a a much stronger push.  Benjamin is doing great with it now, and I am so sick of talking about all-things-bathroom that I will not bore you with the details any further.  

Exercise is important for me right now in a different way than it's been before I was a mom (which is basically the last time I exercised on an consistent level).  I think I am very conscious now that it is for my emotional health as much as my physical.   Even walking with the kids a few times a week in between the little cold spells we've been having gets my endorphin levels up and helps me recover from the hormone roller coaster I've been on since E Jane was born.  Walking is, I hope, just a start before getting back into jogging by myself, which is what I would really like to do. 

And now a little update on the girl herself:  Liza is turning out to be a very independent minded little one at 8 months old.  She knows what she wants and when I don't get it right, she let's me know.  I feel that this will go better when she can communicate her needs and desires verbally, so I am working on signs with her already--she can't do them yet, but she recognizes them and Benjamin really enjoys helping me teach them to her.  (He even came up with a few of his own from hand gestures he remembers from books we've read.  For the hand gesture most people use to mean "I don't know," he said, "And this is the sign for Knuffle Bunny!").  

Liza is starting to crawl, but is most interested in pulling herself up on anything and everything.  The look of victory on her face when she pulls up to her feet is a pure delight.  One of my favorite things right now is watching her move.  She usually has a little burst of creative energy right before bed time.  She'll often do things then that I've never seen her do before, and I love it when I can just sit down with her during that time to play with her and watch her explore.