Playful Rooted

I was laminating moon phase cards for kindergarten this morning while watching Parks and Rec, my go-to for mindless background entertainment while I’m doing something else. I can currently hear normally only out of my left ear, while the right sounds like I’m under water. Every noise I hear is both muffled and tinged with a metallic clang – the result of a recent sinus infection which led to Eustachian tube dysfunction. It’s… awful. Miserable! This happened to me once before, about 10 years ago, and I had to have a myringotomy, which I assume I’m destined for again as nothing has helped. My balance is off, my cognition is slower, I don’t feel like myself AT ALL. And unlike a decade ago, I now have three kids talking to me all day, and they somehow expect me to reply, as well as, like… do stuff for them. The nerve!

I was feeling pretty badly for myself when I heard (in half-under-water fashion) Chris Traeger say on the show:

“Someone has a slug infestation? Boy, oh boy, we live interesting lives, filled with unexpected challenges. Life is precious, and every day is a miracle.”

Yes, he’s a ridiculous, unbelievable optimist, and this is no slug infestation, but I suppose it’s still true. What an interesting challenge this is! And when it’s over and I can hear normally again, I’ll appreciate having my hearing so much more. Life is a gift, even when it kind of sucks.

Kid Updates!

Pria

I wrote a post on Pria’s first birthday, and I’ve been sitting on it for a month, but guys, it led me down such a horrible anxiety spiral and so I’m ultimately scrapping it. Things are going really well at the moment, but looking back on that difficult, lonely, desperate first year was just too much, and I don’t need to revisit it, at least not without a licensed therapist and a comfy couch.

But she’s now 13 months and it’s amazing.

She is becoming SO much fun and such a joy to have around. Ben and I have both noticed her unique personality starting to emerge, and it’s the BEST. I’ve always said the greatest thing about having multiple kids is how different they are; I absolutely love getting to know them as individuals with their own strengths, challenges, and interests. I’ve also decided that kids are WAY better than babies. 😉 Even easy babies are so hard, and Pria… yeah, she was not an easy baby. She’s still a baby in many ways, but she’s turning a big corner and becoming such a little person. It rules.

Sawyer

Sawyer turned three!! MY BABY BOY. He is absolutely obsessed with being three and it’s so, so cute. Any time he sees a group of three items or even the number three, he says, “three like me!” If there’s ever a question of whether he can do something or understand something, he gets all obstinate and throws his little hands on his hips while shouting, “I’m THREE, you know!” Because three-year-olds can do it all, obviously. Honestly? I hated this age with Luca, and maybe I just have more perspective now, but with Sawyer it has been totally delightful.

Sawyer has started holding his own in complicated conversations, which is so cool, and he can sing along to the whole Encanto soundtrack – my favorite! He fills every day with so much humor, creativity, blatant honesty, pure joy, and the besssst snuggles. No one snuggles like Sawyer! Most days, he is the brightest light in our family. I am enamored!

Luca

Luca started kindergarten! We’re doing part homeschool and part in-person enrichment. He goes once a week to a great program which gives him the benefit of all the fun parts of school – having a teacher and a class full of kids, field trips, art and music classes, recess, packing his lunch, etc. – while skipping the not-so-great parts, like chaotic early mornings, sitting at a desk all day every day, and being tied to someone else’s schedule. He was so, so nervous to start his enrichment program, but at the end of his first day, he jumped in the car and said, “Mom, I do NOT want to go home!” 🙂 I’m thrilled that he loves it so much, and I’m excited to see his new friendships blossom.

I’m equally excited about homeschool and the joy of relaxed mornings, long days of playing outside with siblings and friends, and the opportunity to tailor lessons to his learning style and level. Luca is at a kindergarten level for math, but he already reads at a second-grade level. While he would definitely thrive in kindergarten math, he would be totally bored sitting there learning about letter sounds when he can already read chapter books.

It is SUCH a challenge choosing homeschool curriculum when there are so many programs out there, but I’ve chosen to do Wild Math (K) and Wild Reading (2) this year and see how it goes. Last year, we went through the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and we had massive success with that; over the summer, we did the program Handwriting Without Tears and it was great as well. I feel like we have a pretty good foundation for these new programs, and I’m excited to see how he progresses this year. The most abundant advice I’ve received both from experienced homeschooling friends and the community at large is not to plan too much (either because your kid will inevitably hate the curriculum you’ve picked OR you’ll over-schedule yourself and burn out early). So we’re keeping it super simple and just seeing where the wind takes us.

Unpopular Opinion

I hated this book that everyone loved, but I jumped at the chance to go see the movie with one of my good friends simply for a night out of the house. I didn’t think I could hate the movie more than I hated the book, but look at that! I did. Anyone else? Just me? Cool.

Other Bad Books

The School for Good Mothers held promise for me as some dystopian-society escapism while waiting for the new season of Handmaid’s to drop. It was equally bleak, and it did hold my attention, but the ending was terrible and I was angry with myself for wasting the many hours it took me to read it.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was disappointing in the worst way because I LOVED the author’s other book, Daisy Jones and the Six. Her new book sounds rough if your least favorite parts of Harry Potter are the descriptions of Quidditch matches (raises hand). Hard pass from me.

I’ve been reading a bunch of Elin Hilderbrand’s novels lately when I need something b r e e z y and uncomplicated, which is often, these days. Of course none of them counts as great literature, though I did particularly enjoy Golden Girl. The rest are, well. Pretty bad. But easy reading!

Good Things

I sprained my ankle in the car accident we had back in May, and it was a tricky summer without being able to do a lot of my favorite activities. Happily, I recently graduated from physical therapy and my ankle feels, if not perfect, much more stable. Cheers to my physical therapist and all those who devote their careers to helping others through hard times; I hope to do the same in some capacity, someday.

Need kid feeding inspo? Min from MJ and Hungryman is the BEST at delivering solid, nutritious, kid-friendly recipes. Min is such a sweet person, and I followed her for years on Instagram before I left; we’ve had a few brief conversations, and I just love her. She always has great advice and consistently creates awesome recipes that cater to kids’ unique nutritional requirements. Right now, I’m loving her lunchbox packing tips – AND I’m glad I don’t have to do this every day! 😉

The thing you didn’t know you needed: this pasta drainer has changed pasta night for me. No more colander (aka, one more thing I have to hand wash). Clip this on your pasta pot. Drain water. Unclip and throw in the dishwasher. Finite. Jazz hands.

A VERY sweet show on Apple TV, Trying just wrapped its third season, and I loved it. It’s honest and funny and sad and happy and all the real things. And each episode is only half an hour, which is all the time I have to devote to TV these days. Ben and I started the new Jurassic World movie last week; I only wanted to watch it for the Laura Dern factor, so about 15 minutes into the (very stupid) movie, we realized we should abandon ship and just rewatch Jurassic Park. Which we tried to do last night. We made it to the classic “hold onto your butts,” and then I fell asleep.

Installments. That’s how we watch things in this phase of life. Installments.

xo!