Hobbies and Kids Are Kinda Like Oil and Vinegar

Seriously.  It takes real effort and coordination (which I often lack) in order to find the time to do any of my pre-child hobbies.  After a year, I finally determined that the problem was that I had too many hobbies.  Simplifying would make it possible to focus and maybe actually spend some time on them.  And so it is that I find myself trying to play guitar and ride my bike as much as possible.  The bike has been both easy and difficult.  Easy in that we got a trailer for Tyler and hard in that I can’t get real exercise with him behind me.  But it’s been a good summer on 2 wheels when it hasn’t been 95+ degrees out.  Playing guitar has been immensely satisfying however.  At the beginning of the year, I bought an electric guitar so that I can play after Tyler goes to bed.  I also joined a band at work which has kept me on my toes trying to learn new songs.  It’s amazing how different solo acoustic playing is from electrified in a 4 piece band.  The best part is that Tyler seems to love both the bike and guitar as well.  Perhaps someday, the Dude will be enabling my hobbies!

Math 1-7

This week, Tyler was supposed to be spending a lot of time in the toddler room at school, in preparation for starting full-time next week. Monday, when I went to pick him up, neither he nor his stuff were in the infant room. Transition complete. Huh? I wasn’t prepared for that, but apparently he was!

Now, I get notes from the teachers that say things like “practical life skills – scooping sand”, “excellent cup work” and “math 1-7″. Does that mean he can count to 7?

In Which I Proclaim My Love of Sleep

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written.  Luckily the reason is primarily because life has been so good recently.  Oh and busy.  Probably more busy than good, but given my propensity for focusing on the negative at times, I figure we can lead off with the good this once.

The crazy thing to me is how fast time is flying.  Tyler is getting bigger and bigger every day.  I can no understand when people say “don’t blink or they’ll be headed to college”.  Within the next month, Tyler will be transitioning to the “toddler” room at school/daycare.  He has a few verbal words such as “cheese” and “hi”.  He has about 10 signs including “please”, “daddy”, “mommy”, “more”, “milk”, “cheese” and the ubiquitous “give me that thing that I’m pointing at post-haste!”  While our little baby is developing more and more boy-like traits, it is quite exhilarating to be able to communicate with him!

Unfortunately, he’s begun to develop a disturbing habit.  Starting around midnight and recurring every 20 minutes or so, he will start screaming and we’ll find him standing up in his crib.  We can usually just lay him back down to gain our precious 20 minutes of peace.  I suppose we’re lucky that he only continues this until about 3am or so.  We’re still trying to figure out what the problem is, but it turns out that the brain isn’t quite as responsive at that time in the…uhh…morning.  Maybe it’s teething or growing pains or sleep walking/standing.  Whatever it is, I hope it goes away and never, ever returns.  Because it turns out that I really like sleep.

At long last…

I’ve been feeling almost like myself for several months now, and it is wonderful!  Everything is finally healed up nicely, and I’m so happy to be able to enjoy my life again.

On Memorial Day, I went for a run for the first time since I was 6 months pregnant.

We’ve been to two Rockies games with my mom this season.

In June, Ed, Tyler and I went to Aspen for a week.  We did some hiking, and I was even able to wear Tyler on my back.  See the waist strap?  A far cry from 6 months ago when it was too painful to wear pants without an elastic waist.

The first week of July, I went on my first business trip in almost three years.  Madrid.  Wouldn’t want to start off slowly with, say, a two hour flight to San Francisco.  I did get to experience Spain during the revelry of the World Cup.  I took this video just outside my hotel the night of the semi-final match.

Only a couple of weeks from the one year mark, since the surgery, things are finally going well.  There is no more pain.  There is some maintenance, but only about 30 minutes twice a week (a far cry from when I was spending 2-3 hours every day changing bandages).  I’m still weaning off my medications, and I still see doctors every 2 months, but there is good progression toward an end.  I may never be “normal” again, but I don’t feel limited, anymore.

Next hurdle… swimming.  The YMCA just put in a new pool, and Tyler LOVES the water :)

Catching Up on Videos

Months of fun with Tyler and the video camera :)

My little Jedi Knight.

Sharing food is (apparently) the funniest thing ever.

Who knew that you can take dainty bites with only two teeth (both on the bottom).

Lots of birthday video.  These are long, so don’t feel obligated to endure (personally, I think they are pretty cute!)

At home with Mom and Dad on Tyler’s first birthday.

Tyler’s big birthday bash.

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