The Candrians Down Under

Breakfast

Many, many mornings I end up eating breakfast at the little red table with Michael. This morning it was Rob and the sight made me smile. Michael was alternating between bites and pushing Ella in the wagon, so she's only momentarily abandoned there.

Hockey Tourny

Rob is lucky now and then when his work is to play. Today his job was a diplomatic hockey tournament between the embassies of USA, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Canada. I find it kind of ironic to pick a game as rough as hockey to build diplomatic relations, but I guess everyone is probably just stocked to get to do something fun rather than the formal stuff.
Russia won.
Smalls, Ella and I had fun cheering them on.

He's not bored - it's just that took his flag waving duty pretty seriously and was really interested in the game.

Mugshot

Anyone else having trouble lately with blogger messing up high-def pics?

Happy Pi Day

Pi day made me think about the old college days when I would sit in the Talmage building at BYU and just sit and work on math all day long. I miss exercising my brain like that. One B.A. in math education, a year in a master's program, 8 years of teaching math, countless hours tutoring and doing math on my own "just for fun".....and now two babies later I wonder what I even remember and how long it will take to get it back once the occasion arises. What is it like for someone who has put their career on hold for many years while they raise kids and then suddenly try to get back into the game? Maybe I'd get back in the game okay now, but I wonder just how daunting it will feel in like 5 more years.

Also, I've been pondering the fact that even though I've taught math up to calculus, I still don't have a clue about how a little kid learns basic simple math. Right now Michael has a lot of interest in numbers and it makes me really happy to teach him. Today he wanted me to write out all the numbers to 100. But I am wondering if he is actually so interested in the numbers, or more that he is responding to my enthusiasm for it. My dad really loves math and I'm sure that influenced my own interest quite a bit. I always thought it was so much fun when he gave us kids little math riddles to figure out and I always enjoyed that way to connect with him. I really look forward to that sort of thing with my own kids.

Nike Air Jordan IV

This was Rob's birthday present this year. It was all he wanted.

When it comes to shoes, Rob and I definitely have role reversals from the stereotypical norm.

He has way more shoes than I do, and knows/cares about what is in style much more than I do. He says he has wanted this pair of Nike Air Jordans since 1989. In 1989 I think I was still pretty stoked about Payless canvas shoes. The Nike Air Jordan IV shoes been out of production and just got re-released in February, and were sold out online within 10 minutes.

Today he got a new pair of Toms in the mail. He ordered me some, too. He's always helping me out like that with my shoes and wardrobe.

Monday

One of my favorite things about where I live is the really really close access to many great running paths and trails. Another really great thing is that there is a nice track just down the street as well. I've almost always neglected it in favor of the trails, but recently I'm rediscovering my love for the track and hard intervals. Going hard in short bursts just feels so stinking good. I just love getting into that "hurts so good" zone with intervals. And since my goals are silly little ones, I love not really caring enough to go into the "hurts so bad" zone.

My run tonight had me getting dinner on a bit late. In the meanwhile, Smalls munched on some crayons. There were red and brown bits all over, so I think he spit them all out.

Same child told me today that he wants to ride a motorcycle.

Same child somehow ended up face down on the hardwood stairs today. Luckily not hurt too bad.

Ella. My dear little Ella. My sweet, peachy, good-natured, lovely little princess Ella is, well, still all those things. But also driving me batty. I don't think it is her cold - it's mostly better. I don't think it is teeth - I see no signs of them. It is much, much worse. It is an emerging will. Du-du-dum. She is getting a will. She is realizing she can move, that she can explore things, that she has desires other than milk. And today she had desires all day long. She's so interested in everything that she won't nap as much as she needs either. Any minute I was not directly involved in entertaining and walking her around and loving her to pieces, she was whining. Intervals of attention and fun no longer cut it. Dang. She's still lovely, but I guess whenever she is exceptionally needy it always throws me off guard. She's supposed to be the easy one.

Strawberry Sandwich

Strawberry, spinach, peanut-butter sandwich. Gotta love food that is as healthy as it is delicious as it is easy to make. Sometimes I cheat the healthy part and spread a little Nutella too, and then it is uber good.

For my tastes, it needs a good dense brown bread that's on the sweeter side. Toast it. Spread PB (and Nutella for a treat). Spread some defrosted frozen finely chopped spinach (I hope it's sold like that in the States. I discovered it here in Sweden. When it is hacked up really finely like a pesto it can be added to just about anything to boost the nutrition without being noticeable in the taste or texture.) Add strawberries and enjoy! Michael loves this almost as much as I do.

Today

Today started soon after I went to bed last night. Both kids are a little sick, coinciding nicely with Rob's work trip, so I pulled solo duty with getting up all night for both kids. Gotta love those Jack-in-the-Box kinda nights.

Today Michael told me he wanted to jump off the top of the house. I honestly have no idea how he got that in his head, except that he has been really into jumping off ever taller things these last few days. So I'm a little scared that it may have been an original idea.

Today Ella got really, really close to crawling. I'd say she did, but I'd be cheating. It was only a couple weeks ago that she hardly seemed to care at all about moving. Not till 7 months old did she even roll from her back to stomach for the first time. Now moving seems to be all she cares about and she's suddenly pretty whiny about wanting to get around.

Today Ella whined more than any other day in her life, I'm pretty sure. I think she just has a common cold - coughing, runny nose, low fever. But the lengthy sessions of whining got me wondering if I should take her in to the doc. But then she would seem perfectly fine and happy other times. Why is it that a kid will whine like they have the plague, but then you get them naked and suddenly they are chirping and giddy? For my kids, at least, nudity is like a cure-all. Or at least a good litmus test for if she's really awfully sick; just get her undressed and if she's still sad then I know to call the doctor.

Today I felt like I was cleaning all day long. Between Michael throwing up and having the runs (let's just say there were some silly fun accidents) and Ella's nose running like a fire hose and puking up from her coughing fits...well, shoot, what did people do before washing machines?!

Today I talked to Rob on the phone while he was waiting for his flight back home, and he told me that his day was pretty boring.

Today I exercised self restraint with sarcasm.

Today I built a pretty awesome train track with Michael.

Today I let Michael watch an entire full-length movie. I'm usually a t.v. nazi so this was big. Big on his part, too, because there have been a couple other times when I was going to let him watch a full movie (read - I NEEDED him to watch a full-length movie) and he always lost interest.

Today I felt a bit trapped with two sick kids and a missing husband, so I did a pretty great home-workout, complete with using Ella as a weight to add extra spice to boring old things like lunges, crunches, etc. I also did intervals of racing up and down our stairs (they run continuously from the 1st to the 3rd floor), and it was the best cardio I've ever done at home. Michael would have thought I was nuts if it weren't for the movie making him completely dead to the world. (Which is part of why I'm so leery of showing him too much of that stuff. And also why I wish I wasn't.)

Today was actually still a happy day. I'm sort of obsessed with my kids (obviously) and one of the best pieces of advice I've read was to not think about doing things for the little parasites, rather as doing with them. Even the not-so-glamorous stuff can still be turned into moments enjoyed together.

Try, try again

One of my favorite traits about Michael is his strong determination. Coupled with a 2 year old's need to explore his independence and a kid whose brain gets very fixated on specific scripts for how different events must play out, sometimes it feels like he borders on OCD.

Today's simple example was when it was time to leave the museum. Like many kids he always begs for "one last ______" before we can go. But if the "one last _____" doesn't go according to script, there will always be a meltdown until he can go back and do it again correctly. Today it was climbing up on a pole, pulling a rope, climbing down, then running fast down the ramp. On his run down the ramp there was a kid in the way who obstructed his clean line and made him scrub off speed to go around. Clearly, an unacceptable completion. He started having a fit as I tried to get him to put his shoes on, having a visceral need to go "try again" (one of his most repeated phrases). So I grant permission to go back to the top of the ramp and run down again. But, no, he can't just repeat step #4. He must go back through the entire long scenario, from step one, in order for his world to feel right. And it is pretty much always just like that.

Virtually any time he falls or messes up something and gets hurt, he always has to redo it. He never really considers that maybe it was a bad idea in the first place or perhaps out of his little 2-year-old league. Mostly I am proud. But also a little scared.
A good recent example was on yesterday's bike ride (on his little pedal-less Strider bike). He found a steep embankment that he wanted to ride down. It seemed a bit over his head (rather bumpy/weedy and steep), but it was only a couple meters long and I figured it was grass so I let him go at it. Of course, he totally biffed it. He cried for a second and then said through his whines "Michael try again!". So he went for round two. I tried to discretely place the bike at a spot where the embankment is a little shorter. But he is getting too astute for my tricks. He all but scoffed at my attempt to put it at a lower, easier place. Showing what he is made of, he got back on the bike and took it to a spot even higher than the original location.
On round two he almost made it, but ate grass again at the bottom. Fell a little worse this time and got all tangled up with the bike. But had he had enough? Course not. In fact, the very thing that calmed him down was expressing "Michael try again". (Gotta love how he refers to himself in third person.)
On the third attempt he took the bike to an even slightly taller section of the embankment. With zero hesitation he kicked himself off, lifted both his legs into the air and went for it with 100% commitment and an air of gusto. He made it like a pro. I'm fairly certain the owner of Strider Bikes is going to be signing him onto a contract soon.

From My Balcony

on a beautifully frosty morning.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

This has probably been Michael's favorite song for most of his life. He gets a little goofy singing it for the camera.
By the way, I hate to bail out on goals, but I think my blog-a-day for a month is kinda stupid and I'll probably bail out soon. Let's call it re-evaluation rather than quitting.

Citrus Pulled Pork Tacos

Made these tonight with some guacamole. So, so good. A nice refreshing flavor from a pretty simple recipe. And it involves a crockpot, which is my favorite way to cook cause it means I can make it in the morning and then stay out with the kids in the afternoon, right up to dinner time.

http://food52.com/recipes/15824_citrus_pulled_pork_tacos

Lorena and Rob

Yep, it's about me and him, too. I like us.

Didn't get any pics today (sorry, Joy, it's Rob's fault) so I'm digging into the archives from November.

Today I timed myself running a mile and it was way faster than I expected, without a serious effort till the last lap when I realized I was doing pretty good. It was 5:53. Almost exactly 6 months ago was the last time I ran at the track and I ran it in 5:55, but it was an all-out race effort (Rob and I were smack-talking and took it to the track. He won.). So, without any special training I improved greatly, considering this was not even close to race effort till the last lap. It means a lot to me because I really like training and goals and now I have one that I think I can do in not too long - beat Rob in the mile and beat my record when I raced in high school. Oh, I love having something like that to work on and smile about.
I told Rob my goal and now he doesn't want a rematch. Haha. But now I've blogged it so he has to. We are a competitive couple and I'm not afraid to admit that my training motivation is going to be run a mile faster than him.
I think running might be more of my thing than biking for these next couple years while my body is a baby factory - easier to do in less time, safer, easier to do while traveling, and events I can do that are nearby. Although decidedly less fun than biking....oh well....you win some, you lose some.

Rob's rebuttal:

I already beat Lorena at a 400m and a 1 mile race. I don't know why she wants to keep losing to me at running races. I think we have already established my dominance in these distances. Granted, if we did anything longer then a mile, my natural speed would probably be over taken by her dogged determination, but that is why I keep the distances short. Even if I beat her at a 5k, she would probably challenge me to a 10k, and if I beat her then, she would up it to a half marathon. Eventually we would be doing ultra-distances races, and frankly I don't even like running, so I think I will draw the line at the mile.