You can call me Anal

When we send emails at school, part of the name of the sender pops up in the recipients inbox. Well, since my name is listed as Analisa, what pops up is Anal. A male colleague pointed this out to me a couple of years ago (rather gleefully I might add) and then spent the rest of the year finding examples of how I really am rather anal. He didn't have to look too far.

I'll admit, there are some things I am way more anal about than others. My classroom for example. But, then again, I don't know a single teacher that isn't a bit of a control freak about their classroom. I think I might be a touch more over the top. Of course I think that because I've been told, and teased, about it.

Now that Aliza is going to day care and suddenly I am a Parent interacting with Teachers, my anal nature is kicking into high gear. I think it is something to do with being a teacher myself. I know those parents that get talked about. The ones that don't hand in field trip permission slips so you have to call, and email, and threaten to get it. The ones who send their kid to school with Doritos every. single. day. The ones who let their kid bring in a grenade to school for show and tell. (Yes, that happened to me last year, it was empty of powder but still, who sends their kid to school with a grenade in this post-Columbine, post-9/11 day and age?!) I don't want to be THAT parent.

So far I have handed in all paperwork in a timely manner. I have been responsible about tuition and careful about signing Aliza in and out. But where I have gone over the top is her food. For some reason, sending her to "school "with breakfast, lunch and two snacks really threw me into a panic. That's a whole lot of food and all of it has to be healthy! And, because I'm me, I want most of it to be homemade. So, what did I do? Why, I'm Anal. I printed out a calender and started writing down what she'd bring each day to day care. Over the top? Perhaps. But I've already gotten a compliment on my banana pancakes from her teacher. So I'm really not THAT parent.
At least not yet.

Favorite summer photo

15 month stats and some firsts

Aliza had her 15 month check up recently. Here are her stats:

Height: 30 7/8 inches (70th percentile)

Weight: 20 lbs 15 1/4 oz (25th percentile)

Head: 46.7 inches

The doctor mentioned that most kids are walking by 15 months, which made Russ and I worry a bit. She's a fantastic crawler, and she walks hanging on to things, or people, but she hasn't actually taken those first steps on her own. Needless to say, we are walking all over the place even more than we were before the visit and encouraging all of her efforts.

The doctor also noticed that she has a breast bud developing on her right side. She said many kids outgrow it, but she wants to check in with Aliza in six weeks. I decided not to worry until I have something to worry about. All that aside, the doctor was incredibly impressed when Aliza pointed to the counter in the exam room and very clearly said "yellow". And when I started rattling off all of the other words she was saying the doctor couldn't scribble fast enough to keep up with me. I swear she learns and speaks at least one new word a day and it is astonishing.

She's also experienced several new first recently. All captured in pictures, of course!

First day going to "school" and being left there (only for a little over an hour, but still!)

Celebrating a (somewhat) successful first day of "school" with a banana milkshake. (Clearly she is her mama's daughter, it was hard to get her to share this with me!)

Using crayons for the first time! (She's going to use markers at daycare, and the doctor asked how she did manipulating crayons, so I decided that it was time she had some of her own!)

And, eating chocolate pudding for the first time! I think more of it wound up ON her than in her mouth, but she sure had fun trying it out!

Finally, a video of my chatty girl. She normally holds the phone up to her ear and says hello but, of course, because I was videotaping she didn't. But you can hear her say hello several times. And you can see her pushing the button to make the phone pager work- another one of her favorite tricks. Plus, she looks really darned cute in her messy morning hair and her I heart Daddy jammies.

33

I have about ten different posts waiting to be written. I am not even exaggerating here....there's the one about all of the various funny faces Aliza makes, with pictures to match that are guaranteed to make you smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside even if you don't know me personally. Then there is the post about all of Aliza's words and how amazing it is to watch her learn new things. Then there is the post about our trip to the zoo which was just so ridiculously fun, again, with pictures to match. Then there is the post about how we are starting to transition Aliza into daycare and OH MY GOD I'm a little nervous about it and my teacher side and my mommy side are at war. Then there is the post about how school is starting and somehow I've managed to do nothing to prepare, and I do mean nothing. Then there is the post about my law class and all the things I've learned like how I could have TOTALLY sued a prior parent for libel and how teachers really are pretend parents, even the courts call us that-legally and all! Then there's the post about the zip line adventure we went on, that's right I went zip lining with my dad, sister and brother and it was fun and scary and exhilerating and amusing. Then there's the post---well, I think you are getting the point so I'll move on.


This post isn't about any of that. This post is about me. Actually, this post is about my birthday, which is today. That's right, today I turned thirty three.


I'm not one to set much store by age. I mean, what does it even mean anymore when someone says "you don't look ____ (fill in an age here). OK, I'll admit, some ages have bothered me a bit. Thirty-one for example. For some reason, I was fine with thirty, but when thirty-one hit, it hit hard. Thirty-three doesn't much bother me.

Except.

Except it seems kinda, I don't know, mature.

Do you ever have those moments? Those moments where you look around and think, "How did I get here?"


The other day I was walking with Aliza. Thinking about the amazing summer we have had together. How fun it is to watch her, talk to her,, play with her, be with her. How cool it is that she is so much in my world now and I can't imagine living without her. How much I love that I can picture her so clearly in my mind when I am away from her. What a lucky parent I am to have this amazing little miracle in my life. And I started thinking about our house, and my husband, and my daughter and my job.

And I realized- this is IT.

This is MY life. I've arrived. I'm at adulthood. I'm a homeowner with a mortgage and it doesn't matter that I have no idea how to make my flowers grow in my yard without killing them, or what to do about the peeling paint on our deck, or how to sand and refinish all of our old, old doors. It's OUR home now, so we have to figure that out. Just like our parents did. And I'm a parent. And it doesn't matter that sometimes I get so scared for Aliza that I want to wrap her in my arms and hang on tight and not let the world in to hurt her. It doesn't matter that there is no manual, no right way, to raise a kid. She's OUR daughter, so we have to figure it out as we go. Just like our parents did. And I'm a teacher-soon-to-be-administrator. It doesn't matter that I feel like it was just yesterday that it was my first year and I was, and still am sometimes, scared and overwhelmed and concerned that I am not doing enough. It's MY job. So I have to figure it out. Just like my parents did. This. This is MY life.

And this life? Well, it doesn't seem to get any better than this.


I'll take thirty three. With open arms and a smile on my face. With my heart full to bursting with the blessings I have in my husband, my daughter, my parents- both set, my siblings- both sets, a roof over my head, a job I love and days filled with sunshine and discovery.

I'll take thirty three. Gladly.

Eggsactly

I ran to the grocery store today while Aliza was napping. Usually when I go to the grocery store I have a list. I have a list and very specific meals in mind and I buy just what I need and then I leave. Well, I'm on summer vacation still so there was no list. Which meant I was dashing through the store, trying to hurry home before Aliza woke up, and grabbing everything I could remember. Including the random things that I knew we needed. Like toothpaste (which I remembered). And butter (also remembered). And Bisquick (also remembered....and as an aside, there is a recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for chicken fingers. If you are so inclined you should try them, Aliza loves them. Come to think of it, so does Russ). And bleach (which I forgot....ah well...).
So I was rushing.
Then I picked a checkout where there was a bagger, but, of course, as soon as I get there, the bagger leaves. The check out girl was nice. And chatty. And I chatted and bagged and looked at the clock wondering if Aliza was awake or not.....
And I rushed out the door.
Once I got to my car I realized something.
The eggs.
The eggs were sitting on the top part of the cart. The part where Aliza normally sits when she comes with me. And on top of the eggs was my purse. Hiding the eggs.
I didn't pay for the eggs.
For half a second, I thought, "I have to get home, Aliza must be awake by now, I didn't tell Russ what to give her for lunch, they are probably both freaking out....it's just eggs, who cares, no one even knows......"
And then I realized- that would be stealing. Eggs or something pricier. Known or not. Still stealing. I've never stolen anything in my whole life and I sure was not about to start now. Not as an (almost) thirty-three year old mother. What kind of example would that be setting for my daughter? OK, OK, she wasn't with me and even if she was, she wouldn't understand but still. Still. When she's older and she asks me "Mom, did you ever steal?" I can tell her this story and end it with a definitive "No, I never did."
So, I parked my carriage and headed back into my local Stop and Shop. Pondering weighty questions, like "Do I go to the same check out and explain the situation? Do I go to a different one? Will the check out girl even care that I came back inside? Who will notice me walking into a store carrying the eggs? Should I have brought my receipt in? If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, does it still make a sound? Which came first- the chicken or the egg?"
As I contemplated, I strolled in and saw that the nearest check out- a self-checkout-was completely empty. I brought my eggs over, scanned, bagged, paid and walked out.
No one was the wiser.
But I knew.
I knew that I am not a thief.
And, in this story at least, the eggs came first.

Aquarium

Friday dawned rainy and gusty. Over breakfast Russ and I were discussing what we should do with our day. Russ mentioned that we had talked about taking Aliza to the Aquarium, so, just like that, we decided to go.
Aliza likes animals. She can make all sorts of animal noises; including a cat, monkey and elephant. (As an aside, her monkey face is the cutest darned thing and one of these days I have to capture it on video.) I knew she'd love the aquarium and I wasn't wrong. She spent the entire time we were there pointing and staring at everything around her.
We started at the Beluga whale:

And then moved on to the sea lion (Aliza roared when we told her the name of the animal.)

We saw some penguins and then moved indoors to check out the various tanks. She seemed to like the sharks:

But she also liked watching the fish:

The crab didn't seem to impress her much- I think she was confused because it wasn't red the way it is in all of her books:

She was even a brave little girl who held a star fish and (tried) to touch a sting ray:

As Russ put it; when you go the Aquarium as a kid, you think it's a fun day....it isn't until you become a parent that you realize that the parents are having the most fun!

Overheard

During a walk with Aliza:


Aliza: "Stop sign!" (OK, she doesn't clearly enunciate the words stop sign, but she gets two syllables out that vaguely resemble stop and sign and I know what she means, even if no one else does.)


Me: "Stop sign!"
Pause.
Me: "S.T.O.P. spells stop!"
Pause.
Me: "That's a red octagon."
Pause.
Me: "An octagon has eight sides. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8."
Pause.
Me: "Just like an octopus has eight legs."
Pause.
Me: "That's because oct- means eight."


(Sometimes, I'll even throw in there that the main character in the book she likes to read in her bath is a blue octopus.)

See what I mean when I say she has no chance at slacking off in school?

Intrinsically geeky

Hello, my name is Lisa and I'm a geek.

I just started my new class for grad school. (Check out the book I'm reading for it in my sidebar. The title alone should give you a hint as to how exciting the class actually is.) The day before class was to begin I went to Staples to buy a new binder and notebook. I actually got excited about my new binder. It's got fun polka dots all over it and my notebook coordinates nicely. I got home and packed my school bag, making sure I had pens and pencils, post its, highlighters and my new binder and notebook.

Driving to class I was even more excited....see, I LOVE being in school. I love the whole act of sitting in a classroom; listening to a professor, reading professional texts, having discussions with classmates.....I love the whole process. I even like homework. Oh sure, I'll grumble about it, but secretly, I don't so much mind. I am the kind of student that throws herself into her work. It comes from not being "book" smart. Growing up, I had to work hard for my good grades. I learned quickly that I had to study for tests, I had to highlight in my books and I had to take careful notes in class. That's how I work and, lucky for me, I began enjoying all of those things.

As a teacher, I often see kids who are intrinsically motivated to learn. They are the kids that try hard all the time. They get their work done and do extra. They hand in their homework fully completed every day. They never slack off. And then there are the others. The ones who try, sometimes. The ones who maybe have a favorite subject that they work hard in but then they slack off in the other subjects. The students who, no matter how hard you try to reach them, just won't push themselves. The students who are not intrinsically motivated to DO their best. BE their best.

Now that I'm a parent, I wonder more and more often what those parents of those intrinsically motivated kids do. How do parents get their children to love school? To work hard? I also wonder what kind of student Aliza will be. With two teachers as parents the poor girl doesn't have much choice I suppose....I hope that someday, Aliza will be just as excited about going to class as I am now. That she loves learning as much as I do. I hope that she truly is that which I strive to help all of my students to be: a lifelong learner.

Thought for the day

There are few things better
In this world.....
Then hearing Aliza's
Little girl voice
Calling out--

Mama.

Neigh

At only one year old Aliza is, officially, a clothes horse. I finally had time to go through her cabinets and closets and organize all of her 12 month clothes. It took me a solid hour folks. She's one. Thanks to her Nonna, and Grams and super cute hand me downs from her two cousins, she has more clothes than I think she could possibly wear.

Here's her cabinet: long pants and shorts up top, coordinated outfits below. (As an aside, the coordinated outfits really needed to be organized after her Daddy got her dressed one day. He put her in flower pants and a polk a dot shirt and didn't understand why that didn't work. Now, if the need arises again, he can just pull out a ready-made outfit!)

T-shirts, then short sleeve onesies:

These are one piece outfits (also helpful for Daddy). Are you noticing that every drawer is filled to the top?Her overflowing dresser: (I haven't even washed and organized all of her 18 month stuff yet!)

Did I also mention she has a closet? That is filled with so many cute dresses and sweaters that she has to start wearing them before she outgrows them!

I think, perhaps, she's got more than enough clothes!

Fantastic Fourth

OK, I know the Fourth of July was well over a week ago now, but I have been too busy playing outside to post pictures. So here they are- belated, but cute! We went down to the beach house Saturday and then headed over to my mom's house Sunday. Aliza had a lot of fun:
Playing in the special pool her Grams and Gramps bought her:Climbing trees:

Watching the parade go by:

Playing with the beads she got:

Eating ice cream at front beach:

Going on her very first boat ride:

Then heading to her Nonna and Grosspapa's house to enjoy some yummy food and some more time playing outside. Uncle Michael made a surprise appearance and Aliza had fun seeing him, although I think she enjoyed the chicken Nonna made even more:

All in all, it was a fantastic holiday weekend!

Closing a chapter

This week was a momentous one in this educator's household. Actually, Monday night was a momentous night.
I finally weaned Aliza.

Let me back up a little here....when Aliza was born I was determined to nurse her for a full year. I didn't expect it to be the easiest thing in the world, but I also didn't expect it to be all that difficult either. I was right on both counts. Nursing is easy in some respects: no bottles to prepare and warm up, no expensive formulas to buy and keep on hand, nothing to lug around with me when I went places.....but it is also difficult: waking in the night while your husband sleeps on peacefully, leaving breakfast, lunch, dinner, parties etc to nurse, not being able to drink or eat certain foods, carrying around a pumping back pack, finding places to pump, disinfecting pumping equipment, and so on.....

I asked around and discovered that no one my age nursed their children. No. One. This still surprises me to this day. I loved nursing Aliza. Even in the middle of the night. Everything about it felt natural, and right, and good.

At the same time, I hated pumping. HATED it. Nothing about it felt good. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that, ultimately, it was the best thing for her. And I did keep going. I kept going when I returned to work and literally had to sit on bathroom floors to pump. For ten months I kept at it and I stopped only when my body made me.

Then I made the decision to let go of the morning nursing when she turned one. It was time, I was ready. But I wasn't quite ready to let go of the nighttime one. She'll cry, I told myself. She needs that snuggle time with me, I said. I think that really, I was the one that was not ready to let it go.

Until recently....school is out, it's been thirteen months and the time had come. And here is why I think my daughter really is brilliant: I told her what was going to happen. The night before I was going to wean, I let her know, this was her last time nursing. The next day I reminded her a few times that she'd have milk. I put Russ on alert that night, told him to come and rescue me if it sounded like it wasn't going so well, I prepared myself for the crying, steeled my nerves, got ready to be tough and hang in there....and Aliza had absolutely no problem at all. She drank her milk, snuggled in my arms and fell right asleep. She understood, I'm sure of it.

And I sat there in the dark, listening to her lullabies and cried. My baby is growing up. This is one more thing that will define her transition from babyhood to toddlerhood. And while I am happy she took to the transition so well, and proud of myself for nursing for as long as I did, I am also sad.
She's growing up.
And I'm not sure I'm ready for her to.

Best. Day. Ever

This past Saturday was probably one of the best days ever. We managed to cram a whole lot of summer into just one day- probably because it was the first day that actually felt like summer.

Aliza and I started with a morning walk, where I finally visited a cute little local coffee shop and discovered they have delicious iced chai tea lattes. Aliza fell asleep during the walk so I parked her in her stroller outside and settled on the grass with a book. She only slept for fifteen minutes once we got home but I'll take fifteen minutes of uninterrupted reading- and in the sun no less!- any time these days.

Once she woke up we headed over to our local Y for swimming lessons. Aliza has gotten over her initial terror and now thoroughly enjoys the pool. Russ took videos, so I'll have to post one later so you can see the little fish she is becoming.

After swim lessons we ate lunch and then headed outside to (finally!) play with some of her fun presents she got for her birthday. Here she is with her water table:

Look! No hands! Daddy put together her special chair from Aunt Cindy, and Aliza had fun exploring it, and even sitting on it:

Next we played catch:

Finally we headed over to her Little Tykes play house:

Aliza, much like my third graders, likes to try to climb up the slide.

And we ended back at the water table for some more splashing:

After a change of clothes and a nice long nap, we headed over to our neighbor's for pizza and then to our local fireworks. It was the first time we had gone to the fireworks in our town and it ended up being quite the expedition. We had to park several blocks away and load up Aliza in the stroller then walk to a huge open field, passing vendors selling all the usual paraphernalia before settling down, a good hour and a half before the fireworks were to start, on our grassy spot. Aliza handled the fireworks like a champ, she whimpered a bit when they first started but then pointed and stared and even said "Boom!" a few times. Russ and I marveled at what an amazing little girl we had, and what suburban residents we had become.

It was a perfect summer day.....

Foot!!!

Here's Aliza, making her Mommy and Daddy laugh as she discovers her foot:

First swim lesson!

Aliza had her first swim lesson Saturday. I spent the whole week telling her all about it, eagerly anticipating getting her dressed in one of her many adorable bathing suits, watching her splash in the pool....of course, the way I pictured it wasn't exactly how it turned out. Well, parts of it were. Here she is, all dressed and ready to go and just as cute as I thought she'd be in her little bathing suit:

Can you tell that she already looks a bit unhappy? Yup. She woke up Saturday morning a bit stuffy and clingy and wasn't too happy to be put into her bathing suit. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that she has about four teeth pushing through right now. We got in the water together, Aliza and mommy, and she started screaming immediately. She also started chewing on my shoulder, and I have bite marks from her little teeth gnawing away.

I tried tempting her with some of the pool toys, but she was not to be distracted, and continued to cry....about fifteen minutes into it she finally started getting used to the water. And then she got splashed in the face.

Which of course, set her off again. Twenty minutes into a thirty minute swim lesson, Aliza finally decided to start pointing and playing a bit.

I'm hoping next week she is a little more used to the water, and able to enjoy it a bit more....

I'd have a green thumb if I didn't have an animal problem

You know those gorgeous veggies I spent a weekend planting in my garden? Well, my friendly neighborhood woodchuck has eaten half of them!

Almost all my lettuce is gone- he left behind three lone heads, which I'm convinced he'll come back for later. The cucumbers are mere stalks. And the artichoke plant my dad gave me that I hadn't gotten around to planting yet is eaten down to nubs. He even attacked my herbs! He ate my cilantro and parsley! All that's left are my carrots, buried safe beneath the ground. (At least I think they are left, so far there is no sign of them.) My arugula (just sprouting now), my pepper plants and my tomatoes.

My Dad was talking to me about a humane trap to catch the woodchuck family (probably because there are many times when I've yelled at him for trapping helpless little squirrels that like to eat his bird food). And I considered it for a bit. I mean, I would like my veggies to actually grow so we could eat them. But I just don't have the heart, not even to use a humane trap. The way I figure it, I'm putting out a free buffet, who am I to take a woodchuck away from its home for helping himself to that buffet? Plus, I kind of like that I have a family of woodchucks living in my yard. It's kind of fun watching them scurry away when I open the door. It will be even more fun when Aliza sees them, points and yells "woodchuck!" the way Russ and I do when we see them.

I guess that leaves us: woodchuck: 1 The educators: 0

Visiting mommy at work

Last week Aliza came to visit me at school....it was so wonderful to see her in the middle of the day, and incredibly difficult to say goodbye to her. She got to meet so many of my colleagues and friends, but not everyone, and I spent the rest of the day explaining to people who heard she was here that she got a little fussy and had to go home. She also got to meet the special education teacher that I work closely with and who used to work with birth to 3 year olds. She confirmed what I already knew, Aliza is, in fact, one smart cookie and incredibly verbal for her age.She also got to meet my students and, even though I am sure they were beyond excited they managed to hang on to their excitement and be incredibly sweet with her. By the end she was tired and a bit fussy, which, of course, is when we decided to take a picture!

Rainbows and butterflies?

"It's not always rainbows and butterflies, it's compromise that moves us along."

Russ and I were walking around our neighborhood with Aliza recently, chatting away....I'm not even sure what the conversation was exactly, although it probably had something to do with how to raise Aliza. As teachers we are both provided with many examples- both positive and negative- of choices parents make for their children. At the end of the conversation Russ commented on the fact that we see eye to eye. My reply? We see eye to eye on many things in our life together.

As I thought about this conversation later the truth in that statement hit me. I can remember, when I first met Russ, how easy it was. There were no games or gimmicks or silly analyzing of what he meant when he said xyz. It just was. We just were. I remember, when I first met him, how all of a sudden all of my past relationships almost seemed like a waste of time. Not that I regretted any of them, of course not, but that they were so clearly not right for me because Russ was so different, and being with Russ was so different.

Now, today, with a one year old and a career that keeps both of us rather busy, I have to say that thank god being with him is as easy as it was. Because if being with him was difficult, then there's no way we'd make it. Marriage is tough. This is something I am learning. Once you get over the rainbows and the butterflies. Once you do the big things together- the engagement, the marriage, the first house, first car.....first child.....well, what you are left with is the ordinary every day stuff. The way he'll turn on your tea pot for you on a weekend when he hears you waking up, the laundry that you fold carefully for him because you know he won't do it, the way he'll rub your back when he knows it is more sore than normal, the meals you cook that you know he'll like, the fact that he knows you hate it when cabinets are left open so he'll close them for you.....and then there are the other things: the empty soda cans that are left around the house, the way he still doesn't know how to put the garbage bag in the can so that when you go to throw something away the bag drops to the bottom, the shoes that I leave scattered over the floor so that he trips over them in the morning when he is trying to get dressed, the clothes he leaves at the foot of our bed, the way I steal the sheets when I'm cold at night.....there are those things too. It is these ordinary things that make up a life together. It is one ordinary day after another that mark the chapters of our lives....
......and it is a blessing to have these ordinary days with a man who is easy to be with.....

Weekend firsts

Aliza experienced some firsts this weekend; her first experience with (real) sand and her first taste of ice cream. Here she is checking out the sand:Her Gramps brought her some ocean water to play with and she sure had fun splashing in it:

See? LOTS of fun:

Yum! Ice cream!
It was a fun day!