The Things Rufus Puts Up With

Sweet Rufus-he'll tolerate about anything from Rudy for at least a little while. Even when he does get irked beyond tolerance, he just runs or hisses. He hasn't swatted at or bit Rudy once, even when Rudy is really pushing it, like in this video, when he's using Rufus for a road for his car while Rufus is eating. I thought it was funny too that when Rudy noticed I was pointing the camera at him, he automatically smiled and said "cheese". I guess we get the camera out pretty often around here. :)

Rudy's First Birthday Mail

Rudy received a birthday card from Oma and Opa (my parents) in the mail today. He was feeling pretty grown up, I think. Here we are, just talking about the card and his birthday. Nothing too special, but some of his expressions are just too cute not to post. I was surprised he knew how old he'd be turning. (Not that I should be, just about everybody we meet asks how old he is, so he hears me tell people he'll be two soon over and over. I just have never had an official conversation with him about it. It serves as a reminder to me how many things this little man is soaking up all day, every day.)

Bump Thump Thud

Bad noises to hear when your child is not in view.

These are the stairs Rudy fell down today. I'm pretty sure he fell down almost the whole stairway, 'cause the thuds lasted long enough for me to drop the dinner I was preparing and rush to the stair way, only to see my little boy take the final spill onto the basement floor.

It was pretty scary to see his little body tumbling like a rag doll. I rushed down to collect him into my arms and he sobbed for about 10 minutes. It was all I could do not to sob right along with him. He was pretty scared, but luckily just a bit bunged up. He has a bruise on both sides of his head, but otherwise no marks. He's moving all his limbs normally. No sign of serious head injury.

Sigh. I bet he'll take the stairs on his belly again for a while. (He'd started insisting on walking down them, like everyone else.) In both our dinner and bed time prayers, I made sure to thank God for protecting my little one from serious injury.

Maria and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Morning

So. Yesterday I woke up in a foul mood. I was in a project completion slump. (You know, when something you've been working on FOREVER is finally done, and now you don't know what to do with yourself.) I had planned on giving myself and Rudy a day off of multi-tasking to do the two things we both love best: play at the park and go to the library.

Then I looked outside. SNOW. Ugh. Not the beautiful fat snow flakes that just drift slowly and silently down through the air and perch on every twig. The tiny little flakes that howl with the wind and find their way down every opening in your coat.

That was the last straw. I didn't even try to take a shower or get out of my pj's. I resigned myself to being marooned in my house with the after project blues. I huffed and puffed a bit. I ate grasshoppers at nine in the morning. When Jason went to leave after a brief visit between classes, I made sure he knew how miserable I'd be all day long.

And then Bonnie called. She said she'd like to come over to play after naps were done. A glimmer of hope entered my dark mood. Maybe I wouldn't be marooned after all! We agreed to call each other when our kids woke, and finally, I had purpose to my day. A reason to take a shower and even tidy the front room.

With my new found motivation, I finally succeeded in completing the task of getting Rudy and myself ready to go outside that I had started 45 minutes before. That made a world of difference! Just breathing crisp, fresh air. I even shoveled our driveway, and felt it a momentous occasion, because it was the first time I'd shoveled my very own drive. By the time Bonnie arrived with her two girls, I was back to my regular self, and we enjoyed a great afternoon and evening together.

Thank goodness for friends! (And for turtle necks, hats, mittens, long johns, boots, coats, etc. to combat terrible weather.)

This is Rudy, howling with the wind. :)

The Twelve Days of Freecycle

I've picked up so many things from freecycle this week, I could probably make a song about it.

"On the Twelfth day of Christmas, Freecycle gave to me:

12 starter pots

11 pounds of grass seed (not really, but close!)

1o bunches of pine boughs

9 feet of soaker hose

8 ounces of fertizler

7 shoe boxes

a 6 holed-sprinkler

a 5 gallon COOLER!

a 4 foot shower rod

a 3 pronged plant hanger

2 lawn chairs

and an Ugly plant in need of rescue!

Basement Discoveries II

As I was organizing all Rudy's clothes, I came upon a bag of clothes my mom had saved for me from my childhood. This is a sweater my Tante (aunt) MaryBeth knitted for me way back in the day. Pretty cool, huh? I remember wearing that thing and feeling like Joseph with my 'coat of many colors'. (We watched/listened to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat alot in my childhood.)

I'm so excited to pass this piece of family history on to my kiddo!

Basement Discoveries

Organizing the basement can be quite the enlightening experience. In going through all the boxes yet to be unpacked down there, I came upon a box full of my old journals. I couldn't help but take a peek into my 12 year old journal. My favorite entry I came across:
"Today I have taken the last step to becoming a woman. I started my period!"
I laughed out loud that menstruation equaled womanhood to me back then.
And then I thought about all the other times I've told myself I've arrived at adulthood.
When I got my first 'real' job. (The kind you pay taxes on.)
When I moved to Austria "all by myself". (I lived with my aunt and my parents paid my way entirely.)
When I learned to drive a manual transmission car.
When I went to college.
When I finally started paying my own way.
When I left on a mission.
When I returned from my mission.
When I got married.
When I gratuated college and worked in a 'career type' job.
When I became a mother.
And most recently, when Jason and I bought our first house.
It's funny, because until I read that silly little one line entry in my 1993 journal, I've really been thinking, "Ok, Maria. You've arrived. No more 'kid' mistakes are allowed. You're a home owner now and must be absolutely responsible. You are officially an adult."
I've been stressing out about it-just waiting to mess up and prove to the world (or myself) that I'm not grown up enough to properly care for a house.
Hmm. Maybe buying a house is just one more step along the way. Maybe I never have to 'arrive'. Maybe I'm allowed to slowly but surely keep taking more and more on, without expecting myself to be flawless in fulfilling every responsiblity. It's something to think about, at least. :)