Summersweet

We regained our parental duties this weekend with Aiden at home again, and had a nice weekend despite the fairly miserable weather. Aiden and Andy went to PYO strawberries (first rite of summer!) at Edgewater Farm and loaded up tummies and quart baskets with fresh berries. Round One of fresh berries, that is. We plan to hit the raspberries and the blueberries (and maybe blackberries if I can find some) later in the season. We've also been eating fresh bok choy, lettuce and spinach out of the garden every day, and Aiden picked the first few ripe cherry tomatoes this afternoon. Snap peas and the tomato glut can't be far behind...



I got outside in my reclining chair in the backyard for awhile, and for a change of scenery Andy and Aiden drove me the mile or so to set up my chair at the beach on Little Lake Sunapee. They played soccer in the sand (Aiden was USA, Dadoo had to be England...or whatever other world cup team he chose) and we had a picnic lunch. It was not warm (barely 60) but that didn't stop numb-boy from getting soaked. We swear he has no cold receptors.

Looking forward to next weekend when I can officially walk around a bit more. I'm planning to take it really easy and see how things go (after all, I have been lying down for the past 2 months and have no muscles anymore!) but if the baby's not threatening to fall out I'll try to build up a little strength before she arrives. Got to be able to lift those dirty diapers!

More adventures for the little man...

Aiden got to spend a second weekend in a row with Grandma & HaPa in Vermont. He is so eager to go on these "stay overs" as he calls them that we are starting to wonder whether he just wants to get away from us! Actually I think it's more that he knows he'll have more adventures and get more 'special treats' (i.e. homemeade ice cream) at his granparents house than at home.

Last weekend's big adventures included a folk music festival outside on the lawn at Shelburne Museum, a trip to the farmer's market (complete with cupcake mounded high with frosting), and a raw milk and cheese party at a local farm. Oh, and pizza and playtime at Gerritt Pottmeyer's house... being quite a bit older than Aiden, Gerritt has the coolest toys! Robots and huge plastic guns! What could be better?

Gerritt at the Folk Music Festival

Dad/HaPa enjoying the music and nice weather

Gerritt's cool toys!

Last Week of School

This week was the end of Aiden's first year at Windy Hill School. He enjoyed his preschool program so much, and we feel really lucky to have such a great school option so close to our home. On Thursday they sent home a CD with dozens of photos of Aiden they'd taken over the course of the school year, so I thought I'd post some of our favorites here. Next week starts summer school! (not the remedial kind)

Escape to Vermont!

Last weekend Aiden escaped from our normal routine of staying home all the time, taking care of Mom/me, and having to spend unprecedented amounts of time keeping busy on Mom's bed, even sometimes when it is very nice out. He spent the weekend in VT with HaPa and Grandma, mostly having fun at the camp on Lake Champlain. At least that is how he would view last weekend. The other way to look at it is that HaPa and Grandma kindly offered to take Aiden for a few days so that we could have a break and Andy could actually get a significant amount of chores done. Either way it worked out beautifully.

Aiden had a great time at the camp's opening weekend, complete with temperatures warm enough for a boat ride and playing in the kiddie pool (though not quite warm enough for a dip in the lake). On Memorial Day they went to the big parade in Vergennes where there were fire trucks, clowns throwing penny candy, and political dignitaries galore. I have a feeling Aiden was not impressed by Senator Bernie Sanders or VT Governor Jim Douglas, but the rescue trucks and candy definitely made an impression. But most of all he loves spending time with Hapa and Grandma. And they must enjoy it too since they've signed on for Round 2 this coming weekend!

Big Brother the Duck Racer

For the first time in our lives, I think Andy and I both wish we could work 7 days each week instead of 5. Weekends are SO much harder for us than weekdays. During the week I work 8 hours every day from my laptop, Aiden goes to preschool, and Andy goes to his job. Mornings and evenings we have our busy routine of dressing, eating, bathtime, reading books, etc. etc. and you'd be surprised how quickly the days pass. Weekends are a different story. Weekends involve a large void of time in which a) we have to keep Aiden entertained or it can be truly miserable and b) there is also a long list of neglected tasks (house cleaning, food shopping (for staples and breakfast items, fruit, etc...we still have TONS of dinners), lawn mowing, laundry, etc. etc.) that need to get done. The problem is that completing these tasks and keeping Aiden entertained do not mix. So Aiden ends up hanging out on the bed with me while Andy tries to get things done, which only lasts so long. As you might expect, he gets grumpy and bored after awhile, no matter how many puzzles, books, TV shows, and make-believe games we try. There is only so much pretending to be "Sir Topham Hat" I can stand either.

Andy has to get Aiden out of the house at some point. This past weekend they went to a class for 3-5 yr olds on how to be a good "Big Brother." It might also be entitled, "Your life is about to change big-time mister, and this is your warning!" According to Andy, Aiden learned how to change a diaper (on a doll) and about how much his new baby sister is going to cry and sleep. And about ways he can help Mom & Dad. We'll see if it has any effect!

Good idea to check the baby's head pressure!

After the class, they headed to a rubber duck race fundraiser in New London. Aiden cheered for his duckie as it plunged over the falls towards the finish line, but it didn't come in first. Which is just as well... Andy and I were slightly afraid of what a 3 yr old would do with $300 anyhow. Convincing him to put it towards his college education instead of a remote controlled helicopter would have been a challenge.

The ducks before they go swimming

Ducks headed for the falls

Ducks go over the falls to the finish line

Cusp of Summer

Oliver and Aiden

My oldest friend Bek came to visit this past weekend with her 2 boys Oliver (4) and Ben (1). I think it was the nicest day yet this spring, so Andy drove me down to the garage (hello, carbon footprint) to sit in my reclining chair in the sun and chat while the boys played. As we caught up and Ben napped, the two older boys happily pulled out every single toy, truck and piece of sporting equipment and splayed it all over the driveway and yard. Little boy heaven.

Ben getting in on the action

Later they filled up the plastic kiddie pool with water and proceeded to strip naked and throw water on each other and everything in a 20' radius for two hours. It was quite a sight for the neighbors, if anyone was looking, but we were unconcerned. As Bek put it, as long as they are still absolutely unselfconcious about their bodies and love being naked out in the open, they should enjoy it while they can! And they did. No photos though; got to draw the line somewhere...

The boys had fun wtih Aiden's battery powered jeep.

Good eats from the food fairies!

Small town America is not dead! You know how whenever the was a crisis in the Cleaver family or some other 50's TV sitcom family, all the neighborhood brought casseroles and pies? Well, it still happens today folks! We have been absolutely floored at the sheer quantity of delicious home-cooked meals that friends, co-workers, and family have dropped off at our house since people heard of my incapacitation and Andy's heroic efforts to keep things running smoothly. It has been unbelievable. In the past 3 weeks, Andy has not had to cook one meal from scratch, and we did not eat any take-out or stoop to a single Hungry-Man or Lean Cuisine microwave tray. We've had orange chicken, sausage pesto pasta, eggplant parmesan, roast chicken with potatoes and carmelized onions, veggie lasagna, shepherd's pie, mexican casserole, spaghetti and meatballs, veggie quiche, pulled pork, handmade ravioli, chicken and veggies wrapped in phyllo dough, fresh salads, and a grand array of homemade soups... curried butternut squash, tomato tortellini, venison stew, gingered root vegetable, etc. etc. Desserts too, my god! Considering I get NO excercise whatsoever, I'm on track to be the fattest pregnant woman ever! Seriously though, it has been wonderful and we are so grateful for the outpouring of support.

Mother's Day Weekend

You might think that being on bedrest I'd be blogging up a storm these days. But the reality is there's not much to write about. At least not in terms of our daily life happenings... That and it's difficult to take decent photographs from one or two prone positions in the house. Andy's far to busy to stand in for me as family photographer (and even in the best of times, when we have nothing important to do on vacation, he's really more interested in photographing birds than humans).

Aiden eats breakfast with me in bed every morning (except when he wants cereal!)

Which explains why although we had an eventful Mothers' Day weekend, we did not capture a single moment on film. My parents, brother, and sister-in-law were all here for the weekend, along with 2 dogs and 3 chickens. Add to that the 3 of us and 2 parrots, and it was quite a zoo. A productive zoo though... we got down all the boxes of baby gear from the garage attic and Mom and Becky went through them (with my direction from the reclining chair), sorting everything into piles of use now, re-store, and goodwill. Meanwhile, the guys rearranged our two guest bedrooms into a single guest room and a nursery. The nursery is not polished or even very pretty, but it's functional!




Then they tackled the garden. I find it amazing that we are even attempting a garden this year, but it's now newly composted and the early veggies are in the ground. Little lettuces, pak choy and peas are already sprouting and looking delicious, from what I can see from the window. The Mother's Day work crew set up an automated misting irrigation system for all our raised beds, because they realize that the only hope we'll have of harvesting edible vegetables from thse beds come late summer is if the thing is completely on auto-pilot. It won't weed itself or pick beetles and slugs from the plants, but we'll hope for the best.

Week One Down

It has been a little over a week on bedrest so far. Things are going as smoothly as can be expected. I've got remote desktop connection direct to my office, have been watching lots of netflix movies on demand, reading like a fiend, and working on knitting/sewing projects. Aiden has adjusted to the whole thing with a shrug and an "okay, sure"... like it's the most normal thing in the world that his mom would be confined to bed 24 hours a day. He eats a lot of his meals (the less messy ones, at least) on the bed with me, leaning over my hospital table and chatting while he eats. We play card games, watch muppets DVDs (he thinks Animal and Gonzo are enlessly hilarious), read books, do puzzles, and play games like "digger dog" and "mole rat" (the same game, really, involving tunneling under the blankets on the bed and creating questionably habitable spaces). I don't really play mole rat, obviously; I just observe and make comment when necessary.

One thing that bedrest teaches you is not to sweat the small stuff. When your husband is making you every meal you eat and toting it in to you on a tray, keeping the house relatively clean, doing all the laundry, and taking care of your son, you realize that it is truly ridiculous to even think about complaining about anything. Things that would normally bug me, like toothpaste all over the sink, Aiden's toys in our bed at night, spaghetti sauce all over my shirt, or wrinkled laundry that has sat too long after being dried, are non-issues. Who cares, really? We are in survival mode.

We had a nice visit from my mom and my cousins Sarah & Joe and their little 4 mo. old daughter, Francesca last week. It was a toss up as to what fascinated Aiden more: little Francesca or the 3 baby chickens my mom brought over in a cardboard box. Aiden held the baby and the baby chicks... he was pretty awkward with both but he'll get the hang of it, I'm sure. Sarah took some cute photos of Aiden and Francesca, so I'll add them when she sends me a few! Sarah and my mom spoiled us with tons of homemade freezer meals, and co-workers and friends have been doing the same. Andy especially will be appreciating that for the next few weeks!

Andy has also been trying to keep Aiden's life as normal as possible, especially on weekends, when we would usually be out and about doing things. This weekend he took Aiden to a May parade, a chocolate festival, and the birthday party of one of his friends. They were both exhausted at the end of it all, but in a good way.