One milestone not for the baby books

So my toddler has his first swear word. How cute. I'm totally blaming it on my husband's colorful language while driving. (And truth be told, I'm no princess when I'm behind the wheel either.)

Here we are, rocking in his rocking chair tonight - surrounded by furniture I've carefully researched for his safety, drawers full of clothes I've bought him and books stacked high for his learning. And he turns to me and says in his baby voice, "Mommy, you a (rhymes with sass)."

Alright then. I can't laugh, so I say, "Are you asking Mommy a question?" and he just smiles. May have to grab myself a bowl of ice cream while I ponder this one...

Out of the mouths of babes

As I was standing on the L tonight, a new toddler Aerobed resting in between my legs, I was thinking about how dead-tired I am. My days are filled with work, home and child - not much room for anything else. Did I even kiss my husband today? Not sure. Add in a layer of not feeling well and let the pity party begin!

This week is especially busy as I'm out next week. Lots of deadlines, meetings - in the grand scheme of things, this is all good news for my nonprofit - we have a lot of positive funding projects to be working on. But, man, it's a lot. And, wait, here's my train stop.

An hour later, I'm home with Jack....dinner, throw in a load of laundry, bath time, teeth time and wrestling into monkey pjs. Jeremy's working late, so I'm running through the nighttime routine on my own. Jack and I finally settle on Mommy's bed for reading. We read a few books and then we just lie there together. And then Jack says, "it's nice to slow down."

He's right. I need to figure this out - I can't spend so much of my life rushing to have single moments like this. What can I do?

The most delicious part of the week

I adore Saturday mornings. The work week is officially behind you, and the weekend is spread out before you, heavy with possibility. In the summer, the day might start off with a trip to the Green City Market, and in the fall, we're typically headed to a Northwestern football game amidst the crisp colors of autumn.

Today it is raining, and that's okay. The summer heat has been oppressive - I feel like I can barely breathe outside. My guys are both still asleep, and it's really cozy inside (cozy as it can be with the air conditioning running). Today we're off the Chinatown for some dim sum with good friends and probably some serious afternoon napping. Happy Saturday!

I'm no Wonder Woman

Despite owning a pair of Wonder Woman underoos when I was 6 years old (here's a grown-up version, which are kind of awesome) and the WW mug that sits upon my desk, I am not her.

I went to work today, feeling overwhelmed. Jeremy is out of town, and Jack woke up during the night. I'm feeling a little under the weather anyways and I had a lot of work to do. Blessedly, I got through it all: a work colleague and I kicked butt at a funder meeting (she told us we have a 99.9% chance of getting the grant); another friend and I completed a presentation for tomorrow; and my realtor called to say we have a showing on our condo tomorrow night. Score. Rock and roll.

After work, I get to my friend's house tonight to pick up Jack. He looked tired and played out. He had scrapes all over his knees, which Maria had already given me the heads' up on. But, man, it broke my heart to see all of those scrapes and to know at the moment when he feel down, I wasn't there to pick him up. And that hurt.

I know I can't beat myself up, but it's just really, really hard to not be able to do it all with my superpowers.

One moment at a time

I've had a lot on mind lately; I apologize for the blogging hiatus. Today, I returned to work after a week off at the beach with lots of sunshine and rest. I was met with an avalanche of email and voicemails that I have yet to fully get through. Today, Jeremy started a new job, and we lowered the asking price on our loft - both on my mind. As I walked through the door tonight, Jack greeted me with a raspy voice (is he getting sick?) and Roscoe the cat has a limp (we have a vet appointment for tomorrow at 9 a.m.). And I made the mistake of looking at my work email at home. Is it Friday yet?

As I finished up the dishes, Billie Holiday was on the satellite radio, and I spied Jack and Jeremy sitting on the porch. Jack had shut the sliding glass door so I could only see - not hear - their conversation. Both were identically slumped in their chairs, and I could see Jack telling his daddy an animated story. It felt good to just smile at this simple moment. This is the good stuff of life. 

(Now I have to go call my middle sister back - I just realized I forgot to wish her a happy anniversary when I talked with her an hour ago.)