Can you hear me now?

Alex had a hearing checkup this morning as a part of his IEP requirements with the school board (My baby’s gonna be THREE in a few months?!?! *thunk*).  In fact, the month of May is full of meetings and preparation for his IEP  since the school board wants to get things wrapped up before the end of the school year.

The staff in the Audiology Department were great.  They explained everything to Alex and warmed him up to having things put in his ears.  Not that it would have been a problem for him.  We’ve been putting swimmers ear plugs in his ears to dampen the sounds at sporting events since he was three months old.  In fact, the one time we forgot the ear plugs, he was pretty uncomfortable.

Alex’s hearing checked out perfect.  Better than last year’s scores.  Of course, we knew that because he can hear us walking by his bedroom with the door closed and a sound machine on in his room to dampen the noise.

During the test, daddy went in with him and had Alex sit in his lap during the test.  Afterwards, Matt said, “I didn’t even hear most of the tones that Alex was hearing…and I was sitting right there.”

Well yes, honey.  I know that.  Because there are times that you don’t hear me at all when I’m talking to you and I’m in the same room.

Mommy lessons

Remember how it was the first day you started a new job? How out of sync with everyone else in your department you were? You needed to learn the processes of how things were done, the hierarchies, the locations of all the conference rooms and, most importantly, where the coffee pot was located.

Now, do you remember how it was when you started your first day as an official parent, carrying home your swaddled, mewling bundle of joy?

Pretty rough, wasn’t it? Those hours of sleep that you never saw, the two or three times in the night that you were awakened, the trials of figuring out just how to get that diaper on right. But as with any job, the more you did it, the better things got. You got into the swing of things, you learned the processes and you learned the temperament of your boss.

Yes, the diaper-wearing, baby powder scented boss especially.

Some of you moms out there are celebrating yet another Mother’s Day. Some of you may be celebrating your very first. For you, I bid you a hearty welcome to the new sisterhood of Mommies.

Regardless of whether this is your first or your fiftyth, every day is a learning process. You’ll rarely have the same day twice on this roller coaster ride. Sometimes the ride is maddening and exacerbating. Sometimes it’s exciting and full of laughter.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, here’s a list of some of the things I’ve learned since I became a mom. Please feel free to add your own.

- Those little mini chocolate bars you give out at Halloween are perfect for rewards (BRIBES!) for chores done around the house.

- Coffee is your friend. Coffee is important. Caffeine was put on this earth for a reason - to keep us running all day long and to give Starbucks something to sell.

- Learn to be a morning person. ‘Cause you’ll be one, whether you like it or not.

- Every meal doesn’t have to be completely nutritionally balanced. Kids won’t remember what they ate that night, but they will remember how much fun they had at the table being with you.

- Some things are, just simply, beyond your control. The sooner you accept it and get over it, the saner (is that even a word? More importantly, is there such a thing?) you’ll be

- Don’t set your standards and expectations too high. They hurt you and everyone else around you when they fall.

- I can make almost any kid laugh by just acting like a goofball. Who cares what other people thinks around you? The laughter and joy of the child is the most important thing. Goofball can be liberating.

- The memory of good days are to be kept in reserve for bad days.

- Multi tasking is the only way to get things done. Just make sure you don’t mix the electrical stuff, like computers, with the water stuff, like dishes.

- Prioritize. Put the things you want to get done the most at the top of your list and be realistic. Because chances are that your travel companion to the grocery store, bank, post office, hair stylist, mall, etc. will have other plans for your list.

- Always remember to try to take some time for yourself to recharge, even if it’s something simple like doing the groceries by yourself or getting a cup of coffee. You are no good for your kids or yourself if you’re exhausted and wiped out, both physically and mentally.

- The dishes can wait. They’ll be there later. The beautiful sunny weather and the opportunity to make bubbles in the backyard might not be.

- The best presents are those that are handmade with love, glue, paper and lots of painty fingerprints all over the walls.

- Cookies are made yummier when made together.

- The best toy is not the toy. It’s the box that it came in.

- The prettiest bouquet is the handful of freshly picked, bright yellow dandelions. Daddy will probably appreciate the weeding help too.

- You can try to take your kid everywhere, try to get them involved in everything and have them do everything you want them to do, but the best and happiest moment, for you and them, is that moment that you get to spend together one-on-one. Even if it is for just a moment.

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, everyone.

An update to the playset saga….

We finally got a call on Saturday afternoon from the HOA, giving us permission to put up Alex’s new playset.  Almost a month after putting in the application.

Installation is set for May 15th.  It would have been sooner if the HOA had gotten back to us last week, when the playset company wasn’t so booked up. Spring and the warmer weather tends to fill up builders’ schedules.

So mark May 15th on your calendars as the date when Alex decides that he doesn’t want to deal with those little pesky little things like eating or sleeping.  After all, they’ll cut into his playtime.

Alex’s California Adventure Part 3, or “Sand - all the stylish toddlers are wearing it”

Nothing says California more than Mickey (check), sunshine (check), sand (see below) and shopping. So we went to the most surreal shopping “experience” that we could think of - The Grove. For those of you who have never been there, it’s an outdoor mall in Hollywood, right next to the CBS studios. This should tell you a lot because it seems like everyone typically dresses up as if they’re auditioning for something while they’re shopping. They have a trolley (which is so unnecessary - the mall isn’t all that big and it just goes from one end to the other), they have a cool dancing water fountain that mesmerizes all the kids and they have an American Girl Doll Place.

That place is a comedy all in it’s own to me. Let me digress for a moment….

I’m not a big fan of American Girl Dolls. I grew up with cheap dolls that provided all the entertainment and endless possibilities for creativity and imagination for me. American Girl Dolls are not only about $100 a pop, but they come with their own “stories” and, of course, there’s the endless amount of money you can soak into them for their accessories of $65 horses, $28 skating outfits and $118 beds.

And don’t forget the hair salon. Yes, you can get your doll’s hair “professionally styled” by a stylist at their stores and the prices range from $10 to $20. Plus, you can add on a Pampering Plus package for only $5 of a facial scrub! This is a doll, people!

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve said, “I’m so glad I had a boy” when I walk through that place.

Okay. Digression over.

Alex really likes The Grove. The fountain, the trolley, the nearby Farmer’s Market and the people. But especially the fountain. What’s not to like? Random patterns of splashing water with ear-splitting music. It’s like The Bellagio except the only money you stand to lose is at Crate and Barrel (although you at least have something to show for it, like a new blender or a stylish garbage can).

Then, while standing outside of a store, Alex decided to do something that he’d never done before. He started approaching people. He had always been a little cautious about people, happy to watch them from a distance. But suddenly, he decided to appoint himself the official greeter of American Girl Place (of all the places!) by standing outside and shaking the hands of everyone coming and going into the store. He would actually make eye contact with these people, shake their hand and engage in what conversation with them that he could. He loved it! He would eagerly go up to people and shake their hand. People found it pretty cute and I think Alex really keyed into this and did it again and again.

He had been showing more interest in socializing with people throughout the week, by waving to people in their cars while we were crossing the street, or shaking hands. But when we got home, he never repeated the shaking hands with strangers behavior again. I’m not sure what exactly it was.

The following day, we went to the beach for the morning. It was a gorgeous day. After a pancake and sausage breakfast, we walked down to the beach so Alex could play with some sand toys in tow. Of course, most of the sand ended up in his hair.

And then there were sand angels to be made.

Uh…we’re still working on that.

There were lots of surfers up and down the beach. Even surfer dads.

Later in the day, we took Alex back to the beach one last time before we were due to return home the following morning. This time, we took his shoes and socks off and he and daddy went to dip their toes in the water.

The water was kind of cold, as Pacific water tends to be, but he didn’t care. Alex especially seemed to like the feel of the sand between his toes and the feel of the water swirling around his legs. It’s one of the things that I wish we had available to us out in landlocked Colorado. But for now, we’ll have to settle for occasional trips to the ocean.

Our plane was due to leave at 9 am the following day. But when we got to the airport, we found that our flight had been canceled due to (get this) an airplane cleaner deploying the evacuation chute by mistake. It’s not like you can just bunch one of those up and shove it back in. According to the flight attendant that I spoke to, it costs about $10,000 to reset those things.

We were a little ticked originally, but one of the things that we’ve learned from past experience is that Alex is a very good reader of emotions. If you’re mad or upset, it’s best not to show it too much, or he’ll pick up on it too. We tried to remain as calm as we could (good advice in general, of course) but thankfully, Frontier Airlines had rebooked us automatically on the next flight out. I really can’t say enough about how fantastic our experiences with Frontier have been. We’ve traveled them a lot with Alex and their flight attendants are fantastic with Alex, even during the times in the past that Alex was crying throughout the entire trip.

All in all, it was a great trip. We all had a wonderful time and yeah, I might even consider making another trip with Alex. Now that he’s gotten older and able to understand the concept of traveling and how much fun it can be, he really got into it. There were some small bumps on the trip, but a good time was had by all.

We’ll have to try it again sometime.

The Waiting Game

I’m used to waiting. After all, I’m a mother. I wait for Alex to stop his third tantrum of the day over a light switch. I wait in line at Costco while the family in front of me prepares for Armegeddon with their cartload of bottled water. I wait for the day that I will be able to sleep in past 7:30 am.

But let’s be blunt. Waiting sucks.

Especially when you’ve been waiting for three weeks for someone to give you a simple yes or no answer.

We put a deposit down on one of those big, honkin’, half-a-backyard-swallowing playsets for Alex about a month back. He really needs the physical activity (don’t most kids?) and we wanted him to have something in the backyard for him to crawl, swing, slide and play with during the summer months. We’d even extended an invitation for the neighbors’ kids to come over and play when it’s put in (which was great to get their parents to agree to let us do this too). The more kids Alex plays with, the better, and he definitely loves to be around other kids.

However, we live in a “covenant controlled” development. Which means we have a set of rules to follow. Which means whenever we do something to the outside of our house “to alter the appearance,” we have to put in a form and get permission. Yes, you may own the house, but you still have to ask someone if you can put different light fixtures in when the whims of change strike.

I do understand the need for covenants. Some people can get a little too out of control with the care and upkeep (or in some cases, the lack of) and it helps the neighborhood look better. But when I have to even ask for permission to plant a vegetable garden in my own backyard, you have to wonder what your monthly dues are going towards.

So we went through all the procedures. We did the paperwork, provided drawings, mentioned that we had discussed it with our neighbors and gotten their okay with it, then sent it off to the architectural control committee and we waited.

And waited. And we’re still waiting. Three weeks later.

They don’t have a set meeting date every month. Apparently, they “get together” when there are enough applications and sort through them all at the same time. Which could be a month or two from now, with our luck. In the meantime, the company we ordered from has the equipment and is ready to set it up any time, the weather’s getting nicer and nicer and I’m anxious to get Alex playing in the back.

Why on earth, in this age of everything electronic, they can’t just email a PDF of the applications to the members, get a yea or nay from email and respond to the applicant in the matter of a few days is beyond me.

Even if they say no (which I can’t imagine), I can get the deposit back. That’s not the issue. The waiting and waiting without a determined deadline is the problem.

Come this Wednesday, I’ll be making more phone calls. I’ll be bugging more people to see just what the hell is going on and why it has to take this long. And come election time for the board, I might just consider running. I can’t be the only person in the development that’s been frustrated by the lack of speed from the architectural committee.

We had some lovely weather this weekend, sunny and in the 70s. I can’t even count how many times I said over the weekend, “Wouldn’t it have been nice to have the playset up already?”