Clearly writing is not something I've been into in the past few months! Yikes! It's been almost 2 months since I have posted anything--how in the world did that happen?? I thought life moved quickly when I was in grad school--you get the syllabus on day 1 of the quarter and before you know it you're at finals 10 weeks later. But that was nothing compared to full days with a very busy and very curious 17 month old. I never. stop. moving. I never sit down. If he's napping I'm busy trying to prepare the next meal or quickly do a load of laundry since hauling laundry baskets and a 27 pound wiggly boy down to the laundry room is no longer physically feasible. Life feels full, rich, a bit tedious somedays (how many times can you beg a 1 year old to not touch the DVD player??), and always always involves at least one change of clothes per day (for him...but often for me as well...this kid is a pro at finding water, dirt, mud, etc). So as I think back over the past 2 months, here are a few of the things we've been into and up to in our little corner of Northridge.
The Little Man: Aidan is growing & changing in new ways every day. Today I heard him "baa" like a sheep for the first time. I know, probably not earth-shattering, but I've never heard him do that before! He surprises me all the time with new things and he is trying so hard to communicate, and he doesn't miss a thing. This morning the car seat was sitting in our entry way when we woke up because my husband had gone to the beach super early & left the car seat so I could use it in a friend's car. Aidan sees it and immediately starts making his airplane signs and sounds--he knows the only time we ever pull that car seat out is when he goes on an airplane. It took me forever to convince him we weren't going on a plane today, no matter how many times he asked for Papa and Grandma, but I was amazed--that was a connection he made immediately that I probably never would have. He's trying to learn how to "sing" which as one of our high school friends says is "the. cutest. thing. EVER!" (I agree, it is).
We got him a water table at Costco one day because it was so warm outside and we wanted something he could play with out on our patio. This kid is obsessed. He's out there all the time, often before 7 AM in his pjs playing in the "wa-wa." Definitely money well spent! He is completely in love with Elmo (Mo-mo) and will ask for Elmo at all hours. Part of me is beginning to regret introducing Elmo but part of me is grateful that for the first time in a year and a half I can make dinner without him tearing my pantry and cupboards apart while whining to be entertained. I used to be one of those moms who thought I'd never let my kid watch TV this young. Yeah, there are a lot of things I used to think about parenting. And then I had Aidan. And now we do what works as we go along, and in this season of constant toddler activity and destruction, that means we watch Elmo twice a day (as Mommy drinks her morning coffee and as Mommy makes dinner!). Just today for the first time he started asking for "choo choos" so we watched Thomas the Train instead and he was fascinated (my parents took him to play with the Thomas the Train table at Barnes and Noble last weekend and he LOVED it!) So perhaps there is hope that I can have a bit of variety in my toddler-TV time :)
Since we have a tiny apartment and almost no outdoor space with a very active little boy, I spend a lot of my days taking him on outings. We've gone all kinds of random places together which has been so fun. Underwood Farms, Universal Studios City Walk, the LA Zoo, friend's houses, a local park with a splash zone in it, and lots of places that involve ice cream or frozen yogurt. I love these times with him, getting to see new things and getting to explore more of LA myself. He adores the beach, can't get enough of the sand and water--this kid definitely doesn't have sensory issues that we've found so far! While his mommy hates the texture of sand, he rolls in it. I can't imagine having to roll in sand, but he dives in--usually face first. Yuck.
Books, Music, and Netflix: We cancelled our cable, so whatever we watch now is either online or on Netflix, which so far has been just fine (I do miss the Today Show. A lot). In May I watched season 1 of the show
Hart of Dixie on Netflix while I was home in the evenings by myself and I got a teensy bit addicted. I loved it. Small town, cute characters, medical stuff, love triangles--I was hooked and am looking forward to season 2 coming out this fall on DVD. Charles and I finished season 1 of
The West Wing last night and were going to start season 2 tonight (but someone decided to go to bed at 7:30 after an early morning surf session....I'm not naming any names!) We both adore this show, the writing, characters and politics. I always said if Jed Bartlett could run for president he'd have my vote in a heartbeat!
I'm super late to the party but I just discovered
The Lumineers and adore them. I've known Hey Ho for awhile now but hadn't ever heard the rest of their album....it's fantastic.
The Nashville Soundtrack has also been frequently played in the car this past month, which has some wonderful new songs on it, and I'm still living in my obsession of
Elizabeth Mitchell's kid's music--so beautiful and folksy and not obnoxious at all. I just found out she's doing a kid's concert at The Getty in August and I think I might be a teensy bit excited.
I got to go on vacation in June for 2 weeks to see my family, and I managed to read a lot while I was there. After Aidan went to bed every evening at 7 I read for a couple of hours because I didn't have any responsibilities of cleaning or laundry or anything else that occupies my time here at home. I read 3 books and started 2 more (hey, for me that's a lot these days!). I loved
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, a novel set in India about two cousins born on the same day and raised together. It's a story of their lives unfolding, their arranged marriages, their family's secrets and past--all woven together beautifully. Definitely recommend this one! I also read
Sparkly Green Earrings, Catching the Light at Every Turn by Melanie Shankle. She's the author of
the Big Mama blog which I really love and this is her first book, a memoir of parenting that is hysterical and will bring you to tears. Her chapter on potty training made me about die laughing! The last book I read was one my mom's neighbor read and immediate brought over to us. My mom read it in a couple days and then I picked it up and finished it in a few days. It's called
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, author of the popular book Still Alice. It's about a woman who is incredibly successful, a high powered exec, mother of 3, carefully juggling her life. A car accident leaves her with a brain injury that causes "left neglect" where her brain completely ignores the left side of everything. She isn't blind but she literally doesn't register the left side of her plate, a book, her body, a room, anything she's looking at. It's a very real disorder that people experience (often stroke patients) and reading her story & her path to recovery was fascinating. It's a fiction book, easy to read, and definitely one I'd recommend. I've started Francis Chan's
Crazy Love, and
Sticky Faith by Kara Powell and Brad Griffin from the Fuller Youth Institute (since I'm going to be Kara's TA in the fall as she teaches a class on Sticky Faith I figured I should read the book!) I get the opportunity to preach at First Pres Granada Hills in August and have been doing some reading to prepare for that as well. Walter Brueggemann's book
The Message of the Psalms is fantastic, and has given me a lot to think about as I dive into the world of the Psalms of Lament.
Other Events and Happenings: Memorial Day weekend saw us heading up to Forrest Home camp with 110 other folks from church for the All Church Retreat. It was a lovely weekend of connecting with those I might not have known well, and letting Aidan explore nature a bit more and playing. I will say it was REALLY exhausting with a 1 year old--who didn't sleep hardly at all and who needed to be watched at all times to avoid you know, falling off a mountain or down a hill into a rockbed. But I am still glad we went and am hoping next year might be a bit easier.
We're still house hunting, which is a painful process in LA on a limited budget! The market is ridiculously competitive and we've put in offers on several places now only to have 15 other offers be submitted as well. So nothing exciting to report on that front!
June saw us getting to attend two graduation parties from students we've known and loved since they were freshmen at the church we were at previously. It was wonderful getting to reconnect with them and their families, and to hear all about their plans as they head to places like Stanford, Yale, and Harvard (yes I had a ridiculously smart freshmen girl's small group one year!)
I hopped on an airplane June 12 and headed to Minneapolis to spend 2 weeks there with my parents (with a 5 days side trip down to Iowa to see my sister's family & new home!) Charles was in Costa Rica with the high school students so I headed east. It was a blast letting Aidan explore, get to know his cousins, and having extra people to chase him and keep him from eating dirt (too much anyways) and falling into the fountain at my parent's house. He LOVED being with his cousins and asks for Lulu and Book (Lily & Brooke) all the time. They taught him the lovely skill of shrieking and he's been practicing to see if he can give them some competition next time we see them. He could not get enough dirt and bark and rocks and grass and sand and water in their yards. I think we went through 2-3 outfits a day while we were there. But in my mind that's exactly what summertime should be for a little boy! He discovered a few new foods that he loves while there--most notably "nini" (Zucchini). My parents took him one Saturday for several hours while I worked on my sermon, and the 3 of them went to explore the aquarium at the mall of america and then went to eat ice cream and play with the train table at Barnes & Noble. He had an absolute ball. He learned to make choo choo noises, and came home with a stuffed turtle just like the turtles he saw swimming in the water. He loves his new "turtle" and makes sure turtle is now in his crib for naps. My parents also discovered having a little boy in the house is a little different in terms of what he's interested in exploring and getting into than having the two girls come to visit. He got into all kinds of things the girls have never dreamed of touching and kept all of us running. I loved eating delicious summer food off the grill almost every day--steaks, teriyaki burgers, apple basil chicken burgers, shish ka bobs twice, and salmon. Stuff I never make for us but love to eat!
Phew! I think that's about it for what's been going on here. Mostly I love having a little record of what each month has held for us since life is busy enough that I'm not journaling or writing much these days. As usual I'm linking this post up with the lovely Leigh Kramer's collection of
What I'm Into Posts from around the country :) Happy summer everyone!
One of the things we're trying to be really intentional about as a family is having adventures together. We realized recently how easy it can be for a weekend to roll around and instead of thinking about what we want to do with our time we just kind of let it pass and pretty soon the weekend is over without us doing anything meaningful, memorable or fun together. Aidan and I head out on a lot of adventures throughout the week--both of us get a little stir crazy just sitting at home so I am thankful there are a TON of places I can take him within 30 minutes of us that often don't cost a lot (definitely one of the perks of living in LA!). However, daddy doesn't get to come with us very often, so if we wanted to start making some family memories we needed to be intentional about our Saturdays together. It turns out that our first MOPS speaker of this year was a woman whose life's mission and passion was just that--helping families have fun, educational adventures together around Southern California. Susan Peterson was an AWESOME speaker and shared her book with us, Fun and Educational Places to Go With Kids and Adults in Southern California. She talked about the importance and value of getting out and having experiences together as a family, and exposing our kids to a variety of places and situations. She was a homeschooling mom of 3 active boys who hated just sitting at home, so when her boys were young (they are now in their 20s) she just started taking them places, anywhere she could find, as part of their education. She started writing down all the places they went and eventually it became a book (which is now in its 9th edition and 846 pages long!). She motivated me once again to continue thinking outside the box and be willing to try new places and things (which isn't necessarily my strong point!). 
So this past weekend, even though I was fighting a cold, we decided there was no time like the present to start working through her book (at least the LA County places!) and try a new place or two together. After taking it easy for the morning to rest a bit, we set off. We ended up choosing a free public park but it caught our attention as we flipped through the pages because it's name is Aidan's Place, named after a little boy with disabilities who passed away. What's awesome is that her book is broken down by county, and then into categories. So I went to the LA County "Great Outdoors" section to find a park or outdoor adventure for us, and then I went to the LA County "Edible Adventures" section to find somewhere fun for us to eat dinner. Such a great book--if you are living in Southern Cal and need a gift idea for a family--this one is awesome and available on line--she tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about visiting a place--how much it costs, how long you'll spend there, if it's good for birthday parties, how to get there, hours, recommended ages etc! Anyways! Enough with the sale's pitch :) We started our adventure at Aidan's Place, a park in West LA, just off the 405 in Westwood Park. It was a fantastic park--fully handicapped accessible, which also means great for a toddler because there are fewer things for him to fall off of or have trouble maneuvering on his own. It also has an amazing sand play area that is set up for kids of all abilities to be able to enjoy this sensory experience. 
