She Likes Purple

Ten (Not-So) Quick Takes Because I'm Feeling Chatty

1. I read to Kyle almost every night. This is simply My Thing in our house, even if Mike is around. No matter who does the PJ wrangling, the tooth-brushing reminding, the "STOP STALLING" yelling, I am the one to snuggle in with him to read a couple books. This is one thing I own in our house, this job of Book Reader, and it's a real full-circle kind-of role because if you ask me what I remember most about my own mother from my own childhood, I will tell you how she read to me. How she read so lovely, how she always seemed her most perfect self when she was reading to me, and every night I hoped hoped hoped she would read just one more book. Every night Kyle asks for just one more book.

Anyway, that was a very sweet lead-up to THIS: tonight as I finished up his book of choice (it's been Berenstain Bears' Picnic for like a solid month), I gave him a hug, a dozen kisses, another hug, and then he cupped my face in his hands and said oh-so sweetly, "Mommy can I give you a high-five on your cheek?" "That's called hitting, Kyle." "NO! NO IT'S NOT!" "Well whatever euphemism you've chosen, the answer is no."

Kids, man.

2. We're headed to California this weekend. I know, how did that happen? I am such a ridiculous vacation planner that trips are scheduled and booked and researched MONTHS and MONTHS in advance and then I shelve them and then they sneak the fuck up on me and all of the sudden we're on a plane and that's got to be confusing for the people in our lives and in our computers.

Anyway, we're going to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. (Cherie! You know Cherie! She's the better half of Cherry Jean and she's also one of the best friends a person could ever hope to have.) She was so kind as to come to Vegas for my 30th birthday, so we had to reciprocate. We're taking the whole family on this trip (well, except Molly and let's not bring that up, she's bitter) and we're hitting the beach and going to Disneyland and also drinking adult drinks after our children go to sleep, oh yes.

When you ask Kyle what he's most excited about in California, he'll tell you 1) Riding on a whale (I've no clue) or 2) Legoland (Which we've not mentioned to him being in California because Legoland is 20 minutes from our house. IN TEXAS. Again I've no clue.)

Let's cross our fingers his mind is properly blown at Disneyland and I'm not going to have to guilt my three year old into humoring me.

3. THE BLATHERING SOLD OUT. I keep saying (to myself, to Mike, to the random internet friend who will listen to me) that it feels like a helluva lot of of hard work met a helluva lot of good luck. I'm just so excited we have our official people! And I'd now like to think about my Blathering Wardrobe. Here's where you come in. Saturday night is a wee bit fancier than the rest of the weekend and I want to get a new dress. Which do you prefer:

On the left is this one, and I'd color it up with a black blazer and black heels (maybe red/orange accessories?). On the right, the dress speaks for itself (check out the back) but I have no idea what shoes I'd wear. Black, maybe?

WHICH WOULD YOU PICK? WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR WITH EACH? (Heeelp!)

4. Mumford & Sons has a new album coming out next month (9/25!) and, guys, I'm an insane amount of excited. I actually thought to myself, "I should take off work to listen to the album on repeat all day," but then I realized I'd be out of town on a work trip that specific day, so taking the day off might be a wee bit problematic.

5. I taught my kid some yoga.

Speaking of yoga, in class the other day I thought to myself, "Wow, child's pose is awesome. I'd like a full yoga class with just this one pose." WHICH IS BASICALLY ONE STEP ABOVE NAPPING. It's basically stretching on the couch during an episode of The Vampire Diaries. I invented that.

6. On Style Lush, Hillary, one of my absolute favorites, asked what your timeless, classic, always-on-repeat albums are. I answered with indie folk, Texas country, and Christian worship. I confuse even myself, to be honest. What are yours?

7. I recently remembered something really wonderful and sweet my dad said to me on my wedding day. I hadn't remembered until then, and, wow, I wish I had remembered sooner.

8. Have I told you my sister is coming to Texas for Christmas? Rachel hasn't visited since Kyle was a baby, and her entire family has never been, and my boy has never met her boy, and I'm SO CRAZY EXCITED. I really am. I text her often with questions like, "Do you like wine trains?" and other things like "We're picking the Mexican restaurant, it'll be delicious, we promise/hope."

I can't remember the last Christmas morning I spent with both my mom and my sister. Don't judge if I put our tree up October 1st, and have already nearly planned our entire Christmas menu.

9. I have started a Facebook policy that is basically this: If you're an asshole, I'll unfriend you. I don't care if I shouldn't unfriend you, if you're my cousin's best friend and I might run into you at some random picnic in a couple years. I especially don't care if my only tie to you is high school English. If you are being stupid and saying thoughtless, mean things, I'm just going to go ahead and rid my social media life of you, instead of trying to make you see the error or your ways (which you won't). This has led to my Facebook feed being a very pleasant place to be. I rarely get riled up (by Facebook) and I think I may survive this election after all.

10. Mark your calendars, my friends, Sons of Anarchy returns 9/11. I'm thinking of recapping the episodes here, for no other reason than I REALLY WANT TO. Also, the promos stress me out already. The actual show is going to bring out the ALL CAPS, I am sure, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

TV Tuesday: Awkward

We have reached the point in the summer television hiatus when I am just desperate for new TV. So desperate, I can't even admit what I'm queueing up on Netflix these days (it's an ABC Family show and not the good kind like Greek). There is one bright spot in my otherwise pathetic August DVR line-up, though, and that's MTV's Awkward.

Before you rush off in a fit of eye-rolling, this isn't some soaked-in-alcohol MTV reality show, it's what I have been calling MTV's television redemption. It's a scripted teen dramedy and it's full of actual, relatable teen lingo and characters. (I'm guessing, of course, since I have not been a teen in many many television seasons.)

The main character--Jenna Hamilton--is an average, kind of dorky teenage girl going through all sorts of average teenage things. She's into a popular guy who likes her but isn't sure he can like her in public and then he realizes he's an idiot but by then she's realized his best friend has no issue liking her any time of day. She's got a pair of really funny friends and parents who have their own set of issues, and it's just a sweet, cringe-inducing, sometimes sad, and, yeah, awkward tv show.

I look forward to it every week (it's on Thursdays) and get a little bummed when it ends.

If you're not into the teen drama/comedy kind of show, well then you're probably a normal 30 year old instead of someone like me and we can just go ahead and not reference that this is the kind of show I watch when I come to your next dinner party. I promise to talk politics or indie movies instead of the dating history of fictional 16 year olds.

Well, I promise to try.

Blathering about The Blathering

I don't know if you know, but I co-organize an event every year that is technically a blogging meet-up but is really just one giant excuse to clink glasses with internet friends and eat a lot of food. (Of course I'm involved in an event that includes eating a lot of food.)

It's called The Blathering and it's right around the corner. I wanted to write about the event because we just added a slew of fun activities to the agenda and I'm especially excited about the 5K run/walk I'm organizing. Also, the registration deadline is looming and I just really want you (or you or you or you) to snatch up one of the last ten spots. I'm a little afraid this all sounds weird and salesy but I swear I don't make any money if you do sign up*. I just get to meet you, and that's what I'm really excited about. Getting to meet you.

*If you'd like to just give me money, though, let's absolutely talk.

It's a great event if you already know people coming and you're already good friends with those people, this is definitely true and can be intimidating if you don't fall into those two categories. But it's also a great event if you don't know a soul before showing up, I swear. It's worth the leap of blogging faith.

See, it's not just an event to hang out with people you've been close with for years--although it is that and I'm so glad it's that--but it's also an event to meet new, downright awesome people you've never heard of.

For example, I didn't know anything about Erica before last year's Blathering, and now she's one of my favorite people online. She'll hate that I just wrote that, but it's true. I'm so glad she came, I'm so glad I talked to her (albeit too briefly), and then started reading her, and then reached out and begged her to write for Food Lush. She's hilarious, she can make a mean egg dish, and she lives in Austin, so I've gotten to see her since last year's event, even. I think we'll be friends for a while, aside from blogging, unless all these compliments make her swear off speaking to me forever.

But, I just love that this is going to happen for other people too--that you'll show up and end up clicking with someone you've never heard of, and they'll turn out to be an actual no-shit friend afterwards.

Last night, I spent a little time in my e-mail archives and stumbled upon an unrelated email from Janssen. In that email she said:

"I know some people think it's all weird to care about people who you've never met, but what could possibly be weird about expanding the circle of people for whom you can be absolutely thrilled with when something good happens?"

Reading this reminded me of The Blathering and why I love it so much. It's not just a way to take that expanded circle of people for whom you can be absolutely thrilled with when something good happens and have drinks with them in person. Although I am ever grateful that it IS in part this.

It's a chance to add brand new people to that circle you would have never met otherwise, perhaps not even online.

If you're on the fence about registering, I hope you'll come. 

Fall Wardrobe Additions

Inspired by Elizabeth and also because I just plain love with fall and winter because THOSE SEASONS ARE NOT SUMMER, I've been thinking about adding a few things to my wardrobe this year.

I'd like (but will settle for much cheaper versions of)....

 

1. Twill cropped pant.

2. Denim jacket. I like this dark wash, especially.

3. Wedge pump.

4. Riding boots. I've wanted a pair of riding boots for ages. I said last year I would make a pair my own, and I didn't. My feet are tired of my empty promises.

5. Long-sleeved jersey dress. I'm sensing a black, stripey trend this fall.

6. Ponte pleated skirt. More black. Rest assured, I accessorize with reckless color abandon.

7. Classic dotted cardigan. This is too pricey for me, so if you've seen another dotted cardigan somewhere, I AM ALL EARS. MY MONEY THANKS YOU. (What am I talking about, my HUSBAND thanks you.)

8. Grosgrain-trim silk blouse.

9. Straight leg corduroys. Fine, a black, stripey, mustard theme.

10. Supersoft striped crew. I'd like to try this on first, of course. To see just how supersoft this supersoft shirt is.

11. Pink (or red) Tieks. Again with the pricey. Fine, we'll consider this a dream list, to aim for and then settle much, much below. Like at Target. 

What do you want this fall?

Regrets

(This post brought to you by nothing more than catching sight of my flower tattoo in the bathroom mirror and smiling at it.)

I have a daisy tattooed on my lower back, which makes me as original as 75% of any woman who's ever been a college freshman. I got it on a whim, which is how I made most of my decisions back then. Well, either "on a whim" or "on a lot of tequila," but definitely one of those. I wanted to pierce my bellybutton but have always hated my bellybutton, so a tattoo felt like the logical alternative.

I don't even know. I was 18.

It's faded now, of course, and it's ridiculous and has no meaning AND IS SERIOUSLY A DAISY, but I still love it. You'd think at 30 I'd regret the hell out of it--that I should regret the hell out of it--just like I should regret the boys I "dated" that year (we'll go ahead and put dated in quotes and leave it at that), the amount of time I didn't study that year, the number of Keystone Lights I drank that year, or how over-tweezed my eyebrows were that year.

I don't regret any of it.

(Okay, maybe the eyebrows.)

18 was my hardest year, hands down, and that includes my first year of motherhood, which you'd think would be a lot tougher than a year that didn't include actual responsibility or any debt or even a regular job. But I was complete mess that year, getting tattoos, dating inappropriate people, drinking (cheap and disgusting) beer with reckless abandon, and trying to figure out how to stop throwing up so many of my meals. Or, really, trying to throw up more of my meals without anyone noticing.

My brain never stopped buzzing. I didn't know who I was. I was unhealthy. I was lost. I thought I might be a girl who walked into a grungy tattoo parlor, picked out the first unoriginal flower she saw, and slapped it onto her back forever and ever. Turns out I wasn't that girl--or wasn't just that girl, thank God--but I'm okay that I pretended to be that night.

I don't really see it much. It's on my lower back, an area I only catch a glimpse of in the bathroom mirror from time to time. I'm always a little surprised to see it, actually. "Oh! You're still there?" I think to myself. After everything else has faded from that lost and broken first year away from home, it remains.

I see it and think of that first boy, that first test (that I failed), those long, silent walks to early classes in whatever clothes I picked up off the floor. It reminds me of all those poor choices, of picking the wrong boys, the wrong friends, the wrong tattoo, of being an 18-year-old who was just crossing her fingers she'd make it to the other side in one piece.

She did, I did, and we have the memories, scars, and tattoo to prove it.

I'm proud of them all.

Sponsored Post: LeapFrog Touch Rockin' Guitar

 

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I know! Another sponsored post. What is UP with that? I've apparently run out of non-sponsored thoughts. Kidding, kidding! (You know I could easily fill another week's worth of posts on what I miss most about Veronica Mars. LIKE TODAY I COULD DO THAT.) Anyyyyway, as you may remember, I jumped at the chance to review toys for Kyle through Clever Girls Collective beacuse I suck at picking out toys for him, and LeapFrog requested the reviews be broken into two posts.

Anyway, the other toy we got was a LeapFrog Touch Rockin' Guitar.

(Photo from leapfrog.com)

This is one of those toys that's a big hit with every kid that's ever liked making a lot of music-y noise and that would definitely my kid. It's less of a hit with, say, anyone who has to pay their own taxes.

(Funny side note: Whenever Kyle asks to do something he absolutely cannot do--like drive a car or stay home by himself--my default has been to say, "When you can pay taxes, I'll think about it." It usually confuses him enough so his attention turns elsewhere. Feel free to use that trick yourself!)

I don't actually mind noisy toys, I should say. If a toy keeps Kyle happy, I've always been inclined to Fully Support It. If it's noisy, keeps him happy, AND is educational (like the Touch Magic Learning Bus), I am not going to discourage playing with it, oh nooooo. The Rockin' Guitar definitely checked the first two boxes, which rates it just below the Learning Bus, but it's something Kyle really loved and enjoyed (and I bet your three year old or the three year old you most shop for would love and enjoy it, too). Which is good! I don't need to play with ALL his toys once he's gone to sleep, and it was pretty adorable watching him try to rock out on this.

One of these days I'll share photos online withour my disaster of a house in the background. One day far, far in the future when I clean my house.

You touch a variety of images on the guitar, and different music/percussion plays and that kind of blows your kid's mind. They also look like little rockstars, which allows you to fantasize that they'll BECOME rockstars one day and take very good care of you. (Although, admittedly, I'd rather Kyle become the next Olympic star and take care of me that way. Mostly so I can get featured in a sobs-inducing "thanks mom" commercial.)

So, if you're looking for something fun, awesome (according to kids), and also kind of adorable, I'd suggest this! You can't go wrong with toys that make your kids look adorable, I think that's written in stone somewhere.

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Oh! You might have noticed at the top of this post a mention of a contest LeapFrog is currently hosting. If you get the Rockin' Guitar and take a video of your kid rocking out on it (and why WOULDN'T you take video of your kid rocking out on it?), then share that video, you might possibly win $500. That's fun, right? More info here!

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and was given free product by LeapFrog.  The content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Week 2 of Half Training: Yoga + Guilt

(This was supposed to go up Monday! Apparently, all this training leaves me no time to write about training.)

I finished every work-out on my training plan last week except a 1-mile run and that's because I decided to sit on the couch one evening and drink hard cider instead. I'm sure you understand. I also made all my planned recipes except one and that's because Mike and I had an impromptu date night instead of making orzo pasta. I'm sure you understand that, too. Life is about balance or a similar but lesser-known saying: Life is about giving orzo the finger for fried pickles and cold beer with your husband on occasion.

I feel really good about my commitment to training (so far). I pack in multiple work-outs and eat so much better than I have eaten in the last few months. (Fried pickles only on occasion!) I feel like I'm sloooooowly learning balance, which is what I really wanted from this round of training.

(I will admit to being a little worried now that I don't have the Olympics as background to my running. Nothing says motivation like watching a montage of athletes winning the gold medal while you're just trying to finish two miles. Also, nothing says motivation like Ryan Lochte's abs.)

One new thing last week was a lot more yoga at a local studio, and they thankfully offer plenty of early morning and late evening classes, so I can squeeze in work-outs without disrupting my home life too much.

Hey, funny yoga story before I move on: last Thursday I decided to spice things up by trying a new (to me) class. The class is called "metal," which is what your abs will resemble if you do this class regularly, I suspect. I should have known something was more challenging about metal (well, something other than the name, that is) when I walked in the room to see only three people there. Huh? I thought. Must be a light night. HAHAHA NO. It was one of the most intense work-outs I've ever done. Afterward, in fact, I had to sit in my car to catch my breath, sure that I'd run into a tree if I attempted to drive home immediately. "Sorry officer! I ran into this tree because of yoga." That probably wouldn't have worked.

Anyway, work-outs are (mostly) good, eating is (mostly) healthy, and I'm a-okay with mostly being enough.

One thing that training has reminded me of this time around--even just two short weeks in--is how time-consuming it can be. I try my best to work out early in the morning or late at night so I'm not missing much of my normal life but that isn't 100% possible and that still means I'm exhausted so things like laundry and the dishes and responding to semi-important emails all fall to the back-burner. Basically, it's hard to focus on a new thing without unfocusing on other things, including things I really love and enjoy. Like clean clothes! I like clean clothes a lot.

It's easy to let guilt kill my motivation--"I shouldn't go to the gym this morning when I could stay home with my family or clean the house or run errands instead."--and it's hard not to let that guilt plague me while I'm knocking out a mile here and there, but it's so important not to let it stop me. I don't want to be an overweight, unhealthy mom and wife, which is what I become when I'm eating a lot more and working out a lot less. (Shocking news, right? Eating more + working out less = rounder waist!) Just like Kyle can only benefit from Mike and me enjoying each other, my family can only benefit if I feel good about myself. While I may need to re-figure out how to juggle some of my at-home responsibilities (LAUNDRY!) with my training schedule, I always feel so much better when I'm working out. I'm nicer and more inspired and more at ease with myself and with life in general.

I'm not sure if I typed the above two paragraphs as a reminder to myself that these are healthy and positive changes I'm re-incorporating into my life or for anyone out there who might also be struggling with the guilt of taking time for yourself and your health, but I hope we can collectively remember to tell guilt to shove it.

To sum up, my deep thoughts for today: yes to the occassional fried pickle, metal yoga is not all zen and stretching, and guilt is stupid. The end!

Soccer Mom

Here's a piece of advice: if you've never watched three year olds practice soccer, fix that immediately. It'll be the most adorable thing you've ever witnessed and why deprive yourself of that much adorableness? (Although, you know, make sure it's your own child or a child you know and love so you can avoid being the stranger creeping on the the soccer field.)

Kyle had his first soccer practice yesterday and if you're wondering How the heck did that kid get old enough to play soccer?, well, YOU AND ME BOTH. I'm struggling to wrap my head around the speed with which he's growing, but it's still so damn awesome to watch him grow.

Thankfully, he's on a team with a few friends from school so instead of shyly watching from the sidelines (what I suspect his response would have been if he hadn't known any of the other kids) he jumped right in, listening attentively and adorably for the first half of class and then, well, breaking down into hysterical silliness with his friends the last half. "Oh look at him dribble so well! He's even correctly using the inside of his fo---no wait, now he's purposefully fallen down and trying to make his friend laugh by, wait, is he kicking himself?" 

As I kept saying to the other parents: Three year olds, right?

I'm also the Soccer Mom, as in the Team Manager. So far, all this really means is I'm in charge of organizing the end-of-year party. And, yeah, SOLD. I AM ALL OVER THAT. There is a Pinterest board just waiting to be started, let me tell you. Mike is the assistant coach, and this might be his proudest parenting moment to date. He played soccer all through school and when he was told he was going to be a dad, I bet "I get to be a soccer coach one day" was his first thought right after "well, Jennie's about to get even more emotional for a while. That's swell." One thing about Mike, though, is that he's really awful with names. (See the time he thought he dated Kelly Clarkson.) (Spoiler: He didn't actually date Kelly Clarkson.) I could tell he was trying hard to quickly learn the kids' names last night, but it was rather hilarious to hear him from the stands, "Great job....buddy!" "Awesome dribbling....you!" He'll get there, and Kyle will have a blast in the meantime.

Me? Well, no shock, I'll be the one tearing up in the stands.

He's just so big.

Sponsored Post: LeapFrog Touch Magic Alphabet Bus Review

 

 

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Here's a secret: I'm really bad at picking out toys for Kyle and always have been. I've been leaning on the advice of friends and family and straight-up hand-me-downs since he was born. Whenever someone asks for a gift idea for a kid Kyle's age or younger, I look at them like, Uh, maybe a gift card? Cash? Oh, books! Those are always welcome, right?

The toys that do top his Awesome List are usually ones he got from someone else. Thank goodness the kid has other people in his life. Although, he does have an impressive book collection courtesy of his mom, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

All that said, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that when I got the chance to review the LeapFrog Magic Alphabet Bus through Clever Girls Collective, I was game. (Although, shhh, this time I could pretend I picked it out myself to earn back some toy-picking-out credibility with my three-year-old.)

This is a pretty great toy for the three-year-old set--well, at least my three-year-old--because he's at the age where he's all about letters and spelling words and "what does COW start with, Mommy?" There are a few options on the toy--learning letters through sounds, music, or games--and they all got big laughs out of Kyle, which is a win in my book. (Although for the letter option, whenever you tap a letter, it responds with the letter and the corresponding picture--"a as in apple"--and that made it a little confusing to spell out original words Kyle was narrating to me. Small thing I'd change!)

The toy itself is super lightweight and takes up almost no room, which is good since we have about five total feet for toys in our 1300-square-foot house.

There's also a pretty cool keyboard that Mike and I made up songs on once Kyle went to sleep, in case you're looking for a toy that you can also act like a fool with once the kids are tucked in bed. (If this weren't a sponsored post, I might add something about having a few glasses of wine before playing original songs on your kid's Touch Magic toy to maximize awesomeness, but I am far more professional than that OBVIOUSLY.) 

It IS a great toy, though, and I'm actually planning to buy it for an upcoming birthday present because it's the best gift idea I've come up with (sort of on my own?) in months.

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and was given free product by LeapFrog. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Week 1 of Half Training: Highs & Lows

I said I wasn't going to recap my half-marathon training by week this time around and here I am recapping my half-marathon training by week this time around. I will work on being a person of my word in 2013.

Anyway, I thought I'd break this week into the highs and lows, the winners and losers, the silver linings and the you've-got-to-be-kidding-mes, if you will.

The Highs

1. New shoes!

2. I went to a yoga class alone. Okay, you're probably squinting your eyes at the screen now, convinced you read that wrong, but nope. That's kind of a big deal in my little world. While I love group exercise (and love groups in general), I really only love group exercise with a friend. I'm shy in big groups when I'm flying solo. (Is that surprising?) So, I sucked it up and went to yoga last week all by myself, even though I was a bundle of nerves. Of course, it was fiiiine. No one laughed directly at me, and I made it out in one piece. Little victories!

3. These delicious and so-easy-to-make tacos. 

4. I did (nearly) everything on my training plan last week. Self high-five! I even felt GOOD after my 1.5 miles run last night. I'm sure that'll change next run. Running doesn't let you feel impressed with yourself for very long. Oh, running.

5. I totally curbed late-night snacking (which is my diet KRYPTONITE, you guys) all last week, and the scale reflected a loss this morning.

The Lows

1. I got sick last week. A sinusy/head cold-type thing. IN AUGUST! I have been cranky and bitter about it. I rarely get sick and then I get a cold when it's 108 degrees outside? (Come ON immune system. Step up!)

2. I indulged a little too much on Saturday (my no-rules day) and felt sluggish and gross all Saturday night/Sunday morning.

3. I need a dozen more sports bras so I don't have to do the laundry so much during this training schedule. (That's a weird low, but can we agree that more laundry is always a low, NO MATTER THE CAUSE?)

Halfway to Four

This dude is three and a half, officially, which delights him. He even stopped a few strangers in the grocery store tonight to tell them, "It's my half birthday today!" Praise the strangers who smiled in return.

He uses the word "actually" correctly now, and he starts all his negotiations with "How about..." followed by some ridiculously unrealistic proposal. "How about....I watch nine Curious Georges?"

He is shy in new situations and sticks close to me but once he warms up, boy does he shine.

He's so perceptive, so observant, that it just continues to blow my mind. Today, we stopped at Subway so I could get a sandwich. I got back in the car with that sandwich and a bottle of water and he said, "Mommy, you got water! Because you don't drink Diet Coke anymore." I maybe mentioned this to him once, in the grocery store a couple weeks before, and he remembered. Harvard-bound memory skills right there, am I right? (I know I'm not right but STILL.)

His personality and imagination are on fire lately. The other day we were kicking a mini-soccer ball around the living room and he held up a finger to stop me, pulled his play cellphone from his pocket (the one I didn't know was in there) and proceeded to have a pretend conversation with his Nana. He flipped it close, turned back to me, and said, "That was just Nana. Your turn now."

While I loved age two to the moon and back and will always sing its praises, I feel pretty lucky for age three so far, half-way through. The questions are relentless, the boundary testing is constant, the attitude is popping up, all true statements, but I expected all of that. I often say that age three requires me to be a much different parent than I was a year ago, that I can't give age three an inch or it'll take 95 miles, that I have to be "on" so much of the time, but if I rise to the challenge, he's the same incredible kid he's always been. Still so full of sunshine and smiles. So sweet, so warm, so easy to talk with and hang out with and BE with, that I just continue to feel like THIS BOY, MY GOODNESS, is really something else.

I often wonder if I'm good enough for him, doing right and best and all that. All normal things moms question about themselves all the time. Are his memories happy? Does he know how much I love him? Is he growing up to be just who he is meant to be? How much therapy will he REALLY need? Will he call home when he's 25? And on and on.

Then, 6:30 a.m. rolls around, he calls out that he's awake and I go in (so sleepily) to get him. He claps, he warps his arms around my neck, he whispers "I love you, Mommy," and I figure we're doing just fine.

Halfway from three, halfway to four. So good today.

(Just so you know, kid, if you don't call home when you're 25, I'll just keep calling until you answer.)