Memorial Memories

We had an extremely busy, but fun, Memorial Day Weekend! I had a somewhat odd and frustrating day Friday, which included 2 trips to Shirley and Ray's to drop off/pick up Payson due to a trip to the doctor necessitated by a swollen, red eye from a Wednesday bug bite, a visit from our local water utility to upgrade our meter, and 3 hours of cleaning at our apartment building. What a great way to spend my vacation time! Luckily it helped us get a jump on getting one of our apartments ready for a new tenant (or at least we felt like we did).

Saturday morning we finally met up with our friends the Kramers who we met through our childbirth education classes. Lisa and I were the ones who had done a lot of reading and asked tons of questions (a.k.a. pregnant dorks), so we naturally gravitated towards each other. We've been trying to get together with them for a long time, but Payson's Friday puke sessions kept putting a damper on our plans. We met them at a fantastic playground in Westbrook at Riverbank Park - it even had a little playground perfect for toddlers (although the girls seemed to enjoy the bigger playground more).

Here's some shots of our adventure:

Wheee! We started on the baby swings, which no one could fall out of.

We moved towards the ADA swings - hard to slip out of, or at least, if you're watching, you can catch your kid as they slide forward.

Need I reiterate Payson's really not a baby anymore? Also note the woodchips beneath, which no one needed, but it was comforting nonetheless.

Lisa snapped this picture of Payson, and I have to say it is one of my all-time favorites (and yes, I made those muffins on Saturday morning! I forgot to add sugar and they tasted wicked bland, but hey, I actually BAKED something!)

Matt stayed with Payson for her lunch/nap, so Zoe and I hit the trails on the Portland Water District land for a 45 minute trail run, which was GREAT. Saturday afternoon Matt tried to get a jump on the apartment stuff, so Payson and I ran some errands and visited Matt's Nanie, who is surprising us all with her independence and strength since Grampy's passing. Then we headed home and loaded the sand into Payson's "new" sandbox. Payson was really into it! I thought - Great, I'll be able to get some gardening/weeding done tomorrow because Payson will be occupied for awhile. I'll never learn - don't let her play with something new because the novelty wears off quickly!!! The next day she barely looked at the sandbox.

Payson's "smile-on-command" has now turned into this - a little frightening, but still cute, and very funny! If you need to be reminded of her natural cuteness, scroll back up to the muffin picture.

Sunday we plugged away at the garden while Matt continued the apartment work (the building is for sale - any takers?). At first I thought it was a lost cause, but then Payson started "helping" me and playing in the really big "sandbox." Look at her weeding!

At first glance, it looks like P's enjoying herself by giving me a hand. She even has her own trowel and wheelbarrow.

But if you zoom in...

"What the heck are we doing, mom? I thought this was supposed to be fun! I'm not really sure I like this 'gardening' stuff..."

I made a surprising discovery at lunch:

If you look really closely, you'll notice a duck formed by milk - it's above the prune chunk on the bottom left. We didn't make this, it just "appeared" in the chaos of a toddler having a messy lunch, and I was astute enough to notice it before Payson slung her plate through it and turned it into a milk blob. Isn't it amazing!? Weigh in: can I make any money off of this picture? I think it's equally impressive as the Mona Lisa grilled cheese or whatever that was.

Now, stop rolling your eyes and wondering if motherhood has reduced me to some crazy person seeing things. Look again - it really DOES look like a duck!

Sunday afternoon we went to my old professor/current friend and colleague and wife's 30th anniversary party, which was a blast. It was Payson's first exposure to live music, and she really seemed to like it! We're looking forward to some outdoor concerts this summer.

Monday was devoted to fun. I started off the day with a long bike ride in the morning. We then met up with the Smiths, who we hadn't seen for awhile, at the Maine Wildlife Park. It was pretty fun, but the most memorable moments didn't involve the animals.

As we got started, Payson lounged in Alison's cool new wagon.

But it didn't take long for Payson to get out! She was all about pushing Alison in the wagon. And she PUSHED! The adult "pullers" had to hold back a little so Payson wouldn't push to hard and go careening out of control.

Peek a boo!

The best moment of the day occured when Alison walked up to Payson and proclaimed, "I need hug," to which Payson responded with her arms stretched out to hug her buddy. We didn't capture that exact hug, but this one's from later. The day was filled with hugs...

... and kisses! The girls are so cute with each other.

After the Wildlife Park we headed to Freeport for lunch and Wolfe's Neck Farm - again! We can't get enough of that place, and Eddie had never been. Unfortunately, Alison was a little tuckered out so they didn't get to enjoy it as much as they would have it Ali had been in prime farm condition.

Petting the sheep!

Payson's favorite activity was walking up and down a ramp, over and over. Hey, whatever makes you happy!

A great way to end a busy, fun day!

It was a crazy weekend, but so much fun!

In other exciting updates, Payson has continued not nursing to sleep for over a week now, and for the past 2 nights I've even put her in her crib, rubbed her belly for a little while, and left the room while she was still awake - and she fell asleep on her own! I feel 75% happy, and 25% sad. It's such a weird thing to feel any sadness, but I suppose it's because she needs me less in one instance, and while that's wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better transition, it still makes me a little sad.

Well, I've gotta get to bed as I'm getting up early for a bike ride tomorrow morning. Zoe and I went running early Tues. morning also, and it's been a great way to get out and get the exercise in. I'm really looking forward to Beach to Beacon this August!

Taming the Wild Whiner

I've given up, and forgiven myself. From now on, I'm just going to blog when I have time - which, apparently, isn't weekly. Work's been really busy, with 2 night committments this past week, and once Payson's asleep we have all this other stuff to do besides blog, like pay bills and make lunch. Go figure! It's hard being a grown up.

At least I get to eat ice cream and drink wine, which is what I'm doing right now as I blog on a Friday night at 9:20 p.m. Yep, life does change after you have a kid! Actually, I just finished the wine and I've moved on to the ice cream.

So - the title of this blog: "Taming the Wild Whiner." Payson likes to wine, to ME. And sometimes to Matt, but mostly to me. I think it's payback for how much I whined growing up, but boy I hope it stops soon. Payson talks a lot, and has an incredible vocabulary for a 17 month old. Yet, she still loves to whine and point when she wants something. We've been reduced to saying sternly, "Payson, use your WORDS!" to which she usually responds by both signing and saying, "Please?" I wonder if she knows what we mean when we say "Use your WORDS!" Does she think she should be doing something with an object called a word? So I also usually ask her to say or tell me what she wants. Who knows what's effective?

Saturday was filled with whining and wasn't our best day. Jami and Braydon came over in the morning and while Braydon was taking his morning nap (oh, I remember those days) we all played outside - Payson crashed and burned forehead first on the paved driveway. Oops. Can you see her forehead? The scratch is actually self-inflicted from her fingernails that seem to grow about 1 inch a week and then she scratches herself while sleeping. Typically she cuts herself near her left tear duct and has been doing so since birth. But there's also a red road rash to the right of the scratch. Thank goodness for all that hair.

Payson, Jami, & Braydon (10.5 months and already outweighs Payson!)

We all took a walk on the Mountain Divison Trail near our house.

Payson tried to ice her boo boo. This ice pack got hot after about 5 minutes!

View of the Presumpscot River from the trestle. I love the chartruce color of the popping leaves!

Matt was doing some side work on Saturday and Payson and I were looking forward to attending my friend Christine's daughter's, Delaney, 4th birthday party. However, as I said, Saturday wasn't our best day, especially after the nap, from which Payson woke early and cranky. So we didn't end up making it to the party, which was a big disappointment.

Sunday was better - Matt took Payson for the morning and I entrenched myself in washing and organizing her spring and summer clothes. Man, it is quite a lot of work keeping up with her clothes! And then I took a great bike ride. In the afternoon I broke out the sidewalk chalk, which was a huge hit and tons of fun.

Besides whining these days, Payson really is quite a charmer. She's full of energy the minute she wakes up and doesn't stop moving until she sleeps. She talks a LOT, and sings and dances in her own way. She has been entertaining us lately by copying our motions and intonations. We had her saying "salsa" the other night in all sorts of ways which was extremely funny. Tonight we had her saying "strong" and putting her arms up to make muscles, which was so cute. She takes direction and knows how to help with simple tasks, like feeding Zoe every morning and evening and putting her shoes back in her closet - from the kitchen, without being told where to put them (just by asking her to put her shoes away, and she knows where they go, which is pretty amazing to us!). She shows empathy by being upset when she hears other kids crying, which is also amazing..

Here's a picture that embodies Payson's wild spirit - crazy hair, on the go, big ol' smile.

Is it safe to talk on your cell while riding your zebra?

Payson's sleeping pattern has really changed the past 2 weeks, too. She used to nurse to sleep at 7:30 every night, very consistently. During the last 2 weeks, however, she has been staying up later and we're not sure why - perhaps the sunlight? Last week it took her forever to nurse to sleep - a couple times it was around 9 p.m. before she fell asleep. But this week she seems to have turned a "nursing corner" and is no longer nursing until she falls asleep, which is really exciting for me as I never knew how I'd end this trend. Instead, she nurses for awhile and then sits up, so I stand up and "bounce" her. Last night she actually pointed to her crib before she was asleep - and did this again in the middle of the night when she awoke! I was so excited. So I put her in and rubbed her belly and off she went. I am hoping this is a good trend that will lead to her falling asleep without aid... eventually.

Her later bedtime has translated to shorter naps (darn!) but later waking in the morning (yay!). So this week I went for a bike ride at 5:45, which was great! I'm looking forward to doing more morning workouts - it's nice to fit it in before I head to work in the morning. I also got out for a run on Tuesday; I've been pretty good lately about meeting my exercising goal of 2 times a week during my 4 day work week, and then get out a bunch on the weekend, too.

We have a PACKED Memorial Day weekend ahead of us, with some fun and some more work-oriented activities planned. I hope to get some great pictures! I hope everyone has a great, relaxing weekend.

Mother of All Weekends

We had a great Mother's Day weekend! My mom came to visit on Friday night, after I attended a reunion for my beloved Camp Huckins. Saturday we went back to Wolfe's Neck Farm, which my mom loved - as did Payson, Matt, and I. As we were getting ready to head out to the Farm, Stacy called to ask for directions! So it was an added bonus to see Alison, Stacy, and HER mom at the Farm, too! The girls had a blast running around, petting and feeding the animals, making noises, and stepping in poop.

The gals at the Farm (or, as they say in Maine, the Fahm)

Hey, this piggy's a little too close for comfort!

Checking out the chickens with dad...

... and the lambs with mom.

Sunday was my second Mother's Day! We enjoyed a gorgeous, fun day. Here's a little flashback to last year. I am planning on taking pics with Payson every Mother's Day.

This year's picture on the deck! Looks like it was quite a bit windier last year! I wonder how much more hair Payson will get this year...

Hey, I also noticed I'm wearing the lovely jewelery Matt's given me on both Mother's Days. I'll add that tradition to the picture, too! (Hee, hee - or hint, hint...) Honestly, Matt is so great about recognizing all the work I do as a mom and he really shows his appreciation, on lots of days, not just Mother's Day. He's the best.

Here's the 3 of us. It's really hard to get a good picture of Payson nowadays - her nickname is Miss Squirmy Pants!

Sunday I ran my inaugural Sea Dogs Mother's Day 5K and LOVED it. It was a great course, and a ton of people ran (about 2,000!). I registered on the day of the race and my number was 1978! I thought that was pretty funny, as it's the year I was born. Hopefully next year Payson can do the Kids Fun Run - my friend Christine's 2 year old ran the entire thing this year and had a great time.

I was really happy with how I ran the race - I ended up surprising myself! I ran the first mile in about 7:20, the second a little faster, and ended up running the whole 5 kilometers/3.1 miles in 22:05, which evened out to a 7:07 pace. I have to admit I was a little shocked since I have not been running or exercising a ton, but enough to get me going! That put me in 4th out of 140 for my age division, and 185th out of 1926 overall. I am looking forward to more races soon! It was a great change from my normal running routine.

The race ended in Hadlock Field, home of the Seadogs (Portland's baseball team). We got to run around the perimeter of the field (as Matt informed me, it's formerly called the "Warning Track") - it was really cool! I'm in the light green/yellowish shirt above.

Here's Payson spectating. She did an awesome job at the race, with so much to look at!

After the race we went to Deering Oaks Park and hung out for a little bit.

Payson and I ran around the Park a little bit too. She's already in training for next year!

Wading in the Rain

After a pretty decent stretch of weekend weather, we were horrified with our lot this past weekend (that's right, folks, I am blogging about the near past! I am so excited!!!). It rained both Saturday and Sunday - yuck - even though the meterologist on Channel 6, Kelly Lebreque, said it would be sunny. It's a running joke in our house on the weekends that if you want to know what the weather will be, take this particular meterologist's forecast and reverse it! She's TERRIBLE!

Saturday I went (sans Payson!) to my 3rd annual Children's Exchange at Greely Middle School in Falmouth - pretty much a big consignment sale with loads of good stuff in an affluent town. Before I even turned into the school I thought I had it made - I saw a bike trailer at a yard sale capitalizing on the traffic from the big sale at the school! However, it was $125 - a little pricy for a used one. The sale at both Greely MS and the neighboring elementary school were great - the latter offered bags of clothes (good ones, too!) for $2.00 a bag! I was on cloud nine.

Matt and Payson spent the morning yard saling themselves, and visiting with Matt's dad and stepmother, which was great as they had not seen Payson since our Easter excursion. Sunday we went to LL Bean's to let Payson run rampant around their flagship store. They have a great new display with fish that you can get "under" and feel like you're in the aquarium, swimming with the fish. And lots of animal heads on the walls; P. learned how to say "moose." Matt exchanged his waders for some new ones and got his fishing and hunting licenses.

Sunday afternoon the rain stopped so Payson, Zoe, and I headed to the Mountain Division Trail for a 4.5 mile run. It was not the best, I gotta be honest. The tires on Bob were rather flat, and I made the mistake of stopping half way through the run to see how Payson was doing (stopping and talking to her) and she assumed it was stop time, and proceeded to want OUT the remainder of the run. I entertained her by running through all the animal noises she knows - so picture me running down the trail pushing this flat-tired running stroller and a squirmy toddler (wearing the bracelets in the last blog's photos, no less) saying, "What does a doggy say?" - "What does a piggy say?" and so on. But hey, any run is better than no run at all and it was just nice to be outside after being cooped up inside all weekend. It's hard to find affordable indoor activities out of the house to do with a toddler in tow - you want something to do so they can move around freely!

Luckily Monday was beautiful, but unluckily there was a large black fly hatch so when you were outside black flies were swarming at your head. This mostly occured in the morning, thank goodness. Below are some cute pictures of our weekend's adventures.

I'm sure you want to hear about MORE pukes & poops, but I forgot to write that on Friday when Payson was with her Mimi & Papa for the day (a.ka. Shirley & Ray, Matt's mom and stepdad), they took her to the grocery whereapon she threw up all over herself and poor Shirley (luckliy in the parking lot). This poor kid is a Friday puker! She was out of sorts on Friday, and then she was fine all weekend sickness-wise, although she is cutting all 4 insisors so that's been tough for her. Go figure. But poor Shirley and Ray! Luckily they were good natured about the ordeal, finding the silver lining - Shirley said it was a good thing she wasn't carrying her in the other arm because she would have thrown up in her pocketbook! Ick!

That's it for now. I'm so excited I'm caught up with this blog, finally. I should be cleaning right now in preparation for my mom's visit for Mother's Day weekend (she doesn't care, but it's a good motivational excuse for a spring cleaning, and we NEED it), or eating my melting ice cream (have you tried Edy's Cookies & Dreamz yet? It's my all time favorite), or pumping (yep, still doing that occasionally!)... so I'm off to do one of those three. Guess which one? :)

Looking super cute in denim before Friday's puke fest. Payson picked out matching shoes on her own!

Ready to go spelunking with a $1 headlamp Payson and dad found yard saling.

The budding fashion sense returns as Payson adamantly wears a pumpkin hat all Monday morning.

Having fun on the swingset! (This tiny kid is pushing the buckle to the limit! Who designed this swing?)

She can climb up and slide down all by herself!

Happy 30th Birthday, Stacy!

Here I am, blogging in the past tense again. I suppose you are always blogging about the past, but I am one week behind which is driving me nuts. Some day I'll be caught up! I had to post these cute pictures from our weekend of 4/26. We spent most of the weekend celebrating Stacy's thirtieth birthday! It didn't look TOO painful, which I am happy about since mine is looming in the not-so-distant future.

This picture's not from the weekend, but too cute not to share. It was a warm week, filled with sunscreen and grime. Our ritualistic Tuesday/Thursday baths didn't work with all the dirty daycare fun outside, but on one night we were in a rush so we plunked little miss P in the kitchen sink! She really seemed to enjoy it, and is also now smiling on demand. Very convenient if you can catch it on film!

Saturday morning Payson got all gussied up! She loves saying bracelet ("baayset") and glasses ("nasses"). We love her budding sense of fashion!

Saturday we met the Smiths in Portland after Eddie's baseball game (he coaches the JV team at Cheverus High School). We missed the game due to Payson's nap, but the girls (& dogs) enjoyed running rampant on the fields afterward.

Saturday evening we headed into the Old Port for the Smith's first time at Flatbread's Pizza. Yum! Or so I thought. I actually ended up with a 1 a.m. wake-up call from food poisoning from the Thai pizza special I ordered. Luckily it was short-lived. Will we ever surpass the poops and pukes in our family?!?!?!

Sunday the birthday festivities continued. Hey, you're only 30 once! We headed out to the 'Boro, as we affectionately call it, for some play time and a late lunch. As you can see below, Alison also smiles on demand but her smile is a little more scrunched up! :)

That's it for now! In case you are dying to know, I can't remember how I've been doing exercise-wise a week ago, but I have been out running 2-3 times a week and also been on my road bike a bit too. I'd like to get out on it more, but then Zoe can't come and she needs her exercise too! I'm toying with the idea of running a 5K road race on Mother's Day, which I think would be really fun. We'll see!

Yardwork, Wolfe's Neck, & EPA Award

I haven't been doing a great job keeping up to date with the blog - life's busy 'round here! Luckily we are good about documenting our activities through pictures, so you haven't missed anything (it's just a little late).

The weekend of 4/19 was filled with gorgeous weather, which we took advantage of and got some much-needed yardwork done. We weren't quite sure how Payson would do, but she did great and even "helped" clear out the perennial bed.

et another picture to remind me that Payson's really not a baby anymore. Look how grown up she looks! Yikes!

Sunday we went to Wolfe's Neck Farm in Freeport with Matt's brother, Ricky, his wife, Lauren, and our two nieces, Chloe (28 mo.) & Fiona (14.5 mo.). The Farm is open to the public from sunrise to sunset, and you can get up close and personal with all the animals you can handle! It was SO much fun. All the girls were fascinated with the animals, making their noises, stepping in their poo, and following them around.

Chloe especially loved chasing the chickens!

(Matt later saw a sign asking not to chase them. Oh well.)

The entire gang, above, and Lauren & Fiona, below.

Hey, why aren't the chickens coming out to see us?

A funny picture - Payson loves to read, anytime, anywhere! Here she is post-bath, before we could even get a diaper on!

The EPA Awards ceremony in Boston was wonderful. It was insipiring to hear all the environmental accomplishments from all over New England, on all different types of projects to better our environment. Recipients even included the Boston Red Sox, who have teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to "green" Fenway (read more here).

This isn't a great picture, but it's because they were taking a pic of the group, which will get sent to each award recipient. Let me know if you want me to scan it and post it once it arrives.

Aside from hearing these accomplishments and receiving a federal award in historic Faneuil Hall (did you know George Washington toasted the birth of our nation there? Remember "no taxation without representation"? That was declared, there, too.), a big highlight of my day was getting to spend 4 interrupted hours in the car with Matt.

Oh! I almost forgot (kind of wish I had!). Upon reminiscing about our trip, I remembered both Matt and I didn't feel so great due to a stomach bug Payson passed along - she threw up all over me again Friday night prior to the weekend I just wrote about. Gross! Luckily whatever she had didn't affect her long but it made all of our appetites diminish and stomachs feel funky, which was unfortunate in Boston when right at Quincy Market. We're all back to normal now!