Bedtime Stories

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Since Hunter was a little moosh (mouse) he loved to be read to. Early on, he learned how to hold a book and mimic the sound of reading with patterned garbles. 
My all-time favorite author is Shel Silverstein with "The Giving Tree" being my all-time favorite book. Tonight, I read to Hunter from Silverstein's "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and thoroughly enjoyed the poem:

Forgotten Language

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?

Shel Silverstein

Then, once Hunter was asleep I opened my latest issue of Cookie Magazine and noticed they, too, highlighted an excerpt of this poem in their April issue. Weird...but I guess not so weird because it's such a beautiful expression of how our youth, innocence, open-mindedness, and imagination is so easily lost as we age and become cynical young adults. Then we have our own children and we're reminded of how purely they view the world around them. It's an enlightening thing to have a child embark on discovery. I feel privileged to share in Hunter's wonder. It makes me feel fortunate to have a "second perspective" on life. 

Weekend Update

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I realize I'm not posting new entries daily -- there is little news to tell and I am not feeling 100% inspired yet. Once we are settled in and Trav arrives there will be plenty of
 fodder, I'm sure. ;) So today's post will just be a pictorial update on what we've done since arriving in Central Florida. 

We landed Wednesday (see first post) and finished unpacking and getting settled by Thursday. We spent Thursday "exploring" the house -- Hunter, who started to 
walk the night before we left Jersey -- is loving the hardwood floors b/c they help him balance better than the carpeting we had up north. He is NOT, however, loving the weather. The windows are open and it's sunny, breezy, and beautiful out but Hunter is sweating so much I am considering Botox treatment for his glands. He is in TROUBLE when he reaches adolescence- poor kid! 

On Friday my niece, Ashley, arrived. She stayed the weekend while her parents went to
 Key Biscayne for the tennis match. She's turning 6 this summer and has been the only child and also the only grandchild here in Orlando for awhile. Naturally, I had a lot of explaining to do this weekend as she didn't understand why Hunter was "such a baby" (her words). ;) My
 explanation? Because he IS a baby. That's where the terminology comes from. 
While it was a difficult transition for her, they really enjoyed each other's company and Hunter learned a word faster than ever -- "Ash" for Ashley. 
By the end of their first full day together, he was calling out for her. It was too cute!! I didn't realize he was capable of learning words so quickly...I've been trying to teach him to say "nose" for 3 months and he still just honks my nose and says "boo". 
Here's a pic of Hunter and Ashley after jumping on the bed for what seemed like hours...I love H's expression! Unfortunately, Ashley had her eyes closed in every shot so I just selected one: 
Friday afternoon, my girlfriend Coleen came over to give everyone haircuts -- including Hunter and Ashley. They both got lollipops for being such good clients. :) Hunter took his out of his mouth and rubbed it all over his head and got hair stuck to it and then ate it! Yuck!

Saturday morning we all went to the Winter Park Farmer's Market together and ate breakfast and bought some fresh veggies. Hunter ate my entire Quiche Lorraine! After
 the shopping we went to the park and Ashley chased squirrels while Hunter found a new girlfriend (a few months older than he is) to make out with. She reminded me of Madeleine so I started really missing Kellie! Here's a pic of Hunter and Ashley with their GrandMama:
...Hunter and his GrandPapa:
Saturday evening I took Hunter to my BFF, Yen's, house for 
her son's 5th Birthday party. There were other kids there but no one was interested in playing with Hunter...awwwww...so he took to crawling all over Yen's house as I followed him with my camera. Here's the clique shunning him:
...Payton's room:
...Yen's room:
...caught being chased:
Sunday we spent some time outdoors -- it rained in the a.m. but was beautiful out in the afternoon and evening so we ate our meals by the pool and stuck our toes in the water. I also took Hunter to Target and reveled in the fact that the stores around here all stay open on Sundays. Hallelujah! I DON'T miss that (Sunday Stores Closed) about WNY. I should add that to my list. 

Today I went to see my Acupuncturist, whom I consider to be a real-life healer. If any of you make it to Orlando you HAVE to schedule an appointment with Heidi. She totally rocks. She specializes in Fertility and Women's Issues and I'm convinced she had a part to play in Hunter's conception b/c she was treating me for cramping and other abdominal pain associated with "girl problems" right before we conceived. I wasn't going to her for that exactly but I am thankful nonetheless. 

After Hunter's morning nap we went swimming and laid out in the sun to warm up after the cool dip. Then we came inside and enjoyed the sunlight streaming through the open windows:
I have lots of Playdates scheduled with our Mommy Friends down here starting next week...I've also scheduled dentist, OB, and Pediatrician appts for us so we'll start being a little busier soon.  
Until then, it's been nice to get some R&R (well as much as I can get these days) and play each day by ear. Life is slower-paced down here and it suits us just fine! 

Miss List

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I've been making a list of things I miss from WNY -- but it makes me forlorn to think of. Then I decided to make a list of what I WON'T miss. I am sure I'll add to this as time goes on.

Clearly, I miss my friends the most. Just like I missed my family the most when I lived up there...but neither are on this list b/c they are a "given".

Miss:
Fresh Direct delivering my groceries
Full Service Gas Stations
Our Kick-Ass View of Manhattan
Having a Playroom Downstairs
My OB who is THE MAN
My babysitter and dear friend, Allison
Seeing Groundhogs burrowing and rummaging along the hillside on River Road
The Bagels
Mitsuwa & Trader Joes

Glad to Say Sayonara to:
ANNOYING I O Digital Cable Commercials
Riverbend/Roseland Management -- such total incompetent bastards
Drunken convos outside of PF Chang every night that I could hear clearly though the window and through Hunter's monitor
Fast & Furious Wannabe Posers on their loud motorcycles racing down River Road
Passing a Ben n Jerrys on my nightly stroll

Arrived Safely -- But Nowhere NEAR Sanely

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Dearest Loyal Readers...or should I say...Dear Diary...since, who I am kidding? Who honestly wants to read this crap anyway? Well, other than me.
Dear Diary,
Today we flew home. Hunter in his car seat at the window, me in my MIDDLE seat (yuck!! what i sacrifice for this kid...), and Kingston kicking in my tummy.
It was the first and last time I plan on traveling alone with Hunter in a carseat while I am pregnant. To put it lightly, it TOTALLY bit it. Big time.
I submitted to the fact that my "heavy load" body couldn't juggle a 26lb 1-year old while 7-months preggy, toting an oversized car seat, diaper bag, purse, laptop bag, and baby-gear bag.
I actually asked for help (gasp!).
JetBlue arranged for a "meet & greet" attendant to take me to my gate in a wheelchair, free of charge. Some of you may be too proud for this type of display, but I knew I needed it after packing for a week and feeling like I permanently damaged something.
While it was helpful, they stood me up at the gate and I found myself juggling it all ANYWAY and installing my carseat in the plane by myself with Hunter jumping all over the seats and the bags dangling from my sides like saddlebags on a camel with an upside down hump. I am sure all the passengers enjoyed the view of my enlarged derriere as I hunched over the seat attempting to make it all work, heaving with each shallow preggy breath, hoping for some divine intervention to come along and rescue me. It never came. The flight was hell. Nuff said.
But the good news is after 2 hours of Hunter crying to get out of his car seat (while waking the 4-month old in the row in front of us), we landed and wheeled it back to luggage claim where my Father, and Savior, was waiting with a cart and my bags. Ahhh, the light at the end of the tunnel.
Florida is sunny, warm, fresh, and familiar.
I am relieved to have the past two weeks behind me -- though it hasn't sunken in that I am back in my hometown.
I spent the evening with my parents and my brother and his family, eating Persian home-cooked food, watching the kiddies play, and actually just sitting on the sofa for once and having someone else chase after my rambunctious child. Hunter discovered stairs for the first time and made it up the entire flight at my brother's house lickety-split.
Then I went to Mom & Dad's and we watched American Idol together. We did this the first season it was on as well so it felt rather nostalgic. We sat and critiqued all of the singers and my Dad agreed I should be a judge on the show and that little boost of confidence from my family is all I needed to feel like the world had been righted again. :)
Now I have some unpacking to do. As of tomorrow I am going to try and recover from all the physical labor I've put myself through the past 2 weeks and I'm going to tackle my to-do-list of finding new Drs, etc.
Some nice surprises were waiting for me when I arrived today -- gifts from my Baby Shower the WNY Mommies hosted. It touched me and yet again reminded me of the great friendships that we developed back in Jersey. I can't wait to call everyone, update them, and hear all the latest baby news. I read our blog tonight and felt like I was there in Justine's house listening to her tell me about Alexarya's latest food discovery. I am glad I have that little window into their lives still. It will help me feel like I never left and I like that.
Geez, I'm exhausted and rambling...my point is I did not have a "great flight" no matter how many people wished it for me -- but I survived it. And that's really all I can ask for -- because now I am here, where I belong, and it feels SO right!
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