Pilates with a Toddler

"Ok, now we're going to do an exercise called 'The Swimming'. Come to the edge of your mat, lay down and stretch out your arms and legs. Suck in your belly, lift your arms and legs and begin beating them percussively."

I hear little hands and feet coming closer.

"Don't worry about how high you're getting, try to get long, from the spine!"

A giggle.

"8 more, I know it's starting to burn!"

It is at this burning point that I feel the little hands on my back pushing up to stand. I turn to face my attacker and get a slobbery smile. :-)

I don't know how mothers ever get back into shape. It could be that they don't eat peanut M&Ms for breakfast, but who's to say? When your car is in the shop, your grocery supply is getting low and your breakfast options are extremely limited, you can only eat scrambled eggs so many times. And my husband feels that in this economic climate it's important to support Mars candies. So there you go.

Here in the Hood, we've had visitors of one kind or another for the last 6 weeks, and with my parents' departure Monday morning I have tried to get back into a routine and normal life somehow. I remember a time when I was exercising several times a week and doing Pilates during naptime like it was no big deal. But that was 6 weeks ago. Yesterday and today my rapidly growing Buster Brown has been foregoing his first nap and staying awake longer. I knew this day was coming, and in fact was slightly worried when other mothers were shocked that he was 10 months old and still taking 3 naps a day. (It's amazing how other people's shock at how you do something can whip you into whatever they're doing so quickly.) My mother pointed out that at some point he had to go to high school, and he probably wouldn't be taking 3 naps then. Good point Mom. So then when he started staying awake longer yesterday and today, I was happy. He's growing up, he's a big boy. Then I realized that I would just have to do my Pilates while he was awake. (Because it's only after my morning coffee that I'm at all inclined to get on my living room floor and pretend I'm swimming.) Naturally, he thought Mama crawling around in the living room and randomly swinging her arms and legs around was a super fun game. It's a lot harder than you might think to do Pilates when someone keeps using your legs (which are supposed to be doing graceful lifts and circles and whatever) to stand up and clap.

Every once in a while I see articles online about how to exercise with your child, and use them as a weight to make you that much stronger. Clearly they're not using a child who changes his mind about which direction he wants to go every 10 seconds. Not to mention that I wouldn't last 5 minutes doing lifts with him. I like to stick with small weights when I'm forced to use them. Low weight, high rep. That's my motto. Anything to make it easier.

Well, it's 11 am now, Siah has gone down for his first nap, and I'm going to use this window of free time to attempt to clean myself up, clean my house up, and get some work done on the computer. . . we'll see how that goes.

Happy Fourth of July!

It's been so great having my parents here. I feel so bad for them, they rode their bike in and it was 105 degrees when they got here, and Papa looked almost like another ethnicity. Josiah just stared at him, and they both looked ready to collapse. We had a relaxing day and date night on Friday, and today we spent the entire day at my Aunt Beth's house, swimming and playing with almost her entire neighborhood and all her friends. I think before we left, (counting kids) there were at least 40-50 people at the house. We had so much fun, and Josiah had his first, second, and third kisses. His little friend Sophia is about 3 weeks younger than he is, and we got Siah to kiss her. Picture to come!

Now to relax...

I'm so excited about this weekend. My parents are coming in today on the bike, and they'll be here for the long weekend, we're going to a fun party at Aunt Beth's, and TJ has the day off tomorrow! He came home from Austin last night around 11, and it was SO good to see him. I know work is important, but life is just so much better when we're together. I'm a little jealous though, because on Tuesday it rained so much they decided to go to a movie, and he got to see Transformers 2, which I still haven't seen. :-P

I can't believe how smart Josiah is. Yesterday he got in trouble for pulling all the dvds on the bottom shelf of the rack off onto the floor. He was sitting there surrounded by dvds, and when he saw me coming he dropped the two in his hands and starting crawling as fast as he could. It was all I could do not to laugh, you could almost hear him say, "Mama, I don't know, I didn't do it." I'm glad he doesn't have a sibling right now, because I'm sure they would get blamed for everything.

Ok, it's lame how long it's been.

I can't say things have been too crazy for me to have time to blog. But the important thing is that I'm back, for whoever is actually still reading this. I've really got to work on my consistency. :-) We've had a lot of visitors from the East lately, (well, technically just three) and it's been so much fun. My sister was here for 3 weeks, but it felt like one. We had so much fun together and I wish she could have stayed longer. She was hoping to get a job out here for the summer, but ended up getting one at home. I guess it's for the best because she has a wedding to plan and it helps to live in the right town while you do that. I miss her like crazy though. Then TJ's parents came down for a few days, and we had such a great time with them. They made it a fun touristy drive down here and we went to the Fort Worth stockyards, the JFK museum, and the Dallas aquarium while they were here. As soon as I find the cord for my camera I'll post some pictures. My favorite part was the cattle drive down the streets in Fort Worth. I think those longhorns must be like 20 years old, because they were not the slightest bit interested in their audience. I think they do it twice a day almost everyday, so it makes sense. Siah kind of cared, but he really liked the train. I guess that's from all the times I've made choo-choo sounds while trying to get him to finish his food.
I can't believe how big he's getting. Tomorrow is his 10-month birthday. While his Nanny and Pops were here they bought him one of those toys that he can push and walk behind - it was a HUGE hit. He is so proud of himself, and loves to go fast. Sunday was his first time in the "Crawlers Room" and when we went to pick him up there were 2 men playing guitar and singing songs to the kids. This was a room full of 10-13 month olds, and they were sitting quietly in 2 rows watching the music. Siah was in the front row holding a toy, and just mesmerized. Every so often he would bounce up and down to the music, and it just made me want to cry. It was the first time I've seen him in an organized class and I got all weepy thinking about his first day of Kindergarten. I'm going to be a basket case. It's so great to see how much he loves music too. I think when he gets older he's going to need some lessons in piano or guitar. Ugh, I can't think that far in the future. It makes me sad. He's so close to saying Mama. He's figured out that saying "mamamama" gets my attention, and while Nanny was here he definitely started some "nananana" to get her attention. I love him so much.
TJ's work is going really well, he's actually working on a job in Austin right now. He spent last night and will spend tonight down there and then be back up here. I miss him when he's gone, but on the upside I can clean at my own pace instead of feeling the pressure to have everything done before he gets home. My parents are coming in on the bike for a long July 4th weekend, and I have a few leisurely days to get the house the way I want it before they get here. We can't wait to see them. I think it's going to feel really strange when we stop having visitors every couple of weeks. :-)

Happy Easter!

We're missing our family today, but having a happy Easter. The service at church last night was amazing. They played Revelation Song as special music with a slideshow of sketches of Jesus going through the crucifixion and then the empty tomb, and it was so powerful. I had to put the song on my blog. It's my new favorite song.

Holy Holy Holy.

I always wanted to be a Jetson.

This month has been so crazy already. Actually, month and a half. My parents came in for my Mom's spring break, then Terri (TJ's mom) came in for her spring break, now my twin brothers are here for a week. (Although it's a little easier because they're staying at my Uncle Larry's.) Siah has LOVED all the visitors and attention. I'm still working on getting him back to playing without an audience. He's so used to looking up to people watching him and clapping that he doesn't understand why I leave the room. Ever. :-) We also think he may be starting to get into the 'clingy stage'? He seems to want me more than he used to. Maybe some of you moms can tell me if your kids went through this. I like being wanted, but I don't want him to cry if we leave him to go out. Come to think of it though, when I've seen those kids they were a lot older than Siah.

I'm not sure how I got the cutest baby on the planet, but I am thoroughly convinced that I did. He's getting so close to crawling, I can taste it. He's starting to get up on his knees, but then he gets frustrated because he doesn't know what to do next. I've tried showing him how to move his legs, but he just laughs and thinks it's a game. I guess he'll have to figure it out on his own. :-) He's such a big boy, while Terri was here she bought him "big boy pajamas" and he looks adorable. They're basically a t-shirt and boxers, and I can't wash them fast enough for him to wear every night. Now that we're eating solids, I have to color-coordinate his clothes and bibs with the food he ate for when he spits up. I know, gross.

So I think I've become addicted to Twitter. I thought it was really dumb at first, and didn't get why everyone was so into it, but I do now. It's just fun. I can't explain it, but it just is. I guess it's just one of those things you have to do before it makes any sense. I actually started an account just to see what it was after hearing about it everywhere. I'm curious to see how long it lasts, if it's just a passing trend or something that will actually stick for years and years. Maybe we'll still be tweeting when we're driving flying cars. I'll be like 80 years old tweeting about lack of respect and the price of a moon vacation. That would be cool.

Is it only Thursday?

Yea for fixed cars! As of today, my car has been at the mechanic's for exactly a WHOLE week. Due to circumstances...well, in our control...we are just now getting around to getting our registration, tags, and driver's licenses for the state of Texas. Don't judge me. So anyway, I'm going to go get my car inspected and there's a light on. And the guys at Autozone won't turn it off for me, which means I have to go to a mechanic. Fortunately, I found (God directed me to?) a really nice place close to our house. They drove me home and said they'd come get us when it was finished. Fast forward to 8 days later. :-) What was one problem became 2 problems and I let TJ take over from there. BUT, I got my car back last night and it drives soo great. Then I took it back this morning to be inspected and they fixed the air conditioning for free! (It was weak before they started fixing stuff, and then had totally quit when I got it back, so they fixed it!) The little boy was such a trooper this morning. We were there waiting for half an hour past his naptime and he was very tired. But he really didn't fuss much and I found 2 quarters in my pocket, so I entertained him by getting some peanut M&Ms from the fun machine. For me. :-)

So now we are home, he is sleeping, and as soon as he wakes up and eats we're off again to get my registration. I think I'll put off the DMV until tomorrow morning. The poor kid deserves to play with his toys sometime today. On the other hand, all this waiting in lobbies is making him very patient. Which is good, b/c he sure doesn't get that from me.

Tourist season at the Hood home starts tomorrow - my parents are flying in and we're so excited! My favorite part of people visiting is feeling like they get to see the little everyday moments that just can't make it to facebook. Funny expressions, the way he treats his saucer like a trampoline now. I'm telling you, every time I turn on the video camera he just stares at me and smiles. I tried to tell him I already got that shot. I think I'm also going to like having someone else entertain him if I want get something done. What I don't know, but at least the option is there.

Make reservations to visit sunny Fort Worth anytime from 7 am to 9 pm