Fall Leaves

This morning we were watching the leaves come down off the tree in our backyard. As in yesterday the tree was full of leaves, this morning it was half full but raining leaves, and now it's almost empty. We have a beautiful blanket of leaves on the ground.


Last week, Daniel and I went for an afternoon walk and the yellow maples on one side of Pallister were in full glory - vibrant and glowing in the sun. The red maples on the other side were almost completely green, with just a hint of color. Two days later we drove by and the yellow leaves were gone but the red maples were in their prime.

I'm thankful for these small blessings, and for the time to slow down and take them in. I'm especially enjoying doing these things with Daniel as he's becoming more and more aware of the world around him.

Tired

That's what I am. Dave and I have been getting to bed later and Daniel and I have been waking up earlier. We've been a little whacked out since the time changed. The result is that I've been getting 2-3 hours less sleep a night than I was a few weeks ago. Hmm. No wonder I'm tired. Plus it's been a busy week and I'm feeling the weight of a lot of little things. I'm having a cup of peppermint tea and then we're going to bed early.

Look for us in room #3

I saw my midwife today and she asked if they could put this picture up on the wall in one of the exam rooms. She likes how it shows the whole support team - husband, mom and doula. I was thrilled! She took a picture of Daniel and me in front of the picture hanging on the wall, but I don't have it yet.

Through new eyes

It's been really fun watching Dave be a dad. I think the world of him anyway - he's a wonderful husband, my best friend and an overall quality guy - but even more so now as I watch him in the new role of dad. I have to be intentional, though, about giving him the chance. I get so used to being with Daniel on my own that I forget to share when Dave gets home.

On Sunday evening, I cleaned up the dinner dishes and let them play. It was so much fun to hear Dave making up songs and to watch them playing peekaboo, reading books and laughing together. It's also good to see how Dave interacts differently with Daniel than I do. I've heard that moms tend to hold their kids close and dads tend to push them and play rougher with them, but I had no idea the hanging upside down would come so soon!

Detroit Elections Tomorrow

This is an "off year" for elections, in that there are no presidential, congressional or gubernatorial races, but Detroit has a lot of important issues on the ballot. All of the city council seats are up for grabs, and given the perennial drama surrounding Detroit's city council, we need some good people there. We're electing a charter commission that will rewrite Detroit's city charter. Very important. There's a proposal to change the city council from 9 at-large members to 7 district representatives and 2 at-large members. From what I understand, there were good reasons for the current composition method, but as times have changed, council by districts makes a lot of sense now. There's a $500 million bond proposal to upgrade and modernize a number of school buildings and 4 school board members need to be chosen. Detroit Public Schools is currently in receivership with an emergency financial manager. Again, important issues to be addressed. Oh yeah, the mayor is up for re-election too, but he's only been in a few months and he's expected to stay.

I heard on the radio today that voter turn out is expected to be low, maybe 20-25%. I don't know how that compares to other elections, but it seems like more people should care with so many important decisions at stake. Is it apathy - a sense of hopelessness that things can change? Are people too busy just trying to survive to care about voting? I wonder how many people are overwhelmed by all the issues and all the choices. I know I am.

I didn't vote in the primary because figuring out which of the 167 city council candidates to vote for was just too much. Yes, 167. I feel a bit that way now too, needing to pick 9 out of 18 candidates for both city council and the charter commission. Our local public radio station has been interviewing all of the candidates over the last few weeks and I had good intentions of listening to them online, but 15 minutes x 36 candidates + life with a 12 week old baby + election day snuck up on me = I still have no idea who to vote for. I'm at least going to read the document that came from the DPS financial manager before tomorrow and do my best to make good choices for the rest.

I'm not exactly sure what my point is, or if I have one. Detroit needs some good leadership and this election is an important opportunity to pick some new leaders with vision and ability, but I wonder if it will really happen. I know I haven't done my part and wonder how many other people are in the same position as me.

NaBloPoMo

Yeah, the first time I saw that I thought, "What in the world?" I gathered that it had something to do with posting every day in November, but I couldn't figure out how the Na Blo Po and Mo made any sense with that. So when I saw it again this week, I turned to Google and found out about National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to get yourself into the habit of blogging regularly by blogging every day for a month. I figured it would be a good way to get back into the routine.

For a while after Daniel was born, I found it easier to post a quick couple-sentence status update on facebook instead of blogging. Blogging required more thought and more time. In the last few weeks, I've found that I have lots more things I want to say, but I don't actually sit down and write. I like to think that I have something worth sharing. If nothing else, friends and family can get a glimpse into my life and see my cutie pie kiddo! It also helps me to process what's happening in our little world and helps me keep some perspective on what we're doing and why.

So, I'm going to give it a shot and see if I can post every day this month. Hopefully we'll build a new routine and I'll begin to find my voice and my vision again.

Funny Faces

It’s been a while, huh? Lately, I’ve either felt like I didn’t have anything to say or haven’t had any time to say it. That’s not such a good thing, since it means I’m probably not processing enough. But right now Daniel is in bed and Dave’s at work, so here I sit with a mug of hot apple cider (in one of my mugs from Malawi, of course, since they’re the best for apple cider.) I still don’t have any collected thoughts, but here are a few snippets that might give you a snapshot of our life right now.

- People often ask how we’re doing and I’m not always sure how to answer. I think we’re getting into a groove. I’m more comfortable in my role as a mom (although it still feels funny to see it in writing!) and we’re getting into some better routines.

- Daniel’s sleeping longer at night, which means I’m sleeping more too. Hurray!

- He’s more content to sit in the bouncy seat while I do other things – mainly eat or work in the kitchen. I’m cooking more often. I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this week that are really good. I’m cooking much more often than I am pulling things out of the freezer.

- I am absolutely loving the cloth diapers and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Daniel’s worn 3 paper diapers and they were all in the first 2 weeks. I’m really proud of that. It’s been fun trying out different types of diapers and finding out what we like best and what works best for different times of day. If you get me talking about diapers, I have to be careful not to go on and on!

- The house is not so neat and clean, which actually isn’t that unusual (unfortunately, I’m not known for being a neat freak), but it’s even more so with a baby. My top priority is taking care of Daniel and making sure that we have clean clothes to wear and food to eat.

- Everybody said that life would change when we had a baby, but I really had no idea how much. I had no idea how much time I would spend nursing, holding, walking, rocking. It’s been challenging for Dave and me to find time to spend together, though it’s getting a little better now that Daniel’s in bed earlier. For a while, we’d get Daniel to bed and all we could do was get ready for bed and crash. Even now, though, we tend to do a lot of tag teaming – one of us has Daniel while the other cooks dinner, washes dishes, does laundry, etc. We know that it’s important to focus on each other and our marriage, but it’s hard to know how to turn that knowledge into action. We’re not really sure what to do differently. Any tips from other parents?

- I started pumping a little bit of milk yesterday and we’re going to try giving Daniel a bottle. I’m still a little on the fence about it, though. Theoretically, I know it’s probably the best thing for him to be able to take a bottle sometimes, but part of me kind of hopes he won’t. I’m still not thrilled with the idea of him getting milk from a bottle and not just from me. But being able to take a bottle means that I could occasionally do some things in the evening and let Dave put Daniel to bed. Or it means that we’d be able to leave Daniel with someone while we go out for a couple hours. Besides, I don’t have any more good reasons to put it off.

- My dad keeps asking if Daniel does any tricks yet. He waves his arms and legs. He smiles at us when we talk to him. He’ll sometimes stick his tongue out if I do. He makes cute faces when he stretches. I don’t know if those count as “tricks,” but they’re fun to watch.

I guess that’s all for now. It’s 9:00, which means it’s time for me to go to bed. I’m hoping to post some pictures more pictures before too long, but not tonight.

I think my son is really cute!

5 weeks

My baby is 5 weeks old today and he's getting so big. I'm already realizing how quickly the time goes by and how fast he's changing. I miss looking down at his little shoulders. Now he has chunky shoulders and I wish I had a picture of what I used to see when I would looked at him as he was nursing. I really think he smiled at me today - in response to me talking to him and smiling at him. Is that possible at 5 weeks? That's all for now. Daniel's in bed and I'd better go join him!