Happy Bean Day!

2 years ago today at this time, I had yet to meet our little/big Bean. He came to us after a very long labor at 11:57 pm on this day. He was a big, sleepy baby.

Now he is a full-fledged 2-year-old; he's been acting like it for a while. Not in the terrible two's way, but in the very verbal, very "with it" (as WF says) persona he projects. He's a storyteller, a problem solver, a kid with a good memory and a discerning eye. I was cooking buckwheat groats the other day, and he looked over and said "That's buckwheat!" I used to try to call it rice when I served it, but he knows better. His vocabulary is in the hundreds, I'm sure; I've lost count. He loves to help with outdoor and chicken chores, thanks to WF and his great sharing of outdoor/work time.

We had cake and candles this evening; he was excited by the candles and singing; not so much by the chocolate cake. We've tried hard to keep him "innocent" of many things, including sugar. He loves things like bunny grahams, but chocolate is just not his thing. I'll make a yellow cake for his little party on Sunday.

There's so much more I'd like to write about him, to preserve this time. Life will chance soon when he is no longer an only child, but I think he will be a good big brother. He loves his trucks, but he's also been spotted giving "milkies" to some dolls and has been dressing them up in the hand-me-down baby clothes we were given the other day. A well balanced soul, and I am very, very grateful! We are very blessed.


Happy 2nd birthday, little Bean! You are growing to be an amazing boy!

Sitting and Running

Ah, the blog. It's still here, isn't it? Just barely. I don't intend to abandon it completely, it just slips away. Darn Facebook!

We are well. My belly is growing "bigger bigger" as Bean would say, and I'm finding it pretty hard to get up from sitting on the floor. I don't remember that from being pregnant with Bean, but I guess I wasn't sitting on the floor (to tie shoes, to play legos, etc) as much during that pregnancy! I AM really big, though; I just carry babies right out front, I guess. I feel like I'm as big as some other people in my prenatal yoga class who are ready to give birth next week. Ah, well.

I am really enjoying my new business venture. I have a good contract right now with my former employer, so I'm sort of the "super contractor" who can come in and set myself up in the conference room and do my oral history interview thing; it's a bit of a honeymoon. It won't last much longer, and then we'll see how I can pursue other similar jobs. I NEVER pictured myself as a "business person", and I'm still not really, but I get a little kick out of telling the bank, etc that I'm a sole proprietor. Right now it's very freeing and inspiring to be my own boss and enjoy what I do! I feel really lucky. I suppose someday I may miss the structure and security (and income?) of a steady regular job, but I'm enjoying the ride right now.

Bean is doing well, growing, talking, running, telling Mama to "put the camera away!" He's just not a fan of the camera, so fewer pictures lately. But we snuck in a few! WF and he really have a great time together outside for long stretches at a time. I went to a presentation by a brain researcher/expert the other day who emphasized that toddlers need lots of outdoor time and little "screen time"... I feel good that we've been able to give that to Bean. He's almost 2, and we're still resisting TV/videos completely at home. Not sure how much longer we can sustain that, but it's definitely easier if we just don't have at TV around, so it's not a part of his world, etc.





Put it away, Mama! Mama, run!