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Dear Emerson,
I am writing you from the porch, just off of our kitchen. Our kitchen in the house that we own. Own! Can you believe it? Home ownership still gives me a little thrill and I wonder how long that will last. Many of our peers have owned condos or homes for a long time. And I'm sure there will be other houses in our future. But this house? Just now? It is such a perfect place for our family. Shortly after moving in, one night after we'd put you to bed and finished dinner, we opened a bottle of wine. "Let's go sit in each room of this house and admire it," I suggested to your dad. So we took our wine and spent the rest of the night sitting in each room saying, "But this room. Look at THIS! Did you see THIS?"
I am still in shock that we live here or that we will experience so many of your firsts in this house. Your first bicycle, day of school, sleepover, cartwheel in the grass. I walk through the dining room and can't help but imagine long holiday suppers that stretch on for hours or sitting near the fireplace on a cold evening this fall. I look at the front windows and can see December, our Christmas tree twinkling and a great record on the turntable. I sit on the front stoop with you and think of how many times you will run up and down those stairs as you grow. It is so much that I can't help but feel sentimental and a little lump in my throat.
In many ways this time feels reminiscent of the months just after your dad and I were married. We sat in our first apartment and looked around in wonder, eating dinner off of our very grown up dishes, and we couldn't help but feel that we were on the cusp of a new chapter, something very big. That chapter eventually closed and others opened. This is a big chapter opening in front of us, one I couldn't have imagined a year ago.
The rhythm of our days is still changing as we are settling in to this new space (there are still many boxes to unpack), but the days have taken shape and I can see new routines emerging. In the morning your dad and I get up first. Recently you have been sleeping late (like 13+ hours of sleep a night!), so we often get up and make the coffee and breakfast while you sleep. Usually you are up before your dad leaves and most days we sit down to breakfast together. Shortly after we moved you took an interest in using your potty, so our days include lots of time sitting in the bathroom. I read to you while you use the potty and then we spend lots of time washing our hands. Sometimes I think using the potty might just be an excuse for listening to stories or playing in the bathroom sink.
You have stayed tied to two naps a day so we usually spend the morning playing in your room. You are very into drawing right now so you spend lots of time coloring with chalk or crayons. I hope this love of art continues because it is one of my favorite things to do with you.
While you love this new house and the vast space you have to run around, you love to be outside. All day long you walk over to the door, point, and say, "Side! Side!" We spend lots of time outside. We water the plants and flowers. You study the ants and watch the birds. You run down the sidewalk and point to airplanes. We walk everywhere. On go our sandals, I load you into the stroller, and we are off. The library, post office, grocery store, the pool, and parks. After you have dinner we head to the train to meet your dad. We walk home together and you don't take your eyes off of him for a second.
Walking around, I think only of how lucky we are to live here, that you will get to grow up in this community. At night the air is filled with the sounds of kids playing, the birds, a lawn mower or two. Almost every garden on this block includes a cat prowling around and each person we pass stops to say hello. Lucky indeed.
It's going to be a wonderful summer.
We love you so very much,
Mama
- March has always been a sparse month of blog posts for me. Without fail, that polish and fresh feeling that January brings, inevitably begins to feel a little stale come March when the damp air creeps in and prevents spring from taking hold. In the final weeks of each season, I find myself in a bit of a funk. I am anxious for a change in the weather, anxious for a clean-slate start, and find myself feeling in a rut. Perhaps it was made worse this year by the slew of late winter snow storms and the impending move. Regardless, I was happy to see April's sunny face yesterday and to look ahead to warmer temperatures.
- We are preparing for our move. This week we begin packing our things away. Our plan is to tackle a little bit each week, taking our time to pack things with care and try our hardest to stay as organized as possible to make unpacking a bit easier.
- This apartment has been so good to us. I have loved living here and it has been home for nearly five years. But because we know what we are gaining with the new house, I am so frustrated by the things I don't like about this place. The bathtub that will never look clean no matter how much I scrub it. The bathroom that stays deathly frigid in the winter. The awful city rats that scurry through the alleys and sometimes make an appearance in the backyard. The garage we share with our neighbor who likes to park very close to our car, making it impossible to unload Emerson, groceries, and the 300 things I carry everyday. The annoyances that have grated on me over the years have reached a fever pitch in the last few weeks. And now with the boxes piling up in corners, we have turned into hoarders and I find myself tripping and falling into our things everyday. Packing and organizing will be a welcome change, though I have no idea where the boxes are going to go.
- Emerson is officially walking! Our cautious girl took her time to get going, but she is definitely on the move now. She began taking a few tenuous steps around her birthday, but never without our hands nearby. Last week she began walking on her own like she's been doing it for years. When she's in a real hurry, she goes back to crawling, but we officially have a walker in our midst! It has been wonderful to see the world opening up before her, a new found freedom taking over.
- I have been cooking up a storm over the past month. I've been challenging myself to work through our pantry, making the most of every item and requiring us to move fewer kitchen things. I have collected an impressive array of grains and beans from the bulk bins over the past year, so it's been fun pulling items off the shelf and finding new ways to put them to use. We have been eating lots of greens and fresh salads. Lots of coconut and lentils. The first asparagus of the season is making its appearance in the markets. Greens are overflowing out of the co-op bins and I can't help but think of all of the wonderful summer vegetables headed our way in the coming months. I am also anxious for grilling season to get underway.
- We have been battling a serious case of cabin fever and the travel bug here. We've been daydreaming about a little family vacation, but with our recent house purchase, this will likely need to be put on hold for a little while. Still, it couldn't hurt to get Emerson's passport ready just in case the opportunity presents itself, right?
- I feel bad for my lack of posting portraits of Emerson. While I have taken some, I haven't been able to keep up with each week as I had hoped, but there is still time.
- Have you seen any good movies lately? We've been on a documentary kick here. Recently watched: The Woodmans, First Position, The Queen of Versailles.
- We recently purchased Emerson a Learning Tower. She has always been a wonderful little helper in the kitchen, but this new piece of furniture has taken it to a new level. She now works by my side in the kitchen, sometimes washing vegetables, mostly playing in the water. She is so content to be at my level and helping, it has been a lifesaver with getting things done in the kitchen. We found ours used on Craigslist and I highly recommend keeping your eye out for a used one.
- We had a really nice Easter with family. Emerson enjoyed her first egg hunt and sorting through her first Easter basket. My aunt and uncle own a chocolate business, so there was more chocolate consumed than I'd care to admit. I think we're taking a self-imposed break from sugar this month to recover from the damage we did over the weekend!
I hope this finds you happy, healthy, and well! Cheers to spring and warmer days ahead!
xo,
M
Dear Emerson,
It is a warm February day here. The snow is melting, the birds chasing each other outside our windows. You are asleep, an epic nap that has lingered into the early evening hours.
When I wrote you last, the holidays were quickly approaching. And though that was little more than two months ago, it seems a lifetime has passed since then. There have been so many changes around here. We celebrated Christmas, your very first one. We drove many miles in the car and saw all three branches of your family. In the midst of all of that traveling, you stopped nursing cold turkey. Just one day decided it wasn't for you anymore. I think it was a combination of teething, travel, a shift in our routine, and maybe feeling ready to drop a feeding. It was a perfect storm and though you handled the transition just fine, I had a rougher go of it. I was not ready for you to give up nursing so quickly and had prepared myself for the continued gradual weaning track we were on. I hoped it was a nursing strike, but after two weeks of persistently offering to nurse you throughout the day and your adamant refusal, I knew you were done. I shed some tears. If your entry into the world last January taught me anything, it is that you do things in your own time and for my part, there's usually little control or say in the matter!
In January you turned one, which was at once both monumental and an easy transition. You had a wonderful time at your party and it was such a great gathering of important people in your life. Everyone was here to celebrate you and it was such a cozy, special day. In February we celebrated Valentine's Day together. Your dad brought home a huge bunch of tulips and I made you heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. We made valentines out of some paintings you did (Which reminds me I never mailed them and they are still sitting here! Mom fail!).
You my love are on the edge of walking. So, so close. You will hold our hands and walk about the room. You scramble around the apartment clutching furniture and pivoting in every direction. You crawl with lightning speed.
Your current loves:
singing "Wheels on the Bus"
pointing to items when we ask you, "Emerson, where is your _________?"
reading "Caps for Sale" (You love, love this book. I can recite it from memory.)
bouncing on the bed
playing in the snow
putting blankets or clothes on your head
eating pancakes (We call you the pancake machine.)
helping me unload the dishwasher (You unload the spoons into a little basket.)
eating clementines
wiping the table with a sponge after eating
splashing in the bathtub
Recently you've begun putting your foot down at dinnertime. Many times you are bound and determined not to eat a bite, before you have even tasted it, and even if I have made a favorite dish of yours. As frustrating as it is for me, I try to act as nonchalant as possible. I sit patiently with you and eventually (most of the time), you'll come around and eat.
There are more changes on the horizon for our family. This is the part where I tell you about the house we just bought. Our house. What started as a very casual search turned serious a couple weeks ago when we stumbled upon a wonderful house. It is a perfect bungalow and perfect for us. A beautiful brick house to begin our next chapter. There is space, (oh so much glorious space) and light that streams in through lovely windows. It is evident at once that this house has been well loved and cared for by the families who have lived in it. It's hard to believe that you will not remember our current apartment, the place where we got our start as a family of three. I will take lots of pictures to show you someday, but it has been such a good place to us. We started our life in Chicago in it. Your dad finished law school and started his first job while we lived here. It is where I hobbled around with swollen belly and feet, first went into labor, and the place where we first brought you home. It is where you learned to talk, sit-up, and crawl (and probably walk any day now)! I know someday I will look back on this apartment wistfully, but for right now, we are anxious to get to know our new space and make it our own.
Since you came into the world, your dad and I have been recording bits of audio. We had countless little clips of you babbling, crying, and forming words. I am such a visual person, but there is something so transformitive about audio. It focuses the attention and perfectly encapsulates what it means to be a human and to be alive. We are still recording your sounds and will continue to do so as you grow. Your dad has been weeding through the audio from your first year and includes it below for you. It spans the first time we heard your heart beat, when you were only a few weeks old in my belly, to the morning of your birthday when we ate breakfast together.
You are constantly surprising me. Everyday you make new connections and I can see this incredible web forming in your mind. It's amazing and it's hard to describe to anyone else but your dad. These are such beautiful days and I know I sound like such a sap, but I really can't help it. I love you with all of my heart, Emerson. I cannot tell you how much my love for you swells and surges inside of me. It grows stronger and stronger. Everyday I feel I know you better and I am so, so honored you chose us.
Love,
Mama
Jodi inspired me to post one portrait a week of Emerson. It will be a good challenge for 2013. I'm a little behind, but I'm going to pick up going forward.
I hope your February has been inspired and wonderful.
Since Emerson was born, breakfast has become a really special time each day. It's the one meal we get to sit down and enjoy together, since her dinnertime is often much earlier than our own. Charlie gets ready for work, Emerson crawls around the kitchen, and I make breakfast. Usually it is oatmeal or eggs and toast. Sometimes a smoothie or bowl of cereal. And there is always a bowl of fruit to share. It is a quiet, joyful moment in what are often hectic, busy days. I hope this is a tradition that sticks.
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This oatmeal is a favorite in our house. Sometimes I make it with steel cut oats, but if I'm in a hurry, just regular old fashioned oats. Around 9 months I switched Emerson from that boxed baby oatmeal to this. Before she had many teeth, I would pulse it in the food processor, but now she eats it like we do. I omit the nuts from her oatmeal.
Everyday Oatmeal
with prunes, hazelnuts, yogurt & brown butter
via Heidi Swanson
Ingredients
3 cups / 700ml water
1 1/2 cups / 5 oz / 140 g rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/4 cup / 2 oz / 60g plain yogurt
8 prunes, chopped (or other dried fruit of your choice)
2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
20 hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (or other nut of your choice)
Drizzle of brown butter (optional)
Directions
Bring
the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the oats and salt.
Turn down the heat and simmer until the oatmeal has thickened and the
oats are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and fold in the
yogurt and most of the prunes. Taste. Add maple syrup if you like a bit
of sweetness and sweeten to your liking.
Divide
the oatmeal into four small bowls and top with the remaining prunes,
the hazelnuts, and the tiniest drizzle of brown butter if using.
We are hooked on soft boiled eggs. They are the greatest thing ever.
Soft Boiled Egg
Heat 1/2 inch of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. When boiling, add desired number of eggs (I use a slotted spoon to gently lower them in). Turn the heat to medium, pop on the lid, and cook for exactly 6 1/2 minutes. Then remove the eggs from the pan, run under cool water, peel, and top with salt and pepper. Serve with toast.
Two other staples: poached eggs, granola
