Saturday, December 8, 2012

Birthday Weekend

Hello there,

Down to business.  Thursday was my 32nd birthday, but it was mostly a normal Thursday.  Thomas went to work, Benjamin and I had a playdate at the embassy playground (which we were super late for, he actually slept in until 9am) and then ate lunch with Thomas.  I begged him to come home and he took off early, which was awesome.  I had planned to nap while Benjamin was down, but ended up just surfing the internet and hanging out.

After Benjamin woke up we did "stocking" presents, since I'm trying to spread out the excitement and not just have one day full of stuff.  And Thomas and I opened a Christmas present each, then I opened my birthday present.  (The back-up, since my big present was squashed.)  I got Ben some cute socks from Land's End, but they're too big.  Oh well.  And he opened a box of Ikea train stuff, some extra tracks and bridges and a couple more train cars.  It's been fun playing with him, he's getting a little more interested in it.

Heart, melted.

The handsomest men in the world!

Big socks.


Is this for me?

Hmm, what could this be?

We also opened the gift from Aunt Marian.  Thanks!  Benjamin loves the puzzle.  :-)

We ate dinner at the embassy, it was Tex-Mex night.  We got there right before a tree lighting celebration, there was a kids choir that sang carols and they had hot cider.  It was super cute.  After the tree lights came on we headed inside for dinner, it was getting chilly out.  (Low 50s.  I know, bring on the parkas.)  The food was passable and it was nice to see random friends out and about.  We went home and settled in to watch TV on Hulu.

Friday we made it to church finally, and it was fun to see everyone and catch up a bit.  I stayed with Benjamin and the kids, but it was a good time to talk with a couple other moms.  Hopefully I can get into the sermon next week.  We ate lunch as usual and then headed home. 

While Ben napped, I went out with a girl from book club to Swefieh, a dense shopping neighborhood close by.  (Baraka mall, where we see our movies, is in Swefieh.)  We went into a spice and nuts store, I got some roasted almonds and cashews and pistachios.  They were a little pricey, but delicious.  We stopped in a couple housewares stores that had Christmas items, a surprise.  I thought about getting a tablecloth or something, but I decided to wait.  Nothing is nearly as cute as something from Target, so I might just get something on sale after Christmas and save it for next year.  I'm kicking myself for not bringing any table linens.  Argh.

Later the four of us went out for dinner to the Jalapeno Grill place, which was great.  The salsa is the best I've had here.  We hung out and had the run of the place, since no locals eat dinner until 8pm.  They give you lots of food, I ended up getting most of mine to go.  It was a fun day, but it felt busy compared to our normal house-bound weekend.

Saturday, today, Thomas let me sleep in/stay in bed until 11am, which was glorious.  We really took it easy, except for eating lunch out at Taj Mall and shopping at Spinneys.  Benjamin was quite a handful, I think we're getting into the toddler phase of not being able to sit still at a restaurant for any length of time.  There weren't any movies out that we wanted to see, otherwise I would have had Emy babysit.  Maybe next weekend. 

Benjamin went down late for his nap, close to 2pm instead of 1pm.  And he had some attitude this evening.  He's understanding more than he can communicate and he gets so frustrated.  I got some "new" books (thanks, Sarah and Cassondra!) from a storage shelf in the playroom to add to the rotation, and he now loves "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".  We read it three times just tonight.  I need to start rotating toys and books more so he gets some variety.  Otherwise he'll ask for Frog and Toad, Olivia and the big Richard Scarry Word Book over and over.  My brain starts to liquefy after a while with all the repetition. 

I had been excited to teach him some letters and numbers, along with colors and shapes.  But I got caught in an internet wormhole of opinions, where one site advocated waiting on that stuff until after they can communicate effectively their wants and needs.  What have y'all done with your almost-2s?  I don't want to make him memorize stuff just so I feel like I'm being a successful parent.  But I also don't want to be too neglectful.  Thoughts?

Tonight we're just hanging out and taking it easy.  Poor Thomas is coming down with a raging cold, his voice has turned very froggy in the space of an afternoon.  I'm going to try and avoid catching it, since one parent at a time is more than enough.  Thankfully Benjamin seems to be totally over his sickness, his nose didn't run at all today.  Hooray!  But his teething might be back in full force, at least that's how I'm justifying his brattiness tonight.  Sigh.

I'm glad for this past year, despite the events in September.  I'm grateful for my God, my family and my friends.  I'm thankful for general good health, and praying hard for another baby in my 32nd year.  Feel free to join me.  :-)

-Rachel

4 comments:

  1. I wouldn't feel much pressure to do letters and numbers etc. We just read lots of books and they picked it up naturally. If he seems to like memorizing things, you might start with simple bible songs or Psalm 1.

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  2. The pix are great! Are they with the new camera?

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    1. Hey Dad,

      Nope, I haven't taken any "real" pictures yet, just playing around with it. When y'all come to visit you can teach me how to use it!

      -Rachel

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