Happy New Year

Ryan, Jack and I went to Arizona to celebrate Christmas. It was a lovely visit. We spent time with family and friends in the sun. The sun was out EVERY DAY! Love that. Jack was almost literally showered with gifts. We are so grateful for all of the things that people have been inspired by their love for Jack to buy. Except for this:



I love my dad but somewhere someone is probably using that song as a method of torture. On that note (ha!), I have to mention the story of stuff. The singing dog/reindeer thing is the epitome of why I wish we all lived by this philosophy.

On Friday, Ryan and I visited Sedona while my mom watched Jack. If you can ignore all of the crazy identical faux-adobe development, Sedona is still amazing.





My mom and Jack:



Lastly, I had to include pics of my bro's new mustache. Just because I love my bro!

Lessons from Microbiology

A few weeks before my micro class ended, the prof and I were chatting at the end of a lab when I was the last person to finish. She often mentioned her kids during lectures using their various childhood illnesses as examples. In spite of all the information she made us memorize, I will always remember this conversation before any of that. Her kids are now in their early to mid-twenties and she told me what they were up to. She also mentioned they still lived in the area and the family had dinner together every Sunday. I commented how cool that was that they were still close. She said that when her children were in their pre-teen years, she and her husband realized they would have a relationship with them as adults longer than they would as children and they adjusted their parenting style accordingly. I had never thought of parenting in that way before. As of this summer, I will have lived away from my parents as long as I lived with them.

This conversation sort of haunted me throughout my arizona visit. For some strange reason, I felt like I was re-living my childhood the whole time and by childhood, I mean my teen years. They are the only years I remember well. They were so hard on everyone and they definitely left scars. Now I see all this as a parent. How sad that I can only remember those years. I think of the way things are with Jack now and I want him to remember this time too. We have such sweet moments that you just don't have with a teenager..

(us on the airplane)


All of this introspection led me to three conclusions: 1. I love having a *baby*! 2. I have lots of time before I need to worry about all this 3. because all I have is the present (all crisis of my life lead me to this anyway)

Best places for Seattle kids

One of my very dear friends from high school visited recently. I realized how dull my life has become... very. But I also realized I am not in the loop for great places to hang out with kids. The old hang outs (restaurants, coffee shops, bars) don't work anymore. So my friend Katie and I took Jack to the Seattle Public Library. They have a great children's section that Jack really liked and Katie and I could chat while we followed him around. We also hit the Children's museum with my PEPS group as we celebrated all the 1 year birthdays in our group. The energy at the museum was fairly crazy for a baby civilian but we had great conversations with the parents in my group who have mastered the art of splitting their attention.

These are pictures of Jack at the library:

Santa

Last weekend, some friends of mine asked me if I planned to take Jack to see Santa. I had not considered that idea but knew right away that the answer was no. I have a couple of reasons for this. During my own childhood and adolescence, I remember feeling powerless. I have always enjoyed adulthood because, usually, I do what I want. I always have choices. I don't like the idea of making Jack sit on a stranger's lap so he can get a picture taken (while he screams). I don't think it's cute. When Jack is older, if he wants to sit on Santa's lap and ask him for presents, that's fine. But until he is choosing it, I don't plan to participate.

For now, he can sit on mom's lap: