of adventures, independence and integrity

I’ve been spending time on my other project, blogging at one of my other blogs, so this space has been sadly neglected. My apologies for the absence.

I still think about my last post, and it is still true. I watch my little guy growing up.. and it is simultaneously exciting and heartbreaking. He is growing so independent, and we are so proud of him.. but I want it all to slow down, for my baby to be my baby for a little while longer. Sometimes I hope that noone notices the tear in my eye as I watch him and cheer him on when he masters a new skill. My baby is growing up so fast.

Speaking of Alex’s independence and growing up… There have been many adventures during this very rainy summer. One of which was a great trip to the New Haven area to visit some friends. Kat and hubby have been best friends for years, since college. She and her hubby got married just before Dave and I did. Strangely (and wonderfully), we had our boys within hours of each other. Their son S is much further down the potty training trail than we have been. We had this great idea that Alex would go with S every time he needed to use the potty. So Alex watched, and tried (never really went, but great effort by Kat and S!). When we got home, we continued to try, Alex was MUCH more interested in it since he saw S doing it (bonus!).

I am happy to report that the progress is now MUCH greater! He’s been using the potty every day (and his diapers stay dry) for the last 2 days! We’re so proud of our little guy!

and if I may also pat myself on the back.. I also mastered a new skill. I cooked a duck. A delicious, delicious duck. I’ve always been scared of the duck, but I am happy to report that using a great tutorial, I managed to be incredibly successful at it. The skin was crispy and I made a sauce from raspberries we picked ourselves (there has been alot of fruit picking on our agenda this summer!) and invited friends over to dinner. Huge success! Also, fried up some potatoes in the duck fat. Very decadent and I cant wait to do it again. You can see the photo of this amazing creation here.

a note about integrity… There has been alot of backlash against, mostly, parenting bloggers. Now I consider myself a blogger.. although I mostly blog on topics elsewhere that dont have anything to do with my parenting status.. I do consider myself a mom who is a blogger. Now if that makes you call me a ‘mommyblogger’ then so be it, I am not offended by that title, though I believe it narrows the scope of what I am, I am proud to be a mom. I am also a tech blogger, a social media blogger, a marketing blogger and a local Boston area blogger, so call me what you will. I do not receive compensation for posts, nor do I receive free products for reviews or endorsement. If I did, I would be honest and upfront about that. There is a great post about integrity here and I have signed up. I encourage you all to blog with integrity too, it is important that we keep ourselves honest with our communities and with each other.

As the world turns

With the new house set-up, I’m not on my main computer as much. Its been mighty cold in the office but now that the weather is warming up, I hope to find more time to come down and catch up.

Work has been busy.. a very large and important project that I am thrilled to be a part of.. but it definitely keeps me busy elsewhere in internet land.

Alex is amazing and wonderful and is such a big boy now. His knowledge and language and skills amaze me on a daily basis. He LOVES being in the kitchen cooking with me, which I sincerely adore. We’ve been doing alot of baking, which is not my best skill, but Alex loves it so I give it my best shot, even if it has to come from a mix because it is a joy to work in the kitchen with him. Funny, all of our cookies and brownies and cupcakes seem to all have M&Ms and sprinkles in them. I bet you cant guess who’s choice those embellishments are.

We’ve been busy socially as well. We spend alot of time with our dear friends Dave and Rita, We’ve had a few playdates for Alex, my mom came to visit and our friends Beth and Paul had a sweet little baby boy. Alex has also been taking swimming lessons at the Salem YMCA and just this past week, swam across the pool TWICE by himself. We’re so proud! We sure do love swimming with him.

Spring is warming up and I cant wait for more warm weather adventures to share!

Sharing History with Friends

What an amazingly hopeful day.

With the swearing in of our 44th President, Barack Obama, I feel a new hope for our nation. A brightness for my son’s future. Sometimes during the Inauguration ceremony I found it hard to hold back tears of joy and of hope.

I was able to watch the ceremonies from a conference room in my office with many of my co-workers. We all shared in the excitement of the moment… and the silliness of Aretha Franklin’s hat (Mama is the queen, but oh that hat was BAD).

After work, a friend called and said she just wasnt ready to go home yet, so she grabbed her wife and child, I grabbed Alex, messaged Dave about where to meet us and we went to the pub. I left a facebook status update about where I was going and before I knew it, people were just showing up! Including an old friend I probably havent seen in a good 2 years. It was wonderful to toast together with friends and share in each others happiness.

I think I’d like to package this feeling and open it up when I need a little inspiration. Anyone with me on that?

photo used with creative commons licence from redstamp.com