Thursday, July 19, 2012

A generally boring life update

Internet, it’s been a month since my last post. I want to tell you that I’ve been busy reading War & Peace and curing cancer or at least tell you that I finally found the perfect shade of lip gloss. Instead I’ve been voraciously devouring The Hunger Games, editing soon-to-be-high school senior’s college application essays, and organizing my photos from 2011. Last week, the girls and I were visiting my parents so of course, I also spent copious amounts of time with a wine glass in hand sitting on the front porch. Instead of boring you with all the details, I thought I’d give a general update on the going-ons in the Chez Stars household:

Jumping! Jumping! Jumping! Daisy finally knows how to jump! Let me tell you about this!

At Daisy’s two year appointment, the pediatrician asked me if Daisy knew how to jump. “Jump, I asked?” Yes, she replied, and then I got up and jumped. Yes, you just read that correctly, I demonstrated jumping for the doctor. I never realized that was a developmental milestone. In the subsequent months I have been bunny hopping around our backyard, the park, the sidewalk, so often that my quads practically scream just thinking about it. We practiced being frogs, rabbits and Tigger. We hopped through Trader Joe’s. And finally a few weeks ago, Daisy really put together how to jump. Like, with both feet leaving the ground. Simultaneously. And, hovering above ground for a fraction of a second. And then coming back down at the same time. ISH. And she says “JUMP” Every. Single. Time. I love it. So, now, of course, her favorite mode getting from point A to point B is to jump.

Photo2

French! French! Let me tell you about the miniscule progress I am making in learning and teaching French!

I have always loved French: the language, the culture, the history. I studied it (read: loosely, very loosely) in high school. A little bit more in college, and then completely abandoned it until I was pregnant with Daisy. Part of it was because I had to complete so many hours of foreign language learning for my master’s degree. Part of it was my newfound interest in linguistics and language acquisition. Part of it was a rekindling of my passion for all things French. But, I started slowly incorporating the French language around our household. It was hard, I had trouble remembering the words and tunes to nursery rhymes I’d never heard before. My reading was very slow, my vocabulary very limited, and my accent dreadful. Honestly, when I speak French I feel like a Texan with a swollen tongue. I worried that I was pursuing this all in vain. That Daisy (and now Lily) thought I was crazy, speaking jibberish to them. But, I still spent early mornings studying French grammar and naptimes watching French cartoons and car-trips listening to French songs and stories. And finally, a year into this journey, Daisy is finally using French words that we read in books, singing French songs, and correcting my pronunciation. Yes, my nearly two and half year old daughter corrects my pronunciation in French. I have never been so proud.

I am becoming more of a hippy. Let me tell you how my republican background is cringing at the thought!

I cloth diaper, I nurse my babies, and I shop farmer’s markets. I make all my own baby food. I use bio-degradable dish soap and stainless steel sippy cups. I loathe Wal-Mart and love Etsy. But, lately my hippie characteristics are becoming more evident. We have recently cancelled cable and are now are officially a television-free household. I have been purging our plastic, electronic toys in favor of wood blocks, puppets and natural paints. And, last weekend I nursed Lily in the Ergo waiting in line for The Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. My transition started out innocently enough, I was wearing Lily at our local (completely empty) park and there wasn’t a dry place to sit and Daisy didn't want to stop and I didn’t bring my cover. So, I loosened the straps, lowered my tank, and snapped on the hood. And then, a few weeks later we were walking around Fisherman’s Wharf, heading back to our car parked blocks away rushing in order beat the traffic coming home. And then, on last Saturday I nursed my girl among throngs of people, my mom, my dad, and had not a care in the world. At least I haven’t started wearing tie-dye yet.

Oh shoot, I’m already there:

aliandmom

And today we're playing with cloud dough, reading stories, and building block castles. Sometimes boring is good. 

3 comments:

Joy V. said...

Hi Sara! I love checking out your blog - I love posts about daily life, especially the hippie parts! I'm so happy for you and your beautiful family.

Joy

Nickel Family said...

Isn't nursing in the ergo bomb?! I still do it with Ben when I want him to take a nap if we're out and about. And it still works! Missed you camping this weekend.

heidi said...

FIrst, your baby is BEAUTIFUL!
also, I'm so glad you making all those "hippy-ish" changes. It really doenst surprise me, its the you you have been fighting all this time... And WOW! you are my hero and I should def try nursing i the ergo, im not sure if i can do it my model, but i will fool around with it... cause being here where you cannot nurse in public and crying babies are stared at and shushed at any cost , just strapping on front and doing while walking around, NO ONE would notice and all our stress levels would go down... instead of me ending up cursing indians and there "keep up appearances culture"... you inpsired me :)