Space Monkey

7/30/2009: Miles is talking up a storm. He won’t stop talking. He tells me all about everything he observes, from the "big hills" and trees to the moon in the sky.

His favorite subjects right now are, “honey bees” and how they take the pollen from flowers to make honey, and anything to do with space rockets, the moon, earth and all related subjects.

Tonight we ate dinner in the gazebo at his request (he calls it “the big house outdoors”) and Miles looked up to see the moon. It was about 5pm and still very light outside, so Miles wanted to know what happened to space? And he wanted to “check it” (the sky) over and over to look for the earth in relation to the moon. I had to explain the earth, moon, and space over and over to him but he never tired of it. Now he wants a “space room” with “space monkeys”. I’ll have to start painting over his old mural and prepping his room asap. He’s very insistent.

Lifestyle Changes...

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that it's a living thing. It fluctuates, ebbs and flows, some days are good some days are not. I'd like to lose weight before attempting another pregnancy, so I'm training for pregnancy.

I am at a good place right now. Doing my best to live my life and eat well. Eat when I'm hungry, try to eat less meat in general and eat more plants. I have been working out. I think that's essential. Not just in the weight loss itself, but in keeping my mind in the right place. I am the kind of person who needs somewhere to go -to work out. I have a hard time just doing lunges or crunches in my living room. I like a designated time and space. I prefer a predictable schedule. Something I can rely on and get in the habit of. But I don't really have that luxury right now. With a very spirited and wonderful little boy who has strong opinions about when he'll wear clothes and whether he can share his toys at the gym babysitter. So- I have to catch a class here and there and hope it all adds up.

I went to a yoga studio in La Mesa this morning called "A Gentle Way". I love yoga studios. They are calm and relaxing safe havens of exercise. You can do yoga as hard or as gentle as you want. The class this morning was taught by Helen and was a more beginner class, but she gave me the freedom to do a more advanced level of yoga- which I loved. I got to do Bird Of Paradise for my balance pose and the Wheel to wrap things up at the end. It was nice to be free to be me.

I got a tattoo on my ankle yesterday- it wraps down my foot and up the back of my leg. I have a single green star on my toe. I've decided that star represents my growing boy. That's my Miles Star.


Anyway I've lost 4 pounds this week. I am sure that will level off and I will be doing a good 1-2 pounds from here on out- but I do love that jump start at the beginning. Here we go!

I'm taking a poll.

Here's a picture of my latest painting. You can see more at www.bendystar.com

Been going to the gym everyday again- I took Miles for the first time today and was only gone about 40 minutes, when I came back the woman said Miles "went crazy" on a baby and pushed a little boy. They didn't call me out of the gym to get him though and he seemed really happy there and wants to go back. Not sure if it will work out.

My big question is, do I keep the membership if I can't take Miles? (I have 'til Friday to cancel with a full refund) My whole reason for switching is so I can take Miles. I'm not a huge fan of the yoga that they have at LA Fitness. Or should I go back to the Y? But I can't go to the Y yoga because I can't take Miles. There's a place downtown that's a donation based yoga studio and I could get my yoga fix there once a week...I just don't know what to do. Miles should grow out of this phase soon- I'm hoping by 3, so it seems worth keeping the membership even if I only take him in half hour spurts so I can get a quick elliptical and some stretching in. It feels really good to be back at a real gym and actually working out. What do you think?

Potty Learning

This is an email to a friend about how Miles is potty learning and how we are helping:

Miles basically did this on his own because I would have assumed he's too young.

He is naked most of the time at home and eventually he just learned not to go on the floor. We bought him a potty seat at 18 months which he used on and off. But he hates, HATES his cloth diapers and I think that's a big motivation for him. I don't want to buy disposable pull ups and I have a couple cloth pull ups, but I just moved him to big boy underwear- Hanes, and keep a change of clothes with me at all times. He will grab himself and say "pee pee!" and we are getting to know all the bathrooms in public. We also carry a potty seat in the trunk of our car for emergencies and parks.

So that's it! he wears a diaper at night still, but not at nap time. He is just a really strong willed kid who really knows what he wants. It's such a battle to put clothes on him and a nightmare getting a diaper on him. So we basically had no other choice but to potty learn. There you have it!