Curfew update

So here's the post-script to the prior posting:

Ronin woke up at 5:30 a.m., shortly after Bagheera started his morning meowing.

Now it's 7:30 and R is starting to yawn for his morning nap...before we've even made it out the door to the farmer's market.

Ah, parenthood, thou art a master teacher of flexibility and patience!

Curfew revisited

Last summer, I wrote a post full of frustration because I had to be home on a lovely summer night when I wanted to be out.

Vasu, Ronin, and I had gone to the Carrboro Music Festival, which happens in the depths of the warm lazy summer, and as the cool shadows of evening were starting to creep across the day and all sorts of mischief was about to begin, we had to go home to get Mister to bed. My commitment to nursing meant that I always had to be there, at every bedtime, to nurse my boy to sleep.

I used to resent it, but dag, I love nursing him to sleep now. And I love to think of the cumulative effect of all of these naps and nights and how they've bonded us. But I digress. What a difference a year of parenthood makes.

In the winter, Ronin started going to sleep by about 6:30 p.m., which was fine with us, because it was pitch black dark and we were dawg tired and asleep ourselves by 9. Once he started sleeping through the night, he'd still wake up by 5, full of vigor and enthusiasm and ready to embrace the day.

These early bedtimes and early mornings have broken us. We no longer really expect to have a life. But now, the days are stretching out and the evenings are long and sweet and sunny. Ronin's afternoon nap went until 5 today, so we played with keeping him up later, staying out and lounging on the Weaver Street lawn, drinking beer and eating Chinese food until SEVEN FREAKING FIFTEEN at night.

By the time we got Ronin through his bath, he had begun to break down. He started trying to nurse Vasu's nose and mouth when Vasu tried to kiss him. He fell asleep by 8 p.m., but boy, was he shot.

With all of this spring cavorting, we're hoping that a latter bedtime will lead to later rising...Ronin is perfectly pleased to get up at 5 a.m. but his parents are so very tired after a year of sweet early mornings.

We are crossing our fingers that 7 a.m. could be within our reach...

After a year of being a mother, so many things have changed. But considering that now 7:15 p.m. is late for me to be out and about on the town, and that 7 a.m. is my greatest hope for sleeping in, I've noticed that my ideas about impositions on my time have flexed quite dramatically.

Oh, and honestly, although he keeps baby hours, Ronin can't possibly be a baby. JUST LOOK AT HIM IN THIS PICTURE. Doesn't he totally look 30 years old? How is it possible?

Drinkin' a smoothie in half-hero

I know every parent is blown away by their baby's flexibility. When do we lose our ability to sit ever-so-comfortably in half-hero pose with a perfectly straight spine? Is it because of the dreadful desks we're forced to sit in for hours and hours? Is this yet another argument against standard education...we lose our flexibility, literally and figuratively, because of its emphasis on conformity?

Ronin, who KNEW that drinking a smoothie could be so subversive.

Scenes from Atlanta

Since we're in the throes of moving, Ronin and I decided to clear out of Vasu's hair for a week and head to Atlanta to visit family and friends.

Where's my shot of Ronin with his grandparents? Where are my shots of the weekend we spent with my good friends from junior year abroad? Alas, I didn't take too many pictures in Atlanta....I was too busy running around after Mr. Toddler.

But here are a few pics of Ronin with his cousins Juila and John and his Aunt Kelly, as well as a shot of Ronin's good buddies Liam and Ben, the sons of my BFF, Carolyn.


Our trip to ATL was lovely. It was so special to spend time with cousins and family and lifelong friends. It's always nostalgic to go to the city where I was raised. And everyone was so sweet to Ronin and such a help with him.

When the week was over, we were glad to get home to Vasu-Daddy. I thrust Ronin into his arms immediately and went for a shower and a nap. And Ronin went on a long walk with his dad and his dear friend Christophe.



We are so blessed to have family and friends!