Long recap

[judecorp]

So we survived Punk's first year and now her first birthday party, complete with rain because of course I can't have a party that I expect to be outside without a healthy dollop of rain. We invited a lot of people because it was her first birthday and we think she is the coolest ever, and also because of the holiday weekend bringing out of town friends closer, and I really relied on having some outdoor space to put some of these people. Thankfully the rain stopped in the late morning so we could have some folks on the deck, but the yard really didn't get used and I didn't get to have the Baby Pool Party I was dreaming about. (Oh, the photos we could have had!)

Instead we had Babypalooza in our living room and it was the cutest ball of chaos you will ever see. Besides Punk, there was Jack (16 months), Ruby (11 months), Mo (10 months), Charlotte (10 months), Jeremy (6 months) and Anna (12 months). It was crrrrrrazy! But freaking cute. Also, Punk has stopped beating up Mo and has moved on to Jeremy. Mmm, younger men.

~//~

My smurfbrother and SIL (gretastic) were in town for the festivities and as always, that was made of awesome. I just love when they are around because they are the coolest ever and because they are so in love with my kid. I mean, sure, she's the coolest ever, but they are so into her and it is really great. And she is really into them. After a day or so, I could ask, "Where's Uncle Rick?" and she would look at him and then crawl over to this giant ball she has so he could play with her. And of course she knew that Aunt Gretchen would pick her up whenever she wanted to see her balloons out the window. That kid loves her some balloons.

I wish they lived closer to us so badly. It's like an ache.

Also, my brother totally worked his butt off helping us out with the party. On Thursday while I was at work, he did all of my dishes. And on Friday, he mowed the back yard (even though we didn't get to use it). And then he made pounds and pounds and pounds and POUNDS of cook-out food - shrimp and couscous salad, pasta salad, and the most delicious potato salad ever. Yum.

~//~

Punk is just so awesome. So so so awesome. Tonight she was sitting on the floor putting toys in a container and dumping them out. Over and over. It is so neat to see her little wheels turning. Rick taught her how to work one of the buttons on her pop-up toy (now she can do two!), and now I'm trying to teach her how to push a toy car around and say "vroom vroom." Also, she is trying really hard to stack blocks, but she hasn't figured out how to let it go gently yet - she still pushes really hard.

She is such an amazing and perfect little thing, and I just love her so much.

~//~

Tonight is Jen's first night teaching Digital Media at a local adult education school. She is really excited about it because she likes teaching and because it's actually an art job, but I'm not going to lie, the idea of being a single mom twice a week after working long days is really daunting. That, and I need to find someone who can cover from when she has to leave to when I get home two nights a week, which is stressful. But the worst is that she told me it would be a 10-12 week commitment and I knew that no matter how crazy, I could plug away for 10-12 weeks. But then the other day she dropped the bomb that it is actually THIRTY-SIX weeks. As in 9 months. As in that's just crazy talk. That's 9 months of coming home from long work days, doing Punk dinner, Punk clean up, Punk playing, Punk bedtime, Punk toy clean-up, Punk day care bag change-over, the works. I am tired just thinking about it... and it's only the first day.

Comments

[sassywoman.livejournal.com]

Sounds like such a fun party. Emma's was overwhelming to me. Have you uploaded pics yet?

Joel and I have had nights like that (single parenting it) since she's been born b/c of grad school. During the fall semester I will be going to school M and W from 4:30-8:30 and Joel goes on Tuesdays so we won't be together as a family until Thursday nights. Yikes! I actually look forward to getting out which is probably sad.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

happy birthday August! (I've been MIA on LJ so catching up)

[gabriellag.livejournal.com]

Yay for one year olds!

[siercia]

I think that once you get into the swing of things, you might find that you don't mind the nights without Jen - I know in some ways it's easier being the only parent on duty - you're driving the bus, and there's none of the sometimes-frustrating give and take of trying to accomplish the same stuff from different angles.

I'd also suggest, if you're looking for suggestions that perhaps you try to make room for a regular night for you to go out and have some space to yourself -it'll give Jenn and Punk a chance to do their own one on one time, give you a little break, and maybe that way everybody wins.

[siercia]

Also, loved seeing you all on Saturday! I'm so glad we were able to make it out there.

[skatured.livejournal.com]

That is a big bomb to drop -- and that really sucks! I guess this means that you get to have the weekends free, you know to balance it all out?

And it always rains whenever I plan something out back too, or camping.

[colleenod.livejournal.com]

It was fun seeing you all this weekend and celebrating Punk's 1st! And yes, J. better watch out for Punk. :-)

And yeah, the rain was pretty insane and unrelenting. How annoying.

[reproducinggenius.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Sounds like it was a fantastic party! Happy 1st birthday, August!

[theshapeshifter.livejournal.com]

Congrats on getting through Year 1! They really are getting way more fun now, aren't they? :D

[stapynam.livejournal.com]

i love reading about how awesome punk is to you, because it's exactly how i feel about jeb. he is such an awesome person, even at 7 whole months:)

how is she doing at child care?

any thoughts of more babies? i think about more babies all the time and then i think /um, why am i dreaming about a baby, i HAVE a baby!/ biology is weird.