Lake graduated to a big boy bed last month thanks in large part to Michael’s ingenuity. Toddler bed hack = Dad Win! Prior attempts to have Lake sleeping in the big bed ended in Lake worming his way along the carpet, whimpering in his semi-sleep and looking for a cozy corner. So, to remedy that without spending a cent, Michael built a soft boundary around the side and foot of the twin sized mattress. He accomplished this by rolling wool blankets and lining them under the edge of fitted sheet. Lake is getting so big and heavy that transitioning him up and over the sides of the Pack-n-Play crib was becoming wearisome. Also after the sometimes tedious process of getting him to sleep, he would predictably wake up during this transfer, no matter how sound asleep you were sure he was. In the Big Boy Bed we can fall asleep together and then Mummy is able to stealthily slip away unnoticed. Bonus, cats can easily join in on napping opportunities!

Congratulations, Lake! Well done pragmatic and clever, Michael! I’m proud of my boys!

Happy Valentine’s Day! True love isn’t always red roses and chocolates. Sometimes it’s simply spending time together in the moment. We become the sweetness, we become the blossoms. We become the perfect day.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

~Thich Naht Hahn

Know that you’re loved. Blessings

After a fun day outside in the winter sunshine Lake and I are home by the fire. We’re dancing around the living room and refining our language skills. Lake, his English, and I’m practicing my Sanskrit. As it turns out, yoga teachers must speak Sanskrit. I hear there’s an exam. So, here I go… learning by doing. Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Ardha Uttanasana, Utkatasana, Virabhadrasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana, Parivritta Parsvakonasana, Anjaneyasana, Natarajasana = King Dancer Pose, shown above near Westport, WA. Not to mention the Sanskrit of the Yoga Sutras.

Meanwhile, Lake is making progress with his English. His mastering new vocabulary brings him such clear joy! Towel, me, you, Honey, toes, puppy, and still happy baby! His speaking is a harbinger of joy for both of us. And like me with my Sanskrit, as each new word becomes familiar to our lexicon, it’s slow, but solid… and so triumphant.

We finally confirmed the definition of Lake’s word Baba. It’s been one of his favorite words in constant rotation from the very beginning. We thought he was babbling (and maybe he was). Lately however, it’s taken on a more prominent and clear role in his working vocabulary. In the morning often, or at other times, he’ll run through what appears his list of favorites: Mama, Dada, Nana, Baba, Jo “Doe”, so I started wondering who is Baba?

It’s not “baby”, cause he knows that one. Baby! Happy! Happy Baby! Happy! Baby! Me, he’s been known to enthuse.

Michael figured out, “it’s your chest. Lake sees his source of milkies as another entity unto itself. There’s Mama and then there’s Baba.” Really? Wow! That’s pretty special. He counts me twice! Does that make me a Double Tolle Americano?

I’ve been breastfeeding Lake since he was born. Keeping in mind the World Health Organization guidelines on global breastfeeding initiative: exclusively until 6 months, then until at least age two. I have never put any pressure on myself or Lake to meet these guidelines, choosing instead to simply breastfeed but not pump. Meanwhile, the WHO benchmarks have been there as a reference point and a source of support. The initiative silently cheering me on. So Lake has gotten plenty of breastfeeding in his life thus far. It’s a familiar regularity.

Then as the weeks passed and Lake continued to rattle off Nana, Baba, I began again to question the identity of Baba. It still was open to possibly in my mind. Was it Grandpa? A variation on Papa as we sometimes refer to him as for Lakes benefit. Before we could really go all in for calling my Dad Baba, we needed absolute confirmation from Lake himself.

I received that assurance today when I came home for Lunch with Lake. As we were getting ready for a milkies nap, he started saying Baba. Baba. I asked Lake

Who is Baba?

He gently patted my breast. Baba. Baba.

Okay, got it! It couldn’t be any more clear than that. How sweet is that? Baba equals the milk source. Michael was right all along.

I get counted twice!

We often shop at the University Farmers’ Market on Saturdays. It’s open 9am-2pm all year, which is fantastic! We love getting to know our local farmers and bakers and chefs.

We are definitely fans of the Farm to Table resurgence, which runs as a prominent theme in our home. Lake’s “farm to table” experience comprises all his favorite words: cow, moo, ba ba, hat (when, naturally you wear the container on your head), and now towel and Tisch, the German word for table. So we had fun at dinner tonight with Luisa!

Also, he is such a ham! Organic and free range of course!

The law of entropy is definitely at work in Lake’s sphere of influence. Entropy: the trend toward disorder. Lake can help a bit, but I feel I spend a daily amount of energy returning order in the closed thermodynamic system that is our household. It’s invaluable to have the calming presence of the cats and Luisa and Michael, all very much in contrast to Lake’s uncanny ability to scatter an organized set of absolutely anything. And he seems to have so many sets of toys that are meant to stay together but are designed to come apart. Stacking blocks, and stacking rings, Legos and Mega Bloks, and bath animals and a fishing set, wooden puzzles, and a picnic set with sliceable wooden fruits and vegetables which also come apart. Even when each set has its own bag or box or basket, by the end of the day there is inevitably an equidistant scattering of equivalent size homogenized objects littering all Lake accessible areas. The fish are with the blocks are with the rings are with the Legos. What can I say: he likes to mix things up! And it’s somehow still a perfect day.

So you know you’re living life to the fullest when you’re so tired you…

…place toothpaste on the palm of your hand to apply as your face cream.

And still, or maybe because of, this is a perfect day.

This time our twinning was serendipitous! Lake’s new Au Pair, Luisa, dressed him after I had already left for work. We didn’t have much time to speak in the morning as I was running out the door and she was rolling out of bed. She didn’t really notice my outfit as we did the Lake handoff in the bleary hours of the pre-coffee morning. It was a delightful surprise when they arrived at Harborview for lunch and… we match!

Lake walks around these days saying,

Happy!

clear as a bell.

My heart? It is absolutely singing.

Lake loves a good apple. Michael taught him to say it, and now he calls them an

Aah-ppoo

Its a proud declaration.