Time has FLOWN since last Fall. Now that Pickle is here, it's a non-stop parade of celebrations and planning from October through February:
Halloween...
Thanksgiving...
Christmas...
New Years (2nd Christmas in this family)...
Pickle's First Birthday on January 31st...
...and lots of fun and games in between:
and then family birthdays and Valentine's Day and.....
That's a draft of what I wrote in February, with the intention of finishing and posting in February. And then I got caught up in the mommy/career girl/dutiful wife tornado again and before I knew what was happening, I have now landed in mid-May with barely 5 minutes left before I have to close this laptop and load up on sleep for this busy Mother's Day weekend. Mother...wow.
So, now Vince (who I no longer call Pickle because he has outgrown that nickname) is walking, talking, clowning, asserting himself and relying upon me and Daddy to teach and guide and protect him, mostly from his own ill-advised course of conduct. But, oh is he a happy, funny, smart, confident boy.
On the mornings where he decides to get the party started while I am still doing 6 a.m. workouts, he comes over to give me hugs while I (try to) bike in the morning, and might sometimes need a dance partner or reading buddy, so my workouts have kind of stretched-out a bit in the mornings. But I'm still in the game, eating healthy (90 % of the time, of course. Unless Cheerios count, in which case, 80% of the time) and staying active. I'm wearing my size 10 and some size 8 clothes from pre-pregnancy, although my sexy little size 6 power courtroom suit might have to wait for me until next season. And that is a-ok.
Sometimes I look back on my life over the last 15 months and have to pause at how transforming these changes have been, and give myself praise for keeping my health and fitness shit together under the various pressures of being the sold-breadwinner, Mommy, BFF & devoted wife to baby daddy, dog walker and kitty chin-scratcher. And frankly, sometimes nothing else matters except the sing-song sounds of my son emanating from the baby monitor as he wakes up in the morning. Nothing. I sit and stare at my blog and try to come up with a creative way to say the same thing again. But it's not always the same. Life is just happening to quickly for me to stop and document it.
Except with pictures.
And then I stopped again. And then my laptop died a slow death. And then *bam*. Here I am almost a YEAR since my last blog post.
Still maintaining 150 lbs, still in size 8 & 10 clothing. My arms are stronger and more toned than they have ever been. Strength training + carrying around a 25-30 lb. toddler will do that. I am happy to see that the belly is losing flab. But I don't think about it much anymore. I don't have the time.
What is really worth the time reflecting and discussing, though, is the positive impact healthy living is having on my son.
During our most recent stroll along a local park's fitness trail, Vince stopped at the push-up station, his favorite spot. He repeatedly went up to the sign, touched the cartoon woman doing push-ups and called it "Mommy!" There are certainly worse associations he could make!
By keeping him active, he keeps us active. Even Daddy lost 10 pounds by merely being Daddy. We swam, walked, danced at weekly music classes, ran and practiced going up and down stairs. Again and again and again.
He has a near-zero palate for sweets (except fruit) and fast food. He considers broccoli a treat.
Oh, that will change, if even a little. For example, he likes chips. He likes tomatoes. He likes spicy food. When he learned to dip chips in salsa, the sky practically opened up with the sound of singing angels.
So here I am, a year later since the last blog post. We're nearing Vince's second Halloween. This parenting thing doesn't give you a chance to stop and pause before getting on the ride again. And that ride is moving so fast.
Well, that's that for now. I'm just going to post this without any more blather and hope that by finally catching up, I'll have the incentive to at least stop by occasionally and say "Sup" without a magnum opus of a blog post draft keeping me down.
And the answer to last year's costume question is: Splicers from the video game Bioshock. Was that a long drum roll or what?
