2009, a retrospective

Happy 2010, everyone! At this time last year I remember wondering what 2009 would bring. I knew it had the potential to be an unusually exciting year, because Mike and I were applying for new jobs that would probably require a move - but where to? Now, a year later, I can hardly believe everything that happened in 2009. So for those of you who have been wondering what we were up to all year (and rightly so, since the blog posts were few and far between), here goes:

Between February and August, we traveled to a combined 23 job interviews, to locations domestic and international. The trips averaged about 3 days each, which works out to one of us being away - and one of us being a single parent - for 3 out of every 9 days. Of course, during that time we were also both trying to keep things moving forward at our current jobs, prepare as much as possible for our interviews, and spend as much time as we could with Owen. I also spent a total of a month working on a collaboration in Philadelphia, and missing my boys terribly, in the late summer and fall.



We had expected that the job interviewing and decision making would take a few months, probably ending in April or maybe May at the latest. We were really, really, wrong about that, as it went into September and the loose ends weren't even all tied up until November. But in the meantime, at the beginning of June, we found out we were pregnant! So exciting! We suddenly had an extra factor to consider as we made our decisions about where to move, and when. And although it's been a pretty easy pregnancy, it has definitely affected me physically - there's no escaping that extra person you're carrying around. And that wasn’t the only medical issue, including...



Just as we thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel after all the interviewing, Owen broke his leg at the end of August. He took it really well, and only had to have a cast for 3 weeks. But it was a long time before he made a full recovery - he had to wear a boot for 2 weeks, and limped for almost 2 months. At about 30 pounds and with a very strong will, carrying him around everywhere wasn't easy! Then once he recovered, it became clear that he was ready for potty training. He has done really well, but it didn't exactly happen overnight, so that's been another, shall we say, challenge, for the year.



We never could have made it through 2009 without lots of help from grandparents. Nana, Granny and Grandpa all spent a lot of time with us, and with Owen, filling in for daycare vacations and lending their helping hands during those single-parenting bouts. Thank you!



As we sit and look back on a challenging year, we couldn't be more excited about the end result. Now, looking forward to 2010, I'm not even trying to imagine what it will bring. I just know that by this time next year, our lives will be incredibly different from what they are now. We'll be a family of four, living in Portugal! How can we even dream of what it will be like?

The music man

Let it snow

Owen had a great time in the snow this afternoon. He and Daddy built a snowman together. First, they engaged in some parallel play:


Then, Owen decided to help Daddy:


One of Owen's major contributions was a "hat print." Initially he wanted to do a handprint, but when Mike saw Owen take off his glove, he told him it was too cold to take his gloves off. So Owen came up with the idea of doing a "glove print" instead. It was such a success that he was immediately inspired to do a "hat print" too!


Everyone was happy!

Close encounters of the Santa kind

This is the first year Owen has been old enough to understand Christmas. Last year, he fell in love with Christmas lights and Christmas songs, but this year he understands a lot more. And he seems to be a big fan of the holiday. In fact, we can get Owen to do almost anything by telling him it's for Christmas. Like, going shopping at Target, or not screaming because the neighbors have a wreath on their door and we don't. Or, sitting on a strange man's lap and asking for "presents," as he did last weekend. He was very calm through the whole thing, and took it quite seriously - so seriously that I had to ask Santa to tickle him to get Owen to smile. Santa looked understandably hesitant but did it anyway, and it worked, as you can see!

Our beautiful boy

Orglet Part 2: the sequel

Yep, the Orglet's Bloglet is now the Orglets' Bloglet! How much change a simple apostrophe move can bring. Orglet #2 is due Feb. 16th, 2010 - just one day before Owen's 3rd birthday. All is going very well with mom and baby. We had our 18 week ultrasound this morning, and the doctor said the baby looks "awesome." And in case you're curious, they said Orglet #2 is "probably" an Orglette, but (s)he was feeling modest so we don't know for sure at this stage...

You got a match!

Since Owen got his cast we've been spending more time inside doing quiet activities, like jigsaw puzzles. He loves jigsaw puzzles. He has improved very rapidly over the past few months, going from one piece "baby" puzzles to large floor puzzles with 20-30 pieces. It's fun to see the huge sense of accomplishment he gets from completing them. He often says, "you got a match!" when he sticks two pieces together. When he finishes the whole puzzle, he smiles and laughs and either says, "Good job Owen! You did it!" Or, "Well done Owen! You did it!" (depending on whether he's speaking American or English - he is, of course, bilingual). But the best is what happens when there's just one piece left - he goes completely berserk. Sometimes he gets so excited he rolls around the room, holding the last piece and laughing his head off so that he can't even put it in. I tried to take a video of it today, but this time the last piece reaction was very muted - you can see the sense of accomplishment at the end, though...

Catching up...

You wouldn't know it from reading the blog lately but we've had quite an active summer around here. We've spent some nice time with friends and family and had a bunch of fun outings and trips, to local and even international locations. More on those in an upcoming post. For now, I want to share some pictures from the summer. Most of them are from my phone - the only camera I have with me most of the time! Special thanks to Grandpa and Jeff Kay for bringing real cameras with them...






Wait a minute, is that a cast? Yes, yes it is. In the final minutes of the summer daycare session last week, Owen fell at the playground and broke his leg. He barely cried, saying "You fell on the step. It was scary!" And so we thought he was more shaken up than hurt, until we realized he couldn't stand on it at all. He has had the cast for a week and a half now. Another week and a half to go, and then hopefully it will come off. He is taking it remarkably well. Occasionally he asks for the cast to be taken off, but he's almost as likely to ask to have a cast put on the other leg. He's not a fan of asymmetry.

Big splash

Owen loves water. Puddles, sprinklers, fountains... everything but his bath. He calls fountains "big splashes" and he can't get enough of them. Now that we're finally having summer weather, we've been exploring some local fountains. Below is a movie of Owen "playing" in a fountain on the way home from school on Friday. It's typical Owen - he loves it, but appears somewhat scared of it, and periodically forgets that he can run into it and needs to be reminded. (Forgive my shrill, annoying voice and listen for his delightful squeals if you can.)

Bedtime for Bonzo

They say you know that your toddler is ready to transition from a crib to a bed when he starts climbing out of the crib. Well, with Owen... not so much. He doesn't always want to go in it, but once he's there, he doesn't like to leave the crib, either. He hasn't shown any signs of seriously trying to escape. He has, however, perfected the art of using super-gravity to refuse to get up under any circumstances. For us, that was the sign that he needed a bed. We were hesitant to make the transition, though, out of fear that he'd be up wandering around all night.

Two weeks ago we went to Ikea, where he climbed into a bed and refused to leave it. So we bought it. The same bed, the same mattress, the same sheets - we didn't want to leave anything to chance. We set it up and let him spend a few days getting used to having it in his room. Then he started asking to be put in the bed, not the crib at night. The first few nights we listened outside his door and it was obvious that he was running around the room having a party, so we'd have to go in and put him in the crib for the night. Then yesterday at naptime, he stayed quiet, so we let him be. When it was time to wake him, we found him fast asleep. Not in the bed, but on the futon, with his head on the wooden armrest, his towels tucked behind him, and his little hand clutching his rocking chair.



He looked very sweet, but he was NOT happy about it when he woke up. Then last night he asked to get in the bed again. We had a long talk about how important it was to stay in the bed. And he did. I listened at the door, but far from having a party, he was singing quietly to himself. The song was his own creation, "Gentle, gentle, I love you," to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This morning we went in and there he was, fast asleep on his big boy bed:





It's a big day.