One Year Later

Sometimes I can not believe that E is a year old! It is amazing to see the leaps and bound he has made since being born. He's changed so much, from being a swaddled little bean who slept all day, to an active little boy who crawls and climbs everywhere. Not to mention the changes Nick and I have gone through. We lost a lot of freedom when E came along. Our time wasn't ours anymore, and our energy wasn't ours either. Adjusting to being at home all the time was no easy feat for an independent woman like myself. I still miss work but in reality, even on a bad day, I'd rather have a helpless baby yell at me than an angry pharmacy patient.

Nick and I have both noticed that when we put in the effort to become empathetic and attentive parents, it makes E so much happier and it makes things so much easier for everyone. It's not the easiest, we have agendas and priorities. Sometimes it's too easy to automatically go to the smartphone or computer and distract ourselves. However, the thing that changed my priorities for good was a few days ago. E and I had a grueling day, he was needy, clingy, and inconsolable most of the day. By the time Nick got home I just wanted to curl up with a bottle of wine (or move to another country and start over). The next day, instead of resenting E, I did my best to spend all my attention on him. We laughed, played, read, listened to music, and napped. That night he literally laughed himself to sleep. It was a complete 180. I don't always have the self control to remove all distractions from my reach, honestly, watching a kid open and shut a toy a million times in a row can get quite boring. However I've noticed when he's content playing alone, I can sneak off and do some reading, writing, or researching. As long as I'm near and he feels safe I think we can manage keeping both of us happy. E is constantly growing and changing. It only fits if his parents are doing the same. We've made it a goal to get into the habit of making a conscious effort to parent more attentively.

I feel that changing the way I interact with E will help him to build fundamental skills in relationships and communication. He's already so smart, I want to nurture his emotions as well as his education. Here is some insight to his personality and daily life. We go to the library every week for story time. He loves to play with his toys, especially the noisy ones. He still needs to sleep with us for part of the night. He climbs on everything! He loves to watch other kids and play with them after making sure they aren't aliens. He loves when daddy comes home from work and plays with him. He loves reading with mommy, but is getting better at reading with daddy. He loves to play with the puppy (RC loves to hide from E and sulk). He loves bath time (splashing is the best). He eats well, but loves to throw his food or feed the puppy. He loves to fall asleep being rocked after a bottle (even though he'll have to wean from the bottle soon). When he's feeling needy he'll follow me around and yell at me, then arch out of my arms after I hold him for a minute. He loves being outside. He loves spending time with his extended family. He loves playing hide and seek with daddy. He loves animal noises. His laugh is infectious, his smile, contagious, his voice, entrancing. He has the most adorable face ever. I'm not biased at all... I'm so happy to have this amazing little dude in my life. He gives me so many lessons in love, humility, and patience. He has changed our lives in more ways than we'll ever know. I can count on this next year (and many more after that) on being just as educational and extraordinary. Now, it's picture time:

The Licorice Advent Incident. Part Three.

As the end of the advent approaches, we again are in the repeat phase of the calendar. Much to our dismay, knowing the taste we're about to ingest was no prize for us. In these documented photographs, you will see our anxiety in the first part and our angst as we taste the black balls of evil.

Day Seventeen:

The flavors are no longer surprising, which leaves us indifferent, and unfulfilled. 

Day Eighteen:

However, we continued on with our journey. Luckily, my memory was terrible, so even though I  knew what was coming, I most likely forgot how horrible it would be.

Day Ninteen:

Streamlining efficiency, Nick and I learned we could document our tasting together.  As you can see,  we are none too pleased with raw licorice sticks.

Day Twenty:

Still not a complementary combination. 

Day Twenty-one:

Yet another familiar taste. If it's an acquired taste, it must take a lifetime. 

Day Twenty-two:

Once again, Our favorite of the lot. 

Day Tewenty-three:

Alas, a new flavor to break up the monotony of our repeat offenders. The tea was happily more of a chamomile, with a nauseous  licorice finish. The hard boiled licorice rocks, were disgusting. 

Day Twenty-four:

Our final task, a huge gross licorice rope. Yup, that's me taking it out of my mouth. 

Our greatest Christmas gift was no more licorice. It's more than we could've asked for. Despite the unpleasantness of the licorice itself, this gift of an advent calendar did give us the chance to spend some time together every day. Regardless if it was to share in something truly horrifying, and then laugh about it, or to reminisce of our life together and where it has taken us as a couple. We have the pleasure of knowing my dear Scandinavian friend. Despite the fact that my affinity for the Danes ends before licorice, I can't help but be excited for what our next encounter will gift us. To Denmark and beyond. With love.

Pam

The Licorice Advent Incident. Part Two.

The horror continues in this, the second installment of the Licorice Advent Incident. Before continuing with this project I tested the waters with Mona, to see if we could still be friends as I document this journey. Luckily my Danish other half made me feel as though I could be as candid as I need to be with her and apparently, the rest of the world. In this exciting installment, we meet some new flavors and unfortunately, revisit some old tormentors. I thought they would only haunt me in my dreams, I was so very wrong about that. So. Very. Wrong. 

Day Nine:

Fussy baby in tow cannot stop us from having a taste of "love." Fortunately,  I've tasted real love, and it taste nothing like licorice.

Day Ten:

This one had a nice chocolate and coffee coating that masked the licorice flavor quite nicely. The best thing to happen since day four.

Day Eleven:

Star Wars shirt clad and ready, we embark on this wicked little buggar... It stuck to our teeth! Talk about straight outta the Dark Side.

Day Twelve:

The makers of this one use the term "sweet" loosely. Unless I'm mistaken and "sweet" means evil black ball of yuck.

Day Thirteen:

I thought ingesting something that tasted so much like gun powder would lead to lethal consequences.  Seriously, licorice powder?!?! Who does that?

Day Fourteen:

It seems we have experienced our first repeat. I don't know what's worse,  having a second go-round, or knowing what lies ahead... 

Day Fifteen:

Knowing what to expect did not make this little ball of ew any easier to swallow. 

Day Sixteen:

Our second round with this one was worse than the first. It seems as though it is always better to go in hopeful than dreadful. 

Stay tuned for the final installment of the Licorice Advent Incident. There will be a few twists and turns (of our faces contorting in agony) and a lesson learned.