Thankful Thursday

Last week I made my first all-out, fill-up-the-cart grocery shopping trip with both boys. (How did I manage so long? I guess there are advantages to Ben being on 2nd shift.)

By halfway through the store Luke was hollering. I started just grabbing what I knew I needed and if someone else was in the way, well, that item could wait for the next shopping trip.

Since it was almost noon and I had no time to fix lunch, I picked up a rotisserie chicken on the way to check out.

The scan label on the chicken got stuck to my coupons. Got it off the coupons and stuck it to the handle of the cart so it would be handy to have the cashier scan.

With Luke in the sling, I tried to unload the cart. This was no easy task and the crying got louder.

The cashier came around to finish unloading the bottom of my cart for me. She chatted about having kids of her own and knowing how it was when they didn't cooperate with errands.

She dug the off chicken bar code, which had sealed itself completely to the handle of the shopping cart.

She was friendly while scanning my many coupons.

She waited patiently as I put my change away and dug out a tip for the bagger.

And she empathized when half the contents of my wallet then fell on the floor.

I realized on the way home that while she was being extra patient and friendly, I was so caught up in everything that was going wrong I hardly even answered her. I wanted to call the store and compliment her, but I hadn't bothered to look at her name tag.

So, thank you cashier at the commissary, for not making me feel worse for going through your line utterly disorganized with a screaming baby, but for actually making me feel better.

And thank you also to Nick, for sitting quietly while Mommy dashed around the store, bouncing Luke, and ignoring you.

Baby Noises

Luke is over three months old and still sleeping in our bedroom. And Ben hasn't even complained about it yet. So the question is...why is he still in our bedroom?

I think it's the noises. Those beautiful sighs and moans and squeaks that come out when he sleeps. I love those noises. Already they have changed from his newborn sounds (I'm tearing up, just thinking about that). They are the noises of a little boy who is totally safe and secure and at peace and I love to be reminded of that.

New noises have started. He laughs at Nick and me when we get him ready for his bath. Another beautiful sound. I can't wait for Ben to hear it.

And now I can hear him crying from the kitchen. Not so pleasant to hear, but the kid's got a good comic sense of timing.

Quiet Time

I spent half an hour sitting at the kitchen table with my son. Why? I gave him a shoelace and a couple handfuls of rigatoni, intending for him to string them together. Well, he wasn't real keen on that, but lining up the noodles, trying to stack the noodles, and counting the noodles all were great fun. And the best part was that since the baby fell asleep in my lap after nursing, I didn't even feel bad for just sitting there with him while ignoring the dirty dishes and not fixing dinner.

Just a Day at the Park

We put aside the basement project for the day on Saturday and instead walked the few blocks to the park. I made sandwiches and threw some snacks in the backpack so we could sit by the pond and have a picnic. Nick thought this was pretty cool (it was his first picnic since he could eat real food) although he ate a total of about three bites. After we ate we put Luke in the stroller and played a few holes of frisbee golf. Nick would ahead run and pick up our discs for us. When we all got worn out we loaded Nick back into the stroller, Luke into the sling and headed for home.

It was the best afternoon I've spent since Luke arrived. I've missed doing things just as a family, just because they're enjoyable, not because they need to be done. It didn't require any planning or travel time. The hardest part of the day was finding the discs in the basement. I think I liked it for the simplicity of it.