Pickle People :)

 

Portrait of her preschool teacher Ms. Angela by Tatum Bell

In William Crain's book Reclaiming Childhood he states that art is one of four areas of importance in helping children be, well, children.  I read his book when I was pregnant with Tatum and consumed with the idea of being a "good parent" and the important role of childhood experiences in nature,  Nature is one of the other four areas of focus.  As for the other two areas, you'll have to read the book to figure those out!  Nevertheless, Crain writes at length about the development of artwork in a child .  One recognizable stage of development is when they start drawing what I refer he refers to as pea people - a circle with eyes, a mouth, and four lines that come out for arms and legs. I was excited as a parent to see Tatum develop this artistic ability herself, although her version is more of a cucumber person than pea person.   Artistic development is refined over time and eventually kids become "standardized" as they grow older drawing people that look like people.   But right now, in the Shearer house, cucumber people rule.

Just because she's cute...

TATUM turns THREE

That’s right – Tatum is THREE!  We celebrated the day by letting Tatum dress in her Tinker Bell dress and wear a birthday crown.   (No, the photo above is not the Tinker Bell dress, sorry.)  We took a morning walk to the bakery where Tatum was given a special cookie by the baker for her birthday.   Tatum was also given a second cookie by a customer who thought she was adorable and wanted to give her a birthday surprise!  I love stranger kindness!

We then went to Tatum’s preschool where we gave a book to her class in honor of her birthday.  This is a great cake alternative for parents who want to have a classroom celebration but do not want to load fifteen  two to three year-olds up on sugar.  So, we walked in a 10:30am, which is circle time, and I read the book to the class and then gave it to the teachers as a present.  Tatum then put a homemade yellow chocolate dinosaur sucker in each friend’s cubbie for their present.  Yes, I was one proud momma.  Homemade chocolate suckers are super easy once you get the molds and sucker sticks.   If you are local, then Jane’s Cakes and Chocolates here in Montrose can hook you up with everything you need. 

On the way home I got the idea to stop and have Tatum’s nails painted.  Just two weeks ago we went out to dinner and Tatum took her markers and colored in her nails instead of drawing on the paper.  So I realized that she is now 3 and a magical world of “+3” opens up and this includes nail polish.   The first place we tried could not take her – heartbreaking!  But fortunately there was another salon three doors down that was more than happy to paint a three-year-old Tinker Bell’s fingers blue in honor of her birthday.  So happy in fact that the woman would accept payment since the experience became her gift to Tatum.  She too had a daughter who’s birthday was that day and she was so delighted to have had Tatum come in for her nails to be done.  Again, loving the stranger kindness.

We happily went home with blue nails for our afternoon nap.  When Tatum woke we heading out to Josalito’s for our favorite Mexican and then to Paradis for our favorite icecream.  All of this within walking distance from our home!  We still feel like we fell into a pot of gold with this house. 

Nicki with the girls

My dear friend from graduate school came into town on Friday night to help prepare for Saturday’s party.  And thank Buddha she did because there is no way I would have been able to do it without Veronique’s help.  We were up until 11pm drinking wine and making purple frosted cupcakes. In the morning Veronique started the task of squeezing lemons to make homemade lemonade for the party.  We threw together a ton of pasta salad and organized the outside for a fun noontime party with friends, flowers, slides, sippy cups, and pizza.  We ordered from the local pizza joint that has the largest pizza – 36”! – seeing is believing, so here it is.

The party was awesome.  Best of all, Tatum was able to share the day with her friends in her house, the clubhouse that is: 

Tatum was showered with love and gifts.  Our friends and family are so generous, and we are so thankful.  Tatum now has everything a princess could possibly want… THANK YOU!

Moving through May

Wow - May!  The month of our marriage and the birth of our first daughter.  It's also the month of Saga Dawa, the holiest of Buddhist holidays.  At home, our veggie garden is growing, the roses are in bloom, and the girls are getting big.   This month has been squeezed full of exciting moments - Hazel's giggles and smiles, Tatum drawing "Ts for Tatum" and learning just yesterday "H" for Hazel,  Hazel's ability to now reach and grasp, the birth of two new friends (my friend Sara had her twins born May 15th - Tess and Miles!), Tatum's potty adventures, and soon to be our nine year wedding anniversary where we plan on hiring a real babysitter!
 
Life is guaranteed to move, and baby does it move fast.  Now that I am back to work it seems that the experience from Monday morning to Thursday night is one big hustle and to do list.  I've kept my schedule of Monday through Thursday in the office and part days from home on Fridays.  There's just no way I could bring myself to work in an office on Fridays anymore.  And fortunately, my work isn't fighting me on this one.  Seems like they really need me and enjoy having me back in the main tree seat.  At a recent meeting with the other forestry nonprofits and city agencies I received a round of applause for being back to work.  That experience was very validating; and as a working mother in my thirties, I'll take validation where ever I can get it, including on the freeway.   Last weekend a man tried picking me up from his stakeside truck by honking and asking me for my number as I cruised the 2 freeway home from work.  Seriously!  I guess a carseat is not a turn-off.  Yes, crazy, but in a very real way this random man totally validated me, and I am thankful.

At the beginning of this month I was given the opportunity to lead the Mom's Salon - this is a group of mothers meeting every second Tuesday of the month at the community acupuncture clinic in eagle rock at 8pm (yes, if you are local and want to come, you should!).  My friend started this group out of the need to create a protected space to share experiences of mothering.  Sorry dads, moms only.  So my topic was on teaching mindfulness to children.  But in preparing for the topic, I realized that you can't teach a child mindfulness unless you as the teacher have an experience of it yourself.  So I took the Tuesday evening as an opportunity to share a lesson in basic sitting meditation with a focus on the breath as a tool to develop mindfulness (basic Buddhist stuff).  But it was AMAZING for me to share this with other mothers and talk about how mindfulness can help your experience of parenting.  As anyone who knows me knows I would love nothing more than teach mindfulness to children while exploring the local environment, but the opportunity for this "dream job" has yet to present itself.  Yet that particular Tuesday night at the Mom's Salon was a precious reminder of what it is that I really want to do and it felt really good to be reminded.  So, in the meantime, I practice mindful parenting as best as I can with my two princesses Tatum and Hazel. 



The other exciting news is that the clubhouse is now painted.  Honoring my English ancestry (my father and his line are British if you didn't know) we selected the Queen's Lace (yellow) and the Queen's Jubilee (purple) for Tatum's house.  It is now officially "3520 1/2".  Come over and play!

first bottle, but not her last

Check out this proud big sister who was given the honor of providing Hazel with her first bottle at six weeks.   Tatum can be an awesome helper when it comes to her little sister.  When she's in the helping mood she'll help gather pacifiers, watch and help with diaper changes and carefully love on Hazel.  And when she's not in the mood, well, she's not. 

Experts say to introduce a babe's first bottle at six weeks after the baby's latch is good and a mother's milk supply is flowing.  So, following the advice, we did this with Hazel just as we did with Tatum.  But then due to my disdain for the breast pump, I packed it up and left it for a long while.  Then, about two weeks before my return to work I realized that I had to make up with my pump and get her going again.  After speaking to a lactation consultant at Bellies, I decided to pump a bottle and give it to Hazel myself.  Although this is NOT what the consultant recommended, I figured I would give it a go and see if Hazel would still take the bottle.  And she did.

"A good baby is a good baby at everything."  These are the words of my own mother who realized this with her first born, my older sister Jen.  Jen was the perfect baby.  Mom had heard the same advice, introduce the bottle early so that the babes become used to it and can feed when you return to work.  In an effort to avoid work for as long as possible, Mom waited to give Jen her bottle until just days before she was due back to work with the secret hope that Jen would reject the bottle and Mom could delay work.  Jen took the bottle like a champ and mom's thought was "you little twit!" 

Like so many moms, we return to work armed with our breast pump and a box of tissues.  Suffering is easier to bear when we know we are not the only ones suffering.  So to all those mothers who have had to leave their little ones and return to work I honor you; and for all those mothers who will have to do this in the future, may you have strength through this transition period and know that work does not change your role as a mother. 

The time...well..it goes

Oh, the day has come, the inevitable return to work.  I put on my uniform, aka my "maniform" as named by Andrew, and headed into work Monday morning.  Hazel started her day care in a lovely family home called Artziniega Family Day Care.  We are fortunate in that we found a caring home for Hazel just around the corner from where Tatum attends preschool.  As for me, I am working for the first time in 2011, and when I state it like that, I feel so much gratitude to have had the last three months to just be a mom to my daughters. 

To recap some highlights from maternity leave...

SLEEP - yes, that's right, tons of sleep.  Hazel and I napped together often during this time and now as I sit and check out the clock I realize I am tired because I'm used to napping around the 2 to 3pm hour.  Oh well, I must trade in my sleepies for caffeine!

CRAFTS - oh, yes, I got out the old sewing machine and went to work on curtains and wall hangings.  No children's clothes, but that may come in the future.

Tatum's hilariousness - it's amazing, as I concentrated on the growth and birth of our Hazel, little old Tatum has shot straight into toddlerhood with an ever-growing imagination and vocabulary.   Her humor and timing are impeccable (both Andrew and I take credit for that).  Some funny notes:
- one day after picking up Tatum from preschool, Hazel started her usual cries and screams that come with being a baby being dragged around by a family.  Tatum declared on this particular day "Momma, Hazel needs your booby."  
- another day after picking up Tatum from preschool, i was particularly anxious and wanted to get back home and get Hazel whatever it is that she needed to stop crying, and as I sped around a corner before the light turned, Tatum exclaimed "Hold on Hazel!  Momma's driving fast!"  Yes, this made me both laugh and slow a bit down.

A Garden to call our own - we now have a small vegetable and herb garden in the back yard.  We converted Tatum's old sandbox to a raised bed and have tomatoes, peppers, squash, collards, and chard growing.  Tatum LOVES watering the garden in the evenings, so much so that my refusal to let her water turns into tantrums.