Bird Nest

Birthday Part 2

So, after overindulging in cake, we headed out for an adventure - or an expedition as we often call it. 
First stop, Multnomah Falls in the Gorge.  Then on to Hood River for lunch, ice cream and general lolly-gagging-about. 

Headed off to a windy spot of beach where Rooster got fried to a crispy burn and Jbird played and splashed about.  Sparrow and I spent most of the time hiding out from the wind, watching the clouds go by, with a short exploration of the sand.
 
Then back into Hood River for a bit of park time and kite flying.  Finally we headed home, so tired from our long day. 

For now I savor that Jbird doesn't want or expect birthday parties.  I expect I'll wait until he begs to have a party before I pony up.  In the meantime, it's sweet to have family time and to create special days without too much planning.  Truth be told, I don't want to share the cake!

Looking forward to watching our Jbird navigate his fourth year.   It's certainly been a wild ride last year and I am so honored to have him as my guide.

He's Four

My.  Oh My.  So many pictures.  So many moments to document over the last few days.  I'll begin with the birthday morning.  Egg breakfast was followed by gifts and cake.

My little Jbird turned four last Wednesday.  We celebrated all day, but that day began with cake.  I baked a cake inspired by the Honey Cake recipe in this very inspiring book.  I added berries in the middle and went a little over the top with the late night cake decorating.   The rosemary might have been my favorite ingredient in this cake.  Oh, and I think we finished it off later that night.  It was that yummy.  (Or maybe Rooster and I just have that little willpower.)

After cake we headed off to many adventures.  Pictures to come.  I'm still in a bit of shock that my first son is four year old already. 

Sparrow's Tree

No, the irony isn't lost on me.  Yes, my last post was titled:  For Trees So Tall.  And yes, we did just obliterate our superbly tall tree.  Somewhere a black mark has been placed next to our name.

We had a very naughty tree living in our parking strip.  So, after much to-do over the years, after gutting our sewer and water pipes, after ripping up our sidewalk and growing it's roots clear across our front yard into our neighbors and after much litter and darn sweet gumballs, we decided the time had come.  We got permission from the city to have it taken down.  But not without first selecting our replacement tree.

That was tough.  We were limited to finding another LARGE tree (think 100 footer) and included in the cities outdated list was our own offender with shallow roots, the Sweetgum.  So, I knew that we had to do more than just pick from the short list they gave us.  Finally after much searching, we diverted a bit from the list (and size) and purchased a Ginkgo and were given the clear from the city.  The arborists were called in and we all gathered to watch when they took it down.  It's amazing what brings everyone in a neighborhood together.  All the neighbors, outside in the street, watching the tree come down in pieces.  Everyone was giddy with excitement and all had stories to tell about other trees they had seen on the street over the years.   When the trunk sections came crashing down it shook the whole street and left scars on the street.  It was quick.  Like pulling a bandaid.  And I felt a tinge of guilt - but kept thinking of all the damage it had done, and was destined to continue.  I tried to focus my irritation at the folks that planted it in the parking strip, not the best home for a sweet gum, a bit short-sighted.

Tonight, ever wonderful Rooster plowed in and dug through the clay dirt and root tangles to create space for the new tree that had been delivered.  We planted it with Sparrow's placenta, which seemed like the perfect way to mark the occasion of this new tree coming to our home, the very place where Sparrow was born.  It was raining, Jbird was an overtired mess, and we were so rushed to get it into the ground before bedtime, before dark.  There was no ceremony.   In fact, I almost forgot what we had planned and thankfully Rooster remembered before we placed the tree.  Perhaps by the time Sparrow is old enough to hear about his tree, we'll have forgotten how we left out the ceremony.  We'll have created our own story by then.

For now, the story starts with this tree, planted in honor of Sparrow and his birth in our home, in our family.

For Trees So Tall

Oh Dear, yet again, days have passed by.   Another moment passes and I barely to manage to celebrate it to the fullest extent, let alone capture it here on the blog.  Perhaps I'd be in worse shape without this blog biting at my heels.

Today we brought another chair and the baby seat for Sparrow to officially join us at the table.  It was so nice to look over at him and see his smiles and giggles (instead of watching him scoot around on the living room carpet while we eat.)  As a first meal, we offered avocado.  Hard to tell if he liked it or not, but he was fairly fond of the spoon at least.  I'm sure if I handed him the bowl he would have taken to that as well.



We don't yet fall into the solid meal time rhythm that I aspire to.  Sometimes it's a bit haphazard.  Often I am nursing Sparrow, or Rooster is still in kitchen, we all graze, or Jbird might be running back and forth to the table, creating some sense of boundless joy.  But I promise myself that someday we will have the discipline to follow through for all meals - having our "bottoms" on the seat, candle lit, blessing sung, hands held.  For now, we do that sometimes, and other times we just do parts.  It's a journey.  And the intention is there.

Tonight Jbird picked the following meal blessing, and we actually held hands across the table;
" For trees so tall, And sky so blue, For friends, family and food, We Thank You."

Indeed.

Exploding

 
These tulips landed on our dining room table for Mother's Day.  Every morning we sit at the table and watch how they explode and open further.  I keep thinking they are past their tipping point and yet the next morning they are reaching out even further, the colors even more determined to amaze us.

And this is in many ways reflective of how I feel about the family we have birthed here.  Our lives. Our little family.  My heart looks like these flowers when I take a moment to look around and see where I stand.

I feel so incredibly lucky.  Not in the sense that this life, these blessings have been handed to Rooster and I on a platter, but that we have found this path, this existence and somehow we have just floated through these smooth waters into the perfect spot.  I mean, we work hard and it's an effort to make things work.  It's certainly an effort to make things fit into the outline we've drawn out and dreamed of.  Some of our choices have not made things easy, a bit of swimming upstream to say the least.  But mostly, I'm amazed at how beautiful this thing is - this thing about being partners in this journey, about raising these children and creating our own little family.  Mostly, despite the grumbles and the cries and the heavy lifting, mostly our life looks just like these exploding and hopeful tulips.  It fills me with joy.  And I'm so thankful.

A House For Little Brother

This morning, the first words out of Jbird's mouth were about this painting that he made for Sparrow the other day.  He said; "I should have made that painting for him before he was born."  This coming from a boy who often refers to his little brother as "that guy" with just a touch of disdain, certainly disinterest.  But it's not always that way.

The painting is "a house" and it was painted specifically for Sparrow.  My heart melted of course.

 

And here are the natural dyed eggs that we will be hiding tomorrow morning.  There were so many awesome egg dyeing creations out there, it was just the inspiration I needed to try it out.  We didn't put that much effort into the details, but it was fun and we'll definitely do this again next year.  And we ended up with a huge pot of onion soup, a bonus!

"Another Wood Thing!!!"

Candy Cane draws much excitement, originally uploaded by bird nest photos.

My sweet Jbird - opening one of his gifts on Christmas morning - with excitement exclaimed; "Another wood thing!!"  So funny - in our house, yes, almost all the toys are wooden.  It was just so silly of him to say such a thing, as if it were something new to be excited about.

Tonight, he put plain yogurt on his applesauce cake and when he left most of it untouched, we asked if he was going to finish before going to bed - he said; " I already ate the yogurt." 

This is not to say that this week hasn't been one sugar-filled roller coaster.  There were chocolates, sugar plums, cookies, candy cane and not one but two failed gingerbread houses.   If only I could hide these tins of treats from myself as well.

Last week Jbird also stepped up his antics.  We have had a series of horrid, unacceptable early morning wake-up days.  I'm talking about before 5am.  This is just not okay and we are desperate to find our solution.  One of the worst mornings, I heard him being "silent" in the kitchen, and went out to find him sitting there with candy wrappers and santa lucia buns, and all of my dark chocolate bars sitting on the table and counter and much of it smeared on his face.  These he had pilfered from the cabinet above the stove and from above the refrigerator.  And to top if off, all of the windows open on the Advent calendar.  He was so pleased with himself.  And I, too angry to take a photo, sulked about where I was going to hide my personal stash from now on.  Oh how he challenges me.

Happy Holidays to all.

Sleeping Sparrow and Saint Nicholas Day

Sleeping Sparrow - Delicate Hand, originally uploaded by bird nest photos.

Sparrow is still sleepy - but maybe on his way to "waking" up this week.  Just back from a follow-up visit with the midwives, with little Sparrow weighing in at 10lbs 12 oz!

We celebrated St. Nicholas this morning.  Well - Sparrow and I stayed in bed and missed the event - but this was all about Jbird anyways.  The night before we had placed carrots in Jbird's boots, and left out cookies and hot cocoa.  The following morning, Jbird found treats - including cookies, satsuma, gold walnut, chocolate and licorice, a new book and a box of crayons.  He gobbled it up in all ways.

The book is beautiful.  Uncle Vova's Tree.  I cried when we read it today.

Giving Thanks

A little late in posting about the incredible amount of thanks-giving going on in my heart this season.  Due to little Sparrow's birth timing, and our recovery, I skipped out on the large Thanksgiving feast, and sent Rooster and Jbird without me.  Later that night, the entire party (5 waldorf families, children, dogs) all walked over to our house and sang Happy Birthday and blessings to us from the sidewalk outside.  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and of course, no photo was taken.

Later in the week, Rooster cooked a turkey and we had our own miniature Thanksgiving dinner.  So delicious that I have had leftovers for many of the following meals including breakfast. 

So many things to be thankful for - so utterly thankful.

Thankful for healthy, beautiful baby Silas.

Thankful for a little boy who is still holding it together even though his world is changing.

Thankful for the best husband in the whole world, who supports me through all, who in the end, wasn't afraid to cut the cord (and really, after that labor and birth, cord cutting was the least of it!)

Thankful for the best of friends and family; flowers, gifts, well wishes, delicious meals and all blessings.  Did I mention the meal train???

Thankful for my midwives, trusting in me and my birth and allowing it to happen.  And the community of women  and midwives working to restore belief in Birth.

Thankful for community all around, even among those I have never met.

So many many things to be thankful for...

Halloween and the Sugar Fairy

J.bird dressed up all day for Halloween, and we spent most of it walking around our neighborhood and walking to our grocery store and coffee shop, etc.  Lately, I find the more time j.bird and I spend walking outside - the happier our days are.  Actually, this has been my big learning experience of the year - and I hope I don't let the baby or the weather lock us in this winter - as we really need to keep on our toes.

Anyways - he was sort of a fairy type thing?  J.bird didn't really care - although he did ask to be a fairy once, and well, it's an easy thing for me to arrange given our dress up playsilks and crowns.  I made a new crown to match a pair of dragonfly fairy wings, and then of course face pencils and glitter...

We barely did Halloween last year, so it was still a learning experience for him.  Isn't it amazing how all of these behaviors are truly learned and trained?  I mean, even candy is still a strange concept to him.  He was more impressed by how many pieces he got, then the actual sugar item.  We talked about the Sugar Fairy - who would come and in exchange for the candy leave a special gift in the morning.  He fell for it!  He had a few licks of a lollipop (his first) when we got home and then off to bed (he is a serious early to bed boy now that naps are skipped - like 5.30/5.45!  I know, awesome!)  So, off to bed he went and he left his basket of candy on the table.  The next morning we had taken away the candy (sent with Rooster to work) and left a glitter trail, a new toothbrush, one piece of organic hard candy, and a little knight doll thing.  He was THRILLED.  And I think Rooster and I were even more thrilled that the little trick worked.  We'll see how many years we can ride this train before he realizes how we have tricked him...