june already?

How. Can. That. Be?

Real

The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where.

"I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them any more, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."

"Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit.

"You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to every one."

--Page 42 of The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams, which totally destroyed me today.

Photo by bird_flew

Three Years of Marvelous

Photo via Confetti System

Y'know what I just realized? I reached my three-year blogaversary on November 8! I totally forgot to mark the milestone that day, but I just couldn't let it go without mention.

When I posted my first post here, I never could have imagined what this blog would come to mean to me. It has been a source of great fun, a way of making wonderful friends, an incredible learning experience, and an amazing creative outlet. I am so appreciative of everyone who has contributed here, as readers, commenters, guest posters, and sponsors. For me, this space has come to feel much more like a community than a diary, and more of a party than just a journal of reflections. Thank you so much for being a part of it!

To celebrate the three-year milestone (that's 1,325 posts and counting!) I thought I'd link to some of my favorite moments. Here are twenty Marvelous Kiddo posts that I still think about and love, in chronological order:

Notes on Closeness

Lomography Fun at Turtle Pond

Spring Has Returned

Mother's Day Reflections

Only in New York

My Paris Birthday

A Mama Milestone

The Boys Are Back In Town

Portraits of Our Little Family

The Belly, Week 38

And Then There Were Four of Us

Welcoming Another Marvelous Kiddo: Our Home Birth Story

All is Love: A Maxstravaganza

Nursing Two

The Joys of Babywearing

Birth Story of the Week: Martha's Story

Baby Mamas

Five Months (Yesterday)

The Theory of Relativity

Magical Days

Do you have any favorite moments from my blog? Thanks for being a part of the journey :)

Guest Post: Georgia from Gregarious Peach on Letting Go

Late last night I was whispering sweet nothings to my Theo. This is not a rare occurrence; while he nurses I generally like to pour my adoration on him. I am making the most of the time I have before he’ll get embarrassed by such nonsense and say “Muuuuum!” instead of gazing back at me lovingly.

As he started to fuss and cry, I patted his head and pulled him in close, whispering my promises to him;

“I’ve got you baby boy, I’m holding you.

I will be here holding you always.

Always”.


As he settled back down into a sleepy nursing session, the word ‘always’ was ringing in my ears. As I heard myself saying it again and again, I realised; always is something I cannot promise my Theo. I could feel a lump forming in my throat. As I watched him nurse and my body filled with motherly hormones, I tried to rephrase my statement in my mind.

Aside from the unpredictable, I thought –

‘Always, unless I die’.

Yep, that sounded better.

No wait - a more horrifying thought which I could barely let myself think surfaced,

“Always, unless you die”.

Yep, unless either of us die, I would be here holding him always.

Thinking a little more, I added for good measure,

‘Always, unless the world explodes’.

Yep, all bases covered. I was glad to have that sorted in my mind. Unforeseeable aside, I would be here holding him always.

As I pondered that more, I began to realise - I could promise to be here, but Theo was returning no such promise to me.

In fact as I gazed at my sweet little man, I knew that it will probably not be something unpredictable or unforeseeable that would bring an end to me holding my sweet boy, it was in fact the most constant, predictable and unchanging, it was time. It will start slowly at first, and for that one grace, I am thankful. Time will fool me into almost not noticing it’s happening.

First; he’ll grow too big for my lap. Too big for nursing, too big to listen to me smother him in love. These changes will all be softened with the delight at watching him grow and change but it doesn’t negate the fact that one day, he’ll leave and I won’t know when he’s coming back.

I pulled my boy as close as I could. The lump in my throat was a full-blown knot and I could feel tears starting to prick my eyes. I repositioned myself and stroked his head with my spare hand. As I ran my hand back and forth through his soft baby fuzz I tried to rephrase my promise. It took me a while to whisper what I knew I must.

“I will be here loving you always, and then, then.... I will let you go”.

And only after I’d said it aloud did I realise just how much I loved him.

Photo by Hailey Bartholomew

P.S. (From Leigh): Read more of Georgia's reflections on motherhood at her heart-stoppingly beautiful blog, Gregarious Peach. Oh, and have a kleenex handy. The photos of sweet Theo and his sister Priya are enough to put a lump in your throat, but it is Georgia's way with words and her introspective yet joyous way of parenting that will really get to you.

A year ago today...

...I was about to pop, and we were soon to meet W.

My, how this year has flown!

Walking

A little glimpse of his new skills! It has been an exciting month ;)

10 Months

Standing and Clapping Is The New Crawling

The little guy is makin' moves. Big moves.

Mohawk Panda shirt courtesy of Monster Republic.

Big Week For a Little Man

Doesn't he look pleased with himself? Well, it's no wonder because this week Mr. W started full-on crawling AND speaking English. O.K., so on a regular basis his vocabulary consists only of "MAMAMAMAMAMA" and "DADA" but I swear I heard him use the former in a sentence at least twice. The sentence was, "IWANTMAMA."

So, yes. This is the face of a guy who is coming into his own, and loving every minute of it.

Photos taken today in Sheep Meadow in Central Park.

Five Months (Yesterday)

Hard to believe these guys have only been brothers for five months. Seems more like forever...

Photo(s) of the Day

Me, circa 1980, and J, circa 2010. Thanks to my mom for pointing out the resemblance.

2 Months (Yesterday)

Happy Autumnal Equinox

An oldie but goodie from 2007. I look forward to capturing a similar scene in the same spot in Central Park a few weeks from now -- this time with double the kiddos!

We Were All Marvelous Kiddos: Vintage Baby Photos, Part 3

That's right, it's time for another installment of my wonderful reader's fabulous baby photos! Thanks to all for continuing to send in the fun snapshots and stories. I look forward to seeing more soon, so keep sending 'em!

First, we have a great photo sent in by my dear friend (and cousin!) Laurel. This is one of my favorites because it shows little baby Laurel with her great grandmother, Nettie, who was also Taro's great grandmother! Here's what Laurel said about the picture:

"When i was born, Nettie was 89 years old and quite ill in the hospital. The story my parents told me growing up was that everyone thought she was dying...but when she learned that her first great-granddaughter was born she made an amazing recovery and lived for about four more years. I was always REALLY proud of that when i was little! I think i was about two months old when this photo was taken and this was the first time we met."

These next two were sent in by Haley, of Trickster-Belle. Here's what she had to say:

"The first one is of my brother and I when I was around two. I’m in the bucket. That was just the start of our comic dynamic. The second one is about a year later when I’m making chicken and dumplings with my Granny. That recipe has been handed down the maternal line as far back as I can find. My favorite part was flattening out the dough and cutting it into strips with the pizza cutter. My Granny went with Jesus about nine years ago and these are some of my most treasured memories of being with her."

My friend Mikiodo sent in the next two cuties, along with these words:

"My parents took a ton of baby pics; it's no wonder I became a photographer. These two make me laugh, and they represent 2 things I love: sweets and animals."

Thanks to reader Heather for sending in this adorable shot of her as a baby with a bunch of kids on a log! Looks like fun times!

Two of my favorite photos so far came from my friend Rachel. The first one, especially, is so tender -- it just really moved me. Rachel's words added to the beauty:

"I cherish any photo of me and my mom I can get my hands on. Having lost her when I was 20, I appreciate greatly the importance of photographically documenting your time with your babies as much as possible. For me, these photos serve such a powerful role and I deeply regret that they became rare during my adolescence. It's amazing to see the parallels between the way in which my mom and I bonded and how my daughter and I bond. I largely credit the extended breastfeeding my mom offered me for our close relationship."

Thanks to everyone who participated! Keep those vintage photos coming! Meanwhile, don't forget to enjoy Parts 1 and 2 of this series...

A Mama Milestone

So, something kind of big just happened.

Taro and the Kiddo just left home about a half hour ago.

They're going to Florida for a few days (they'll be back on Sunday).

Tonight will be the first time the Kiddo and I have spent a night apart since he was born 25 months ago.

So it's kind of intense.

Ever since we hatched this plan for a fun father-son getaway a couple of weeks ago, Taro and I have been excited, but also more than a little bit nervous about what the experience would be like for the Kiddo.  Would he be emotionally traumatized?  Would there be crying and wailing and sobs from him as they try to leave me?  

Well. 

Let's just say that after we shared a very sweet and tender and happy "goodbye," the Kiddo leapt into his dad's arms and waved to me as they got into the cab.

I kept it together until the car was out of sight, 

until I was inside our building, 

until I was on and then off the elevator,

until I had turned the key in our lock, 

until the door was closed.

And then I fell to pieces.  

We're talking desperate, hugging-a-pillow sobs.  

I'm not really a crier.  I didn't know I had that in me!

But boy do I miss them already.

Now look who's emotionally traumatized ;)

Quote of the Day

"It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time."

--Peggy O'Mara, Editor, Mothering Magazine.  

Quote found via Primal Mommies.

Photo via Rosa Pomar's Flickr.

The Kiddo's First Story (as told to Taro, last night)

"Two stars were walking in the park. Then the moon came. Then the clouds came. Then noodle pastas came. Then Dada came. Then I came. Then Mama came. They were all walking in the park. The end."

Image via Weheartit.

Birthday Fun

One last little post on the topic of the Kiddo's birthday, and I promise I'll move on!  

I just wanted to share a few cute shots from the festivities that unfolded yesterday...

First things first, there was early-morning unwrapping to do:

Followed by early-morning, mid-morning, and all afternoon playing with unwrapped items...

Followed by dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where the servers all belt out show tunes and classic pop/rock hits.  Even though it (appallingly!) took an hour for our food to arrive, at least we were entertained in the meantime!

After dinner, we dashed over to 46th Street to see The Little Mermaid, and the Kiddo got a kick out of the show. 

Exhausted by all the underwater histrionics (and perhaps by the excess of neon-colored, iridescence-trimmed velour) the Kiddo was asleep by the time we hit the street at 10:30 pm.  

Prom Memories

Lovely Joanna posted a fun selection of blast-from-the-past prom pictures on Smitten today. Check it out for a cute and entertaining look at some of your favorite bloggers in all their Promtastic Glory, including Anne from The City Sage, Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere, Jordan from Oh Happy Day, and Melisa from The Lil Bee.  It's soo fun to see all the fashion and hairdos and read the assortment of entertaining stories that go along with them.

PS:  I'm there too!  

Add This To The Pantheon of Simple but Great Ideas That I Wish I Had Thought Of

Check out this awesome project documenting little Gavin's first year, as described by his mom, Traci on her blog:  

These photos represent each day of Gavin's first year of life - 367 to be exact since 2008 was a leap year and his first birthday is included as well. Not long before Gavin was born, I got the crazy idea of taking Gavin's photo every day of his first year. Wouldn't it be neat, I thought, to be able to someday show Gavin a photo from each day during his most formative year. Never again in our lives do we develop and grow so much in just one year so this seemed to be the perfect way to capture the changes.

Now isn't that genius?  I know we all document the heck out of our children's lives, but I just love the extra twist of formality -- the conscious creation of a visual calendar of development.  Plus, the final result looks so cool!  Click here to see another version of the Gavin photo project, presented as an actual calendar.  Via Ohdeedoh.