Update

I have been awful about updating this blog of late. The Tot and I have been having fun doing little stuff around the north side, and generally ignoring or skipping our classes. I have to get better about actually going to our Moms, Pops, & Tots interaction class at Independence Park, which is on hiatus this week between sessions. And I have not been great about going to Jam with Julie, which The Tot does enjoy, but is often in a time conflict with both the start of the school day and, an hour later, the start of the CFC day. I'm no longer involved with the co-op, thus eliminating daily runs to Midwest Bank and freeing up our schedule to enjoy our Wednesday morning class with Julie. But I have no great excuse for missing our IP class.

On tap this week? Lots of nonfat vanilla lattes at Starbucks. On Monday, we went to the Treasure Store. The Tot likes to run and hide under the racks, and doesn't respond when called, so I must keep him in the stroller or mei-tei in the store. On Monday, I was wearing him on my back in the Catbird Baby and a pregnant woman who was clearly shopping the baby bargains, asked me if I had ever seen slings in the TA and where could she find them. I don't recall noticing a sling in the TS, but told her that she could buy them used on The Baby Wearer. I always seem to find something at the TS -- on Monday, it was a new terrycloth bathrobe and NWT plain navy blue t-shirt for The Boy, and a cute Hawaiian print camp shirt and PsychoBaby Mack Daddy tee for The Tot. Afterwards, we stopped at Starbucks for--you guessed it--a nonfat vanilla latte.

On Thursday, we skipped the latte and went to Joann's ISO yellow fabric to make a t-shirt for The Boy. Another store that is a nightmare chase scene for Mama, Joann's displays tons of little things (spools of thread and ribbon, packages of elastic and so much else!) at a height of approximately 3' off the floor--just level with The Tot's line of vision. And I've noticed that fabric stores tend to employ women just below the age of retirement. Presumably, it's because they know a lot about fabric and sewing and can speak knowledgably to inquiring customers. This may be true, but they also tend to be crabby and have behavioral expectations of small children that are stuck in the 1960s, and they have no problem correcting my kid when they think he's doing something wrong -- like picking up a spool of plastic-wrapped serger thread and licking it. Which he should not do, but really?!?

Afterward, we walked down to Strack & Van Til, the signs in the windows of which read, somewhat incorrectly in my opinion, "thank you for shopping at your neighborhood market." There's a difference between a store that is in your neighborhood and one that is your neighborhood market. The parent company is based in Highland, Indiana. Still, there was a man giving a food tour to a group of school kids in the produce section, and one of the deli counter ladies gave The Tot a steak fry when I asked her if she had any plastic knives that I could use to cut open the avocado that The Tot was trying to gnaw his way through (they were sold "by the each") as he was hungry and crabby.

Amazingly enough, after two errands, we still had time to kill before we had to retrieve The Girl from preschool, so I headed over to Clybourn to do a quick cruise through Cost Plus World Market, a store in which I loved to browse when we lived in San Francisco, and which the non-IKEA furniture and decor in my house almost invariably comes from. Picked up a new glass canister to hold coffee beans and a fun new bath toy for The Tot. And then it was time to get The Girl from school.

Jammin with Julie, Coffee, Errands

We started the day off by seeing the drive-through teller at Midwest Bank to make both deposits personal and deposits for CFC. The Boy was not happy about sitting in the car for 20 minutes while I took care of my business, but he changed his tune when the teller enclosed three sets of lollies for the kids. Our main bank is out-of-state, but I've been so pleased with how incredibly nice the folks at Midwest Bank are, I bring them my local banking business.

The Tot and I started the new session of Jammin with Julie today. Oddly enough, The Girl chose to skip preschool, go to the full day of MDO, and come along to music class with us. With only The Boy to drop off at school, we made it to music class well in advance of its 9 a.m. start time, which is a departure from our usual method, which is to arrive 5 minutes late and try not to disrupt the flow of the class.

While The Girl is tall and looked Amazonian next to all the 1-2-year-olds, even The Tot looked big against the newest crop of babies in the class. It's weird to think of him at the older end of the age range. When I asked him if he wanted to jam with Julie, he nodded vigorously, which is amazing for a child whose standard response to any question is, "no." He listened with rapt attention, tried to touch the animal-puppets, helpfully put away the shakers, chased bubbles, and didn't want to go at the end of class. To me (and I think to Miss Julie), this means that music class is a success!

You, too, can Jam with Julie in the neighborhood (at Irving Park Lutheran Church) on Wednesdays and Fridays, now through April 22, 2009. Call Julie Helenius directly at 773-267-7607 or e-mail her at jtjujubee@aol.com. The 16-week session is $192, which represents a bit of a price break over the Old Town School's Wiggleworms classes ($240 for a 16-week session), which are similar to Julie's classes.

After music class, we schlepped over to CFC so The Girl could play with her friends, attend another music class (this time with Ms. Andrea, whose instrument of choice is a viola), and practice writing letters. Meanwhile, I spent the first hour of MDO visiting with my friends, drinking coffee, eating muffins and trying to divert The Tot from nursing.*

We ran to Target to buy a new iron and ran into a mom from The Boy's school as well as Becky and Baby G. The Tot had great fun helping me push the buttons on the elevator, pick out storage bins for The Dad, and eat Sour Airheads. Then we went home, had lunch, and he took a nap.





* It has been 20+ months and I'm still nursing this kid! I am a fan of breastfeeding and even extended breastfeeding, but this is ridiculous. Chicago is pretty pro-breastfeeding, even more than it was when The Boy was a baby, but nursing a 6-month-old in public is understandable and even cute. Nursing a gigantic toddler? Notsomuch (for me).

MDO

Mother's Day Out/Co-op is a non-starter for The Tot. He started crying when his teacher, Ms. Becky, said hello to him today, and pretty much continued until I came back for him at 11:00 a.m. The class is filled with boys and they were all setting each other off on crying jags. As much as I would love some kid-free time, he is not ready for MDO at 17-months-old. I had the same debate with myself when The Girl was the same age, and came to the same conclusion. She went happily into the class after the Christmas break; I am hopeful that The Tot will follow in his big sister's footsteps.

For now, he'll get lots of one-on-one time with Mama in the mornings while The Girl is at preschool (and The Boy is in kinder). The 2.5-hours of preschool does not give us a wide enough window to do much or go too far, but The Tot has been happy enough to cruise around Target and Trader Joe's, or putter around the house, with me in the mornings.

One on One

Today was a lovely day. I started out the day by taking The Boy to his STEP UP literacy assessment at Disney 2. I chatted with some other moms, including Ms. Sandra from CFC, as we waited for our almost-Kindergarteners to be assessed. Afterwards, I extended our one-on-one time by taking The Boy to our neighborhood Starbucks for a lemonade and seasonal cookie (him) and latte and seasonal cookie (me). There was a kid with his tutor at the next table over, and The Boy was more interested in what was happening over there than in talking much to me, but it was a nice day and we were sitting outside, so it was cool to just spend easy time together. Then, Mario Greco, our old Realtor happened by. I hadn't seen him since 2002. He and his wife left Lincoln Park to build a place in Old Irving Park. It was nice to see him and catch up a bit. I feel like the fact that Mario is moving to my neighborhood is a sign that it's no longer up and coming, it is there.

We bummed around at home for a bit. The Tot got a nap. We all had lunch. And then I took The Tot, The Boy, and The Girl to run a bunch of errands, including a trip to Costco for ice cream, to Office Max for school supplies, and to Gymboree to exchange The Girl's first-day-of-school dress.

After errands, I dropped The Boy and The Tot back off at home. And The Girl and I went on a Mommy-The Girl playdate. It wasn't much -- just dinner and a bit of shopping at Target. But it was fun to go out with The Girl alone. She is very chatty, and also enjoys helping me (thank you Eloise Wilkin's We Help Mommy). Plus, when left as the director of an outing, she's much more likely to listen to what her body is telling her; at 7:30, she told me that she was ready to go home and go to bed. So we did.

And then life gets in the way

My plans to take The Girl to see Justin Roberts play at the Printer's Row Book Fair today went out the window when she woke up at 1 a.m. throwing up.

Instead, The Boy and I stopped at our neighbor's open house and attended the closing program and end-of-year auction at The Girl's co-op.

Pink polka dot pajamas

This morning, after I dropped The Boy off at school, I took The Baby and The Girl with me to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, a bagel and a couple of donuts, and then to Home Depot. All while wearing my pink polka dot pajama bottoms (and The Dad's polarfleece). I was styling. My fashion standards have slipped so far that this is actually not the worst combination that the counter clerks at Dunkin Donuts have seen me wear.

At Home Depot, The Baby and The Girl rode in one of the racecar carts. The Baby loves sitting up like a big kid and steering the wheel like his big sister (or brother). I dislike pushing those giant things, especially for errands like today's where I needed a single thing that I could have easily carried without a cart if I had been there on my own. But the kids enjoy it and it makes shopping with small children much nicer.

The Girl went to MDO today. The Baby took a nap, had lunch, and accompanied me to on our weekly Treasure Store trip. We ran into my Treasure Store stalkers. It's funny, because I don't always go on the same day each time, but I always see the same people there over and over. Half of them are from the co-op.

The Girl and The Boy went over to their friends' house after school, while I took The Baby to Target for such exciting things as dishwasher cubes and deodorant for The Dad. When we got home, The Dad took The Baby, The Girl, and The Boy outside to play with the neighbors while I made dinner.