A Holiday Song

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a treadmill on sale from Sears!

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eight new big toys for Ethan, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, nine desserts consumed, eight new big toys for Ethan, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten days of Doxycycline, nine desserts consumed, eight new big toys for Ethan, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eleven Playmobile pieces, ten days of Doxycycline, nine desserts consumed, eight new big toys for Ethan, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.
 
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, twelve+ steroid treatments, eleven Playmobile pieces, ten days of Doxycycline, nine desserts consumed, eight new big toys for Ethan, seven stay-home days with Ethan, six quickly sewed ornaments, five days of Zithromycin..... Four lovely dinner guests, three hacking coughs, two stomach flu’s, and a treadmill on sale from Sears.

Footnotes:
1.  Going to order it tomorrow and take advantage of the sales designed for people starting some ridiculous "New Year New You" crap.  It's ok as long as I get a cheaper treadmill.
2.  Friday, December 14 - Ethan throws up shortly (like 3 minutes) after leaving the stage of his Christmas sing-a-long.  I get it 24 hours later.  Oh, joy.
3.  Three hacking coughs = Ethan, my mother-in-law, and me.  At the time of this posting we all sound pretty bad!  My MIL has it the worst, though. 
4.  Four guests are my mother and sister-in-law from Cinci, and my folks!  Christmas dinner at my house was kind of awesome.  Ethan was wayyyy excited!
5.  This round of antibiotics was for Ethan - his pediatrician gave it to him along with the 12+ days of inhaled steroids for lots of coughing, wheezing, and crackling.  We have been watching MUCH tv in order to get through the face-masking twice daily.
6.  I finally finished the advent calendar!  My crowning achievement was a Grinch ornament that I will post a picture of as soon as I get my lazy butt out of bed.
7.  Yay for stay home days!  I just wish we were all healthier.
8.  Seriously - most of them are big!  Big pirate ship, big car ramp, big expando-ball thingy....play food to go with his big kitchen...thank goodness we have lots of room in our house!
9.  I'm estimating nine here, but it may be a low estimate - cookies + pie + ice cream + candy canes + brownies...sheesh.
10.  That round of antibiotics is for me - apparently my cough is some kind of mild/atypical/walking pneumonia.  
11.  There are way more than 11, but the 11 are the ones I have no *&%$ing idea what to do with.  They don't go to anything on this stupid pirate ship!
12.  See #5.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Sir!

Ethan has been taking Kung Fu classes for the last month or two.  Whenever I tell someone about it, they ask something like, "So how did you get into that?" which I assume is a really polite way of saying, "Um, WHY?"  Understandable.  :)  First of all, there was a contest on one of my favorite local websites, http://www.chambanamoms.com.  Comment on one of their posts, and you are entered into a drawing for a free month of Kung Fu classes.  Why the heck not?  Ethan's a physical kid who doesn't quite know how to move that overly tall bod he's got...it certainly can't do any harm. 

(It doesn't hurt that Ethan has been plagued by a bully at preschool, too.  Both Brian and I shared a guilty, evil laugh at the idea of Ethan sticking up for himself with some of his new skills.  Really, no.... We don't want him to hit or kick or anything.  But he could use a little assertiveness training, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking of that at the time!)

I have looked forward to Tuesday nights now ever since we started!  Awesome.  The movies on my iPhone aren't really close up, but they are so, so cute.  There are times that he giggles his way through a new move because the instructor, Aaron Chen, is so hilarious and great with kids.  I'm also seeing some of the skills that Ethan doesn't have at this stage of life, and Kung Fu is doing such a great and fun job of teaching him these!  Left vs. right was the first challenge, listening to multiple directions at the same time (especially bowing in - clap, say "Sir!", bow in a certain way...it took him a month to get that down), balancing, etc.  Love it!

My Mid-life Crisis

Was talking with a colleague the other day about all of the changes going on in my life, and she said, "Is this your mid-life crisis?"  And I thought it just might be. You be the judge!

First of all, I've quit my job.  Well, sort of.  Teaching in Urbana is awesome in that you can take a year of leave, and then if you or your family decides that you were nutso to quit, you can come back to teaching - they would just stick me somewhere I was qualified to teach.  So I've done that, with the intention to (gulp) go back to school for my PhD.  My sweet, super-supportive husband is on board, but when I told him I was considering this, I think he asked me if I was sure about 99 times.  Having gotten his own degree, I think he was worried that I would either lose my mind or cause him to lose his before I had that Dr. before my name.  Fingers crossed that we're still married in five years!

Why in the world would I do this, when I have a job with awesome people, a good salary, plenty of tenure, and a pretty flexible schedule where I can run off when Ethan gets a fever?  My 40 year old mid-life crisis might point the way to the answer.  But it's also possible that I'm frustrated by the little I know about certain topics in education, and I really love teaching, and I think I could learn enough to someday maybe possibly teach teachers the results of my awe-inspiring, life-changing research.

By the way, another sign of a mid-life crisis is the overuse of hyphens.

So off I go into the world of the Ivory Tower.  Following are some of my favorite comments by some of my favorite people, upon their learning of my decision:

1.  I think getting a PhD is like the fourth circle of Hell.
2.  Four to five years, or more, of back-breaking work.  No problem.
3.  Girl, you cray cray.
(I can't even pull off #3 in writing, can I?)

And then the ultimate question.  "So what do you want to do with your degree?"  Oh, yeah, getting a job!  Seriously, I did think of this before chucking my really awesome job, and the answer is, "Higher education - maybe?"  Knowing full well that I really don't know at all what my life or my family's lives will be like in five years, I'm keeping options open.

Secondly, I've become a health coach.  What?!  Yes, a health coach.  I have a website and everything, but it's not ready so I'm not sharing it quite yet.  :)  (Not sharing your website with people = Excellent business skills.)  I registered with a really fantastic online school last year and I have learned soooooo much!  Health coaching isn't designed to replace the nutritionist or dietician, but to provide support for people who want to live a little bit better.  There are insurance companies that hire coaches, actually, since doctors can't provide the consistency of support that a weekly or twice-monthly coach can.  The downside of the program is that it's taking all of the fun out of some of my favorite foods, but my main objective in doing this is to learn more (and hopefully help others learn more) about how to enjoy food in a healthy and balanced way.  No eating anything that isn't delicious!  And no fads allowed.  It's been kind of fun to think I knew a lot about food and wellness and then to realize how much I really didn't know....wow. 

So, Alexis, how in the world will you get a PhD and conduct a health coaching business?  The answer is, I probably won't do both equally well.  It'd be really nice to supplement my truly meager assistantship with some health coaching clients my first year or two, when I'm doing more coursework than research, but we'll see. 

So that should explain a little about why I haven't been blogging since JUNE.  Been a little...preoccupied, I should say.  But I will do my absolute best to keep the blog updated more regularly so you can all shake your head and wonder about my sanity.  Thanks for reading.  :)

Dear Summer...

 

A trip to Chicago on the train with Beeda, Papa, Auntie Anda and her friend Pru...

 

The cool hotel with the fountain, elevators, pool....

 

A visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo - a first for all of us, which was awesome...

 

A trip to Grant Park, the Bean, & the awesome fountains they have there...

 

Our weekly trip to the Farmer's Market & the Crave Truck with yummy waffles, strawberries and whipped cream....(oh, they do have vegetables there, too)

 

An unfortunate trip to the emergency room with a pretty bad asthma (or something) attack....

 

And our latest gift from my parents, which, when the net is on, will make us the most fun house in the neighborhood.  Oh, yeah.  (And when begging him to tell us that he loves us, the only person he will admit to loving is his BFF Arlin.)

Dear Summer, 

We love you.

XOXOXO Alexis, Brian, and Ethan

Lack of Common Sense

How many advanced degrees does it take for two people to find each other after a race?  Hint:  Two Master's and one PhD aren't enough.

Illinois Marathon today!  Brian and I happily ran the 5K together last night, after dropping Ethan off at one of his friends' for a couple of hours.  All three of us had a great evening.  Brian and I have never run together in a race, so this was something to be proud of!

This morning was then the 10K that I did by myself.  Brian is always great about dropping me off, and then we make arrangements to meet somewhere after the race, but it never quite works out that way, and then we get grumpy with each other.  Never more so than today!  So let me tell you this story, and you will have to add up the Common Sense points to see who needs a shot of it the most.

1.  The website said 7:35, but the race packet said 7:44, so I anticipated getting there at 7:30.  None of us slept well last night, so we were moving really slowly, and then Ethan did NOT want to go anywhere!  So we were running late, and when Brian dumped me out of the car, the race actually started right then.  Oops! 
Lack of Common Sense Point:  Alexis
2.  Every year, we anticipate when I'll finish so that we can figure out how to meet up after the race.  Since I thought the race would be starting at 7:44, and it would take awhile to get to the start line, and I might go slower than usual, and I didn't want to make B wait around, I said 9:00.  Wrong!  The race started promptly (early?) at 7:40 or even a few minutes earlier, and I ran like someone was chasing me, so I was done earlier than I thought.  More like 8:40. 
Lack of Common Sense Point:  Alexis - I should have just told B to add on one hour to the start time!
3.  Our plan when I was done?  "Walk East!"  Great!  However, Brian's version of walk east was, "Walk east until you get to the place where the marathon runners are blocking the road, then turn around and walk that route again until you find me," though he didn't say that, and my version was, "Walk east until you can't walk east anymore, then continue to head home." 
Lack of Common Sense Point:  I think this one goes to Brian, though we had a short but glorious fight about this and I doubt he agrees with me that this is his point.  :)
4.  Yep, I headed east.  All the way home.  Then couldn't get in.  And didn't have a phone.  And couldn't find a neighbor who was home to let me use theirs.  So what did I do?  Continue further east to my parents' house.  After all, they would be home, right?  And when they aren't home they rarely lock their doors...(except for today)
Lack of Common Sense Point:  I think Alexis gets double for this one
5.  Finally found a phone, called Brian, he and I found each other, are again on speaking terms, and I have now had a shower and a nap.  Life is good.  (Except if you add up the points, in which case I don't look so good.)

And here are Years 1-4 of the Illinois Marathon Ethan and Mama:

 

 

This year's picture we took inside.  It was soooooooo cold outside today!  Contrast that with Year 2, when I was so warm I almost was sick at the end of the race.  Brrrrrr.

New Developments

At the Jones-Jewett household, Spring Break has just come to an end. Sigh. And it was a glorious one, too. I took a couple mom-cation days to myself (not really myself - me and the painters and handymen who were doing some minor things at our new house), and spent a few days with the Ethan-boy. Just a perfect balance of napping and excitement. I'm sure you can figure out which of those options included Ethan.

What worked out just perfectly was that my sister was here from Santa Fe most of the week of our Break, so we took one day to head to the Children's Discovery Museum in Bloomington. All of us minus Brian, who was working, in my car...it was a bit of a crunch, but fun nonetheless. My sister brings out the silly in all of us. Especially Ethan, who at times can be a very serious boy. Here we are painting:
Or rather, Mom and Anda were painting, and Ethan was off to the next activity. He very much enjoyed the dental health exhibit:
though he sort of missed the point about brushing and preferred to roar within the giant teeth.

The last Saturday of our vacation Ethan had a birthday party to go to. LOVE kids birthday parties. The mom friends I've met and gotten to know through Ethan are really and truly all wonderful. It's so much fun to watch Ethan have fun with his buddies when I can also have great conversations with the other moms. Ethan has good taste in families to befriend. Jackson's third birthday party was at the nature center (fun) and had a dinosaur theme (even better!). You can see Ethan slowly getting into the spirit of things:

I have to say, Jackson's dad was a pretty good sport to wear the dinosaur hat. :)

What is not pictured here is the glorious temper tantrum Ethan threw when it was time to leave the party. I did all of the good parenting things to warn him that it was time to go - a 10 minute warning, 5 minute warning, had him say goodbye to his friends with a promise that we'd see them soon and would also be at the nature center again very soon...and he still flipped out. New phase, I guess, since he has flipped out over transitions daily during the last week. And I am well aware that it, as all other wonderful new developments like this one, is "age appropriate". However: Ethan. Is. Huge. He is the size and weight of a 5 year old, wearing the clothes to match. He was head and shoulders (literally) over the other little boys at this party, and most other kids in his class. So dragging him away from a party kicking and screaming (literally) was no small feat. I was covered in mud by the time we made it to the car, and when he started to hit me, hard, I snapped at him for the first time in his short life. Then, this conversation followed:

Me: "Ethan, I think you're in time out in the car. We'll talk more when we get home."
Ethan: "I'm in trouble?"
Me: "Yes, you're in trouble. You hit Mama and that makes me very sad."
Ethan: (thinking)
Me: (thinking I've won)
Ethan: "I'm the Mama. You're in trouble. I'm sorry, I'm not talking to you, because you're in trouble."
Me: (trying not to laugh)
Ethan: "You hit me. You're in trouble. You shouldn't hit people. That makes me sad. You're in time out. I'm not talking to you."

I was sort of hoping that the role reversal was going to teach him the right path, but no, he proceeded to hit me again the next day and then the day after.

Other gems from this formerly non-talking boy:

Ethan (at bedtime, after he has just used the potty): "Mama! Mama! I really really really need to pee!"
Me: "Honey, you just did pee. We're all done peeing tonight."
Ethan: "Mama! My body is saying [cue deep gravely voice], 'I really need to pee.'"
Me: "OK, Ethan, you've got one minute to pee. Let's go."
Ethan: (smiling)
He has also informed me that his body really needs a fruit snack or his tummy will be sad. His body is doing a lot of talking these days!

Yep, I'm Forty

Now that we've established that, let's move on to other more important things that have happened this month.

In order to celebrate my birthday/Valentine's Day/President's Day (because we're all about honoring those guys), Brian, Ethan, my folks and I decided at kind of the last minute to go to Chicago for a weekend in mid-February. I have to say, it was a pretty great time. First of all, we took the train. I was a little worried that being held captive on our chosen transportation would lead to a restless Ethan. But the beauty of it was that Ethan, while definitely restless, could go anywhere he wanted to. He bopped from me to Brian to my parents to the club car to me again...no being strapped down. It was great. The trip flew by.

Then, having my parents there was wonderful. We arranged to be on the same hotel floor as them, which meant that Ethan could pretty much run down the hall to them and then back to us. No, we didn't just send him out in the hotel alone. (Of course, what kind of parents do you think we are?!) But Embassy Suites was arranged in a square, with the courtyard in the middle, so we could almost stand at the door to our room, have my parents stand at their door, and watch Ethan the whole way. He had an amazing time running the halls of the hotel, going up and down the elevator a million times, and paddling around the hotel pool.

We are all the types to take advantage of a fun city while still leaving time to relax. I personally don't enjoy rushing around to things and being too exhausted to enjoy them, so we all made sure to get naps when we could. Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?
But in between naps, we did as much stuff as we could. The aquarium was my favorite as a kid, so we spent several hours there one day. Besides a huge meltdown right by the otters (I wouldn't buy him a cookie), he was a champ the whole time, and really loved a lot of what he saw. It's so funny - he wasn't as in love with the things I thought he would be - the penguins, the otters, etc. But the little area for toddlers where they could act like penguins (crawl, slide, etc.) was a huge hit. And the dolphins cheered him up after his temper tantrum. :) So did the area where he could pretend that he was in a submarine.
Gears, dials, buttons...happy, happy, boy. If I had a little girl, I would totally have pushed her in there, because there was nothing but boys in that area - very active, loud, and happy boys, but just boys!
The next day we all split up - my mom went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, my dad headed to the Apple Store, and Ethan, Brian, and I went to the Hancock Building. Another huge favorite of Ethan's - elevators. So he was again a pretty happy boy. And not at all bothered by the heights. We joined my dad at the Apple Store after a little while, where Ethan busied himself with a Dora game loaded on an iPad. We could have left him there for hours and he would never have noticed. (But again, what kind of parents do you think we are?)
Trip = GREAT. Recovering from the trip = AWFUL. I woke up Monday with a cold, had a terrible reaction to a booster shot that sent me to the ER, and then the cold turned into a sinus infection. I pretty much abstained from working more than four hours at a time, took as much medication as any human is allowed to take, and spent my week sweating in bed and on the couch. Very attractive and romantic for the week of Valentine's Day. Ethan came down with a cold, too, but seemed to recover after only a few days. Oh, to be young again. :)

This Month, We...

So apparently I have become a once a month blogger. :( I'm going to review the last 5 weeks (or more?!) in no apparent order.

First of all, we have moved! We are in our new, wonderful house right now. The other house is a distant memory...except some of our stuff is still in our messy garage, we need a new kitchen floor in the old place, the guy who was supposed to paint our bathroom hasn't finished, and oh, yeah, it isn't on the market. But enough about that. Our new house is awesome!
After Ethan's first playdate in the new house. They had fun!
New Year's Even went by without us staying up late in any way. We never do! I seriously would love to go to bed at 10:00 (at the latest) every single night. Above is Ethan at "Noon Year's Eve" at the library. I tell people that I go to this party with him because he can't stay up until midnight. It's not because of him. :)

I swear the best part of our Christmas Break (way better than moving) was the time I got to spend with Mr. Ethan all day long. One day near the end of our beloved break (sniff) we drove to Bloomington to go to the children's museum there. We had never been there - So. Much. Fun! For me, as much as for him. Let's be honest, parents - aren't there a lot of things we do for our kids that we are kind of bored with? Not this museum. I honestly had as much fun as Ethan here. And I sent so many pictures back to my mom that she wants to make the trip with us next time. :)