Go Hike Hike Day

Down the road from my house is a great hiking spot - Oak Creek. It's 8000+ acres of forested land owned by Oregon State University. Just recently, we've begun to visit more frequently. On one rare sunny morning this week, I decided to take the kids out and explore. I got the diaper bag ready for Kaden, lugged out the Ergo, clipped on the pacifier holder, dressed Anika appropriately, socks, shoes, long-sleeves all around, and finally, we were off.

Anika absolutely loved it! She walked next to me most of the time, between spurts of racing ahead and racing back. We saw many "Wawfaw" (waterfalls) and lots and lots of dogs. Every dog that came by, Anika would exclaim:

"Mommy! That's our dog!"
Me: "No honey, other people have dogs too. Lots of people have dogs."
Anika: "We have dog. My dog name Grizzly. Grizzly my beeest frieeeend. I wuv my dog." (And he loves you because you pass him entire sticks of string cheese under the table...*sigh*).

At one point on the walk, I took a deep, audible breath in through my nose and out my mouth, which Anika immediately mimicked. I asked her, "What do you smell, Anika?" Long pause, footfalls on gravel. "Ummmm, ice cream, mommy!" Chuckle.

Other sound bites:
"Woooow, mommy! Wawfaw!" (Which is really the creek, again.)
"Mommy, there's mud erywhere."

It was really delightful. The breeze was cool in the shadows, warm in the sun, and smelled like the forest - damp, fresh, and alive. We could hear the creek during most of the walk, rushing loud as it came near the trail, and quieting as it flowed away. The plants were just beginning to sprout into a symphony of greens. Nettles thickly blanketed the ground, which we did avoid, thank goodness. It was beautiful - the sun, the shadows, the slight chill in the air, the buzz of spring awakening. Kaden was soundly asleep and Anika was on her own personal forest adventure. It was most certainly worth the hassle of gathering everything together...

...until...

"Mommy, I have go bathroom."

Srsly? We are nearly at the farther point from the car and the Porta-Potty, so squatting it will have to be.
No big deal, I figure, so I quickly corral Anika back and take her into the roughage next to the path, thinking please please please just be pee. At this point, I'm realizing how not easy it is to squat down in the forest with a sleeping baby strapped to my chest, in order to strip my toddler down as quickly as possible, and attempt to teach her how to pee her first pee in the wild. With some awkward maneuvering, I eventually get her into the squat and tell her "Ok, go pee now."

And go she did!...

... Unfortunately, she stood straight up to do it! Her shirt hem, pants, and underwear got completely soaked, as did the tops of her socks.

So, there I was, standing in the middle of the forest with a bare-bottomed, urine-saturated toddler and a sleeping baby, wondering how I was going to get us all back to car as quickly as possible. I didn't have an extra set of Anika clothes on me, so I did the only thing I could do - I pulled up her wet, still warm pants, and we hauled balls back the way we came.

After when felt like an eternity, we finally got back to the car with only minor chaffing. I was just going through the motions, trying to get everyone packed into the car quickly, and to get Anika out of her clothes. While Anika stood there cold and wet, I threw open the car door to get Kaden buckled in. Too much in my focus, I wasn't careful enough opening the door. THWUNK. The door hit Anika hard in the head, and she was tossed to the gravel road. Anika, soaking wet, began to cry, as a vertical bruise started to form on her cheek. I quickly woke up Kaden and loaded him into the to car seat, as he added his own wail and flail to the chorus. Once Kaden was buckled in, I gingerly grabbed Anika and stood her up in the trunk, stripped off all her clothes, wiped her down with a cold wet wipe and plopped her in the seat. I felt so awful for her. I'm sure if there had been onlookers, they would have been aghast.

Despite all of the drama, it was fun. I had to laugh to myself on the way home at how funny (and tough and painful) life can be.

We went "hiking" a lot this week, in between the raindrops. I got to take a couple all by myself, which was relaxing and centering. Listening to music and being outside are two of my favorite things to do. Although, it did seem sacrilegious listening to T-Pain and Pitbull in such a serene locale...

Anika has asked me everyday this week to "Go hike hike day?" Sure, we'll go hiking today if you want to. :)

Monsters

Monsters on the brain...

Anika is now scared of the dark; or at least, that's what she says. She'll look down a dark hallway or a shadowed corner at night, and say "Mama, me scared" - and will then ball her fists up, bite down her jaw, and do a little full body tremor, a caricature of fear. I have no idea where she picked up this move, maybe from a cartoon or movie, but it's really cute. "Mama, me scared." "What are you scared of, Anika?" And always it is a pointed finger towards the shadows: "dark." We've put two nightlights in her room, as well as a strand of dim Christmas lights and they seem to have abated her fear for now.

Anika's also terrified of the dog in the yellow raincoat at Grandma and Grandpa's house - the one that wails a scratchy rendition of "Singin' in the Rain" while wiggling back and forth. She'll see it on the bookshelf, grab it, and chuck it over the stair railing so she can't see it. But in terms of her fear of the dark, the most concrete explanation I can get as to what exactly scares her is simply that - because its the "dark." She's never named anything in particular, like the Boogie Man - and I guess I don't need any other clarification. What is more frightening than what you cannot see? 

Admittedly, I am often scared of the dark as well. A few night ago, I was sitting in the living room, reading a magazine (Parenting Early Years, me thinks). It was probably 10 or 11. Ryan was on call, so it's just me and my babies, who were sleeping soundly upstairs. Suddenly, I hear a sound outside on the deck. Of course, my imagination ignites and I begin concocting visions of masked intruders and strangers in the house. In the same second, my mind attempts a rational explanation. "It must be the house settling." "Perhaps it's an animal of some kind." I return to reading my magazine and then, a few minutes later, I hear a similar sound, farther down the deck. My hackles silently and invisibly raise, but I keep "reading".

At this point, I decide I probably should just turn the light on and see. I grab my phone, and walk over to the light switch. For a brief breath, I hesitate to turn them on. Because what's worse: thinking someone or something might be outside looking in at you, or turning on the lights and actually seeing someone looking in at you, a la that Scream movie. I opt for the turning on the lights route. Click. Yup, nobody's out there. But at this point, my ridiculous adrenaline-engorged senses are so heightened, I'm hearing every. little. sound. - and of course thinking someone is breaking in or attempting to do so. At this point, I do what any rational person would do: I grab my phone and pretend to call 911. Loud exclamation: "Hello, SOMEONE is breaking into my HOUSE, here's my ADDRESS, yes, you'll be here in 3 MINUTES? Yes, I'll stay on the line UNTIL YOU GET HERE."

Kuh-razy lady. I won't deny it. I didn't even tell my husband, because who does that kind of stuff?! Yup, just crazy people. And me.

Anyway...

I spent the next 5 minutes or so, turning on all the lights around the house and brazenly looking out all the windows. I think I even opened the front door at one point and scoured the forested quiet outside, all the while trying to recall where Ryan keeps the axe he uses to chop the firewood. At some point, I came back down to earth and realized that it really was the house settling, who would have thought of that?! I do tend to let my imagination get the best of me, I literally cannot help it. Once my brain lights the "worst case scenario" match, the gunpowder is off and running. In this way, I am my own monster, debilitating myself by thinking too much.

Another beast we've attempted to master lately is *drumroll*: Potty Training! We'd been trying to get Anika to sit on the potty and go for weeks now. I read somewhere that if you push a child too soon to train you could delay your progress. So I definitely didn't want to do that. However, I was getting pretty tired of changing diapers all day long, a la toddler/baby rotation. So a week ago, in the morning, I decided that was the day and hoped Anika was willing to try my plan. I actually pulled the potty chair into the living room, where we spend most of our time. I know, I know, maybe not the most kosher thing, the potty in our living area, but really, I don't care. I was going to try it at least! Nonchalantly (ha ha), I asked Anika if she'd like to sit on the potty chair. Her answer? An immediate shriek: "No!!!!" My normal response would have been to back down and not push it. But nope, not that day. "Yes, Anika, we are going to use the potty." "No." "Yes." "No!" "Yes." No!" "YES." "NOOOOO!!!!!!" "YES!" And whadaya know, she walked over to the potty and sat down, and in about 10 minutes she peed! Besides, nap times and bed times, that's the last diaper we've used. She must have just been ready to do it, because she knew exactly what to do, the little stinker. And I'm sure my bribes of chocolate milk helped as well. We're getting a sticker chart to replace the chocolate milk. We'll see how that goes. Whatever the means (bribes - gasp!), we are daytime potty trained, as far as I can see. Now she's just proud when she does it. and I am over the MOON proud of her too. That monster's been tamed. Next up, nap times and bed times...

Besides potty training, our days lately have been filled with unpacking, day to day activities, and turning our new house into a new home. Earlier this week, I rocked out a freezer meal day. I wish I'd taken photos along the way, but my grand total for the day was 2 lasagnas, 2 chicken and rice casseroles, one humongous stock pot of chili (made with garbanzo, black, and kidney beans from scratch), and 10 big breakfast burritos. We are set for at least a few weeks of dinners, and I have plenty to share with my brother-in-law and good friend Beth, who just had their second baby this week.

I also went to an open house for the Philomath Montessori School and got to observe the students this week. What a wonder it was to see all these little people, working quietly and harmoniously together, cleaning up after themselves, being responsibly independent. A utopia I could have never imagined! I hope I glimpsed my future... Anika is enrolled for this Fall, and may start earlier if an appropriate opening comes up. It's four days a week, from 9 am to noon, with an art-centric class on Fridays. I cannot wait. It is going to be so wonderful for Anika to interact  with other children, younger and a bit older than her as well. She will learn so much in an environment I just can't provide for her here at home. And have so much fun while doing so! And Kaden and I will get some alone time. September, hurry up!

And just 'cause...

No monsters on the brain after I see that smiling face...