True Paradise 2009/01/04

We spent the last day of the year in Jamaica’s hidden gem–Mavis Bank and Forres Park (our future home!) in St. Andrew’s Parish, where Mark and I discovered true paradise. We call it paradise not only because the mountain climate is perfect and views are spectacular, but because most of the mountainside is covered in coffee bean plants! Now, that’s bliss.

shelling the beans

mountainside utopia

the view from the top

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i have a brilliantly sentimental mother’s day post in the works, but until then… 2008/05/07

…you’ll have to settle for a list. besides, this is useful to record.

Ten Things I Like about Being MomOfHenri:

• Snuggling in bed and he reaches over and grabs my face like he’s “blind” henri and then smiles so big I can smell his formula breath.
• That he’s content shrieking like a dolphin or whopping me on the head with his plastic keys while I sleep a few more minutes.
• His first temper tantrum yesterday, in which I learned my son is EXACTLY like me (in case there was any doubt) in his undying resolve to be heard and picked up and held and coddled all the time and why would you even thinking of doing something else that doesn’t involve me??? for christ’s sake.
• That anything you put anywhere near his mouth like you’re going to feed him excites him to no end. These currently include Orajel and his electric toothbrush. He actually cried when I stopped brushing his teeth today! OMG–HCIT??? (HCIT=How Cute Is That. duh.)
• His hair is A) not falling out and B) staying red. Yesssss!!!
• When Mark walks in the room, Henri’s eyes light up.
• Watching him focus on the tiniest thing for the longest time (like a dog stitched onto his blanket or my over-sized flower ring).
• My son looks good in Pink. And he is so in touch with his feminine side.
• speaking of: Little boys clothes…so adorable. Hold me back, please. Or I will buy much, much more.
• Every time we take him into another room, he wants to look at every single thing in there like he hasn’t ever been there before (Yes, I know this is because he has baby-term memory, but I also want to remember it because it won’t always be that way…)
• Reading other mom’s blogs and articles, moms who are apparently very tired and extremely disorganized and generally disgruntled, and thinking “huh, I don’t feel like that” and knowing that I –really, I do– have the *best* life.

Okay, so that bordered on sentimental. But you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

henri is so cute. he even makes me want to wake up in the morning. 2008/04/30

when henri wakes up in the morning, he is generally in a bright and cheery mood! he contentedly squawks and squeals until one of us gets up to bring him back to our bed. since he’s not usually hungry right away, we give him a furry toy to chew on while we rest our eyes a little bit more. eventually, he will get frustrated/hungry enough that he’ll grab mark’s nose and wake us [back] up. his new rolling over technique is very useful at this stage. once we’re *really* awake, somebody gets up and makes him a bottle. then, he eats breakfast in bed while we get just a little more shut-eye before the horrible, tragic, day-away-from-henri-and-all-things-lovely-and-good-and-baby-centric begins. while we’re getting ready in the mornings, henri is all too happy to sit in his bouncy seat and play, along with more squaking and squealing of course. then, we drop him off upstairs with nani and/or papi, at which time the routine starts over with “giving him the fuzzy animal to chew on.”

have i mentioned i have the perfect life? and by perfect, i mean everything i’ve always wanted.