Saturday, January 9, 2010

To Begin Again

It is time to start knocking the dust off of this old blog. The past year has been a busy one, full of change, and with many hills and valleys throughout as a good life does. Julian turned two just a few months ago and I can barely see the baby in him these days. Even I have changed, resembling more of my old self every day. Being his mama has been the most fulfilling aspect of my life to date but there is more to me than that and stepping away from some of my commitments in life allowed me to work in that space a bit.

Once Jules began walking things really took off around here. We went, went, went all the time to take advantage of his new mobility and to harness all the energy he creates. No longer did we spend afternoons nursing in a chair, instead we were at the park, the zoo, on play dates, in the yard, at the beach. We made many friends and saw many new places. We were everywhere and it was and remains awesome.

Once he dropped down to one nap a day I began to be able to spend the morning nap hours gardening and crafting, thinking of new ideas, reading for me, etc. I stopped reading parenting books and baby guides and I got in touch with the Rachel I know I used to be. From this came the most unexpected bonus - Julian now loves to do those things with me. I thought pushing for me time and space would create distance but instead it has brought us together and opened his world. Like the parallel play toddlers engage in, he and I have parallel tasks. He bulldozes while I shovel, he rakes while I weed, he reads while I read - it's an awesome comfort to look over my shoulder to see that little towheaded boy hard at work in the dirt.

I'm hoping to take this new year, and the new beginning it provides, to revamp this blog. I want to bring it up to date and to broaden it's horizons and topics. I hope to bring more local flavor as well as more in depth writing about our life and experiences as a family, and mine as a woman, reaching beyond the title "mama" for what makes me tick.

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