The Nuts and Bolts

I know many of you truly appreciate my oh-so-special brand of nonsense, and for that I'm grateful. However, it did occur to me today that some of you might actually log on once in a while to find out how things are actually going here. I thought I would get down to business just this once and give you some real information. I'll take it person-by-person.

Matt: Matt is working full-time for Landor San Francisco, just as he did before the move. Most days (I'd say 80% of the time) he's working from home (or the library or coffee shop, etc.). The other days he goes to the Landor Chicago office, which is in the heart of downtown, and he bikes or takes the el there. Work was somewhat slower than usual at first, which felt pretty weird to him since he was at home without co-workers to talk to and not a whole lot to do, but this week some new work is coming in and he's busier. Matt's missing his old bike rides to work in SF but some mornings he goes out for an hour before work and bikes around the city. He's finding all kinds of great neighborhoods. We sure love having all the extra time with him, now that he's often working from home - many days we get two more hours of Daddy time than we were used to!

Me: I am home full-time with the boys this summer. Most of the time, we're getting by just fine. However, at the end of last week I thought Baxter and I were actually going to murder each other - it was like we both suddenly realized we were stuck at home with each other and a 1-year old all summer. Both kids have had colds and then their asthma flared up, so we spent much of last week in the house - that was probably a major contributing factor to our misery at the end of the week. And yes, it's been hot. As in, over 100 degrees the past couple of days. I take them out as early in the day as I can, and we play outside with spray water bottles and bubbles and bikes and trikes until the kids are fully soaked with sweat. We don't ever last more than an hour, but at least we're getting out a little. We try to get out after dinner, too, when it's down to, you know, like, 95 degrees. I have also reintroduced the TV in small doses; between illness and heat, a half hour of TV entertainment goes a long way for all of us.

Although there's a lot I love about being home with the kids, it's a good reminder of why I work part-time. I can do it, and I can do it well, but I'm not as happy as I am when I'm working. I have managed to register my business and get most of my licensing requirements completed, but it's going to take a month or more to get my IL license to practice here. Ugh! In the meantime, I am trekking out to various suburbs to meet new colleagues and contacts, and that's going really well. (And I love getting out of the house!!) People have been really welcoming and enthusiastic about me being here, and the demand is huge. I have a handful of referrals already, and am talking to those families and meeting with them so that I can start working with their kids as soon as I have my license in hand. Next week I'll be visiting a great OT clinic that has space I can rent. The OTs were recommended to me by many colleagues and their clinic is only 1.5 miles from our house. If I like it, it will be wonderful to have that figured out.

I've interviewed many babysitters and found quite a few weekend sitters and an excellent nanny! Her name is Nicole and she's a credentialed teacher working on her master's on the weekends. The kids adore her! (And she brought me flowers when she came to babysit the other day, so I do, too!) She'll start M-W-F after Labor Day. We are hoping to share her with another family to cut down on costs - we have some friends we're trying to work this out with right now.

Baxter - Baxter is currently obsessed with the Peanuts characters, thanks to a great series of question/answer books from his Oma and Pops. He is Linus, carrying his blankie and sucking his thumb, and he has assigned Lyle to the role of Snoopy, which is quite hilarious. There is something innately Snoopy-ish about Lyle, if you ask me. Although he's being a good sport most of the time, it is becoming clear that it's very difficult for a 5-year old to transition from full-day school with all of his buddies to an unstructured life with Mom and baby brother. Once the novelty of the 1st month wore off, it started to hit him. We've met some kids his age, but most of them are in camp during the week. Thank goodness for playdates with his cousins, especially Katie, who is close in age.

Lyle - Lyle is enjoying a life of trucks, trains, and puttering around the house. He has a few special talents, not the least of which is bringing us whatever pair of shoes we want when asked (he can differentiate between my "flip-flops" and "sandals" if asked to). In fact, Baxter introduced him to a family the other night by saying, "This is my little brother Lyle. He brings us our shoes," much to our delight. Lyle has formed the somewhat irritating habit of saying everything at least 5x in a row, and loudly, which we attribute to the difficulty he must have in being heard through the din created by "Linus". Lyle is very happy to have his "Mimi" home with him this summer, and anytime I casually use the words "going to work" in conversation, he screams, "No no no no no!!" from across the house and races over to hold onto my legs. Yes, this is heartbreaking. He is quite clingy to me, fussing when I suggest that I might use the bathroom or (God forbid) take a shower. I think I am his living security blanket. It really would be awful if your security blanket could get up and walk away, wouldn't it? But for the most part, he's a happy little camper and pretty easy-going, and I'm happy to report that he's interested in using the potty these days and has been successful a few times. I'm sure he'll be in diapers for a while yet, but a girl can dream.

So, there you go. The real, true, nuts and bolts of life on Fletcher St.

Now back to the nonsense.