Maverick's Moods

This is my sweet Maverick...


Recently, I did an impromptu study on Maverick's moods and what he thought of them. The focus stinks. And I really dislike (aka hate) shooting with a flash, but we were sitting around and goofing off and I started asking Mack to show me his many emotional faces...I got the idea from my favorite blog ever...and here were our results:

Happy Mack


Sad Mack:


Suprised Mack:


And my favorite of all, because he really has a hard time with any emotion that does not include a smile....

Mad Mack:


And when Radley was asked for either Sad Radley, Suprised Radley or Mad Radley...this is what I got...


But he really is not telling the truth about mad Radley...that looks a whole lot more like this::::

Trust me...we were having a moment...

February Randomness

Randomness around the house...

Radley and a shoe fetish. This boy has a thing for shoes...more evidence of this to come...



Potty Training...
We are almost there...I can see the finish line. Then we get to do it all again...



I love balloons....
These are left over from our party 2 weeks ago from Beyond the Balloon. I am certain they have some magic power they use to make the latex last 2+ WEEKS! I cannot bear to pop them to throw them away...so they float around the house until they can't hang any more.



No Pictures MAMA!:
Sometimes Mack does not want his picture taken...
As is evidenced here where I am being told..."No pictures, mama". I stopped...


First dentist appointments...
Mack has the look in his eye that I have every time I go to the dentist too. It was all I could do to not say one single negative word...even sarcastically as I knew he was listening to everything. I put on my brave happy face and we nailed it! We did so good! And the pirate toys at the end were a huge hit!




Bathtime...
They are getting so big that the days of both boys in the sink are soon going to come to an end. As it is, they are already a tangle of knees and feet and jockeying for position every time they get in. I had to snap a few shots of a routine scene around here that I will miss.



My baking buddy...staying up past bedtime....making banana bread, cocounut cream cheese cake and sweet memories.


And that is a delicious slice of life around the Travinski household...living, loving and cramming as much into every day that we can.

Blessings!

Preschool Update! He rocked it!

Ok...the preschool update... We did it! He rocked it! Not an ounce of hesitation as he jumped big into the world puddle today. He was so ready.

Here he is all ready to go...


And showing off his lunchbox that he carried around for an hour before it was time to go. He refused to take off his backpack or set down the lunchbox.


And with a mandatory mommy and me photo on that momentous first day of school....

Gosh, I love this little punk.

We were off where we stumbled awkwardly through what will soon me our new morning ritual. Met teachers. Used the new potty. Found his cubby. Survived the playground morning whirlwind full of children laughing, playing and all that toddler energy. A few more photos of our happy milestone...



Soon it was time for me to be off. I felt the sting. I pushed it back. Put a smile on my face. Kissed my baby goodbye. And you know, I made it to the car. And I was all right.



I was distracted for much of the morning wondering what he was doing now? Was he ok? Did he have any accidents? Were the other kids nice? Does he need me? Rinse and repeat about 100 bajillion times. And before I knew it, it was time to go back. I walked in and called his name and he smiled and said "Mama, I'm doing a puzzle!" with the biggest smile on his face.

As we walked to our car he held my hand in the beautiful California sunshine and said. "Can I go to the next school now?" Obviously our 7 preschools in 2 days tour stuck with him. So, I will take that as a good sign. The true test will be tomorrow morning when we go back again. But I am not worried. He is so going to rock the preschool thing. And I am not gonna do too bad myself.

Dear Mack - On Letting Go

Dearest Maverick,

It is a good thing that this "letting go" thing takes place in a series of very small, sometimes almost imperceptible events or else I would be a complete and total emotional mess, sobbing somewhere uncontrollably in the corner. As it is, this post already has me teary from looking at all the photos of our life...

This "letting go" business all started without my permission when you were whisked off to NICU for a several days at birth.

That was rough. But practically from the "get go", I was forced to "let go" of you, even when I wanted to hold on so tight. And never let go baby.

Leaving you in the NICU and leaving you at the hospital was one of the toughest times for me ever. It was so unnatural to come home without you. But we made it through...

Then I let you sleep in your own room down the hall. That one was a bit easier, but I do know that it took a few nights before I was able to sleep fully without waking every hour to check on you in my bedside video monitor.


I would lie in bed watching you snooze away. I very much enjoyed being able to finally sleep comfortably again. At the same time I missed our snuggles oh so much. Truth be told, there were many mornings I would be awake, just waiting for you to wake up so I could kidnap you back into my bed for a early morning final snooze before our day began.


Next thing you know, I had to go back to work and although I was physically near, it was torturous to hear your sweet laughter wafting into my office, knowing I was missing that precious time with you.


Then you stayed the night without me...again, pretty much without my consent when it was time to give birth to your brother, but I learned with some help and friends that listen, that I would survive it. And you would be none the worse for the unintented separation.


Our world fast forwarded again and soon it was time to let attend to some independent toddler play classes without me and you thrived and loved the fun playtime and adventure of it all. And they all loved you. Really, though, how could they not?


And now...here we are...on the doorstep of...preschool...

And pretty soon you will go off to college...O.M.G.



Thank the good Lord I only have to deal with today. Preschool. I hope your teachers know how lucky they are to spend that time with you and watch you learn. I can hardly stand how much I will miss you each day. How I will miss your inquisitive view of the world. How I will miss your joyous squeal "mama!" when I emerge from my office to greet me and run and fling yourself to me, knowing I will catch you. I cannot imagine how quiet our house will be with you gone. And I know it is only a few hours every day...but it is a short hop to being gone all day...which I refuse to even think about right now.



So, tomorrow morning we will pack your backpack and tie (or velcro) your shoes and you will go off into the big awesome world of preschool and your momma will cry...but hopefully only after I have made it back to the car...because mostly I am jealous of those 3.5 precious hours that someone else will get to spend with your charming, funny, adorable self. And I know it is only 3.5 hours. But it is 3.5 hours, 3 times a week!! And it's 3.5 hours away from you. And I am so fortunate to get to spend most of every single day with you and I marinate in that blessing. I soak up your you-ness and how much I love every detail of your personality and your sweet little voice.



I want the world you are entering to know what I know: That you are special. You are unique. You will do amazing things. Just wait and see.



And what I want you to know is that I love you to the moon and to the deepest ocean and back two times always and forever....and though you may be growing older much faster than my mind can ever comprehend, you will never outgrow my heart.

Love, Mommy

(my first picked flower just for me...love, love, love it.)