Updates... the story of our lives

I know it's been a long while since I've posted any updates or stories of my little family. Truth be told, this summer has slipped through my fingers at an alarmingly rapid pace. I'm a passenger in this car, staring out the window and watching the scenery blur on by. Before I realize where I'm at, I've reached the destination and then kept on going. It's a wacky thing, I tell you.

It's been busy, that's not a surprise. I taught three classes this summer, and, quite frankly, I don't ever want to do that again unless absolutely, positively necessary. Even though the courses were online, the time I spent grading papers, responding to discussion posts, answering concerns, and monitoring progress, well, I could've spent that time on other things, like my munchkin, writing, bookmarks. (Oh yea, in case you haven't followed my other blog, I'm doing bookmarks now, hopefully to sell. Wooden Jewelmarks or something like that. I'm working on the names.)

I have been writing and blogging, though, just mostly on my personal/writing blog Muses and Musings. I got to read a lot during the first part of the summer, for which I am ridiculously grateful. I haven't read that much since, well, I was a teenager, I think! I read: Eat, Pray, Love, The Glass Castle, all seven Harry Potter books, all four Twilight books, and Dear John. (I wrote some "reviews" for a couple of these in my personal blog.) I don't know if I'm missing anything, although I don't think so. I also realized that, when I'm not too tired, I can stay up late, after J + L are asleep and write. Which is awesome! Of course, while I was teaching, some of those late nights were spent grading, but still. It was nice having the quiet house all to myself.

On July 14, I started taking an online course through UCLA's Writers Extension Program: Postcard Memoirs: Crafting the Bite-Sized Essay. I LOVE it! It's challenging in that it gives me deadlines I can deal with and it forces me to keep writing. It's very easy to succumb to everyday pressures and responsibilities and to push writing to the back burner, and this course is helping me work at achieving my much needed balance. My classmates are interesting and I enjoy reading what they write; and the instructor is wonderful.

But I digress. The real reason why I'm updating is because, of course, my little one is coming up with so many new tricks and reaching new milestones I'm a beamin' proud mama.

Summer's been fun. We started the summer out with weekly Friday classes in Music Time, a music program for children from UM. At first, L was a little apprehensive, but within a few weeks, he skipped right to the door and walked in como Pedro por su casa. He enjoyed the music, the instruments, and he even participated independently. I'm considering signing him up in the fall for the next level. He really likes music and I want to encourage it. His favorite instruments are the drums, the guitar, and the piano. He really likes the piano.

We've had wonderful play dates and we went to Barnes & Nobles for some reading/snack time. We'd go to Starbucks and Publix for snacks and groceries, and we'd run errands together. We even went to the eye doctor (for me) - yes that was interesting.

Mr. L has made leaps and bounds in the speech department, not that he was lagging before, it just never ceases to amaze me when I hear new things coming out of his little lips. He says complete (and I do mean complete) sentences where I understand every single word! Of course, sometimes I have to reach the backs of my brains to figure it out, but it's happening less and less. Some of his favorite expressions are:

"Mommy, I'm a big boy, bigger and stronger." He tries this line every time I say he's too little for something.

"Daddy, I sleep all night!" This comes after the pat, pat, pat when he rushes into our room in the morning. It will usually be followed by him telling us something about Captain Hook or his bears. He'll also sometimes bring half the plush animals onto our bed.

"Mommy, move please. I can't see the tv."

"It's my birthday now."

"Wow, mommy [or daddy], that's beautiful." Or awesome. Or cute. He likes these words. lol.

"Mommy, I drive all by myself." This he told me as we were getting into the car, and he was getting into his carseat, which he now does "all by [him]self."

Speaking of which, he wants to do it all by himself, even if he can't.

I love that he also says "please" and "thank you" quite often. Sometimes he needs some reminding, but usually, it comes naturally. It pleases me to think he'll be one more polite kid in this world of increasingly impolite people.

He's also recognizing letters and number. We've been playing the alphabet train and he has some magnetic letters (in addition to a few other letter/word toys), and he easily recognizes I, O, and P. He also knows the number 5. There's another number he knows, but now I can't remember.

We went to see Toy Story 3 with daddy. It was L's first movie and he did beautifully! He was quiet the entire movie, watching with rapt attention, and not getting scared. So that gave me some incentive, and we've watched at home Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins. We've had fun listening to Disney songs and now L asks for them. We've also played some salsa and danced like silly ducks at home.

As a result of the movie, his latest obsession is Buzz Lightyear. Woody, eh. Buzz Lightyear, OMG. He knows most of the character names, and he's the proud owner of Buzz Lightyear PJs, which, if it were up to him, he'd wear every single day, inside and outside. So it's a no brainer that this year's birthday theme will be... yep, you guessed it. Buzz Lightyear (er... Toy Story).

And I've made some yummy meals and desserts, including cherry cobbler and mango-pineapple-guava chicken with rice and sweet potatoes. We've made homemade pizza and L's helped to spread the sauce and cheese. And we have cookies to bake - the last thing we'll do before school starts.

I'm sad that summer's coming to an end soon. We're going to Orlando one last time and then it'll be back to reality. Classes begin on the 23rd of this month, but I have to go in on the 19th and 20th (on L's birthday no less)!

My little man's going to be three and I don't know how that happened.

To be continued...