Life with a toddler is more of a whirlwind than I ever thought possible. Every day seems to flash by in a haze of many, many books read, strawberries eaten, trips to the park, and piles of folded laundry thrown haphazardly about the house while I follow close behind trying to make sure that he does not kill himself today. There are moments when I long for that 5 month old baby that I can tuck sweetly into his sling and walk to a café to browse a magazine or work quietly. Those days are forever gone at least he gets into late middle school and starts to prefer his friends over his parents, and then I will be able to read during the middle of the day again. I feel like all of our interaction, reading and talking are manifesting in Oliver in these fantastic ways. He knows so much about the world and what he see’s, even if he can’t communicate it; if you ask him where the pigeons are, or the garbage truck, or the stop sign, he knows, he can point it all out. It is so fantastic to see this little brain make all of these connections. He loves to dance, and knows what records are, that I love, he doesn’t really know about cd’s, but he knows records! What kills me is that if you ask him “Where is Sasha” he points right to him, and then ask him “where is daddy” and he points to him, he knows that his dad has a name; but not me, he has no clue who Stephanie is, only mama. That is a little weird to me, like I have no personality other than mama.
Being back in the city is so nice. We have this great apartment with a great little back yard near the beach. We have our CSA pick up a couple of blocks a way, free access to the museums, amazing food, a fantastic little pub down the street and playlots everywhere, a great organization called the Inspiration Corporation, that we are both trying to get involved with. There are some things I miss about Champaign, mainly I miss my friends and their wonderful little families and being able to walk down to the park and see them, or have them over to play in the yard. Chicago would be perfect if I could move them here, and bring the Urbana library with them. Chicago just doesn’t invest in its local library branches the way it should, they are a bit pathetic really. I also miss getting bulk items at the co-op in Champaign; I find it so hard to believe that I can’t refill my shampoo, maple syrup, or anything other than typical bulk foods, and I have been looking everywhere, where have the crunchy hippies gone? There is a farmer’s market somewhere in the city everyday, but we never run into anyone we know, which we miss, and we don’t know the farmers yet. Those things will happen over time. The excessive materialism in the baby product and children’s clothing worlds doesn’t really exist in Champaign either. $1000 strollers’ are the norm here, so are $200 jeans for 6 year old girls. There are some parks where it is outrageous to actually let your kids get dirty; other moms actually gape shockingly at you if you let your child play in the sand box! I know that I have had my mothering skills judged solely based on the cheap umbrella stroller we were out walking in, and it is bizarre really. So I have found parks in neighborhoods where there are some very cool moms, who let their kids get dirty, throw balls, and play with each others toys, and who don’t seem to be judging each other too hard, these are the parks we go to almost everyday. Slowly but surely I am making a few mom friends here, but I still long for my well established ones. The best thing about being back in the city is being able to be car free with so many options for getting around and biking all over. Oliver LOVES bikes, he loves to ride and loves to see so many bikes out and about. I love it, I love that he does not get so excited about cars, garbage trucks and buses make him scream with delight, but cars…not so much.
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