Rainy Days

It's been exactly a week since my nanny left for her two-month vacation. Greyson and I are getting used to being around each other all the time. It is admittedly tiring, but at the same time, really rewarding. He's such great company now. He says hilarious things, and has his own opinion about everything. The other way, we went to the new Trader Joe's that just opened up at Stonestown to pick up some eggs. We were in and out in a flash (a miracle with a toddler), but we did get to ride an escalator and elevator in the process and in the car on the way home, Greyson said, "That was fun...Escalator and elevator....that was so fun!" It cracked me up. The other day, Roque told Greyson that we would be riding Bebe's car to church that day. Greyson said, "Put Grey Grey's car seat in Bebe's car?" to which Roque responded, "That's right. Greyson you're a smart cookie." Greyson said, "Smart Bing Gan (cookie in Mandarin)!"

It's been pretty rainy this week so we've had to find activities to do indoors. Yesterday, Greyson and I made a chocolate cake together. I have always loved baking, since I was a little girl, and when I had Greyson, I grieved the fact that I would not have a daughter to share that joy with. However, I decided to give it a shot and try baking with Greyson to see how he'd respond. It was so much fun. He stood on a stool, nibbling on a snack and stirring the flour while watching our KitchenAid beat eggs, sugar and, his all-time favorite flavor, chocolate. It surprised me how attentive he was. I thought there'd be flour everywhere and a mess to clear, but he just stood patiently watching and stirring, every once in a while saying "Smells good!" I wish that I could have captured that moment on camera, but it was just the two of us, and my hands were too busy. It felt good to share something I loved doing with my son and see him enjoy it too. He had cake for dessert that night, but unfortunately, threw it up an hour later. We guess it was because it contained one too many eggs, and his allergy kicked it. I'm going to have to learn how to make eggless cakes from now on.

Today, defying the rains, we decided to take the train on our usual route downtown. We donned raincoats, hats and scarves and in the bitter cold, Roque drove us to the closest sheltered train station near our house. Greyson and I had a blast. We walked to Macy's to visit the SPCA animals, rode escalators and elevators up and down, I even bought myself some pajamas, then we wandered up to the mattress section where I took Greyson's shoes off and we rolled around from bed to bed picking our favorite. Grey Grey liked the soft one, and he said the one I liked was too hard. They had these pillows on each bed that were covered with satin blue pillowcases and Greyson just loved how smooth they were. He kept throwing his face into them, it was hilarious. Alas, my phone was dead all morning so I couldn't take a picture of us there either.

It's been a challenge for me to learn to be emotionally present when I'm with Greyson, and not always focusing on taking care of him or what's coming up next, be it a nap or a meal. I'm trying to be better at just playing with him and just "being", because if I'm not careful, this precious season of living with a two-year-old will fly by and in my Martha-like busyness, I'll miss it.