Where does he come up with this stuff?!

First and foremost, I had the chance to do a girl's weekend getaway to New Orleans, courtesy of my fabulous friends, Jason & Emily (shout out to them!). We stayed with one of Emily's best friends from childhood (Melissa and her fiance Danny) and got to spend time with one of my best friends from childhood, Julie, who lives down there. What a fabulous weekend! I couldn't have asked for a better time and we were treated spectacularly! Thanks, too, to Lala and Boppie for watching the little guy. You're the best!

Anyhow, when I got back, Peter was in his usual rare form, which is energetic and happy! He had been feeling kind of punky before I left, so it was nice to have him back to himself. It seemed, too, that when he turned 2, he became a "no" man. Said "NO!" to everything. I told him I wanted my "Yes Peter" back and he seems to be!

So a couple more Peter-isms...

My mom stopped by for a visit earlier this week and Peter was still struggling a bit with a chunky cough. Nana said to him, "Peter! Where did that cough come from?" His response: "From my mouth!"

Then the next night, he took a wee bit of a tumble down the steps while heading up to get his pajamas on. He was relaying the story to Tom, and as Peter told it, "I fell down the stairs. I bunka my head. (long pause)...That happens." Tom and I were just rolling!

This morning, he looked at me and said, "Mama, what day is it?" I told him it was Friday. I don't think he has ANY sense of the days, so not sure where that came from! Nonetheless, it was amusing!

Peter brings so much joy and humor and laughter into my life...what a gift!!!

So THAT's how you do it!

Easter weekend Peter woke up, happy as usual and ready to take on the day! Our conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Peter, what would you like for breakfast...a waffle or a Pop Tart?" (Yes, I know that technically, Pop Tarts aren't really a nutritional powerhouse, but hey...I've got a picky eater!)
Peter: "I want chicken nuggets."
Me: "We don't eat nuggets for breakfast. We eat them for dinner. Would you like a waffle or Pop Tart?"
Peter (with an Aha! expression on his face): "I want dinner! I want nuggets!"

So classic...not even 2 years old and figuring out ways to make things happen! I admire that...

And if I haven't said it before, I absolutely can't imagine my life without this spirited, spunky, dynamic, verbal, engaging, challenging child. He is absolutely the love of my life and brings me so much joy! What a gift...

A perfect Saturday

Peter and I had the opportunity to spend a wonderful day with Molly Durkin (see her work here), an amazing photographer that provided us with a complimentary photo session and portrait package. She blogs every so often and she decided to have a Blessings Contest. Well, lo and behold, my friend Stephanie nominated me and Peter for it and we were picked!!! To say we were thrilled is an understatement!

We arrived in Molly's studio just before noon on Saturday and within seconds, Peter had warmed up and was in rare form, putting on his "show" as only he can! I don't know what she "captured" but I do know that we had an amazing time and it was so much fun! Peter quickly learned to say Molly's name and was constantly uttering it throughout the session. That and his usual "CHEESE!" anytime he sees a camera. Can't wait to see what the end result is!

Peter has had some extra cute utterances lately, so I just have to include them here for posterity! On Ash Wednesday, we attended mass at CPC and afterwards I went to pick him up from the nursery. He looked at me, pointed to the ashes on my forehead, and said "Owie!" Too cute...

Also, this past weekend he woke up in a particularly good mood. He climbed into bed and just started chatting with/at me. First he told me that he wanted to watch Thomas. Check. Then he so coyly asked, "Sucker?" After the mock horror response that he received of "What?!?!" he leaned in closer and said again, "Sucker!" Ahhh...apparently if you lean in CLOSER you're more likely to get what you want! :-) Peter would be PERFECT in another country! Don't people often speak more slowly/loudly/closer when they are in a place where people don't understand English? Like that somehow will make them understand what you're saying? It made me chuckle all day long!

Oh, and I wrapped up my hockey season this past weekend with a friends versus family game. It was a lot of fun and I have to say...those little kids and high school girls showed us no mercy! The guys were at least generous in going easy on us, but we got SCHOOLED by the other ones! Very fun! Thanks to all of my hockey teammates (now friends) that made it such an amazing season. I look forward to next year!

"Like A Star"

I came across these lyrics for a Corinne Bailey Rae song and it just summarized perfectly how I feel about Peter. Never in a million years could I imagine that I could ever love as much or as deeply as I love Peter. He is the shining light in my universe and the greatest gift that Dean left me...

Just like a star across my sky,
Just like an angel off the page,
You have appeared to my life,
Feel like I'll never be the same,
Just like a song in my heart,
Just like oil on my hands,
Honour to love you

This isn't how it's supposed to be!

I had a hockey game last Saturday night and my mom was kind enough to watch Peter. It was too late of a game for them to attend, so she graciously stayed back with him to put him to bed. After going out to dinner and swinging back to pick up my hockey gear before the game, I walked in on my mom and Peter clearly having fun! Peter was wearing just a onesie and a sweater but no pants. There was figure skating on the TV and apparently Peter had been "practicing" his moves. My mom said he watched for awhile and then looked at her, started tugging at his pants and said, "Pants...off!" The figure skating girls on TV didn't have any pants on, so Peter decided he shouldn't either! Too funny! He showed me his fabulous ice skating moves on the carpet, which was hilarious! But it was summed up beautifully by my friend, who said, "There is something wrong with this picture...your son is pretending to figure skate while his mom is going to play hockey." I guess Peter doesn't discriminate...any and all sports are good in his book!

The next chapter...

Welcome to the "new" blog, although I never did admit that the CaringBridge was really a blog! Journal, blog...the terms are interchangeable. But nonetheless, it is what it is and I'm so glad to have you visiting our site!

I am going to make this a brief entry (then again, am I EVER brief?) and I promise that there will be pictures posted SOON (Peter is adorable beyond words, so I really should share him with the world!). As a friend said, Peter kind of steals my thunder, so I'm sure most of the pics will be of him! :-)

I came across an article written by a young mom who is battling state 4 cancer that is progressively getting worse. She talked about many of the same feelings that I have experienced...resentment, anger, despair...but she offered an excerpt out of "Kitchen Table Wisdom" by Rachel Naomi Remen that resonated with me. I talked previously on the CaringBridge of how I have finally felt joy again. A year ago, I could not have imagined ever feeling joy...the pain was so intense. But now, a year later, there has been joy and laughter. I hope I say it often enough, but I am so incredibly blessed with amazing girlfriends (some of them even happen to be my relatives!). It really doesn't seem fair that one person would have so many incredible friends that continue to show up and step up to walk the path with me, whether that path is smooth and easy or uphill and rocky. I am grateful beyond words...

So with that, the author talks about people who, despite what life throws at them, "show up for whatever life may offer" and describes them as "intensely alive, intensely present." What Remen says about joy is this "From such people I have learned a new definition of the word 'joy'. I had thought joy to be rather synonymous with happiness, but it seems now to be far less vulnerable than happiness. Joy seems to be a part of an unconditional will to live, not holding back because life may not meet our preferences and expectations. Joy seems to be a function of the willingness to accept the whole, and to show up to meet with whatever is there. It has a kind of invincibility that attachment to any particular outcome would deny us. Rather than the warrior who fights toward a specific outcome and therefore is haunted by the specter of failure and disappointment, it is the lover drunk with the opportunity to love despite the possibility of love, the player for whom playing has become more important than winning or losing. The willingness to win or lose moves us out of an adversarial relationship to life and into a powerful kind of openness. From such a position, we can make a greater commitment to life. Not only pleasant life, or comfortable life, or our idea of life, but all life. Joy seems more closely related to aliveness than to happiness." There is a certain freedom in putting the outcome in God's hands, letting go of the end result, and just embracing what life throws in our path.

Here's to embracing life fully in the year ahead...