a beautiful summer (?!?) day

Sorry to those of you not in Southern California, but today was HOT.  Like really hot.  Like mid-80s hot.  And in April.  Ugh.  But it was beautiful, particularly when you were in the shade or in the air-conditioned house or restaurant or store.

Carmen and Jayden and I didn't do much, went to swimming, went to lunch, ran an errand or two and played at the house.  But it was a good day.  My sister (BLE, which is pronounced Buh-LEE if you're curious) sent me an article in the Washington Post about how women should be happy with having a "good enough" life.  As I just wrote to her, part of me hates the article and part of me completely identifies with the article.  I think if she'd really titled it properly she would have said have a "good enough" work life.  Her point is the roles of a professional and of a mother are often incompatible.  Her last line is "Motherhood is not a job, it is a joy."  I disagree, in part.  It is a joy. And I love Jayden more than anything - I love him more today than yesterday, if that's possible.  But it is a job.  And I don't mind telling Jayden that.  I don't mind him knowing that I worked my butt off to raise him well.  I brainstorm new interesting (but toddler-friendly) dinners, I try to come up with new activities, new games, new toys, new words, every day to keep him engaged and learning.  And I certainly do not always succeed.  Sometimes his dinner is whatever is in the fridge that he's willing to eat.  And that's fine.  But I have worked nineteen plus months to realize that.  So yes, it is a job.  A great job, but still a job.  But to make a long story short, the author of the article described a day when her daughter was eight when her daughter came from school and said "I had the best day!"  The mom/author tried to figure out what was so great about it, even calling the teacher to see if something special had happened.  But it turned out it was just an ordinary day; the author's daughter was just happy.  And that's how today was.  It was an ordinary day.  But it was a great day.  Jayden, Carmen and I got to hang out together all day long, we had fun, we enjoyed the weather, we laughed, we cried (some of us more than others), we ate, we danced, we swam, we ran (again, some of us more than others) and now one of us is asleep.  These days are why I don't like going out of town on weekends.

Here's some proof that it was a good day:

Walking from lunch to the car.  We eventually had to pick Jayden up and carry him at this point.  He wouldn't leave the store and he kept trying to close their doors.

Best part of the day.  Jayden found the water play area.  These grates are water spouts that spray up water at varying times.  It's probably the best game for toddlers, especially if you're willing to let them get wet (which clearly I am, especially when it's 80+ degrees outside).  This picture is Jayden staring intently at one of the grates, waiting for the water to come up.

He caught the water!

This is his sour face.  I don't even know why he was being sour.  We were outside, which is pretty much his favorite place to be ever.

Sweeping the dirt.  Obviously.

Swimming this morning was great.  Jayden was giggling, smiling and playing the whole time.  We got there a little early so we had time to play around in the shallow end.  When Ms. Stacy got there, he went with her without as much fuss as normal.  He also wasn't arching his head back as badly and he was closing his mouth, so he went under water quite a few times.  It was great.  He particularly enjoyed the games where we sat him on the wall and let him plop in the water into our arms (and usually under water for a quick second).  He also was pretty good at holding on to the wall and starting to walk his hands along the wall to get toys, etc. that we had spaced out.  We were really impressed - and it definitely stressed him out a whole lot less which made it more enjoyable for everyone.

We're going to miss the next two weeks of swimming lessons, which is a bummer since we're making such progress.  But I'm going to try to take him during the last week of April/the first week of May and then we'll be back at it the second weekend of May.  And we'll be spraying his face in the bath throughout that time to remind him that water in his face is really okay!

Lastly, if you haven't figured it out already, Jayden is hilarious.  Here is some proof:

(He's looking at the fan above his head and doing his "fan dance" apparently)