Motherhood, Take 3

I like to joke that by the time the 3rd kid rolls around, we moms are much more relaxed ... ie., "Honey, put the knives away when you're done playing with them!". There are also 2 built-in playmates for entertainment. Maybe this is why I feel Charlie is an "old soul", and, not to be morbid, but when he first looked at me as a newborn, I had the uncanny feeling that he will be holding my hand when I die (no pressure there, Charles, it's just one of those woman's intuition things that can actually just be chalked up to hormones or too much coffee that day!).

Charlie is artistic, sensitive, and thoughtful -- more a gentleman than a macho-man, which I think women in particular find quite refreshing. He has donated his hair to "Locks of Love", donates blood regularly, and the hug he gave me during one particular meltdown was Everymom's greatest reward.

Here he is, earlier this year, having miso soup for breakfast in Tokyo.

Motherhood, Take 2

You love your first baby so much, you worry that the 2nd will be short-changed ... ahh, the miracle of motherhood is that each child gets 100% of your love, defying the laws of mathematics!

Laurel arrived feminine, and nurturing, and empathetic, and remains so. She is a caretaker & organizer/planner, and being in the middle of 2 boys, is not afraid to get her fingernails dirty (tho she does love a nice manicure!).

It has been an absolute pleasure to see her evolve from playing with dolls at home to designing anything & everything at college, and I can't wait to see where this passion takes her. She's definitely a "mid-century modern" kind of gal!

Recently, she literally knocked my socks off with her depth of wisdom & woman's intuition -- she knows what I'm talking about -- any woman would be lucky to count her as their "girlfriend"!

Motherhood, Take 1

The absolute best thing that ever happened in my life was becoming a Mom. When Joe came along, I had been married for almost 10 years and had never even babysat, let alone changed a diaper!

Here's 4 day old Joe, all 5lbs. 13 oz. of him swimming in his onesie, & a very tired me, 2 weeks shy of my 30th birthday.

I remember the exact moment the center of the universe shifted -- it wasn't when he was born, it was a few days later in the hospital & I was watching a nurse give Joe a bath absent-mindedly while she talked on the telephone -- and from that moment on, the world didn't revolve around me anymore. I suddenly "got it". This moment must happen to every parent. All the things I had worried about before he was born vanished, because they had all been about me, and that wasn't what It was about anymore.

Now, how he transformed from from the little guy in the walker to the big guy with his girlfriend, Courtney, & my mom, has been a wonderful journey. He's handsome & smart, with a wry sense of humor. The great thing about an adult kid is there is still part of that little child there... I see it every time Joe shows up in a hat & cowboy boots. Or laughs a certain way. Or gives me a kiss. We think we know love before kids, but when that new person arrives, there's no comparison.

Now, Charlie & Laurel, don't feel slighted! An Erma Bombeck column I loved was a letter entitled, "Why You Are My Favorite Child," which she gave to all three of her children! Your turns in this blog are coming ...

Ancestors

One of the things I'd like to do with this blog is list the people in my life. These are some photos I took with me to Japan recently: from left, my maternal grandmother, Kei Sato, my paternal grandfather, Bernard Thomson, and my daddy, Joe Thomson (ne "Jiro"). Kei died in 1935, Bernard in 1966, and Joe in 1994. I think these photos are from around 1933, and look to be in Thompson Park in Alameda. My memories of my grandpa are of him delivering home-made banana nut bread or sitting in our living room with a glass of sherry, quite the old English gentleman! More on these folks later -- they've been in my thoughts since traveling to Omi Hachiman, and getting new tenants for grandpa's old house, and I visited all their graves on Father's Day -- left some flowers from the garden.

Ladies' Getaway!

Sometimes girls just gotta have fun! Kathy Malloy & Bonnie Buss were game for a trip to my mom's beach house in Santa Cruz this weekend ... lots of talking, laughing, cheese, wine, ahhhh! We checked out Laurel's newest restaurant recommendation, "Brazil", where we were easily the oldest patrons but the energy was high & the food was fabulous. We also took in a South American music gala @ the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History.

Bonnie had to get back to business in Yountville, after a week on the road ... or perhaps she sensed what Kathy & I were about to do: PAINT THE LAUNDRY ROOM! Yikes, what a mess it was: unfinished walls, cracks everywhere, & filthy. By this morning, the walls were primed a clean white, the miniblinds washed, the floor scrubbed. In a word, a miracle. Thanks, Kath!

And, gals, sorry about the photo, but it was the only one I had of the 2 of you -- thank god this is not YouTube, eh?

In the beginning ...

My daughter's blog is so inspiring, she suggested I could do one, too ... and I believed her! Thank you, Laurel, for helping me with the set-up. Since I'm not a design major, like you, I suspect this one will be a bit rough around the edges -- but then, so am I.

Whomever I direct to this blog, here is the disclaimer: I'll try my best to keep it interesting, but I appologize to everyone in advance for boring you -- be gentle with your comments!