Two, Four, Six Eight…
Anna marked six months old this past weekend which got me thinking…
Six months ago I was getting to know my perfect daughter. I had just given birth to Anna at home; the proudest achievement of my life. The week after her birth was difficult; Anna and I had difficult, painful time learning to nurse together. I learned a lot from that week; I learned that no matter how much experience one has, sometimes one still needs to ask for help. I called in a lactation consultant and she was immensely helpful. So helpful, that she not only got Anna and I nursing successfully, but that I am now seriously contemplating how to make helping other mothers have a successful breastfeeding relationship be an important part of my life.
One year ago I was fourteen weeks pregnant, still reeling with nausea, but deeply happy to be pregnant with our third baby. That week I would feel the first flutters of movement from our daughter.
Two years ago I was full of angst as Jeff and I sought to decide whether or not we would be making a big move from Pasadena. Jeff had been offered jobs in Manhattan and the Bay Area and we were seriously contemplating each offer; going so far as to take a trip up North and look at real estate. While on that trip Jeff got a surprise call from the university where he now teaches; they wanted him to come in and interview for a position he had applied for six months previous. He got the job and the rest is history…we stayed right here in Pasadena.
Four years ago we had just finished remaking our backyard into an urban farm. I was watching my first crop of tomatoes grow like weeds. Thomas was delighting us so much that we were beginning to talk of when to try for a second child and a few months later I was pregnant with Theodore.
Eight yeas ago, I had just transferred into a new department at work. That job, is the job I am currently on leave from. I’ve had my ups and downs with passion for that job – even leaving it for three years to work in a different part of the company, but it is the first job in my life that I was ever truly great at. Making that move to the new job was one of the smartest decisions I ever made.
Sixteen years ago I had just graduated high school in Columbus, Nebraska. I was so excited for the independence of college far away in California that I had already packed up most of my bedroom. I would spend the summer doing a community theater production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It was the last time I ever acted on stage.
Thirty-two years ago I was just about to turn two. I was living in Wisconsin – in the first house I had ever known, but that summer we would move to California; the first of many, many moves my family would make. Those moves shaped my personality and the course of my life.
Where were you six months, one year, two years, four years, eight years, sixteen years, and thirty-two years ago?
May 23rd, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Six month: right here in Pasadena, trying make sense of three kids and a full time job
One year: just finishing the first year of a new job, waiting for summer to begin
Two years: starting summer school at the local community college, last real teaching job.
Four years: weeks into a disastrous post doc fellowship at USC… Never split your time between two bosses.
Eight years: about to start a ocean time series project in grad school that would shape my entire Ph.D. thesis.
Sixteen years: just finishing my freshman year at college… It was very difficult. I honestly didn’t know if I would pass my math class, I did.
Thirty-two years: three and a half years old… I played at my mom’s at-home daycare. I remember the house pretty well, but not much else.
May 24th, 2012 at 12:43 am
six months – my friend Matt had just died of leukemia at age 30, I led the graveside service.
one year – trying to figure out how I was going to finish my degree and where we would be moving in the fall.
two years – discovering what it meant to be a parent!
four years – settling in to a new life in Pasadena, nearing the end of my first year as a grad student.
eight years – graduating from college, trying to figure out what would happen next.
sixteen – wrapping up 8th grade! terrified of starting high school.
thirty-two -…… my parents were just getting married, I was only a distant idea.
May 24th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Thank you. Your post is beautiful.
May 30th, 2012 at 6:56 am
Six months – wrapping up work to start maternity leave
One year – I’m pregnant!!
Two years ago – approaching Ev’s first birthday. Only beginning to fully understand and appreciate motherhood
Four years ago – bought our house. Both a great and horrid decision.
Eight years ago – climbing. Nearly every other weekend on the crags. I had the best calluses!
Sixteen years ago – go Bears! I was tearing it up in Berkeley.
Thirty two years ago – preschool. I remember nothing except that it had this awesome playhouse.
May 30th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Six months – Easing back into our routine after six weeks in South Africa.
1 Year – Trying to figure out where to live after being given notice. Balancing the overwhelm of a 18 month and 4 year old..
2 years – Even more overwhelm! Dealing with a colicky baby and adjusting to parenting 2 non-sleepers
4 years ago – Trying to balance work and parenting our eldest.
8 years ago – Got my midwifery license and got married.
16 years ago – Living in the UK and trying to figure out how to immigrate to Canada.
32 years ago – 3rd grade. Wow. I don’t remember much about 3rd grade at all. How weird. Because I remember 1st, 2nd and 4th.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:53 am
32 years ago I was celebrating my 21st Birthday in Pasadena; as did my grandmother, father, mother and partner. We’re members of the “stay put” clan. But sometimes I leave my seat. A year earlier, I was spending part of the summer in the Sand Hills of Nebraska on a 5000 acre ranch perched on the middle Loop in the town of Bedford.
Interesting post – love to drop in once in awhile to see babygirl. Enjoyed holding her at the last blog picnic(?)
June 18th, 2012 at 3:09 am
Thedford Nebraska. I found a link to this B and B. Check out that couch in the living room!
June 18th, 2012 at 3:09 am
http://www.middleloupriverranch.com/