Recently Read: The Dante Club

I recently finished reading The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.  It’s an interesting mix between mystery novel, biography, and literary analysis.  The novel tells the story of 4 19th century literary figures (writers and publisher) chasing down a murderer by exploring Dante’s Divine Comedy. 

I enjoyed how well biography and literary analysis were intertwined with plot in this novel.  The plot kept the other two from boring me, and biography and literary analysis gave the standard “whodunit” genre a fresh perspective.  While relaxing to a good mystery story, I learned about several writers’ lives, their perceptions of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and their writing as well.

I didn’t enjoy the chapter at the end in which everything must be explained either because 1) the reader is too stupid to figure it out or 2) the author was too lazy to tie up his loose ends another way. 

Overall, a relaxing and intriguing read. 

Good fiction + Interesting biography + a bit of literary analysis = Time well spent

Happy Father’s Day!

Luke, You are an awesome dad. The more I see you love our kids the more I love you. D

Dada,
I love to do what you do. Thanks for showing me how.
Love, Caleb

Daddy, I like sleeping on you. Sophia

Baby Product: Swings

We like swings around here. 

The baby version: Graco Baby Swing 

The baby version has been a sanity saver the past few weeks as Sophia has been dealing with pain from reflux and I’m learning how to take care of 2 kids at the same time.   If you’re looking to outfit your house for a baby in the upcoming months, I would suggest not buying this product.  Instead, borrow it from a friend.  The window of time when this is helpful is usually fairly short, so it’s not really worth the cost or the space, in my opinion.  Find one second hand or borrow ours in one or two months!

And the older baby/toddler version: Tree Swing.

Almost!

We purchased the toddler swing for Caleb’s birthday last year and he still loves swinging in our tree (or pushing rocks, leaves, and sticks in the swing).  One of those toys that is standing the test of time!

Can you believe how much he’s changed in one year?!

Two Months. Already?

 At least it isn’t this face!

Mini-Houdini

Stats from the visit to the doctor:

• 11 lbs. 6 oz.
• 24 1/2 inches long (off the charts!)
• 39.5 cm head circumference

And so you can start getting to know her:

• Loves to smile and coo
• Enjoys hanging out in the bouncy seat watching the world go by
• Already too long for 3 month size onesies
• Typically wakes up once at night
• Doesn’t like to sleep in the car seat
• Likes to “pray” at church –when it’s quiet, she’s loud

Children’s Book Collection

After an adventurous trip to the library, we have a new collection to choose from.  We had been reading the same books for about 2 months since I kept renewing the books we checked out just before Sophia was born.  In the collection:

Curious George:  What’s not to love about a mischievous monkey who never obeys and always gets rewarded for his mistakes?  (But he didn’t mean to make such a mess…. Oh, you didn’t mean to? Ok, here’s a puppy.)  George is a good reminder of the inequity of grace.  Even when my intentions are good, I tend to make a mess, and yet God redeems and restores me.  (He might even give me a “puppy” too.)

Blueberries for Sal: A classic. Written in the 1940s I believe. The English teacher in me likes the structure in this book.  It’s great for teaching kids how to make predictions and follow a plot.

I Love You Stinky Face: I love the concept of this book—a mama promising to love her child no matter what.  It’s still growing on Caleb.

This Is Me by Richard Scarry:  Caleb loves to look at all the pictures in this book.  It’s a great one for him to “read” by himself.

Green Eggs and Ham: Classic. No explanation needed. We read this a gazillion times the first week we brought it home. (One reason I like using the library: When we get tired of reading a certain book, we can return it.)

Dr. Seuss’ ABC: We’ve checked out the board book version of this before.  This early reader version is slightly different and longer.  This time around, it’s fun to see Caleb recognize and name different letters and sounds.  

Love You Forever: Cheesy, but hilarious book in the unconditional love category.  (Note to self: When there’s a “song” in a book, don’t give it a melody and actually sing it.  If you do, you’ll be singing it at 2 am, and 3 am, and 5 am…)

As always, I love to hear recommendations for good books.  Feel free to add your two cents!

Catching Up

I haven’t had much time to write in the past few weeks, but here are some highlights…

Kudos: To the lady in the Target parking lot who kindly put away my shopping cart for me while I was putting my kids in their car seats.  You made my day!

Boo: To the angry man who glared at me in the public library.  Yes, I know my baby is screaming.  I pinched her just to annoy you.  (In the midst of all this, Caleb managed to sneak a book about some random breed of puppy into our stack of books when I wasn’t looking.  Are we in trouble? No, Caleb, we are NOT getting a dog.)

Kudos: To the awesome volunteers in the 8am and 6:30pm nursery at our church.  We’ll miss you!  You gave us a precious gift each week you loved on Caleb.  (We’re not moving to a different church, just to a different service time.) 

Kudos: To everyone involved in creating a space for moms and their noisy babies at our church where we can still participate in the worship service. While I can say I’ve gone to church the past month, I can’t say I’ve actually been in the service.  (Sophia likes to help the pastors pray.) 

Kudos: To Luke for coming home early on Friday!  That never happens!  (Well, obviously it does.) Luke’s been working super hard on stuff (that’s as technical as I’ll get here) at work, so I’m glad he gets a break.  (And the selfish side of me is glad I’m getting more breaks too!)

Luke and Caleb made a (surprise?) visit to Ottumwa last weekend to celebrate Father’s Day with the fam.  I wasn’t ready for the stress of traveling with Sophia, so she and I stayed home.  It was a nice change of pace.  It’s amazing what you can do with a baby who doesn’t move yet!  I remember being so excited when Caleb started crawling.  I’m sure I’ll be excited for Sophia as well, but I may be looking for an extra pair of eyes to lease.  Where did our moms get that extra set anyway?  Caleb came home from Ottumwa excited and tired.  He loves spending time at Grandpa and Grandma’s place.

After several weeks of eating a boring diet to see if Sophia’s pain was due to food sensitivities, I’m slowly adding foods back into my diet.  I’m thankful God made food with a variety of flavors and that he made those flavors taste good!  Kudos to all of you who have to follow strict diets all the time.  Your self-discipline is greater than mine.

Due to inclement weather (aka crazy Iowa thunderstorms), trips to the playground have been fewer.  We did manage to walk to the playground early this morning-before it got too humid for me to carry Sophia.  Caleb was so excited he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.  In the first 5 minutes he tried out 3 different types of swings, 2 ladders, and a couple slides.  Kudos to living near an elementary school with awesome playground equipment!

Sophia’s portable stage is nearing an end I think.  She doesn’t like to sleep in her car seat, so we may be staying home more than we have been lately.  Get out of the house and try consoling a screaming baby in public?  Stay home and find ways for a toddler to burn energy?  It’s a toss up.

So if you’ve survived this far, you’ve caught a glimpse of how we’ve been spending our days and weeks.  I, for one, am thankful for “ordinary” days and weeks like these! 

Smiles

Smiles make my day so much nicer.  I hope this one makes your day a little brighter too!

 

I’d love to write more, but it’ll have to wait for another time.