Hughtube

Raindrops on roses

hughtube — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:59:36 +0000

Last night, I sang Hugh “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music. He said, “do it again!” So I sang it again, all cream-colored ponies and crisp apple struedel, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

“Noodles,” he laughed.

Your turn, I said. What are your favorite things? He thought about it, then shouted out a list while jumping on the bed. (Just like Gretl, I might add.)

Hugh’s favorite things:

The train store
Running outside
Grocery cart
Papa
Best friends
Beach house
Riding a tractor
Dowell
Pizza
Napping (WTF? But OKAY, we’ll take it.)

So the next version went like this, “Riding a tractor and running outside, playing with friends while we eat lots of pizza, chasing our brother at the beach house, these are a few of Hugh’s favorite things!”

: When the dog bites, when the bee stings!

Night terrors

hughtube — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:50:47 +0000

The past week or so, Hugh has been experiencing night terrors. He wakes up in the middle of the night, screaming and thrashing, and it’s almost impossible to calm him down. The only solution we’ve found is sleeping with him so that when he begins to wake up, we can pat him and he goes back to sleep. But of course, that’s not a long term solution.

A friend recommended Rescue Remedy for Kids, a homeopathic medicine you can get at Whole Foods or your local hippy grocery store. Anybody else have tips?

I’m not overly worried, and I’ll expect he’ll outgrow it soon. There have been a number of transitions in his life the past few weeks – going from the beach house and sleeping with us to back home and in his own bed; going from no school back to school; changing teachers after a year and a half.

In the meantime, I welcome any advice while I try to keep the glass half full. With coffee, that is.

If only he slept like this at night...

Blessed routine

hughtube — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:04:24 +0000

Tuesday was my first time on a computer in 16 days. That feels like a world record for me (and probably not a record that a blogger should aim for). I stayed plugged in via my phone over the holiday, but there’s something different about getting back in front of this big screen with a genuine keyboard.

Hello world!

The holiday weeks swept us up in a flurry of Hugh’s 3rd birthday, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, visiting family, cooking big meals, staying up late. We moved out of our December beach house and back to our cozy familiar house. We brought back lots of luggage and too many toys, but also great memories: walks on the beach, waking up at 9am, eating holiday food like bacon wrapped smokies and goat cheese-stuffed dates, and thanks to grandparents and supplemental care, just driving around – me and Tasha – popping into random places like we used to do pre-Hugh.

Birthday frosting kiss

But routine beckons and with it, a sense of relief. We are returning to sameness. Wake up early, eat breakfast quickly, jump in the car, school for Hugh and work for us, dinner, bath, weekends, and back to blogging! Routine isn’t always a bad thing.

Home sweet home

Winter at the beach

hughtube — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:02:34 +0000

Lunch at The Barn

Tasha and I decided to rent a beach house on Sullivan’s Island for an entire month. In December! Happy Holidays to us.

I worried about Hugh adjusting to a new house, especially during his birthday and Christmas. But as usual, I worried for nothing. He’s called it, “my beach house” from Day 1, and settled right into our two bedroom, 1 bath cottage built in the 1800s with the moniker, “The Barn.”

Hugh's quiet beach

All you summertime fans of the beach, I’ll leave you your sticky air, your buzzing evening mosquitoes, your packed restaurants and crowded sand. I’ll take December with its peaceful isolation, quiet sunrises and lazy evening breezes on the front porch anytime.

Sunrise before work

If a picture paints a thousand words

hughtube — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:57:42 +0000

…then Hugh has a million word story written already.

Seriously, friends, do we take too many pictures?

My childhood pictures fit into one brown scrapbook (faux leather with pull back sticky pages that are not acid-free). But I treasure those pictures so deeply. They offer a fuzzy glimpse into my childhood without telling the whole story.

There’s one picture of my mom pregnant with me (fully clothed, of course – no one showed their belly back then).

Me in my first pair of roller skates with red, white and blue stripes to match my best friend, Ann’s.

Meeting my newly adopted sister for the first time at the park.

Singing “Me and My Teddy Bear” at a school recital in an itchy plaid skirt.

Bridging ceremony at Girl Scouts.

A pink dress, a swing and a scab on my nose.

A strapless pink prom dress and a foreign exchange student date.

Playing in mud at Grandma’s creek house.

I probably take at least one picture of Hugh a day, not to mention pictures when we travel, when I go to conferences, with friends at dinner parties. What in the world are we going to do with all these pictures?

My god, the Shutterfly books, the photo accounts, the handmade scrapbooks, the rotating photos on our AppleTV. I personally have photos stored on iPhoto, Flikr, Adoramapix, and Picasa, not to mention Facebook, YouTube and this blog.

When Hugh was born, I had a photographer. But I didn’t want a videographer. I wanted to be able to recreate the experience of his birth in my own mind. Now I’m wondering if the same holds true for pictures. By capturing so much, am I stealing something precious from him? That ability to recreate for ourselves what our childhood was like. The memories that fill the the gaps between farflung images that are merely markers along the way, not a detailed description of our every move.

I still can’t stop taking pictures. But maybe one day I’ll do a big, giant purge. And when Hugh grows up, I’ll hand him one brown photo album with several grainy (thanks to Instagram) photos and let him fill in the rest.

Thanksgiving 2011 (lest anyone forget)

Last morning

hughtube — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:07:48 +0000

One of the nice things about being gone for 4 days is the look on Hugh’s face when I walked in the door after a trip to DC. Not a smile or a cry of “Mama!,” just round blue eyes that slowly got bigger and bigger. As if I were a mirage. He didn’t say anything about me being gone until that night when I put him to bed when he whispered, “Mama, you were gone too much on that airplane.” And then promptly fell asleep.

Sunset in DC.

How do you traveling moms and dads handle time apart? I think it’s especially interesting for toddlers who don’t have a concept of time yet. Everything that happens over a span of time that isn’t exactly this moment is what Hugh calls “last morning.”

The other great thing about coming home is catching up on all my blogs on Google Reader. A full box of my favorites: Ami Whoa, Baxter Sez, New to New York, Rookie Moms, Small Measure, Whip Smart. It’s an unintentional homecoming of the voices that sustain me throughout the week.

Happy to be home.

Fall

hughtube — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:37:10 +0000

Hugh’s fall so far: pumpkin carving, tractor ride, collecting pine cones, a cake walk, tea cup ride at the fair, petting a goat, trick or treating, and watching an owl fly free.

Asheville weekend

hughtube — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:16:36 +0000

Sometimes renewal comes in the form of earsplitting drums and synthesizer music, a room full of bearded guys drinking Wild Turkey straight out of the bottle, and a terribly unappetizing half-eaten bowl of guacamole.

My trip to Asheville was a 40th birthday present to my friend: a weekend of girl time. It took 10 months to make it happen. But in the end I found a kind of rock star renewal in just being out and about. Without wipes or cheerios in my bag.

Here’s a timeline snapshot of the weekend:

Friday night, 7pm: Zapow gallery, art show opening, Mad Tea on the electric guitars. French Broad brewery dark beer. Free!

Art at Zapow

Friday night, 9:30pm, The Vault. Only admitting one person at a time. Asheville was packed. I had a headache and was hungry.

Friday night, 10pm: OneStop Deli. Locally-raised roast beef sandwich with au jus. And a terrible cocktail. Began quest to find a good cocktail in this beer town.

Friday night, 11pm: “Ice cream,” a two man band, playing a newly opened guitar store. Low ceilings, men in beards, Wild Turkey bottles, the aforementioned disgusting guacamole, and awesome music. My headache went away, and I started to dance.

The duo, Ice Cream

Friday night, 1:30pm: Curled up on a sofa with a dog and fell asleep.

Saturday, 10am: OMG, the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life at The Dripolator. If not a great cocktail town, definitely a coffee town.

Saturday, 12pm: Lunch outside at Chai Pani, Indian Street Food. YUM. Charleston has no Indian restaurants with ambiance.

Saturday, 2pm: Shopping, but only buying local. (Justifying my consumerism.) Found a scarf made in Asheville from organic cotton grown in NC. Mmm, soft.

Saturday, 4pm: Nap

Saturday, 5pm: French press coffee on the porch of Ami’s house-cum-folk art-gallery.

Saturday, 6pm: Drinks at the Sky Bar. An amazing view of the sunset over the mountains. And finally, a good cocktail! With cucumber in it, of course.

Sunset at Sky Bar wearing my new scarf

Saturday, 8pm: Another cocktail at a different club, but still with a cucumber.

Saturday, 9pm: Dinner at Cucina 24. Figs, cheese, meat, pasta, radishes. Delicious.

Saturday, 11pm: To bed early on the red pleather sofa.

Sunday, 10am: A hug goodbye, a new playlist on my iPhone, and a beautiful drive home. On my playlist - Mad Tea, Baby Gramps, Jar-e, StephaniesID - and a range of voices reminding me that a dose of mountain magic is sometimes just what a tired mom needs to feel renewed.

Naked Nu-Nu

hughtube — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:51:59 +0000

Sorry to embarrass the almost 20 year-old, but Tasha’s teenage son, Dowell, started the phrase “naked nu-nu” when he was a toddler, and now it’s been passed onto Hugh.

We have no problem with Hugh pulling the sofa cushions onto the floor, ripping off his clothes and landing with a dive and a superhero shout of “Naked Nu-Nu!”

But this Sunday at a crowded state park, Hugh decided that Naked Nu-Nu would be fun to play. At the top of a tall enclosed slide.

“Hugh?” I called into the tunnel, hearing only a giggle in return. Then down the chute came a pair of plaid shorts.

“I want to pee down this slide, Mama!”

“Hugh, NO! Come down here before I count to three. One…two…”

More giggles. Then, “Mom, I’m coming. But I don’t slide very fast.”

I look up and see his naked bottom inching its way slowly down the slide, white underwear twisted around his ankles. I reached into the slide, pulled his underwear back around his waist and watched as a shocked mom dragged her daughter away.

I gave the requisite lecture, but it was all I could do not to ruin the stern words with laughter. I texted Tasha to tell her what happened, and she replied, “Right on, dude. Keepin’ it real.”

Continuing my 40 list

hughtube — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:47:36 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. Continuing my 40 things to do before turning 40 list, here are 10 more:

11. Organize my digitals photos, including deleting some. What the heck are we going to do with the zillions of photos we take nowadays? Our parents passed along a faux leather album with about 5 grainy pics per child a year.

12. Fancify my blog with some new add-ons.

13. Update my blog at least twice a week for three months (100% increase from once a week).

14. Eat a candy bar outside by myself.

15. Take Hugh to see an owl.

16. Go on a hay ride.

17. Can or pickle something.

18. Have a picnic.

19. Get holiday cards out by New Year’s.

20. Build a sand castle.