What I'm Reading

I recently finished My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult . This is an engaging book that I know will stay with me for many years. Picoult, reportedly inspired by her own experiences with her child, explores the realms of childhood illness, "designer" babies, parent's rights, and the lengths a parent will go to to help her child. I found Picoult's use of varied perspectives particularly gripping as the chapters shift perspective between each of the main characters. Picoult seamlessly moves from the voice of a thirteen year old girl to her 40-ish fire-fighter father to others, and in doing so offers the reader an all knowing perspective with which to form her own opinion on the heart wrenching challenges they all face.

My Sister's Keeper also illuminated, again, how much has changed for me since I became a mom. I know that my reading of this novel would have been drastically different before Cooper came along. I still would have enjoyed it, but pieces would not have been read as deeply as they did with my own perspective as a mother. One of my favorite quotes from this book exemplifies this:

"being a mother is completely different. You want your child to have more than you even did. You want to build a fire underneath her and watch her soar. It's bigger than words." I touch my chest. "And it sill all manages to fit very neatly inside here."

I definitely recommend this book to everyone. Let me know what you think if you do read it or have already done so.

First Day

Today was Cooper's first day of his new Kindermusik class. What a treat to be back with Miss Kathy, his amazing teacher. We took 2 sessions last year and Cooper soaked up every morsel of the time, exploring the instruments, watching the twinkle lights on the ceiling, and dancing to all the songs.

I'm learning that Cooper is an observer by nature, preferring to stay on the edge of the action, and today was no exception. At the beginning of every class, instruments are spread out on the floor for the kids to play with as everyone arrives. Today, Cooper chose to sit in my lap and watch the others play, a happy observer. During class, Cooper let all the other kids get an instrument before him, patiently waiting to get one for himself. I think he likes to soak everything in and study his options before committing himself to anything. (Those of you who know Erik well may have some ideas of where Cooper gets this.) Once he warmed up a bit he decided instead of sitting with me singing the songs, he would rather walk laps around the classroom. From that perspective he could see what everyone else was doing and take it all in.

Here are some pictures of the day, with Cooper playing his new take home instrument, Zig Zig Blocks. He LOVES them!

Before Class

Playing the Zig Zag Blocks

Hiding

Where's Cooper?

I think I see something.....

Here he comes....

There he is!!!!

Time to play with the eggs!

Carpetastrophy

I've been away from this blog for a while, and here is my excuse. A week and a half ago, with every intention of doing a good thing for our home, I rented a Rug Doctor carpet cleaner from Home Depot. I've wanted our carpets cleaned since before we moved in here, and thought if I did it myself I could save some money. Well, I guess I did too good of a job and over soaked our carpets. They took 4 days to dry. I was on the phone with Rug Doctor multiple times a day, and eventually they sent someone out to professionally "clean up" what I did, for free. Thank goodness. Yesterday was the professional day and our carpet looks nice (for 10 year old carpet!). What does this have to do with blogging? Well, our computer is in the family room and we have had very limited access to this room throughout the whole fiasco. But I'm back at it now!

Needless to say, I highly recommend hiring professionals if you need a carpet cleaned...I've learned my lesson!