As a reliable go-to meal, I almost always have a pizza in my freezer.  Usually, I go for New York style, with some sort of healthy crust (whole wheat, maybe even with flax seeds, definitely no preservatives) and an exotic cheese blend (like gorgonzola or goat cheese) with healthy organic toppings like chicken, mushrooms, or vegetables.

But this weekend, Drex bought a pizza. He got a thick white crust pizza with gobs of tomato sauce and plain old mozzarella cheese.  You know what?

A belly full of carbohydrates and a long afternoon nap.  My theory is that the rising crust dough just kept expanding in Sonya’s little stomach and she conked out so she could rest and digest.

I think I might be willing to sacrifice omega-3 fatty acids and fiber for naps like these!

During this quiet free time, I meant to write, honestly.  But I did some knitting instead, and I finished the cuff of the very first sweater I am ever going to knit. And it’s something I’m making for myself!  Emerald green with a hood. Very excited.

In Greek mythology, a king named Sisyphus was condemned to an afterlife in the underworld rolling a rock up a steep hill, only to have it roll back down before he reached the top.  Every day, he had to push that same boulder up that same hill over and over again.

Motherhood can feel like that— playing the same game over and over because it makes Sonya happy, doing the laundry, picking up toys, preparing meals and snacks, then doing the dishes, cleaning the house, only to have all the hard work quickly undone, and having to do the same thing day after long, tiring day.

And I never seem to get enough sleep.

But sometimes, even late at night, when all our attempts of getting Sonya to bed at the usual time of nine o’clock don’t work— there are moments. That make it. All worth it.

These small moments renew me and remind me why I’m doing all of this— and I realize that I’m going to keep pushing that boulder up the hill over and over and over again.

And although on the bad days, I feel punished like Sisyphus, I know that it’s actually God building my character, testing my strength, teaching me to be more patient, more kind, more humble.

Drex had a meeting in Chicago, so we all decided to take one final family trip before I start working again.  Uncle Justin and Auntie Melissa drove up from St. Louis to see us!  We spent Saturday at Shedd Aquarium. I can honestly say that it was worth the steep price of admission (roughly $33/person).

A lot of wonderful things happened this past week!

First wonderful thing: Grandpapa, Grandmama, and Uncle Weston drove all the way from Texas to visit us! Even though the weather tried to be disagreeable with sporadic downpours, we showed them around Montreal.

Then for the weekend, since the Sugar Land Party Van doesn’t seem to mind adding mileage, we joined the mega-roadtrip on a leg to Québec City and back.

On our last day together, we did some home improvement, like assembling a toddler bed from IKEA, hanging a curtain rod, and Grandmama showing me how to make tab curtains. A post about Sonya’s new room will follow soon.

Second wonderful thing: our neighbor Martin baked a cherry-apple pie.  See the R in the homemade vegan crust? After chicken/pasta dinner and dessert à la mode, we sat in the living room and had a “sing-around.” Everyone took turns singing a song!

Third wonderful thing: my high school friend Huay-Ying and her fiancé John happened to be in Montreal for a few days, too!

Fourth wonderful thing (chronologically): Drex turned thirty-one. Wow! And each year, he just gets more fabulous.

Fifth wonderful thing: our second wedding anniversary! Has it really been two years?  Seems not so long ago. But then again, we have a baby now. And fairly soon, I’ll have to stop calling her a baby and recognize that she’s an independent-spirited toddler.

Here’s another picture from the second day of our wedding, the Christian ceremony in Grandmama and Grandpapa’s backyard in Sugar Land. Sonya’s Greatgrandpa Ruths married us in a beautiful ceremony.  Such a special memory. And sixth wonderful thing: Greatgrandpa Ruths is doing well after having a pacemaker placed in his heart.  He got home from the hospital the day after his operation! Seventh wonderful thing: Greatgrandpa has a new greatgrandson and Sonya has a new cousin named Kaleb!

Eighth wonderful thing: Sonya enjoyed her first day of daycare yesterday! The teachers and director at Kids and Company said that Sonya had the “best first day” of any child they’ve had! She spent the morning playing with toys, and the few times she cried, another child took a toy away from her. Sonya drank milk, ate a bowl of chili for lunch, took an afternoon nap, and had a snack of cheese and crackers.

When Drex picked her up to bike home in the late afternoon, Sonya apparently seemed happy to see him, but wasn’t clingy. I’d like to think this is because Sonya has a secure attachment to us. She knows that we love her, we would never leave her, and that when we go away, we will always, no matter what, come back for her.

Drex said, “Sonya being happy at daycare is the best birthday present I could have gotten.”

It’s a huge gift for both of us! Thank you, my dearest Sonya, for being such a “goo grrr” (her words for good girl).

Ninth and tenth, the most wonderful thing every day of every week: these two faces. My little family.

Sonya not only enjoys daycare, but also her pink cupcake helmet and the morning bike ride in her deluxe trailer from Grandpapa, Grandmama, and Uncle Weston. She’s waving bye-bye to me in this picture, but it almost looks like she’s telling me to “Live Long and Prosper.”

On Sunday, our friends J&B introduced us to a local farmer’s market. Our loot included this heirloom tomato with all its magnificent lobes.

I cut it into thick wedges to enjoy with slices of fresh baguette and locally-produced goat cheddar. Cheddar! Made of goat’s milk! The sharpness of cheddar with the tanginess of feta. Mmmmmm….

Sonya inspected the produce. The tomatoes don’t look as flawless and vibrantly colored as the ones you can get at the supermarket. They aren’t perfectly round, and some of them have spots. But they taste great, cost less, and it’s nice having a chat with the person who grew them.

This week, we’ve been working on teaching Sonya how to keep her mess contained to the table. She seems old enough not to drop things on the floor anymore. For the most part, after just three meals of scolding and showing her how to place food she doesn’t want near her plate, she seems to have got the hang of it! This makes clean-up much easier.

Maybe if we start insisting on manners early we can avoid the terrible twos? Is that naive thinking?

For three days this week, we got to watch Rusby, our friend Mahsa and Pedram’s easygoing dog.  Sonya enjoyed having a “daw” companion. Rusby tolerated pokes in his eye, stomps on his paws, yanks on his tail and even his tongue (twice)!

He didn’t bark, bite, or even so much as flinch. Really uncanny how loving this dog is! A testament, no doubt, to his owners.

Sonya learned to kiss Rusby on the nose and say “goo daw” which means “good dog.”  We played fetch in the park and went for walks around the mountain.

Dog-sitting satisfied my brief whim of wanting to get a family dog.  While it was wonderful to have Rusby in our lives for a few days, and heartwarming to see him interact with Sonya, I think that at this point, the benefits to be received from a full-time “daw” doesn’t outweigh the amount of energy even a “goo daw” like Rusby requires.

Drex was tremendously relieved that my canine adoption dreams have been put on hold until Sonya grows older. Honestly, I don’t know why I was even flirting with the sudden idea of getting a dog at the end of summer!  I’m going back to work in a few weeks!