Time Capsule

Ayize and I shared a perfect day together today, one in a long string of them. In fact, this fabulous summer is just flying by, much to my chagrin. It occurred to me tonight that soon the days will have blurred seamlessly one into the other in my memory and I just hate the thought of that happening, inevitable as it is.

So in protest, here is a diary of one unblurred day in the life of me and my boy. Enjoy.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Ayize woke me up at 6 a.m. I couldn't convince him to fall back asleep so we headed downstairs to start the day. We let out the dogs and he babbled happily at them from our perch on the porch overlooking the yard as they trotted around purposefully, handling their bizz. We headed in and Ayize bounced around in his Exersaucer office joyfully, spinning here and there, busily typing up a report on the performance of his top stocks on his "computer" one minute and playing Beethoven on his "Playful Pond Piano" the next. In between, he made time to cheerfully and loudly address his minions, Weeman and Alfie, by pointing (kind of) at their faces and barking orders at them in spitty-speak. They in turn admired his second tooth, which seemed to have literally sprouted overnight.

In the midst of all this activity, I wobbled wearily around, preparing breakfast for the dogs and trying to wipe the sandy sleep from my eyes -- after three hours at the human beach yesterday afternoon with Lisa including our failed attempt at kite-flying, I had returned to the dog beach for an additional hour that evening.

After the dogs ate, I stood beside the Exersaucer and Ayize looked up at me smilingly, toothily (!) and then lifted his arms in a pithy plea to be picked up. This is one of my favorite new developments, this arms-out appeal that he reserves for requests from his mommy. It never fails to make me go all gooey on the inside. I'm such a sucka.

We headed back upstairs and into bed. I checked the clock. It was almost 7. Thankfully, both he and I fell back into a deep slumber within minutes and didn't regain consciousness until 8:30. Now it was hustle time. I changed his chunky nappy (funny what a little solid food can do to baby poops) and dressed him. I fed him and then washed my hair quickly while he stared mesmerized at the Rainforest Soother. That thing is such a godsend. Note to self: kiss Darlene on the ankles next time I see her and tell her she is the sole reason I score the occasional shower. I think that thing blasts some kind of subconscious soothy brain waves. Liz called and I was glad to hear she and Greta would be hitting yoga, despite Big G's efforts to walk, and therefore, sabotage her mom's chances at getting anything out of class. Yoga ended up being a blast. G made her way across the entire studio to where Ayize and I were doing some sort of warrior pose and the two babies hugged and petted each other (!) and shared toys and binkies back and forth, allowing Liz and I to do some side-by-side yoga.

Afterwards all four of us from class hit up the delish Italian Coffee Bar down the street which, contrary to rumor, was definitely still up and running. After a tasty hot chocolate (I know, I know, so it's 93 degrees out, so what?), Ayize and I headed home for his nap. Maria was over and she cuddled and kissed him until he was in a giggling frenzy. I had dragged home everybody's empty cups in a protest against ICB refusing to go green so I rinsed and recycled the cups, feeling like some sort of anal Evanston environmentalist.

Ayize nursed for only five minutes before falling asleep. I managed to eat lunch and catch up on a bunch of emails before he woke up, close to 2. He ate again (slightly more this time) and we headed off to the library to meet Akari and Sophie. We totally crashed story hour for the toddler set, which is a big ol' no-no at the North Branch Evanston Library, but fortunately Ayize was super smiley and made for a very attentive audience, so the library lady not only allowed him to stay with Sophie but she even added that he was welcome "any time." Woo hoo! We ran into Liz outside the library, so Akari and Sophie veered off to fetch Maddie while we enjoyed ice-cold drinks at Linz and Vail with Holly and Carson. Unfortunately, their air conditioning was temporarily on the fritz so the place was not as paradisiacal as normal. Ayize was tired of so much sitting around after both the library and Linz, so he got fussy pretty fast.

We flew home and he took a cat nap while I got ready to meet Chris for dinner at Panino's. We had a blast and ended up staying over two hours, talking and catching up and stuffing our faces on bread and pasta...we even discussed dessert but it was a lost cause by that point, as The Boss had had enough of listening to our idle chatter and made it known that it was time to move on. Actually, for the first hour, he did nothing but take in everything...us, CNN on the TV overhead, the cars driving by on Dempster, and the fabulous ceiling fans. It was the second hour that got tricky. He basically sat in my lap, wreaking havoc on everything within reach. Menus hit the dust, toys went flying, the table got kicked silly, his gleeful laughter and delighted shouts deafened all the other diners...you get the basic idea. Fortunately, the place was deader than a doornail so the little man pretty much got away with murder.

We left and stepped back out into the hazy humidity. It was past seven but still felt like three. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. The sunset was glorious as I drove along McCormick. I got home and got the baby fed and ready to roll out yet again. It was too beautiful a night to miss the beach.

The dogs hopped in the back of the car, Ayize was strapped snugly into his car seat, and even Grandma joined us up front. We arrived just as a band began to play rollicking covers of soul songs for that night's Starlight Concert in Dawes Park.

Ayize was beside himself. He had been getting sleepy but he perked right up and got a second wind. I could barely strap him into the Baby Bjorn because his little legs were kicking so joyfully (my thighs took a beating).

We headed off towards the beach, wending our way through the gathering crowd, with Alfie and Weeman in tow. I gave our numbers, or rather, the beach lady on duty greeted us with "Hello, 9 and 10!" A moment later, Mom and I were unclipping the dogs and they were off and racing towards the water.

Ayize and I followed haltingly (on account of his frenzied, suspended activity). I wrapped the string of his maraca around my wrist so he could shake it at will without its being dropped onto the suspect sand of the dog beach. He danced and kicked and shouted and spit and smiled and laughed and shook his maraca and moved his arms and legs like some kind of crazy marionette on crack. He was quite the spectacle.

The band played on and on and the music floated down from the lagoon and over the beach and across the water. I danced and danced, my favorite partner accompanying my every move. Alfie ran frolicking around like a puppy and Weeman barked and charged, barked and charged, driving all the errant dogs into the water where they belonged. My mom sat on a large, flat rock at the far end of the beach, eyes closed, enjoying the music and the cool breezes off the lake after a long, hot day. Most of our dog beach buds had come despite the sparse parking and everybody smiled at Ayize's antics. Mickey's mom danced with us to that old 70's song "Very Superstitious".

When the song ended, Ayize stopped moving and held out his arms to her. I told her that he wanted to give her a hug and she looked at me as if I was teasing.

"No, really," I told her. "He knows you, he wants to hug you."

She leaned in tentatively (who at that beach has not seen him tear hanks of hair from my head, after all??) and he leaned forward in the Baby Bjorn and gently wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her one of his patented Zay hugs, followed by a wet, open-mouth, lip-stab on her face -- i.e. his version of a kiss. She was so touched and everyone standing around us said, "Awww..." But by that time, the music had started again, and with a smile and some spit bubbles, Ayize was done with the sappy stuff and back in action, dancing again.

We left the beach at 8:30 and enjoyed the last half-hour of the show beside the well-lit lagoon. Kids were jumping into the shallow water and dancing and splashing. Couples were swaying and enjoying the music in each other's arms. Folks were finishing up their picnic dinners. The sky was clear and beautiful and dark violet with small, pinpoint stars.

We left at the end of the last song and Ayize was asleep before I had even finished buckling him into his car seat, snoozing to the soft sounds of "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman". We drove home blasting Lauryn Hill. My mom looked so relaxed and happy. I felt great too. As we passed Claire's Jamaican Kitchen and the old men who sit outside waved and shouted their nightly "Hallo!" at my passing car, my mom turned to me and said, "You make me forget that I'm an old lady in my 70's. Thank you for that".

Her sweet words were the icing on this dessert that was this wonderful day, one of so many this summer. On behalf of myself and your grandson, Mom, you're welcome. Glad to be of service!