Sunday, March 27, 2011

Long treck

Yesterday was a remarkable day in my life. I ran 12 miles for the first time (I would have like to say that it would be my last, but the race is still ahead of me.) I am aching all over and wondering if I will ever want to train for a half marathon again. Back when I signed up for this, I did not know the consequences (the aftermath of these long runs). I am looking forward to being done and going back to pleasurable 5-7 mile runs (it sounds funny, I know).

I can say that I have been enjoying myself, except yesterday (That last mile seemed to last forever).  I remember all the milestones, mile 5, mile 7 and so on. I learned that I love running outside. Seeing the blue sky and having a destination in mind helps me stay the course and actually enjoy myself. Running on a treadmill is just depressing--- staring at the walls and going nowhere. Even watching movies does not help. In some small way, it's like having a baby. Once the discomfort (to put it mildly) is great enough, distractions do very little to take your mind off of it. While running, good music is the only thing that keeps the adrenaline pumping, and therefore my feet going. Even then, I am always too happy to hop off the treadmill.

Well, a couple more 10-milers and I am ready to race!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Newbie - Mr. Nyle

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So I realized that we’ve been neglecting to write about the newest member of our family---the cutest Nyle.

Going back to the beginning, Nyle was the only one of our kids that cried a lot as a newborn. We bounced him, rocked him and soothed him pretty much to no avail. That went on for about 6 weeks and then emerged another Nyle---the smiley cutie pie. He started smiling at us at about 8 weeks and has been generous with his smiles ever since. People are surprised, as they make eye contact, to be rewarded with full attention, huge smiles and a twinkle in his eye. He studies every face he comes in contact with, loving all the attention he gets.

Now Nyle rolls all over the room. We place him on a blanket with some toys and come back to find him under a chair or playing with the curtains.

He has discovered food in the last month. We tried Rice cereal first, and he spit it up just like the other two kids at his age. I should have know and started with oatmeal. He did love diving for the loaded spoon, though.

Now, about diving… That’s Nyle’s favorite past time. He loves to be held, and it’s not because he’s clingy. He likes the proximity to the “stuff” he encounters as he travels around on mommy’s hip. Half of that time he spends parallel to the floor, arm outstretched. Reading is out of the questions when Nyle is with me. All papers, magazines, mail and books get intercepted by his quick fingers. It all ends up wrinkled, wet and slobbery. I don’t know how many times he stuck his fingers in my food. When it first started happening, i thought I could trick him. At dinner I placed toys on the table thinking they might be a good distraction. He was not fooled. I could almost imagine his train of thought “good one, mom.” And of course, he dove for my bowl. I have to conclude that there will be no calm children in our family. It’s just genetically impossible!

Nyle loves to stand and bounce. He was hanging out in a jumper at the child care center while I was exercising. When I came to get him, the lady kept going on and on about how much he loved the bouncer. She said that I might want to get one of those, since it would strengthen his leg muscles and make him walk sooner. The words came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. “ I am not sure I want that” I said. That convenience might not be worth an extra month of chasing my son. We’ll see, though. Those jumpers do look fun!

Over the last couple of month, Nyle has grown to love being around Lydia and Tyler. The baby giggles when he sees them. Lydia plays with Nyle, gives him kisses, sings him songs and he rewards her generously with his smiles and giggles. Tyler doesn't even have to do anything. I think Nyle just finds him funny as we all do.

All I can say is that we love our little Nyle. He is so adorable with his sweet chubby cheeks. He brings a lots of joy to the Cuff household!

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

The Kids Never Lose

Time to take the kids to Vegas. They never miss getting heads for dessert. Let me explain.

We started using an idea for dessert for the kids. After they finish eating dinner, they get to flip a coin to see if they get dessert. We got this idea from Tushar Shah at Morgan Stanley. The idea is that they will learn not to cut the meal short for dessert because sometime they won't get it and will end up hungry.

Anyway, I've seen them flip the coin about 15 or 20 times now, and I've never seen them flip tails. They always get dessert. It's pretty amazing actually. Larisa has been done it with them on some nights when I haven't been home, when they flipped tails. But not when I'm around.

Actually, I saw them flip tails once when we first started doing this. It was the second time, and Tyler already had an idea. He held the coin with heads up and tossed it gently on the table. It happened to work and get heads. But I stepped in and told him he can't do it that way (I should have just let it go and corrected it the next time). So when Tyler flipped again he got tails and started crying. I gave in, because I felt like a party-pooper for making him flip again, and I let him flip one last time. He got heads, and they ate dessert. :)