The Only Downside Is The 2 Pounds of Ligustrum We Inhale

Two days in a row now the family has gone on a bike ride through the neighborhood. MJ has decided that she needs to get back in shape after a two year hiatus from exercise. It started for her a couple of weeks ago when she added pushups to her morning routine – not the tasty ice cream treat, that’s for summer. She moved from lady pushups to real pushups a couple of days ago and she can now do thirteen. She’s ripped. We added a bike ride yesterday when we couldn’t muster the mental energy to get to the beach, but still wanted to do something outside. I put LMJ on my handlebars and we ride through Riverside. I fasten her shoes to the bike with her Velcro laces. Not really, she has a DMV approved seat with seatbelts and a reflector and everything. Yesterday’s ride was easier because there wasn’t any traffic on the road. I suppose everyone was at church. We went today at the height of rush hour, but there are enough side streets and sidewalks so it’s not too dangerous. We rode what is basically my five mile running route, down along the river, through Memorial Park, up Riverside Avenue and the North Bank River Walk to the Times-Union helipad, where we watch a train cross the St. John’s if we’re lucky. The engineers are nice enough to honk the horn when we wave at them. MJ is getting used to movement again, and her thighs are protesting a little bit. No pain, no gain. I’m really glad she’s exercising. She needs to recover the muscle mass she’s lost and exercise is the best way to fight off osteoporosis. I’m always up for a bike ride because I dropped $100 on LMJ’s bike seat about nine months ago and we’ve used it fewer than ten times. LMJ wasn’t down with the bike seat at first, but now she likes the wind in her face and bumps in the road. She’s a trooper and so is her mom.

I Just Do What I'm Told

LMJ is 20 months old today, and I’m thinking about how much she has changed my life. What’s strange is that I’m 38 years old, she’s been a part of my life for less than 2 years, yet I can’t remember life before her. It’s funny that I used to think I was busy. What did I do with all that free time, and what will I do when I get it back in seventeen years when she goes off to college (MJ, you have no automatic claim to any of this potential free time)? On the one hand, I wish we had had her five or even ten years ago. On the other hand, I’m cherishing every moment and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love her pigeon English. I love the sense of purpose she has with everything she does. For right now, I love how bossy she is. I don’t think that’s going stay cute though. I love how busy she is, even though she wears me out. I love that she’s an extremely affectionate baby. We spend a lot of time hugging and kissing. I even love that I’m at the base of the totem pole that’s buried underground. LMJ brought me the TV remote the other night and handed it to me. I asked her what she wanted me to do with it, and she said “On!?!” So I turned on the television. What was funny is that her mother was genuinely surprised that I asked how high when LMJ said jump. I’ve treated her the exact same way for nearly twenty years. When we found out we were having a baby girl how did she think things were going to go? If LMJ asks her daddy nicely and there’s no chance of physical injury, 99 times out of 100 she’s going to get what she wants. That’s just the way things are (Mama still gets treated that way too). And that’s the way things are going to stay.