Medicine Woman: October 2017 ~ 2 Years have flown by...

Mama's pajamas from the '70s

Such a happy boy!!!

You are pure delight!

When you're a new parent, other parents will often say to you, "Enjoy this - it flies by," and how these are "the best of times, so soak them up." In the midst of the seemingly never ending long nights and busy days, all I could really feel was how full our days were. Time doesn't appear to be flying by as it once did yet, here I am, returning to this blog after a two-year hiatus and all I can think is, "Has it really been two years?"

I want you to know that you can always return to anything you have started, again and again. That you don't have to keep doing the same thing, day after day. That you can take long, extended breaks.

Oh, my sweet boy, your life has offered me an experience of LOVE that I have never known before.
I love you more than all the stars in the sky, more than all the waves in the ocean and more than the sky is high. Truly, you are my favorite person on our planet. (Your dad is a close second ;)

This old blog of mine has become a love letter to you - and your sister (more on her in a bit). The pictures above are of you in old pajamas of mine from the 1970s as well as demonstrations of your sparkling personality. We feel so lucky to have you in our lives. Often, your father and I just look each other in the eyes as we marvel over you and your development.

I wanted to share here a few things about your growth for your future perusal and because, by the time you're asking, I might not remember all of this.

One of your first words was "moon."
When you were born, we lived in an apartment complex here in Encinitas and I would walk you around that complex, sometimes upwards of 5x/day. At around eight months old, you started pointing at the moon and calling it by its name (because obviously it was part of the ritual I created with you).

When you were around 20 months old, we moved into our big, ol' house here in Cardiff. This is where I created a cooperative of mamas & babes to gather 2x/weekly so that you could get your needs for socialization and educational development met (the government in California is mandating vaccinations for every child, so public institutions are off limits for us but, really, that's fine because I don't believe in their big box-store stamp called "education"). Ours is also a community homestead as well, thus we have had many roommates - young to adult - whom you have learned from and also loved.

Today, at three years old, we continue to share a bedroom and remain tightly connected as I continue to enjoy breastfeeding you before nap and bedtime.

One day, not long after your second birthday, you and I were in the kitchen when I came down to your level to ask you if you knew what your full name was. "Cahlo," you said. "Yes," I replied, "and your full name is - Cahlo Re Moon." Your eyes widened with a sparkling glimmer as you looked at me with deep realization of who you are.

You are Magic. You are natural. You are a nightly phenomenon that we can rely on. You are in tune with the rhythm of life. All of this as a deep knowing danced there in your eyes and, in that moment, I experienced the power of giving someone a name.

After that, whenever people would ask you how old you are (because human adults are silly and think that this is some way of engaging with a child), you would respond, "Cahlo Re Moon."

Oh, my sweet boy. I struggle with my own self love and self care and I want to do better in being an example to you (and your sister).
If there is anything that I could impart to you it is that you are so deeply loved, you are so worthy of loving attention and that you are LOVE itself. Nothing more & nothing less.
This is what I wish most for you - that you carry this deep knowing in your soul.

So, I keep bringing up your sister.

It was the summer after you were born when I got the wild hair up my butt that I wanted to have another child. (A wild hair because you did not sleep through the night until around 22 months of age so I felt pretty harried and strung out often, truth be told.)

Yes, I want you to have a sibling.
There is nothing on the planet like a brother or sister or just another person who intimately knows what life was like growing up with your two parents.
Certainly, for my own selfish reasons, I hope to have a girl child. As I am attached to the idea of raising a girl who knows the power of her body and the rhythm of her cycles - wisdom that was lost for thousands of years and was certainly not taught to me while I was growing up.

To this day, I wonder what my life would have been like if I were raised they way that your father and I are raising you.

We are raising you to appreciate the wonder and power of your body and boyhood, yes, as well as to embody the powers of gentleness, cooperation and consent.
And you are already such a great big brother to little Mia, who has been living with us since August. you are so kind and loving with her.
(Though, more recently, you have entered into a 3 year old developmental stage of asking "Why?" and being more obstinate. Lately, you are using a new tone of voice that sounds more "Rarrrr"-ish and so Mama Grace has been referring to you as "Cahlo Bear." ;)

Yet, everybody who knows you, loves you,
my sweet Cahlo Re Moon.