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I am writing this on Max’s 1st Birthday – thinking back to when this little man joined our life just 365 days ago and all of the wonderful changes that have occurred in him and our family over the past year! As I stated when I started this blog, who know’s how often I will update this, but as I have reflected on the year today I thought it was the perfect time. While I knew this would be a busy year, I am not sure that I could have guessed how many changes we were about to embark on.
A quick recap: So, shortly after going back to work Robert started interviewing with Dannon (yep, yogurt) and got a great offer to do a job he was really excited about (it had been awhile since I’d seen him charged up about work). On a Monday in May he gave his notice at Philip Morris USA and subsequently accepted this new opportunity in Seattle. That Friday, I was offered an executive role as Director of Retail in NOT Seattle, but San Francisco… now we had a choice to make. We always knew that at some point we would face a crossroads and have to decide whose career to follow. After much sole searching and discussion, we decided to back up our bags, lives and kids to head out on a new adventure in the Bay Area. I was thrilled for the new opportunity, but would be lying if I didn’t say heart broken to leave my friends, family and the city I’ve called home most all of my life.
After living in a hotel for nearly a month, we moved into a cute home in Dublin, CA. Robert, as part of his decision to not take the Dannon job became a stay at home dad for a bit. I am not sure I have ever seen him more exhausted or fulfilled as a parent than those couple of months he stayed at home. He was given a unique opportunity to forge an even closer bound with both of our kids. He jumped into his new job with both feet, signing Lauren up for swim class, scoping out pre-schools and finding lauren play dates. Four weeks after he started to look for “paid” job, he was offered the opportunity to sit on the “other side” of the desk, but working as a Category Manager for Pacific Convenience and Fuel (largest Circle K Franchisee). We then embarked on the daunting task of finding a new nanny (yeah Craigslist) and pre-school. Both had a high bar as Kyra (Seattle nanny) and Kaleidescope School (Seattle pre-school) were tops. After lots of interviews and two really top candidates, we selected Sandy, who has been a god’s send to our family. She is warm, active and intuitive about my children’s needs. The pre-school has been a bit more challengin, there are NO pre-schools in the area that are truly part day pre-schools and don’t lean towards being a daycare or all day school… finally I had to barter (I know, hard to believe) with an all day school to allow Lauren to come half day, three days a week (the benefit of a poor economy, allowed me to do that). It has been going okay, but Lauren has been struggling with the school not having enough balance between learning and playtime.
The kids have adjusted remarkably well, aside from Max still having a “fear of strangers”… it has gotten better to the point that if Mom and/or Dad are there, he will let a stranger hold him, but we can’t dare leave. That does make leaving him at places like the church nursery almost impossible. I think that he had a tendency for this anways, but the move during the height of his stranger danger time exasterbated things a bit. Lauren misses her friends and neighbors in Seattle, but thankfully makes friends easily. We miss the all of the kids her age in Seattle, and are still trying to find neighbors with kids. At Halloween as we were trick-or-treating we were filled with hope as we walked up to a house in a near by coul-de-sac that had a slew of bikes/trikes in the front… unfortunately the parents seemed a bit odd, didn’t bite when we said we were new the neighborhood and I didn’t think we had much in common when I noticed the NO TO PROP 8 bumper sticker on the mini van. Bummer.
For me, this has been a big professional challenge on so many fronts. My team is great, my peers have interesting experiences, but this market has not known what winning feels like for a really long time (they’ve only grown volume twice in ten years!). My new boss operates from a place of fear and does not appreciate the contributions of his team members. I have found myself in a new culture and atmosphere and have been working to transform how we think about ourselves and the business. I happy to report that my first full quarter, that I built the plan for, we are exceeding our volume and profit goals for both periods… first time all year! I was one of eleven women selected all women in North America’s business to hone my skills and have access to our President, Canada’s President (female) and three other Senior female VP’s at a week long event in Montreal. Leading up the event I had to undergo IQ, EQ and other analytical testing to assess my apptitude and emotional stability to progress to higher levels in the organization… very interesting stuff… they still allowed me to go, so I must not be totally nuts. I had to present to the Senior Executives and receive direct and bold feedback throughout. Felt good about the week, my performance and most importantly the opportunity to network with not only the senior executives, but the other ten talented women selected.
So as I reflect on this year, it has been one of personal, familial and professional challenge, but I feel we’ve risen to the challenge and are better for it. I am so grateful for my beautiful (and challenging) children and all of the joy they bring. It has been so fun watching Lauren be on the brink of reading… she has at least 50 books memorized! She is definatley a bit of a pistol (translation: pain in the ass) with Max, is still learning the fine art of sharing and playing nice. She is incredibly independent, which will ensure that I am not paying for her when she’s 30, and I keep having to remind myself that this is a good thing that I must nuture and reward with my actions and words. I am amazed at her varied vocabulary and how clearly she is able to articulate her feelings, desires and dreams (translation: boss me and Robert around). Seriously though, she tells us if she is frusterated or if she is elated… yes those are her words. I am so proud of her and how much she is learning and the person that she is becoming.
Max is my littler lover, he hugs and smiles so easily. Unless you are changing his diaper or clothes chances are he is happy and go-lucky. He is learning to be tough and resiliant from his sister! He has loved breast feeding, and despite that I’ve had a million reasons to stop, am still enjoying the special bond and relationship that it has fostered between us. He really likes blocks and is quite adept at feeding/putting shapes through holes. He seems to like to assemble things as much as break them down… engineering? Sandy is speaking to him almost exclusively in Spanish, which he completely understands now. I am guessing this will delay his verbal speaking a little bit, but have not doubts he will be better for it. We are doing sign language with him as we did with Lauren, but he hasn’t picked it up as quickly. He is signing “all done” and it seems like the rest will follow shortly. I don’t know what it is about that magical one year market, but it seems like the time when so many things come together for children. He is speaking so much now… I said “drop” and he repeated it back today… Robert said “Lauren” and he tried to say it back. Within the month I think his vocabulary will explode. Max began walking at eleven months, five days faster than Lauren did. He is busy toddling around the house and chasing his sister.
Hopefully, my next post will be sooner than nine months like the last. I know you’ll understand if it’s not. ;)
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