Truer words were never spoken

From T, tonight before bed: "He's a good Daddy for wiping my bottom."

What am I? Chopped liver?

Ry is T's favorite person in the whole world. Most days, I just accept this and move on. I get it, Ry can play fun games (crawl up Daddy and touch the ceiling, be flung in the air). He's a novelty, and frankly, T doesn't get in trouble as much with Ry as he does with me.

Some days, however, I start to feel like the hired staff. Almost every morning I get T out of bed, our conversation goes something like this:

Me: Good morning!

T: But ... I want Daddy.

Me: Sorry kiddo.

T: Where's Daddy?

Me: He's at work.

T: He'll come home after my nap though.

Me: Yep, he'll come home after your nap.

And last night at dinner:

T: Thanks for getting me milk, Daddy!

Ry: Mommy got you milk. Thank Mommy.

T: Oh. Thanks Mommy. Thanks for making my dinner, Daddy!

Ry: Mommy made your dinner. Thank Mommy.

T: Oh. Thanks Mommy. Thanks for getting my monkey plate Daddy!

Ry: Mommy got your monkey plate.

T: Oh.

And every night when Ry gets home from work:

T: DADDY'S HOME!!!!!!!!! DADDY!!!!!!!! Mommy, Daddy's home!!!

Moar snow!!?!!**!!!

They're predicting another 6 inches of snow for us on Thursday and Friday. It's been a very wintery kind of winter. I like it. It's certainly better than the ugly 40 degrees and raining that we've had today. Give me snow anytime.

see more Epic Fails

Sneak Attack

It's funny how things can sneak up on you. The other evening, I was putting Little Bit down for the night. It was dark and warm and as I dozed I started thinking about how much my life was going to change in the fall. One of the requirements for beginning our nursing program is to have your titers checked to make sure you're up to date on all vaccinations. I know there are some vaccines you cannot have if you are pregnant, but I didn't know if breastfeeding was a counter indication for vaccination.I looked down at my baby as he fell asleep and started wondering. What if I had to have a booster vaccine? What if I couldn't have it while I was nursing? Was I ready to quit nursing in September? F would only be 10 months old. Maybe I would be. But what if I wasn't? What if he wasn't?

And before I knew it, I was in tears. I never realized that I had such a strong emotional connection to breastfeeding. I always figured I was nursing my babies because it was the healthiest thing for them, and frankly, a lot more convenient. As it turns out, I take as much out of the experience as they do.

As soon as I got downstairs, I got online, and to my delight, found that vaccines during breastfeeding were OK. Whew. Now F and I can decide when it's time to stop nursing. Thank goodness.

Tightrope walking the clothesline

My Dad (and his brothers) spin quite a yarn about his childhood adventures. He has broken bones tightrope walking a clothesline, falling out of the top of a bunk bed, and falling down the stairs (because he was wearing my Grandma's high heels). Technically when he fell down the stairs he didn't break anything, he just had to have eye surgery. He also broke his little brother's nose by convincing him to run and jump into his bed. Until recently, these stories were quaint tales of yore. I enjoyed imagining my Dad as that adventurous little boy. Until recently.When I realized that I may be in for the real-life version of these quaint old stories. Not only does T look a lot like his Papa, he is showing an early predilection for his behavior. In the past week, he has sustained an impressive bruise on his face from running into a jungle gym, whacked his forehead on the dresser after a "way big jump" from his bed, and gotten in trouble countless times for jumping on couches and jumping from the couch to the (lightly padded) ottoman. My eldest is an ER visit waiting to happen. Thanks a lot, Dad.

One well loved Raffe

T has many animal loves in his life. They are all creatively named (Mouse, Iguana, Bear, Other Bear, and Hibby). Only one animal, however, holds the special lovey place in his heart. Meet Raffe.T received Raffe during his baby shower from his Mummu. We didn't realize until he was about 18 months old, just how important Raffe would become in our little man's life. He is the indispensable bedtime companion.

We actually have 4 Raffes. For a long time, one lived at T's school, one was in his bed, one was in the wash, and the extra was hiding in case we had a spillage incident. I have just put in the order for two more Raffes. As you can see, Raffe The Eldest is starting to look a little loved. I have no problem letting T continue to use him as long as he can. I'm just afraid that one day he's going to come out of the washer without horns. There would be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And so Raffe's cousins are once again making their way across the Atlantic to bring comfort to a little boy.

Whiffless lift?

I have been using the Target brand of dryer sheets for about a year now. All of our laundry paraphernalia is scent-free because T has really sensitive skin and I'm not doing separate laundry just for him. Anyway. Today I tossed a dryer sheet into a load of clothes and did a double take. Did that say "Whiffless lift?" Two things crossed my mind.

1. I don't read labels.

2. What in Sam's hell is Whiffless lift?
Seriously, do you have any idea? I'm calling marketing department prank.

Maybe it's the name

Seriously, who thought this was a good name for a baby doll?

Would you look at that?

It's my baby. And he has hair. Granted, it's just a little tiny bit of hair, but it's more than I'm used to. He looks like a tiny punk rocker.Ok, he's a tiny punk rocker in giraffe jammies.

We're in trouble

T has a tremendous aptitude for all things mechanical. Ry has often regaled me with stories of destruction from his youth. I'm afraid we're in for more of the same in T. Today he helped Ry replace the doorknobs on all the downstairs doors. He's pretty cute, right? Then he systematically locked himself inside each of the rooms. To be fair, Ry did ask him to lock the door (once) so that he could see how easy it was to unlock from the outside. Luckily for us, it's really easy.

He's been able to un-deadbolt doors since he could walk and destroys toys with impressive speed. I can't count how many times I've told him "sorry babe, sometimes you can't fix broken." I just hope that someday he'll use his powers for good and finish the basement or something.

Re: Bawawawawawa

I'm a bad mother, I didn't do a baby book for T, so I was looking through old posts to see when T hit different milestones. I came across this one. It makes me smile.

It's not Wednesday

There is a blog that gives writing prompts every Wednesday. I know it's not Wednesday, but I liked the prompt and a childhood friend of mine wrote a great post that inspired me to write my own about True Love.

I met my husband in June 1997. I was 17 and he was 16. We had both auditioned, separately, for two summer shows. We both received parts in both shows. The part I received in The Mikado was much larger and I decided to take it since it was children's theatre and the last year I could participate. I think Ry decided to take the part not just because it was the lead, but also because he had some friends who were also cast in main parts.

After the first rehearsal, one of his friends asked me if I'd like to go out to grab a bite to eat after we were finished. Since I already had plans that evening, I told him that I would have to go another time. My future husband walked up to me a few minutes later and said "So, I hear you're too good for us." Uh oh. I had to spend all summer with these people. And so I decided to cancel my plans and go out with 3 people who would become lifelong friends.

Ry and I began dating within a few weeks and were nearly inseparable until I left for college in late August. We knew (and admitted to each other) that we met each other too young. That didn't make it any easier for me when we broke up a few months into my freshman year of college.

We stayed in touch through college. We dated other people, made separate friends, and generally lived separate lives. Whenever we got together on breaks though, it was like we had never been apart. Several of my parent's friends remarked on how easy we were around each other. It's true, Ry has always felt like home to me.

I finished college and moved to Florida. Ry broke up with his longtime college girlfriend and I broke up with my Florida boyfriend during his senior year of college. We reconnected through those breakups.

I moved back to Illinois to pursue graduate school a few months before Ry finished college. We once again became inseparable. We came this close to getting back together so many times during those final months, but Ry's head was still all kind of screwed up over his recent breakup. Then he accepted a job in NJ. I'll admit I cried more than a handful of tears after that announcement. Then I put on my big girl panties and told myself that Ry and I were never going to be more than good friends. And in time, that was OK.

Ry moved to NJ and I started grad school. We talked a lot on the phone and maintained a beautiful friendship. I also started dating a clever, charming guy from my graduate program. Ry called late one night after I had been out with a group of friends. "I kissed a boy tonight!" I told him. There was silence on the other end of the phone. "What did you do that for?" he asked. Mostly because I wanted to.

Ry came back to visit a few weeks later. Before he left, we grabbed some custard from our favorite custard spot and walked across the street to a local park, chatting about life. And then he dropped the bombshell. He loved me. He wanted to try and date long distance. I got really angry.

He couldn't have figured this out before he up and moved to NJ? Apparently not. Apparently NJ was what he needed to clear his head. He realized that once he moved I was the person he talked to the most. He missed me. Here I had finally closed the book on having more than a dear friendship. I sent him back to NJ while I thought things through.

I knew that if we started dating again it was going to be really serious, really fast. Or, it was going to be the end of our friendship. I wasn't entirely sure I was willing to risk that friendship. After much soul-searching, I realized that I couldn't not try to make it work. After all, I loved him too. I always had.

The rest of the story isn't really that interesting. We dated long-distance until my grad program was over. We got engaged during that time and married right after. While we were dating I remembered thinking how lucky it was that we both happened to choose that same show during the fateful summer of 1997. At our wedding shower, I realized how wrong I was. You see, we were destined to meet. As people talked about us during the shower, we realized that we each, individually knew most of the people in the room before we knew them together. Somehow, we would have run into each other. We would have met. I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have this man in my life. He still feels like home.

It's snowpocalyptic

We here on the east coast are in the midst of yet another snowstorm. This is the 3rd major storm we've had this winter, and apparently seasonal snowfall totals are being broken all over the place.Today's brings the possibility of real ugliness tomorrow. We still had about 5 inches on the ground from last weekend's snowfall. Today we got a mixture of rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow, while temperatures hovered around freezing. The temperatures tonight are going to drop, which means that tomorrow the roads should be a sheet of solid ice covered in snow. Awesome.

I really like snowstorms. It's nice to be forced to stay inside, play games, watch movies and drink cocoa. All the area schools (and Ry's work) are closed today and tomorrow, so we have had a bonus weekend.

Perhaps my favorite part of these storms has been the weather channel's coverage of them. I can't remember what they called the first one back in December, but last weekend's was "The Winter Powerhouse" and this one is "February Fury". Perhaps they should start naming them the way they do hurricanes. Otherwise we might end up with "Snowpocalptic Snowtastrophic Snownami Snowstorm of Doom!!" The reporters crack me up too, because they are always in location before anything really starts happening. Then they have to talk about how nothing is happening. Then they talk to bystanders about how nothing is happening ... yet. But of course, pretty soon it's going to be OMG SNOW!!! So stay home.

We intend to do just that.

Lucky me

I get to wake up to this every day.

I hate the smell of wet cat

But not nearly as much as I hate the smell of poopy cat. You may remember that our cat has some hygiene issues. Lately, he's been leaving cat poo smears all over the couches and our shower. Yesterday things came to a head when we saw a giant poo cat print on our white bathroom rug. And so, the cat got a bath. First we (and by we, I mean Ry) brushed him. We apparently freed a much smaller, quieter cat.
And then we bathed him. I'm afraid I don't have any pictures of that because it took both of us to physically restrain him to keep him in the sink. Even then, he nearly escaped a few times.
Here he is, just after his bath. For such a big, fat cat, he has a sad little rat tail, don't you think? Today he smells a whole lot better, but he's still shedding like crazy if you so much as think about petting him. Good times.

And there is more on the way

We got about 12 inches of snow Friday night into Saturday. The stores were insane on Friday morning (morning on a weekday, don't you people work?). I was afraid I wouldn't make it out for our Superbowl shopping if I didn't go then.

All the snow made for a really peaceful Saturday. We stayed in, watched the snow fall and made cookies. We didn't bother trying to dig out until Sunday, as it snowed until late afternoon and the wind would have obliterated our shoveling efforts.

As per usual, T had a blast playing in the snow. You know you got a lot of snow when you can make a tunnel. Sometime Saturday I remarked to Ry that it was a bummer that all of our snow had fallen on the weekends this year. It would be nice for him to get a snow day. Be careful what you wish for, and all that. The national weather service is calling for 18 inches on Wednesday.

Update: The weather service keeps changing the prediction, but we're definitely on for 12+ inches.

The (un)swaddling of a baby

T was never really a baby who liked to be swaddled. Once he reached his original due date, he was pretty much over it. Little Bit, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep for a very long time unless he was very tightly swaddled.

Over the past few weeks, he's started fighting his swaddle. He gets crazy pissed off and red in the face. Then when I freed his arms, he would furiously try to get his fingers in his mouth. When he couldn't, he'd get crazy pissed off and red in the face. He would finally get over that and jerk himself awake when his arms moved. Then he would get crazy pissed off .... well you know.

So I have slowly started freeing him a little more each night. First, I barely uncovered his hands, so they were still bound up close to his face. This helped him connect fingers and mouth without completely freeing his arms to jerk and wake himself up. The next few nights I would swaddle his shoulders, but leave his arms and hands out. We've eventually worked up to completely swaddle-free arms. He's still sleeping in his wedge, which keeps his arms from flailing about too randomly.

Whoever coined the term "sleeping like a baby" has never actually watched a baby try to sleep. I also never expected to expend so much brain power on how to incrementally free my son from his swaddling. Hey, it's the exciting life I live.

Quarter year baby

Yesterday Little Bit was 3 months old. It seems strange to me that it's only been 3 months, because it feels like he's always been part of our family. This was as close to a smile as I could get out of him for the picture. He's a crazy smiley baby, but as soon as he sees the red focus light on the camera he focuses on that and the smiles go away.

You'll have to excuse his shiny little face. He just got out of the bathtub and his super baby lotion makes him look a little sweaty.

He is really turning into a mellow little man. He's an easy smile and this close to laughing. He is also able to scoot himself forward when he's on his tummy. That, my friends, is scary. I'm not ready for a mobile baby. T didn't start walking until a year, and I'm completely OK if Little Bit follows in his footsteps.

I had to post this picture too. Little Bit often gets this look on his face whenever T is near. T loves his baby brother so much, but he's loud, less than gentle and quite an enthusiastic hugger. I might be a little freaked out if someone 3 times my size appeared out of nowhere to pet my head, kiss my mouth and wrap his arms around me. I look forward seeing their relationship evolve.

Happy 3 months Little Bit! We're so glad you joined us.

Apparently I never hit puberty

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Dick Swett Incident
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Because this made me laugh really hard.

I suppose it did

T: Mommy, you have a boo boo on your face!

Me: No, honey, it's not a boo boo.

T: What is it?

Me: It's just a pimple.

T: The pimple smacked you in the face?

Come on September

Many days I sit back at the end of the day and think about how blessed I am to be able to stay home with my boys. This was not one of those days.

Little Bit decided that naps were so yesterday and took four 30 minute naps. In between naps, he wanted to eat non stop. While there was surprisingly little crying given the lack of sleep, I'm still exhausted from dragging his butt around and thirsty from, you know, feeding him all day.

T has decided that going pee "a little bit" in his underwear is the correct way of getting my attention. We went through 4 pairs today. We have a couple of really good weeks, and then he gets a wild hair and spends the day having accidents.

I had about 5 minutes to myself today ... including bathroom time.

Today was one of those days that I long for September and nursing school. Sure I'll be working my tail off, but for 3 glorious days every week, I get to interact with adults all day. I get to eat a meal without cleaning milk off the floor, pacing the kitchen with a screaming infant or letting my food go cold while I satisfy yet another request for "more something to eat." Heck, I may even get through the day without spit up or an unidentifiable sticky spot on my shirt.

Don't get me wrong. I love my boys. I love that I get to watch them grow up and I love that I'm the one raising them. I certainly don't want to go back to working 50+ hours a week. But some days, I need a break.

V.2 Upgrading

Check him out! He's smiling in his bucket! I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to outgrow the colic. As it turns out, the Doc was right, he appears to be outgrowing it just before his 3 month birthday on Thursday.It has been a joy getting to know him over the past week or so. So much of his first two months were spent crying, eating or sleeping that I didn't really get much of a chance to get to know him. As it turns out, he's a lovely little guy. He has the best smile and is a pretty easy going guy most of the time. We're ever so close to a real giggle. I can't wait.