MommyBlog

1. We still haven’t found the origin of the smell.   Starting to panic.   I mopped and disinfected every non-porous (and some not-so-non-porous) surface today, and yet a phantom scent lingers…

2. There is a fox caught in our fully fenced yard.   He spent part of the day sunning on our deck and the larger part wedged beneath it, just beyond where Dudley could get him.     I called the DNR and County Animal Control and they told me that they couldn’t remove him from our property unless I trapped him first.   Thanks.   Oh, and their best advice was, “Just leave the gate open until he decides to leave.”   Yeah.   Or until his girlfriend decides to move in, too.

3. Kenny has started quoting random passages from the Veggie Tales movie Jonah.   He watched it in the car both ways to New York and back and spent the better part of his waking hours today working the words “Nineveh,” “fish slap” and “Mr. Twisty” into his conversation.  

4. Cooper threw not his first temper tantrum today because I wouldnt’ let him play with a tomato.

5. If a fox found his way into our yard through the fence, could he then find a way to get into our house through the  dog door?

We rolled in about an hour ago from a trip to New York to visit Casey’s family.   His dad threw a surprise party for his mom’s 70th birthday, and it was a hit, to say the least.   Though Ruby knew that all three of her sons and their families were coming,  we don’t think she caught  wind of the party until right before.     The 25 or so guests consisted of friends that Ruby and George have known forever – some even since elementary school, and most since at least high school.   It was such a unique gathering; so many of them staying so close for so long.   I could write for another hour about the stories I heard (or overheard, I should say), but I think I may divulge too much in the recount.   So Happy Birthday, Ruby!

Another Happy Birthday (today!) to my dear Dad!   I won’t divulge his age, but he’s timeless anyway, so it doesn’t make a difference.   I love you, Dad!   Sorry I missed being with you today, but we look forward to a belated celebration later this week!

Walking into our house after the long, traffic-laden drive, however, we were greeted by a distinctly foul smell.   It was close to spoilt milk, but after thorough examinations by first me, then Casey, then Kenny, then Dudley (Cooper declined, perhaps because the poop in his diaper was masking the curdled smell), we found nothing.   I ran the disposal for a while, cleaned out the fridge and I guess we’ll just leave it at that.   I can’t smell it anymore, anyway.

So now the kids are asleep and Casey is trying to catch up on some missed work before the new work week starts and I am contemplating starting laundry, or just going to bed.   Sleep was not a big part of the long weekend, and I feel almost hungover from the lack of it.   Sleep, perchance to dream… Ah;   There’s the rub.   I’ll probably dream about the laundry.

1. How much do you clean house when a babysitter is coming over?   Nothing?   A quick vacuum?   A full-on scrub-a-dub??

2. How many days per week do you stay home (or go only where you can walk to) all day, because it’s just too much to get everyone in the car to go somewhere?

3. Have you ever given your child a cleaning with wet wipes, instead of putting them in the bathtub?

4. Have you ever asked your preschooler to watch your baby, “just for a second?”

5. Have you ever locked yourself in the bathroom to find even a moment of peace and quiet?

5(b). Have you ever locked yourself in the bathroom and eaten a chocolate bar in secret?

Just curious.   Not that I’m speaking from experience, or anything… just wondering…

Cooper hates to get his diaper changed.   Really, though, I don’t know many one-year-olds who do like to lie calmly strapped to a changing table while a Large Adult cuffs their ankles and lifts with one hand  and efficiently swipes the arse with cold clammy wipes with the other.  

I need to get Casey to take a video of me trying to change a Cooper poop, though.   Because it would get so many hits on Youtube, I might find my fifteen minutes of fame after all.   The kid poops five times a day, I kid you not.   I could feed him nothing but dry crackers and bananas for days at a time and he  would still manage  to squeeze out five  big ones  a day.     But I do understand that what goes in must come out, and often not looking much different from how it went in in the first place.   Can I help it that he begs for  food every time we pass the kitchen??   “Daw-bee!” he yells, as I open the fridge door and he spies the little case of strawberries; “BAW!” he demands, pointing at the bowl with nectarines, peaches and plums inside.   And hello, corn and raisins??   Do those things ever even digest?

But back to the changing table drama.   I lie him down, he rolls over.   I strap him in, he slides out and does a bomb dive towards the floor.   I start to take off the diaper, he bucks his body, lands his feet right in the slime, then kicks me in the face, all the while howling like it’s him that’s suffering.   It takes me five minutes of wrestling just to get him clean – forget actually getting another diaper on.   I have resorted to literally crawling behind him on the floor, stretching the velcro tabs around his belly while trying to hold the front in place with the other hand.   Kenny has resorted to running and hiding under the bed in my room because, “I don’t like it when you make Cooper cry!”

Cry?  It’s usually me that ends up crying by the end of it.   Poop.

This morning, Good Morning America Weekend did a segment on “mommy bloggers.”   I missed it, but received several emails today that people had seen my blog on the segment.   I just watched it online, and sure enough, the MommyBlog banner scrolled across the screen twice in the six-minute feature!   So if you are here to check us out after seeing the fleeting view on GMA, welcome!   And come back again soon!

The segment itself was on mommy bloggers making money and getting freebies from reviewing products.   The report said that 85% of mommy bloggersreap some kind of monetary or gift reward for mentioning or reviewing products online.   Just to clarify for this blog, I have never gotten paid anything.   (Don’t I wish I had a paycheck to show for all my work here!)   I have received a few free books and cds (and once some maternity clothes), reviews of which can be found on the sidebar under “The Web-Surfing Mommy.”   At one time I did quite a few, but these have recently fallen to the wayside.   But to be clear, I have never been sent on a glitzy trip, or gotten anything very expensive in exchange for writing about it here.   But hey, if anyone out there needs me to review an all-expenses-paid trip to a Four Seasons resort spa, by all means, email me!

Now, back to business.

This weekend was all about The Orioles.   All set for another game day, we were ready after breakfast…

That left us with about 12 hours to get psyched up for the game, so you can imagine that we were ready to see some action when we got there.   We have great seats – even Cooper can see what’s going on…

…kind of, anyway…   But he and Kenny do get into the game…

“Don’t drop the ball, Luke!”

“ooh…  I think he could have made it a triple…”

“Hm… is that the hot dog guy I see before me??”

“Dude.. easy on the mustard next time!”

Family shot taken by the mom of the little boy behind us who knocked over my beer in the 2nd inning…

It was a great game – we made it until the end of the 8th inning, and we made it home in time to see the O’s win in the 11th inning on TV.   What a night!   Now if only we could get the Orioles to win a few more games…

… but who knew that summer would be so busy??   Gone are the evening marathons on the computer after the kids go to bed – say hello instead  to a glass of wine on the dock as the sun sets.   Seriously, though, every time I sit down to write something, it seems as if something else beckons.  

Last night, the beckoning came from a little voice that shouted, “Mama!   Cooper just pooped on the floor and now he’s playing with it!”   And yes, that was what was happening.   You see, Cooper has a diaper rash from here to Mississippi, and one of the doctor’s remedies was to let him run around with no diaper as much as possible.   Yeah, great advice for a kid who poops like, 8 times a day.   We’d only been out of the bathtub for 98 seconds, and I was in the boys room getting their pjs out.   Kenny and Cooper raced into my room, naked as jay birds, to play hide and seek, and just as I was about to walk in to dress them, I heard the cackling shout from Kenny.

There was poop all over the white carpet, all over the white couch by my window (slipcovered, thank goodness!), all over Cooper (all over, folks) and there  he was, coming down the hall to meet me, leaving poppy knee prints as he crawled, dragging his “blankie” through the mess as it trailed behind.   Kenny was dancing between the piles and prints, alternately laughing and looked shocked.

And that’s why you should never leave a bare-bottomed-boy unattended.

Speaking of that boy, he is upstairs not napping.   Kenny has a once-a-week “camp” that he’s been going to; it lasts a whooping two hours, which is not quite long enough to go home to put Cooper down for a nap, and too long to kill time running errands with a sleepy baby.   I have a feeling that The Coop is going to fall asleep just about the time we have to load into the car to pick Kenny up.     Ah, timing is everything.

Today my baby turns one!!   What a year it has been, my sweet little Cooper.   You are a party wherever you go!  

Yesterday we had a party for the Cooper man – seven families came to our house to celebrate our little circus.   There was fishing, kayaking and lots and lots of FOOD (Cooper’s favorite part).   Watching him contemplate the birthday cake was all the entertainment we needed.   At first he wasn’t sure if we really meant for him to dive in, but once he realized that it was fair game, dive in he did!  

He literally ate until he couldn’t eat another bite, then rubbed his eyes and pointed up, as if to say, “Enough festivities… it’s bedtime!”   I took him up and put him to bed and the party continued for another hour and a half.   Rock on.

 

Aside from marathon cake eating, Cooper took his first steps on Saturday!   We were having crabs for dinner on the deck with Casey’s parents, when out of nowhere, Cooper let go of the chair he was holding onto and walked ten steps before plopping amicably on his bum.   He has yet to repeat the feat (aside from a step or two here and there) but it won’t be long now!

And to MommyBlog!   I am 35 and this blog is now three years old.   Time flies, eh?

I wanted to write something poignant, misty-eyed and reflective, but maybe I’ll save that for a Happy Birthday post to Cooper in four days…

It was a good day… a great one, actually!   I woke up to coffee and presents in bed, then Dudley and I  went for a run.    Later on my parents came over to give me a present (I LOVE it!!) and watch the boys so I could go meet Casey for lunch in the city.   I hired a cleaning lady to come over (a birthday present to myself!   We are having a big party for Coop on Sunday, and Casey’s parents are coming to stay for the week; stressing about cleaning the house was the last thing I needed right now…), and I came home from lunch to a sparkling house, a napping Cooper and a happy Kenny, who was being doted on and indulged by his Grammy and Grampy.   For dinner we had burgers on the grill and sat outside on the deck, gazing at the water and eating a Carvel ice cream cake, then I headed off to my church band practice.   I took the convertible and for once I was glad that our drive to church is a long haul.

What a year this has been.   This time last year I was 39 1/2 weeks pregnant.   This year has gone so fast… now my baby is about to turn one!   It seems like a blur.   I spent some time and re-read some of the posts from this year, and I was overcome with how glad I am that I have a blog.   I was never very good at journals or diaries, but the blogging thing fits.   What a hoot this will be for Kenny and Cooper one day.

Speaking of Kenny and Cooper, I was thinking the other day about “mommy blogging” and the children we write about.   Can’t you just imagine that 20 years down the road there are going to be group therapy sessions for “Recovering Children of Mommy Bloggers?”   Just kidding…

Cooper is officially weaned.   This is not the dramatic statement it was when I was finally able to say that Kenny was weaned.   Kenny would have nursed round the clock until he was in grade school, if I had let him.   In fact, at Kenny’s 1 year check up, the doctor gently told me that I should really start pushing solid food before nursing him, instead of after, or he was never going to learn to eat.   The kid loved Mama Milk, and I had plenty to share, what can I say?   I finally got him to kick the habit when he was 14 and a half months old; we were on vacation with my in-laws, and they provided distraction enough (and sweets enough!) to make it through the process.

Different story with Cooper.   I just didn’t have the same milk supply this time around.   At 5 months I had to start giving him a bottle of formula at bedtime, because there just wasn’t anything there by the end of the day.   Once he hit nine months and started his love affair with any and all foods I offered him, his nursing went down to first thing in the morning, and right before morning nap.   Then for this past month, it’s only been a little comfort nursing right before his nap, and then suddenly, four days ago, he was done.   There was just nothing there to give him.   Fortunately he’s such a good eater that he hardly seemed to notice.

Until last night.   For some reason at bedtime, he decided that he wanted to nurse.   He started to wail and cry, “Mamam-mil!   Mamam-mil!”   I dissolved into tears of my own.   It’s such a sense of loss when the nursing is over.   And and even greater loss when this time around, it wasn’t necessarily because I was ready, but rather because my body was just through.   And at that moment, I felt like a failure as a mother.

I have read a bit about the shift in hormones that your body goes through when you cease lactation, and I’ve got to admit that I’ve felt far worse this week than any post-partum hormones I may have gone through.   I’ve felt inadequate, humiliated, embarrassed and  self-conscious.   Extreme emotions, I know, but most stemming from the fact that I just wasn’t as good at nursing Cooper as I was with Kenny.   I felt often like my body was betraying me; that I wasn’t even able to keep up with what I was biologically created to do.

I have also been very sad in the last few days over the babies that we lost to miscarriages nearly two years ago.   Partly because I’m coming up on the anniversary of my second miscarriage, and  partly because I’m turning 35 on Thursday.   For whatever reason, 35 is that magic number that the OB world decided was the beginning of the “high-risk” phase of fertility.   It’s the point where your chances of conceiving go down, and chances of miscarriage (and of problems with  the baby) go up.   Casey and I do want another baby, but I suddenly feel the *tick*tock* of the body clock getting louder.    

Sorry to be such a downer tonight.   I promise to think of something funny to write tomorrow.

While I was picking up the house a bit this morning, carrying Cooper on my hip, Kenny walked over to the bookshelf and got down a stack of especially large Tom Clancy hardbacks from the shelves and plopped them down on the couch.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m reading!”

“Oh.   Ok.   Carry on, then,” I said and walked into the office with Cooper to check some emails.   I heard Kenny open a book and begin to “read” aloud.   At first I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but then realized that he was piecing together, rather comically, random sentences and phrases from recent books we have read.   And then I heard (in a dramatic, nearly Charlton Heston-esque, boom):

“….And Then Jesus Rose from the Dead.   And Then He Said, ‘Ta Da!”