Hear Me Out

I have said twice this past weekend, to two separate audiences, that I want to work on a craft of some sort because I feel like I have nothing to show for myself. Both audiences looked at me and then pointedly at our thriving little boy.

OK, yes. I do have a thriving little boy. Whom I personally believe is a genius (crawling after the cat and whispering "tat! tat!" = genius. No doubt). And I keep a clean house and I cook meals while only rarely burning the bottoms of the pans to a black, tarry mess.

But I don't really feel like I do much for ME. I look at friends' arts and crafts on facebook, and occasionally go to www.etsy.com and think "I could do something like that," but I never really do.

Today that changes. I decided to start from scratch with my knitting. I learned a few years ago and picked it up fairly quickly, then got ahead of myself a little bit with projects that were beyond my expertise....which led to frustration, and later, several half-finished products all about the place. So I picked an "easy" tank to start on, as well as a crocheted handbag. And I hope to pick up a cross-stitch for Reid's room, too.

Reid's naptime is usually spent doing yoga or pilates or cleaning. When I get time to myself, I watch mind-numbing television and before bed, I read (I make it a couple pages before falling asleep). All of this is fine, but it's not really stimulating. I love, love, love being a mom and I love, love, loooooove staying home with my guy. But I feel like I need to create something that's for me. As much as I don't mind cooking or cleaning, to me, these are chores. Crafting will be my hobby.

Hopefully I will have some progress for you to check back on here.

Guilty Pleasures

1. Ice cream, lots of ice cream. If you are a facebook friend, you know this already. Look. I am running between 15-20 miles a week, I am doing yoga during naptime, I am keeping the house clean, I have a happy and well-fed (if perhaps not always sparkling clean) child. I am too tired to drink wine. So I have my big bowl every night after Reid goes to bed and watch....

2. Pregnant in Heels on Bravo. Good grief. This show, and the women on it, are hilarious. And Rosie Pope is a maternity concierge. If you can believe it, things worked out just great without the expertise of an incredibly high-priced maternity concierge. Rosie Pope is pretty funny though. And she's British and I'm an anglophile.

3. 90210. Did you know that the Walshes lived on Hillcrest Drive? Did you ever notice that Kelly's birthday is at the end of the school year during their senior year of high school, but later, in their junior year of college, it's at the beginning of the year? David had a crystal meth problem, Dylan was an alcoholic and a heroin addict, Kelly did coke, Brandon was a compulsive gambler, and Donna was addicted to painkillers. Yet they all drink. Cross-addiction, anyone? No? OK. These girls wore an awful lot of business suits in college. Thank you SoapNet for allowing me to ponder these issues.

4. Teen Mom. Well, it's over now, but...ohhhh Teen Mom. What a train wreck of a show. It's the anti-Pregnant in Heels. These girls make phenomenally bad choices on a weekly basis. I don't know why it entertains me so.

5. Friends. There is always room for a good Friends episode. And then, once my TV of choice is over for the evening, I go to

6. Bed at 9pm. "To read." I don't read. I go to sleep. And it is glorious.

It's 9:10 now, and that book's not going to read itself.

Thankful

This weekend, I had the worst toothache I have ever had. At first it was like a migraine in my mouth, and it progressed to the point where I felt like my tooth was in labor. It hurt so bad. On Monday, I called the dentist on his cell phone, having finally deemed it a "dental emergency." Long story short, by 4pm I was leaving the endodontist's office after a root canal.

I'm thankful that my dentist gives out his cell phone, I'm thankful that the doctor could perform the root canal so quickly, and I'm thankful that even though I'm sore, the pain is not nearly as bad as it was.

Last night, we had to take Reid to urgent care because he was coughing and breathing really heavy. He has a respiratory virus, which should clear up on its own in a couple of days. He got a dose of prednisone to help him breathe in the meantime. I'm thankful for the quick turnaround time at urgent care, and thankful that it's only a virus and isn't going to require hospitalization or breathing treatments. And above all, I'm thankful that the little guy is still smiling for the most part through all of this.

And then I woke up last night with a really sore wrist. I remembered that I tried to adjust Reid in the stroller one-handed yesterday. And that when my wrist cracked and popped, I thought, "well that's going to be uncomfortable." And you know what? I'm not thankful. Nope, I've been patient and calm with everything else that's gone on this week, and I choose to not be thankful or to see a silver lining on this one at all. Stupid stupid ouchy stupid wrist. Stupid. Ouch. Wah.

9 months

In the time it takes to gestate a human being, my little one has morphed from a tiny baby into a pre-toddler. He is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything (including the wall, which to me indicates that his balance is good enough that he doesn't need furniture), and has developed this toddler-like giggle that might as well be a fluorescent light over his head that says "I'M DOING SOMETHING NAUGHTY!!!!"

He eats whatever is put in front of him, including beans, excepting grapes, and he eats a lot of it. I was reading another blog recently wherein a mother posted a photo of her toddler's dinner, and Reid has easily twice that.

Sleep could be better but could be worse. The thing that bothers me the most about sleeping is that people always ask about it. "Oh! A baby! How does he sleep?" I don't know. How do YOU sleep?

He's got two teeth and may be getting another one. I thought I saw a flash of white in there the other day. It's like Jaws lurking below the surface. Although not quite as scary. But a little scary.

He's starting to show a fun personality and a strong will. He seems to enjoy making us laugh. He does not enjoy having toys (or remotes, or cell phones, or the cat's ears, or my wallet) taken away from him, or sitting still when he could be on the move. This includes activities such as diaper changes and car rides.

He is busy, busy, busy, but even when he's playing independently, he looks at me frequently to make sure I'm still here. Sometimes he crawls up on my lap, puts his thumb in his mouth, and puts his head on my shoulder. How I manage to function after such an event is beyond me, what with being a giant pile of goo and all.

Happy 9 month birthday to my little boy...now if you'll excuse me, I need to go refill his high chair tray...again.