Thursday, September 29, 2011

Mommies don't get sick days

I love my job as a mommy. It's the best job I've ever had. One really big downside is there are no sick days when you're a stay-at-home mom. I'm not saying stay-at-home moms don't get sick. I'm saying stay-at-home moms have to work even when they are sick. Working mothers pretty much get the same deal. Sure, you get to stay home from work but you probably have a kid or two home with you. Or the kids are at school or daycare but you probably still have to do laundry or cook dinner or something mommy related.

Totally unrelated photo inserted to up the cuteness factor

Mommies don't get to take sick days. Mommies still have to wake up for 3 a.m. feedings. Mommies still have to soothe crying babies and tend scraped knees. Mommies still do the laundry and fix dinner. I'm sure daddies help out, but (unless it's just my house) when daddies get sick, they become babies too. When mommies get sick, they're still Mommy.

Maybe I'm just whining because I hate having a cold. I used to think my mom never got sick, now I realize she was probably sick a lot, she just never got a sick day.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Milo vs Peas

Milo's first attempt at peas didn't go as badly as it could have. My side of the family hates peas, so I'm glad Milo didn't send them flying. I don't want him to be a picky eater like his Mommy was (is). Still, I think he wore as much as he ate.


And he looked damn cute doing it.

Friday, September 16, 2011

5 months old

Dear Milo,

I can't believe you're 5 months old already. Where did the summer go? Those hot days have been replaced by much more temperate ones and cooler nights. You'll soon experience your first autumn.

At this stage in your life, I really shouldn't be surprised by the number of firsts. This past month you got your first cold. You went to your first baseball game. You experienced your first evening with a babysitter. You got your first kiss -- from an 8-month-old baby girl in your Little Gym class. You petted the dog all by yourself for the first time. And you had your first food that wasn't breast milk -- brown rice cereal -- and your first taste of sweet potatoes.

Your first sweet potato mask


You handle new experiences so well that when you got sick and had a few fussy days, it caused Daddy and me a lot of anxiety. If you weren't normally so happy-go-lucky, we probably wouldn't have worried so. Still, even with a stuffy nose, even through your restless nights, you managed smiles for us and allowed yourself to be soothed with songs from Mommy (your current favorite is "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral").

You've been working really hard at sitting up and even standing with support (until you got sick, then standing seemed like a little too much work).

Like father, like son

At the Little Gym we do an exercise called the flagpole (your feet rest on Mommy's tummy while she stands and holds you around the waist) and you have been rocking it. You make the older kids look like amateurs.

Not your best flagpole, but look at the bubbles!

You've started reaching for me when I go to pick you up. Daddy was holding you one day, and I said, "Do you want Mommy?" and held out my hands. You reached for me. I almost cried. Of course, you also reach out for my water glass and coffee cup, insisting you can drink out of a cup now. You've even given it a try -- with your own sippy cup, of course -- with some success.

Note the water down your front

With all the firsts and the fact that you're such a big boy, I sometimes forget that you're still so young. Sometimes I feel like it's taking too long for you to sleep through the night or to sit up on your own. But then I think about not getting up with you in the middle of the night, I think of not holding you while you drift back to sleep, and it makes me realize how quickly time really is passing. Someone said, "The nights are long, but the years are short." How true.

Just a year ago you were a tiny little creature, little more than a bean with a heartbeat. And now you're you -- giggly, cute, chubby-checked (the pharmacist called them "grandma cheeks" because "grandmas like to squeeze them"), playful Milo. My love.


One day you'll read these letters and probably roll your eyes at my sentimentality. But I hope one day after that, you'll read them and realize how much you are loved.

Always,
Mommy

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Storytime

There's nothing quite like a good book on a gloomy day.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Grandparents Day

Milo's been sick this week but he found time to send his Grandpa a combined Grandparents Day/birthday card (Grandparents Day is Sept. 11 and Grandpa's birthday is Sept. 12). We also sent this photo to Grandpa. Grandpa doesn't see Milo very often so he misses out on the cute.


Happy Grandparents Day to the grannies and grampas out there!