Summer observations

1) Summer is actually very short.  Basically 9 weeks which are going by like THAT! (insert snap sound)

2) I've actually gotten closer to my little Sophie.  We have more stretches of downtime to hang out and be silly together.  

3) Both my children are growing up so fast.  Each morning they look a wee bit different.  A longer leg, a leaner face, or maybe even facial features that have been slightly rearranged overnight. Weird, right? 

4) Oh yeah, I also turned 40 but I'm ok with it.  (more on that later)

5) My 20 month old son talks now.  He says no, mine, owie, dooce (for juice), does (toes), mommy, daddy, ami (for grandma), points to his nose.  He also recognizes Thomas (choo-choo) and Elmo (Ellow).  

6) He's also is a little tyrant.  If he were a factory, his only product would be tantrums.  If he were a river - his only flow would be anger.  The one mitigating factor is that he has eczema and though it has ebbs/flows - it looks friggin awful and he looks miserable.  It's like torture to watch him scratch, howl, get up and then sit down, unable to figure out what to do.  All I can do is cover him in Aquaphor, cortisone, distract him and then call the doctor for another appt.  It's been hard on me and most of all on him.  

7) When he wants anything, he says Mommy at the top of his lungs, hurls himself on the floor.  When that doesn't work, he'll scratch his legs (because this always works) and howl "Owie!"  This makes mommy move fast like a kid at a carnival. 

8) The warm weather and long days are glorious.  I wish they would never end.  

9) Next weekend, I'm going away with some old high school (even gradeschool) friends for a 1969 birthday celebration.  Should be fun.  Ok, I lie - I'm nervous about leaving my eczema son and little girl and hanging out 90 miles away.  Deep breath....

10) I thought I would hate being 40 but I like it so far.  Feels like an accomplishment (not about aging) but about just building a nice life for myself.  Kids, nice hubbie, career, etc.  

Happy summer, dudettes!!!

Gooey puddle of mommy love

My girl has been out of school and in a science camp for three weeks. So I have six hours with just one kid, the younger one, the squirrely one. I didn't know what to do with him. So we went to the park, grocery shopped and hung out at the mall. He's a handful all by himself. Call him "the bigger pain in my ass." I love the little guy but he drives me cuckoo. When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought I would make a better mother to a boy than a girl. Now that I have one of each, I believe that I am a better mom to a girl. Boys confound me. They are physical rather than emotional. My 20 month old boy is a tasmanian devil. A whirling dervish and destruction machine. Today he broke several picture frames, destroyed his dresser drawers and ate dirt. Ick. He loves to dive headfirst down stairs and jams fistfuls of food (no matter the size) in his mouth. His hands are always sticky and damp. Gak. It's amazing he's in one piece at the end of the day. Good thing he's close to the ground and has a layer of padding all around. Though after a piping hot bath when he's clean and smiley - I melt into a gooey puddle of mommy love. I is a goner.

Hot vs. Warm

When the temp reaches 80s, I usually describe it as "boiling" or "hot" followed by a wail of "I'm so hot I'm going to die." Or "I feel like I'm going to burst into flames." My husband (who grew up in Oklahoma) will respond by saying slowly, "yeah, it's warm." This kind of encapsulates our roles in the marriage. I'm prone to exaggeration followed by emotional outbursts and he strives for technical accuracy and a tight lid. Observe your friends and family. Tally up the braying drama queens who scream about how hot it is vs. the ones who agree with you that "Yes, it is quite warm today..."