Charmed Shenanigans

Memorial Day Parade in Peninsula How does time go by so quickly?  We go from little dolphin squeaks to belly rolls to first words to lots of "No's!" to "why do you have a vagina, Mommy" in like, three blinks. This morning, Wild One told me he needed to use the potty.  I expected him to laboriously climb on top of the toilet, scootch over on the seat, centering his positioning just so, as he   always   adorably does, and pee.  Fresh 'Do by Miss Claire Instead, in slow motion, I watched him pull down his pants, pull out his penis, and pee standing up.  Pee was everywhere, but my shock was as a result of never having witnessed this standing-peeing before.  No one in my parenting team had mentioned this new pee positioning (as a working mom, I am fortunate enough to have a pretty stacked team: my husband, Clever, our two amazing childcare providers, and my mother and father-in-law).   Basically, I now have one more tiny man living under...

April 29, 2012 A year ago I started a blog.  It was inspired by my Wild One turning two.  Life has happened, and I haven't made writing a priority, but because I was so inspired last year around the time of Wild One's birth, maybe I'll just make this an annual tradition on the anniversaries of my children's births. April 29, 2015 Today, Wild One, you are three.  After reflecting on last year's entry, I pore upon your growth and change in one short year.  My love for you continues to explosively expand with each rotation of the earth. You will always be my first baby, and you have taught me to love more broadly and fervidly.  Last night, I cried hard, ugly tears about your birthday.  These were not necessarily sad tears, just tears representing feelings about how much you've changed me.  You've changed my heart, the way I feel about the world, the way I feel about your daddy, the way I make choices, big and small.  You have been t...

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 My Dear Wild One, Today, you are two, and I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around where the time has gone.  It's so fresh in my memory when you were tumbling around in my belly, and I spent hours wondering what you would be like: what shape your nose would be and how you would smell.  I wondered whose toes you would get, and I hoped you would inherit Daddy's nice jawline.  I was so anxious to meet you, so much that I ate an unpleasant amount of spicy food, hoping to jump start your journey.  Friends told me I would experience an unimaginable love when you arrived.  On April 29, 2012 at 2:54 in the afternoon, you proved them right.  I immediately knew you were the most amazing human being I had ever met, all nine pounds, one ounce of you.  And even though your birthday was a hard day for me, it's still one of the best days of my life. Meeting Daddy for the First Time Bonding With Mommy You have alr...

Thursday, April 24, 2014 As a relatively new member of the American Mother's Association* (not to be confused with Against Medical Advice... although some might say the two are interchangeable), I am fascinated, and concerned, by the latest trends and labels that we have been imposing on each other.  To be a mother in today's society, you must choose a side, or so it seems.  I love reading Mommy Blogs, in fact, they're what served as my main inspiration to start my own blog.  And as confusing as it might seem, your choice of crunchy or creamy starts long before your child even enters the world. No matter which side you opt for, you might feel forced to defend the things you believe are best for your child to someone: your husband, your family, a health professional, but sadly, and most often, another mother. It's a shark tank out there, and you better not share your opposing opinion too loudly in the wrong crowd of vicious mothers, lest you be eaten up and spit ou...

Wednesday, April 23, 2014 Let me preface by saying that I am no sleep expert.  I have no formal education about baby sleeping habits, and I am in tune with the fact that each and every baby is different.  If you're having a difficult time getting your wee one to sleep, please contact your pediatrician for more information and suggestions about what your baby needs. I've been pregnant and nursing, then nursing while pregnant, then pregnant, and now nursing since August 2011.  I am very familiar with sleep habits evolving (and sometimes being practically non-existent) with the introduction of a new tiny human.  I've felt exhausted with 12 hours of sleep and a two hour nap, and I've been extremely productive with less than four hours of intermittent sleep.  My first belly baby started sleeping through the night in his own room at three months old.   Wild One  would usually wake up around 5 AM for an early-morning nursing session, and after...

Tuesday, April 22, 2014 I've been meaning to blog for... well, for as long as I've been interested in reading your blogs.  If you stick around a while, you'll learn that I struggle with always striving to achieve perfectionism.  This angst often leads to great things, but occasionally causes me to give up just shy of completion.  Instead of continuing to procrastinate the telling of what I believe to be an amazing journey, I will begin.  But not at the beginning... I'm sure there will be time for that later.  This blog starts during the middle of our tale, a charmed life full of love, joy and shenanigans with three beautiful boys. Husband and I are fortunate enough to call Northeast Ohio home (as you can tell, I'm not writing this during winter, in which case, I would replace fortunate with cursed).  I'm a displaced Texan, and I will remind you of that at any opportunity.  We have three dear sons, ages 10, 2 and 6 months.  We both work f...