sharing is caring

This is a phrase that we said all the time in Japan. I think it's from Sesame Street or something like that but whatever, we brought the lesson into adulthood and taught our Japanese friends the saying. I am proud and pleased to announce that my little boy has officially learned this lesson as well.

This morning at daycare, for the first time ever, Asa didn't seem to want me to set him down. As soon as his butt hit the floor he turned to me, arms raised, warble in his voice, asking me to pick him back up. I did. Twice. But each time I tried to set him down again he complained. And then, bless her little heart, Audrey, a tiny, adorable little one year old came toddling over with a soft stuffed doggie and handed it to Asa and I. She shared with him and it touched my heart. And then, to my great pleasure, Asa handed his toy to Audrey, returning the favor and saying thank you in the most selfless and sweetest of ways.

Seeing the two of them sharing, Audrey trying to soothe an upset baby (and mommy, I'm not gonna lie, the parting was hard on me too) with a stuffed toy, and Asa, thanking her and being soothed by her kind nature ... Well it was straight out of Disney. All that was missing was the little blue bird singing his happy song on our shoulder.

So thank you Audrey, for making our morning brighter.

And PS - Kate & William, congrats on the wedding! The dress was beautiful!

Cheerios, God's gift to Mom's

What is it about kids and Cheerios? Is it universal or is it an American thing? If Cheerios were the size of doughnuts would they still love them? If they were crispy like a potato chip how would that affect their popularity? What if we made them purple? Or if they smelled like Swiss Cheese? What is it about the Cheerio that has made it the perfect baby food? And did the inventor know what she was doing at the time? Huh, maybe that's where that phrase, "Necessity is the mother of invention" came from. A desperate mother, worn down from being the sole source of food for her infant devotes hours of experimentation in the kitchen to find an alternative to the breast ... and voila, the Cheerio is born! Thank you nameless mother of the past for your stroke of pure, edible genius! Asa thanks you too!

snot that bad

Asa has a cold. Again. It had been about two weeks since he fully recovered from his previous cold so I guess I should have expected that he come down with something again soon. In our house I'd say we average one cold per month, with each cold lasting one to two weeks. So in any given four week period we have at least one week of misery, one week of health and two weeks of the in between stage.

Months ago, before he had caught his first cold, I was dreading it. What would we do for a sick baby? How do we blow his nose? What if his fever is too high? What if he starts wheezing? Or gets whooping cough? Or typhoid fever? Or rubella? Silly first time mommy, overreacting, what were you thinking? He got his first cold and it was so sad and pathetic but we all made it through with flying colors (snot of yellow and green) and not a hint of deadly disease (thank you God).

Now here we are, on our I don't know, 7th cold, and it's old hat. The snot runs like water from a fountain. The cough gags him and his little face turns red from the effort of hacking. He sneezes mouthfuls of food all over us. I have a thin layer of dried snot and food smeared over my neck and chest. He runs a fever and wants to cuddle with us until the Tylenol (thank you God and Science for inventing acetaminophen) kicks in. And then, a few days later, all we're left with is some snot and a case of the snuggles.

Well that and a sick mommy and daddy who can barely muster the energy to take care of themselves much less a baby who is nearing full strength and is interested in climbing stairs, banging on flat screen tv's and dvd players, and sticking his finger into the test socket for our carbon monoxide alarm.

People keep telling me its a blessing to get it all over with now because once Asa is in his school he'll never miss a day, having been exposed to all this so young. I guess they are right but in the meantime, pass me a tissue my nose is running.