Cookie Monster!

Some days are better than others, but the BEST days are COOKIE days! Today we tried a new recipe from Cooking Light (thanks, Elsha!) that yielded 3 dozen good cookies, and one dozen GREAT spoonfuls of dough! Patrick even licked the wisk :) And I get to feel good about it because A) it didn't contain eggs, so we ate MOUNDS of dough, and B) it was from Cooking Light, so we could "justify" eating MOUNDS of dough! What a fun afternoon.

This is where it gets a little messy....

Sharing his wisk with me and my shirt - thanks, bud!

Enjoying the finished product - mmmmmm!

Keeping us busy

This is my 100th post! So since I started this blog to keep family updated on our little guy (who is getting less little by the day), this seemed like a good thing to write about on such an "important" post.

Well, let's see.... Patrick has been imitating all kinds of things we do, which can be really great. He makes a little fist and knocks on the door with his knuckles when he wants it open. He hasn't used words to name things yet, not even "mama" or "dad" but he knows when to say words; for instance, he says his "hello" (in gibberish) when he knocks on said doors. He drinks from a glass without any help (but quite often some clean-up afterwards). He gives hugs and kisses when we ask, though he doesn't pucker his lips - he just comes at you with an open mouth! He learned how to drink using a straw, and is especially good with smoothies and milkshakes. He still drops food off his tray during meals, but afterwards we bring the trashcan over and say "pick it up" and he daintily picks up his food and throws it away! This ritual does not seem to deter him from throwing food over the side, though; he actually seems to enjoy picking it up. Even better than "picking up" is vaccuming with our dustbuster - he wants it turned on the entire time, which is loud and obnoxious, but it keeps him very happy and busy vaccuming under the couch and around his chair. He is an avid reader, and we sit down together to read probably 5 or 6 times a day, usually initiated by him. He'll bring over the book he wants to read, hand it to me, then turn around and plonk his butt down in my lap. He has expanded his reading list to probably 10 or 12 books that he'll listen to all the way through (quite a few are not even board books!), his VERY favorites being "Old Hat, New Hat" by the Berensteins, "1, 2, 3" and "A, B, C" touch-and-feel books (thanks, Debbie!), and "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. You can tell if he's REALLY excited to read a book with you if he snuggles back into your chest and clasps his hands, like he's ready to listen closely! We play hide-and-seek with him, but if we hide TOO hard he gets very sad and thinks we left him. There are more little things he does, of course, but these are some of the more recent, more fun things I wanted to get down.

Our dainty eater - eats it daintily, throws it over the side daintily, picks it up to put it in the trash daintily...

If you ever get a random call from us, it might be Patrick dialing...

The shirt explains it all - "I do all my own stunts"

Sometimes trying to explain your child to others is like leading a horse to water - you can tell that person all the cute stories, the horror stories, show off all your pictures and videos, but still the other person won't know just how wonderful your child is (horror stories and all). Even to spend an afternoon together doesn't do justice (expecially if it's a grumpy afternoon), you really have to spend a number of days together to see all the sides, from ready-and-raring in the morning to a crumbling heap of bedtime stories and goodnight kisses at night, to really get a clear picture. Lastly, it should definitely be where your sweetums is comfortable - I spent 10 days in GJ visiting for Christmas, and Patrick NEVER hit his stride, he was clingy and over-wrought until we finally made it home! So I feel VERY lucky that my mom is coming to Fort Collins for her spring break!!!! Being a grandma of course she loves all her little grandbabies, but this will be the first time we've had so much time together under the circumstances I just laid out! Maybe I'm just being crazy, but I guess I'm just hoping I can share the love and have another person see him through my eyes rather than seeing a quick snapshot, or a spending a quick afternoon (which can be hit or miss), or even spending lots time with him out of his element. We've had wonderful times with family coming to visit for a day or two, but it is going to be one great week!*

A snuggly mama's boy - he took a nap like this for 1-1/2 hours last week! Isn't he a little old for that? It was really sweet, but he got really heavy and sweaty by the end!

*The week I'm mentioning won't happen 'til the 2nd week of March... I'm just excited in advance!

The only thing better than cheap...

...is FREE. Like this chair that some outrageous neighbor threw away, which I then retrieved.

I try to think the best of people, like maybe it was a couple that had a NASTY breakup and the guy left, so the girl literally threw all his furniture away. That way, it wasn't fueled so much by utter wastefulness so much as terrible SPITE. That justifies things! Whenever traffic is terrible for absolutely no reason Joe and I cheer ourselves up by hoping it was someone having a baby on the side of the road, rather than a horrific accident (which would at least give some closure to our "what the h***???" but we do feel bad when we are hoping someone DIED in order to cause such a jam) or *gasp!* simply awful drivers brake-checking us into a 2-hour delay. A baby would be a good excuse, like a breakup would be a good excuse - so I can think the best of people. So wherever you are, broken-up and broken-hearted (and furniture-less) neighbors, thank you! We love the new chair.

No more Mr. Myspace

I figured when I started blogging I would cancel my facebook account, but no... months and months later I've finally cancelled myspace. At least one got the boot! I consider that a big step, so maybe in another year or two I'll cancel facebook - you never know what's coming next! I'm CRAAAAZY like that ;)

Photographs and memories

2 weeks late we got Patrick's 1-year photos done, and as long as we were all there we sprung for some family shots. We pick up the photos next week, and mail them who knows when (Procrastination would be my middle name if I would ever go down to the courthouse to legally change it...) so for the time between, here are some of our favorites!

Let's have seconds!

"Seconds" applies not only to my love of dessert (specifically chocolate. If it's fruity, it had better at least have some ice cream with it) but also my love of second-hand stuff; not because I don't love the off-gassing of new plastic or opening the nearly-impossible shrink-wrap or peeling the stickers off every conceivable surface (yep, I love all of that) but because second-hand stuff is so undeniably CHEAP! And I am, at my very core, a cheap person. This rightly and truly should make me a FRUGAL person, but that just isn't so - I'll "save myself into the poorhouse," as my Grandpa Smiley used to say, buying so much awesomely cheap stuff that I go above and beyond our more moderate, "cozy" budget. My second-hand mania has been tough to tame, but I've really been trying!

This little mania struck again last night as I browsed Goodwill "to kill time," secretly looking for a used copy of Les Miserables and secretly finding 1,000 items I couldn't live without! I had sworn I wouldn't go overboard, refusing to use my debit card and only bringing $2.50 with me into the store. I didn't find Les Mis, but I DID find THIS!

Since I didn't have any more money we went home and waited with bated breath for Joe to get home so we could drag HIM back with HIS cash and get me 2 books (White Oleander and The Poisonwood Bible) and Patrick about 20 new shirts. That kid has more clothes than we could ever hope for him to wear, yet we still buy more! They are just SO IRRESISTABLE in that size! 2 sweater vests, 3 plaid button-ups, 2 tongue-in-cheek t-shirts, etc etc. All for the measly sum of $9.40!!! Seriously, I can never justify shopping at "real" stores when I know I can get 10x the clothes for the same money. Poor Joe, he is just a sucker for getting anything for Patrick - he just loves buying him a childhood, so I play on his weakness and we get all this great "new" stuff! New for me pretty much means "it's been through the washer now!" The great part about this is that everything from a "real" store is SUCH a luxery! Like living in a 500 sq. ft. apartment with a baby, it can only get better from here! Now our 800 sq. ft. place is HUGE to us, just like off-the-rack-from-anywhere is DESIGNER.

I didn't really realise I was so transparent in my mania until I was wearing my favorite jeans one day, bought at a thrift sale for $8 (my "expensive" jeans!). My sister asked me where I got them, and I had to wriggle around and contort myself to look at the tag in the back, since I didn't really know the brand; meanwhile I told her how I'd gotten them so thriftily. When I finally pronounced "American Eagle!" she said "I know, I have some just like them, but you would never pay full price for jeans, so I was just wondering." OH. How well you know me. So if you're ever out perusing Goodwill or Savers or Arc or whatever and you come across something wonderful but think, "would it really be appropriate to buy a used gift?" If it's for me, that answer is YES. ALWAYS. And thanks for avoiding the shrink-wrap!

Something

Now that I've vented and taken a few days to calm down I though I should post something that didn't offend half my readers, villify the other half, and generate more comments than I've had on a single blog in a LONG time. What could such a subject be? Let's go with reading.

I'm currently reading Les Miserables, the full 1,200 page version, and I REALLY like it, but it's REALLY overdue from the Library. It has a hold on it so I can't renew it, but I don't want to give it back! Poor sucker that's waiting on it could be waiting a while... Anyone have a copy they'd be willing to lend me?

Since I have a few spare minutes while Patrick naps, I'm going to go do that instead of blog. Later!

DANGER! "Sensitive" reading material ahead

I'm in a foul mood over a taboo subject, so I am here to vent! In Joe's Men's Health magazine this month there is an article, "Should All Males Be Circumcised?" that I, having strong opinions on the subject, just HAD to read. Now I'm sorry I read it because I'm blasting mad and you're all sorry I did because now I'm blogging about it (but really, feel free to quit reading if this isn't your cup of tea). The theme of the article was that all males SHOULD be circumcised because it's helping stop the spread of AIDS in Africa. Excuse me, but did I catch that? All American males should be circumcised because AFRICANS can't keep it in their pants?? It's not like you get AIDS by walking down the street uncircumcise, you get it from having unprotected sex with someone who is infected. Of course that AIDS study carries over and means being circumcised, wherever you are, helps cut down on STDs and AIDS, but why are we snipping up our baby boys in anticipation of them being non-condom-toting man-whores? Shouldn't we EXCPECT that they be monogomous, and they PROTECT when they are otherwise? Or perhaps we should just start removing appendixes at birth as well in anticipation that they will defy us and burst? After all, we don't really need them, either, and it would be handy to protect ourselves from possible attacks....

Why is this even such a big deal? It's a tiny bit of skin, they now use anesthesia for babies, it heals quickly and in the ends it's just a personal choice... well, THAT'S RIGHT! It's a personal choice, and WE, the parents, are making that choice for another person! Of course parents make millions of decisions for those "other persons" known as their sons, but do they decide to permanently remove any other parts of their bodies? Would they ever decide to remove similar parts on their daughter? No, because we would be sent to jail since it's against the law to circumcise girls in America (because we are NOT talking about Africa here, thank you Men's Health) and certainly no doctor would condone us cutting off a finger or toe, despite the fact that it is small and seemingly useless (c'mon, you've got 9 others!). If the decision has been made for you and you don't care, well that's a spot of luck, isn't it? What if you DID care? There are lots of men who do! Why should we assume that our sons won't care, either? Won't that come back to slap us when they do?? How 'bout we leave it up to the person who cares MOST - the male who's about to lose part of his package! And don't tell me it's better to do it when they're younger because they won't remember the pain... if girls can go through CHILDBIRTH (hey! I remember that!), surely you can endure "just a little snip" yourself.

That said, I know circumstances require circumcision sometimes - infection, balanoposthitis, paraphimosis (look 'em up) - but these should be dealt with as the issue arises, not in anticipation of a problem. A foreskin isn't a problem, it's a foreskin. Take care of it and it will take care of you. Meanwhile, don't go having unprotected sex in Africa. DUH.

...lastly, I know I'm leaving out other facets of the argument (he should look like his dad! it's religious practice! it makes sex better! it makes sex worse! he'll get teased in the locker room!) but this rant was specifically in response to the article. Read it at meanshealth.com, and we can cover the other topics another day... or never.