Thank You, Idina Menzel!

Or maybe the thanks should go to Stephen Schwartz, the composer. Or maybe thanks are due to the original Broadway cast of Wicked, since if they hadn't recorded a CD, I wouldn't own the song that changed my morning to one of (insert descriptive perjorative noun of your own choosing here) to one of, well, something approaching normalcy.

The Baby (who is actually now a toddler, but is still my baby. why must he grow up? and if he must grow up, why can't he FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD stop screaming?!?) had spent the morning either (1) screaming for no apparent reason, (2) riding around on my hip and whining mixed with screaming until I would put him in his crib, or (3) screaming because I had put him in his crib. After round 5 (actual count--not an exaggeration!) of this super-fun game, I was in his room trying to sort laundry, when he burst into a grin, squealed with delight, and went running to the living room. Curious, I followed him, and found him sitting in a chair in front of the computer, bobbing his head, and HAPPY (read: not screaming), listening to "No Good Deed" from the Wicked soundtrack.

About 15 minutes earlier, I had started listening to one of the ten-year-old's playlists from the songs on our computer, in an effort to distract myself from the screaming. The baby had expressed zero interest so far in a variety of danceable pop songs, and even U2... but Idina Menzel? Sold! As the song was winding down, I had to wonder if he would respond that favorably to the whole soundtrack, and not just that song...? Jackpot! And while he seemed to like all the music, he really responded to the songs with Ms. Menzel. He even started dancing to "The Wizard and I".

Plus, he stayed not-screamy for an entire hour and a half afterward.

Idina, I am now your biggest fan.

It Was Only a Matter of Time

In good news, I haven't had a anyone spill the contents of a box of cereal in 8-1/2 years.

In even better news, unlike last time, the contents were NOT dumped out on a hide-a-bed couch where the cushions had all ready been removed (going into practically every crevice), just minutes after I got out of the shower in preparation to take a 3-month-old to the pediatrician, with the realization that if I didn't clean up the cereal immediately the 21-month-old grinning girl would dance in the kid-tested-mother-approved contents, smashing them into dust in the living room, and as I looked at my watch to see whether we would be on time to the doctor appointment, vacuuming in my, ahem, unmentionables, I thought, "I don't think this is what my high school classmates thought I would be doing when they voted me Most Likely to Succeed."

Anyway, comparatively, having Lucky Charms spilled on a TILE FLOOR is practically heavenly! (Just ask the happy baby!)

Plus, I have to give the baby props for not only managing to get it off the table, where we all thought it was out of reach, but for knowing that it was in his best interest to do so while everyone else was out of the room. Smart baby.

Also, notice in the video how carefully he grabs a marshmallow amidst the cereal mess. Good thing he's our 4th... because 8-1/2 years ago, I promise that taking a picture of our toddler girl dancing in cereal never even crossed my mind....

Unrelated: All four of our babies have worn those pajamas! (sniff, sniff)

Please, Please Stop Growing Up!

*or*
My Baby Turns Six Years Old!

Right, I know that since I technically still have an actual baby, our third child probably no longer counts as my "baby"... but would he please stop getting older, all ready? Aah! The other day when I asked him if he could please just stay six and my little boy forever, he looked at me with a look that suggested I was differently-abled and said, "Mom, that's not even possible!"

We were all VERY lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa in town for the birthday event, and so we pulled the girls out of school early and ate lunch with the fam, grandparents, Aunt & Uncle & Nephew at everyone's dream birthday place: Chuck E. Cheese! I was a little hesitant, but it was actually awesome--who knew that Mondays-mid-day are DEAD at Chuck E. Cheese?!? Seriously, there was only one other family, and a few moms w/pre-schoolers... and by the time we left, we were literally the only ones there besides the employees. Very, very fun! And (surprise!), we actually remembered not only the camera, but to TAKE pictures!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

(Careful, buddy, that's HOT!)

The baby turned ONE YEAR OLD on Friday, October 23rd.... where in the world did that year go?!? (No, seriously!)

Things That Have Not Changed In A Year:

• still is completely and spellbinding-ly adorable (love those dimples!)
• still has no teeth
• still is a sometimes snuggler (even in the hospital, he liked some snuggles, but not all the time... and he's that way to this day)
• still screams like a banshee

We didn't celebrate his b-day on the actual day (Dad was out of town); we waited until Monday night when we could have Uncle & Aunt & Cousin over for pancake dinner & cupcakes. The baby was a little mystified by all the attention, but it didn't seem to phase him. And once he realized that the concoction on his tray was edible... well he just dug right in!

Bath Time Buddies

Ever since he has graduated to the "big boy bath", the baby loves to take baths.

Well, mostly. If the bath water starts, he gets really excited, and thinks the bath is for him. Even when his brother is all ready in the tub.

And if we try to let the five year old bathe alone, the baby just shrieks until we give in. Which means I probably shouldn't attempt bath time at the end of a day, since by that time I will do just about anything if it ensures I don't have to listen to whining in any form. So again, tonight, I let the baby invade his brother's bath.

I used to think that nothing would ever be as cute as my "bathing beauties" from when the girlies were little... but it turns out, "bath time buddies" are just as, if not more, cute than the girls were! (Shhh--don't tell them!) Or maybe it's not that they're "cuter", but simply that the 5-year-old has the best giggle in the family. *sigh* LOVE that giggle, and love those boys!

Not s'bright*

*Me, not the baby.

So there were a couple of missteps leading up to this picture, where he is guzzling water laced with a little apple juice.

Do you notice the mushy crumb in the corner? That is leftover from a donut--I was feeding him pieces of it. (Probably not sheer genius to give donut pieces to a baby... Misstep #1. Or maybe that should be Misstep 1B, and 1A should be purchasing the donuts.)

Misstep #2: Walking away from the baby in order to get cups of milk and water for the kids, while he was still demanding more food. Yes, I realize that counting donuts as "food" is a stretch. No, my own kids were not drinking the milk (I wish!); that was the neighbor kids.

Misstep #3: Ignoring the baby for two minutes while chatting with the kids about skim milk versus "regular" milk. (Even though skim IS regular at our house. Go figure. "Skim" milk... but donuts?!? Really? Really.)

Misstep #4: Thinking, "Oh, he's in his high chair. I only fed him little crumbs. He's fine."

Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of a baby choking. I rush over, remembering that I'd been in process of feeding him small (really small!) pieces of donut. There seem to be a lot more crumbs on the high chair than I remember. His eyes are watering, and I'm trying to pry open his jaws (mental flashback to last Thursday and the playdough scraping incident) to get out the donut, while wondering how he could choke on such a small piece. I'm also looking at the table, to see where the other half of the donut is. (We're not talking mini-donut, either.) Not on the table. Glance at counter. Not there. Finally get his jaws pried open, and pull out a soggy 1/2 donut.

Yeah, I had left it on his high chair tray! An entire half of a donut! What the...?! Quickly give sippy cup to baby, and he gulps it like it's Happy Hour.

Anyway, it's like I said: not s'bright.

Who Knew?

Who knew that:

• Having NINE kinds of cold cereal and THREE kinds of oatmeal constitutes "nothing to eat" to kids ages 9, 8 & 5?
• Having no less than a dozen clean shirts folded in a drawer means "there are no shirts to wear" (followed by a bit o' whining) to an eight year old?
• It can be more important to a nine-year-old girl to have buns put in her hair before school than to have her lunch made?
• It could take a kindergartner FIVE (agonizing?) minutes to choose which shorts to wear? (Clearly, I need to implement something like THIS for all the kiddos... well, maybe minus the baby. He still wears whatever.)
• A 5-year-old will yell for help with toothpaste right in the middle of doing the 9-year-old's hair buns? And (the kicker), not do it himself even though he CAN?!?
• A mere 45 minutes into the day, a mom will "lose it" over such trivial things?

And then...

• A 5-year-old boy will want to fix mom's mood, and stare earnestly up her face and solemnly say, "Mom... I love you"

*sigh* That really did fix just about everything. Except that I still don't know what we're going to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning....