Just Breathe...

This week has been a very frustrating one in Munchkinland. Munchkin is sick once again. It has been a very frustrating fall with hacking coughs and ear infection.

On Monday, Munchkin went to the Dr. for his 18 month check up. He was also sick, having gotten progressively worse over the weekend with runny nose and deep, hacky cough. Dr. sent us home with a nebulizer meds for breathing treatments. To say the least this has been a frustrating experience for Mommy, Daddy and the Munchkin. Have you ever tried to wrestle an octopus. We have. I never knew the boy had so many arms, hands, legs and feet. With both of us holding him down, at times we still couldn't get the mask over his face. I'm sure you are thinking, come on now, he is 18months old and only weighs 29 lbs., how hard can it be? Well, let me tell you it is hard. We all end up crying. I know he will never remember it, but I do. I feel like the meanest Mommy in the whole wide world. And no matter how many times you lovingly stroke his head and tell him it is for his own good, all he knows is that you are holding him down against his will and putting what he believes is a torture device over his face. Not fun times!

Today we are headed for my Mom's house. We are all excited to be going home for Christmas. Now living in a big city, people around here just can't believe that I want to go to my hometown, or that I keep up with people from my hometown. Why can't they get it. I've known these hometown people my entire life! They are just about as much my family as my family is. Believe me, I would never trade having grown up in a small town for anything in the world. You get a sense of belonging when you grow up in a small town, people know and care about you. You never hear about anyone being found dead in their house after 3 years in a small town! Things like that only happen in the "city". This week in a meeting I mentioned something I had read in my hometown newspaper. One lady I work with was flabbergasted, she just couldn't believe that I would read my hometown newspaper. She asked why I would want to do that, that it would never dawn on her to read her hometown newspaper. Well, let's see, she grew up in a city of 1 million + people, where she lives right now. Gee, I read her hometown newspaper too!

I may not post much next week, because of traveling and Christmas, but I'll be sure and post about the Munchkin's Christmas afterwards! Hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Sound of Angels

If you've ever wondered what one of Heaven's Angels would sound like, you should have been in my living room an hour or so ago. You never would wonder again. For surely there could never, ever be a sweeter, more pure, joyous sound as that of a certain 18 month old singing along to a Christmas song he had never heard before and didn't know the words to.

I'm sure you all thinking that this was just one of those "Momma Moments" and I'm sure you are right. For this mommy though, as she sat there with tears streaming down her face, certainly had a glimpse of what heaven will be like!

Thursdays

Anybody who knows much about my life the past couple of years will know that Thursdays are the days I hate. Ever since I took over the job as Circulation Librarian I inherited with it the unenviable task of working late on Thursday nights.

At first this was just mildly annoying. The hubby would stay with me and he would take a nap while I was working and then he would drive home. By the time we arrived home, I had unwound and was able to shortly go to bed.

The arrival of the Munchkin Man last year threw another kink into the mix. Since the munchkin didn't handle being at the Library well, his Daddy would take him home after he got off work and I would then come on home on my own. This was a workable solution because we had a babysitter who normally kept munchkin at her home. However, on Thursdays I would just keep him with me until I came into work at 2:00 and then a college student kept him for the couple of hours until his Dad got off work, thus giving the normal babysitter every Thursday off.

Fast forward to this year and the whole thing took another turn for the worse. Munchkin Man is now attending daycare/preschool and they do not want him arriving later than 9:00am. So Daddy takes munchkin on in, leaving me at home. I'm sure this is better for him in the long run because he stays on schedule better, but I barely get to see him while he is having breakfast for just a couple of minutes. Just enough time for a hug as he heads out the door with dad and his big brother. By the time I drag in at 10:30ish pm to say the least, he is long gone for dreamy land and is sound asleep. Seeing him on the baby monitor just isn't the same as playing with him and luvin' on him.

The bad Thursdays are followed by the wonderful Friday mornings when I am with munchking again. Today, however, someone forgot to tell Snowbird about my plans. Today is a snow day here. All of the area k-12 schools are closed and so is the Munchkin Man's daycare. Daddy is at home with the munchkin because Mommy had to come to work because her assistant is out and it's finals time. WARNING: MAJOR WHINE APPROACHING!!! So, I didn't even get to see the Munchkin Man this morning :( He was still in bed asleep when I left the house. Our mornings are really rushed and obviously I don't get to spend much time with him in the mornings anyway, but I do miss that short period of time and those morning hugs and kisses. Mommies should get SNOW DAYS too!

First Haircut

Saturday was the big day. I've been putting it off for a couple of months. Munchkin Man was born with a lot of dark hair, but eventually just lost it. He's been bald for so long, except for this patch in the back that he just never lost. I have just been stubborn about getting his haircut, refusing to do so until he had some on top too.

He still doesn't have a lot on top, but he does have some and the back was looking a little ragged, I must admit. However, there is just something about getting that first haircut. I guess it just makes him into more of a little boy instead of a baby. Since he is the only baby I will have, I was just completely reluctant to give it up.

On Saturday, though, I gave in. After having spent a week at Thanksgiving with my ever so blunt, "loving" big brother. Who kept telling everyone that my child had a "mullet". A mullet, can you believe he said that about my adorable child, one of his only two nephews! He knew he was pushing my buttons. No one can push your buttons like a sibling, not even a spouse. I guess it is just too much shared common history or something. Anyway, he pushed those buttons and he knew he did, but that didn't stop him, until I had to threaten him. Not often do I do such mean things to him, but come on now, telling a Mom her baby has a mullet, now that is just hitting below the belt, even for a big brother!

I didn't know what to expect when we went to get the haircut. I asked my friend, who cuts my hair, if she wanted to give him his first haircut and she said of course. I've heard from other Mom's that their kids were wild or screamed or cried the entire time, so I wasn't sure how the Munchkin Man would react. When we arrived, she had a booster stool for him and we put him on it. She even had a little bitty cape, just his size, with wild animals all over it. He looked at it for a minute and then looked at me like he wasn't quite sure what to expect. My friend gave us an envelope that she had written his name, "First Haircut" and the date on, to hold the clippings of his first haircut. My Mom was here visiting us, so she gathered the hair, while my friend cut and I fired off the camera every few seconds, recording the haircut for Dad, big brother and Uncle "Mullet" to see that my child was now "mullet-free".

I have to say he did beautifully. He sat perfectly still, he never said a word. Of course, I really think he was desperately trying to figure out what on earth was going on around him. He looked a little puzzled at times, but even gave me a smile once or twice. He just acted like such a big boy, sitting there getting his haircut. Almost made Mommy cry, almost. I can't believe he is 18 months old, seems he was just born yesterday. Time needs to slow down a little bit. I'm trying to savor ever minute I can.

Jiving Munchkin

Night before last we turned on the television and NBC was turning the lights on at Rockefeller Plaza. Nothing much on so we decided to leave the tv there. Of course if you've ever watched any show that is even remotely like this, or attended a "Christmas Tree" lighting live and in person, you know that they can't just throw the switch and turn on the lights, that would only be worth about 10 seconds of air time. So to fill up the rest of the 1 hour time slot they fill it with various artists doing their renditions of the classic Christmas songs. NBC did nothing less than everyone else does. They had quite a cast too, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Beyonce, David Cook and Harry Connick, Jr. just to name a few.

If you've ever met my little "Munchkin Man" then you know that he loves music. I'm not even quite sure L-O-V-E could possibly even be a strong enough word to describe his affection for the tunes. He doesn't just like some music, he likes all of it. He stands in his father's lap at church and bounces up and down and waives his hand around like he is leading singing, watching every move the song leader makes. He fusses in the car, until you turn on the music and if the radio is not playing enough music for him (read D.J.'s are talking too much) then he will fuss until a CD is turned on or I hook up the iPod. (The iPod, by the way was purchased for his soul benefit. We thought it would be a great way to have his "baby" music loaded into one place without having to haul around CD's. We found out he liked our music as much as his.) Yet, I digress...

So, we turn on NBC and they are playing music and "Munchkin Man" stops and is watching and bouncing up and down with the beat. He sings with the music as well, softly, you can barely hear him. Believe me this is the only thing he does softly. Then Harry Connick Jr. comes on the screen. Harry starts singing his jazzy rendition of a classic Christmas song and "Munchkin Man" starts bouncing up and down and twirling around and totally just jiving to the beat. Of course we were thoroughly entertained but we also found it quite interesting. The funny thing of the matter was that the husband and I went to a Harry Connick Jr. concert while I was pregnant with the "Munchkin Man". Up until that point I had felt the baby move, but it had primarily just been those first little "butterfly" feelings, when you just aren't quite sure exactly what it is you are feeling. The night of HC Jr. concert, hubby and I are sitting in the very back row, all the way at the top, awful seats but you could still hear the music and see fairly well, about 20 minutes into the concert, all of a sudden, my stomach started jiving. The "Munchkin Man" came completely alive. With arms, legs, elbows, feet and knees, this child was jiving "in-beat" with the music that was playing on stage. It was amazing. All of a sudden the hubby looks down and sees my stomach moving around and wants to know if that is the baby. Yes it was him and he jived and danced through the entire rest of the concert. In fact, I usually tell people he never stopped moving and we arent' sure he's stopped yet.

I guess HC, Jr. will just always hold a special place in our hearts. It seems he is certainly a favorite of "Munchkin Man's" and anything good enough for him, is certainly good enough for me.

Jealousy

I'm not the jealous type and neither is my husband. It makes my days so much easier to not worry about silly things like that. However, over the past few weeks we have learned that our youngest son, does have quite a jealous streak. He doesn't like it when Daddy hugs on Mommy. He is quite adamant about it and will let you know in no uncertain terms what he thinks about it. If he sees us hugging, he will come over and start hitting on his father. Now that "ME" is his favorite word, he will often shout that out as well. Holding hands is a no-no as well. Even if we are in the car and we hold hands in the front seat, he will just whine at us until we drop hands.

Last night was just another adventure into the nature of our jealous child. I was sitting in my chair and Daddy came and sat on the couch close by and took my hand for a minute. "Munchkin Man" was across the room watching a cartoon and playing with his ball, when out of no where he came running at us yelling "ME, ME, ME". He then proceeded to take his father's hand away from mine, replacing it with his own. He then stood beside my chair, holding my hand in both of his and continued to watch his cartoon. He stood like this for several minutes. Now, to say the least my husband and my Mom (who is visiting us) and myself, were all about to roll in the floor with laughter. It was just too cute! Of course, his Mommy's heart was just melting. I mean, what woman doesn't want a couple of men fighting over her and what Mommy doesn't want her baby boy to love his Mommy.

The funniest line of the evening, though, belonged to my ever witty husband, who said to me, "And you said no one would ever come between us."