Real Moms Don't Get Colds. Yeah Right. + Meme

This week is supposed to be a breeze. Chester and I are off on Thursday and Friday to work on our bathroom renovation. I got a cold yesterday, and I'm so very stuffed up. And, since I'm pregnant, I can't take anything but Benadryl. Not a good idea to take while at work.

We had some surprise guests yesterday. My mom, my dad, both of my brothers, one sister-in-law, one niece, and two nephews. Ben was appropriately perky and affectionate for everybody, even if he desperately wanted a nap and passed out right after they left.

Cute Ben Thing:

We had about twenty minutes warning for the surprise guests. Chester ran out to buy us lunch, and I stayed home with Ben to clean. I was making some home-made potpourri on the stove, and I saw Ben come into the kitchen with a baby wipe box that only had a couple left. He pulled one out, squatted, and started to wipe the floor with it. Of course I found that adorable. Little Ben is helping Mamma clean. After about two minutes, he was still at it, so I went to praise his behavior. That's when I noticed there was actually something on the floor that he was trying to wipe up.

Slight back story: about an hour earlier, Ben had found a bottle of milk from the night before. He got a few chugs from it before I took it away and replaced it with a fresh sippy cup.

So Ben had vomited the spoiled milk on the kitchen floor, and he got his baby wipes, and he was cleaning up the mess himself.

How precious is that?

--Last night I made the decision that I need to go back on Zoloft. Chester and I had fought, but instead of getting over it and moving on, I got really depressed and nearly suicidal. So it's probably best if I go back on the pretty blue pills. Oh well. It's been 3 weeks since I went off of them. BTW, I'm feeling better emotionally this morning. Still a little blue, but nothing like last night. Could barely speak around bedtime last night. Just laid there and cried. --

Another Cute Ben Thing:

With the pending arrival of a new bundle of joy, we've been talking about moving Ben into a big boy bed at the tender age of 14.5 months. The time for the transition came naturally. We had brought down the twin bed that was in Ben's room and put it in the dining room for my mother's overnight last week. (She is getting a full knee replacement in April and is in a lot of pain until then). Now that her visit is over, the bed needs to leave the dining room. We decided to just haul up the mattress, and put the boxspring and frame into storage in the basement.

So we did. Immediately, Ben started climbing all over it. He'd lay his head on the pillow and pretend to sleep. Absolutely went crazy over it. So at bedtime, Chester cuddled near him, and Ben actually fell asleep on the big boy bed. Chester put him in his crib for the night, though. We need to buy a side rail to help keep Ben from rolling off in the middle of the night.

It was a victory for a war we didn't even have to wage.

A Quick Meme (tagged by Dana)

Real Moms...

Real moms are able to find impromptu toys for toddlers in unlikely places. Be it restaurants, doctor's offices, post offices. I think it's something that gets wired into our brains when we're in our third trimester. We have to do so many odd things to get comfortable, to find some relief, we start to think outside the box. We know that even though the nice waitress offers crayons and coloring books, we're better off with spoons and straws.

Real moms think that baby hugs are better than heroin or other illicit drugs. Don't get me wrong, I've never been a hard drug user. But getting a good, hard cuddle from my baby boy is better than any therapy or pleasure-giving drug I could get my pudgy hands on. I'll even allow cuddles when he first gets up in the morning and his pants are soaked. Sure, I end up walking downstairs in my underwear with him (because I couldn't stand my jammies being wet), but my husband understands.

Real moms know that sometimes, the kid will not look spotless. Yes, I try to make sure that my son doesn't have an upper lip and nostrils caked in dried snot. But when it comes to my son having a meltdown OR just leaving his nose alone for a trip to the grocery store, I might just let it go.

Real moms truly appreciate the assistance of a good daddy (when there's one in the family picture). Yes, I have aspirations of being Super Mom, but I'm not. And I don't really have to be, because I've got a great partner by my side to step in when I just can't take it anymore. I don't brag about how well I deal with my son without giving my husband his due. I can be Super Mom when I want, but I also get to take naps on Saturday mornings after breakfast. It makes me a better Mamma.