A Perplexing Bathtime

Last night, as we attempted to give Daniel a bath, something strange happened. He wasn't at all hesitant to climb into the bathtub (which he has been a couple of times), but it pretty much all went downhill from there.

As he stood in 3 or 4 inches of water, testing it out before sitting down, Daniel peed. Now, this has happened before. He has peed while running naked down the hall towards the bathroom, as well as in the bathtub itself. I'm sure most moms would tell you this is very common. In fact, my Daniel might be one of the few 2-year-olds who has never pooped in the tub (though now I'm sure I've jinxed it).

For some reason, this time was different. He sat down in the tub, but he couldn't stop looking down at his penis. It was like he was scared by what had come out of there. I tried to wash him, but he kept whining and whimpering, saying, "Out, mommy, out!" He wouldn't play with his bath toys, or even take his hands off the edge of the tub. He just continued glancing down at his penis, distressed.

Washing his hair was interesting, since his head was pressed against my arm. When I rinsed the shampoo, most of the water poured over the side of the tub and onto my leg. All the while, I was trying to comfort him, telling him it was okay and that he was fine. But he wouldn't hear any of it. When I finally shut off the water and lifted him out of the tub, he seemed to calm down. Peter insisted on giving him some "naked time" before putting on his diaper, but Daniel just wrapped the towel more tightly around himself and dragged it into his room.

Once he was dressed and ready for bed, he was relaxed. There was no stress or unhappiness. I'm still not 100% sure that his peeing in the tub is what freaked him out. I'm just guessing because the whole situation was so strange. Tuesday night's bath should be interesting.

On This Especially Poignant Thanksgiving...

This Thanksgiving is the first time I think I've ever felt such enormous gratitude. Sure, I'm a grateful person by nature. It's hard not to be when you survive a stroke at age 24, only to make a full recovery and be able to return to your normal life with nothing more than a little pill to keep you going. As most people now know, this past year has been a roller coaster of hopefulness and sadness for me. I continue to try and focus on the positive (which is not hard to do when you have such a gorgeous little boy greet you with a smile each morning). This year's list honors the people, places, and things in my life which are purely GOOD.

First and foremost, I am thankful for this little boy:


I'm also thankful for this guy, who happens to be an amazing Daddy:


And, of course, I'm thankful for this fluffy ball of love:


Sometimes I lie in bed with Daniel, Peter, and Ollie, and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of love and belonging I feel. I am loved unconditionally by all 3 of them, and they are my rock.

I am thankful to Daniel's school for making him feel so special and for encouraging him to try new things. I am thankful for my yoga class, which keeps me physically and mentally in shape and is a constant reminder of all that I have accomplished in the past 8 years. I am thankful for my Mommy friends, with whom I can commiserate without fear of being judged (and whose stories of personal struggle have gotten me through this tough year). I am thankful for cozy nights at home with my family, when it doesn't matter if I have a pimple or I'm a little bloated. All I'm expected to do is be present, in mind and body.

This list wouldn't be complete without some degree of superficiality. On that front, I'm thankful for chili lime tortilla chips, In Style magazine, and my Old Navy fleece pants. I'm thankful for TV shows like Glee and The Office, which always bring a smile to my face, and for actors like Simon Baker and Hugh Laurie, who aren't entirely unpleasant to stare at for an hour a week!

To sum it all up, I'm thankful to have the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom. It is a blessing to spend each day with my little boy. With him in my life, even the dreariest days have sunshine.

My, How Time Flies

After dropping Daniel off at school this morning, I went to visit my dear friend Ali and her 2-week-old baby girl, Gabrielle. Though I'm sure the size difference would have been more startling had Daniel been with me at the time, I was quite taken aback by how small and light Gabrielle was. It is nearly impossible for me to remember how small Daniel was as a newborn. Even when I look at photos, I can't wrap my mind around what it felt like to be a new Mommy with such a tiny and precious bundle of joy. Ali is experiencing all of the first-time parent anxieties that I had, but I certainly don't feel like an expert when giving her advice. In fact, just holding baby Gabrielle made me a little nervous. Did I remember how to support a newborn's head? How would I soothe her if she started crying? Then I snapped out of my stupor and told myself, "You raised a newborn just 2 years ago. You can certainly hold one for 15 minutes!"

Ali and I talked about feeling nervous while dressing and bathing a newborn. I remember feeling like I was going to break Daniel if I tried to get his arms and legs into an outfit. Now he's such a bruiser, he barely flinches when he runs into a door. This Mommy amnesia that I'm experiencing is common. Unless you have your children a year apart (and Lord knows, I know plenty of people who did), there is a certain amount of "re-learning" that must take place when you have a newborn and your first-born is a toddler. I fully anticipate being anxious as hell when I finally have another baby. Handling a toddler, both physically and psychologically, just doesn't help when it comes to a newborn. I expect to feel like I'm starting from scratch.

The good news is, you wake up one morning and your newborn has become a fully independent toddler! My month-early, 5 pound, 15 ounce, peanut started out his life like this:


Seemingly overnight, he has grown into this:


I'm not sure how it happened.

Toddler Fashion Statement

This is how Daniel woke up yesterday morning. Well, the smile came at my request, once I had a chance to sprint downstairs for my camera. Apparently, Daniel was experimenting with different shirt-wearing styles as he waited for me to enter his room and officially "wake" him. This is one trendy toddler, let me tell you. One-shoulder frocks are all the rage on the runways this fall, and somehow my little boy was able to channel his inner Armani. I laughed out loud when I first saw him, partly because of how he looked but also because he immediately exclaimed, "Mommy, shirt!"

This latest wardrobe "malfunction" was minor compared to the time I woke him post-nap only to find him completely naked from the waist down, sitting in a giant wet spot. His diaper lay crumpled in the corner of his crib, and Daniel just sat contentedly as if to say, "Yeah, I'm going commando, and it's not all that bad!"

Hey, he hasn't yet tried to climb out of his crib, and still takes ridiculously long naps on a daily basis. So I'm not complaining. I'll just have to remember to keep my camera nearby.

My Little Drummer Boy

We are now the proud owners of a drum kit. Well, really borrowers, thanks to Peter's cousin Aaron. I thought Daniel's eyes were going to pop out of his head when he first saw the drums in our living room. He has spent considerable time banging away over the past couple of days, and my hearing is pretty much still intact. For now.

Don't get me wrong -- Daniel doesn't just bang haphazardly like Animal from the Muppets. This kid has rhythm. If you play a CD of music, he'll drum along with the beat. He utilizes all of the drums and cymbals, and even stretches his little foot down to the floor pedals. He'll demand of you, "Sing!" and then play along, no matter whether you're singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Pour Some Sugar on Me."


Daniel's musical instrument collection is growing. He has a toy piano, saxophone, and guitar. I bought him a small floor harp for Hanukkah (since he's completely obsessed with the one his teacher plays in music class) Pretty soon we'll be able to tour as the Partridge Family.

Yup, I'm THAT Mom

When you become a parent for the first time, you establish a mental list of things that you will never, ever do or say to your child. Years of observation have made you confident that you will make the correct parenting choices when it is your turn to raise a little one. In my case, I had accumulated a "list" of what not to do not only from being around other parents at the mall/grocery store/amusement park, but from spending 7 years as an elementary school teacher. I vowed to be a better parent because of my teaching experience. As a teacher, I encountered examples of good and bad parenting on a daily basis. I promised myself that I would learn from others' mistakes and practice the most effective and constructive parenting techniques when it came to raising my child. Well, all of those good intentions flew out the window yesterday.

The plan was to stop by Whole Foods to pick up a couple of items on the way to Little Gym with Daniel. I was hoping to pop in and out in a matter of 20 minutes. But my darling 2-year-old had other plans. His new "thing" is to refuse to sit in the shopping cart. Instead, he wants to "Push! Push!" I let him do just that at Giant earlier in the week, and we spent 45 excruciating minutes weaving up and down aisles trying not to take out any elderly shoppers. I wasn't about to suffer the same fate twice in one week, so I had to come up with a Plan B. If Daniel didn't want to sit in the cart, how could I entice him to cooperate? And that's when it happened. I became THAT mom.

As I struggled to lift Daniel's wriggling body into the shopping cart, I said, "They have cake inside. Do you want some cake?" Those must have been the magic words, because my defiant toddler became putty in my hands. Cake samples. That's all it would take to coax him into cooperating with me. We were at Whole Foods, land of free samples, so I thought this would be an easy transaction. Unfortunately, it was 10:00 in the morning and the only samples available were apple slices. After going back 3 times for more apples, Daniel expected me to hold up my end of the bargain. "Cake," he demanded. Heading back to the prepared foods section, the bakery shelves caught my eye. I spotted the one thing that would allow me to finish my shopping without encountering a tantrum from Daniel. Cookies.

I picked out a chocolate chip cookie and handed it to Daniel. His eyes lit up and he began to munch on the sweet treat. In an instant, I had done one of the things that I vowed NEVER to do: to placate/shut my child up by giving him candy or sweets. In the moment, I panicked. It seemed like the best option. I'm sure parenting "experts" would disagree and be able to come up with much more creative options. Screw 'em. It worked like a charm. Of course, now that I've opened Pandora's Box, there's no going back.

My Little Character

On Friday night, we took Daniel to the Please Touch Museum for their Halloween party. He dressed as a Bob the Builder-type construction worker, tool belt and all. Aside from the helmet, he probably didn't even realize he was wearing a costume!

Daniel enjoyed seeing all of the costumed children (and adults), but he especially loved the music that blared from the speakers. I caught him grooving along to the music several times. He played in the exhibits and gathered treats from the tables scattered throughout the museum. The chocolate Peeps and gummy body parts weren't that interesting to him, but the mini Hess truck was a huge hit!

With the crowds and noise, I thought that Daniel would've grown cranky as the night went on. But he was cooperative and flexible -- especially waiting in line to get dinner, well past his normal mealtime. He just took it all in.


I can't wait to see his reaction on Halloween, when groups of costumed kids come to our door for candy. Peter and I will take Daniel Trick-or-Treating around the street until he gets tired. Last year, just 2 months after learning how to walk, he made it to 4 or 5 houses. This year, I have a feeling I'll be chasing him up and down driveways!

When I picked Daniel up from school today, he was in rare form. He gave Miss Margie a kiss goodbye and flashed a big toothy smile when I asked him how he smiled for Picture Day. Margie looked at me and said, "He's a real character." The funny thing is, she sees just the tip of the iceberg.