Made in Richmond

Rosebud Perfume Co. minted rose lip balm
I don’t normally spend $7 on lip balm, but I had to a gift card to Anthropologie and they had this stuff in a lovely little bowl by the cash register. I’m not one to impulse buy, but the pot is so damn cute I couldn’t resist.

Old Navy classic flip-flop for baby
JR has really, really chubby feet, so find sandals (hell, shoes) that fit is challenging. Finally, about a month ago, we got him a pair of these, and they are the light of his life. His are orange, and a friend described the image of these shoes on his chubster feet as “the picture of happiness.”

Method multi-surface cleanser, pink grapefruit
It smells delicious and it works.

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
Our friend Susan (“Susu” to JR) sent this to us about a month ago — not for any particular reason, other than she’s awesome, she loves our kid, and she loves this book. We love it, too. It is SO much fun to read aloud and is one of the few books our wiggly man will sit still for.

What about you? What are you loving to bits these days?

My friends Matt and Jenny are expecting a their first baby (a boy) in October. At Jenny’s shower a little over a week ago, Matt made a special appearance to sing a lullaby he wrote for the baby. Since it’s been up on my Flickr for a while and they’ve been able to share it on facebook and what not, I figured it was ok to share it with all of you. Even though you probably don’t know them, you will undoubtedly be crushed by the sweetness of it.

(I should probably add that Jenny’s shower had a rockstar theme. She doesn’t always have a bright red mohawk. However, she does have bright red hair, and it’s awesome.)

(I should also apologize for the mid-song jostle of the camera. I couldn’t help it — if my friends sob, *I* sob.)

(Also, also, “Weiner” is what they call their dachshund, even though her name is actually Scarlett. Oh, forget it, you don’t care.)

One night last week, during my nighttime routine, I glanced in the mirror and noticed a BRIGHT RED moley type thing peeking out from under my hair.

So I did what any normal, 21st century woman does. I Googled it. I quickly learned it was either something Totally Fine or something Very Bad.

Because I’m an excellent patient, I called my doctor the next morning and booked an appointment. A few days later, we had our visit.

He told me right away that it was nothing to worry about (a cherry hemangioma, to be specific) and I should only be concerned if several of them popped up at once. He also pointed out that it’s possible that it had been there for a long time and just never noticed it.

And then there was the dagger to the heart.

“You know, they become much more common with age.”

“Excuse me?”

“Things like that, moles — they become more common with age.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not saying you’re old, I’m just stating a fact that you are getting older. Everyone is getting older. People don’t get younger.”

“So your diagnosis is a cherry hemangioma probably brought on by age?”

“Basically.”

“Great.”

Obviously I realize that 28 isn’t old. It’s not even close. But it is quite humbling when a medical professional tells you that you’re experiencing something because of the aging process.

Oh well, at least I’m not dying. Not right *now* anyway. Although, getting older is technically dying. Just v e r y s l o w l y.

JR,

In three months, you will turn 2.

…

Moving on.

This time last year you were thinking about weaning and, repeating lots of sounds, and trying your hardest to say some real words. Still such a little baby!

Now you are SUCH a boy. Running, shouting, throwing, more shouting, more running, and so on. You love to play and talk and, oh, you are just so much FUN. And so EXHAUSTING. But in a really good way.

Sleep has been interesting this month. You still do quite well, but you fight going down for the night pretty consistently when I do bedtime. When Dada does bedtime, however, you have no problems at all. You’re starting to wake up a bit earlier, and for the last couple weeks you just shout “MAMADADDY!” from your bed until we come and get you. I’m hoping that’s a phase. I’ve found putting books in your bed so you have something to look at when you wake up helps a bit.

People keep asking me if we’ve moved you to a big boy bed yet. You have shown zero interest in climbing out of your crib, so we’ll keep you there for the time being. I can’t imagine what kind of mess you’re going to make in your room once we make that transition. Eesh.

You talk constantly. Constantly. You’ve even tried out words like “motorcycle”, “elevator”, and “hippopotamus”. It’s very cute. You also seem to understand about 95 percent of what we say, and sometimes you can carry out multiple instructions. For example, I can say, “Please go put your cup in the sink and bring me your shoes,” and off you go. Little things like that make us so proud of you — you’re quite smart and (usually) a good listener.

Temper tantrums are more frequent, as to be expected.* A new (and not very attractive, if I’m being honest) habit is to actually stomp your feet (like you’re running in place) while you scream. It actually looks pretty funny. It also never works, so you might as well drop it.

We’re still working on the concept of timeout. I think you’re starting to get it. You sometimes say the word to me after I tell you not to do something. We’re also working on apologizing, particularly when you throw food on the floor — food that your father has lovingly prepared. The other night, you threw most of your meal off of your plate, and I had you go into the kitchen and apologize to your Dada. There was actual looking at the floor and scuffing of feet as you made your way in.

You’re starting to be much more interested in other people, including your grandmothers and our friends. You particularly like calling people on the phone. Just this weekend you asked to call Gamma and “your Su-Su” aka our friend Susan who you had seen the night before. It’s fun for us to see you connecting with the people in your life, having your own little “things” with them. And it’s nice to see how much our friends and family love you.

Although, can you really blame them? You’re the tops!

Love,
Mama

*After writing this, your father and I endured the most epic temper tantrum we’ve ever seen. Dude, what the mess? Can we not do that again? Also, we still love you, despite the fact that you spent the last 96 minutes screaming at us.

The three of us walk, hand-in-hand, up to the door of JR’s school. We spot our reflection in the glass doors.

“I forget sometimes how little he is,” Ross says, laughing.

***

It’s close to midnight and Ross and I peek in on JR sleeping. He’s sprawled out in his crib, taking up every bit of space.

“He’s such a giant,” Ross whispers.

***

JR is currently standing with one foot firmly planted in boyhood and the other standing on tiptoe in the baby version of himself. He’s changing right in front of our eyes — sometimes it is so obvious and seems to happen so quickly that I feel my heart twisting in my chest. And then I hear songs like this and cry and nod and cry some more because it says it better than I ever could.

My mom and step-dad (Stewart) are kind enough to invite JR over for sleepovers about once a month or so. These little breaks have been wonderful for Ross and I — and it gives one set of JR’s grandparents (of which he has three, lucky booger) to love on him extensively.

When JR is staying over with my mother, I usually call around 8 to see how bedtime went. Nine times out of 10, my mom says, “Well, he just didn’t want to go to bed. He wanted to stay up and watch the races with Stewart.”

Of course he did.

On his most recent visit (when we were away from him for three entire nights SOB) he was about done *not* being at his house and was legitimately having a hard time settling down for the night — he was over the pack’n'play, over the strange room, you know. So my step-dad suggested that JR sit with him and watch the race for a little bit. JR cuddled up with him and my mom left the room for a minute. She came back to find this:

Apparently they were both snoring, too.

(Friday morning, approximately 3:45am)

“Were those gun shots?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you call the police?”

“You call.”

“I called them last time.”

(I figured that was a more clever title than “Here are some bullets.”)

• The lovely RA, one of my fave bloggy friends *and* a “Gap brand enthusiast” recently held a giveaway on her site for a gift card good for a $69.95 denim purchase. And I won! She’s forbidden me to spend any of it on the kid, so I guess I will be making a clothes purchase for the first time in many moons.
• Ross and I just finished watching Arrested Development. It was a nice change after Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Even though I loved all of the characters, Buster is the best. Mostly because of how he always said, “Hey, brother…” I will now greet my own brother with that every time I see him.
• The thing I said I was only going to talk about once has stalled somewhat. There is still interest but much less enthusiasm.
• I recently put this together for work and, I must say, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Also: my job is fun and strange.
• I’m currently reading Gone With the Wind. I’m 911 pages in with over 500 to go. GAWD.
• JR loves singing now. The ABC song is his favorite. It goes something like “Ah-bee-cee-dee-ceee-emenemlo-p…” and so on. I’ll try to get a video so you all have something to watch over and over again.
• Ross and I are now watching The Last Airbender. So far it’s just delightful, and I’m told it just gets better. I’m also told that I should never, ever see the movie.
• I can now sing the Veggie Tales theme song by heart. It’s a charming song really.
• The wikipedia article on Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean is fascinating. You should all read it.
• BLT’s are the best invention ever. Ok, mayonnaise, then BLT’s.

Feel free to share your bullets in the comments.