Made in Richmond

Last night, Ross, JR, and I were in the car on the way to Ross’s parents house for dinner. After a really rough couple weeks (more on that in a later post, maybe), we were really looking forward to an evening of pizza and chatting with two of our favorite people.

Well.

About 15 minutes into the drive, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw (oh horror of horrors) the entirety of JR’s afternoon snack coming out of his face.

A few seconds later, I saw part of his lunch come out of his face.

So, we pulled over, attempted to clean him up (which is hard to do when you have no spare clothes and it’s 30 degrees out), and just decided to bag the whole thing and drive home.

With the car smelling like vomit.

He threw up again when we walked in the door, and once more about 30 minutes later.

Thankfully he’s doing fine now — no incidents overnight and he’s even had some toast and applesauce. And now we’ve experience what it’s like when a toddler throws up. It’s highly unpredictable and very hard to contain.

But what this whole thing really showed me was that biology is really weird because after JR threw up in the car, he looked at me and shouted “MAMA I NEED A WIIIIIIIIIIIIIPE!”

And I instantly thought “How is he so CUTE?”

I can’t even handle it.

If you don’t follow me on Twitter (we you should be doing because I’m hilarious and contemplative AT THE SAME TIME), then you haven’t been exposed to the wonder that is Valerie Wolf.

My friend Matt made it, and all he basically does is take my most frustrated tweets and creates a ridiculous image, usually involving a picture of an angry wolf. The explanation doesn’t make it sound funny at all, but trust me, it is.

See?

So yeah, go check it out and have a laugh.

JR,

So this happened:

You are now the owner of a legit big boy bed. The crib and changing table are gone, and your room looks like it belongs to a kid, not a baby. Because, as much as I hate to admit it, you basically are a little boy now. It’s really fun and also really, really sad. I love seeing you grow up, but I’m missing the baby version of you quite a bit these days.

One MAJOR bonus with the bed is getting to cuddle with you when we read at night. Your love for books seems to be growing and you love to “read” to us. Current favorites are Giraffes Can’t Dance, Jamberry, Where the Wild Things Are (it went out of favor a few months ago but is making a comeback), and Imogen’s Antlers. A lot of these require multiple readings each night, and, I must say, I don’t mind it one bit.

You continue to crack us up on a daily basis. I walked in the other morning and found you standing on your bed (you haven’t yet figured out that you can actually climb out of the bed on your own). Before I had a chance to remind you that we don’t stand on our beds, you furrowed your brow at me, threw your hand up in the air, and said, “Mama, I just want some coffee.”

We got to spend some time with your second cousins this month. (They’re my cousin’s kids. If that confuses you, don’t worry. Your Uncle Bryan will jump at the chance to explain your relationship. Repeatedly.) Even though you hadn’t seen them in over a year, it took you about 0.5 seconds to be over the moon for each other. Before we knew it, you were all trying your hardest to torture Grandma’s cat and squealing with glee. It’s so fun to watch you interact with other kids because we get to see aspects of your personality that we wouldn’t otherwise. We’re learning that your very laid back and willing to share which is great. We’re also learning that you can be influenced pretty easily. We’ll work on that one.

School continues to go well. I got a chance to volunteer in your class for a little bit and quickly learned that you are TOTALLY the kid who answers the question before the teacher is finished asking it. But you don’t shout, you sort of mutter, which is hilarious. You love counting and saying your colors in both English AND Spanish — and you sometimes like to ask *us* if we know the word “en Espanol.”

Eating has gotten much better these last few weeks; you’re even eating meat! Your booster seat is gone, and we save the sippy cups for when we’re in the car or when you’re cruising around while playing with your toys. Another sign that you’re growing up very quickly, but it is nice to have you feel like more a part of our family meals.

For some reason I always thought being away from you during the week would get easier as you got older — you know, as your needs change, etc. — but that is SO not true. Kid, I am basically addicted to you these days. Your cheeks, your nose, your laugh, even your cry — I just want to breathe them all in every chance I get. I can’t get enough.

Can you blame me?

Love,
Mama

We are what you call “a very blonde people.”

Last Saturday morning, JR woke up a little earlier than usual. Since he wasn’t crying or hollering for us (most mornings start with “MAMA! MAMA WHERE AHHH YOU? I’M RIGHT HERE COME GET JAY-R!”) we decided to let him talk to himself for a while so we could get a little more rest.

I stumbled into his room about 30 minutes later (yes, he is good to us) to find JR lounging in the corner of his bed. He looked up at me, waved, and said “Mama, there’s dirt on my hand.”

He had taken a bath the night before. He went to bed right after his bath. He hadn’t gotten out of bed yet that morning. There was no reason for there to be dirt on his hand.

Well. It wasn’t dirt.

Needless to say, after frantically bathing him, brushing his teeth (because OH GOD), and changing his sheets and blankets, we spent the day saying, “JR, no matter what, do NOT put your hand in your diaper.”

(Hold me.)

JR is just very passionate about Baby Einstein and its impact on the literary world.

The latest installment in the parenting column I write for RVANews is up. We’re talking about division of labor and, more specifically, if you feel like you and your partner have found a fair balance.

I learned something very important in writing this one: my husband is a pretty great guy.

I hope you’ll go and read it, and maybe even share a thought or two.

Eating my weight in peanut M&Ms.

Taking a walk in the snow with my little guy.

Getting a little flashback of ridiculous adventures of my youth during a Christmas night party with old friends. (It involved catching an owl. Don’t worry, the animal control people told us to.)

Hearing JR say “I wanna do my ornament” each evening as he added to his Advent tree.

(Yes, his Advent tree is black.)

Spending evenings watching movies and not working (even if I had to pay for it last week…and possibly this coming week)

Watching my almost 100-year-old Grandma (her birthday is on Wednesday) have a nice little chat with JR.

Seeing my little boy enjoy his wonderful Christmas gifts.

(It takes everything I am to not pull these trains out for a little therapeutic building time during JR’s naps or after he’s gone to bed.)

Being left speechless.

(That is what you think it is. I don’t think I’ll ever need another gift in my life.)

I hope your holidays were filled with nice little somethings as well. I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

(Next up: JR now sleeps in a bed. The crib is in storage at my in-laws’ house. And I’m still crying in the corner.)

(All of these images were taken with Instagram, my new most favorite thing. If you have an iPhone and you’re not on it, get on it. My user name is ValerieCatrow. Let’s be Instagram friends!)

The holidays didn’t kill me. I’m still here, just very busy.

So until I can return with more something substantial to say, here’s a picture of JR totally unimpressed with a grilled cheese sandwich.