Just a quick post to show you what we have been working on over here. And when I say, “we” I mean W has been doing the work and the rest of us have just been dealing with the aftermath…

Meet W’s new tooth:

Hurrah! We went to the zoo! And holy heck are my legs sore from all of the uphill walking. It was a very nice day with Mother, W, and friends. Casual, mellow, why don’t we sit down and relax, kind of zoo experience. A lot of exhibits were closed for renovations and lots of active construction was going on. But if there was something to see I unbuckled W and pointed and gestured and tilted my head towards it and maybe 70% of the time he saw the animal.

I think I was looking for a bigger reaction out of him. Watching a cat bathe cracks him up so you would think that the small mammal exhibit would rock his world. But he was sort of, “meh” about things. Certainly more interested in people watching or trying to get N or V’s attention.

I guess the more he becomes aware the more he will enjoy it. I wish I could promise you amazing photos but taking pictures fell behind so that I could hold W. I’ll share what I have, but I am guessing you will be most impressed by W’s new hat trick that he has mastered.

Thank you for the really great, helpful, and encouraging comments and e-mails regarding my thyroid issues. Many of you brought up a question that I have on my list as well- how the frack does a wonky thyroid get you an increase in height. I honestly don’t know. Don’t know if they are connected or if it is the result of something else or maybe because I am single and don’t get to live in a world where push gifts happen, it’s the Universe’s way of giving me a trinket. No diamonds for me, thank you very much, but I can totally dust that ceiling fan for you.

I do know that the increase in my height was one of the reasons why a massive amount of blood work was ordered. The biggie we were looking for was evidence of excessive growth hormone. I guess I’ll find out on Friday what happened there.

Monday I had plans to haul my ass and family to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, the zoo is reachable by metro, and best of all the place is FREE! But I was smacked upside the head by exhaustion. Total body consumed exhaustion. I don’t know if it is happening more often or if I am just more aware of it, but it honestly feels like I am moving under water. The worst is waking up and still feeling exhausted.

Needless to say the zoo didn’t happen Monday. It didn’t happen yesterday either as Mother had some appointments. One of those appointments being a giant job fair in Virgina. She looked beautiful, armed herself with her beautiful resumes, and braved face through a sea of teenagers about to leap into the job market. She met with as many HR people as she could, scored a really cool bouncy ball for W from a power company, and tried to find a positive side to the day.

That’s the thing about Mom- it’s been over a year of this shit and yet she is able to face each day with abundant hope. Because one day, one day is going to be THE day that turns all of this around. One day someone is going to call her in and find out how amazing and talented and fantastic and awesome and genius she is. And then they will leap to have her on their team. And then we can get back to living life and not flinching around it.

A friend (that is affiliated with the HR world and has a great blog) interviewed Mom as part of a series. And reading Mom’s interview made me laugh and made me cry and it just made me feel so amazed that she is keeping it together as well as she is. (I’d link to it but it’s all real names and stuff. But if you are in the HR world do leave a comment or e-mail.)

While Mother braved the lines and crowds at the job fair W and I went for a walk. I was craving it, it was a beautiful day for it, and so off we went. No ipod, just the periodic sound of W laughing at the crunch of gravel underneath the stroller wheels. The sun heated up my face and sweat beaded up at the nape of my neck and I just kept on walking. I walked until I hurt. Which was pretty stupid, but I honestly didn’t know when or how to stop.

Which brings us to today. Today we are going to the zoo. For real.

I finally get it. Why people that live in colder climates go ape-shit bananas when there is a hint of warmth and sunshine. When we lived in Florida there was nothing but heat and humidity. But being in a place that has more than one kind of weather situation is good times. I can adore the snow and then when the sun comes out I can actually appreciate it.

Yesterday Mother, W & I went to a local park. According to the park’s website it featured: a carousel, putt putt golf, a train, a massive playground for all ages, a nature trail, a nature center, and a farm. Sadly the carousel, putt putt and train were closed for the season but everything else was open for business.

We began by walking to the nature center and tried not to crash Jamal’s birthday party. The center had a really cool owl exhibit with real live owls looking down at us. It also featured a cool hang out place where you could watch silly squirrels and dive bombing doves fight over sunflower seeds. W was thrilled. He is really into being amused by animals right now and it just cracks me up to watch him be thrilled.

The most exciting part of our day was when we ventured out to the farm. W locked eyes on a giant bunny and just laughed and laughed. Also a guest at his comedy club was a loud pot bellied pig. I watched W study all the animals and delighted in his appreciation of them.

Tomorrow we take it up a notch. That’s right- W’s first trip to a zoo!

How is the weather where you are today? If you’ve got sunshine going on how are you receiving it?

Tomorrow a post about medical mysteries…ooooooh!

Thank goodness I have so much great company in the fort. I have dragged an extension card in here so that I can update a bit. There is honestly just so much in my worry jar that I wouldn’t know how to begin. Huge stuff and small stuff. And nothing that I can really do anything about as it all falls under the dreaded, “wait and see” subheading. One of the life lessons the universe is teaching me is how to surrender control. I’m not so good at that. It’s also hard for me to accept that just when you think you have hit bottom you discover the basement.

If/when I can I will drag you all into the angst, but for now just know that your company and kindness is going a long way.

These past couple of days have been a bit busy. W had a playdate, I had some appointments in Baltimore and now W is dealing with his first cold (ever).

Want to know an awful baby combination? Molar teething meets snot. Basically W’s face was a gross dripping mess for several days and now whenever he sees me hold a burp cloth he squirms away because he dreads the awful face blotting. He is handling the sick pretty well- mostly just a slowed down version of normal. You would think that he would nap more or longer but hell no. Even in the haze of sick he can battle the nap. Seriously it seems like every fricken nap is cried out. Exhausting…

The playdate was a blast. W’s pal, Miles, is a month younger but was crawling ages before W ever considered it. The boys were so funny together and I loved watching them interact. I also loved the fantastic homemade pizza that M’s Moms, Strawberry & Nutella, made.

I went up to Baltimore to have my hearing checked. Whaaaaa??? Oh yes, I am totally having problems hearing. It isn’t that sounds are gone, but more that I either can’t understand them or if there are sounds behind me sounds in front of me become garbled or painful to hear. The test was interesting. W bounced on my knee while I had all kinds of wires and contraptions on my head. We were sealed in a soundproof room and beyond the tonal testing I also had word deciphering tests done. The verdict was what I had expected: I have hearing issues. BUT something like a hearing aid would probably not be effective as it would only amplify the very thing that is causing me pain. Most likely it is a nuero thing- meaning how my brain is picking up the sounds vs how my ears are working. It’s all just information that will be passed on to nuero when I have that get together.

After my appointment we were able to walk the labyrinth that is set up at Johns Hopkins. It was rainy and cloudy, but refreshing to be wrapped up in such a familiar and comforting pattern. Mother quietly walked the path and W and I just soaked it all in.

Photo grid time! You should be able to see the smaller sized photos if you are reading this via a reader, but if you want to see them larger (& the way that I think looks best) you will need to click through to the site. For some reason clicking on an image from a reader doesn’t really make the photo larger. But on the site they are set up to be all pretty and presentational. oooooh.

First off- you are looking at a lady that got FIVE hours of uninterrupted sleep last night. And yes, I am celebrating. Because usually I get maybe three.

It goes a little something like this: Put W down between 7 or 8 (variation due to time spent in bath or time being silly), then do all the things I can’t do while he is awake (fold laundry, read blogs, read newspapers online), then sleep from around 11pm-1pm. Am roused awake by need to listen for W or need to pee. Am now AWAKE and can not get back to sleep from 1:30-sometimes 3:00. Finally get back to sleep. W starts stirring as early as 5am some mornings. And some mornings I ignore him and some mornings I can not. (babbling I can ignore, SCREAMING? not so much.)

So long stretches of sleep are just something that I day dream about.

Two nights ago W woke up SCREAMING three times. Nothing would calm him down. He was just so fussy. I attributed it to gas or a need to poo. Last night he slept sooooo well. And for some awesome reason so did I. (well I got those 5 consecutive hours!)

I am now going to segue awfully to an aside that will annoy you for a moment but just hang on- it all ties back in. Promise!

I am trying to teach W how to clap. He can give me some skin like a pro. And Mother and I have even been using his awesome “FIVE!!” enthusiasm to help teach him how to touch the dog. As in, “W, don’t yank on the Charlie’s hair. Give him five!”

However clapping is just something silly that the grown up people do. But oh man does he fucking LOVE the sound we make when we clap. Mother and I, for some reason, always say “YAY!!” when we clap. Now that is a sound that W really adores. So as we clap he joins in on the YAY!!! (oh good lawd is it cute.)

Ok, back to this morning. (see! Told you I would swing this boat back around.) W is in his high chair nomming on some melon and I think I see something else in his mouth. We are no longer in an era where I can just poke my fingers in his mouth as if I owned it. So I, clever mummy, just started clapping.

And as W joined in to gleefully proclaim, “YAY!!” I saw that he had cut another tooth on the left and had another one peeping through on the right. Downstairs. They appear to be the front molars as there is a bit of space between his incisors that I imagine the canines will eventually occupy.

So now I am relieved to know the reason behind the awful sleep. And just a bit, impressed (for lack of a better word) at how well he teethed. Previous teeth have been torture on all involved. I wonder if these just hurt less coming through or if the pain is just something that he is familiar with and is, I don’t know, taking in stride??

ANOTHER segue! Here it comes!

Hulu.com is the awesome. Big time love. BIG TIME. Not only can I watch all the shows I have been missing but many of them are closed captioned. (not very well, but anything is better than nothing) And yesterday afternoon I discovered that one of the random shows that I had ‘discovered’ last year was in a new season and I could watch it on hulu. Being Erica is fantastically Canadian. It is a show about a girl that is working on a list of regrets and she is able to time travel to see how things would have worked out had she taken a different path. I mean, seriously. A time travel show about therapy?? Love. And thanks to hulu I can watch it. Wooo!

And look! Another awkward segue!

I am going to take my dear, sweet, most beloved camera into a repair shop in DC today. It is one of those places that have been around since forever and they do on site repairs. They also don’t charge you for an estimate. All of the other repair places I looked into charged you $25 or up just to take a gander and if you agreed to a repair they shipped it off for weeks. I am freaking out that it will be something beyond my means, but it will be what it will be. I can still use the camera- just in manual mode. Which basically means every photo of W will be a blur. heh. I am going to be zen and just put out into the universe my hope: Please let this be a SIMPLE fix. As in a reset button or a quick cleaning. And please don’t let the price of the repair or clean be something that makes me cry.

Vanity Segue: I think I have found something that is helping my acne in the winter skin: tea tree & E antiseptic cream. Have only used it for three days but already there is improvement. And since I think like 4 other people that read this blog have adult acne in the winter I am going to share my find. (& by “share” I mean tell you what it is and where you can get it.) I found it on sale at the grocery store, but you can read about it and buy it from here.

And final segue: ooooooh!! It is Sock it to me week and I can not wait to show off the most awesome and amazing and beautiful socks that arrived. I have never seen anything so special and I feel most lucky and privileged to have such finery on my feet. I’ll be sharing tomorrow. Oh yes these size 13’s have never had it so good!

Someone’s “new” plaid snow suit arrived and we decided to take it out on some errands today. (This post is inspired by JJ’s recent photo post.)

It’s sized at 24 months so hopefully it will make it to the next winter!

We were very amused at all of the attention and sang many songs to express delight.

We went to the drug store and we chilled out with a snack.

Then we went to a baby store because SOMEONE is in dire need of a baby gate (or 3). And we had to try on hats.

Just being silly

And all of these photos were taken with manual focus because my autofocus is just not working today. PANIC! Heard about a camera repair place in DC that will do repairs in shop and am going to check them out on Monday with epic hope that it is just a simple cleaning. Because holy FUCK if it isn’t!

A post about yesterday’s meeting will be up later, I’m still processing. But it was ok. Better than ok. But different.

It’s a day of love, a day of pink and red put together with reckless abandon, a day where being part of a couple gets you celebrated and being single gets you sad looks. And the funny this is that this morning I was totally aware that it was Valentine’s day but by the time evening rolled around I had totally forgotten.

Mother and W and I went over to Annapolis to check out their Trader Joe’s. (seriously, I plan on trying out as many as I can.) It was a pretty good size, no alcohol, but lots of joyful ladies passing out free chocolate. Mom had remembered to bring her walking cane so we were able to do some exploring around the shopping center and by the time we met 5pm we were all ready to grab a quick dinner and get back on the road.

Except dinner…um. Every place was either reservation only, booked for the night, or a two hour wait. This frustrating moment was punctuated by the fact that I was at that beyond hungry moment and W was having a screaming argument with the straps of his car seat. Not eating before the drive back just wasn’t an option- but where the fantasia* does one go on such a romantical night when your dinner party includes two single ladies and a cranky baby?

Thankfully we soon found out- Double T’s Diner. Oh nothing could be finer. I thumb my nose at your two hour wait, Cheesecake Factory. PF Chang’s? Please pull my finger. At the diner we were ushered right on in to a perfect table and presented with one of those crazy large menus. I mean where else would we have been able to dine on such eclectic fare? And honestly- where else could I have gotten a margarita on the rocks and a bowl of matzah ball soup?

So like the best random days, it all worked out.

*I’m trying out new non swears as I can already tell when W is mimicking me. “Fantasia” is one that is working so far. As is farfegnugen.

Just what you were looking for, right? More mid-atlantic snow photos! Today was the first day that I felt like it was safe to take W out for another round of “baby in the snow” photos. Which was a bit too adjacent to “Timmy in the well” because a certain baby that we know and love is going through a firm, “do not even THINK about putting me down!!!” phase. (made all the more fun by a side dish of, “but please allow me to pinch and squeeze your arm/neck/chest/face…”) He wasn’t really thrilled by my great plan of a photo session in a laundry basket in the blinding white snow, but he’ll thank me later. Or not. Regardless…

(and check back later tonight because there is going to be a kick ass contest starting later this evening that does not involve photoshop but FOOD. Real, yummy, much coveted fooooooooood.)

I know it was deeper further out, but I did not venture very far

See? Total drama about being put down.

Thinking about chilling

Chill

Adorable

And because he was a good assistant, here is Charlie in the snow

And lastly…just because I like that I caught this guy thawing

Of course I will be 2nd hand shopping, but oh damn is this cute. (too bad it doesn’t come in my size.)

More snow coming later today.  Mother is braving the roads now to pick up a few needs at the grocery store. I imagine it will be crazy packed. No way was I going to go!

Winter questions for you guys:

1) what is your favorite winter lotion?

2) Please tell me how you strategically unsnow your car.

3) socks or slippers? both?

4) Your favorite crockpot/ slow cooker recipe please. (vegetarian preferred)

5) Adult acne face wash that works in winter?? Does it exist?

Anyone else really geeked out over the promos of Who Do You Think You Are? I love geneology stuff and totally get weepy over some of the promos.

And final random to make you smile- Mother found this hair dryer in the sale bin at a local drug store. I haven’t used a hair dryer in years because it takes forever. Thusly my hair is always just sort of damp. This bonnet is the awesome and I can dry my hair hands-free! Plus it makes me look like a sexy beast. Right??!

ok. fine. I look like I’m in Star Wars..