Random [nine]

1. The plague hath stricken our home. Kane started vomiting Tuesday night. He developed a fever shortly thereafter and has been sick ever since. Snot. Coughing. Sneezing. Fever. Bad sleeping. It's been great.

2. And this morning, I woke up with a sore throat and congested head. Guess I should have known that having a baby cough in my face for 48 hours would give me the plague. We've been doing a lot of this today.

3. Things that make me feel like a good mom:

Instantly grabbing my baby when he starts vomiting, with complete indifference to the fact that I will be covered in throw up by the time it's over.

The fact that my sick guy sleeps best when lying on his momma.

Not giving my kiddo antibiotics when they aren't needed.

4. I tried to take a Happy Valentine's picture on Tuesday, pre-plague. It didn't end up well. Here's proof that not all my ideas work out.

5. Last week, Kane decided to eat a blue crayon.

But then realized they don't taste all that good.

6. Last week, we went to Going Bonkers. It's great. Think McDonald's playground times a hundred. They have a huge climbing structure with slides and slants and surprises everywhere. Plus, it's cheap - $2.50 for Kane + $1 for me. I can afford that kind of entertainment.

In this picture, you can kinda-sorta see how high we are. On the bottom left, there's a woman sitting at a table at the ground level.

7. I'm grateful that we had fun last week and that I had pictures to blog because this week was spent in quarantine and that doesn't make for great photos. I'm also grateful that by being a SAHM, I can take Kane to places like Going Bonkers or the museum in the middle of the day when it's not so busy. We both get to play and don't have to fight any crowds. Swoon.

8. This kid loves salsa. And he loves to dip chips in salsa himself.

9. Kane wants to play bubbles about 17 times a day.

I'm off to tend to my sicky and wipe his nose, despite his protests. Hope you have a great weekend and take a moment to appreciate that fact that you can breathe thru your nose. It's the small things really.

Recharged

Right after I posted my last blog, I felt whiney and decided to take charge. I strapped on my running shoes, changed Kane out of his pajamas and headed to the gym.

If you "Like" me on facebook, you know that Kane has separation anxiety issues. He's always been a little shy, takes a long time to warm up to new people, and is much more comfortable in his momma's arms than anywhere else. To help with his separation anxiety, we joined a gym with a childcare center. He needed to be cared for by people other than his parents or grandparents. And realize that when I leave, I come back. And it's not the end of the world. And how to play with other kiddos.

It's been a little over a month, and it's been rough. He bawls when I drop him off. He has cried hysterically for 30 minutes straight. I promised the workers I wouldn't be gone for more than 30 minutes at a time because they have other kids to take care of and a screaming child is no fun. Not for a momma and not for someone with 4 other kids to care for, even if they are being paid.

Of course they are super nice and say things like "Oh, he's not the first one to cry" and "It's ok, we know how to handle it". But they also say things like "I'm not going to lie to you - he was pretty upset the whole time". Bless them.

So on Thursday, I wasn't surprised when he cried when I dropped him off. I went to the cardio room and 5 minutes later Miss Nancy came to tell me that he settled down very fast and was fine. She just wanted to let me so that I would have a good workout and not be worried. Like I said, bless them. So I did my 25 minutes on the elliptical and went to pick him up and saw this:

[note - this is a cell phone picture]

Holy Moly. That's my child, not crying, and actually playing! I was ecstatic. I snapped this picture and sent it to Matthew, accompanied with twelve exclamation points. I wanted him to feel my elation and an excessive number of these - !!!!!!!!!- is the only way to get it done. True story.

Miss Nancy even said "It's so cool - I've never seen him play with anything, ever." Talk about being recharged. And being so proud. What a great start to the weekend, even if it was only Thursday.

Our Friday started with a breakfast playdate and then a trip to the Barnes & Noble at the mall where we found a train table.

And at the mall, we saw a little girl with a yellow balloon. Kane loves balloons. And he loves anything yellow. He can say "weh-whoa", but calls balloons "balls". I always correct him by saying "ball-oooooooon", as if there are twelve o's that make the word four times longer than it really is. So he's probably never going to know how to correctly pronounce balloon.

Anyway, he saw her balloon, tried to take her balloon, she wasn't having it, so we asked her mom where she got that balloon and off we went to the Nordstoms kids shoes section. The nice guys hooked us up with a yellow balloon and I had one happy baby.

And I think shot should be an advertisement for Nordstroms. Call me if you want to talk business.

And since it was Friday afternoon and we were energized, we put on some music and cleaned the house.

Guess what my guy picked...Bob Marley. Very few people know that I love Bob Marley. When Kane and I have a dance party, 90% of the time it's either Bob Marley or the Beach Boys. [As I was writing this post, I got to see the Beach Boys on the Grammys. Love it.] When we hear Bob's beats, we sway, we bounce, we dance and we sing. And we clean.

And sometime during our dance party, Matthew came home and we celebrated the Official Start to the Weekend. And I got to enjoy some loving from my little cuddler.

He loves it when I lift him so high he can touch the ceiling. And when I blow raspberries on his belly. Since he's 20+ pounds, I get to skip the bicep curls at the gym when we play that game.

[In case you didn't already know, I have gray hairs. You can see them here:]

See - he's pointing to the ceiling and saying "up!". And check out the reflection in the mirror - that's Matthew being our camera guy.

And Saturday morning did not disappoint. These guys made me French freedom toast.

And on Sunday morning, Kane had a meeting with his Chief Advisors and they handled some business.

It was a great, slow weekend. I'm recharged. And ready to take on this week. And so is the spotted puppy.

The Beacon

It's been one of those weeks. I'm a little more tired than usual, which means I eat a little less healthy than usual, which means I feel 18 pounds heavier than usual, and on and on. I blame it all on hormones. Mainly because no one can prove me wrong (well, without stealing some of my blood). And because my husband doesn't understand hormones at all, so he let's me get away with it.

[Let's do a quick poll - Does the man in your life understand hormones? Does he think it's all in your head? Does he really "get" how they can change the way you feel?] Maybe it's just one of the little ways women are mysterious. And the reason we're so damn hungry all the time.

But when I'm having a rough week, I try to remember that I am a beacon of light and hope. Stop laughing now, I'm serious. Sort of. Once upon a time, a good friend of mine told another good friend of mine that I am said beacon. We laughed about it, because it sounds very silly (especially if you know me - I'm just as crazy as the next girl) but it actually does help me stay positive.

When my beacon light gets a little lot low, from hormones or stress or the dogs digging under the fence and escaping, I notice. I can feel the light slowly dimming and I jump on it. I don't want to be blamed for those ships wrecking into the shore. And I don't want to my son to say "Mom sure is dim today". Double entendra intended.

So I try to recharge it, so that I feel better and so those passing ships can find their way. And on this Thursday, I'm recharged by the fact that the weekend starts tomorrow. Oh, thank goodness, you couldn't come soon enough.

I sure hope our Saturday involves scenes like last weekend did. Like Matthew and Kane making pancakes for breakfast.

[And yes, that's the kitchen helper that finally got stained and polyurethaned! It's great.]

And more snuggling with dadda. Because he recharges my beacon as well. And Kane likes him.

And kisses. Because who doesn't want a weekend full of kisses from this cutie? I do, and I know you do too.

And fun outings, like this trampoline park we got to visit for our friend Drake's 6th birthday.

But as Toddler Law states: When an adult pays for you to go somewhere cool, only play for a few minutes, then get bored. At that point, go find something that's everywhere and would be absolutely free, and have the time of your life. Example: find an ADA ramp and run up and down that thing until your cheeks hurt from your gigantic smile.

Now back to recharging weekend scenes. Can't you hear him thinking "Where did that block tower come from?!? I better get out of this box and go knock it down!"

And swimming in the middle of February.

I sure hope your weekend has some recharging moments and no one says "You're dim".

PS - Love you TR & CP! You both recharge me as well.