balloon baby

Buying a $20 helium tank + balloons at Target was the best decision we made for Theo's b-day party.  He liked the deflated balloons even more than their properly filled versions.

And the cutest baby and balloon video you will EVER see!

One

I have cleaned up a little person’s poop for an entire year!  I thought by now he’d be talking, walking and a little more self-sufficient.  That he isn’t is sort of a good thing—he’s still a verifiable baby—and it makes one year seem slower, rather than like the runaway train you hear the bewildered parents of teenagers talk about.  When, however, I look back at pictures of the year, it’s amazing how much he has changed.  He looks different, acts different, and has a slightly fire-brandish personality now! He was such a sleepy, mellow baby, and he’s certainly not that anymore.  But still, I now only have 17 years until he can legally vote/join the army/leave home in a socially acceptable way.  Since it’s been 18 years since I graduated from high school, time is taking on new and weird dimensions.

But, oh, how I love this baby!  It matters not if he screams and pushes me away, or sticks used Kleenex in his mouth, I love him so.  It’s amazing to love completely unconditionally and have no expectations of reciprocal behavior or rewards/benefits.  I totally get the power of parental love now.  I’ve never loved unconditionally, except perhaps Pumpkin and Albert.  But most human love is so hard and complex.  We need ways of acting/speaking/being from other people.  We need them to know what to do and how to soothe the restlessness that is in every conscious (human) soul.  Parental love seems so simple and perfect by comparison.  We just need them to keep breathing and keep going, for as long as we live.  I’ve watched enough reality television to know that this love will probably change and become more complex as he becomes who he is destined to be (totally awesome?!), but for now, everything he does is amazing and without reproach.  I often wonder how a baby could be so perfect!

Some pics from the little family party we had (We ate pizza and I made small yogurt cakes with chocolate chips.  He ate an entire one, thus confirming his parentage.)

In sickness and in health, but mostly just sickness

We’ve been sick in this house for over one month. Theo has been sick for the entirety of 2013! One full month of runny noses, fevers, coughs, colds, norovirus, clogged ears, crankiness, missed work, missed naps--and THEN croup.  It’s been unpleasant, to say the least.  Sickness makes my brain go numb, so I don’t even know what’s happened in the last month.  Maybe I made an egg or something?  I don’t know.  It feels like my full time job has been to lie in bed, take medicine and blow my nose.  Some mundane things that I remember:

1.  I watched Homeland (both seasons), as sickness is good for that kind of thing.  Liked it. 

2.   I went on a weird Michelle Williams bender and watched Blue Valentine one night and Take This Waltz the next.  I think it was the Onion AV club that coined the term “manic pixie dream boy” to describe the male lead in this film.  I totally get it now.  Liked them.

3.   I decided to start using the expression “tectonic strength” to describe a really strong person.  Love it.

4.  I smashed my purse in my car door and broke both my glasses and my phone at the same time.  Do not like it.

5.  I had a conversation with the checkout guy at Target that went like this:

him: “the computer is acting funny”

me:  “what happens if the computers stop working all together?”

him: “you mean in Target, or like a terminator-like situation” 

6.  I ended class today last week by showing a video of a pig with wheelchair legs.  Total success.

When Theo is sleep deprived, he is also really happy.  He enters a weird delirium and becomes a super smiley baby.  Of course, I took some pictures and video.