Belated Letters to the Boogers

Dearest Dante and Scarlett,

First and foremost, Happy birthday, Dante!  A whopping four years old! It's crazy to me how fast time flies. I guess it's true that kids are time machines.  Days drag on forever, but years fly by.  You have become an amazing reader, and a mini mathematician.  Your way with words and numbers astounds me.  I do wish you'd outgrow temper tantrums, but I really can't judge since I haven't...

Scarlett!  Twenty months old and you can almost sing the alphabet!!  You really love your tutus and your sparkly things!  You carry your blanket around like the princess version of Linus from Peanuts, but it's cute.  I'm really waiting for you to use it like a parachute...

And the both of you with this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has GOT TO STOP.  I hear those songs in my sleep.  It's not fair, seriously.  I was never really into Disney, and now I know why.  Please cut it out.

I really don't have much to say other than I'm tired and I love you....

So, I'm tired, and I love you.

~mama

What a Week!

I had a pretty excellent week, I can't lie...On Friday, I went to King Soopers to pick up a couple things and wound up meeting a friend who lives just a few blocks away.  Right after she got there I went to check out and I realized that my wallet was in my jacket.  At home.  So, I punk'd myself.  But my buddy was willing to get my decaf for me, so we chatted for a couple hours.  Always lovely to chat with a friend.

Saturday, my birthday, was pretty epic.  My friend Mindy took me (and Dante) out for lunch, and we went to Rooster and Moon (review to follow.)  We had a great lunch and then ran to Target for groceries, and after Target, I brought Dante home for a nap.  While he napped, I played around on the internet and was planning on hitting the hay, too, when I heard the door unlock.  What?  It was 4pm!  Hubby works from 130p to 10p!  He saunters in and shows me all these fantastic clothes that he picked out for me!  AND he brought me a torta from my favorite Mexican joint up North, Trompito.  So I put on an impromptu fashion show and  figured out what fit and what didn't.  He did a great job!  It was so awesome!  I love my husband! =D

After the shock wore off, I got Dante up and we went to a local Pirate fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and he had a blast!  He loved the slides, he loved my friend Heather, and he was his hard to catch self!  The zit on the evening was when a bottle of bubbles (Miracle Bubbles, my ass.) EXPLODED in my purse.  I was able to salvage the diapers, ultrasound pictures and my wallet,, but my checkbook was all but destroyed.  Yay.  So we took off and went to a Mexican market for fresh tortillas and then I took back the jeans that didn't fit.  Looked for a new purse or a new diaper bag, and I am just picky.  I am seriously considering buying a new sewing machine so I can make my dream bag.

Sunday was pretty mellow.  I only left to go grab a Sunday paper for the coupons and a cup of joe at the Starbucks downstairs.  I love being lazy on rainy days, so that was pretty awesome.  I did get laundry done, but when I have such a cute little helper, it's not really that bad of a chore.  Especially when there aren't obnoxious neighbors to get in my way.

Yesterday, we were going to go to Albertson's AND Target, but my cart's tiny passenger had other plans.  He was testing his "up" and "down" and then decided that my neatly organized coupon organizer was too neat for his liking and dumped it all out in the cart.  So I got to find an empty-ish spot of Target to reorganize the damn things  and then I pretty much gave up.  We went home, I put some food into him and put him down for a nap.  I was down for the count, too, so I passed out!

Woke up with a mean hankerin' for pizza, so I ordered pizza.  And it was gooooood.  Enjoyed some Being Human on SyFy, and put together a new rolling laundry hamper.  I felt like Super Mom, and Dante was my Super Helper, handing me the pipe-like pieces.  He is too damn cute, I swear.

I am a very, very happy Mama.  Life is good!

How did THIS happen?

Two years ago today, I was planted right here.  Not really able to move, since I gained 50 pounds while I was pregnant with Dante.  (Which probably explains why I have my own butt print on the couch...)  I was bitching and moaning that they wanted to wait until my birthday (April 2nd) to induce, unless he decided to make an early entrance into this world.  I was tired of being pregnant, tired in general, and the very definition of Super Bitch.  Little did I know that at 6:58 am the next day, my water broke like the proverbial floods, and I had to drive myself to the hospital that my doctor wanted me to go to, 23 miles away.  Snow fell, and the highway was closed while I was on it.  Long story short, Dante was born March 26th, 2009, at 10:18 pm.

It blows my mind that my little boy is going to be two years old tomorrow!  It blows my mind that I am pregnant again, like an odd kind of masochist.  I am still wrapping my brain around what I must've done to deserve my blessings.  I also can't help but wonder what kind of mom I really will be when we get to the brass tacks.  Hrm.

I think this is something I can ponder as I go back to sleep.

The Day That Sparked a Blog...

Today, er, Monday the 14th, was my friend Donna-Ann's birthday!  We woke up, unsure of what was going on, when I offered the idea of brunch and the Denver Zoo, since I'm a member.  Dante, almost two and a spitfire in his own right, was being, well...a spitfire.  His current favorite phrase is "bye bye" and I shuffled us both all over the apartment while my bemused husband looked on, sleepily.  So I got us dressed and out the door, and Dante and I made it to the car in one piece.  I buckled him in and we made our way to Le Peep for some good company and good food.

My girls were a bit later than us since I knew where the restaurant was, and Dante decided that being confined to a high chair was beneath him, and his way of retaliating was throwing crayons.  Unfortunately, the waitress must've been tired, and a few things didn't occur to her.  Things like letting me order his funny face pancake before my friends had arrived, or asking my friends when they got there if they'd like anything to drink.  Whatever.

So after our delicious meal (and terrible service), we booked it over to the zoo for some sunshine and gorgeous creatures.  I got Dante some fruit like I always do, and he got to eat cantaloupe, honey dew, watermelon and some grapes from the comfort of his stroller while the girls and I took turns pushing him.  I let him out in the Primate Panorama area, and as soon as his Carter's sneakers hit the pavement, he was off and running!  So after some chasing and some scolding, he finally calmed down enough for my liking when we got to the Great Apes.  There was a crowd gathered around the orangutans and  I had no idea why, so I coaxed him over to the gorillas.  One was smack dab in front of the glass, but Dante was ENTHRALLED with a few cute little ladies.  Again, he ran over to see the orangutans again and then I saw why:  There was a new one!  Mama had him on her back and she was climbing the ropes in her enclosure, and dear gods, I squeed like a Belieber.  Wrangled Dante out the door and we went for the little area where the drums and small village were.  While there, he got his first skinned knee.  I was more upset than he was.  (Still am, actually!)

So I got him cleaned up, and we started making our way to the giraffes, my favorite!  Around the lions, we let Dante out of his stroller and herded him toward the giraffes.  Somewhere around here he fell another two times, adding to his future scar count.  Near the zebras (right next to the giraffes), he decided to be cranky and was attempting to walk on the curb that keeps people out of the animal enclosures.  So I coerced him into following us to the giraffes, and he grabbed his sippy cup and pitched it over the wall.  So, there we were and Dante's cup was in the grassy area between visitors and the giraffes.  Imagine my delight.  So I informed a passing zoo employee who then had to get on his walkie talkie to get a zookeeper over to retrieve the cup.  I got the cup back from the zookeeper, Kayla put Dante back in his stroller and we booked it for our cars.

While we were leaving, I saw this 30-40 something lady and her 25 year old boyfriend walking about with a purse dog in a stroller.  Being the legal eagle that I am, I informed a security guard.  Dogs aren't allowed for so many reasons, I can't even fathom bringing one to the zoo.  If I have to follow the rules, so do other people.  My two cents...

So I got him home, put him down for a nap, and decided that although I had planned on getting laundry done while he slept, I was so wiped, I needed a nap, too.  So I ate, played on Facebook and zonked out.

Woke up, and got the laundry together and got it over to the laundry room only to learn that one of the dryers was out of commission.  JOY.  Here I am with FIVE loads of laundry, two washers, one dryer, and only one night to do it all in.  *grumble grumble*

In all our trips over there, Dante flirted with a couple neighbors, learned that his chalk can draw on the cement floors, and got one of those neighbor girls covered in banana and chalk.  She was a pretty good sport about it...

Now both my boys are asleep and that last bit of clothes are drying....

These are my adventures.  And I wouldn't trade them for anything.