saturday recap
Three things that were hard today:
1. Trying to keep Chicken from jumping in the rain puddles at the zoo. Like a fucking amateur I elected to dress him in sneakers (SNEAKERS) after it had rained all morning. I deserved what I got.
2. That crick in my neck. Camping in the living room while Buster learns to sleep? It has its disadvantages. But on the plus side, we don't ever have to change the sheets on our bed. Also on the plus side, I'm so stiff and awkward it's like I'm trying to collect damages after slipping on someone's driveway. So, I'm ready for that payday.
3. Visiting a friend who had just had a baby. She was still in the "I just had a baby" zone, the place of total immediacy where today's problems are the only problems, and today's victories are all that matter. It was hard because it was so familiar, my God, so familiar, it was like it wasn't even a memory yet, like I was still right there, in that place, with her. And that's a hard place to be.
Three things that were easy today:
1. Selecting which variety of bagel to purchase for breakfast tomorrow. (Everything, duh.)
2. Giving in to Chicken's deepest desire to splash in puddles at the zoo while wearing sneakers. Fuck it. That's what two is all about: soggy socks and mud in all your nooks and crannies. Once he twisted away from me and splashed into that first puddle, it was like, well, ya can't put the whiz back in the can, am I right? So yeah, all the parents who walk by are like, "oh that's so fun DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT FELICITY." So yeah, the kid was what ya might call "moist" for a couple hours at the zoo. That's why God gave us all skin and laundry detergent and also why I never go anywhere without spare pants for the whole family.
3. Dinner, actually. I made caprese sandwiches and black bean soup. I bought one of those loaves of bread that you finish in your own oven, so the bread was crisp on the outside and warm and steaming and pillowy on the inside. Sliced a tomato, sliced some mozz, slathered on a bit of pesto on one side and drizzled some balsamic on the other. Suck it, Giada.
Three things that smelled skunky today:
1. The load of laundry that I washed, left damp in the washer for 2 days, put in the dryer like "maybe it will magically be no big deal this time," completely folded, and then sat down next to on the couch before I realized that it smelled. Not like Tide. Like low fucking tide.
2. Those everything bagels. But in the best possible way.
3. Dude, Chicken's breath. That is starting to be a problem. It's like he has always just finished a poop sandwich and washed it down with a pumpkin spice soy latte.
Three things that smelled sweet today:
1. Buster. Buster, Buster, Buster, post bath, post baby massage, in fresh, still-cool pajamas and a sleep suit still warm from the dryer (not from the low-tide load.) He smelled like everything that is good.
2. That bread in the oven, a simple Italian loaf smell blossoming in the warm room.
3. The gym, as soon as we walked in this morning. We've been there 3 times and I already have a biological response to the peculiar, cold metal, just-unpacked smell of this gym. It's like, if an Under Armour commercial had smell-o-vision. GAME ON motherfuckers.
Three things I'd do-over today:
1. I'd go back and put some fucking rain boots on that kid.
2. I'd go back and drink more coffee sooner.
3. I'd have stayed longer with my friend who just had a baby. I was late for the zoo party, and I didn't want to wear her out, but I wish I'd stayed just a little longer.
Three perfect moments today:
1. When I decided to spit out a quick blog instead of watch TV (admittedly not my best post ever, but still. Here it is.)
2. When I sang "Stick with Me Baby" to Chicken and he started singing each line back to me. "We'll find a way. Yes, we'll find a way."
3. When Buster looked at Chicken during dinner and laughed, and then Chicken threw his head back and laughed, and said, "Oh that Buster, he's so funny!"
3. (Bonus 3) When, at the zoo, I told Ryan he should go meet up with our friends, who had moved onto actual animal exhibits while Chicken chose to stay behind and wallow in a rain puddle. And Ryan said, "it doesn't matter if I see anyone else. I just want to stay with you."
3. (Bonus 3 #2) When, in the bath tub, we started singing the Nemo song (the Mount WanaHockaLoogie song that's just monosyllabic grunts.) AH OO WA EE AH OH OH OH, and Chicken started doing it too, OO EE AH AH OO AH EE OH, and Buster laughed and laughed and his two white teeth just bobbed up and down in the pink sea of his mouth as he clapped his hands in delight.
3. (Bonus 3 #3) When I got that first hit of coffee. None of this would have been possible without that first cup of coffee.
1. Trying to keep Chicken from jumping in the rain puddles at the zoo. Like a fucking amateur I elected to dress him in sneakers (SNEAKERS) after it had rained all morning. I deserved what I got.
2. That crick in my neck. Camping in the living room while Buster learns to sleep? It has its disadvantages. But on the plus side, we don't ever have to change the sheets on our bed. Also on the plus side, I'm so stiff and awkward it's like I'm trying to collect damages after slipping on someone's driveway. So, I'm ready for that payday.
3. Visiting a friend who had just had a baby. She was still in the "I just had a baby" zone, the place of total immediacy where today's problems are the only problems, and today's victories are all that matter. It was hard because it was so familiar, my God, so familiar, it was like it wasn't even a memory yet, like I was still right there, in that place, with her. And that's a hard place to be.
Three things that were easy today:
1. Selecting which variety of bagel to purchase for breakfast tomorrow. (Everything, duh.)
2. Giving in to Chicken's deepest desire to splash in puddles at the zoo while wearing sneakers. Fuck it. That's what two is all about: soggy socks and mud in all your nooks and crannies. Once he twisted away from me and splashed into that first puddle, it was like, well, ya can't put the whiz back in the can, am I right? So yeah, all the parents who walk by are like, "oh that's so fun DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT FELICITY." So yeah, the kid was what ya might call "moist" for a couple hours at the zoo. That's why God gave us all skin and laundry detergent and also why I never go anywhere without spare pants for the whole family.
3. Dinner, actually. I made caprese sandwiches and black bean soup. I bought one of those loaves of bread that you finish in your own oven, so the bread was crisp on the outside and warm and steaming and pillowy on the inside. Sliced a tomato, sliced some mozz, slathered on a bit of pesto on one side and drizzled some balsamic on the other. Suck it, Giada.
Three things that smelled skunky today:
1. The load of laundry that I washed, left damp in the washer for 2 days, put in the dryer like "maybe it will magically be no big deal this time," completely folded, and then sat down next to on the couch before I realized that it smelled. Not like Tide. Like low fucking tide.
2. Those everything bagels. But in the best possible way.
3. Dude, Chicken's breath. That is starting to be a problem. It's like he has always just finished a poop sandwich and washed it down with a pumpkin spice soy latte.
Three things that smelled sweet today:
1. Buster. Buster, Buster, Buster, post bath, post baby massage, in fresh, still-cool pajamas and a sleep suit still warm from the dryer (not from the low-tide load.) He smelled like everything that is good.
2. That bread in the oven, a simple Italian loaf smell blossoming in the warm room.
3. The gym, as soon as we walked in this morning. We've been there 3 times and I already have a biological response to the peculiar, cold metal, just-unpacked smell of this gym. It's like, if an Under Armour commercial had smell-o-vision. GAME ON motherfuckers.
Three things I'd do-over today:
1. I'd go back and put some fucking rain boots on that kid.
2. I'd go back and drink more coffee sooner.
3. I'd have stayed longer with my friend who just had a baby. I was late for the zoo party, and I didn't want to wear her out, but I wish I'd stayed just a little longer.
Three perfect moments today:
1. When I decided to spit out a quick blog instead of watch TV (admittedly not my best post ever, but still. Here it is.)
2. When I sang "Stick with Me Baby" to Chicken and he started singing each line back to me. "We'll find a way. Yes, we'll find a way."
3. When Buster looked at Chicken during dinner and laughed, and then Chicken threw his head back and laughed, and said, "Oh that Buster, he's so funny!"
3. (Bonus 3) When, at the zoo, I told Ryan he should go meet up with our friends, who had moved onto actual animal exhibits while Chicken chose to stay behind and wallow in a rain puddle. And Ryan said, "it doesn't matter if I see anyone else. I just want to stay with you."
3. (Bonus 3 #2) When, in the bath tub, we started singing the Nemo song (the Mount WanaHockaLoogie song that's just monosyllabic grunts.) AH OO WA EE AH OH OH OH, and Chicken started doing it too, OO EE AH AH OO AH EE OH, and Buster laughed and laughed and his two white teeth just bobbed up and down in the pink sea of his mouth as he clapped his hands in delight.
3. (Bonus 3 #3) When I got that first hit of coffee. None of this would have been possible without that first cup of coffee.