Highs and Lows - sorta

I don't have a concrete set of highs and lows this week.  Most of the week seems sort of pleasant and unremarkable to me and Sunday would have been Jack's fourth birthday which raises way too many emotions to be able to resolve into highs and lows.

So this week instead we are going to play a new game I like to call, "Cute...Not So Cute."  I think you'll pick up on it pretty quickly.

Liam

 
Cute: The child has the goofiest huge grin.  It's all gums and a huge open mouth that looks like it's trying to eat a huge piece of cotton candy.  Goofy is the only word for it.  And it is just the happiest face you've ever seen.  It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Not So Cute:  Well, almost every time. Usually when I am up at some ungodly hour nursing Liam he conks back out before finishing leaving me with the eternal struggle of whether to wake him up a little more to finish eating or just run off to bed as fast as I can.  The other night he did just that and I chose the run-away-as-fast-as-I-can choice, like usual.  But when I tried to put him in his crib, the second his body gently touched his bed, his eyes shot open like I'd dunked him in ice water - which was annoying.  So I calmed him down and tried again - and you'd think the crib was electrified. His eyes sprang open unnaturally wide like some sort of freaky baby in a horror movie.  Really, it was creepy.  And he was fussy.  Super fussy.  And I was tired.  So I tried my best not to scream and wake all the other kids up and picked him up and tried again. This time, against my putting-baby-to-sleep policy, I held him til he was COMPLETELY asleep.  And guess what.  Yup, barely touching that soft, smooth sheet jerked him awake AGAIN.  AHHHHH!!!  But this time instead of fussing he looked sort of frantically around until he found my face (which I had been cleverly hiding 12" directly above his own...) and the little turkey catches my eye and grins.  His huge, goofy grin.  And coos.  And bites at the air with his gigantic grin.  But now we're at half past ungodly and even though it settles my rage a bit, I look him straight in the eye and say, "Sorry buddy, right now? Not so cute." 

Belle

Cute:  Little Belle's little colon has some constipation issues (You're wondering how this is ending up in the "cute" category, aren't you...)  You don't want details, but it got to the point that if there was any emergence of poop it was greeted by cheers, shouts, candy and a full blown parade by the rest of the family.   Thankfully we are out of the proverbial woods now and she's much more regular.  So now at each instance of her being victorious she comes to me bursting with pride and whispers, "Mommy!  I pooped A-GAIN!"  Then the ritual continues by her making a super excited face (think along the lines of an overly dramatic mime...)  and says, "And it didn't hurt!  It just POPPED right out!"  And her face and her high pitched little voice always make me laugh and wish I'd video taped her.

Not So Cute: I change her vile, stinky diaper trying not to breath (what is in that medication???), take it outside to the trash holding the thing downwind from myself, walk back in and around the corner she comes, bursting with pride and whispers, "Mommy!  I pooped A-GAIN! And it didn't hurt!  It just POPPED right out!"  Seriously?  I JUST changed you!  NOT so cute.