Sunday, October 31, 2010: Boo

I hate Halloween. Okay, that's not actually true. I love candy and so I am legally obligated to appreciate any holiday with candy as its centerpiece. Also I'm a sucker for cute kids in costumes. I, however, decline to dress up for Halloween. The older I get the less into it I am. The first year we lived in this house I was so excited to pass out candy on Halloween. I cued up "spooky" music (Metallica, maybe? I can't even remember. It might have even been Múm, for ambiance, I guess) and stood by with a big heaping bowl full of empty calories. I'd say it was about half kids and half teenagers without costumes who shove a pillow case at you/grown ass adults holding out a bag "for the baby." For the baby, my ass. It's for you. And anyway, babies shouldn't eat candy. So either way I'm shaking my head, sad at it all.

But now that I have a kid things are different. We didn't take him trick-or-treating (see above comment re: babies and candy), but he did help me pass out candy to the kids (and grown-ups) and that was awesome. Perhaps a little frustrating to the sweatsuit clad "kids" who wouldn't even need a fake I.D. to buy a pack of cigarettes. But with real, actual kids he was a hit. I'd give him something from the candy bowl and he'd drop it in the bag. He caught on to this really quickly and took his job very seriously. In between bursts of kids he'd wait at the window, sometimes pounding his Tootsie Roll-filled fists against the glass when he saw kids on the other side of the street, trying to get their attention.

Gavin's candy handing out skills aren't surprising since he's all about the preposition "in" these days (also I think it helped that he has never eaten candy and thus didn't really recognize the items he was handling as edible so much. Otherwise I don't think he'd be so keen to let them fall from his grasp). He likes to put things away. In fact, the other day he actually corrected me, though he didn't know that's what he was doing. I was putting dishes away and there were a couple of Tupperware (except, not Tupperware since I don't think we own anything that brand, I just can't think of what to call it) lids that needed to be put away in the drawer where we keep such lids. Only that drawer is a pain in the ass and always has too many lids in it and to put anything away in there you often have to rearrange everything and I was just not in the mood. So I put the lids in the cupboard with the containers themselves, which is the cupboard Gavin is allowed to get into. Later in the day he decided to pull stuff out of the cupboard (a favorite pastime) and while he was engaged with that I turned my back for a second to let the dogs inside. When I turned around he was pulling at the lid drawer, which does not open easily. "Do you want to open that?" I asked him. Since it's just a bunch of lids I thought, sure, why not? And as I reached for the drawer I saw he had the two lids I'd put in the cupboard in his hand. Sure enough, when I opened the drawer he put them both in. This pretty much blew my mind.

On Thursday Gavin's day care had a Halloween party. Gavin went as a dog. His Granny Marilyn bought him the costume. He looked very cute, needless to say. He did not leave his costume on long and I can't really blame him. He had playing to do and couldn't be weighed down by his canine persona. There were so many adorable kids in costumes. One baby, a few months younger than Gavin, was dressed as Yoda and it was pretty much the cutest baby costume I've ever seen (well, besides this). I really loved getting to watch Gavin in action at day care. Granted, the room was crowded with kids decked out in costume and their parents so it wasn't exactly a picture of the day-to-day operations. But I got to see where he eats lunch. In fact, Stacy even gave him a little angel food cake that he ate sitting at his little table. It's clear that his day care teachers like him quite a bit. He seems to like them, too, though was a little shy because of all the commotion and didn't give Shelly his customary high-five. We'd also kept him up late so we could go to the party, so that probably didn't help his disposition. Even so, he was happy and perfectly content to push a walker and then a pink toy umbrella stroller around the room, seemingly oblivious to all of the long legs all around him. "He loves that stroller," Debbie said. So now when I picture him at day care I picture him pushing that around, talking to himself. Not unlike a homeless person with a shopping cart.

Yesterday morning and the morning before that I was greeted first thing with a big sloppy Gavin kiss. Open mouth, always. In fact, he sucker-clamped onto my face with no warning and managed to lick my teeth. Super gross. I'm a very big supporter of brushing and gargling in the morning before I do anything else with my mouth. Still, it was adorable in that it sure beats him jetting out of bed without even acknowledging I exist, which is how it's been for a long time now. (For the record, he does not sleep with us, but Stacy brings him in the bed in the morning to nurse. Then we all get to cuddle. And it is very nice.) In fact the other day he actually clung to me when Stacy tried to take him. Because I am a kind and caring wife I did not say, "See how it feels?" Actually I did. That's exactly what I said.

Monster mash for Aiden

And by "mash" I mean "get out your credit card." Aiden is a five-year-old monster artist (he draws monsters. He is not a monster himself) and his wares are for sale on Etsy. Aiden has Leukemia and the money from his monster goods goes toward his care. I learned about Aiden via Regretsy who set up a Zazzle store to sell stuff with Aiden's monsters on them. His drawings are pretty awesome and you should want one even if he didn't have cancer. But he does. And that's scary and awful and sad and as a mom -- and as a human being (most days) -- I cannot even begin to imagine such a thing. So put some money where the monster is. Get your holiday shopping done, even.

For more about Aiden visit his blog. You can also find him on Facebook.

Tuesday, Oct. 26: Dancing Bear

Gavin is, at long last, dancing. This is pretty much a dream come true for me. I don't know that there is anything cuter than a baby dancing, nor a more perfect picture of uninhibited movement. Gavin is, of course, not a good dancer, and by "good" I mean he knows no moves besides movement itself and rhythm is periphery. However, I argue that he is a perfect dancer, unburdened by self-consciousness and the shackles of rhythmic expectation. And did I mention how cute it is? I have been waiting for Gavin to dance for what seems like forever. Lisa's son has been dancing since before his first birthday. He's six weeks older than Gavin so for the past several months I figured that any day now Gavin would shake his groove thing. (Cue Etta James here.) The first song I saw him dance to was one of the tunes from his Chicco rucksack toy (a toy that I think is dumb, but I got on mega-clearance at Borders last year and he likes it okay). I wasn't quite sure if what I saw him doing was dancing or if he'd just momentarily lost his balance. So I brought him out in the living room and played Huey Lewis and the News "I Want a New Drug." Sure enough, that was dancing. Mind you he was at all times preoccupied with something else when he was shakin' what his mamas gave him, but I just take that to mean he's a multitasker and the music's in him. Today he danced to several Robyn songs and a little Saint Etienne that Laura put on.

Gavin does not sing yet, however. I assure you that when he does part of my heart and brain will simultaneously implode. Unless, of course, I have some kind of cuteness overload relief valve -- and come to think of it I must otherwise I would have imploded a long time ago.

Waving is still Gavin's favorite skill of choice. He waves at everyone (unless prompted. Then he won't. He has to feel it. Waving can't be forced). Today he even waved at Jon Stewart. Yes, of the Daily Show fame. No, Jon Stewart wasn't in our home nor are we letting Gavin watch TV. However, Laura was sitting on the couch watching a clip from The Daily Show on the computer. Gavin and Stacy were also on the couch, though Gavin was preoccupied with Stacy on the other end. At some point the computer screen caught his eye and he ended up right next to Laura and he started to wave at Jon Stewart. More than once. Laura also said that he waved at some Fox News commentator who was also on the screen briefly (and let's be honest, he probably didn't deserve it). Stacy surmised that perhaps since Gavin Skypes with his Granny Marilyn that's where he got the idea that moving images on the computer of people talking equals an interactive experience. In any case, Laura swears it was adorable and I have no doubt. None.

Speaking of adorable, Gavin had his school picture taken yesterday. We sent him to day care with a long sleeved button down shirt and a neck tie. Shelly, his day care teacher, reported that he looked very handsome. She also told Stacy that she almost had to be in our son's picture because Gavin wasn't all that wild about picture day and didn't want her to put him down. Probably if he could have had time to acclimate he would have been fine, but school photo day waits for no one. They've got a lot of kids to cycle through there. In any case, she said she managed to not only put him down long enough for a photo to be taken, but she also got a tiny smile out of him. I can't wait to see that picture.

I'm proud to report that Gavin has not peed through his clothes for the past two nights. The week before that was another, sadder, story. Basically he had a cold and so was drinking a lot and peeing. A lot. And his diapers (at the time Pampers Baby Dry, which are supposed to last 12 hours but do not) just couldn't handle it. One of the things I was making him were Baby Arnold Palmers, which is half water, half white grape juice (Stacy read somewhere that white grape juice is more nutritional or something than the standard kiddie choice, apple juice. I honestly can't remember why). He likes those a lot. He doesn't get a lot of sugar. So when he, say, eats bananas, he goes nuts. I have to slice up and quarter bananas and then slowly dole the pieces out or he will shove fistful after fistful into his maw like a savage animal. It's both fascinating and obscene.

And now I must go make Gavin's lunch even though it is part 9 p.m. and I am exhausted already. I'll probably just throw some snack-size Butterfingers and juice box in his lunch bag and call it a night. I'm beat.

Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010: 8:15 on a Saturday night

The problem with writing a parenting blog is that the actual parenting part makes it really hard to write. Not only finding time, but also finding enough brain functioning left over to string letters into words into sentences into semi-coherent ramblings. Take last night, for instance, when I sat staring at the computer screen after what felt like the super-longest week in which Stacy was sick, Gavin was sick, and I was sick (we are now all almost over our colds, thank you for your concern). I managed to write: "I took Gavin to daycare today." And that's about it.

And so here I am ready to take a chance again, as Barry Manilow would croon. So.

I took Gavin to daycare yesterday. Usually Stacy does this but she went to a conference in Lansing today. Shelly, his day care lady (I am not sure what to call her. Care giver? But that makes it sound like Gavin is an old man. And day care provider makes it sound like she's an HMO), was happy to see him. He didn't go to day care Monday or Wednesday since he was sick. She tried to get a hug but he sidestepped her. "Uh, you missed," she said, and crawled after him, much to his delight. It didn't take long before he was ready for me to go. I gave him a hug and went to work and when I left he was standing in the middle of the room like, "Hmm, it's been a few days and I'm way behind on my playing. What should I tackle first?" Do I need to mention how handsome he looked? I do not. But I will. He looked super handsome and very much in his element. He's the mayor of day care.

In case you were wondering how the Mama D vs. Aunt Laura Gavin Love World Championship is going, I still have to beg him for hugs. He brushes Laura's hair, even ("It's like being at a salon," Laura said the other morning. "A salon that hires babies"). I'm lucky if he even notices I have hair to yank. Laura taught him a new game while babysitting him: Loud Sound Blocks, in which you sweep your hands repeatedly through a pile of Duplo blocks while yelling, "Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrgghh!" Thanks, Aunt Laura.

We took Gavin to a mom-2-mom sale at a local high school gym. We'd never been to one before but I really dug it. Gavin absconded with a Whinnie the Pooh push/ride on toy and was tearing around the floor. The woman selling it told us it was all right, he could play with it after he'd taken it and we'd returned it several times. We should have paid her a rental fee at least. He wheeled around like he was totally the mayor of the mom-2-mom sale. After that we went to the gym and he played at Kids Klub. After Stacy and I were done I peeked in at him and saw him climb up the slide and then go down it by himself (the attendant was actually right near by, but he essentially was unaided). He looked pretty surprised and looked up at the attendant like, "Was that supposed to happen?" I don't know what she said, but it must have been encouraging because he turned right around and did it again and seemed to be having a lot of fun.

The other day I was heading out the door and Stacy was holding him as they waved at me. I blew kisses to Gavin and made kissing sounds and then he made kissing sounds right back. Instead of using both of his lips he kind of sucks his bottom lip with his top teeth so it's very much like a rabbit air kiss with those big chompers of his.

Gavin is obsessed with the phone. On the way home from Meijer this evening he was gabbing away on a toy cell phone. I'm not sure who he was talking to but he was super chatty and happy (probably his Aunt Laura). He loves all phones and doesn't have any problem differentiating between the home phone or a flip cell phone or my Blackberry or, as I've mentioned before, even a handheld calculator. If it's phone-like he's putting it up to his ear (the back of his head, really, with the mouthpiece ending up somewhat near his ear) and talking into it. So when I read this article in the New York Times warning about the dangers of toddlers and iPhones, I was a little worried that maybe we were somehow teaching Gavin to become a 13-year-old girl (get it? Because of how they are always talking on the phone?) way before his time. By far the most disturbing thing reported was the existence of the "new iGo Potty app (sponsored by Kimberly-Clark, maker of Huggies training pants), with automated phone calls reminding toddlers that it’s time to 'go.'" I thought the whole point of potty training was learning to listen to signals from your body that it's time to "go." Gives a whole new dimension to the term "butt dial." Thanks, Huggies! In any case, the article basically warns that giving your kid an iPhone to play with, even if you are using "educational" apps, is the same thing as plopping him in front of the TV. As long as you're okay with your child remaining immobile as they while away their childhood engaged in an activity that does nothing to help their brains grow, go for it. But Jesus, don't act like just because you can also call Grandma with it that your kid isn't playing video games or watching TV in the car. They're not cramming for Li'l Mensa with their Baby Einstein app.

We don't let Gavin watch TV (and saying "don't let" him sounds weird, since it's not like he asks to watch it and we say no. He doesn't really even know that TV exists in our house at all. It's never on when he's up and it's closed up in the cabinet all the time. He's seen some TV: parts of a football game on in the background at his Grandpa Gary's, some cartoon movie on in the background at a house we were visiting, and a South Park cartoon on the computer when his Aunt Amanda was babysitting (that was not cleared by us, BTW). But it's so not a part of his life. He's a very active dude who likes to move and DO. Which, you know, is good for his developing brain. So we encourage that kind of thing. The only TV he watches are occasional viewings of videos of himself on the computer while he gets his nails cut. Otherwise he won't sit still. But put on a video of him -- and it has to be him, he's not interested in videos of other people, not even other babies -- and he's mesmerized. Often smiling and laughing even. He cracks himself up.

I was alerted to the NYT iPhone piece via Wonkette, a blog I don't read nearly as often as I should. Wonkette's Sara K. Smith wrote about the iPhone controversy, "It had honestly not occurred to [me] to keep [my] kid occupied with something so expensive." Amen. I don't let Gavin play with my Blackberry for this very reason. Not because I am afraid it will rot his brain (he has yet to figure out how to thwart the keyboard lock function. In fact, he doesn't even know it exists to try to thwart), but because I sure as hell don't want to pay for another one. All good parenting decisions are usually driven by thrift in some way.

Friday, Oct. 15: Sick soy sausage snacker son

On Yahoo's homepage there's a story about "What Baby Jessica Is Doing Today." Now, I honestly don't care what she's doing. I do vaguely remember the news sensation that was the baby in the well. But I never knew much about it. In fact, over the years I've always pictured the "well" in question to be of the "wishing" variety, not an 8 inch hole in the ground. In any case, Yahoo's "Where Are They Now" headline led be back to the original story and I of course can't help but imagine Gavin stuck in there and now I feel all claustrophobic and queasy and stuff. Basically Gavin is never leaving the house again, I've decided. Shit. I just remembered that a large percentage of accidents and injuries happen at home. Maybe I can just get every conceivable opening sealed shut. Opening windows and doors is overrated. Also dangerous. Isn't that what they believed in olden times? You had to keep windows shut all the time so that the child doesn't get wind or something?

Then again, it's too late for that. Gavin and Stacy are both sick. This is, of course, not surprising since Gavin swaps germs constantly with the kids in day care and Stacy teaches in elementary and jr. high schools. GermFactories.com. I thought mothers weren't supposed to get sick? Like, there was some kind of force field that made sickness virtually impossible so that she could continue to nurse babies, mop floors, and plow fields? I hope I don't get sick. I've already put in my time this fall. In fact, when I had my fall cold Gavin and Stacy didn't get sick. So let's hope they return the favor. Meaning that they don't get me sick.

Speaking of sicklies, they're both sitting next to me eating oatmeal out of a big glass bowl, each with own spoon. Gavin's getting really good at feeding himself. Though sometimes silverware can be too limiting and a dude's got to attack his grub with his hands.

"It's amazing how strong the drive for independence is." Stacy just said this. I agree. Gavin is learning so much so fast. He's a marvel.

He's got more new tricks. The first one is play-pretend eating. Imaginative play is a big step noggin-wise for babies, so this was a pretty exciting thing to witness. Yesterday he was carrying around an empty box of Morningstar Farms soy sausage patties (his mommy eats some just about every morning. Aunt Laura also likes these. I do not. I've never been a big sausage fan even when I ate meat). The box was headed for the recycling but it had a coupon inside and I hadn't gotten around to cutting it out yet and then Gavin got ahold of it. He reached his hand into the empty box and then put his hand to his mouth as if he were eating directly from the box (not recommended for most frozen food). See for yourself:


He can also climb up on the couch now. He likes to climb up and onto just about everything. Gone are the days where keeping something out of his reach was as easy as putting it on the back of the couch. No longer. This was always my trick for Kleenex. He has an ongoing love for Kleenex. It has evolved from merely shredding tissue after tissue to now wiping his nose and mouth himself, doing an especially careful job wiping the inside of his mouth. This might also be seen as "eating" the Kleenex, though less "play-pretend," more "you will find this in my diaper if you don't take it away from me."

Tuesday, Oct. 12: Mr. No Hugs

So it's pretty much official: Gavin likes just about everybody else more than me. This is especially true when it comes to Tia Laura (not to be confused with Tila Tequila, most of the time anyway. "Tia" means "aunt" in Spanish. Since Stacy teaches Spanish she speaks to Gavin in Spanish a lot. In fact, I'm learning quite a bit as well. Not enough that I'd be able to get by in Mexico or anything. Unless I stumbled upon a town populated by babies. In that case I probably would know more Spanish than them).

In any case, yesterday after his bath Stacy sent him streaking into the living room to show off his clean nekkid self to me and Laura. He went straight to Laura who scooped him up, only to put him back down when I made a joke about him peeing on her. Even still he gave her a great big hug once they were both on the ground with Laura kneeling to be at his level. When I, also kneeling, requested a hug Gavin not only refused, but he physically recoiled, retreating to the safety of Tia Laura who gave him another hug. I tried this several times, each yielding the same result. Stacy also witnessed this. So, yeah, I've got witnesses. Although I don't really want witnesses because it's embarrassing. But I guess it is nice to know that this isn't all in my head. Yeah. It's a total relief to know that my son hating me is IRL (that's "in real life." Try to keep up).

Okay, okay, I know he doesn't hate me. Still, I'm starting to get a complex. It's hard not to take personally. I mean, it was bad enough when it was just Stacy. But Laura, too? As Lisa has assured me, it's not that Gavin likes Laura better, it's just that she's novel. After all, Gavin has never had anyone living in our basement before. He never really goes in the basement so maybe Laura seems to emerge from and retreat to a very mysterious place. Plus with Laura comes Emma, the world's most beautiful and sweet dog (sorry, Henri. I still love you the best, though). Emma is a 14-year-old greyhound and she has lived here before immediately prior to Gavin's birth. While Stacy was pregnant she would sometimes go sleep on the couch because she couldn't get comfortable in our bed and Emma would sleep on the end of the couch, keeping Stacy's feet warm. Emma's really the only reason Laura's currently living with us. Without Emma I would have given Laura a rain poncho, driven her to the nearest bus shelter and said, "Have a nice life." But I could never do such a thing to Emma.

Laura was telling my mom (her mom, too, actually) about how she's Gavin's #1 true love and Mom said, "Maybe he thinks you're D'Anne." She was, according to Laura, "Totally kidding." She came by the house today and Gavin didn't want to go to her, either. So maybe there's one person I outrank in the Gavin Love Hierarchy. In my mom's defense, she was not here for very long so Gavin didn't really get a chance to warm up to her. Plus she doesn't live in our basement, which, as we know, gives a person a real status bump with Gavin.

I mentioned that Stacy was teaching Gavin Spanish. While he doesn't say anything in Spanish, he can tell what she's saying a lot of the time. Like when she asks him if he's hungry he'll go to his high chair. I've joked that I will probably be responsible for teaching him swears since I still swear far too much. But I really have gotten much better. At the same time I think Stacy may have gotten worse. The other day Gavin was pitching a fit on the changing table, really wailing. From the other room I called to Stacy, "Why is he crying so much?" And she yelled to me, "Because I won't let him touch his shit-covered penis!" Hopefully he was screaming too loudly to hear her. Although I totally understand her frustration. Babies are completely unreasonable. As are toddlers. It's just that the more toddler they get the stronger and more wiley they get. And he's no exception, except he's not even a year and a half yet and he's already six feet tall and 275 lbs. (this may be a slight exaggeration).

I need to go make Gavin's lunch for daycare tomorrow. I am really tired and quickly losing steam. The first couple of times Stacy and I made his lunch together it was really fun and exciting. Now it's exhausting. Don't get me wrong, the reason it's exhausting is because I can't exactly just throw a pack of Little Debbie's Zebra Cakes, some Handi-Snaks and a Capri Sun in a paper bag and call it a day (I really could not possibly tell you the exact number of times that some variation of this was actually my lunch. But not until high school when I started packing it myself). We're really careful that he gets a balanced meal spread throughout three meal times during the day. It's a labor of love, really. And love is really exhausting.

Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010: Gavin, phone home

It's been awhile since I posted. You're all like, "Wait, you're still a mom? We thought you'd quit." Ha. Easier said than done. Seriously. Being a mom is the kind of job that people look down on you for quitting. Blogging, not so much. But I haven't quit. I'M WORKING ON IT. I mean, here I am, right now, writing while Gavin hollers from his crib. So give me a break. I'm doing the best I can.

And by "hollering" I don't mean I'm ignoring him. Well, I guess I am ignoring him, but it's not neglect-level ignoring. It's "you've only been in your crib for 15 minutes and you were hard-core rubbing your eyes and crabbing like crazy so, no, I am not going to get you up right now. Parenting. It's a balance act between their desires and your sanity. I'll let you know which one ultimately wins in about 18 years.

Gavin fell and hit his lip yesterday at day care. He's got a black and blue lip now. It's quite sad. Poor guy. He doesn't care at this point. He's fine, but it looks pretty ouchy. He chomps his bottom lip a lot, actually. Maybe because he's got such huge teeth. Or maybe they aren't huge so much as they just take up a lot of the real estate in his mouth. I don't know. I'm not a teeth scientist. I just hope he doesn't ever have to get stitches in his lip like his Aunt Laura did when we were kids. I don't know how old she was, but she was pretty young. I would say four at the most. They stitched her up at the hospital and on the way out the door she chewed the stitches out. My parents had to turn around and take her right back in. Dumb Laura. I kid Laura. She's not dumb. But, man. That must have hurt. Maybe her lip was still numb or something. I don't know. Thinking about it is kind of making me want to pass out.

Waving is Gavin's new thing. And for those of you thinking, "Isn't 14 months a little late to be waving? Don't sign your kid up for MENSA or anything," I'll have you know that he used to wave back before he could even walk. They one day he just stopped. He was all, "I'm so over waving. Waving is so two months ago." But he's waving again now all of a sudden. His technique has changed a lot. Instead of just sticking his arm out and flopping it around in a rough approximation of a greeting or farewell, he now uses only his hand, twisting at the wrist pageant style. See for yourself.


Talking on the phone is another new trick. He's always loved the phone but up until recently it was all button pushing all the time. Now he holds the phone up to his ear as if he's actually talking and listening. Well, he IS actually talking. Usually very seriously. He makes really important calls. At daycare Shelly plays "phone" with the kids. In fact, the other day when Stacy went to pick Gavin up he was sitting on the floor with her and a little girl and Shelly held the phone out to the girl said, "It's your daddy." Then she held it out to him and said, "Gavin, it's Mama D." Pretty much one of my favorite day care stories ever. So, yeah, talking on the phone is my new teenage son's hobby. Calculators, too, will do in a pinch. He was walking around this morning with a pocket calculator up to his head yammering away. It took me a minute to realize that he thought it was a phone. Which makes sense since it's roughly the same size as my Blackberry and has a bunch of buttons on the front. He's also very fond of Aunt Laura's phone since she often leaves it in her unzipped purse.

I'm jealous because Gavin likes Aunt Laura better than he likes his Mama D, always giving her hugs and kisses. As Lisa pointed out, that's probably because she's still new and having her here is novel. "You," she said, "he expects to be there." This makes sense and is somewhat comforting.

Gavin and I have a big adventure planned for today: going to buy a new microwave since ours caught on fire last night. The enamel wore off and started to rust in this tiny spot on the inside of the door and what do you know, it was a blue spark light show. I suppose getting a new microwave is long overdue. I mean, for years we've only been able to use the "one touch cook" button, which basically means you can heat something for as long as you want so long as it's in 30 second increments and not longer than 4 minutes. A few of the number buttons still worked, but power outages were always a pain in the ass because we couldn't reset the clock until it was 5:55 or 8:55. We'd set the over timer to let us know when we were getting close. I mean, it was a lot of suspense and all, but that's all in the past now. It's time to move on. Oh, and did I mention that Stacy accidentally ground up a glass baby food jar in our garbage disposal? So that doesn't work any more, either. Actually, I take that back. It might work. But the fact that rotting-food-infested water now leaks out of the bottom via several different holes, we are choosing not to use it.

Gavin's been quiet for awhile now. I think he's actually asleep. Tuesday he took a morning nap but his afternoon nap was for shit. Hopefully today will be a good nap day. Man, I'd like to take one or two of those myself.