Happy Monday Super Mommy!

June gloom has passed and summer is in full swing. Seems appropriate that I took Max on a shopping spree today. A few hot ticket items on his "fun in the sun" list were a kiddie pool, extra large gardening tools, and a bjorn potty seat.

That list pretty well sums up what's going on around here. It's gorgeous outside and Max is ecstatic about being in the water, so we are putting a little pool on the rooftop deck. I can't think of a better way for Max and his friends to spend some time together.

The gardening tools are all the rage because they are as big as his body. I've had to take all heavy toys away from him because this kid has an arm. "Ow!" He'll knock you out with a wooden spoon or a pepper shaker, and the new toys I just got him are light and won't damage me OR the house. Since Max banged a dent into the bamboo wood floor, I'm on toy patrol.

And then the potty chair is something I'm convinced he's ready for. I've heard that babies who wear cloth diapers are easier to potty train because they can feel the wetness when they tinkle. Also, Max jumps in the shower with me and laughs and laughs as he pees. It makes me think he might know what he's doing. I can't wait to see his reaction when I sit him on his new potty chair the next time I catch him making his number-two-potty-face.

Usually I'm bragging about how proud I am of my baby, but today I feel like giving myself a big pat on the back.

First of all, Max slept TERRIBLY last week. He cut his top two fang teeth and was up all the time at all hours of night like clockwork. Poor baby....I hate teeth! And lucky us, he cuts them two and three at a time.

At one point, I got out of bed to pat him on the back or rub his belly, and I was just too darn tired to stand there leaning over the side of his bed rail. So I repeated something that I had only done once before, and I crawled into the crib to snuggle with him.

Now, I know that most moms would have just brought their baby in the bed with them. But I was too tired to think of something so clever or intelligent.

At some point between midnight and the middle of the night, we fell asleep spooning in his miniature manger. Who knows how long I was passed out in there for, because when I woke up in the morning, there was a beautiful baby in my arms and a gnarly crick in my neck. We'll see if I can stick with my big girl bed this week....ahahaaa!

Last Monday, I took Max to a friend's house to babysit her 19-month-old son, Jackson for about 6 hours. We had so much fun and I think that's what really made me feel like supermom. Those boys were running around going crazy, and I whisked them off to the park in the nick of time before they destroyed the house. It was absolutely delightful to see the way they were feeding off each other's endless energy. It was also an enormous challenge to keep up with the both of them!

Of course I adored every minute of it. Now that I'm a mom, it's my mission in life to give love to babies, toddlers, children, adult children, and anyone that was ever a baby once in their life. Since I'm oozing all this love and compassion for kids, it is perfect for me to be able to share that with another munchkin. Babysitting is the perfect opportunity for me to gush all over the babies and help out some other mommies.

The only thing that I find to be extremely difficult about being out in public with two kids, is how the heck you are supposed to go to the bathroom while "taking care" of the bunchkins??? It always amazes me that moms are able to go to relieve themselves in the toilet when they need to. I mean, forget privacy. Those days are long gone, but to use the restroom is an obstacle that confuses me to pieces.

See, I didn't want to bring the boys into the bathroom because it was just gross in there. Nasty park potty. Ugh, I don't even want their cute little shoes to touch a public bathroom. Maybe I'll get over this at some point, but what if they decide to touch something, or for goodness' sake sit down in there. Gross! And you can't really ask a stranger to watch them for a minute when you're babysitting for someone else. Maybe if it's a park you go to on a regular basis, but I was in a different park in Studio City where I didn't know anyone.

And then there's me (remember her?) and the fact that I don't have a minute to spare or I will pee in my pants. So you wanna' know what I do?... (Normal? I think not.) I sprint into the bathroom. I prop the door open (you know, the main entrance to the bathroom so that you can see everyone and they can all see you), run into the stall, and pop a squat over the toilet with that door open. That method worked brilliantly and I can't imagine anything better. (Maybe? That's not public indecency is it?) Hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go!

Every Wednesday I teach my family yoga class. I loooove my new job. It is EXACTLY what I want to do with my time on hump day. It is my pleasure and an honor to work with parents and children together. Max and the other kiddos wear themselves out playing with the yoga blocks while the parents are literally "in" happy baby. This is my idea of a win, win situation!

The past two weeks, Max has blessed me with the sweetest gifts a mother could possibly receive. When I'm teaching and demonstrating poses in the middle of yoga class, he will come over and randomly give me kisses. He'll be on the other side of the room playing, and run over to give me a reassuring smooch while I'm in updog. It's as if he's saying, "Mom, you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work!"

This is the most challenging and draining job I've ever had...In a good way! Multitasking as a mommy and a yoga teacher is a blast! My main concern is making sure Max is finished napping before we leave the house at 3pm, which means we can't run behind in the mornings. We have to be en pointe with waking up, breakfast, lunch, and nap, so we have a happy and upbeat toddler at 4pm. It is a huge blessing to be able to take my baby to work with me, and so far the feedback has been fabulous.

At this point, I think we have a nice, solid schedule down that works for all of us. He is only napping once a day, and as long as he goes down for that nap by 1pm, we are set. Fortunately, I am always able to get him down for a nap, even if he is not rubbing his eyes and yawning by 1pm. All I have to do is breast feed him in a dark, silent room until he falls asleep. Things like that may sound easy, but it does take honest effort....especially after a bout of teething that knocks you off your schedule.

And then on the weekends I have been working for Kitchenaid. I feel so resourceful, because I have found a way to make the amount I pay the babysitter a little cheaper. I just have her meet us at the mall instead of meeting at my house. That way she can play with Max at the indoor playground next to Macy's, and I don't have to pay her for my travel time driving to/from work. And then if Max gets sleepy and needs milk I can easily step out and tend to him.

We've also made time to do tons of other social activities. We had a great time at Giselle's princess birthday party on Saturday! It was Max's first time to play in a bounce house and he thought it was the greatest thing that had ever happened in the whole entire world.


I don't know how moms do it. Life becomes a perfectly synchronized orchestra of sorts. And it works! I'm taking a moment to pat myself on the back for making mommy magic happen every single day of my life! Woohoo!

Selflessness and strengh are only a couple qualities of the life of a mother.....Tapping into those now!

Happy Monday you Super Mommy You!!!

Barfarama

Last week took our family bonding to a new level. While getting stuck in the bathroom in the middle of the night, I groaned to Marc that I couldn't stop throwing up.

His response: "Oh.....Why is the cat meowing." (That alone was enough to make me barf.)

I was going to ask him to help me by checking on baby Max because I could hear that he was awake through the baby monitor. But I didn't even bother. Marc needed his beauty sleep and I didn't feel well enough to give a class in compassion 101.

Off I went to do some more throwing up before I was able to muster just enough energy to trudge upstairs to check on the little boy.

I got upstairs to his room and was greeted with the most horrific smell and pitiful sight I have ever seen in my whole entire life. Poor Max was covered in vomit from head to toe. Chunks of this and that were stuck to his hair and his pj's and his crib. He was officially sick and my heart was officially broken.

The pukathon continued as I rushed Max downstairs to clean him in the sink. I was fully handling the situation on my own until my stomach started to regurgitate and climb its way back up my esophagus. I think it was about that time I screamed, "Maaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrcccccc!!!!!!!!"

That began his long overdue initiation into nighttime parenting. "You clean the baby while I go barf."

Twenty-four hours, six showers and five sheet changes later, we seemed to be resting a little easier despite the fact that we couldn't eat. The stomach flu had plagued us and about 10 of our friends that were at the same bbq as us on Memorial Day.

We were nautious, feverish, shivering, and totally lethargic. The doctor said that whether we had the stomach flu or food poisoning, we should stick with the "brat diet" when it came time to reintroduce food. Banana, rice, applesauce, and dry toast were safe bets for our fragile intestines. And of course breast milk....the cure for any illness in its all nutritious beauty.

I guess Marc thought the R in "brat" stood for rack of ribs because that was the food he brought home for Max to eat. When I fell asleep, I think he fed Max an extra spicy gyro plate that made Max even sicker. Because when I woke up a few hours later, the next round of vomit clean-up took gnarly to the next level. What was he thinking?

There was no need to say "I told you so". Because it was at that point, the big, hairy, ugly faced contagious virus attacked again....with a vengeance.

For the next 24 hours, the only words I heard come out of Marc's mouth was, "I'm gonna' die."

Marc was so weak that he could barely walk. Imagine if guys had to have babies and breastfeed on the toilet with the big D while barfing. They definitely couldn't handle it and we could call them hypochondriacs. Except that we are way too nurturing and would never send that type of negative energy to someone that genuinely needed love and support.

Now that we're all feeling better, I'm so grateful the family barfathon is over. We're all feeling strong and healthy again, and maybe even a few pounds lighter.

We were co-sleeping through the whole stomach flu extravaganza and kind of got off our regular routine of sleep. I'm so proud of myself because I was able to easily transition him to sleeping in his crib again with no problem. All I did was climb in his crib with him until he fell asleep so he knew that it was a safe place and he would not be alone. It worked like a charm and all I had to do was snuggle with my best boy!


Here's a picture of Max and me on a happier day at Frankie's first birthday party. He cut his 13th tooth today and he is such a good boy.