SONOFABITCH!! Or 2 seconds out of my moring.

Place baby in pack & play, rush off to get in the shower before he notices.
Toe forcibly meets wall.
::audible snap::
A thought: "oh damn, that's going to (waves of pain) HURT!!"
::flail-y muppet arms, muffled screams and curses::

Yup, I broke a toe.

Boober groweth big and whatnot.

Boober. Growing. Sort of.

He's still a bitty little bugger, and he's only just barely in size 3-6 months at 5.5 months . . . but he's getting bigger, I swear!

For example:
Newborn Boober in his car seat

Recent Boober in his car seat

And this particular picture I took just this past weekend. My wee boy looks so grown, and so very adorable!

This little baby is 100% convinced that he should be walking on his own, crawling, talking and using the toilet. I constantly remind him that he is just 5 months old, and there is plenty of time for all this stuff. He doesn't believe me. Poor wee soul, he is so very sad that he is a baby.

Well that doesn't bode well . . .

It's a rainy morning - the kind of rain that hammers down on your roof and wakes your kids up ungodly early. The kind of rain that keeps you closeted inside doing laundry and finding things to keep the kids occupied. In short, it's the kind of day where you feel the urge to get things done! finally.

Right now, I have a lot on the go. I have an order of aprons and bags in the works for Shall We Knit? who have recently opened at their new location - 11 Willow St in Waterloo. I have a doll who just needs legs and 2 snaps on her dress and she's ready to be listed. I have the Companion Cube still sitting around. I have a messy house that aches to be cleaned properly. I have a quilt that still needs finishing touches to work up for a friend. I have piles of laundry - some clean, some waiting for washer time. I have a knitting queue that makes me itch to sit and knit and knit and knit. Socks for me, Sk8r sweater for SWK, baby boy knits, toys for the girl . . .
But right now, very much on my mind is my nephew's birthday sweater.

His birthday was in April. I started knitting in April - there was an outside possibility that I could get it done by party day, however slim that possibility. I shared the progress of the sweater earlier - remember this?

Well, I got the body finished and moved on to a sleeve. Last night, I finished the sleeve (it's been slow going. Shut up!) This morning, I wanted to put the sleeve with the sweater body. Keep it all in one place. Makes sense, right? So I open up my knitting stand . . .

It's not in there. I start thinking . . . where could it be? And all I could think of is where it's NOT.
Yarn bag?

Nope.
Sewing desk? Nope. Drawers? Nope. My table beside the couch? Nope . . . wait . . .

Believe it or not, the sweater body IS there. Under the pile of out-grown kid clothes right at the back. All's well that ends well, but for a moment there I was pretty concerned.

Now I just have to decide how to keep the kids busy and happy today. I foresee a movie.

Mother's Day. Sigh.

When I was a kid, mother's day was an event. Even if we weren't doing something or going somewhere (and we rarely did) I was always concious of wanting to make mother's day special for my mom. I appreciated what she did for me, and I wanted to show her. So I made her things, or spent time, effort and my own money planning out what gift to buy her. I went out of my way to be sweet to her on The Day.
And then I moved out on my own, and mother's day became a huge pain in my ass for several years. There was the balancing - making sure neither Wonderful's mom nor mine was getting preferential treatment. There was the fact that I was falling away from my parents and didn't really know what was desired/appropriate to buy my mom anymore. Then, and this was the biggest thing, there was the fact that even though she'll always be my mom, I didn't need mothering anymore. I didn't need drives to the mall, help with my homework, or someone to fold my laundry anymore. My mom and I were at arm's length now. How do you do mother's day at arm's length? What does it mean? What's appropriate?
This is the point where most people, I think, move into a phone call, a card or flowers. For me, I just got bent out of shape and resentful of mother's day.
And then I became a mother - and now mother's day is a whole NEW variety of pain in my ass. The earlier issue was resolved - I sometimes need my mom's help again, so I do in fact feel that a token of appreciation is called for. But now, as the mother of two small kids . . . well . . . I have to think of something to want FOR ME. And everything I can think of - I can think of a 'yeah, but' to go with it. And poor Mr. Wonderful is totally sweating it. I don't blame him.
Allow me to demonstrate:
I would love a spa day of some type - massage, manicure, the whole bit. That would be phenomenal! Yeah, but, I can't be away from Boober for any length of time. He would be very hungry, I would be very engorged.
I need new pants. My jeans are a) too big b) shape-less and approaching hole-y or c) bit of both. New pants would be great! Yeah, but, I have a hard enough time shopping pants on my own without making it someone else's problem. Fashion this season is hideous. The kids have short attention spans. Forget it.
Flowers would be lovely. Nobody doesn't like a vase of flowers! Yeah, but, Mr. Wonderful thinks it would be an abomination and I would have to hear about it for a very, very long time. He would be all down on himself for that one.
Jewellery! Yeah, but, I rarely wear jewellery. Boober is newly grabby, which means no necklaces - the only jewellry I really wear.
A lot of moms want the gift of time. Alone time. Yeah, but, I'm not one of those moms. I really enjoy being with my kids most of the time. And when they're driving me nuts, Wonderful steps in to give me a break.
Other folks suggest letting him do the cooking and cleaning for the day. Yeah, but, that would be just like every other day. I have an awesome husband. If I need help, he readily provides it. As for cleaning - if he doesn't do it, it doesn't get done. I suppose I could suggest a one-time maid service for the deep cleaning, but I'm not sure what that would cost.
Knitting stuff? Used that one up on my birthday. Besides, the yarn shop is in the middle of a move and isn't open yet.
Family movies would be great . . . actually, that one works. Yeah, it's mostly for the kids, but the time it buys me is great!
Practical stuff is too practical, frivolous thoughts are focussed on the kids. All in all, we're both getting stressed over it.
Maybe I should tell him to take Sweet Pea out for an hour or two. Maybe a gift certificate for a manicure would be good. Maybe I should just throw in the towel.

Teething pain relief: it's all in your head.

Maybe it's a function of mothering a baby in the teething stages. Maybe it's a trend in parenting. Whatever the reason, I'm hearing more and more about bullshit teething remedies. And it KILLS ME!

I get wanting to avoid medicine. Hell, I won't take anything for a headache unless I start feeling nauseated from the pain. But you're talking about your BABY here. A tiny person incapable of making his or her own decisions, or dealing with a great deal of pain. So before I shoot my mouth off on Facebook and alienate someone, allow me to blow my stack here.

Amber and other bullshit materials teething necklaces:
First off, the idea that something millions of years old, repeated warmed and cooled by the earth and sun could harbour the magic perfect dose of 'natural pain reliever' for your baby - released and absorbed by the warmth of their of skin - is utterly absurd. Just take a step back, and think about it. Yes, I really do wish it worked. No, it really doesn't. There is absolutely NO scientific, empirical proof for these products. You'll find pages and pages of anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of these things, but REALLY? I suspect what you're seeing here is a combination of confirmation bias, parental expectation and that deep down desire we all have to be right about something. And the most reprehensible part? The necklaces must be replaced every 2 - 3 months, or when the symptoms re-appear. We all know teething takes place in cycles, right? Dudes, they are Taking Your Money!! For a real researched and footnoted article on this bullshit, click here.
Then there's hazelwood, which is supposed to neutralize the body's acidity - just about the dumbest thing I've heard today. Correct me if I'm wrong (seriously, there's a comments field down there for just such a purpose) but teething pain has to do with the inflammation and discomfort of a tooth bursting through gum tissue. Right? Where does acidity factor in? Also, neutralizing the acid of the body? Through a little piece of wood? Seriously? And people are BUYING this shit.
Now let's imagine for one moment that this isn't bullshit. It's trufax. The truest thing that ever was. How great an idea is it to allow an unmeasured, constant dose of anything course through your infant's veins? Nevermind the obvious strangulation and choking hazard a necklace on an infant presents.
If you want to put one of these on your baby because it looks cool and it's trendy - hey, whatever. But don't con yourself. Your child is in pain. Acetaminophen works for that. It's even scientifically proven. With empirical evidence and the whole thing.

Camilia, teething tabs, other homeopathic remedies:
If one more concerned mother approaches me in public again and tells me I need to try Camilia for my wailing, drooling son . . . well, I'll do what I always do. Smile politely and tell her 'in our household, we demand empirical proof before we accept anything. Anecdotal evidence is insufficient. I'll give him some acetaminophen just as soon as we get home.' Camilia is a homeopathic blend of belladonna, camomile, and iron phosphate. The important thing (as with all homeopathy) is the dilution. When it comes to camilia, it seems to me that you may as well be giving your child a dose of 1ml of bottled water. Again, there are scores of parents eager to insist they havent' been wasting their money, and proclaiming these remedies to work. Again, there is no evidence to prove its efficacy. In the case of camilia, I have to laugh at the dosing guidelines. 1 dose every 15 minutes to a maximum of 3 doses. I don't know about your baby, but mine will cry himself to sleep before 45 minutes have lapsed. Crying is hard work for an infant, and even if you're being cuddled, rocked, sang to, attended . . . pain will make you cry. This, of course, leads to confirmation bias - the baby is sleeping, therefore (s)he must be comfortable, therefore the remedy in question is responsible. It worked! Oh, I wish it did. I sincerely do.

The fact of the matter is, there is no miracle cure. Teething sucks. Plain and simple. It's painful. Rather than causing your child to suffer through it, get some acetaminophen. Do some research on distraction and pain management. Help your baby through it, and stop deluding yourself. If amber, hazelwood, etc remedies had any effect at all, there would be peer reviewed research studies on it. Your doctor would suggest it at your well-baby visits. You might even get a sample of it from your midwife or OB. Instead, you're hearing about it from other moms going through the desperation of teething, or the seller themself. And something about that just doesn't sit right.