Some things just boggle my mind

I just had to write this really quick post today, because OH MY GOD, people!

My brother in law and his girlfriend are expecting a baby (YAY!!). So today she and I were talking about baby and pregnancy things and she mentioned she wasn’t sure what to do about a crib or cradle for the baby. I try not to talk to much, because, well, we all know how annoying too much advice is when we’re pregnant and also I epitomize the American consumerism ideal and had both a cradle and a crib for my kids, as well as a wicker basket for when we were downstairs, and I do, in fact, realize how completely ridiculous that is.

So anyway, I told her about the co-sleeper, because they don’t exist in Italy and when I saw it in the US I wished I didn’t already have more sleeping implements for babies than actual babies in the house. And, I told her, if you plan on breastfeeding, or if you’re a basket case like I was, checking to see if the baby was breathing every half an hour (on a side note, why do they have to terrorize new mothers with statistics on sids?) a co-sleeper is a really good idea, you can check on the baby and latch it on whilst practically still asleep. Optimizing sleep, when you have a newborn is really all you want to do anyway.

So I told her I’d send her some sites to check out and I went a-internet-searching, as one does nowadays, and I landed on this site: arms reach please go visit the site and come back, because you have to see this for yourself.

Now, I like animals, I’ve always had pets but for the love of all that is holy I cannot, for the life of me, fathom how you can put co-sleeper beds for babies on the same site as co-sleeper beds for pets. Seriously. What happened to your pooch sleeping on the rug near your bed? And also, I cannot, I simply CANNOT imagine buying a bed for a newborn with the image of practically the same identical bed for a dog. It blows my mind. And I thought the pet stroller was ridiculous enough all on its own.

What, I ask you, is the world coming to?

The three p's

Today was a memorable day. The kids reached several different milestones and I officially started hankering for a new baby. The Boy finally pooped and peed in the potty (like the alliteration?!), fully and completely on his own initiative. I have actual pictures of the event and aftermath but I won’t post them because I don’t want to give him any excuse to climb a bell tower with a shotgun as a teenager. And the Girl said Papà (daddy), in fact it is my most fervent belief that she didn’t just make the random sound pa - pà, she actually meant the Husband. Clever girl! They’re  getting so big. And this segues, for me, directly into the completely irrational desire for another baby. Am I a complete moron? I would have to say no, but then why do I insist on thinking like one. The Girl, amazingly slept through the night for 2 nights in a row, though the Boy woke up twice a night (but who said life was perfect?)  and the Girl and I are at the tapering off of the nursing relationship, so my addled brain starts sending images to my heart of cute, tiny newborns, hence the hankering.

I’m having a serious talk with both heart and head to explain to them the ridiculousness of having three kids in less than four years and that if they want we can revisit the option in a few years, but right now the factory is shut for remodeling. I hope they don’t unionize and start harassing and haranguing me.

From scratch

Ok, I’m watching the first episode of Flash Forward and it’s FREAKY! I don’t know if I like it yet, but it’s definitely intriguing (plus, Joseph Fiennes…). Getting back to us, I had a very happy Valentine’s day. My wonderful husband managed to send me flowers even though he’s in the hospital, The Boy and I made a beautiful card for Daddy and most importantly I got to see The Husband after 8 days of being sick and then tending to sick kids! We had a lot to talk about, which is weird cause we talk about 8 times a day, but somehow in person you remember so much more. 

We’ve received news of several good friends expecting babies and one just had a baby plus The Boy is in a very mommy-centric moment right now and The Girl is starting to interact more, smiling and laughing at me, following my voice around and stuff so all this has made me start thinking of the relationship between mothers and their kids. What amazes me most is the sheer strength of my feelings towards these little people. It almost seems unbelievable to me that other mothers love their children as much as I love mine, and that their kids do the same amazing things mine do… rationally I know it’s true, but I guess that in our heart of hearts we all think OUR kids are a little bit more amazing than others. I look at them and think, I MADE them, I actually made them from scratch… and I’m responsible for them, right now I’m responsible for their whole entire world, and I’m the most important person in their lives. Isn’t that just AMAZING??

 I realize that these thoughts seem obvious but if you sit there and actually think about it it’s actually a little mind-boggling. So, I want some feedback, what do y’all think?

Back to our more mundane news, The Husband is doing ok, he could definitely be better (though, if we’re wishful thinking then he could definitely be completely healthy..) but he’s hanging in there and being very strong and concentrating on the fact that in a few days he’ll start feeling better.
I talked to one of his docs today and got a better idea of the timeframe for the transplant, which should happen at the end of march after 3 days of radiation therapy and 3 more days of chemo and the recovery time seems to be between 6 to 12 months for a full recovery. But, he cautioned me not to think too far ahead, so right now we are concentrating on getting him through the effects of the chemo he just did, and getting him to produce good, healthy white blood cells (which didn’t happen after the first round last month) and of course on the fact that he’s coming home for two weeks in march (YAY!!!). Though I must say that I’ve decided not to talk to his docs again unless it’s absolutely necessary cause the statistics, which they always end up bringing out, are a little bleak – but then again we’re talking statistics here so the whole concept is a little bleak! (I apologize to all you math minded people out there, but seriously, statistics are never fun!)

Anyway, we’re staying positive and only thinking of what to do with our time together in march!