10 Things I Learned This Week, Vol 53

In honor of the Oscars tonight, I’d like to thank Carleigh, the technical wizard behind this madness. She helps keep things running when I break them, or when technology just decides to be difficult (so you can imagine how busy she is). Not only did she unkink the kinks that had me offline part of last week, she added a Pin It button to the bottom of each post. Then fixed it with a new Pin It button when the Pinterest code wasn’t working quite right. Thank you, Carleigh. (And while we’re on the topic, please do feel free to Pin It…or follow me—I’m just getting started.) And, now, on to business.

Lesson #1: Living with Little is like living with Hansel and Gretel. There’s always a trail of crumbs—and clothes—to let me know he’s been here.

Lesson #2: Having a 9-month old is (I’m guessing) a lot like having a pet monkey. Lots of high-pitched oohh oohh eehh eehh sounds, food being thrown, grabby hands and awkward wet kisses.

Lesson #3: Cheerios are baby crack. (Yes, as a third-time mom, I should have known this by now. But both the boys were allergic to oat. And though I think Pink might be too, I don’t know if I can break her of the habit. She’s too far gone.)

Lesson #4: Someone needs to open a baby manicure shop. Stat. I think Pink’s finger might still be bleeding from Wednesday’s accidental skin trim. And her other hand could use a french manicure since I’m terrified to go at her with the clippers again. (So much for what I said a few weeks ago…)

Lesson #5: The good news is, I’ve found a new way to entertain Pink: put a band-aid on her finger. (Note: Adult supervision is required so you can scoop it out of the baby’s mouth as soon as she chews it off.)

Lesson #6: It’s important to let the little boy be the big boy sometimes. When Little gets out from under Big’s shadow, his smile and confidence glow a bit brighter.

Lesson #7: I’m already totally embarrassing to my kids. When Big overheard me saying I offered to be his t-ball Team Mom, he was horrified.

Lesson #8: It’s a relief to know that the book Big wrote in his free time at school—you know, the one with “Wine” in the title—chronicles his sister’s crying habits, not my socializing ones.

Lesson #9: Knowing Big loves writing books gives me a glimpse into what it might be like to be a crazed football dad, overcome with pushiness pride that your kid loves the same thing you do.

Lesson #10: Coming out of the shower to find the rest of my family listening to patriot music and reading books together made me, well, proud to be an American mom where at least I know I’m clean.

If you enjoy watching skinny, rich, famous people walking on brightly colored carpets and fake crying as much as I do, your week is going to be off to a great start. Enjoy!