Cheese-string crisis averted

Part of my little guy's usual breakfast will include a cheese-string (lately, anyway). He likes cheese, it's easy for him to hold, and when he starts getting bored I start a little string-pull for him and he's happy to rip off the string of cheese to shove in his mouth which gets him to eat just a little more. 

The other day was not unlike any other. We got up, got changed and before I put on the coffee, I gave him his cheese-string to get him started on breakfast while I was busy. As was typical, he toddled off to wander about while I made coffee which took me all of 2 minutes. 

By the time I was done, he'd made his way back to the kitchen...empty-handed.

me: "Baby, baby where's your cheese-string?"

Baby: "Hah?"

me: "What did you do with your cheese-string?"

Baby: "Hah?"

me: "Show mommy where you put your cheese-string."

Baby: "Bup!" *puts arms up to be picked up*

me: *picks him up* "Okay, where's your cheese-string?"

Baby: *hugs me*

Great. 

I put him down and tried to retrace his steps from the last 2 minutes to see where this cheese-string had gone so I could re-claim it before it was forgotten and was left to rot in some random corner somewhere in the house.

I knew he'd come from his playroom so that's where I headed first. I checked the floor, I checked the chairs, I checked in his little pedal car. Nothing. I stood in the middle of the room to assess the situation.

If I were a toddler, where would I put my cheese-string?

Then I spotted it. 

Duh, obviously, mommy. What a thoughtful little monkey.
...

For those of you who don't know, this little dinosaur sings a song when you turn him on:
I'm a hungry dinosaur
Who likes to eat
So please feed me
a healthy treat!

I'm going to chalk it up to my little guy just following instructions.

Mom-ninja level: 0

I put the little guy down for his second nap of the day. It was a great success: he fell asleep without needing to be nursed or rocked, and since I didn't swaddle him, I was able to tuck a blanket tightly around him without him waking up. All I had to do from there was extricate myself stealthily from the living room and let him nap away...

From my lying position on the couch, I sat up...onto a crinkly toy. I put my feet onto the floor...and kicked a rattle. Standing up...a jingly ball rolled into my vacant spot on the couch.  Tip-toeing from the room...I knocked a pen onto the glass table-top.

...and my little guy slept through it all...phew!

Pregnant achievments

Like most posts about pregnancy that I've been reading lately (this one was an AWESOME one, apparently written by a friend of a friend), I've been coming to the realization that this really does change your life.  I mean, right, DUH, but even the little things.  The little things that I'm thinking about today are the goals that you set for yourself.

Before, my goals for myself were like:
- cook an amazing, delicious and romantic meal for two for dinner!
- train and run a 10K race!
- clean the bathrooms!

Now, it's more like:
- figure out something that you can palate and eat more than a total of 5 bites
- make it up the stairs without running out of breath
- sneeze/cough without peeing yourself

Today, I succeeded on two out of three of those goals. I'll leave it to you to guess which I failed.

Pregnancy rage

What is pregnancy rage?  It's what takes over women from time to time when they're pregnant.  It makes them crazy.  It doesn't feel  like you're crazy when you're in the grips of this rage, but you are. Example?

Early on in my pregnancy, like, in the second month or so, all was well during the day.  Malcolm and I were still the newlywed couple, very much in love and even more so now that we knew we were expecting a new addition to our family.  But at night...

...at night, Malcolm had the AUDACITY to try to cuddle with me!  I'd be all settled for sleep on my side of our king-sized bed when all of a sudden, he'd put his arm affectionately around me, kiss me goodnight and go to sleep like that! WTF? The moment I was sure he was asleep, I'd pincer his wrist between my thumb and forefinger like it was used tissue, and fling it back onto his side of the bed. Some nights he'd try to reach for me again and I'd scoot further away.  There was at least one night that ended with me balanced on my side on the very edge of the bed, trying to stay out of his reach. I had the most trouble falling asleep those nights because I was fuming. 

Who does my husband think he is, trying to show me affection while I'm TRYING TO SLEEP?!

And then, just the other night, I was boiling a pot of water on the stove.  Malcolm walked by, noticed this, and put the lid on the pot for me.  I nearly lost my shit.

If I'd have WANTED the lid on the pot, I would have PUT the lid on the pot!

It's not just Malcolm that sets me off either. I nearly assaulted a friend because she admitted she's parked in the expectant mother spots before, without ever having been an expectant mother. 

I...can't...even....

Luckily, in all of these instances, I've realized that there was an element of psycho to them so instead of acting on my feelings or letting them explode out of my mouth, I silently fumed and brooded the fire away. Sometimes it could take a few days or weeks, but I made it.  

So all these times that people warned me of "pregnant brain" or raging hormones and emotional swings, I at first dismissed them.  But now that I'm halfway through my own pregnancy, I have to say that they are SO true. Those of you who are expecting should probably be told about these things.  But really, it should be those of you who are NOT pregnant but that will probably find yourselves in the presence of someone that is - YOU are the ones who should be warned about pregnancy rage.  Because you could be a victim.  And it could be bad.  Trust me.

Trending names

With a baby on the way, obviously I've been trying to be attuned to names in the attempt to find the perfect one for our future bundle of joy.  In a quick search today, I was presented with a box of "trending names" so I thought I'd take a peek.

Now, honestly, I love a little creativity and uniqueness when it comes to people's names.  I loved the fact that even to this day, I can probably count the number of other girls I've met with the same name as me on my ten fingers.  Maybe even on just five of those.  But this one...I don't know about this one...

And it's TRENDING...