It's a gas

I went to the dentist on Wednesday to have three fillings restored. It was the most relaxed I'd been in weeks. Say much?

Dishwasher still not working. Garbage disposal not working. Am in appliance hell. Again. Did I mention I hate my oven, too? It's small, and although notancient, a piece of crap. At one point it started just beeping. All on it's own. Beeping. So Iain took the cover off the control panel and now it just hangs there, and is misshapen because I left the broiler on too long one time. I hate it. Hate, hate, hate my oven. The fan? Runs for about thirty freaking minutes after I turn the oven off. Did I mention I hate my oven? But that old, bottom of the line washing machine I loathe and actually googled "how to break a washing machine" over? Still works like a charm.

So, instead of spending time alone today, like Iain wanted to and I agreed to support, he worked on installing a "new" (new to me, old to my mom and sister) garbage disposal. You girls know how these things go, right? Bless his heart, he worked tirelessly on it but I don't think it's working. And the day is gone.

So, here I sit having a glass of eggnog (not Iain's homemade kick-ass eggnog, but the crappy kind in the carton) with Alot of Bourbon in it. Happy Holidays! From the applianceless Michies!

Oh, so back to the dentist. My dentist rocks. Love him. As soon as I was in the chair he was like, "let's give you the laughing gas". Oh yeah, baby. Hook momma up. And he did. And it was great. I have no problem admitting to that fact. I was in that chair for a little over an hour and was loving it. Like I said, most relaxed I'd been in weeks. When does Parents' Day Out resume? January 8th?

Sippy Cup Nation

We are now a house of more sippy cups than bottles, and that makes me a bit sad. Gone are all jars of baby food (well, for a while now, I suppose), burp cloths, intricate Dr. Brown bottle cleaning apparatus (a quick rinse in hot soapy water? good enough), sterilizers, wipe warmers, and most things tiny. My baby has mostly been replaced by a toddler...a boy...a person. A funny, affectionate, chatty, curious, industrious little person. How do mothers survive this? I suppose many have another baby, in hopes of recapturing that magic of babyhood. That is most likely not an option for us, barring some enormous increase in salary for Iain, as well as other changes in circumstance. So, instead of coveting what I see slipping away my goal is to be so grateful for what I have been so richly blessed with that I do not pine for things I either no longer have or that I would hope to have again.

Tonight Iain was cleaning out our garage, it's "big trash weekend" and he (I think) needed a healthy distraction since it's Sunday meaning tomorrow is Monday...and work. He called me out there to show me some things he found in the rafters. Some really cool old upholstery fabric that was kept in a cardboard tube. Funky in a good way. And, touchingly, the baby shoes belonging to the children of the woman we bought the house from. She lived here for 35 years and raised three kids in this house...and left their first baby shoes in a plastic bag in the rafters of her garage. They all say "Michael's first" etc...on the soles in blue ink. I am going to try very hard to track her or her children down. Any ideas?

Duncan's language is exploding. "No no Jack" to my sister's dog, Jack is about the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Here he is in his Christmas finest. 

So, today is Duncan's last day at Mother's Day Out until January 8th. Can you hear the collective sighs coming from my part of town? I have a very active boy, who really does need to be active...daily. The days of hanging out inside all day are long gone, my friends. He pines for the great outdoors. So, in my panic I found a Little Tykes slide on Craig's List for ten bucks, to add to the growing collection of things I never dreamed I'd have in my backyard. It's not is as great of shape as it appeared in the pic but buyer beware, right? The girl looked like she needed the money (we wont talk about how she had her two year old in the front seat in a seat belt...to be fair it was a pick up...an old crappy pick up) so I am rationalizing the ten dollars that way.

So, I have toys in the back and plenty of books and am making plans for play dates and visiting granny. Don't get me wrong, he's a blast and I love being with him but I'm on a learning curve here. And, I also feel guilty if I'm not tending to his little brain all the time. I am not sure how much time out of our day is reasonable for me to not be playing with him, reading to him, tending to his needs. He's too little, really, to play alone for too long. Isn't he? It's tough.

The good part is he's hilarious. He loves to dance, clap his hands, play chase, stomp in the leaves, wrestle (that's Dad territory), read books, and go for walks to see anything and everything up and down our street. He's an endless joy to us. Every night after we put him in bed we sit and ruminate about how awesome he is. It would make any non-parent sick. Really.

He loves croutons (and will find the box among many boxes of other things in the pantry), snowmen ("man man"), and Arthur books. He is very afraid of plumbers, the bubble making toy he got for his birthday, and those reindeer with lights on them that move their heads that people have in their front yards.

Never a dull moment

Duncan figured out how easy it is to get on the dining room table via the chairs (yes, they are really that green...long story...I am quite anxious for them not to be green but that's another post.)
He also likes to wear our underwear on his head. And can sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" the cutest part is when he does "down came the rain"...my.God.It.Is.Cute.