Sweeping the cobwebs

Greetings, true believers! I'm back for a brief visit from my hiatus during which much has happened to dramatically and drastically change my life (yeah, that's a split infinitive but the alternative doesn't have the same punch) and yet much has stayed the same (such as cringing at grammatical errors, particularly the one for the Vehix commercial where the intro chick with the oh so sassy hat says, "I go on vehix.com, and you can literally take a test drive" when what she means to say is that you can VIRTUALLY take a test drive . . . jackhole).

AP is a joy and a delight. She is a low-maintenance, happy, healthy, lovely baby who sleeps almost seven hours at night on her own, plays quietly by herself, and has the softest hair and dreamiest eyes ever. I swear I can see adoration in her eyes when she cranes her neck over to look at ZP who, on occassion, darts close by for a quick visit (probably to make sure she isn't even touching, pointing or looking at any of his toys).

ZP is in the throes of his terrible twos but just when I'm about to blow my top and throwdown with him, he charms me with a dance, a song, a new vocabulary word (almost 200 at last count!), or, his latest trick, saying sorry. He's getting quite adept at using his crayons, counting to ten, and hitting the right notes to his favorite songs.

My parents provided me with invaluable assistance in daycare and nightcare when AP was born. TP has, as always, stepped up to bat to give me the physical, emotional, and everything else support. LB and KG continue to shower the kids with love and playtime and prezzies. What more could a gal ask for?

For the last few weeks, I kept thinking, "oh, I bet this would make a good post" or "I wish I had time to write this up so I wouldn't forget it later" but, of course, I've already forgotten much of it. There was the "Top Ten Things About Pregnancy/Delivery I Wish I Had Known." There was the misery-loves-company-diatribe about sibling jealousy and request for sympathy, empathy, or advice on how to deal with it. There was the anecdote about having some craigslist buyers come to the house to purchase my 10 year old Ikea sleeper sofa right at the same time as some friends were visiting and how my friend's mom didn't know that these people were strangers and was kindly offering to share holding the new baby so as not to seem greedy and they were all, 'uhh, we just came to pick up the couch but if you ever need a babysitter, call me.' There was the tale of trying to toilet train the toddler (and if I hear the false alarm "poo poo in the frog!" one more time, I might scream). There was the staggering down memory lane when TP and I spent an entire afternoon cleaning out the basement and throwing out all those old bills, those broken gimcracks, those ancient computers, those clothes that don't fit anymore, and those VHS tapes upon which I lovingly recorded every "The Simpsons" episode for the first several years until I got them on DVD. But I never had the time. How could I blog when there were babies to be fed, dishes and laundry to be done, showers and naps to be taken, a select few shows to watch, a snippet of conversation to be had with my husband, pictures to take and share before time slipped away and my babies suddenly become surly teenagers with their own busy lives?

But tonight, ZP is asleep (with a hit of Tylenol because his molars are coming in and he's living up to his nickname "The Beast" these days), AP is asleep (with a full tummy of milk so she'll be fine until about 3 a.m. or so), and TP has gone to a concert. That means I have some time to myself to moisturize my aching feet, watch Battlestar Galactica, and blog. So. What's new with you?