Someone please shut me up

Last Thursday, when Wombat and I were checking out of daycare at the front desk, the front desk ladies were making cute faces and waving at him. I hoisted Wombat slightly higher on my hip, with his face level to mine. The younger girl behind the desk looked at us and said "You are getting chunkier and chunkier!" I chuckled and asked "Who, me or him?".

Daycare front desk attendants do not have a sense of humor.

Especially when their boss is standing behind them.

The girl turned beet red and gasped as though wounded. She then proceeded to shriek at a pitch no doubt heard by dolphins off of the west coast: "No not you ohmygosh you are so tiny no no I would never why on my no no no you no, him! HIM! HIM!!". Her boss furrowed her brow and decided to apologize to me as well. I think she was seconds from assuring me that this will never happen again. I, having no idea how to remedy this, said "It's ok, it's ok, I'm just kidding". This remark somehow assured the ladies that I was definitely NOT kidding, and they restarted their apologies again.

I left before I could screw something else up.
The next time I'm about to make a joke, someone please kindly knock me out.

Eat your Vegetables!

An important update on Wombat's eating habits:

He hates vegetables. (Which is good news, because 'hating vegetables', I believe, is one of the development milestones you hit in early infancy and do not come to terms with until early adulthood, if even then.)

We discovered this when, after being thrilled by how well he is eating his solid food, I bought a jar of peas to try. (Even though, personally, the idea of mashed peas, as well as the green color of the actual product, make me want to not eat anything and possibly get rid of anything I have just eaten. I'm just saying. But everyone convinced me that babies love peas. And a daycare teacher told me that she was considering making her own peas baby food, and I thought - what the heck, I guess I could also do something similar and give my kid any peas at all, huh? So I bought a jar. )

You should have seen Wombat's face after one spoonful of peas. He gagged. He stuck his tongue out completely and attempted to rid it of all traces of peas with his hands. He coughed. He wrinkled his entire face into a disgusted grimace. When I attempted to give him another spoon, he performed a head fake that, had an NBA scout been nearby, would have put him on a team at the age of 8 months. He looked at me with a befuddled and angry look of "WTF is this $#$%##$?", pushed away the jar and then refused to eat anything else from a spoon at all that night.

I then realized that the only other vegetable Wombat has had so far is sweet potato, which he loves and which is, um, sweet. Everything else he likes is a sweet fruit: banana, mango, peach.... apples and pears are just ok, because they are somewhat sour. Hm.

At our last pediatrician appointment, I asked how much solid food Wombat can eat at a sitting. The pediatrician blithely declared "As much as he wants! As long as it's good food, as much as he wants." He then decided to clarify "Vegetables. He should be eating vegetables". It's a good thing he did, because I still have not internalized the adult meaning of "good", which is "good for you". I am still on the 5-years-old meaning of good, which is "good-tasting". So is Wombat. And I have no idea how to convince him to ingest vegetables.... he is too young to promise a PlayStation, right? :)

Extreme Sheepherding

If you haven't seen this yet, you must.

Balancing life and work

First, I really like that phrase; like work is somehow not part of life.   But I guess that sort of makes sense.  The phrase implies a counter-point: there is life, and work is the thing that sucks life out of you.  So you need to balance the two.  You don't want to be so full of life that you'll just overflow with all the raw enjoyment.  That's where work comes in.

Well, this is my second week back at work and my first week without my parents staffing the household to cook, clean and otherwise help me "adjust".  I am going to work between 7:30am and 2pm, and then I finish my day from home in the late afternoon.  So I still get to hang out with Wombat in the afternoon, which is my joy. :)

Now, my husband is doing great and carrying more than his share of the load.   I, on another hand, am not fairing so well.   So far, here is a list of my deficiencies.    I would appreciate it if you did NOT add to it in the comments.  Yes, I know you can think of way more items.  Thank you.  Great.

1.  Wardrobe.
I have come to realize that over the last few months I have only bought shirts with, um, easy breastfeeding access.  And all my older button-downs no longer fit (guess why).  There is one word to describe this wardrobe at work, and that would be "not appropriate".  As a result, I spent each morning this week scraping together an outfit from random pieces, and one of the days actually ended up going to work in a thin grey turtleneck sweater with a suit jacket over it.  I looked like a Russian immigrant, fresh off the boat.  All I was missing was a pastel pink lipstick.  Of course, on that day, I could not find any makeup whatsoever - well, at least while being inappropriate I won't be recognized as myself without makeup.  Which brings me to issue number 2.

2.  Getting ready.
I have discovered that I am incapable of making coffee, breakfast, packing the daycare bag, packing lunch, feeding Wombat, getting myself dressed and my face war-painted in under 1 hour.  I am also incapable of waking up on time, which doesn't help.  But it's not my fault.  See issue 3.

3.  Waking up.
Wombat wakes up on time.  Therefore, so do I.  And I should get up.  But, instead, I think (every morning): "Wombat is up too early! He should sleep more than that! Let me get him back to sleep and then I'll start getting ready".  So I get Wombat back to sleep.  Guess what happens in the process?  Yep, both Wombat and I sleep way past my get-up time.  Come think of it, it IS my fault.  Wombat is doing everything he can to help his wayward mother.

4.  Getting enough time at night.
To finish work.  To get Wombat ready for the day.  To do laundry.  To make dinner.  To clean something.  To get milk ready.  To pay bills.

But, because of this work schedule, life can happen between 2pm and 8pm.  And for that, I am very grateful. :)

The Daily Wombat: Thursday Edition - Thleepless Marsupials (what? You try rhyming Sleepless with Thursday)

I know, you were here last night, looking for your collectible Wombat photo of the day, and you didn't find one and walked away disappointed.... and probably woke in the middle of the night again, and checked again, and again.... I know! I was supposed to have a post up for our Daily Wombat Feature.  But, 8:30pm to 10pm of my Thursday was occupied dealing with this instead:

Sleep is for the weak. :)

The Daily Wombat: Wednesday Edition

This week we present the Daily Wombat feature, exclusively for our West Coast audience. Signed prints of each one-of-a-kind Daily Wombat photo feature will be available for a fee. Collect them all, this week only! :)

Today, we showcase the Wednesday Wombat Wonders. With blocks, jumping acrobatics and special appearances by Bismarck and Renault! Quick, send money now! :)


We miss Daddy. Can't wait till this weekend!