itchy?

2 great quotes from Mira on Christmas Eve...

1) "I got a box! Just like Torrin and Ben!" upon unwrapping a gift, partially.
2) SGM (StepGrandmaMagee) takes a pill. Mira asks why. SGM responds "because sometimes my back hurts." Mira replies, "Sometimes my butt itches."

Happy Cows?

Fine print on a coupon attached to the carton of eggs we bought yesterday.

3 letters

Following my much-debated text, composed so that it did not necessitate a response, came these three letters, last night at 1:35am: bye.

Today, I threw away a stack of banana pancakes. They have fabulous maple syrup in the Northeast, you know.

'tis the season

(Mira, third from the right)

...for losing my mind at work! Things do NOT slow down come holiday time. Operation Santa Claus gifts were delivered yesterday...that's roughly one hundred families' gifts, two or three carbon copies of each form to find, sort, alphabetize, and their corresponding telephone numbers to call. Nevermind disconnected or out-of-service numbers. And it's tax training time...IRS VITA site coordinator meeting this morning. Drama there, too. Paid preparers are trying to dismantle the volunteer-run program. And then there's my other, top-secret work Christmas project...not to mention Christmas cards and keeping the cats out of the tree at home.

Back on subject (was there a subject?)--Mira's daycare had their Christmas program last Thursday, on our Auntie Joyce's birthday. Since I had forgotten that morning that the program was that evening, Mira was one of only two girls in the class not wearing a dress. And she noticed. The picture above shows only about a third of her whole class.
And, for fun, here's a pic of PGG, about 3 or 4 years old. And looking at this picture, I'm wondering if maybe the baby's nose, which has been causing me some confusion, is PGG's after all. Noses, of course, look much different as they get older along with the human hosts, but Torrin's was instantly recognizable as his dad's. Mira's is actually still somewhat of a mystery but it looks more familiar, if that makes any sense (probably not). Orion's was puzzling. But maybe not. Maybe. We'll see. So also we'll see, if Orion gets the crazy eyebrows (notice too the awesome late 80s background, semi-mullet, and rockin' ninja shirt).

Earlier this evening I walked out to the living room from the kitchen, where I was cooking dinner, and found Torrin reading to Orion on the couch. Cute, huh? And what was he reading to him? Maybe a nice board book, something for babies, maybe even something for older kids? No. Ghosts Among Us, which I doubt the author intended for reading to infants, or small children of any kind, for that matter. Torrin has dubbed it "creepy." I wouldn't know, since I never got around to cracking the cover, let alone actually reading it.

Before I forget

Wanted to share two Mira exchanges from before the baby was born. In the first conversation, I had enticed Mira to come to the car by telling her that we were going to the store to get a carseat for the baby, as she is ever-interested in all things baby-related. This was a 8 days before the baby was born.

Mira: "Is the baby coming out soon?"
Me: "Yes, sometime soon."
Mira: "Are you going to make a hole for it?"
Me, aghast: "The baby already has a hole to come out of."
Mira: "Is that going to hurt?"
Me: "Maybe."

And then later on:
Mira: "Can I see the hole?"
Me: "No!"

almost two weeks

So quickly it goes.

We're around, up 'n at 'em. It's Christmastime, which is my second-busiest season at work following tax season (next up!). Little Mr. Orion has been, and will be for the next several weeks, at work with me. All day, every day. We breastfeed, and I don't intend to introduce a bottle until he's 6 - 8 weeks old (it will be pumped milk), so he's my third limb for now. I try to keep him hidden as much as possible and aside from huge breasts (for me anyhow) people can't particularly tell I've just had a baby. My uterus seems to be done with its contractingness and the belly is gone (though the extra padding on my hips and the local vicinity is there for now).

Mira is still enchanted by the baby. She's always wanting to hold him. Torrin is older and doesn't view him as a potential playmate or plaything as Mira does, but he still asks to hold him and seems to genuinely like him. We will see how long it takes for the novelty to wear off. So far, I've managed to get home from work and cook dinner each night, but after that I'm pretty beat and it takes an effort to read bedtime stories.


Don't blink, or you'll miss everything...