Like Father like Son...and throw in like Mimi to boot

B has a "delicate" way of eating popcorn, and Mimi, I have seen a similar trend in your popcorn-eating habits as well. It's a trait that is being handed down generation to generation. Even though CR is dining on unpopped corn, the procedure is much the same. I personally eat kernels one by one...the R fam? Get yer fist in there and grab. I love it. He starts off like his Mommy with a hunt and peck method, and then in the last frame, goes for it in true R-style. He has the UCONN game kicking in the foreground, all he needs now is to pick up a few swear-words, a glass of OJ in hand (another interesting part of this ritual), and he is his father...

Bug is not a cuter way to address it...it is still a nasty ugly little invader...

When they call it a 24 hour bug, they don't take into account the total time it effects someone when more than one family member gets sick with it...more like a 48 hour bug for two people...72 hours for three, and so forth.
I had a feeling I was doomed, but when I first woke up this morning, I thought for a moment I was in the clear. CR woke up acting like his cute normal self, and B and I figured that if we hadn't shown symptoms by last night, that the bug had flown the coop.
My first clue that something was up was when I was making hot cereal for wee-man. As he scooped heaping spoonfuls of the warm oatmeal into his mouth, the coffee in my stomach churned...
So without any details, needless to say, the coffee did not last much longer in my belly. B had left for work, so I had to figure out a way to keep my 90% recovered, in-my-face child entertained, while making sure my 60% developed daughter kept hydrated inside me. I didn't want to have SM come into the house to help out, as I was afraid she might catch the lovely virus...I wanted CR to get outside before the expected snowstorm arrived, so I had SM meet us at the door, child bundled and Purelled, with outside toys to keep them busy for a half an hour. After a stint outside, and a brief rest period for me, CR and I decided it was time to color a little bit. And color we did, just not in the traditional manner...

After little Picasso finished decorating Mommy's face, we did a little arts and crafts..

...and it was time for his nap...and for mine...the sigh out of me was heard on the Moon today...
With being away last week, and now getting taken out by this virus, I feel like I am a decade behind with work, housework, catching up with friends...behind in general. Tonight I am sleeping in Mantown in an attempt to keep this little pest away from my hub...tomorrow as I emerge from the depths of our house, I hope to leave this bug as snug in a rug in the carpet below, and I hope it is the last we see of this blip on our health radar for awhile.

Who Dat bug in my little boy?

Superbowl Sunday. This is the fifteenth year B and one of his closest friends K have held their chili cook-off. It is always funny to look back over the years and see how the crowd has changed. The invitees are mainly the same, but our friends have procreated...a lot. Last night we had seventeen adults, and fourteen children...and with my friend H and me, two more on the way. The party used to go late into the night, with lots of loud ruckus and drinking...now? People tend to dine on fiery beef around half-time, and hit the road with their brood.

We cleaned up after the fete, and headed, exhausted, to bed...only to wake up an hour later to the sound of CR getting sick...everywhere. B slept in his bed with him, and we both got up nearly every hour on the hour to hold our little guy's head. Poor little bug. :(
To keep up with the soiled sheets, towels, and blankets, I have been running laundry all night. I still have at least 2-3 loads to go. All of his buddies were casualties as well, so into the spin cycle they went.

I really hope all of our little guests and their parents do not come down with this bug. It's not pretty. B is now sleeping, and I am hanging with the little patient, slowly trying to get fluids into him, and hoping they stay where they're supposed to, and not all over our couches. I am sure it's just a matter of time until B and I get to experience the fun little roller coaster CR was on last night...our washer had better fasten it's seatbelt, as it's going to be quite the ride.

(image from here)

I swear they were there yesterday...

What is this picture, you ask?
Give up?
It's what I see when I look down these days...
What's missing?
My feet. Haven't seen 'em in weeks.
I will miss out on playing "head, shoulders, knees and toes" with CR...the two latter body parts are no longer on my radar...

The sigh heard from around the world...

Naptime. It came late today, but boy, was it needed. Wee-man was actually great (aside from the usual tantrums surrounding awful things that I ask him to do, like putting on his shoes and jacket, or trying to use the bathroom...the sheer horror!), given our hectic agenda. After being penned up inside for the past couple of days, I made it a point to get out first thing, not allowing him, or me, for that matter, to settle into any sort of inside routine around the house.
We popped over to the bank to deposit some checks, and then, back to SuperCuts for yet another trim for CR. His hair is out of control - I thought my hair grew fast from all of the prenatal vitamins I've been taking - apparently Flintstones have the same effect on 2 1/2 year old follicles.

After a quick coffee run, I came back to my car only to find a $25 ticket...I missed the meter by four minutes...the officer must have literally been hiding in a mailbox somewhere, because the time on the ticket was the same time that showed on my phone...fishy? Yes. Irritating? Even moreso. Here I am, trying to save a few dollars by taking my son (and myself) to Supercuts over a salon, and I get slapped with a fine for parking...grrr. The rest of the morning, as we drove around from place to place, CR kept saying, "That's a [parking] spot; Mommy, don't get a ticket!" Lovely.
Our nanny/friend SM had shoulder surgery today, and we were scheduled to pick her up from the hospital, so we wanted to stick close to home for when she called. At this point it was about 10:30am, so we decided to head to a nearby toystore to buy some time. CR played with the train track, and the baby dolls (sorry, B), and we picked up some ink stamps to play with at home. After playing for an hour, we went to the grocery store for a few items, and then drove home for lunch.
After dining, we broke out the new stamps at the kitchen table, and finally got a call (thank goodness...I am a classic worry-wart, so waiting for the call was painful!) to pick SM up at the outpatient branch of the local medical center.

SM was tired from the surgery, so we dropped her off to rest at home, and went to Rite Aid to fill her prescription...CR took it upon himself to find a distraction while we waited over 20 minutes for SM's happy pills...

I ripped CR from his dress-up time (I swear he looked like a blind Far Side character), and we delivered the meds, along with some saltines and Sprite, to our patient friend.
After getting back home, the clock struck 4pm...um...naptime anyone? Yes, for me it would be a gift, but for our little friend, it is a necessity...it staves off all types of undesirable lower body toddler wear, like cranky pants for instance...really not that flattering on the lad.
Exit CR. Enter S-I-G-H...aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh....I was alone for the first time today, and it felt pretty darn nice.
After nap we capped off the day with making some break and bake cookies, lots of stories, and snuggles in bed.

And we do it all again tomorrow...keep your ears open sometime after 3pm...that sound you hear? Me, breathing deeply, enjoying a little solo time...

Line 'em up...

Not only does CR think that every time someone points a camera-like object at him that he is having his picture taken, he also cannot resist an unsupervised date with the kitchen lazy susan. B found him at the tail-end of his spice/condiment re-org...

Time flies...

We're back. It feels so great to be home, to be back with CR, but alas, that's where the bliss ends. Being back also means laundry, trips to the grocery store, work, juggling schedules, and overall, being tied to the old routine.
B and I had a really nice trip. We were able to mix a little business (visited with his clients for lunch on the first day we arrived, and then spent some time with another group of clients/friends while staying in the Venice area) with pleasure, and in the process, got to check out the South Beach scene pre-SuperBowl. While we were down there, the ProBowl and the ING Miami Marathon took place. I was a little bummed the pregnancy kept me from enjoying happy hour with the locals, but when I woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and not like I had been run over by a liquor truck, I was grateful for the little one inside of me for keeping things at bay.
CR had a blast with both sets of grandparents, and we thank them over and over again for taking our little monster. Once B sends me some pics, I will post some shots from our rainy Venice/Miami vacation.