My oversized, puffed-up head (thanks to Kelly)

I just wanted to store this quote from Kelly somewhere, because I didn't want to lose it and this is a good a place as any. She just made my year with this one:

Ms. Nylonthread is the queen of seeing the bright-side without being cloying. She's the empress of the silver-lining reality check. She's the goddess of the good-time, and we're all so very lucky a Ms. Nylon exists. (Not that she doesn't have a dark side, too. His name is AJS.) (HA ha hahahahahaha!!)

About 1 child vs 2 (rose-colored glasses? check.)

I may be deluding myself, but I feel like I'm being a better parent with two, because I'm *not* totally focused and beamed in on Rosalie. I don't think she really benefitted from our parental-hovering-weirdness while she was the center of our world. We're a lot more relaxed about her going off on her own and don't freak out so much about the little stuff. (And she seems to have fewer long-lasting, screaming meltdowns now that she has to consider how they affect her darling Dash.) Sure, she gets less attention from us than she used to, but isn't that good preparation for how things are? Sharing, waiting your turn, playing nice with others, and delayed gratification are all necessary, valued habits that develop straight from having a sibling.

When do babies start entertaining themselves?

My friend Jeff's wife is expecting and told me that they weren't planning to arrange for daycare because his wife (who is a full-time, self-employed sculptor) works from home. Yikes! I had to call Kelly and tell her about this naive thought, so we could chuckle knowingly ;-). We once were that unaware ourselves!! Ah, those blissfully carefree days...

Kelly said she clearly remembers the day when I excitedly called her to tell her that I was doing dishes and *15 whole minutes* had passed before I noticed that Rosalie wasn't demanding my attention and I found her playing alone in her room! Our daughters are 1 year apart and Rosie had just turned two. At the time she was saying, thank god, it really does happen!

Mother's Day, revisited

Looking on the bright side of Mother's Day, which is worth it (not in any order):

1. I have a lovely new watch; a gift from AJS
2. Rosie made me a neckace and bracelet of multicolored beads that she insisted I wear all day (and proudly told everyone that she made them by herself)
3. Kelly bought me *LOTS* of plants and Rosie and I planted them
4. Dash danced to everything
5. We hung out with 5 wonderful friends and 4 of their kids, ate their food and made chocolate chip cookies
6. AJS makes me laugh
7. AJS made me a breakfast omelette and coffee
8. Rosie loved Kira's dress and did pirouettes in the grocery store because she felt pretty
9. Thea cheered up after sitting in my lap and hugging me for 5 minutes
10. AJS did a load of laundry, took the recycling out, and unloaded the dishwasher
11. Rosie and I baked muffins together while bread baked in the breadmaker
12. I read a few more chapters in a good book while Dash napped
13. I watched part one of Grey's Anatomy's season finale!
14. Dash loves everybody and gives them happy smiles
15. Rosie did her best to keep Dash from eating more than a small amount of Molly's cat's food
16. Thea, Mia, and Rosie had squealing good fun chasing each other around Molly's house and hiding from Todd under the furniture
17. Liam was so happy playing in Molly's lap that he looked like a caricature of a happy boy
18. Mark has awesome new knee-high leather and metal superhero boots
19. Rosie knows to say, "calm down, Daddy" and it works
20. AJS and I agreed that despite all this, Mother's Day isn't all it's cracked up to be, and should stay indoors when the next one comes around.

Rosie's first visit to the dentist

Rosie had her first dental appointment Friday morning and did great! Well, not at first, really, but eventually! We brought along a baby doll, which in retrospect was genius. All the tools were tested out on the doll first. Hah! Rosie was timid about the whole visit and I really did my best to smooth things over. When she didn't want to sit in the big exam chair, I offered to lie down myself and she could sit on me. She almost balked altogether at the cleaning until the hygeinist offered her a new Ariel toothbrush. Hooray! She let her brush her teeth with the Ariel toothbrush and the ice was broken! All tools were allowed in the mouth. It helped that Rosie could pick her favorite color (blue) from the plastic tips available, and her favorite flavor (purple grape) from the special toothpaste. Mr. Thirsty, a blue vacuum tool, was a subject of chatter for weeks afterward.

I think we were both put off by the singsongy voices that everyone in the office put on. It was annoyingly creepy to me, but I thought, well who knows, maybe they know what they're doing?Thank goodness we made it through and all 20 of her teeth are fine.

The good and the brain-dead

Well, Dash has been walking for almost two months now and he's getting really good at it! Which means that while he's still in the infant room at daycare, he looks and acts like a very short toddler (throwing off prospective families who tour the center). So, I talked with the center director and they'll be transitioning him to the toddler room on May 15th!

This center has only been operating for two years so far and they told me that, at 10 months, he is the youngest child in their history to move up so early. But everyone agrees that he's ready. His best friends are turning one and moving to the toddler room so we think he would be sad without them and bored with only babies around. Not to mention, such a mobile child could potentially be a hazard to really young babies (he's very sweet with them though).

On to the brain dead. I was putting away some winter woolens in our cedar closet that holds seasonal items and clothes for specialoccasions and came across something shocking. Taped to the plastic garment protectors that cover some of my most expensive evening dresses was -- get this—a beebee gun target. With holes shot through it. And holes shot through the plastic garment protectors. *&^@$#!! Ever since we moved from DC (guns illegal) to Virginia (guns legal) AJS has been buying, repairing, and eBaying beebee guns. So, he was testing one of them out and shot from across the basement into the cedar closet. He was NOT even thinking. Do guns make men turn into 10 year olds? AAAArrrgh! Luckily I don't think there's hardly any damage to the fabrics (many dents in vintage velvets), but OMG.