Long Night

My sweet baby, whom I always brag on for sleeping through the night, was a TERROR last night. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the mall to meet my friends - Jenny and Joey, for dinner and spend some gift cards. Too bad the mall is an hour away. He had a blast at dinner - he's a very social baby and loves to make eye contact with strangers, then he will flash his million dollar smile until they stop to say how beautiful he is. By the time we got around to the shopping part - it was 8:00 p.m. - bambino bedtime. Oops. Things were fine, he was chillin' in his stroller, until I stopped to look at a pair of jeans. Then came full-on hysterical tears. We walk, he's happy, I stop he cries. So I roll on on out to the car. I'm talented, but not able to try on jeans while strolling. My little man fell asleep in the car before we got out of the parking lot. Sweet!

When we get home, he's suddenly ready for round two. We play on the couch a little, quietly...as I try to unwind him again. Once asleep, I put him up in his crib, turn on the monitor, and partake in one of my and cousin Davey's favorite pastimes - Drinking while watcing Intervention. The irony... Don't worry, I'm talking less than a glass of wine, not a six pack! Then I hear whining on the monitor, then yelling, then quiet, the cooing. He's up. Repeat about 10 times - and that takes us to 6 a.m. this morning when I bring the baby into my bed hoping for an hour of sleep. I got it.

And to all of you that shame me for letting him sleep in my bed for an hour - kiss my ass. A well-rested mommy is a happy mommy, and a happy mommy is a good parent.

Nothing is sweeter...

...than the feeling of my sleeping baby in my arms as I carry him up the steps for bed. His warm little body finally resting after a day filled with play. His eyes flutter just for a moment and then close again with a deep sigh. His little feet flopping as we go up to his room. When I put him in his crib, he immediately turns on his left side (when he was co-sleeping in a bassinet attached to my bed, he would roll to his left to turn towards me - a darling habit he has maintained).

Mama Pasta?

Mama Pasta. Mama pasta is not some rejected ballet character from the Nutcracker. Mama Pasta is one of my earlier triumphs of first-time motherhood. It was only a week or two after the birth of my son, and I was trying to figure out how the hell anybody did anything while breastfeeding. I mean, really, do the math - eat every 2 hours, for about 20 minutes. Throw in some diaper changes, naps, and BAM - you have exactly 7.845 minutes to take care of yourself. On the day that Mama Pasta came to be, I made the decision to eat instead of shower.

The baby was in between feedings and resting in his pampasan. I began scrounging around for food, and found very little. No lunch meat, no bread, no cereal, no milk, no leftovers. Leftovers would have required me to cook at some point. Pasta - being raised in an Italian family, I knew I had pasta. As I continued my search for food, I found no sauce. My eyes started to fill with tears - I just wanted something hot to eat. Why not run out and get something you may ask - well, those of you who are first time mom's of an infant know. It is not worth it. I had barely figured out how to get the kid in the car seat and definately didn't yet have the strength to drag him through the store in that heavy ass car seat. Instead of crying, I thought of my Aunt Dana, who, could whip up something to eat out of nothing. WWDD - what would Dana do? And 10 minutes later (drum roll) I had my first batch of mama pasta. Whole wheat rotini drizzled with olive oil, mixed veggies from the freezer, chicken from a can, some Mrs. Dash garlic, topped with some Mozzerella. Success! Hot dinner AND I hit all the food groups. Since then, mama pasta has become a game. The only rules - you must use pasta and cannot leave your house for any ingredient.

I triumphed - baby ate, I ate. We made it through another day.

Now my son is 8 1/2 months old, and we still have our mama pasta days. Today was one of those days. My friends Danielle and Scott were here this evening, and I was showing them my mama pasta creation and was explaining the game. After some other random baby tales and musings, we (meaning Scott) decided this should be blogged. And there it is - the birth of my blog.