hi. apparently i'm randy.

My sweet, sweet baby. He is just so yummy and nicey and he smells like milk and he hugs and buzzes off a mouthful of raspberries when he's happy to see us. He army crawls now, and he sits, and plays a drum and with toys and pulls the stupid cats' tails.

He is the kind of baby that flips the LET'S REPRODUCE SOME MORE!!! IT'S A GREAT IDEA!!! switch. You know, supposing I had a switch like that.

He's the easiest baby I can remember having. He is a breastfeeding champ. (Ha, I just typed He is a breastfeeding chap. That too.) He's a predictable pooper. A predictable sleeper. It's lovely, really.

But lately.

When it's Time For Some Nursings, things get a little scary. He opens his mouth wide, wide, wide. He looks me square in the face, and with a twinkle in his eye and the kick of his feet, little man chomps down on my nipple with his razor sharp toothless gums and I become just a teensy bit homicidal.

Maybe homicidal is a little exaggeration.

But then... Dude LAUGHS. Then? Not so much an exaggeration to say I want to push him off my lap and say bad words. Except I don't. I say, NO BITING!, and put mah boobehs away. Which isn't really helping *ME* any, because I probably could out-let-down a Jersey cow. So, Elliott bites me hard, which hurts like a really bad word, the one about the mother... Good to know you're still with me on this one. And there is JUST SO MUCH MILK that I'm ENGORGED UP TO MY ARMPITS and then, just like Randy in the greatest Christmas movie EVER?

I CAN'T PUT MY ARMS DOWN!!!! And also? MATAFINGA!!!



That glass? Five minutes.

For two days. Three sips and bite the nips. I've been hand expressing like a teenaged boy, you know, except for the part where those guys make a mess and I make food. Anyway. So naturally I consult The Great And Powerful Googles, who are not yet on SuperWhy which is something I do not understand, because hello, The Googles can skip the whole adaptation of the fairy tale and get straight to the answer.

The Googles told me that The Thing To Do is smash Elliott's little face into my knocker rocks, because he won't be able to breathe, and then when he can't breathe, he'll un-bite me. Or open his mouth. And so I smash, with love, of course, because I'm not really that mom who smashes things, especially the heads of babies. And, just like they said, he opened his mouth.

And laughed. Hard.

As for me? I can't put my arms down.

wordless wednesday: makes my heart do that thing

oh gosh.

I have some things going on that I can't really address specifically here, and that's a totally crummy way of starting a post, but if you read me on a regular basis, you'll have noticed by now that I haven't been writing too much (right? you've noticed? and you miss me? right?)

And while the things I'm sorting through are unpleasantish, as sorting most often is, I'm just terribly grateful and overwhelmed by the blessings of my life.

So overwhelmed that the very thought of how blessed I am squeezes my heart so hard that I have to gasp just a little at the shock of it all. The shock of the realization that I am so blessed. The shock of the shock of it. The shock of the actual physical sensation of having my heart squeezed.

And I just love my people. I really, really do. They are just so sweet and lovely and edible, and they laugh these laughs that make it impossible to be cross with them for the charming, yet terribly naughty, things they say. And 75% of them poop in the toilet on a regular basis, and if you count me and The Mister in, the statistic jumps to 83.3% of us who poop in the toilet, and that's really the highest it's ever been. Since we've had the short people. Before that, we were at 100%.

The weather has been wretched, but we've been sitting in piles on my comfy red flowered sofa, under blankets, reading books, and playing songs on the drum and telling jokes like this...

Why did the cow cross the road?

It was the chicken's day off.

And it's not funny any more, but it sort of is.

We eat soup and play with friends and make presents and bird feeders by coating pinecones with peanut butter and millet. And we wait for Daddy to come home from work...his hours have been more wretched than the weather.

There is delight and contentment. Because that is what comes of counting your blessings.

*****

have you entered to win some Rockin' Green Soap?

because you should.

it's not just for cloth diapers.

it's a giveaway, people!

I may have developed a slight case of diaper envy. It's the kind of thing where SLIGHT = AND NOW I'M BUYING DIAPERS FOR FUN.

But I can totally justify it. All day long, if necessary.

You want to see? I'm so glad you asked. It's imperative that I have (because they're for ME, naturally) more fitteds in the stash because I'm using wool soakers and longies on a regular basis, and my plain old boring still totally useful prefolds aren't always the best choice for using with wool because if the Snappi is not on just so, then the diaper slips and unfolds, where UNFOLDS = POOPSPLOSION, and mama don't love no poopsplosion.

Twitter has done this to me. I could list specific people who are VERY BAD INFLUENCES to me, but I'm no narc. The week of Thanksgiving, I kept hearing talk of the GINORMOUS Black Friday sales going on. And I fell for it. Black Friday sucked me in.

I hit RG Natural Babies. And I hit hard. (Well, for me, anyway.)

I bought three kinds of Rockin' Green: Cherry Almond, Lavendar Vanilla, and Mango Sorbet. I bought Snappi Diaper Fasteners (this was an actual need). I bought triangular crayons for HB's stocking. It's possible I even purchased two DryBee's Gone Natural fitteds. And a DryBees Fleece Night Time diaper with a Knickernappies SuperDo Insert.

Like this, but black.

To go with the skull and crossbones babylegs.

Naturally.

And I had my stuff by Tuesday. That there is some fast shipping.

I was surprised by the scent of grape wafting from my package (how many times have you heard that one?), and discovered that instead of sending me a lavender vanilla scented Rockin' Green Soap, Michelle sent Grape Soda.

I sent her an email to let her know I'd received the wrong item, and she responded quickly, asking me to please wait while she sorted things out. And because I'm awesome like that, I was, well, awesome like that.

BUT THEN!!!!

Something happened that I did not expect at all. Michelle emailed me that she was shipping me the Lavendar Vanilla Rockin' Green Soap, and that I should just keep the Grape Soda flavour, and Merry Christmas to me!

So here's what I'm doing, because I want to spread the awesomesauce around:

I'm giving away the Grape Soda Rockin' Green Soap that Michelle gave me. And Michelle is giving you all a coupon for 5% off your next purchase at RG Natural Babies! Just type CHRISTMAS in the coupon place during checkout.

Here's what to do:

Leave a comment telling me about a company with great customer service, or about someone who did something nice for you, just because they could.

Extra entries:

1. Follow me and Michelle from RG Natural Babies on Twitter, and tweet this: @pameladayton and @RGNaturalBabies are spreading Christmas cheer! @RockinGreenSoap giveaway http://daytontime.blogspot.com. Leave a comment. Tweet as often as you like, but remember how we all feel about spammers.

2. For five extra entries, make a purchase at RG Natural Babies, and leave your order number in the comments. I'll be checking up on this, and you won't win if you say you made a purchase you didn't actually make. Leave five comments.

3. The standard Dark Chocolate In My Mailbox Bribe will get you five extra entries.

Contest will close at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, 23 December, 2009. Winner has to email me back within four days or I'll pick someone else, so there. Please include your email address, because if I can't reach you, you can't win.

Now go forth and comment. And be nice just because you can.

Here's the disclosure, just in case you can't read English and missed it the first time around: RG Natural Babies gave me some Rockin' Green, just fer nicey. And I'm giving it to somebody. Just fer nicey. And I'm shipping it on my dime.... wait for it... just fer nicey. So there.

sleepy wrap. 'tis nice.

Back before we had two feet of snow blowing around all crazy-like, back when the sun actually warmed the atmosphere (and don't even leave me a comment explaining thermal-blah-blah, because I'm not actually interested in what is actually happening)...

Back *then*, a little twittery-bird told me Sleepy Wrap was looking for bloggers to review their (FABULOUS) wraps. So I sent them an email, and they sent me and email, then I sent them an email and then they sent me an email. And a HOT green Sleepy Wrap.

Are you happy with my full disclosure, oh great and powerful Blog Review Czar-Dictators? Or whoever you are?

And because I'm all disclosing and stuff, I need to apologize to Sleepy Wrap, because I told them I'd have my review posted, like, two years ago. Or the first week of December. I'm sorry.

Anyway.

I love the Sleepy Wrap. And here's why:

• Babywearing. Hi, have you met me? I wear my short people pretty much the same number of days I wear underwear. Or a little more frequently. You'll never actually know. There are so many reasons why babywearing is awesome, except blogger won't let me make subcategories with the button thingy, so I can't tell you. So check this out. And check this kid out because oh, my word. He's adorable.

two fingers = happy baby

• The instruction manual. So. Stinking. Easy to understand. THANK YOU FOR THAT!!! I have another carrier, a soft-structured one that I'll just call the Blergo, a totally random name I just made up all by myself, and the instruction manual for that baby carrier resulted in several new words added to HB's vocabulary that are guaranteed to show up in a conversation with my mother-in-law, or during the children's sermon at church.
• The colors. I like color. Sure, I pretty much wear black, and very nearly every room in my house is painted some variety of yellow, but I like color, especially on my baby carriers. There are so many choices, and honestly, I'm glad they chose for me. I love the green.
• The family behind the product. They started their business whilst traveling the world. That, my friends, is the awesomesauce. And the list of family-focused organizations they support is LONG.
• The support. I have a disc in my back that likes to pop out and cause me to hurt, and be unable to stand up and walk around... it is an unpleasant situation. I have worn Elliott, who now weighs about 20 pounds, for hours. And hours. And my back is fine. I can't say that for some other carriers I have tried, like the Blergo, for example. There have been times when I've worn my Sleepy Wrap without a child in it just because it supports my back so well and feels so comfortable. Lots of times, actually.
• The sleeping baby. Dude loves it in the Sleepy Wrap. Dude loves to sleep in the Sleepy Wrap, too, but naturally I haven't taken a picture of Elliott sleeping in the Sleepy Wrap, because that would have been ten kinds of clever, and I am running a serious deficit on the clever scale this month.

see how his knees are bent?

this is a good thing.

no broken babehs here.

Possible improvements:

• Length of the wrap. It is L.O.N.G. I'm not a petite mama, I'm 5'7"ish, and 160ish pounds, and I had to wrap the fabric around me more times than suggested in the directions in order to get the Sleepy Wrap tied snugly enough. I think a truly petite person, short and skinny, would feel like she was stuffed in a cotton envelope.
• Back Carry Instructions. There were pictures of people wearing their babes on their backs in the literature, but there were no directions about how to do that. It would be really handy to put Elliott on my back when I'm kneading bread or making cheese or doing laundry.

Please notice how the list of things I love is WAY longer than the list of possible improvements.

The Sleepy Wrap is comfortable and supportive, and it is made by a company that is dedicated to helping families and conserving our natural resources. You can't beat that.

overheard, or, good on ya, mate!

As he climbed into his daddy's lap to cuddle:

Daddy, my pe.nis is bigger as it ever was.

Boys.

and then he was three.

Our darling surprise, HB, turned three this week.

how cute is that face?

His choice for a special birthday dinner?

Grilled cheese and tomato soup.

You know you're raising them right when they

choose your favorite foods for their birthday dinner.

And he made his own cake.

Because he wanted to be the one who got to lick the sticks.

Yes, I measured out the ingredients and

stood there the entire time,

and did hold the mixer once or twice,

but he did it all. by. himself.

And it was really, really good.

We bought him a drum.

It's quite possible he squeed when he opened it.

And The Mister and I made him a felt board.

We celebrated with family and friends, and it was just wonderful. One of these days, I will post a little video of HB laughing. Because that kid? Has the BEST. LAUGH. EVER. Everybody says so, and if everybody says it, it must be true, right?