Birthday

In just three days, the biggest day of Mia's year will be upon us and she, in all her glory, will be able to rule the roost, be queen of the castle, and head order-giver. What I'm talking about is that it will be her birthday. She has been looking forward to this since August 3 of last year. And now it's finally here. I can't tell you how long her birthday list is. Every time we pass something she wants and we won't buy for her, she asks to get it for her birthday. And this has been going on for almost 365 days. Needless to say I've forgotten most of what she wanted from last year. I guess I should ask for a notebook for my birthday.

So last night after Saya's birthday party, that's her best friend, she was examining her calender and counting over and over again how many more days until the blessed event. Thankfully she came up with the same number every time. I guess I would have been a little worried if she was unable to get the same result when the answer was three.

Not only did she count, but she couldn't sleep. She was tossing and turning and sighing and groaning. She would keep coming out to the living room to get a drink of water. She would keep calling out from her room that she can't sleep. And finally it came out that it was not fair that Saya did not have to wait as long as she did for her birthday party. I tried to explain that in fact Saya's birthday is three days earlier, but this had little relevance. The fact that Saya got to have a party before she did only showed that Saya had to wait less time. Why did we make Mia wait so long? Why are we such bastards about the whole thing? We clearly don't care about her and only want to inflict the most harm and hurt feelings by making her wait a full year. I sure hope she gets over it. I know that most of the kids I see in the emergency room could have been saved had their parents just cared more about their birthday's.

But if you think that's mean, then wait until you hear about what we're doing for presents. Her friend party, which is next week, is a no presents party. If we were bastards before, what are we now? We have asked that if people are wanting to give presents that they give them to the local children's hospital via Amazon. Mia is on board with this . . . for now. I'm not sure what will happen next week when no one comes with presents. I can just imagine it. I can see the look after the party. I can see the disappointment. I know that if my mother said no presents when I was her age . . . well I'm sure I would have had none of that and would have forth rightly marched out of her house and ran away, but not before telling her that I was doing so and where I was going.

The reality is that Mia has no shortage of stuff. She has more stuff then she knows what to do with. She has stuff on shelves she can't even reach, even if she stands on a chair and jumps. George Carlin, now passed away, did a whole bit on stuff and our need to have more and more stuff and then to have bigger and bigger houses and garages to house our stuff. I recommend you look it up if you want a good laugh. The point however is that I'm not sure she really needs more plastic crap that usually only last for day, if we're lucky, to fill her ever full room. I can't even walk in her room anymore. The other night I was going in to kiss her goodnight, as I do every night before I go to bed, and walked on what was either a monopoly piece or a small plastic man, either way it hurt, made a noise, and caused me to think twice about whether or not I would allow her to not clean her room in the morning.

I'll keep you updated on the birthday progress.

Jonah on the other hand is just taking everything in. He's doing a great job being a baby. I suppose it's not tough. What does he really have to do? A little crying - check. A little smiling - check. A whole lot of running pooh - yucky check. That's it in a nutshell. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he also has to not sleep. Super check. Yup, he still only manages to get through a few hours of sleep before he wants to share his version of love with us. Thankfully I don't need to sleep. Andrea's teaching herself how to stay awake at night and sleep at work. I understand she's doing pretty good.

Actually, he's doing well. He is lots of fun, loves to smile and laugh and just watch the world go by. He is very mellow and kind. I have to say that we're having fun. Today we went on some errands and our last one was to the grocery. They had one of those great carts with a baby seat. We got to sing, play and laugh. I think George Thorogood was playing at one point. You know the song - bad to the bone. Nothing says shopping for produce like bad to the bone. I suppose it makes sense. I often play that song when I'm cooking a veggy quiche. That's right, cracking eggs singing about how the nurse knew when I was born that I'd be bad to the bone.

The one thing I can't seem to get, however, is his nap schedule. While he doesn't sleep at night, he does sleep during the day, but I never know when he wants to sleep. Is he tired when he rubs his eyes, or is it when he pulls his ears, or how about when I can't seem to do anything right and he just yells because the wind is blowing. What ever the signals are, I don't understand them. Understanding them would be of great help given that every time I put him down, he fusses. He does finally go to sleep, but usually it's a result me giving him bourbon. Just kidding, I usually use Ambien.

Anyway, I'm a bit behind on pics, but here's one of Mia.