come undone

Oh look, a post

I think the czar is finally getting over his jet lag. After a half hour of screaming and crying (a good performance, by the way, he drifted off to sleep for over ten hours. My husband doesn't handle these performances well. He tries to end them with magic tricks, games that don't make any sense and songs. I prefer to let my son perform. It drives my husband insane. He should see what happens around here while he's at work.

The czar's bed in its current form will be saying bye-bye soon. I ordered the part that converts his crib to a happy and exciting big boy bed. He is able to climb in and out with ease with an occasional bump to the butt. The czar seems to be excited to have a bed like his cousin T...but will he sleep in it? That's a new skill entirely...I'm hoping I'm not too premature with this bed business.  I got rid of the booster seat ages ago when he learned how to wrap the straps around his ankles and dangle from the chair. We have yet to learn how to sit at the table and consume a meal. 

And speaking of skills...we're dabbling in potty training again. But I lack the patience. Without any influence of M & Ms, the czar rips off his diaper and announces "Mommy, pee pee bowl" and we venture off to the bathroom. He sits on his purple potty for twenty-five minutes and I endure trickle-trickle-gotta-look-trickle-trickle-gotta-look. And my mind is filled with thoughts like HOLY CRAP HURRY UP ALREADY! and JUST DO IT! 

I know. I am one to be admired.

Wednesday in New York

My son fell asleep at 8 last night. I went to bed soon after with the assumption that this bed time would give me a 6 AM wake up call. Nope. He was by my bedside at 4 AM.

"Mommy? Mommy, wake up."

Soon after he was riding his scooter throughout the flat...the people below us must love it.  It's supposed to be only 88 degrees here today so maybe we'll venture out and put that scooter to good use. Only 88 degrees...Have I mentioned my intense dislike of summer? My son hates the heat as well. "Mommy, too hot. No bye-bye now."  He'd rather drive around in the AC. Me too...but the $4.35 gas is killing me.

In other czar news, we noticed a big change in his verbal skills this week. We have converations now. Real conversations. With sentences. I assumed 2½ weeks submerged in Greek would screw him up, but I suppose he had a lot of English brewing in that brain of his. He returned to the States spewing requests, demands, opinions and observations in addition to "why?" and "what?!"  And the little beast imitates me: "Don't you DARE!" and "Listen to mommy" are in his regular language rotation. And, yes, I've stopped cursing in front of my child.

My home looks like a cyclone hit it and I am still cleaning the dust that has blanketed the entire bathroom as a result of a light fixture change. It's a brighter light so now everything is visible...from the fine lines developing on my face to the hair all over the place. MY hair too. I shed like a dog apparently. And I don't clean my bathroom as well as I should and I am fine with that. If you come over, don't look.

And that's that..I am slowly making it through the blog list catching up on everyone's journeys. There just isn't enough coffee out there to keep me awake.

holy crap indeed

I just completed one year PPR. One year...ONE YEAR! Can you believe it?? I can't...on July 3 we'll be celebrating one year as a family. 

oohhh boy

Since our arrival home, my son slips into a deep sleep by 6 PM...he awakes at 4 AM. And he doesn't even call out for me anymore. He just climbs out of his crib, ventures to our bedroom and taps me.  

And it is 98 degrees. .

I wish I had something exciting to blog about...I have tons of work sitting in my in box but I won't bore you with that...even if the first job was another newsleter for the blind.

Greece

Day 13...

And my son has survived on cookies, chocolate, salad and the occasional meat product...although I think we had a pasta meal in there somewhere. The poor kid is craving mommy's cooking...

Things are OK in Greece...we do have a battle of the cultures here which anticipated. I just didn't expect that I'd take on the Mama Bear role. No regrets here. I did what I thought was best for my confused child.

The confused child, by the way, is picking up Greek which is pretty cool. He also walks around chanting Obama-McCain-Obama-McCain...

As for me, I need a box of Clairol desperately. I can't believe what is happening to my head.

And I just checked my itinerary and noticed that our flight home from London is friggin' nine hours long...six hours to get over there...nine to get back...ohhhh that sucks.  I am verrrry happy with our airline though so it shouldn't be too terrible. Cramps are in my future so I am drugging myself up beyond belief. Good times...

I miss my Zeus terribly too...and while I was gone I got a new light fixture in the batroom and new tiles around the tub. In a renter's world that's exciting stuff.

This is a weird post, but our internet connection is weak and I just wanted to put something on the blog...everyone behaving themselves??

In Greece

Sick...overstimulated child...overbearing widows...culture clashes...we come home Saturday and I am thrilled. When I have a free moment and can function, I'll elaborate...in the meantime, I need a vacation from thid vacation.

In London

We're here...and we're beat. We arrived yesterday morning and spent the day with our family and friends walking through the city, carrying a stroller up and down steps and escalators in the tube and watching the kids play. My poor baby is on a hunger strike because eveything is different, different for him anyway. He's having a hard time living with this larger family and will only eat or ask for things when we're alone. I brought along a bag of Cheerios from home and that was breakfast.As for sleep, it was pretty bad...he could not get comfortable and was up until 2...and we leave at 3 AM for our plane to Greece. Friggin' Gatwick is an hour away from where we're staying. Ohhhh boy...

and I leave you with this...

You Are The Chariot

You represent a difficult battle, and a well-deserved victory. You tend to struggle to get what you want, both internally and externally. You excel at controlling opposing forces, getting down the same path. In the end, you bring glory and success - using pure will to move forward. Your fortune: There is great conflict in your life right now, either with yourself or others. You must find a solution to this conflict, which is likely to be a "middle road" between the two forces. You posses the skills to triumph over these struggles, as long as your will is strong. You are transforming your inner self, building a better foundation for future successes.

What Tarot Card Are You?

my week...

Too insane for my taste...it began in an organized manner and quickly turned to shit somewhere around Thursday.  The big workload came Thursday. I had to design and typeset two newsletters for the blind. The BLIND. Then came the stupid emergency jobs: a menu, a logo, and two brochures. As I type this the jobs are being uploaded to the job.  Thankfully, the medical publishing folks approved my projects and stayed away.

I am friggin' exhausted.

So is my son.

My son has missed his naps since Saturday. That's two a day. TWO. And he sleeps nine hours at night.  He is miserable. And tonight we will find ourselves on an airplane and he's guaranteed to be awake for that because it's all his father talks about. I'm thankul this is only a 5.5 hour flight across the pond. If this was the 11-hour one into Athens, I'd shoot myself.

Are we packed? Kinda sorta. My luggage has CAT HAIR all over it because Zeus freeaks out when he sees them and feels the need to sit on them, or rub against them. I'll have to clean them up before we leave. Because I have time to do that. Yeah.  The cat also scatched the shit out of my arm because he saw me packing. I love this cat dearly, but he's a friggin' nut. He is currently sleeping next to my keyboard and I am typing under his tail.

OH. And how can I forget THIS. My son climbs out of his crib now. Regularly. Without falling. He can also turn a doorknob. This wasn't something he was able to do, successfully anyway, as of last week. Several times this weekend, I found him standing behind me or standing in the foyer...George Michael's "Freedom" playing in the background and stuff.

The part to convert his crib to a toddler bed is on order. 

Here's a question...Kennedy Airport to Heathrow...stroller or no stroller?  I'm saying yes. Husband is battling me with a no.