Wild thing...I think love you!

Like all expectant parents, Rich and I spent a lot of time imagining what Joseph was going to be like when he was born. I was convinced he would look just like Richard, a blond little boy (Richard was way blond as a baby) with bright green eyes and have my personality. He would be a quiet little boy who liked to read and snuggle with his mommy. He'd be quite studious and just have a sweet little nature about him. I was wrong....dead wrong. First, he looks just like me...dark hair (although not as dark as mine) and dark brown eyes and he has Rich's personality through and through.

I have heard many stories about Richard as a child and quite frankly, they scare me. To say he was a bundle of energy is an understatement. I have heard stories about Richard getting bored waiting in line for something and just turning himself in circles over and over again until he got dizzy and nauseous. Richard is still pretty persistent at age 30. His mother would whisper in his ear after he fell asleep to "Please, please be a good boy tomorrow". Well, welcome to my future...my child is WILD!

Today's examples of wildness include, but are not limited to:

* When holding him and opening up the refrigerator, I could hear him smashing his hands into the items on the door of the refrigerator. Only when I closed it and looked at him, did I realize he had picked up the ketchup bottle (mistaking it for something that looked like a bottle) and was attempting to suck it. When Rich got home tonight, I re-created it to see if Joseph would do it again. He did and here are the pics to prove it:

(You will also notice my other wild boy, our cat Porter, sticking his nose in the refrigerator)

* While feeding him his oatmeal, he decided he had enough of sitting in his chair and proceeded to scoot his rear all the way to the bottom and try to kick the spoon out of my hand. I gave in and stopped feeding him, but went to get a cloth to clean his face. When I came back, he had flipped himself in the chair and was attempting to pull himself up in it. Pictures of this series of events below: * Diaper changes and clothing changes are what I imagine trying to tame a wild horse is like. He flips, he kicks, he screams, he cries. Lately we have found one thing that helps is to give something he can stick in his mouth and chew on. A baby brush from his changing table seems to be doing the trick. We have about 2 minutes before he tires of it and throws it off the changing table.
So I have just resigned myself to the fact that I have a wild thing...but I love him and wouldn't want him any other way (well maybe an hour of non-craziness a day would be ok)!

After dealing with wild boy all day, I needed some Mommy time. Lucky for me, I had dinner plans with my friend and former co-worker, Melissa. Melissa and I have spent way too much time together. We have spent many long nights and Saturdays sitting together in an office as big as a closet with no windows (clients don't really give auditors prime office space). We have travelled to the WORST places together for work. Our client had a plant on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The eye of hurricane Katrina went right over the plant and the whole area was destroyed. About 2 months after the hurricane Melissa and I had to go down to take an inventory of the plant for the year-end audit. There were no restaurants or hotels open and many of the employees were living in trailers in the parking lot of the company. The company had a FEMA trailer set up for all the consultants who were coming in and out. Guess where we stayed? We shared a FEMA trailer with a tiny microwave to heat up some soup to eat, a shower that had scary cold pink tinged water, and tiny little bunk beds that we curled up in when the heater went out at 2 am. The bright spot was the tiny TV and satellite hookup that allowed us to catch the O.C. (we were sort of obsessed back in 2005). Melissa and I have shared a lot of personal ups and downs in the 4 years we worked together and she is one of a few things I really miss about my job. It was so nice to sit and catch up for 2 hours over dinner and wine.

This is the only picture I can find of Melissa and I from my baby shower. I hate this picture - why I let people take my picture at 8 months pregnant is beyond me. Lesson learned for baby #2.