Firsts

I know that somewhere in the world, there are one year old babies that sleep through the night. I know there are. None of them live in my house. I'm just saying.

It's been hard, especially with the knowledge that I am returning to full-time work come November. I had really hoped that Imri would settle out but no dice. Top that off with tremendous teething - my poor boy had 4 teeth come in at once and still more spawning - and that other enormous milestone ... first steps!!!! I'm sure those of you who are seasoned moms are nodding at the realization of how little sleep I am actually getting these days.

I wish I had a pic or two of the momentous event to show you, but it was unexpected and is sporadic. Imri is still a fervent advocate of the full-tilt crawl, preferably in the opposite direction of where I am headed. We went to the Targez yesterday and he insisted on crawling down the aisles. Yeah. I was oblivious ignored the dirty looks of soon-to-be mamas and the transparency of their "I would never let my child do that" thoughts and the dirty looks of wanna-be-drive-by mamas. Maybe having John with me helped keep that to a minimum. Which makes me wonder why when a baby is crawling next to his daddy in a busy store said daddy and baby get indulgent smiles but when the same scenario occurs with the mommy, all she gets are dirty looks?

That other momentous event, Imri's first birthday came and went with much fanfare and happiness. As you can see, John survived my wrath after returning home from golfing at 14:45 when Imri's party was supposed to start at 15:00. Yeah. My best friend S, the sister of my heart, came charging to the rescue with much help and calming vibes because I was jumping out of my skin by the time she arrived. It's just so darned difficult to run errands with a baby, especially when said baby hardly slept the night before.

But it was a great time and Imri sort of clued in that things were for him when we came to the gift-opening. At least I think he did - he seemed to understand that these were toys and books for him and he got excited - it was pretty cool, actually.

He loved the cake - I honestly can't say enough about C0stc0 cakes - but by then it was pretty loud - lots of people with lots of kids, all hepped up on sugar - the urge for me to yell "everyone ... SHUT UP!!!" was great but I kept it together. Mostly. S may have issue with my togetherness in general.





The other sweet thing about the party is that Imri's gramma came. John's mom has very poor health and it means a great deal to us that she made the trip - and Imri settled comfortably in her lap as she read to him.



In fact, so much so that he fell asleep in her arms, much to her delight - and mine, because I actually got to eat a meal without a small person screeching for me to share. Imri's become quite the chow-hound, boys and girls.

He is fascinated with cars, trucks, trains, cats and books, in no particular order. Therefore it was only fitting that we got him a car - and he is utterly delighted by it. Not only is it red, it has a "convertible" top and a push bar, so we can take him in it through the neighbourhood. It rocks and he loves it!





I also took him for his first "professional" pics in honour of his first birthday and they did a decent job. I didn't realize that they weren't digital until afterwards or I would have probably gone elsewhere. Not to mention the snarky attitude of the "photographer" and I use that term lightly. But I will share because a couple of them are quite good, a testament to Imri's extreme cuteness and not the "photog", and because the picture folk (a national chain) haven't realized that you can indeed right click and save if you use Firefox.





They actually asked my permission to put the Halloween one in the book they use to ensnare ...er... entice hapless other parents. I agreed, of course. I'm a sucker for showing off my boy.

We are also going up to Toronto for my cousin's batmitzvah. I convinced John to fly this time as we got excellent fares via S0uthworst and we will once again be renting a vehicle. This time, however, we are bringing our own car seat and not renting from Budget, the car shmucks. Even though I did receive yet another letter, this time from the office of the president of Budget, apologizing once again and promising to change their website. And I just surfed on over and ... they did!!!! Holy crap. I quote ...

"Due to liability issues, Budget personnel are not permitted to install child safety seats into vehicles for customers. However, upon request, Budget will provide an instruction sheet or booklet on the proper installation of the child safety seat. Other questions regarding installation should be addressed directly with the rental location."

Wow.
The power of an angry mother in action, come to fruition. I am utterly blown away. Who knew?

Anyway, we still won't be renting from them.

I had so much to say here, most of it erudite and profound, but it has all escaped my small and fatigued brain. Not to mention how my beloved John finds it very necessary to read me each and every article that he finds interesting online and on paper while I am trying to write/read/do anything that gives me five minutes to myself on the computer. I love the man, he just doesn't understand that I honestly don't give a rat's ass about some picture of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. I just don't. May the golf gods strike me down. Nor am I interested in hearing about anything that GWB has to say anymore. It's just too darned depressing for words.

Instead, I will leave you with a nice autumn pic of my sweet boy. Consider yourselves lucky.