The Mommy Machine

I'm totally in love with my new car. It is, in fact, not even a car, it is a VAN. I never really pictured myself as the minivan person, in fact I was sold in buying an SUV...this is until I saw Lucille. She is by far the most fabulous piece of engineering I have ever had the pleasure to spill coffee on. There are storage bins everywhere, plugs for Nintendos, a DVD player with wireless headphones (do I need to say it again....WIRELESS HEADPHONES!!), LATCH hook-ups galore and the backs of the seats are footprint friendly wipe-off-able plastic.

The biggest difference is how I feel driving the thing around. I feel like a serious mommy. No more pretending that I'm some hip single gal in my little sedan. No way...I'm driving a minivan. Look out!! I finally feel like I belong when I pull into the giant spaces at Target or expertly open my automatic sliding doors to unload kids in front of the elementary school.

Once upon a time I was the kind of woman who could confidently mix up complicated chemical solutions, clone organisms hell bent on killing me and statistically analyze mountains of data. I'm pretty sure that I could still do all of those things, but I really don't want to anymore. I have aquired a whole new set of skills. Mommy skills, like continuing to grocery shop as a 2 year old screams from the cart because he wants cookies NOW. I have learned how to successfully navigate the intricate social hierarchy of the elementary school pick-up lobby. I can dose a screaming toddler with 5 ml of Amoxicillin with my eyes closed. My diplomatic skills have been honed to a razor edge by tough negotiations involving the consumption of such things as cauliflower and pesto. I have changed diapers that would make war-hardened Marines weep.

That's right people....Look out! I'm a mommy of three boys. Nothing you do can scare me. I even have the vehicle to prove it.

Solid

This weekend Boy3 had his first tastes of solid food. Well, not really solid, more pureed, but you get my drift.

This is, for me, a bittersweet milestone. Up until this point in his little life #3 has been breastfed. Meaning that I have produced every ounce of food that he has consumed. Some portion of every cell in his little body initially passed through me. This is until Friday evening. He received nourishment that I didn't provide for him. Of course, I bought the food, heated it up, mixed it with juice, fed it to him....I'm still intimately involved in the process, but it's just not quite the same. This is the first little step toward him growing up, and I'm not ready.

Boy3 is, most likely, my last baby. With the first I anticipated every milestone. I eagerly anticipated eating solid food, walking, talking and going to school. With Boy2 I watched with great pride as he moved from baby to toddler and now to preschooler. With Boy3, I would be perfectly content to keep him at four and a half months forever. I would happily endure years of sleepless nights and days when I couldn't put him down even long enough to go to the bathroom just to keep the sweet, cuddly little baby I am currently blessed with.

The time when they will fall asleep in you arms and cuddle with you for hours on end are so fleeting. Today it is solid food, tomorrow it will be walking and then running. I feel like I didn't properly enjoy the babyhood of the first two, so for now, I will sign off...I have some cuddling to do.