Lately my life has been a whole lot about missing. But before I get
into that, would you look at this face? At the end of the day, it's
all about this dear face.

I'm missing my mom. It's beyond the loneliest missing I could have
ever conceived. Every day when I wake up I feel like I'm hit in the
face with my grief and at night I'm smothered by it.

I'm missing my life at home with Ira. I miss the park trips, the
playdates, the moments when I got to witness so many firsts. The times
I could be there to pick him up from a fall. Now I'm just missing him
all day.

I'm missing how I used to get it all done. The chores, errands, the
home cooked meals, the bread!! The other night I was cooking until
11:30 pm and still woke up at 4:30 am to work out.

Woe is me. Serously! I am woe, embodied. If you came here for laughs,
try me later because my sense of humor seems to be missing, too.

Escalating series of events: a caveat

In the beginning, there were cats. And they were good. We adored the cats. We lived to please them. We missed them while we went out of town and even called the house so that they could hear our voices on the answering machine.

Then there was the dog. We really fell for the dog. Like the kind of LOVE where hearts shoot out of your eyes. And we could take the dog with us and the dog liked it. And we thought, "this dog is cool, but we can't take her everywhere."

Can you see where this is going?

Then came the kid. We can take him almost everywhere, including places where dogs aren't allowed. We LOVE the kid. And this is the kind of love that keeps us up at night wondering if we're doing right by him. It's the heavy, serious kind of love that we can't live without.

My advice: maybe don't get a cat. You never know where that decision will lead you.

Eat a sandwich!

This kid lives on crackers and air. I don't even understand it. There are SO many things he won't eat. My tiny half-breed won't even touch beans! It breaks my heart.

Last night we found a way to get him to eat a little broccoli and tofu. The secret is to play off his interest in video games like Mario Kart Wii and other racing games where the player can issue a special attack at their opponents. I assigned a surprise attack to each bite of broccoli or tofu, which I revealed to Ira after he bit it. We came up with so many: lightning bolts, super sticky maple syrup, slippery feet, bumble bees, etc. Ira then used these imaginary attacks on dad, who was a great sport to play along and pretend he was being chased by bees or reacting to a taser (don't tase me bro!).

While we won't have the energy to do this every night, it was so relieving to see Ira actually eat a proper serving of food. Phew!

Not Looking Good

The Not Hot Police won't let Leon get a certain pair of "licensed character" pajamas from Target. The deputy Not Hot Policeman has also frowned upon this combo: Snuggle Plus! (Snuggie knockoff) + microfiber robe. However, it is a warm, cozy concoction and when combined with a glass of wine, becomes X-treeemley intoxicating. I could basically hibernate for the next 10 hours in this. "Look in the mirror and see if you see hot," he says. I most certainly do not see hot, but I do see SNUG.