frazzled? you bet!

Well, I was right the other night! Teething was certainly the cause for the lack of sleep! I was over at a friend's house the next day, chatting with her while Plava and her baby boy were lying on the carpet. As we chatted, I was feeling Plava's gums, and that's when I noticed a hard knob on her lower right side! I looked, and sure enough, I could see the beginnings of a tooth coming through! HALLELUJAH!!! I was so excited. I have to say, I never really anticipated being all that excited about something like my baby's tooth coming in, but I was ecstatic!! I positively squealed with glee!! So exciting!

I've been trying to picture what she'll look like with a tooth protruding into her huge gummy smile. For a teething baby, she's much happier than I thought she'd be. (at least during the day) She seems to have entered a new phase in her personality. I call it "glee". I went to the supermarket today to quickly pick something up and rather than lugging her carseat carrier with me, I just carried her. I wondered what would have been easier in the end, because the minute she's out in public with all the things to look at, she starts giggling and squealing and laughing as we walk along. This is great, and would be no trouble if it weren't for the fact that when she giggles, her whole body convulses and she nearly tumbles out of my arms. So you can imagine me walking along, laughing at this gleeful baby in my arms, while trying to hold her from falling with one arm, wallet in another, and bag of recently bought wares in another. (Wait, does that make it sound like I have 3 arms....? Well maybe I do, smarty pants.)

A moment like that makes me think of being a younger woman, noticing the cargo that moms carry around. Not only children, but diaper bags, fat purses, toys, strollers and whatever else it is that we moms lug around to make us feel like we're not going to need anything during a given outing. I used to think that I wouldn't be like that when I was a mom. I would be cool, chic, without a ruffle in my outfit, not a hint of wear and tear, nor any dried puke on my shoulder. I also remember watching other moms scarf their food as fast as they could before their babies realized that they were bored of sitting still and started to cry. Again, I was sure I wouldn't be a speed eating mom. I didn't quite know how, but I'm sure it had to do with how patient I would teach my baby to be, or something like that...

Then there was today. I went for a walk with Plava. It was a good one, and I worked up too good a sweat to stay in that shirt once I got home. But did I change? Nope. In fact, not only did I keep it on, but I went out to that very store with it on. At the till, I kept smelling a teensy bit of somethin' special, and kept peering around to see if the people around me looked like "smellies". Sigh...


And then my lunch. I did plan on having something delicious and eating it slowly at the table, Plava having already eaten, but once she ate, she was cranky and sleepy. I quickly threw some cheese and tomato on a piece of bread, broiled it for a couple seconds, and popped it in as fast as I could. Again, sigh.....

Oh well. It's not so bad being a little raggedy, puked on, drool-soaked, and frizzy-haired. It's definitely worth the job I'm doing! I love being a mom! And I look forward to having 10 more little ones to make me that much more frazzled. You may not recognize me as the woman I once was, but I'll still be me, and I'll still be happy to be a momma!!!