Happy New Year, I guess.

So in my last post when I was all, yay, about 2010 being a pretty good year for our fam but worrying that my premature good feelings about the year would doom me... let's just say I know myself, our life and circumstances that can't be changed a little too well. And that I'm just going to keep my mouth shut in the future. 2010 ended on a lousy note - the raison d'etre for this will reveal itself in future postings.

Lesson learned cosmos.

Today's pic is hot off the press. This is Noel at daycare this AM. Noel has a new obsession - standing. Noel cannot fall asleep anymore because he has to OCD stand. He can have one eye closed and be 90% asleep and he will still attempt to pull himself into a standing position. He perfected standing over our Christmas break in NY. He really gave us a run for our money. Waaayyy too much energy! Or maybe I'm just old and sluggish. But he's definitely in that stage of total troublemaking. No clue what he is doing - that you can't crawl down stairs head first, that kind of way. We had Noel at the doc this week for his 9 month visit, doc was impressed, said he's looking 'awesome.' Clocked in at 25 lbs and 33 inches - this is four lbs and two inches bigger than his bro at the same age. Such a big boy.

Even though both boys had irritating coughs over the holidays and even with the issue that shall not be named, we had a pretty good time I guess. Time away from work and routine is always cherished, though too much time away from routine makes everyone a little zany. One great thing about being in Western NY - no blizzard! How fun to watch the east coast blizzard on TV from the middle of a snowbelt and not have there be even one flake falling. So we didn't get to go sledding or build a snowman, but we did eat at our fave Rochester spots (Schalers, DiBellas and Pontillos) and hit Wegmans a few times. Visited with my mom at the nursing home - we found a small centipede (gross I know) under her bed so that was like 30 minutes of excitement for Paudie. As you can imagine or perhaps know from experience, pre-schoolers aren't wild about spending time in nursing homes. We got a lit of mileage out of the centipede - even talked him up the next day, saying we needed to get back and make sure he didn't find his way out of the trashcan we left him in.

Got back Sunday afternoon. Our car was jam packed. It was absurd. There are still toys and things all over the house. We have to get the tree down too. So depressing to un-decorate. So yes this weekend will be about trying to take control back. Blerg.

One more cute kid thing to share. Paudie has a new thing - it's called, "right Mom?" He makes a statement and it ends with 'right mom?" A statement that is true. One that is clearly false. One that makes no sense at all. Doesn't matter, he defers to me. Makes me feel all-knowing and wise. He has also developed an obsession with "How It's Made" on the Science channel. Doesn't matter what is being made, he will watch it. It is like some huge treat for him to be able to watch it. He barely watched any cartoons or kiddie TV in NY, was all about How It's Made and Factory Made - let's face it, they really are the same shows.