Today's Food For Thought...

Dazed and Confused

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/11/29/maliki/index.html

For MAMA SAYS OM:
TIME

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

(Words adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes by Pete Seeger; music by Pete Seeger)



Time is like anything else intangible , one takes it on faith.
We have faith that we have time to fulfill our dreams, our destinies. We schedule and we plan , we make lists and we rush around from one task to another , trying to fit it all in .
Like the keeper's of time we think we are , we assign duties to the calendar - "the baby is due April 7th" but the baby arrives on March 29 - the same time as the solar eclipse. Someone in the Universe has other plans for us. Time marches to a different drummer, too.
We count the minutes and watch the hours pass on the clock like rain, never having enough time in one day to do all of the things that we said that we would. Time waits for no one.
Especially a mother. Before we know it our babies will be grown and they will leave us. Another eclipse of the sun will take place and it will grow dark. Our minutes, hours and days will be counted and we will fall short. We must take the time now to enjoy the sands left in the hourglass. We are blessed , in this moment.

More excitement for today...

I ripped out the shoulder pads from a silk shirt i have had since the eighties ( i am NOT throwing it out - the print is STILL beautiful and it FITS!!!) and gave them to Bug to play with because they smell like me and are covered in silk and are soft to teethe on. Nooni promptly grabbed one of them and proceeded to bash it into the ground like she does with all of her favorite toys , especially her stuffed kitty. She likes to share toys with the baby.
What , you say ? New characters ? No , here is where i confess my OCD- like habit of naming all of my loved ones ( especially pets ) several dozen equally affectionate and ridiculous nicknames. Where they come from - i don't know. Some make a strange kind of sense , others , well , not so much.
ok - here is the list. You asked for it.

Cholula ( the dog)
Nooni
Noona
Mooni
Moonis
Amunis
Amanoonis
Noomis
Missy Noomis
Missy Nooni
Nicey Noomi
Micey Mooni
Lula
Luli
Luli Q

Colin ( the baby )
Bug
Buggy
Buggles
Mr. Buggles
Collie
Collikins
Collie Collie Cupcake
Squidims
Monkey
Darling Ducky
Ducky
Dee Dee
Double D
Pudgles
Chubbles
Dibbles

This is a partial list and does not even include the various names my husband and partner in crime W. has for both of them. Staschi Pitaschi for the dog , for example.Yes, we are a house full of lunatics .
Just follow the moon , i say.

Colin and Cholula had their first real interactive play session yesterday. They have been close since the day we brought them home together ( Colin from the hospital and Cholula from the Vet's where she had gone in for her spay surgery -on the very day that my water broke ! ) Cholula just accepted that we were adding another pup to the pack and has been very patient with the baby when he squeezes and grabs at her a little too enthusiastically. In fact , Mr. Grabby Hands has taken to pulling her tail and pinching her soft pink underparts lately and Lula just growls under her breath and licks him until he lets go. I notice she has been keeping her distance when she lies down next to him lately, though. Smart girl.
Yesterday, Colin was on his back holding a string of small tibetan bells and one of his plastic baby spoons making 'music' and laughing delightedly . Lula came loping over with his purple plush bear in her mouth. She dropped it on his chest and he instantly dropped the bells and spoon and grabbed the bear, giggling. He then dropped it next to her and she grabbed it in her jaws and they passed it back & forth this way for a good fifteen minutes. They were playing !
I never have the video camera juiced when i need it . It was so damn cute , i almost lost it . Of course the image will stay burned in my memory with or with out the photographic evidence but it would have been nice to share with my step-children , Duke & Zoe. Next time...

A new wind ushers in Monday for our clan - baby Colin is sleeping soundly as i write this - something he has not done much over the weekend. Directly after Turkey day he resumed the evil teething syndrome he began earlier this month. He has two little gerbil teeth poking through his lower gum and they are not taking any prisoners.

Poor Lambikins - he is normally so goodnatured i almost feel guilty -but he did nothing but fuss and fit yesterday ( karmic retribution ??) leaving me in a sleepless state of exhaustion. I tried everything in my bag of tricks to soothe him , homeopathic teething tablets , teething gel, cold washcloth, fingers, baby tylenol, massage , a warm bath, rocking , cuddling , NURSING,etc. Nothing seemed to work for very long. I even made him a bottle with cold water to chew on ( having long run out of milk ) yet he fussed and fussed until we were both crying.

So i decided a change of scenery might help. Although it was cold out yesterday - it was sunny so i bundled him up , put a sweater on Cholula ( our chihuahua ) and ventured out to the backyard . Our yard is still in a state of flux as we just had it graded and mulched for the winter until planting season in the spring arrives.

We sat down in the piles of mulch and i let Colin get filthy , picking up piles of soily mulch and dropping them into his wee lap. Miraculously he did not try and put fistfuls of mulch into his mouth - his gums probably needed a break, lucky me !
Then we tossed the tennis ball to Lula and watched her run around and fetch like a prisoner out on furlow . She has to unhinge her jaw like a snake to fit the tennis ball in her mouth and she had both of us laughing hysterically . Colin has such a good sense of humor already. He really knows when something is funny . He is easily amused but is equally discerning - he watches awhile to see if it will tickle his funnybone just right. It was nice to see him smile after so many hours of crying and boo-boo duck face. He really is a beautiful boy and when he smiles your heart smiles along with him.

I only finally brought him in because his little mitts were ice-cold and his cheeks were taking on the hue of winter apples. He was so happy it made me sad to interrupt such contentment. Ahh, but that's what mother's are for , right ? Doing the right thing but often the thing that ends the momentary bliss of true freedom. All in a day of learning what it's like to be a human being, i guess. A little joy with a little pain thrown in for good measure. The perfect zen experience.Yeah , that's it.
Perfect zen.