It's official, my babies sickness has a name and it's ugly! It's called Croup….all of the Mom's of 1 or more children have just laughed a little to themselves.

So maybe it's not serious, but it is HORRIBLE. This morning my little ray of sunshine was all cloudy skys. Crying, coughing, scared. She sat in the bathroom in a steam treatment with her Dad for 15 minutes. I was so nervous that I gave in and let her watch "Nemo" on the portable DVD player Pop-Pop sent to her, and then I went downstairs and cleaned the house from top to bottom.

Some people drink or smoke, I clean. I clean until the intoxicating smells of ammonia and windex take over. Then I Youtube. That's right I find jewels and shared interest with the geeks of the world which is where I found this Will I Am video.

Sunny laughed a little, coughed a little, Skped with her Grandparents and went back to sleep.

In the meantime I called the emergency number for our Pediatrician and told them our sob story. I don't know how they stay so calm or why…sometimes I think it would be better if they said "Yes! This is terrible! She does sound horrible! Thank you for putting the phone up to her mouth for 5 minutes at a time! Rush her into the office we will see her right away!"

But instead they go, oh, okay, come in at 10. So, we're going in at 10. Me, Sunny, and The Croup. I'm gonna kick The Croup's Ass! LEAVE MY BABY ALONE CROUP! GRRRRRRRRR.

Sunny is sick. This is the very first time Sunny has ever been sick. She has a little cold and it's the most pathetic little cough you've ever heard. I'm a bit sick too, but since no one cares and I'm an adult I won't bore you with the details.

I spent most of last night cursing myself for stopping breast feeding back at 7.5 months. She was never sick when she was nursing.  In fact I pumped so much milk in those early days that Sunny still has some frozen…is it weird to feed that frozen milk to her today?

My poor Sunshine is not as Sunny as usual, but damn it if this girl isn't a pagent child! Everytime I point the camera in her direction she smiles.

That's the spirit my angel, the show must go on!

Yesterday was my 30th Birthday, hooray for me.

I told Matt that I didn't want to do anything for my birthday, that I would be very happy to go to the Zoo with him and Sunny and that would be that. Matt had other ideas.

For my birthday Matt & Sunny got me a brand new WORKING camera! It is beautiful, it takes beautiful photos, and I am so happy to have it. My brother and JC gifted me 3 amazing pairs of heels (yes girls be jealous) and my parents sent some boots I'd been eyeing and a new robe!

We headed off to the zoo and saw some awesome little animals. Sunny loved the ducks, the tiger, and the lions.

 
 
Upon our arrival Matt started acting a little…weird. That's when Nora, Al, and Aidan showed up! Then a few moments later Mother Dear and Goose came by! You would have thought I had won the lottery. I was so surprised and so excited to see them!

My friends have very big jobs and very active babies. The fact that they gave up their Sunday to spend my birthday with me at the Bronx Zoo makes me feel like I won the lottery. I have been able to watch their children grow up, and how many people get to say that? Goose is talking up a storm shouting out to the animals and occasionally sharing her cotton candy with them, and Aidan is walking! He's a great walker and he wins the award for best smile of all time! 

(Side note Nora (brown hair on the left) is pregnant! Seriously! That's what she looks like pregnant!!! Life just isn't always fair…side note #2 Jess and I aren't pregant)

And Aidan held Sunny's hand. How I love that little man!

After the zoo, we ventured to Joe's Shanghai in midtown for dinner. SO YUMMY! Here's Sunny in their lobby

And once we got home Chris and JC came over with an ice cream cake and 31 candles! (I promise you it looked like the house was on fire once all those candles were lit.)

Over the weekend Chris and JC adopted Cubby the dog. He's so sweet and cute and kind. My Sunshine Girl screams Dah-hee and squeals every time she sees him. She has tried to grab his tail and nose about 100 different times and he is a good sport about it.

This was the best birthday of my life. I think when you are happy with where you are in life, and the people you love in life then turning a year older seems more like a gift and less like a loss. I am so grateful for my life, my friends, my family, my Matthew, and my Sunny. They color my world in bright hues and keep me rich in love. How blessed I am to have each of them, my heart is so full.

Has anyone seen this McDonald's commercial. Everytime I see it I smile, and tear up. There is just something about a newborn that makes my heart melt.

I  remember when Sunny was born and my Dad came in town. Somewhere between no sleep and being obsessed with my new baby, he brought us Mc Donalds for lunch. I have never forgotten that moment, and doubt I ever will.

Here is my day with my 9 month old.

Sunny put that down.

Don't touch that.

Stop touching that.

If you touch that again Mommy is going to take it away.

Why don't you play with this instead.

Sunny, stop eating the cords.

Don't.

Stop.

Freeze.

Where are you going?

Where are you?

Guess what? Auntie Julie had baby Georgia last night. Isn't that great? Where are you going?

I'm coming.

I'll be right there.

Don't cry.

What are you doing?

That's Mommies special book please stop eating it.

Is that a shoe? Are you eatting my shoe?

Oh my God that's so gross.

Did you do this? Who did this Sunny?

Open. Close. Yes. You're getting it.

Go. No, we're going to go.

Okay fine, play.

Play. Play. Play.

No, you don't want anymore?

Show Mommy "All done". All done. All done. All done.

Yeah you did it!!! All Done!

Bye bye.

Say hi. Hi. Hi.Hello.

Yes, she's mine. Nope, just have this one.

Thank you. Thanks.

Stop.

Freeze.

You can rip the magazine, you can not rip Mommies special books.

Hello? Jess, why does she say Nah-Nah to me, but not Ma-Ma. Do you think that's ok?

Can I call you back, I'll call you back.

TAKE THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH YOU ARE NOT A GOAT!

Okay! Gracei go night night. Night night. Night Night.

Hello? yeah, I gotta call you back she's up.

Do you think you're hair is long enough for a pony tail today?

Where is your bow? Where did you put your bow?

Yeah she totally does that too. I know. I know. Oh my God I don't know.

Wait is that bad?

Put that down baby.

Do you see the doggie? Doggie. Doggie. Yes, doggie.

Read book. Book. Book. Ahhh the book. Don't touch that.

It's time for Oprah, this is Mommies special time, no eating the Ikea catalogue while Oprah is on, ok?

GRACEN. NO. EATING. PLANTS.

I love you. I love you. I love you sooooooooooo much.

My baby loves dirt. This is so not my kid! She can now pull up on things and has decided that my planter is her favorite thing on earth to climb up on. I can not move any more furniture. We have already banished our coffee table to the basement. We moved the couch, the chair, the side table, and my living room rug is now draped in an over sized quilt so that Sunny can have the entire floor space.

I wish y'all could see how Sunny gets her whole hand in the pot and then sucks the dirty water right off of her hand. I tell her NO! No Sunny! and then she turns waves at me and claps her hands. If she weren't so proud of herself I would swat that little hand, but she knows she's got me. I'm the Mama, I'm the adult, Mommy says NO!

We happen to have a good amount of space, but we live in New York and Sunny doesn't seem to get that this means that we can not get any more space then we currently have! Oh Sunshine PLEASE STOP EATING THE PLANT AND SUCKING ON CABLE CORDS!

That's right, you read that correctly. This weekend Sunny had piggy tails for about 10 minutes. It was just enough time for me to take 12 photos of our hair progress.

 
Last week we got Sunny's toddler seat for her Orbit Stroller. I ADORE Sunny's stroller and fully recommend it to anyone who is having a baby and looking for a stroller system. Sunny likes to lounge in her stroller, eat from it's snack tray, and now demands to sit up right or lat down depending on the time of day.

In other news my girlfriend Nora's birthday party was on Saturday. This afforded Matt and I an excuse to get out ad leave Sunny with a sitter.

Nora had a lovely party and now that she and her sister are both pregnant at the same time I had a blast comparing bellies ( mind you they both look like models!) and talking babies. I can't wait for the new baby to come,  I will be at the hospital as soon as Nora gives me the okay and I will attempt to steal the new baby as mine seems to have grown up and is trying to walk…away from me.  I'm so amazed at the process of having a child. I realize that I too was once pregnant and absolutely HATED it, but somehow watching Nora carry the new baby makes me all sentimental and goo goo eyed.

This morning Sunny and I ventured out with our play group to the local play ground.  All the Mama's were discussing how it's Friday and by the end of the week with 9 and 10 month olds  we are SOOOOOOO excited for the weekend.

I remember in my prior life how Friday night seemed like the start of something amazing, and now it resembles a vacation of sorts…in fact I might be more excited for Friday night now then I ever was then. On the schedule, cleaning out the office, the farmers market, and Da-Da's soccer game. I know, I know try not to be jealous!

This morning we received word that my cousin's Grandmother died, RIP Irene. It got me thinking how quickly time flies and how precious life is. Everyday a few great things happen in this home, Sunny and I dance and cook dinner, Matt comes home, and we wake up in the morning. I am so grateful for those things, for this day, and the million others after it.  Everyday is not perfect, today for instance we danced to Lil' Wayne and I felt like a bad Mom when I started counting how many times he said the F word. But then she threw her hands in the air and shook her little diapered bottom and I told her, Sunny no matter what anyone says this is a form of art and expression. I'm  pretty sure I'm full of it and am trying to justify my actions, but she doesn't know that just yet.  All she knows is that we dance together everyday and I hope long after I'm gone that's what she remembers.

We're sending our hugs, kisses, and thoughts to the Goldston Family. What a beautiful life and family  Miss Irene acheived.

Well my blog friends you'll be happy to know that Sunny made her Mama SOOOO proud today. She waved, she clapped, she threw her arms in the air, she crawled, she tried to stand up, but most importantly SHE PLAYED!

Thank you everyone for your silent prayers and thoughts! I don't have any pics, but the kids got to shoot a little promo for our friends web/tv show. When that comes out I'll put a link up so you can see our Sunny in action!

Sunny and I are heading out this morning for our weekly play date with our play group, affectionately entitled "The Mommy Mafia."

We're meeting a new friend today and I do hope that Sunny is kind to our new friend. I called Mother Dear two weeks ago with concerns that my Sunshine girl gets left out. It's not that she's not wonderful in every way, because as you all know, she's an amazing girl. But the other babies crawl and climb and cruise and my Sunny is not about movement. The other babies stare at a toy for about 3 seconds, and my Sunny will pick it up, study it, and work with that one toy for 30 minutes. So while the other babies have "moved on" my Sunny has not moved on with them.

I think this might be where mothers and daughters have a hard time. I of course want Sunny to be outgoing and athletic and most importantly a genius. But I have to  make peace with the fact that Sunny might just be more like me than I ever imagined. She is particular, a perfectionist ( which is SOOOO not me), happy to be alone, friendly but not fake, easy going but has her lines. She is comfortable in her own skin, non competitive, and prefers 2 year olds to 9 month olds. I'm working on accepting these traits now, rather than pushing her to climb, run, jump, and move, with the other children. There is apart of me that has decided that her "Sunnyness" is really a sign of her intelligence. While the other babies love the fast monkeys my girl prefers the slow, barely moving fish…so she can stare at them, study them, imitate them. I can't lie it does feel good when Sunny waves, tells me "all done", claps, and smiles on cue. While all the children will get where there going at some point, I kind of love that she's able to do those things just a touch earlier…forgive me but when your baby was the last to crawl you take comfort in their intelligence

We'll have a full report this afternoon.