Passed in a blur

This morning Noah head-butted me and gave me a bloody lip. How is THAT to start a morning? He had no violent intention that I know of – he merely bobbed his head too close to my mouth. Or I guess I had my head too close to his bobbing head.

Busy weekend. Friday Elisha, Noah and I made our way downtown for Indian buffet, a nice walk and some shopping at one of my favorite stores - Ten Thousand Villages. Friday night we did indeed drink wine and margaritas while Mark kicked our butts in both Boggle and Yahtzee. Saturday morning Noah, Elisha and I shuffled off to Qtown to Dad and Oma’s place. We had a lovely lunch at Fridays, a brief shopping excursion at the Dollar Store and then a break for a Noah nap. (Let me just say that in my opinion one of the last things one should buy at the Dollar Store is a pregnancy test, and yet I saw them right by the register. My guess is the test box includes a mirror and tells you to wait six – nine months for accurate indicators.)

Once Noah was refreshed we decided to go bowling. I was a bit concerned that the general nosiness of the bowling alley might be a bit much for our delicate Master Noah – but he had a lovely time. Much of that can be attributed to the bag of cheese curls I purchased from the vending machine. By the time Dad massacred us on all three frames Noah was covered from head to toe in a pasty coating of cheese dust and spit. But the cleanup was worth every second of contentment they bought him while I bowled badly. Dad made spaghetti for dinner and then Jim, Ofelia and the twins dropped by. James and Julius were already testing out their Halloween costumes, so we were mighty confused when we were greeted by not one, but TWO Batmen. For the first time Noah really played with the twins like a little boy and not like a baby. It was adorable. And then it was time for Noah and I to hit the road and return to our fair city and our fairer Pater Familius.

Though absolutely exhausted by the business of the day Noah had trouble falling asleep in the car. In fact he was crying his head off and rubbing his face feverishly. I had to pull over on the shoulder of the turnpike, get in the back seat with him, hoist him from the car seat and soothe him to sleep before I could finish the drive home. And even though I was safely pulled over on the shoulder, the sights and sounds of cars whizzing by at 80 miles an hour terrify me. I was extremely relieved when he finally nodded off and we could get back on the road.

Yesterday Mark, Noah and I spent the day with my Mom’s family at my cousin Tammy’s son Evan’s first birthday party. More family time, more kids, more playtime. It was a really nice afternoon. Mom, Mark, Noah and I went to the local Applebees for an hour afterward so that we could reach Noah’s bedtime and be assured a sleeping passenger on the way home. I feel like I’m always killing time to accommodate this boy’s sleep schedule – but luckily we had a nice time doing so.

Elisha is at my Oma’s place today so there are no big plans but lunch with Susan and Francesca in the park. Tomorrow Elisha and Dad come into town for a Philly adventure. Possibly the aquarium. And then Elisha leaves on Wednesday morning. I’ll be very sad to see her go. Very sad indeed. There are very few people in this world that you can feel completely comfortable with, at home with – and Elisha is one of those people for me. She’s fun, sweet and at only 21 years old she is in many ways wise beyond her years. I was hurt we haven’t seen her sooner because I love her so very much and because I want her to be a very big part of Noah’s life. I do however understand that she has her own life and it’s not easy to get away so I really appreciate her coming to visit and will try and cut her a little slack in the future. A little Elisha is a million times better than no Elisha at all.