Too fast...

I think mothers everywhere agree that baby-hood is not here to stay.

At 5 months of age, my baby* grew two teeth, coos, laughs out loud at my jokes, greats everyone he meets with a smile and a giggle, roll into his stomach and back again, and sits up. I am not sure which one I should be more impressed with.

The teeth kind of scares me when I am breastfeeding him. He doesn't bite that often, but does it enough for me to pay attention to those pauses he does when he's eating. Then again, he might just be sharpening his teeth on the only thing available to him. My nipples. Don't get me wrong. We're proud of his sharp teeth. So proud we show it to everyone who look slightly interested in our baby. At one time or another, we have delivered a version of the following:

"This is our last baby. Look at those teeth! He's growing so big!"

He's got the cutest laugh I have heard. Then again, my 7-yr-old son, the Pianist/stuntman, is hard to beat in that department. I regret now that I was not so deligent in recording his baby laughs. I could have posted it and we could vote which one has the cutest laugh. Of course we won't tell them who won. Childhood is hard enough without your parents going batty and comparing you!

But then again, being the last baby, we noticed everything about him. The first time I saw him sitting up, I squealed in delight. I startled him so bad, he fell right on his face. My excitement had caused him to howl his head off. I forgot to only gasp in silence and praise him only when he's got a firm grip of his stance.

All my kids seem to want to walk early. You'll see them toddling around by age 8-9 months. No hands, as they say. I don't exactly remember their age when they sat up. My memories aren't that sharp. If I could go back in time, I'd record all their accomplisments in a notebook so I can flip back and regale my kids of what they did at what age. I noticed that my older kids cannot get enough of hearing about their stories of when they were babies. They'll say "...and then what Mommy..." with that happy expectant look on their faces.

This baby is still exclusively breastfeed. I would like to be able to do this longer, but I can see the writing on the wall. He's getting so attracted to food, he'll grab plates and glasses from any unsuspecting diner. So far, he'd managed to swiped down three plates, and two glasses of water to the floor. I am starting to feel just a little guilty about not introducing him to solid food. It doesn't help that I don't have much confidence that these boobs of mine would keep producing enough milk.

How time flies. I can see how hard this baby tries to make himself move. He practices every chance he gets.

*otherwise known as "The Emperor"

LOVE THURSDAY #4

This just makes my heart all warm and cuddly! These are my darling sons #1 and #3.

I am SAHM, SAHM I am.

Proud to be Stay-at-Home-Mom...rambling about it, and I am not sure where my points are.

I don't like hearing,

"So you don't have a job?"
"You're just a stay at home Mom."
"You must not have anything to do all day!" or
"It would drive me crazy to have nothing to do!"

WTF! I don't care most of the time, but other times, it gets me. It's just like having sand in your shoes. It takes a certain amount of it to really start to bother.

I admit I haven't heard many of those lately. I do get dirty looks from time to time when I go out with all 5 of my children. I am not sure how to interpret those looks. On bad days, I take it that it might be jealousy...other times, I have to ignore, I might just be tempted to wipe the smirk of the face holding the expression. Apparently, physical assault is a big no-no here in the states. Lots of lawyers around you know.

My children are well-behaved. They might horse-play a lot at home, just like puppies, but I've been really fortunate that they'd "heel" in public. I get compliments about how well-behaved they are. It just warms this heart of mine.

The biggest challenge of mothering for me is coming up with a variety of food to feed my kids daily. Between McDonalds, Chipotle, Wendys, Boston Market, and other places that make food for us, I have to come up with a healthy dish which they will eat. I know that's an impressive list of fast-foods. I don't use them all that much, only in emergencies. Except that it seems to be emergencies for the last week or so!

Meal planning for me is the hardest part of being a mother for me. I have to make a meatless dish, another one for my very allergic child besides meatballs that is, and then another dish for everyone else. It doesn't seem that hard reading that sentence now. However, standing in the kitchen and doing is a different thing. I have tried making a stew for everyone, but then there's always one person who'll go hungry because the dish didn't match their taste.

I can cook and bake just about anything. That said, some days, I don't want to lift a finger at all. It might be because the baby's cries are triggered with the switching on of the stove.

I am always amazed at mothers who seem to fix dinners effortlessly. Like Bree of Desperate Housewives for example. I'd love to be Bree in the kitchen. No, I don't want her life, just the part about whipping up meals everyday, all the time. I can't even take refuge in pasta. I heard pasta is the easiest dish to whip up. My kids haven't learned that they're supposed to love pasta.

Everything else about being SAHM I love. I like that I could just sit down anytime I want to and put my feet up and read a book... Oy. Wrong chapter.

I love being around my kids a lot. Sometimes, I am not as "around" as I'd like to be when time demands my attention to business. If I work at home, does that still make a SAHM? Or does that make me like any other Mom in the workforce, except that my office is at home, and I never get peace any stretch of time.

How does one define SAHM anyway? If I am putting in at least 30 hours doing business, does that make me a "worker" Mom even if I hadn't step outside my house in days? Or if I work in my pajamas, will I still be called SAHM?

What's in a label anyway? We shouldn't be labeled anything but a human, a mother, a wife. But if we don't use our "pronouns," how are we going to tell which from whom? This post is not about the label. It's all about me just being a tad overwhelmed because I had to work right through homework and dinner time today because of poor planning. I had to work with baby attached to my breast as work cannot wait. I have become excellent at multi-tasking. I am ambidextrous by necessity.

I admit that I have a different picture of SAHM before I was a mother. I've arrived. I am SAHM. I find myself wanting to say, yes, I choose to stay at home with my kids. But I have degree in Biochemistry. I managed a business. I am smart, intelligent, and sexy, too. It's just because saying I am SAHM makes somehow pegs me as dowdy.