Habits and Obsessions

Cole's bad habits: biting his fingernails and when they're all gone, shoving his toes in his mouth and biting his dirty toe nails. Problem with this is when I tell him that it's gross, he thinks it's the funniest thing ever and wants to keep doing it. He also still drinks his bath water. When he's "brushing his teeth" at the sink he sticks his head under the faucet and drinks the water. The tooth brush stays in his mouth long enough for him to eat the toothpaste unless I force the issue and try to actually brush the teeth using, I don't know, the bristles?!

Mama's bad habits: Constantly checking Instagram and Facebook. My iPhone. Tensing my wrist when I'm driving. Leaving a glass of water near my iPhone and then walking away (if you have cats who think it's a sin to drink from their own water bowl you know why this is a problem). Buying unhealthy snacks on my way home from work because I'm starving. But I'm not starving. I'm just growing a baby and am very, very hungry all.the.time. Leaving my shoes in the middle of a room. Leaving my bowl of finished cereal on the counter instead of washing it or putting it in the dishwasher. I'm sure Dada can list more.

Dada's bad habits: Leaving beer bottle caps on the kitchen counter. Leaving empty beer bottles on the edge of the kitchen counter. Leaving the toilet seat up. Leaving his toothbrush in a puddle of water on the sink.

Cole's obsessions: ice pops. Mind you all of the ice pops he eats are healthy. I make smoothies with fresh veggies from the farm and I add in whatever fruit I have plus a little juice. He drinks some of the smoothie and then I freeze the rest in the various assortment of ice pops that we own. But he still wants these things morning, noon, and night and that can get annoying, especially when there's other food to be eaten. On the other hand, if he's getting fruits and veggies from these things, who am I to complain?
(The problem with the ice pops is that Cole likes to watch tv when he eats an ice pop. I can easily see how children become obese with the prevalence of television. A lot of mindless eating goes on. Luckily I've started to read him a book while he eats his ice pop and I've also encouraged him to play on his own while eating an ice pop.)

Mama's obsessions: Baby carriers. Last weekend, my friend texted me that Ergos were on sale on Baby Steals. I could have said to myself: "Mama you already have a Boba 3G and a Beco Gemini AND a Zolowear ring sling AND a Wrapsody gauze wrap AND a friend of yours is lending you her Maya sling once Baby #2 arrives. So do you really NEED this Ergo?" In the words of Cole: "I neeeeeeeeeeeed the Organic Desert Bloom Ergo Carrier with a front pouch for just $85. Yes, I really, really neeeeeeeeed it."

Dada's obsessions: home improvement projects. One thing leads to another and to another and to yet another. Don't get me wrong, this is and will always be a great thing, but major home improvement projects need to be staggered throughout the course of a year, especially with a child in the home, and a full time working mommy who brings her work home every weekend. He's been talking about sheet rocking the garage for years and with a baby on the way this was a natural project for him to embark on. As a result, the garage looks amazing. It's like an added room. And now we'll be able to play in there in the winter. The problem occurred as he was finishing the garage - he wanted to paint the living and dining room after painting the garage. That's when I drew the line. Our living and dining area is jam packed with stuff.  It would take a lot longer than 2 days because we'd need to move everything somewhere else (not even sure where) and then Cole would lose his primary play space. And I would probably lose my mind. That kind of project is much better suited for the summer, when we can head outside, and I don't have to worry about doing schoolwork.

My obsession on Dada.
 Plus, an honest-to-goodness smile.

Cole helping fill the ice pop molds

One set of the ice pop molds all filled

Happy boy after eating his smoothie