Well Thanksgiving is over.  Can you believe that I didn’t take a single fucking picture all day?  I know, I was cooking pretty much all day and Lukas was wanting his Momma all day, but shit.  Not one picture.  I suck.  Hardcore.

We took Lukas on Wednesday to see Santa.  SANTA.  He made Lukas a little nervous, but Lukas didn’t cry and we were able to get some sweet pictures.  Grandma paid.  Grandparents are definitely cool.  All the baby talk in this house and the constant clapping every time he smiles has lowered my IQ about 50 points, but in a good way.  Kind of like when you smoke a whole load of weed and you’ve got that happy half-retarded buzz going on.  It’s great. 

I’ve also been enjoying spending time with Jessie.  He’s not at all preoccupied with work right now and is completely here with me.  It’s nice and, sadly, is totally different from what he’s usually like.  It’s nice to see him relaxed and his usual easy-going self.  He’s the guy that hugs and kisses me a lot and tells me I’m pretty.  He’s the guy who wants to sit near me and touch me whenever he can.  I missed that guy and I’ll me missing him again here in about 5 days, but for now I’m enjoying it. 

I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving and, like me, ate so much they had to take a sleeping pill because of the extreme discomfort from too much food.  I love you guys.

It’s coming.  Turkey Day.  Oh God Yes.  Turkey.  It’s been pretty dead here, both in Washington and the blog world.  Apparently Helen has gone missing somewhere in Pennsylvania.  My mom did that too, but she calls us every once in a while to let us know that the Pennsylvania mutants haven’t eaten her yet.  How about an update!  Anybody?  Crap.

I’ve been cleaning a lot.  My mom and Fred will be here Tuesday and I will be beaten if my house is not spotless…and since I have a toddler who pretty much makes it a mission to make sure this house is never tidy, I’ve had my work cut out for me.  Let me just say this:  if your house contains even the smallest square of carpet when you have kids, get a carpet shampooer.  It’s a must.

Since Lukas has started walking, we’ve been letting him do more stuff on his own.  Like when he gets out of the bathtub, we just set him on the floor and he does a naked march the whole 10 feet to his bedroom.  He’s usually very excited to be naked and to be able to chew on his shoes while naked.  He’s a guy….don’t all guys love being nude?  Well last night I wanted to get the naked march on video so I got out the camera, filmed him going to his room and getting into his shoes and guess what happened?  I’m sure you know already.  Yup, he peed all over the carpet.  It was actually kinda funny.  I’d been cleaning the upstairs all evening and had the cleaning supplies handy right there.  20+ years from now when he gets married, that little piece of film will be played at his reception in lieu of a sappy speech.  "And now, here’s video of a naked Lukas eating his shoes and peeing on the floor!"  Hell, maybe I’ll even put it up on this blog once that disc is full since poor Aschlie never got her pictures of the poopy socks she so desperately wanted.  Any takers?

To keep him from terrorizing the cat, we play a game that is a mixture between Hide-and-Seek and Peek-a-Boo.  He hides in a nook, I hide around the corner and jump out and scare him and he finds this hilarious.  Sometimes he rushes out to scare me before I can scare him, and he finds that even funnier.  He takes his position and I take mine. 

"Where’s my baby?"  I taunt.  He comes rushing out to scare me, huge grin on his face, high-pitched giggling.  I make a big deal out of it and act like I am terrified.  He giggles and stretches his arms out to me so I’ll pick him up.  I bring him up to me and we stare at each other for a moment.  He says the one thing that melts my heart every time.

"Momma,"  he says in his sweet voice.

"Oh, precious.  Momma loves you."  I say as I kiss him many many times on his cheeks.  He tolerates it for a minute or so before wanting back down on the floor.  He walks around the kitchen, bouncing off of the cabinets like a pinball, giggling and having a great time.  I stand back out of his way but close enough so he knows I’m there.  He looks back at me once or twice to give me a smile.  I think to myself how blessed I am to have such a wonderful little person in my life. 

He goes into the dining room and tries to get into the cat food. 

"No."  I say in a stern voice.  He looks back at me and moves on to something that won’t get him in trouble.  He’s a wonderful listener.  He continues getting into stuff and looking around until it starts getting close to nap time.  He comes up to me and grabs my leg and nuzzles his face into my hip.  I reach down and stroke his head, the feel of his strawberry hair is fine and silky on my fingers.  He looks up at me and extends his arms again.

"Momma,"  he says.  I pick him up and kiss him and hold him as I sway from side to side for a bit.  He lays his head on my shoulder and rubs his eyes.  I kiss his cheek and he presses his face harder to me, enjoying the affection.  I walk up the stairs with him in my arms and kiss him the whole way up.  He smiles up at me and holds on to me.  I kiss him again and tell him that I love him before putting him in his crib.  I make sure he has his special blankey and his puppy before leaving the room. 

For those of you who are not yet parents but who wish to do so someday, I dearly hope you have the same great experience in parenthood that I have had so far.  I can’t imagine loving anything more than my Lukas.  He’s the sunshine in my day, every day.