Since what I am now calling- The Injury- Josh has taken to riding around in those motorized carts that are for injured military war vets and the extreme elderly.
Have I mentioned Josh has no shame?
Despite his frequent use, he is not that great at operating them. This is evident by the dozen or so tampon boxes that were strewn about the middle of the floor in our local Giant grocery store after he attempted a 3 (or 5) point turn in the feminine hygiene aisle after an misguided left turn. I was holding Pman and standing right next to Josh when he did this. In all honesty, I just turned and walked a little further up the aisle like I was looking at pregnancy test or KY jelly or anything really that would make me seem least likely linked to Josh as he fumbled around with the maxi pads and tampons. Poor Parker.
Josh prefers the carts at Giant to the one...yes one broken one at the Safeway across the street. Plus at Giant they have a secure place for him to put his crutches. These grocery store Rascals have a horn and beep when Josh backs up, which he does often as he usually whizzes by whatever item it is he is looking for. These things seem to have only two speeds- stop and 10 mph, which is quite fast if one is in fact attempting to grocery shop.
During our most recent trip to Giant, which since Josh has been home we seem to either go to Giant or Walmart daily...curious. Anyway during our most recent trip Josh over heard a little girl make the following comment to her mother, "Mommy, why is that guy using that cart? He is not old?"
Now, Josh's cast came off on Monday and he is in a full velcro leg brace, but it is still very visable and prohibits his range of motion. He also uses his crutches, which as I understand it are a bitch to use. Sorry, but from what I understand bitch is the only word suitable to describe their annoying and irritating nature. I'm not sure what the mother's response was to the little girl, but I will say people are not as sympathetic as you would think, which is sad.
On one of our daily runs to Walmart, I saw a lady that I had not seen since I was pregnant. She looked at Parker remarked on how big he is and then said, "Wow, he does NOT look ANYTHING like you."
Nice.
Word of advice to the those of you who want to comment on which parent a baby most resembles- make it up. Even if the baby is the spitting image of daddy, as Parker is, lie to the mother and at least say something generic like-
"He has your smile."
"He has your fingers."
Hell I'd even take "He has your toenails!"
Give me something, but don't say "He looks NOtHiNg like you!!" (emphasis on the nothing.) NICU experience aside, mothers go through a lot with pregnancy and labor, humor them, throw them a bone tell them their baby resembles them in some way.
Finally, this Sunday will be my first official Mother's Day. I am fully aware that this is a Hallmark holiday and I'm usually not into them. However, this year, I said to Josh, I want something cute from Parker. I came home from work the other night and Parker was wearing blue plaid shorts and a teal and orange Miami Dolphins onsie. Clearly NOT what he was wearing when I left. There was paint on the bottom of the only shoes that fit his fat feet, Josh had paint on his hands and some how Abby had some on her face. Josh informed me he needs to make another Walmart run asap. I'm not sure what they are up to, but I'm sure I'm going to love it.
My favorite mother moment of every day is after Parker takes a bath and before he goes into his crib for the night. We sit in his room in the dark in his green and brown glider listening to a Sounds of the Rainforest CD. It is just Parker and me.
Parker is finishing up his last bottle and I read either to myself or out loud, softly to him. When he is done with the bottle, he lazily tosses it on the ground and reaches up for me. All he wants is for me to hold him for a bit before he goes to sleep. We glide along and Parker twists my hair in his tiny fat fingers or bats at the pearl on my necklace until he drifts off.
As he gets teeth I know this routine will fade since the milk should not sit on his teeth all night. At some point, he will bathe himself, brush his own teeth, pick out and put on his own jammies and climb into bed without assistance. Until then I will enjoy our routine and know that even though May 10 is designated as Mother's Day, every evening I am reminded of how thankful I am to be Parker's mother.
