good times, noodle salad

I've not been blogging much lately. I just finished reading our FMH bookclub selection, Mama Day. Excellent book! I'm excited for the discussion. Maybe I'll jot down some thoughts about it sometime. Other than that, I've been dealing with Spud & his erratic napping schedule. He's up to 6 teeth now (4 top, 2 bottom) and he does not seem to do to well with the teething pain. He also thinks it's his privilege to bite everything in sight. I don't mind as long as he sticks to things, but he loves to try and bite my clothes, which invariably leads to biting my skin, too. The other day he just reached out with his mouth and chomped me right on the wrist. YOWCH!! That was unbelievably painful. So, we of course give him our standard empty threat that he'll be sent to the coal mines...I'm sure they'll find a job for him. Perhaps testing the coal for strength with his teeth?

Also, he's into EVERYTHING lately. I knew this would happen, which is why I was in no hurry for him to master crawling. Yesterday I was in the living room with Noodle, and he crawled into the kitchen. Our living room and kitchen don't have any dividing walls, so I could easily hear him though I couldn't see him from where we were. I assumed he'd just go play with the tupperware like he usually does. After two minutes, I walk over to check on him. He's standing at the garbage can, EATING! AACK! He had a chunk of apple in his mouth, as well as a bunch of uncooked oatmeal (he'd spilled it earlier in the day), and a tomato top in his little fist. I was grateful that the garbage was pretty clean (and devoid of rat sundries), and after I cleaned out his mouth and his fist I couldn't help but be amused by how pleased he'd been with himself. You could just see him thinking, "Wow, thanks Mom! It's so great of you to leave this food out for me. And it's right at my level!! What a peach!" I guess I should have seen it coming, as he has been in love with the broom for a couple of weeks now. If I forget to put it in an inaccessible spot, he'll pull it down and just pet it and look at it. I figure so long as he doesn't suck on it, we're probably okay.

But I am a mom with a high tolerance for "germs". I don't worry too much if things fall on the floor, or sharing food among family members. But I do insist on fairly frequent hand & face washing, so I hope that balances out the germy stuff they get into.