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Have you noticed that I haven't posted as much about Mazzy lately? Here's the deal. I generally like to talk about all the annoying, difficult, humiliating, painful, confusing, debilitating (etc.) aspects of motherhood. But Mazzy has just turned 14 months and the truth is, she's been pretty awesome as of late. She's sleeping well, she's walking like a pro, she's learning to talk at an alarming rate. She even mastered the art of travel. We went away last weekend and she wasn't whiny, she slept fine (even in the car), she played well with the other kids… and for the life of me, I can't find anything interesting to write about ANY of it.

I mean, FOR THE LOVE OF MOMMY SHORTS, can the baby please wreck my bathroom or pee on the carpet or throw a fit in the supermarket or something?

Otherwise I am going to have to write things like…

Today Mazzy pronounced the letter 'k' on the end of "boo" to successfully say "book". We are so proud!

How lame would Mommy Shorts be then?

Or maybe I should tell you this compelling story:

Mazzy & The Pillow Pet

Grammy got Mazzy a pillow pet and I was like "Great! Another unecessary toy to clutter up our apartment!" But then Mazzy started dropping whatever it is she is doing to lay on the floor and rest her head on it and it's totally the cutest thing ever!

THE END

Would you like to hear about the baby's favorite new game?

Mazzy likes to open and close her bedroom door. But each time she opens the door, she runs out, gives me a big hug and then runs back inside to shut it. Then she does it over and over, falling head first into my arms each time. If you don't think that is anything short of AMAZING, well, then I didn't it explain it right.

Still reading? What other sickening story can I tell you?

Oh!

Mazzy says "I love you". Mainly, she just repeats it back but she's gotten the annunciation down almost perfectly. I know she doesn't know what she's saying but sometimes she says it unprompted and looks me right in the eye so it kinda feels like maybe she might know…

Do you want to throw up yet?

How 'bout some good old-fashioned my-kid-is-better-than-your-kid stuff?

If Mazzy takes a toy and another kid gets upset, you can just say to her— "Mazzy, will you give so and so back his/her toy?" And she will walk over with an outstretched arm holding out the toy, and the kid and the parent will just look at her all befuddled like who is this well behaved baby that is totally into sharing???

Anybody interested in that?

Here's a good one!

Mazzy has somehow learned that the word "cute" refers to her clothing. So I will put an outfit on her and she will look down and say, "CUTE!" And then yesterday, I strung these big plastic toy beads together and put it over Mazzy's head like a necklace and said, "Whaddaya think?" You know what she said? "CUTE!"

I mean, how can I talk about how tough parenting is when the baby is doing awesome stuff like THAT?

Mazzy and I have both been sick over the past few days so she spent the majority of the weekend lying her snot soaked face in my lap as we both hacked up our lungs together.

It was BEAUTIFUL.

So while I would love to write about how miserable it is being sick while the baby is also sick, at this moment all I can think is that Mazzy is this walking talking living breathing ball of awesome that makes being sick somewhat bearable. Normally, I can't get Mazzy to sit still, but yesterday I stared into her little miserable face for hours and saw so much goodness there, it was almost painful.

I freaking love that kid. I don't know why I find that so hard to write here. I erased it and rewrote it like five times.

If I'm being truthful, I feel a little weird saying "I love you" to her out loud too. I hope it feels weird because I am saying something in earnest to someone who probably doesn't understand me. Not because I am going to be one of those parents who has a hard time expressing their love to their kids.

But just in case, I'm gonna write it down here for safe-keeping…

Dear Mazzy,

The joy you have brought to me and your dad, to Grammy and Grandsam, to Poppy and Nonna, to Grandma Toby, to Uncle Eric, to Auntie & Uncle M is just unthinkably large. I know that life will not always feel as rosy as it does at the moment, but right now I feel beyond lucky. I am so thankful to have you as my daughter that I find myself unable to infuse this note with humor. So I won't even try.

I love you. That's it.

—Mom