I became a mom today...

No, I didn't give birth to another child 5 months after the first. And, no, Ethan didn't start saying Mama today. Nope, I think I just have calmed down enough to observe my own life, and it is the life of a mom for sure. My musings started this morning when I saw an LT friend at the bagel shop, where I was meeting another friend from LT, who pointed out the spit up on my shirt. He said, "Oh, you are definitely a mom!" I didn't know Ethan had spit up on me before I left, I promise, but I also didn't care all that much when I did discover it. (Sadly, I'm also not going to change.) Once I left the bagel place, I started thinking about what he said and decided he's right.

So, as proof that I am, in fact, a mom, here's my day today so far:
I crawled out of bed around 6:15 this morning (after having been up twice in the night), put on my giant robe, and sleepily tended to my very awake, and very happy, baby. After changing his incredibly heavy diaper (morning diapers are a treat), I fed him and proceeded to start my own morning feeding routine. I got my coffee ready, a new addition to my morning routine since having Ethan; put Ethan in his high chair; heated up my oatmeal while I cleaned up Will's kitchen mess, not a new addition unfortunately; turned the kitchen radio on to Good Morning America; and ate my oatmeal while Ethan played with his new teething ring. When I was finished, we went to the living room for some floor tummy time. Ethan gnawed on anything within reach and also gave me a bit of a scare when I left the room for a second only to come back to an empty blanket. He had rolled off of it and from where I was standing, I couldn't see him. (I had a brief moment where I thought he might have crawled away before I noticed him kicking his arms and legs right next to the couch and off the safety of his ABC blanket.) Once I established Ethan had not, in fact, run away from home, we played for a bit before nap time. His nap routine is so well-established at this point, he goes down with little or no fuss. It's beautiful. While he napped, I showered. I hadn't washed my hair since Sunday - it was time. I picked out an outfit that was not sweatpants for a change because I knew I was meeting my friend. I also put makeup on, a rare thing these days. By the time I was all set and dressed, Ethan was up so I changed and fed him and got him out of his pajamas for the first time in a while, too! It took us about 15 minutes to get out the door and into the car. When I got to the bagel place, I had to unfold the giant stroller and put Ethan's car seat into it so I could keep him covered from the snow. I struggled getting through the not one but two doors to get into the shop. A cute older man watched as I tugged at the stroller that was caught on the door. I remarked to him, "It will be nice when he can walk," and then struggled some more, trying to find a spot to park the giant stroller where I wouldn't be in people's way. Once settled, I took out the car seat and unfolded all the layers of blankets and such covering Ethan so I could take him out and sit him upright in the stroller. I got out the toys I had brought with him in my big diaper bag and got him settled. All of our extra stuff (my coat, his car seat, and my diaper bag) took up one small table in the store. My friend Katy and I used the table next to it. We had a nice visit (Ethan was a very good boy) and then it was time to go. I packed away Ethan's toys, snapped him back into his car seat which had to be lifted back into his stroller, covered him up, and walked him the ten feet to the car. Then I lifted the car seat out of the stroller (he's about 18 pounds now so no easy feat) and snapped it into the base. Next, I folded the stroller back up, put it in the trunk, and drove the 5 minutes back home, where we started the nap routine all over again.

Those of you who are parents read this and think, "Yeah, so? Try it with two or three kids. Deal with it." My sister Lisa is thinking, "Try it with two kids under 4 and one baby on the way!" And those of you without kids may not have made it through the entry and, if you did, think, "God, I'm exhausted just reading that." And a couple of years ago, I would have thought the same thing. I remember watching other mothers lug their kids around and thinking simply, "That looks hard." I was right. It is hard. I am exhausted. But the thing is, I don't really think about how hard it is or how exhausted I am. (OK, that's a bit of a lie, but I don't dwell on these things at least.) I just go through each day, following my new mommy routines because it is my life now. And what a good life it is - spit up and all!