SHE'S BAAAAAAAAACK....

The Oscars. My favorite day/night/event of the year. I want to watch it all: the pre-pre-countdown to the red carpet countdown to the "live from the red carpet"to the main event to Bawbwa making someone cry... 

Well, last year, there was no Oscar shmaltz. There was no glitz... there was no glamour... there was no gasping over her dress or his speech...  There was no honing in on every word during the best sound editing acceptance speech. There was certainly no chips, dip or champagne flowing... 

Last year, my (then) 5 month old was horribly sick with the flu and my husband and I were equally sick. IT SUCKED.

This year, THANK G-D, everyone was healthy and mommy got her groove back. We had friends over, alcohol, food galore... The menu was actually based on the region of the film; for "The Reader" I did grilled Sausages with brown mustard & saurkraut... for "Slumdog $" I did grilled Chicken Curry, vegetable samosas, nan bread... and more... 

Even though "they" said this year the Oscars would be toned down due to the recession, the celebs still sparkled and dazzled on the red carpet. There were definitely a few misses, but here's who stood out for me:
-Angelina Jolie: Her hair was perfection and those earrings and ring were to die for. The Color! OMG, GORGE!
-Natalie Portman: Loved the color of her dress, BUT hated the beading... And she looked a little too sprayed.
-Jennifer Aniston: Did NOT like her hair - a little too "undone" for the Oscars. BUT loved the dress and loved that she was there with John Mayer!
-Marisa Tomei: Perfect from head to toe!
-Tina Fey: She looked hot! And seriously, could she be any damn funnier?!

My biggest disappointment: My girl crush Kate Winslet. HATED her hair.

WHO DID YOU LOVE?

ZEN MOMMY

It seemed like any other night... I was singing to Baby-Ko as he drank his "baba." Just as I was about to utter "Goodnight Noises Everywhere....," Baby-Ko sat forward. He burped and looked at me and BLAAAAAAAH. VOMIT. All over me. All over the chair. All ovr the floor. 

"Oh no!" I said, "Are you OKA-" 

BLAAAAAAAH. VOMIT, AGAIN. All over me. All over the chair. All over the three cows jumping over the moon.

I was shocked. He was shocked. T-Ko was at the store getting more milk so I had to think fast ON MY OWN... Not wanting to rouse him more (as he was on the verge of "night night"), I quickly stripped off my foul smelling clothes, (which happened to be perfectly spotless work clothes that I had just gotten out of the dry cleaners), and threw them into a pile in the hallway Within a minute and a half, I had calmly and peacefully managed to also get Baby-Ko's dirty PJ's off and a new fresh pair on. (Okay,  I lied. I was just about to do laundry, so the "new" pajamas were actually "old" pajamas, but at least they didn't have throw up on them).  

As I read to Baby-Ko for the second and final time, I couldn't help but feel so proud of myself. Here I was, sitting in my bra and underwear, managing to stay calm despite vomit crusted in my hair and something that resembles split pea soup on a recently washed throw rug. I followed through with our night time routine and within minutes, my baby, completely unaffected by the whole ordeal, was fast asleep.  I felt like a total pro. Crisis averted.

One thing's for sure though, motherhood is NOT for the squeamish... Or for those that expect to have time to take a shower when things start to get a little dirty....

TWO WORDS

I know kids get sick, but come on!!! For 6 weeks- SIX WEEKS!!!- Baby-Ko's  had a nasty unexplained virus that's come and gone, ebbed and flowed, and disappeared and reappeared. This past Monday, my happy baby who's cough I thought was just "residual", went from point a to point sick within hours. Since Monday, we've had a trip to Urgent Care, a trip to the ER and a trip to the doctor. The diagnosis: a bad virus and a sinus infection. He seems to be getting better, but the frustration and sadness of listening to a 13 month old snore (when they're awake) because they can't blow their nose and the sight of an aspirator makes him bananas (and really does nothing anyway), IS TORTURE.  

I think the hardest part about it is the guilt I feel about not being able to "cure" him with my kisses and sooth him with my voice. And it's even harder to be away from him (at work) knowing that he's uncomfortable in any way. I know that this is just the beginning of many,  many sicknesses and rough times, but I hope that he catches a break soon.  We're all needing one at the 'Ko household= especially little guy.

There is one thing though that continues to impress, amaze and make me light up throughout all of yuck: Baby-Ko's growing vocabulary.  Earlier this week, after eating, he shrugged and lifted his hands and said "ah da" (translation: all done). The next day, he was squirming in my arms and said "dow mama" (translation: Down, mama). And the day after that, as I kissed him good bye to go to work he said, "bye-bye mama." (Translation: unnecessary). :-)

The point is, through all of the sleepless nights and coughing and sneezing there are joys and happy moments. I just wish we were "ah da" with the sick... Definitely ready to say "Bye-bye" to that...

IT'S ALL RELATIVE

Well, it's only Monday but I feel like there's already a few things that are post worthy... or not. You be the judge.
Let's see....
1) I got my first "Your Son is Sick" call from Day Care today. Around 4pm my cell phone rang and one of the teachers at Baby-Ko's day care told me that he felt warm and when she took his temperature, it was about 100. I quickly grabbed my stuff, told my coworkers the situation, and ran out the door to save my son. Okay, maybe he didn't need saving, but I felt like I needed to be there as fast as I could for him. It was a textbook case of new/working mom/baby's sick.  I have officially joined "the club." For reals though.

2) Due to Baby-Ko suffering from a cold, or molars coming in, or a reaction to his vaccinations, or all of the above, we're going to keep him home from day care. Of course, this is kind of problematic since we don't have alternative day care lined up. Fortunately, my Nana has offered to come and spend the day with Baby-Ko.  We've decided to dub her as Nana Poppins. The best part of having her here is that we can watch Dancing with the Stars together. She thinks Cloris Leachman looks "marvelous." I think Brooke Burke looks "ridic."  I guess it's all relative...

3) Last night, as I got in to bed, I realized it had been a long time since I had fallen asleep on T-Ko's chest. I used to be able to pass out, drool, and sleep like a log on his chest. Lately, though bed time is all business. But last night, I went for the chest and found the perfect position almost immediately. Just as I started to drift off, T-Ko said, "You know, when you were pregnant, you weren't able to do this."

"Huh, why?" I said.

"Because of the smell..." He had showered before we got into bed. "I used this soap once when you were pregnant and I got out of the shower and you freaked out and told me that it was the worst most, perfumey, soapy scent EVER.  You told me that I smelled like Borat at a night club and you were having an allergic reaction to the smell."

"I probably was. My nose was super sensitive when I was pregnant. Seriously."

"''Throw it away. Immediately,' you told me," he said mimicking me.

"And did you?" I asked.

"Nooo.  I kept the soap."

"You kept the soap???"

"Yeah, i kept the soap. You were pregnant. Hormonal. Nuts. I kept the soap. And tonight, I ran out of soap, and guess what I used--"

Silence. I take a deep breath. Oh, no. The soap. I seriously smell the soap.

"Oh my god, it's horrible. I can't believe you used the soap."

"You would have NEVER noticed if I hadn't said anything," he said.

"Yeah, but now I notice and now I can't even breath. You do smell like Borat. I feel like I'm in a department store with bad perfume. Oh my god, it's the worst smell ever," I say rolling over to the other side.

"You really are crazy," T-Ko said.

"You really smell."

"Good night. Love you."

"Love you too. Please throw out the soap," I say dozing off... and realizing that we really did run out of soap, and now I  too will smell like homeless gypsy. Crap.