Hey Goombah!

Grandma B and the little guy pick me up from the train station this evening. I jump into the back seat for a kiss and a squeeze. "Hi, buddy," I say.

His response? "Hey... goombah!"

As in: "Hey goombah I love how you dance the rumba."

W's favorite song: Mambo Italiano
W's favorite artist: Dean Martin
W's new favorite word: Goombah

Dog Made Three, Then Baby Made Four

New Mom Warning: Your relationship with your dog will most likely change. I hate to be the one to break it to you.

I recently wrote a post for Chicago Moms Blog about my damaged relationship with Howie. And I'm afraid this time it's my fault. I'm working on it.

Sometimes You Get Poop Under Your Nails

New moms often ask current moms what they'll need, as if there is a magical item that makes being a mom work. This is what you need: HUMOR. Every time you want to scream or cry or throw up... You have to find a way to laugh.

For Chicago Moms Blog Book Club, I read See Mom Run: Side Splitting Essays from the World's Most Harried Moms. Beth Feldman edited this book of real-life funny stories by mom bloggers. As most moms can agree, most of these funny stories have mentions of bodily functions and are stories that would have previously been frightening.

When I was about four months pregnant, we put our city condo on the market to move closer to my parents in the suburbs and their offer of child care. I had trouble with the move to the suburbs compounded by the coming baby and changing life.

William was about a month old when my sister moved into a new apartment in Lincoln Park. My mom and I took the little guy to pay his aunt a visit and see her new digs. We were only a couple blocks away when I heard (and then smelled) a diaper explosion. We pulled over right next to the el station on Armitage and removed him from the car seat to find that he had completely filled his footie pajamas with liquid poop. It was like a horror show.

I was in my stretchy post-baby clothes, literally up to my wrists in orange rust-colored poop, leaning over the back seat of an SUV on a beautiful fall day on one of the most fun, fantastic blocks in Chicago. I longingly looked at the young women coming off the el with their incredible shoes, carrying terrific bags, wearing adorable jackets.... They were on their way home from work, headed to their apartments, then possibly out for a walk with their friends or to meet at a beer garden. My former life flashed before my eyes as I realized I had poop under my nails.

What Up, 2010!

Here we are in 2010. I don't have any cliche things that I'm in the mood to say about it. 2009 was a great year, with a number of really tough spots and general bumps in the road. But, we're all healthy, happy, can pay the bills, and have a ton that keeps us laughing -- So, I can't complain.

I'm posting this because I feel like I have to post something signifying the new year. I'm not going to give a list of my resolutions, but I will admit that this is a transitional time for the Hannemaniacs in a number of ways. 2010 is going to be a good year... Just you wait and see.