Vegas Baby!
This was not Azul’s first trip to Las Vegas, but it was his most memorable. Starting with our early morning flight he kept repeating, “Vegas is better than Hawaii.” We hadn’t even arrived and he already came to that conclusion, a conclusion I didn’t confirm. That was his vacay mantra.
And then … it only got better. When we exited the plane, his six year-old eyes filled with excitement, he looked at all the slots and poker machines flashing and ringing and said, “Wow, see Mommy, Vegas is better than Hawaii!” Next we had lunch, checked-in to our room (which was not all that exciting to him), and hit the strip.
And then … “This is some kind of paradise!” he exclaimed as we walked into Hershey’s World. He left with a tub of Bubble Yum and a huge grin on his gum chewing face, after all, we just visited paradise.
And then … the next day when we hit the strip again, we crossed the street to the M&M and Coke Worlds. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but when you get your first taste of Coke from a bottle, a bottle that is all yours, it is amazing. Azul has never had a Coke, a few sips from a watered down soda or an “all natural” soda was his only coke-like experience. That place was crazy and he wanted to stay, but since we were unable to make that store our home away from home, we took our Coca-Cola and left.
And then … we walked directly into the M&M store. (I’m sorry, “world,” I was corrected many times by my young Vegas tour guide who has now proclaimed all candy/soda shops “worlds.”) He paused in order to absorb it all. I grabbed his hand and said, “Come on, let’s check it out.” He giggled and replied, “Vegas is better than Hawaii.”
And then … the day Azul was very excited for finally came upon us, we jumped on the Monorail and went to a magic show. His favorite trick was when Mac King asked for a young brave volunteer, Azul did raise his hand but was not picked. By the end of the trick, with anticipation built, the highly skilled magician made a bear (which was a person dressed in a bear costume) jump out of a tent and scare the boy volunteer. To a six year-old boy that was hilarious! At the end of the show Azul met Mac King and got his autograph and in his own words “that was super cool!”
And then … the last day was reserved for Circus Circus. As we walked up the sidewalk toward the kids’ casino, Azul looked up and said, “I think I’m going to like gambling!” And he was right. From the moment we walked in he was giddy with anticipation, and began jumping up and doing his shooting and karate moves. He just couldn’t help himself, even getting change was exciting! A couple of hours later we left with a large clear plastic bag full of stuffed animals and once again the vacay mantra, “Vegas is better than Hawaii!”
And then … my most memorable moment was when he ordered a “version” strawberry daiquiri. He has always been comfortable in ordering for himself and the new-found love for a “version” was awesome.
And then … I heard the replay of all his favorite moments over and over, making this his most memorable trip to Vegas.
Hair Today Gone Tomorrow
The funny thing about motherhood is that it changes so much of your life, but in some ways it keeps you stuck in a rut. Your emotions change, your body changes, and life as you know it, changes. Everything is different and even the changes are consistently changing too. One thing that hadn’t changed for me, was my hair.
The last time I had significantly refashioned my hair was when I was pregnant. I fell for the false theory that short hair is easier to care for by new moms who now have a baby slung to their chests and have less time to be worried about their appearance. Wrong! I still made the time in my day to style my now short hair, just as I did my long hair. During pregnancy my hair was growing rapidly due to the hormones having a heyday in my system, ten inches were removed and donated to Locks of Love, again prompted by the hormones. Just thinking about children having to deal with cancer would bring me to tears.
Well, I haven’t been pregnant for seven years and for the last several years I have been wearing my hair long, maybe the longest since I was a little girl, and I have been afraid of cutting it. I don’t know why. I really need to cut my hair.
When I turned forty I decided I couldn’t cut it then because I’M FORTY! And I didn’t want it to become my “midlife crisis hairdo,” so I immediately came to the conclusion that forty and forty-five were off-limits for cutting my hair. Both of those ages seemed to be the stereotypical midlife crisis ages. With that line of thinking, I knew forty-two was the right age for me to get out of my hair rut. So, I kicked the midlife crisis can down the road.
Forty-two really is a good age, you’re no longer uncomfortable with facing the fourth decade of your life, it’s a confident age, a comfortable time and still closer to forty than forty-five. Whew. Well, I am anxiously seven months into my “comfortable age” and my hair has not changed. Until now.
My almost twelve inches will again go to Locks of Love and I figured if Jared Leto could do it, so could I.
Sleeping Like A Baby
Every parent knows the saying “sleeping like a baby” is a lie, babies don’t sleep! From the moment you bring home your new bundle of joy, what that really means is that you give up all rights to getting a good night’s sleep. That’s right, you will never sleep again!
In the beginning the lack of sleep is due to the basic needs of your child. This may come as a shock, but they can’t do anything themselves (Ugh, freeloaders!) and they depend on you to do everything, so you are in charge of the feeding and burping and changing and cleaning and dressing. Your day turns into a loop of those activities, and earlier when I said you were in charge, I was being generous because you’re not in charge, you are at their beck and call, which usually happens every couple of hours. Yup! TWO!
The other thing that starts immediately is the change in your sleep habits. You are forever a transformed sleeper and from this moment on you are on “high alert.” This is the innate need you have to protect your child and keep them safe, and high alert doesn’t stop even when you are in a state of REM. There is a fear that overwhelms you, and even when your baby is finally asleep, for those couple glorious hours, you are still peeking in on them, watching their little chest making sure they are rising in a rhythmic pattern you can recognize. And when you are satisfied that everything will be okay, you lay in bed trying to listen for the slightest sigh or sign of discomfort so you can run in and attend to this little person you just created. Eventually you will get to a point where you are so exhausted, it takes your precious little thing three or four good screams before you are jolted out of a dead sleep.
Now for the good news, things do get better. After the initial shock of being responsible for another person wanes, you do start to sleep a little more, but unfortunately parents never get away from being on high alert. In addition, babies get bigger and no longer have to be changed and fed every few hours. Yay! Things will even out, and after a year or so, sleep comes.
Eventually in about six years you become spoiled and your child’s need for sleep extends to around 10 hours, there is no more crying in the middle of the night (yes, I mean from your spouse), and that’s when it hits you like a ton of bricks! The fear no longer belongs to you but your child. “Mommy, I’m scared” is accompanied by a tap on the forehead. And soon your cute kid has turned into the creepy kid, standing in the dark staring at you in the middle of the night.
At first you tuck you child back in bed and try to get back to sleep; this is repeated throughout the night. Then this is repeated for a few nights and then a few weeks. Eventually you give up and in desperation you ask, “You want to just sleep with me?” That is the beginning of the end. And the lack of sleeping stage you thought you had grown out of is back in full force!
Why is this happening!?! AGAIN.
Congratulations, your baby is growing up. They are experiencing more, seeing more and understanding more as their minds are absorbing all of that information, and their imaginations are running rampant and all that together equals fear and nightmares.
Our first attempt at preventive measures, much to my son’s dismay, was in the form of removing the constant flow of Minecraft videos and the use of headphones. This helped, but just for one night. The bonus was that in the morning my six year-old did recognize the benefit of not having voices pushed directly into his head via headsets and acknowledged that he was watching too many videos.
Then I got all “Maria Von Trapp” on him and before bed we talked about happy things and positive experiences and just a few of our favorite things. That also seemed to temporarily aid in the sleepless nights. Temporarily! The morning following our “Sound Of Music” moment he said, “That kind of worked and kind of didn’t. It didn’t help me sleep, but it gave me the confidence to stay in bed.” YES!
We have now included the addition of aromatherapy. The last thing I do before I leave him to his night of personal terror is spritz lavender around his bed. He likes this a lot!
This is where we are, I have not slept for weeks and am going crazy! And when I say crazy I just mean I’m exhausted. And to my girlfriend who has three boys and told me this is going to last until he is about eight, I don’t like you anymore.
Carmelina Hart 