The Bug and I aren't on very good terms right now. For a long time today, we weren't even speaking. He kept me up all night again last night, wouldn't go to his crib without screeching, even to give me a bathroom break. Then, today, he had what I think was his first full-blown tantrum. Holy mackerel. One would have thought I was putting hot pokers up his nose.

Here's some of the attitude we're talking about lately:



We're talking raspberries, what I'm sure are curse words in Buglish, slapping and biting. And we're not even in the terrible toddler years. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Here's some randoms to brighten this post.

More randoms

I love my baby back ribs.




I don't know why, but the minute he gets naked, we feel the need to take pictures.


Note: do not put the basket of clean clothes next to the jumpy.

Didn't mean to leave that last post up there so long. Things are better, and I'll have new pictures soon. Even through the most difficult times, there is comfort in having so much to do. No time to wallow. It got me through the post-partum depression, and it's getting me through the last couple of weeks.

<3

Today I wouldn't go to the beach, because of the rain, but I would like to have the option of going to the beach. And if I woke up today in some alternate reality, some splinter of time where there was no Bug, I would go to the beach anyway. I would go lay in the wet sand and let the rain fall all over me and listen to the waves.

I've been sick for over a week now, with a sore throat, my ears plugged and my nose running, and last night at 2:00 a.m., during the fifth time I had to get up for the Bug, I felt like I would throw up. I wasn't sleeping well anyway, my throat was so sore. I put my fevered face against the cool wall for relief and listened to him cry in the other room, and with the sick washing over me, I remembered what it was like during the first trimester. I thought of my life, how it turned into something else on Thanksgiving Day, 2004, when I knew I was pregnant. Then I started to cry.

This morning, after I dropped off Mister Aran at work, I came home to a smiling, happy Bug. I took him, we played, we watched Teletubbies, and later he took a nap. I wish I could say that looking at him, all that soft baby skin and smiles, made it all worth it. But I can't. Not today.

I promise it wasn't as cold as I make it sound.

I was alone with The Bug for his first swim, but here's some pictures of his second.



The water was approximately negative three-hundred degrees.


He's a big splasher. He takes it very seriously. Like a job.


I only included this shot because I think my boobs look good.


He enjoyed himself despite the Arctic cold.


What is with the facial expressions in this one?

Random shots

Drunken frat boy shot:

The Bug's Gramma asked me to take pictures of all the Bug Parts individually. I will say I gave it my best shot. He was moving around a lot, though, so it didn't go well.

He has his mother's thighs:


And feet:


And butt:


Here's the whole package: