Happy Birthday Little Dude

Dally turned one last week. As I was shopping for a truck for him the night before his birthday, I got choked up. It's been a whole year that we've managed to keep the dude afloat. So far, he's disciplined, well-mannered, and witty. Every once in awhile, he'll try to gauge your eyes out but who doesn't do that?

I'd like to take all the credit for what a handsome, brilliant, and clever fellow he's shaping up to be. But the fact of the matter is, we have an outstanding nanny - Norma. Aside from me, she spends more time with Dally than anyone else. She's his BFF. He's good because she's good.

Sometimes, I have nightmares that Norma will leave us.

Norma got married a month ago. She took a week off. Nasty rumors started circulating that she was gone and was never coming back. We managed to survive - and only SURVIVE - without her. It was a rough ride. Of course the one who felt the pinch was me, not John. His time with Dally consisted of taking him to Hooters to hang with Uncle Tony, or taking him to see his grandparents and play with Cousin Truman. My time with Dally consisted of feeding, laundry, story time, play time, bath time, more bath time, more bath time. I learned bath time makes the day go by faster. By the end of the week, I was beyond beat. John said, "See! We could do it without a nanny!"

Never mind that it took me a week and a half to catch up on my work.

I told John if he ever said that again, I'd file divorce papers. I have a new found respect for stay-at-home moms. That's a life that just ain't for me.

When Norma came back, it was one of the happiest days of my life. Peace was restored at the homefront. I went back to business as usual. But there was a lot of self realization going on when it was just the little dude and me.

I never thought of myself as the type that would get down on the floor and crawl around, and fake eat toes, and read Goodnight Moon five billion times, and smell butts for poop diapers, and say poop on a regular basis (I prefer the word shit). But that's the person that I am now. And I don't want to be the person I was before all of this became a part of my life. There's something to be said for a little guy saying MAMAMAMAMAMA.

Happy Birthday, Dally and Happy Anniversary, Norma. Dally was the best thing that ever happened to us. And Norma was the second best.