May 10th...just another day in the 'burbs?

May is evidently a big month in this family - specifically the first half - as Matthew's kids were born very close to each other (ok, Olivia was born April 30th, so not technically May but damn close, and Nathan was the 8th), my sister-in-law's birthday was on Tuesday, and Christopher's birthday is, well, today! So, Happy Birthday, Christopher. :). Tonight we'll go to a good Indian restaurant in Clarendon, maybe hit up an ice cream joint (ostensibly for his birthday, of course, but really, it's for me), then he has the entire weekend to himself to relax.And though my brother is always very thoughtful and nice about not specifying age for Petra's birthday, I have no such qualms (uh, Sparky may be reading this some day - I'm pretty sure he'll want to know how old dad was when he was born). He's 43 today, a spring chicken! Compared to some people. *cough, cough*

And since we don't have updated pictures of the house to show yet, here is part of what I got him. In all fairness to me, to show I'm not ENTIRELY insensitive, I did also get tickets to Daniel Tosh's live show in DC in June for his birthday. True, I will also be in attendance and therefore also benefit, but Christopher loves his show, so I thought it was a good idea (they both have the sense of humor of an 8-year old).

Did I consider getting him a sweet, lovey birthday card instead of this "Awkward Family Photos" card? In truth, the other main option I considered was a cat-lady-joke card, but I did at least shop around before deciding this one was too good to pass up. Fortunately, after I finally stopped cackling to myself as I signed the card, he also appreciated the humor.

This book - it's genius. And, I'm sorry to say, Dad, there are a few pictures there that remind me a little too much of pictures I've seen of you circa 1978.

And the obligatory Maya photo. Believe it or not, she was sound asleep in this position. She's now taken to sleeping at the foot of the bed, like a dog, every night until about 4am. At that point, she wanders on up to our faces to 1) purr, and 2) stick her butt in our noses to indicate hunger. Such a sweetheart.

I also visited another childcare facility this morning for a tour and orientation. The facilities were nicer here than the last one I visited - primarily because it's housed in a wealthy church (but fortunately is not religiously-affiliated). However, digging a little deeper into how the waiting list works, the director really told us that, if you aren't able to get your child in as an infant, you basically have a snowball's chance in hell of getting your kid in before they're 3 or 4, and even then it is FAR from guaranteed. For example, this year, the entire infant group (6 kids) was made up of siblings of kids already enrolled, who get priority. So I decided to save my $100 non-refundable deposit on this one. Unless we can somehow convince the center that Molly is, in fact, 4, and enroll her just long enough to get Sparky a spot. Hmm.

But the group - there were 7 or 8 of us - was composed of the typical Arlington snobbery. I WAS planning to play the single-mother sympathy card since Christopher couldn't come. You know, I'm there by myself, huge and waddling, my child's father died in Afghanistan when he jumped on top of a grenade to save the lives of schoolchildren, I was going to wear a McDonald's uniform and rub french fry grease all over my belly...I had it all planned out. Unfortunately, only one "partner" showed up, so that plan was blown to hell.

My favorite part was, of course, as I already told Christopher, when one woman, who was about 2 months pregnant, saw a bag of - HORRORS - mini-bagels in one of the classrooms and said to the director "I would imagine if my child does not eat processed food, it would be difficult". Given that I was by far the most pregnant one there, it was not easy to restrain myself from throwing said mini-bagels in her face, screaming "just WAIT until you're so big your thighs are rubbing together and you can't see your feet and the only thing that gets you through the day is the tub of frosting you plan on devouring when you get home...just see how your processed food aversion sounds then!".

Anyway, classy as usual. But it's looking more and more like we're going to go with private, in-home care. Which is fine, just another minefield to navigate. *Sigh*

At least it's Friday :). And, once again, Happy Birthday, Daddy-o Christopher!