I enjoy the judgmental stares of others.

I love coffee. I do. It's my last vice. I've given everything else up! I refuse to give up my coffee, in fact I love it so much that I base my choice of Targets and grocery stores according to which ones have Starbucks (sorry NJ) in them so I can have a treat while I shop. Of course Sweet Baby Max wants what I have and I find myself playing keep away with a hot latte. Not good. The solution? Get the baby his own cup! No, not of coffee of course but his own empty cup.  Ah, success! He has what I have and he has a loverly time playing and 'sharing' his drink with me even if I won't share mine with him. An added bonus of this practice is the crazy amount of judgmental looks and comments that I receive while Baby Max is happily 'drinking' his empty cup.  I've even gotten a couple of 'you know, you shouldn't give him coffee' and I just smile and tell them it's empty all the while thinking...are there really people who would give their infants coffee? And the answer is clearly yes, because people are idiots. I'm most certainly an idiot about some things, but not this particular thing. 

Check out how cool he thinks he is, lounging in the cart, all kicked back with his hat, his empty Starbucks cup recklessly cast aside. 

You might be thinking 'is that precious child asleep with a Baby Tylenol bottle???' And the answer is yes. I also abuse him by allowing him to chomp happily on an empty Baby Tylenol bottle. It's empty, it's been washed out and it's hard to deny a little one who's teething and all they want is to chew on that dropper top!! I fought him for a while trying to distract him or substitute other chewing toys, but this is my child after all and once he has his sights on something come hell or high water he's getting it. (Ask my husband how often I fail at acquiring something material I really want. The stats are low, I assure you. ) There are rules for the Tylenol, of course, we must always be supervised and as much as Baby Max may want to chew on it in the car or in the crib the answer is no. This usually brings on a technicolor tantrum, but again, he is my child. I just know the second I look away is the second the little rubber top pops off and that is not a good scene. That picture is how he looks at this very second, I just took it. Asleep with his bottle and it's his first spontaneous nap! Well done Baby Max. 

Yesterday we had a great treat! Sister Dub's Mom was in town and we got to meet up with her and have a little lunch at CPK. Yum. It was so wonderful to have such a great visit with her and so odd too. It's very neat and slightly weird to be having lunch and conversation like you are old friends with a woman who essentially helped raise you. All of my childhood memories involve Dub and her family and so here we are chatting about my childhood from two different perspectives and dealing with the now as if we are just old friends. This woman actually grounded me once. I deserved it, I'm sure. I loved having her to talk to and of course we spent much of the day talking about how amazingly wonderful and beautiful Dub is and how no matter how many times we tell her, she'll never truly grasp it. I'm a lucky gal to have my second mom be among my friends and to be another grandmother for baby Max. She loved him up one side and down the other and he was really sad when she left. He thought she was really funny.