Nicole Tasker Woods

23 days ’til my feet are ankle deep in the warm sandy beaches!

Aidan got up at midnight last night after being asleep for only 2.5 hours. I went in there out of habit, felt a full diaper, but in my sleepy state I ushered him to bed without changing it and tried to calm him down through his screams of ‘mom, sit couch!’ and ‘mom, sit rock!’ I went back to bed and a minute later, he was standing by his door, light on, banging to be let out. Ryan went in there and at the sight of his dad, Aidan scurried to bed knowing that dad doesn’t mess around, but he was still crying.

Two minutes later, Ryan was fast asleep, snoring beside me, but even through his snores, I could hear Aidan’s tiny hand touching the door knob in an effort to get out of his room. His persistence got the better of me and I snuck downstairs to get him his juice, turned the heat up a degree to get the warm air pumping, and tip-toed into his room. I quickly changed his diaper while he sucked down his juice and he looked up at me and hesitantly asked, ‘mom, sit…couch?’ I stared into his blue eyes and said, ‘yes baby, we can sit on the couch.’

He was THRILLED at my answer because he expected me to say no. He smiled with the sippy cup’s spout between his teeth and let me scoop him up and quietly carry him into the blue-room (not sure why we call it this, since the walls are gray). We cuddled on the couch together – his legs tucked in tight to his body – my arms wrapped around him tight.

I breathed in deep the sweet scent of his hair, soaking up the moment. He handed me the cup and said ‘done’ – I set the cup down on the floor and he said, ‘mom, sit’ and I said, ‘ok baby, we can sit together, but just for a minute.’ One minute turned into five, which turned into ten. It was only seconds before he drifted off to sleep. I took one last moment to enjoy the weight of his baby body in my arms before I carried him to his bed and tucked his covers around him.

Before I knew it, Ryan was getting ready for work and walking out of our bedroom door at 5:30am – then I heard him go into Aidan’s room and tell him to go to bed. He only cried for a minute, then we were both sleeping quietly again in our own beds. The only reason Aidan got up at 5:30am is because he thought I’d come in, for the 3rd time that morning, and give him some love and attention. Shhh – don’t tell on me!

Between amazon, ebay & gift cards, my 2013 Christmas shopping was done about 3 weeks ago.  I was so anxious about getting everything done in time that I actually wrapped it all as well.  It has been so much less-stress this year doing it all in October that I think I will try to do the same thing next year and get it all done as soon as possible.  Throughout the year, I also keep a list on my phone of gift ideas for everyone and when I come across a good deal, I buy it and check it off of my list.  This has been extremely helpful and I’m very pleased with the gifts I’ll be putting underneath the tree for my loved ones this year.

This year will be a little better than last year for my little boy who will be 2 1/2. I think he’ll be all about unwrapping gifts and less about the wrapping paper itself. I plan on setting up some of his toys under the tree, unwrapped, so that when he comes downstairs on Christmas morning, he can immediately see and touch his new toys.  Can’t wait!

But I still have to ship all of those presents back East, which is by far my LEAST favorite thing to do before the holidays.

Today is our annual office holiday party and just like we did last year, we are having it at the Supper Club in Hollywood.  Last year was pretty incredible at this venue with great food & wine, as well as unexpected entertainment, which I would compare to something out of Cirque du Soleil.  The year before last, we went bowling in assigned teams, which as you are all aware, I’m not a fan of.

I’m so happy that we aren’t bowling this year!  I already have my outfit picked out so that I will not only look fabulous, but be comfortable while I eat, drink & carry-on with some nonsensical conversations with co-workers that I don’t usually get the opportunity to hang with.

I don’t like all of the tempting sweets and hidden calories during the holiday season, but I do love the parties that lead up to Christmas & New Year’s.  The few weeks before the gifts & then the end of the year are such a happy time for me to spend with my family and get some time away from work.  I’m also anxious for the year to end so that I can gear up for my birthday 24 days later!

It’s never a good sign when you’re driving to work at 7am (after being up since 5am) and you are starting to doze off behind the wheel.

When my car started to drift to the left lane, missing the car next to me by a hair, I jerked the wheel back and opened all 4 windows to let the chilly 47 degree air slap me back to a state of being alert.

Then I had to pee so bad I contemplated pulling over to the side of the road. Somehow, bumper-to-bumper traffic makes you have to pee REALLY badly.

When Aidan wakes up from sleeping, he is very vocal about what he thinks is in his diaper. Whether it is a “big poop” or “big pee-pee” – he lets us know. That way we aren’t caught off guard.

When you’re changing him, he wants to know what the verdict is and usually wants to sneak a peak at what’s inside.

Well, it’s mornings like the one I had today that I wish I was wearing a diaper because I wanted to have a big pee-pee.

This past week, I talked to my three best friends on the phone.

One of these ladies is my cousin, who I’ve known all my life. She lives in New Hampshire so we don’t get to see each other often, but when we do, it’s just like the good ol’ days–we easily fall back into our comfort zone and don’t miss a beat.

The second lady is someone I met in college. She was my dorm room neighbor Freshman year and by the time we were Seniors, we were inseparable. She lived in California for a while after graduation, but now she lives in Connecticut. I haven’t seen her in years, but chatting with her was just like our late night hang-outs back in Metcalf Hall.

The third is someone I met later in my life after starting my career at WB. She & I have had some crazy times at Target on our lunch break, as well as date nights to the movies where we could have easily skipped the flick to just keep chatting.

I may not have a lot of friends, but the three I have are pretty incredible.

I’ve been working on a 1983 film called THE RIGHT STUFF and every time I see an email pop up with the film’s title, I break out into song…

The first thing Aidan seemed to truly out-grow is pajamas. He wore the same six sets of PJs for a LONG time and then all of a sudden, they stopped covering his belly and were like high waters as the pant legs were not long enough for his bean stalk legs. I can only hope this means he’ll be extremely tall, which will assist in his hunt for stardom as a high school first string quarterback and then he’ll take the home-coming queen to prom. A full scholarship to a college of his choosing would also be nice.

And it all started with a pair of pajamas.

Ryan, Aidan & I took a tour of New England over Labor Day weekend. We had a desire to see some friends, the college where we met and put some major miles on a rental car. It has been a great trip and we’ve enjoyed this little vacation as a little family.

A little over a week before Ryan & I flew to Boston, my mom came to California for a few days then left with Aidan so that she (Gram) and my dad (Gramp) could get some quality time with the Big A. And I must say, they did their Grandparently duty of spoiling him because he was certainly rotten by the time we got there! But after 48 hours of his parents, he started to come around to his old ‘California’ chill self. Let’s face it, he’s supposed to be spoiled with his Gram & Gramp, isn’t he?!

It has been such a wonderful past few weeks. The first week was in California without Aidan and although I missed him a lot that first day and night that he was gone, I quickly bounced out of that funk and really started to enjoy my freedom as a mom without a baby! Ryan & I rarely saw each other as we were taking advantage of not having obligations to get right home after work. He would go out with friends and so would I. It was bliss!

We saw friends from college when we got into Boston and enjoyed a night in a hotel room with a king sized bed. We did the Nastalgia Tour of Wheaton College, had one last dinner with friends and then drove to my hometown of Northwood, NH. I texted my mom when we hit the road and told her to keep Aidan awake until we drove in at 10pm and that’s just what she did. I think we were more excited to see Aidan than he was to see us. At some level I think he realized that the fun Gram & Gramp stuff was going to come to an end once his parents came into the picture. But no matter how spoiled, he was still our sweet little boy, giving us lots of hugs and kisses. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until we were lying in his bed at my folks house with him drinking his milk and his finger up my nose.

We spent a few more days in Tasker-ville (had a cook-out-shin-dig of course) and enjoyed the homemade sand-pile, pool and bouncy house that my mom rented for 3 days.

Now we are in Franklin, MA to visit with some friends and their kids for a few days and then it’s back to reality on Friday. Best news about flying from East to West is that you get those 3 hours back once you land in LA and it’s only Friday! We’ll have the weekend to recoup from our travels. I always look forward to vacations, but I do enjoy returning to my house, my basenji and my bed.