Nicole Tasker Woods

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!

Nothing’s worse than your child getting sick. The sniffles are one thing, but vomiting is a whole different story. No one likes puke. It’s a million times worse when it’s a 2 1/2 year old who looks up at you with wide, pathetic eyes and when you ask him, “Baby, what’s wrong?” his reply is to vomit in your lap – those are days I wish I was at the office. I love my boy and I am a firm believer in mommy-love making your sick child feel better sooner. But I do not love throw-up and I hate the sour smell of it that lingers on my hands after 12 washes.

Aidan & I had a sweet moment that is still so vivid in my mind…

I was in the midst of a head cold and called in sick to work. He was finally done with throwing up (for the morning) and we were watching Monsters Inc. He was lying in my arms and we were on the couch, cuddled up under his blankie. His tiny fingers were gripping the hand of his bunny-lovie as we napped together for an hour just like that. We were both feeling pretty awful, but lying like this together made us feel comfortable, relaxed. I slowly stood up, holding onto my sick boy and walked him to his bed so he could nap a little longer. I went to my bed and did the same.

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 has been incredibly windy out here in sunny Los Angeles, making the ‘nice sunny days’ (as Aidan would call them) pretty chilly!  It’s hard for me to keep my hair in line during the windy fall days, and I’m sure most women feel this way about such unfriendly weather.  If it were up to me, it would be warm and sunny year-round, but I guess we have to break out the sweaters & UGGs every once in a while.

This weekend, we had rain on Saturday, which added to the unpleasantness of the weather, but I sucked it up and put on a baseball cap and hoodie so that my son & I could enjoy the weekend.  Sunday was dry with no rain – just unbearably cold gusts of wind.  Despite the wind, we spent over an hour at the park running around, chasing birds & squirrels, practicing tee-ball & soccer.  It was a great way to stay warm and burn off all that energy we had pent up since the rainy day before.

Ryan even met up with us towards the end of our park-time and he acquiesced to Aidan’s request for him to kick the ball into the sky.  During which, Aidan would squeal in a high pitch as the ball flew up into the air as if mimicking the motion of the ball with his voice; as the ball fell down to the ground, his squeal would turn downwards from high to low.

We have so much fun with this little boy, it should seriously be a crime.