Saturday, April 05, 2008

cute


we were in wal-mart yesterday when a complete stranger came up to me and told me "you have to have more kids; your little boy is ADORABLE!" it took me by surprise somewhat, and i wondered for awhile how she would have responded if i had said "no, i don't want to have anymore." i agree completely that he is cute, but there are many times when i wonder just how cute he actually is, knowing that my view of him is utterly tainted with mushy love.

recently i began the monumental task of organizing photos and putting them in albums. i hadn't done this since august 2006, and i knew that every month it would get worse and worse. finally i just dug in and started gathering the photos and putting them in piles according to month. being quite anal and organized, i wasn't able to just write "spring 2007" on the back of a picture; i had to figure out exactly which month (and preferably, which day) that photo had been taken. it took me FOREVER to label and organize a year's worth of pictures. now i have to develop the ones taken from august 2007 onwards! anyhow, while looking through the ENORMOUS amounts of photos we took of tristan as a newborn (please, i want to know WHY we simply had to have 10 different pictures of him sleeping developed), i was surprised first of all by how that little baby turned into our little boy and second of all, how we failed to notice as new parents that our child's nose was so large. seriously, he had a HUGE nose. thankfully, he's obviously grown into it, but in some early pictures, all i can see is two big nostrils with eyes and a mouth in the background. (if you don't believe me, check out
his blog and click on the archives from jan-feb 06)

everyone knows the cardinal rule of never letting parents know that their kid is funny looking, but i always thought that if our kid was funny looking, we'd be able to notice it ourselves. obviously, we had our lovey dovey glasses on back then, but are we still wearing them? is it completely absurd of me to pass by a dozen other babies in strollers in the mall and still think "my baby is the cutest of them all!"? and if it's not completely absurd, is it completely true? because i'll bet you anything that the other mommies are thinking the same thing about their child. hmmm...something to ponder.

so, in wal-mart, we bought tristan his first pair of crocs and also his first wading pool from money that gramps gave him for easter. when i had the brilliant idea of getting him a little pool, i was thinking of the pools from my childhood...you know, the round ones with sides that you just sat and splashed in. when we saw the assortment of pools they make nowadays, we were a little blown away. for a mere $20 you can get a pool that not only has blow-up animals sitting on the edges, but also a slide, a floaty toy ring toss, and a part that shoots water if you plug the hose into it. seriously, when did backyard wading pools evolve into complete kiddie playgrounds? i had no idea. of course, for a mere $8 you can still get the typical little round pool, but josh and i, imagining our son frolicking in the spray, giggling down the little slide, and splashing in the water, decided we couldn't live without getting the crazy amusement park in a box. just watch, he'll take one look at it and start crying and that will be the end of that :)

today josh and i are going on a date to see a matinee at the movie theater. what we watch depends on what time tristan wakes up from his nap. i'm excited, but just realized that i haven't put a stitch of makeup on yet and my hair is still wet from my shower. better go attend to that, then.

9 comments:

Meredith said...

True confession: I am terrible at telling people their children are so cute/sweet/etc. Unless it is fully true. I can't explain it, I just don't get wowed by too many other peoples kids, I have a tendancy to think in the other direction (my kid is better, your kid is obnoxious, I am sooo done with that stage etc.) I don't even know how to congratulate people properly when they announce that they are expecting.
I can't explain it.

Aimee said...

Heidi this is a hilarious post. I have recently looked at pictures of our kids as infants and thought that they seemed cuter at the time - and everyone said they were so cute... funny. Maybe they were cute but they've just gotten cuter. I went back and looked at Tristan's baby photos, I guess I see what you mean about his nose looking big, but he really was a cutie. And now he is cuter than ever and I mean it! So he must just keep getting cuter and cuter too.

Dena said...

So Jay and I used to walk around and think, those poor parents and their ugly children, I mean they just don't look as cute as Calvin, and now that they've seen Calvin, they will no longer think their own child is cute. Those poor parents. (it's sad, but true, very true, I still laugh at it, Jay still thinks it's true!) :o)

But I do think Tristan is too cute. So the Walmart lady was correct....of course I haven't seen him in awhile...let me go check his blog, I'll be back.

Dena said...

it's me again, okay, he's definately cute and I don't see the big nose AT ALL! too precious. so sweet the pics of him with your parents.

Shannon said...

yeah, I've never made it a secret that I don't go around telling everyone their baby is cute. I don't always think my kids are cuter.

Our kids look like us. why wouldnt we think they are the cutest creatures ever? God made it that way on purpose so that we would love and take care of them.

And yeah, Tristan is way cute. I could see him on the cover of a magazine. Classic little boy looks.

L&D said...

Like I've said on my blog two posts ago.....it is a God-given materalistic view. Every mother must believe their child is the cutest, smartest baby or they wouldn't have anymore! The human race depends on mothers believe their child is the best. If not, the earth population would dwindle to nothing.

Lovella ♥ said...

I actually don't tell everyone their baby is cute. I'm terribly biased I know with my own grandbabies, and I don't even care.

YOur little sweetie pie .. is definately cute.

Unknown said...

Very cute post~

Z-Mama said...

Cute post, Heidi! Yes, your son is one of the cutest little boys ever, and you should take this as a huge compliment. I am one of those like Meredith where it is hard for me to compliment others on their children. It's a weird problem I have. People ask about my babies or say they're cute while pushing their own child in a stroller, and I just can't bring myself to return the favor! Isn't that horrible?!? Unless I think it is completely true, I won't say anything but 'Thank you!!!'