monday at the madhouse :: so much better

My kid is back.I'm not sure if it has come through in the last, oh, three or four posts, but we've been having a hard time over here. There's been a lot of illness, a serious lack of sleep, some teething etc etc. Through all of this, Ezra has become... shall we say, the "Luke Skywalker" of the family.And by that, we mean he's been a whiner. It was going on for so long that I was seriously worried that this was just who he had become and that "no" was his answer for everything (bright future in IT at a major corporation at least!) and that we had some serious lessons in "bucking up" to work on.But then! Then the New Year started and he slept. And slept and slept. And he started eating EVERYTHING again. Like, last night? For dinner? He had three helpings of salad (!?!) and a full bowl of lentil stew (which has curry! and paprika! and all kinds of nutty spices in it!), a big slice of naan and then on top of that he wanted some oranges for dessert. A toddler who smells like Indian food? I'll take it!I seriously could not be more relieved.Not because I think this will last (hahahhahaha! See? I'm learning!), but because I know this little guy that I love so much, who is easy going and loves to laugh and sing to himself in the car and eat all of the things -- I'll know he's not lost forever next time. I'll know that I just need to be patient. And that right there? That's an important thing to learn.This is Ezra playing with his rad new dump truck that the amazing Matt and Bryan gave him for Christmas. And he's in a totally fabulous jammie set from Ina in Norway!Yeah... I am just now seeing how much the dog hair is sticking to those clothes. I could photoshop that out so you all thought we live like Martha Stewart. But now you know the truth. Magda owns the couch. She is the queen. As if there was ever any doubt. On Saturday we went to a local gallery to see a WONDERFUL photo exhibit of Elliot Erwitt's work. If you are unfamiliar, please click on that link. His dog photos, in particular, have such a great sense of humor about them.Just a straight-on shot so we can all admire that cute hat. This was taken Sunday night after that big dinner. LOOK AT HOW HIS BELLY IS STICKING OUT. It's like he's growing a child in there. It makes me laugh. I love a fat, happy kid.