Ride On, Part 2

Wouldn't you know it?! Roman, who looked too little to walk, too little to talk, then too little to have an opinion (all things he does now with particular gusto), today became the smallest looking person ever to ride a bike without training wheels.

Yup, here he is today, cruising the driveway after Anthony removed the shackles:

I'm especially impressed by his his multi-tasking abilities: riding sans training wheels while paying compliments to my footwear ("Mom, I like your shoes") and pointing out dings in our neighbor's truck. Nothing gets by that kid.

The Gift of Snark

Mark this one as another milestone day for Ben. And, nope, he still can't tie shoes or mow the lawn, but the kid can (drum roll please)...

Recognize sarcasm!

And thank goodness...we've been laying it on pretty thick since long before he was born.

So, there we were, driving home from the gym, when I commented aloud about sharing the road with a particularly super duper excellent driver.

After a pause, Ben asked, "Mom, are you being funny?"

Hallelujah, he gets it!

Maybe it was inevitable. Our friend Jeremiah predicted during my pregnancy, "that's going to be one sarcastic kid." But he also labeled Wichita "the town that humor forgot," so I started to worry that the gift of dry humor was locked up with the Scarecrow's brain and Tin Man's heart.

Thankfully, I've found and befriended a little pocket of good great-humored people, who aren't openly put-off by my sarcasm. Hopefully they realize I come from a long line of established smart asses, then I married one, so it's beyond my control.

But I can't tell you how many times my (hilarious!) comments to strangers, waitstaff, passersby, etc. have been met by....

Crickets...

Eye rolls...

Blank stares...

Offense.

So, either I change my tone or embrace my new audience: Ben and Roman. And the latter seems more fitting, especially considering Roman's latest, the eye roll, which he was nice enough to let me capture:

Just remind me, when they're 15 and 16, that I once loved their gift of snark.

Laugh Lines

I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be the one barfing on the night of my birthday, but in one of the many "wow, how birthdays have changed" moments from yesterday (my 35th), sweet Roman was the sick one.

Poor guy is fine now - just one of those mysterious, 2 a.m. throw-ups - and we're on load five of bed linen laundry (his and ours).

But, for that reason and a million others, my birthday has me reflecting. On my reflection, sure (and my hard-earned laugh lines), but mostly on how I still feel 19, but do so many things that would have mortified my 19-year-old self.

Take for example, my absolute perfect birthday yesterday: I woke up, removed my Breathe Right strip, had my first eggnog latte of the season, shopped with Roman, did some Christmas decorating, chatted with family, then remained sober until after dark. (And after the kids were in bed, thankyouverymuch.) Polished off the night with a movie, Japanese take-out and Rombauer Chard. Perfect-o.

So maybe my birthday isn't the best example (save for the BR strip), but as 35 crept closer and then pounced, I adopted some not-so-youthful habits. You know...

• Listening to soft rock music stations. Adult contemporary. Easy listening. Whatever you want to call it, it's the only place where you get Wilson Philips, Dave Mathews, U2 and ABBA. Hard to beat.
• Griping, "who would call so late?" if my phone rings after 8. Actually, 7.
• Wearing leisure wear to pick up Ben and Roman from school.
• Talking about the weather.
• Talking about anything whatsoever to uninterested customer service people.
• Did I mention the Breathe Right strip?!

The list goes on, but...well I don't want to bore you like I bore those dear, trapped check-out clerks.

Still, all of that (and much more) considered, I'll take 35 over 19 any day. It's a good life; I guess that's why I hate to see the numbers tick higher.

Anyway, I'll wrap up these b'day ramblings. Roman's healthy and holding down food; we had a fun, funny day; and I guess my resolution is to follow the lead of this wise birthday card lady: