I feel like I’m always try to reassure my husband that our 3 1/2 year-old’s behavior is COMPLETELY NORMAL for her age.

Like when Dylan wakes me up in the morning by licking my arm.

Or when she kisses every page of the book I’m reading her.

Or at night, when Rick says to her, “Honey, it’s bedtime. Why aren’t you sleeping?” and she responds, “I am sleeping. In a different way. With my eyes open.” Oh, that’s cool. I should try that. I’d get so much more accomplished.

Or when she wears my nude, control top pantyhose to the playground.

Or wears this outfit to the water park on a gorgeous sunny day, despite my suggestion that a bathing suit and flip flops might do the trick. Rainboots? Really!?

Or when she insists that her sister Summer needs to wear a down winter coat on an 80 degree day.

I double insisted that Summer did not.

No worries Rick. I see lots of young kids in the neighborhood and they are all just as nuts. But he always looks at me like he’s not quite convinced. Like perhaps we are inadvertently raising some kind of irrational wild thing.

This past weekend, a colleague of Rick’s told us about an experience she had, in an elevator, with her 5 year-old son.

A very heavy woman got on the elevator and her son said quite loudly, “MOMMY, SHE’S FAT.”

I mean, wouldn’t you just crawl into that musak box right then and there?

Of course, the mother made him apologize and the woman was very gracious about the whole thing but still…

I think I’ll stick with my kid who likes to wear control top panty hose.

Oh and I’ll also keep the other one who wears pink, princess heels to the beach.

mama bird notes
Looking for some children’s music with a little New Orleans funk? Click on “drooling over this” to read about an awesome kids’ CD. They had me at Radiators…

I’m crying in my crab cake sandwich over the closing of New York City’s campy French diner, Florent. You can read more at New York City Moms Blog.

As some of you know, my husband has Crohn’s disease, a debilitating and sometimes life threatening disease that causes painful inflammation of the digestive tract. Since his own diagnosis 17 years ago, medical advances have been made. But instead of becoming less prevalent, Crohn’s is becoming more and more common. Almost a million and a half Americans are now suffering from this disease and many of them are young children.

This week I’m giving away some beautiful note cards, created by artist Alexa Maizes, a 10 year-old suffering from Crohn’s Disease. She also sells her note cards on her website and a portion of the proceeds go the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Just leave a comment this week on the mama bird diaries and you are entered to win.

This week in NYC, Rick will be helping to raise money to find a cure for Crohn’s. If you feel like donating click here.

To view a Fox 5 NY piece on Rick click here. I even make a cameo! And you can’t tell I have a poochy, mama belly!! Oh, and Rick is pretty good too.

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