Wi-zard in the Hiz-ouse

one of the things i got for my baby shower that i thought was way over the top but came to realllllllly love is the video monitor. it has a little 2 1/2" color screen that shows P's tiger mobile in the perfect shade of clemson orange. at night, you can see with night vision, which weirdly picks up on only some patterns so that P's striped jammies will appear solid colored but at the same time you can see every single little monkey, vine and banana on his bed sheet. it's nice to make sure he hasn't stopped screaming only because some terrible unforeseeable disaster has befallen him.

unfortunately, P discovered that if he pulls the bumper down and looks through the slats of his cage, he can see me. although he thinks seeing mommy behind bars is perhaps the most hilarious thing ever, it is much hilarious when i am not there. so mostly i like to use the video monitor to spy on him and secretly watch his little mind at work.

last night i was sitting in bed with a bowl of ice cream on my lap watching P on the little screen after i put him down. (sometimes this is a whole evening of entertainment for aaron and i -- even better than trying to convince him that I AM america's next top model...) anyway, he fussed half-heartedly and wiggled his little legs around for a few minutes. then he would stop and give his best miss america smile to the left, right and up, at all the little animals gazing at him from the mobile and bumper. then he would fuss again. he repeated this cycle 3 or 4 times before he made what appeared to be a very concious and informed decision that he was going to sleep. he turned his head to the side, closed his eyes, and was gone. he's such a funny little guy -- way too much like his daddy for me to sleep well at night.

for example, sometimes i peer into the crib to see this:

and hear aaron speaking in best wizard voice. good-bye panzer. do not tell anyone you have seen me.

wait, whaaaaaaaat?

aaron is not one for impulse buys. nor is he a buyer of mostly useless crap. yet somehow we left the celtic bar with a panzer-sized wizard puppet, complete with purple robes and long flowing beard. i promptly named him the wi-ZARD and such began the wi-ZARD's reign over the ruda household.

the wi-ZARD appears fairly frequently, usually to lecture P on the importance of sleeping through the night, and that his failure to do so makes daddy very mad and mommy very cranky. sometimes the wi-ZARD advises P that it would be in his best interest to learn how to change his own diaper and/or stop pooping his pants altogether. P of course listens very intently, giggles hysterically, and dreams of the day he can get the wi-ZARD's beard in his chompers. which will also likely make daddy very mad.

my life is a circus and it's unclear which of my boys is the ringleader.