singing, swaddling, and procrastinating

Yesterday I had a hard time getting out of bed. So instead of trying, I gave in and quietly narrated my physical woes to the headboard in song. (Remember that scene in The Lion King when Zazu, the parrot, warbles, "Nobody knows the trouble I'm in, nobody knows my sorrow..."? That was the inspiration for my very own song of sorrow.)

Abe, who was studying scriptures on the other side of the room, promptly came over and applied some of the techniques we learned from The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD. In the video, Dr. Karp recommends that parents turn on a "calming reflex" in their fussy babies by swaddling them, swinging them, turning the on their side, shhh'ing them, and giving them a pacifier to suck on. When Abe's loud ssshhing noises failed (Dr. Karp recommends sshhing "with vigor"), a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

He ripped off all the covers and proceeded to do this:

 

 Yep, I got swaddled. And you know what? It totally worked! With all of  my movement constricted, I found myself staring placidly at the ceiling in a state of contented stupor. Abe was very pleased with himself.

On another note, happy Valentine's day! I woke up this morning in a panic because I had planned absolutely nothing for this day. I knew Valentine's day was coming, but I have mentally equated it to a midterm paper that I'm putting off. But this morning, there was no more getting around it. Valentine's day was here, and something had to be done about it.

Like any good procrastinator, I switched into emergency mode as soon as I realized that the deadline had arrived. I went to the kitchen and got to work.

I cut some hearts into toast and fried an egg in each. As you can see, one heart looks like it needs an angioplasty.

I then made a bunch of heart sandwiches for Abe's lunch. Some of them are peanut butter and cherry jam, and others are cucumber and trout pate.

With breakfast and lunch now taken care of, I can go back to procrastinating for a couple hours until dinner approaches. Up until now, the heart shaped cookie cutters have saved my life. I wonder how far I can take this...heart shaped salmon, anyone?