I don’t know why I didn’t just go to her first. It seemed logical: chronic dental nerve pain? See a dentist. Sinus infection causing said chronic pain? Call my doctor. But, no. It wasn’t either of those that gave me the real relief. It was, of course, Zhining, with her crazy voodoo green water in a tiny glass bottle.

I must have looked pretty terrible when I came to pick up Robbie. I hear that, for two days, I looked like Death. Plain and simple. Not even warmed over. Zhining looked at me and told me that I must not be feeling any better. She said, “Wait one minute. I have your cure. Just one minute.” And she was gone to the back room, rummaging for something while I waited, hoping for a miracle.

And, boy, did she have it. The glass bottle probably measures no taller than two inches, but I only needed two drops to know it was the miracle elixir I’d been hoping for (and that Zhining had promised, assuring me that everyone in China keeps a bottle of this in their pockets, just in case). Feeling another round of throbbing pain taking hold on my temple as I merged from 128 to Route 2, I opened the bottle and rubbed a few drops onto my forehead and across my jaw. Almost instant relief.

Vicodin did nothing to numb the pain initially. Forget about any over-the-counter remedies. And the antibiotic took next to forever to cause any relief (well, 36 hours felt like forever at the time). And I couldn’t very well keep going to the dentist and begging for shots of Novocain. Who does that? So, thank goodness for glass bottles of green water. After all, as the pamphlet claims, it cures anything from “evil winds” to mosquito bites. Unfortunately, it’s only sold in China. I’ll be sending money with Zhining this summer to stock up. We’ll definitely be keeping a bottle in every coat pocket and purse. You never know when you might encounter an evil wind.

Yeah. About the vanilla. That remedy lasted about fifteen minutes. I didn’t think I was ever going to get to sleep last night. I took a hot shower, two Tylenol PMs, and covered my mouth in a generic numbing agent. Then, when the headache really started pounding, I sent Justin downstairs for some (generic) Excedrin. Ironically, when I woke up this morning, I found the box of headache medicine on the kitchen counter. Unopened. So what, you ask, did my darling husband give me? An additional three Tylenol PMs!

Despite an excellent night of sleep, the pain started up almost immediately after I woke up and continued to get progressively worse throughout the day. The ladies at Gentle Dental were kind enough to let me come in at 3:00 instead of 5:30. After three rounds of x-rays, there seemed to be nothing really wrong with me. The dentist gave me a shot of Novocain, and less than a minute later I was pain free. No toothache. No headache. It was a miracle of modern medicine.

Apparently, your sinuses can cause tooth pain. I had no idea this was even a possibility, having spent the entire day sure I was going to need a root canal or a tooth pulled. But, I saw it for myself on the x-rays: my sinus, sitting right on top of the nerves. The dentist kindly told me he’d prefer not to start drilling through my teeth, which my mouth (and bank account!) greatly appreciated. He recommended Mucinex, a neti pot, and some Vicodin (just in case).

Now here I am, four hours later. On the couch, Novocain slowly wearing off. Pain in my teeth and pounding in my head. I’ve done the Mucinex. I’ve done the neti pot. I’m just waiting for it all to kick in. I figure it’s good that the pain in my teeth is just a dull ache instead of a sharp pain. I will get better. I will feel fabulous. I will avoid the dentist until my cleaning in August. I do believe in miracles!

Back in the fall, I had seven cavities filled. Seven. In two of my back molars, they had to drill all the way down to the nerve and told me that I was just biding time until a root canal. On top of that, I grind my teeth. Compound all of that, and you have a major toothache. Well, actually, I have a major toothache.

It got so bad tonight that even pain relievers weren’t working. Tylenol. Aleve. I resorted to Googling “toothache remedies.” There are some real nut jobs out there. And people with terrible teeth. One of my favorites? “Put the clove on the tooth that aches. Or, if you can, in the rotting or decaying tooth.” Really? If I have a hole in my tooth big enough to put a clove of anything in it, don’t expect me to admit it here. Or at least not on a public forum where I don’t have trusted readers…

At any rate… If you’re ever in the same position, I recommend using vanilla extract. It actually works. My toothache is gone. My headache is gone. And I feel remotely human again.

Mother’s Day started like so many days: up before the rest of the family to start laundry and let the dog out. And then Robbie was up and the day was officially started with no chance of catching a few more minutes of sleep. But, he was all smiles and hugs and kisses, almost as if he realized that it was Mother’s Day.

Justin took great pains to make sure I had a perfect Mother’s Day. We went to church as a family, took a trip to Barnes & Noble, had brunch at Dalya’s, and took a family walk. He sent me for a massage and took me out to dinner, leaving Robbie at home with a babysitter. It may very well have been the busiest Mother’s Day. But it was pretty perfect.

About a month ago, I read an article in Real Simple magazine about the perfect Mother’s Day gift. It’s called the Mom Book, and the author’s children write in it as their gift to her on special occasions. I told Justin that was what I wanted to start, so we went to Barnes & Noble for me to pick out just the right book.

While I was gone for my massage, Justin and Robbie got to work making Robbie’s first entry in the Mom Book. It’s a colorful expression of Robbie’s enthusiasm for me as a mom. But, perhaps the most touching part, is the three flowers taped inside. While we were on our family walk, Robbie picked three dandelions and put them in the seat of his riding toy that he took with us. Justin went out to the yard and found the flowers to include in my book, so I would always remember our walk.

I’m not sure that there is a good way to preserve dandelions, but I’ll be researching online just in case. I love that now I can have memories from special occasions like this all in one place.

Robbie and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with our good friend Julia. I had an extra coupon for $6 off dinner that I shared with a gentleman at the table next to ours. He was pleasantly surprised, and I felt pretty nice about my good deed for the day.

Upon leaving the restaurant, the gentleman stopped by our table to talk to Robbie, who had a death grip on his newest balloon. He looked at Robbie, handed him a $10 bill, and said, “Here you go, young man. Tell your mom to buy you something nice. Happy Cinqo de Mayo!” And then he walked out of the restaurant.

Robbie spent the rest of dinner playing with his new $10, very pleased with the attention from a new person. And I learned a valuable lesson about doing something nice for other people.

I never planned – or wanted – to have a child enthralled with Elmo. Ever. Sure, I have cats and a dog named after Sesame Street. But, Elmo the cat is actually my least favorite. And Elmo has now infiltrated our lives.

I don’t personally have the words for all the Elmo that has taken over our lives… Perhaps it’s best to just show it in pictures.

Robbie picked out his own Elmo shoes at Marshall’s this week.

Wanting to be a good boy and have his picture taken, Robbie grabbed his Elmo book and hopped on the potty.

The most recent additions involve a chicken dance Elmo and a dancing/story telling Elmo. Both are a hit, especially now that Robbie has learned how to make them work. But, I’ll be honest, I like that he has something special that interests him. Between Elmo, cars, trains, and planes, Robbie has some things that he’s interested in. For a long time, I just bought toys that I thought he would like, and he never really played with them. Now that I can focus on something he loves, it makes picking out surprises that much more fun. Now, if only there was some place to put all the other toys…

Well, Zhining was right. Justin really does need to dress Robbie warmly because, when he doesn’t, Robbie gets sick. He had a little bit of a cough on Sunday and, against my better judgement, I took Robbie to a play date. When we got home that night, Robbie was exhausted and couldn’t stop coughing. And he didn’t stop all night long.

I stayed home with Robbie on Monday, not feeling well myself at all after staying up all night listening to coughing and then waking up with horrible congestion. I would have given anything to send him to daycare by 10:00 in the morning. He cried and fussed every time I breathed and it made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want to eat, and he would only drink out of a bottle. Robbie wanted to be held but freaked out if I needed to shift my body. At one point, all he could do was hold his balloon and cry. Pitifully.

Justin couldn’t get home fast enough for my liking. There was absolutely nothing I could do to make Robbie happym, and it broke my heart. And split my head. Which was pounding by 10:00. I want to be able to cuddle my child and make him feel better. But I have absolutely no idea what to do when none of my regular strategies work. Thank goodness he was feeling better by Tuesday morning and I could escape the confines of 9 Bartlett Avenue for the relative peace and quiet of Lawrence Public Schools.

Fortunately, within a day, Robbie was happily holding his balloon and back to Swiffering the floor for me.

We finally did it. We ventured out into the world with Zhining. She had been wanting to have lunch in Chinatown for a few months, and, last Saturday, the timing finally worked. Her daughter, Lily, had a dentist appointment at 11:00, and we drove in to meet them for lunch at China Pearl (she finally had to write the name of the restaurant down for me to understand what “China Puhl” was).

I’ve never had a culinary experience quite like this. Zhining ordered everything from the carts that were pushed past our table. I still have no idea exactly what we ate. There were noodles, dumplings, mushrooms filled with something or another, some sort of Chinese potato that I din’t think actually had any potato in it. Robbie was in heaven, shoveling rice and dumpling into his mouth as fast as he could. Of course, he knew the “real” names for all of the food and kept asking for more.

About halfway through the meal, Zhining looked at me, shocked. She immediately called the waiter over and told him I needed a fork. Zhining then told us that she wasn’t sure why everyone else needed to make eating so difficult with extra utensils, since the Asians were able to make everything so simple with chopsticks…

As the meal started to wrap up, Justin told Zhining that he would like to pay for everyone’s lunch to thank her for everything she does. Zhining stood up, grabbed her purse and the check, and bolted to the cashier. She was having nothing to do with anyone paying for lunch. Justin and I just stared at each other, dumbfounded. I don’t think we’d ever seen anything like it.

I am not a good bedtime Mom. Something about me makes Robbie want to run around like a mad man. He doesn’t like to sit on my lap and read a story or say prayers. He doesn’t want to sing songs or cuddle. No, my child wants to “watch TD Elmo” every night. I have started telling him that Elmo went to bed like a good boy, and he seems to be buying that for the time being. I cannot, however, get him to stop saying “TD”. Since he’s changed the way he meows, though, I’m going to relish his mispronunciations for a while.

Just to drift for a minute… Robbie learned how to really meow on our cruise. He’s been saying “ow!” when asked what a kitty says. However, two boys were pretending to be cats at the pool on vacation, crawling around the edge and then creeping back into the water (I guess they weren’t typical cats, since they liked the water). Anyway, Robbie joined in, and the three of them meowed for about five minutes while they circled the pool. He hasn’t “ow”ed since…

But back to bedtime. Justin is everything I am not at bedtime. Robbie sits in his lap. They read books (well, usually they just get through one) and sing songs. Of course, they’re usually made up, much to Rob’s delight. And then, although I’m aware that at this point you may think I’m lying, they cuddle. Robbie wraps his arms around Justin’s neck and they rock.

The sight of this melts my heart. Not having spent time with my father for the past 17 years, I know how important time with a father can be, and I love that my boys are making memories together. But, it would be a lie if it didn’t make me a little jealous. Sure, when he falls down or gets scared, Robbie wants his mom. But that doesn’t happen every night (at least not if I’m doing my job right). Bedtime does… Instead of focusing on my jealousy, I suppose my energy would be better spent being thrilled that the two most important people in my life love each other so much.

Remember the days when your child let you know he was awake by screaming? Or softly babbling in his crib for a few minutes while you listened from the comfort of your bed? The latter was definitely my favorite; I have no idea what he was saying, but he sounded so intent and earnest. And we still get that some times, but not in the past two days.

Yesterday, I was almost finished getting dressed when I heard Robbie start to stir. He didn’t even sit up before he started with the “Mama? Mama? (Long pause) Daddy?” And then, still lying down, we heard him whisper, “Hungry. Belly hungry. Mama? Belly.” He truly is my child – thinking about breakfast the minute he wakes up!

This morning, Robbie was still sprawled across his crib, face down and arms stretched above his head. Justin and I peaked in on him on our way downstairs, and he didn’t move a muscle. I finished getting ready and Justin hopped in the shower. On my way out, I yelled, “I love you!” Justin yelled back that he did, indeed, love me, too (there’s nothing like a little reinforcement in the mornings). All of a sudden, someone rolled over upstairs and a little voice called out, “Wuv you!”