In Which I Mention Nipples and Packing Tape, But Not In The Way You'd Think

I just finished putting the baby down and have to note that I'm just nuts about that kid. We're still nursing, but I have some Mysterious Boob Malady on my left side (former breastfeeding moms out there: the hell? I've had a couple milk blisters that have healed, but I still have sharp, throbbing pain during nursing and afterward. I was thinking plugged duct, but no swelling, no tenderness, just shooting pains. The doctor ruled out thrush and infection. Help!), so I switched him back to the right after a while. We've talked about the "owie" on Mama's milkmaker, so Tankbaby will sign and say "ow" and then pat me gently, and then kiss me somewhere between nipple and clavicle. But tonight, he just kept kissing: my neck, then my chin, then he would put one hand on my cheek and lay one on me. Smiles, starting peaceful and becoming coy, and more kisses, damp smacks that bear at least a passing resemblance to human kisses, instead of those open-mouthed, drooly stamps of a few months ago. In the dark, his intent face looming before me, a hand pulling me closer, smooch, smile. Repeat approximately 14 times. I know I could have put a stop to it and insisted he lie back down for bed, but I couldn't refuse. He's changing so fast now (almost like he's getting older every day), and I know that in a very short time, I'll look back and remember wistfully the days when I was allowed to smother him with kisses and vice versa.

I don't care if he does eventually kill MOTH, drive me to suicide, and blind himself: it's really freaking cute right now.

(An aside: I just did a brief Wikipedia search in preparation for making that Oedipus reference and remembered just how twisted that whole story is. If it's been a while since you've read your Sophocles, go check it out. And remember, we read that shit in high school.)


***

Elly has set forth a challenge for me: write about packing tape. You ask, I give.

This one time? I had a boyfriend who preferred video games with the boys to spending time with his girlfriend. One night, after he'd forgotten he'd promised to come over, I went over to his dorm room. I could hear the Mortal Kombat music through the door. With the help of a good and immature friend, I carefully stretched clear packing tape across the door jamb, until the entire frame was covered entirely with a thin film of sticky tape. When he opened the door, full of Mountain Dew and in dire need of a bathroom, he stumbled straight into it.

And I left him there for days until he died, and then I ate him.

OK. So I don't have a really good packing tape story (although the crummy boyfriend part of the story is, sadly, true). But I did find this. And this. And this (do check out the uber-creepy tutorial on that one). Partial credit?