From Babies to Burns

Continuing the list theme...

1. Did I mention that my sister is pregnant again? After already having two girls, she and her hubby were excited to learn that they are having a little boy, due in late September. My boy is thrilled to have another male in the family.

My five-year-old niece has been trying to come up with a name for her new baby brother. She is partial to the names Sam and Andrew, so in a stroke of genius, she suggested that they combine them into one amazing name... Sandrew. It has a nice ring, don't you think?

I don't think my sister is as crazy about the name as her daughter is. That hasn't stopped me from calling the baby "Sandrew" as often as possible. It's funny how teasing my sister never get's old.

2. Ever since we bought our first digital camera, I have become lazy about printing pictures. I make photo books on my Mac and am constantly snapping photos. In fact, there are close to ten thousand photographs on my computer as we speak.

This weekend I decided to do something about it. I had a selection of my favorite pictures printed, placed them in frames and have hung/set them around the house. I wish I would have done it sooner.

3. I am on a mission to clean out our closets. They have reached such a state of disorder that I can no longer tolerate it. I have grown weary of digging around in search of the boy's lost action figure, a missing article of clothing or the tripod for the camera. Surely I can find a better way to spend my time.

I decided to tackle the worst offender first and got to work on the boy's closet. In an effort to really get things organized, I enlisted his help. Together, we packed up two boxes of stuff to store in the attic, three bags of unwanted items to give away and one alarmingly large bag of trash.

The boy loves his tidy closet. All of his things are organized and within easy reach. I was thrilled by the sheer volume of stuff that he was willing to discard. It makes me feel somehow lighter. Like a burden of unnecessary things has been lifted, or more literally, tossed out the door.

4. For some reason, my skin seems to have become immune to sunblock. Allow me to explain.

My boy's skin never tans. Ever. His face and arms sprout new freckles at an alarming rate, but the skin itself remains milky white. I am constantly slathering 50+ SPF sunblock to his face, neck and arms in an effort to prevent a painful burn.

By contrast, my skin turns a lovely shade of brown in the summer sun. Of course I apply a little sunscreen, like all good people should, but I've never had to worry about burning. This year, something has changed.

Three times I have applied my boy's "total eclipse" sunscreen, and three times I've returned home from the pool looking like a lobster. The boy, by contrast, is as white and sun-free as ever. Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?

While the burns have been uncomfortable, to say the least, I am far more concerned with the long-term effects that repeated frying will have on my skin. I foresee a lecture from the dermatologist in my future.