If you’ve spent any amount of time with Noah in real life, you have heard him sing. Quite often. And if you’ve been with him in the last two months, you’ve most likely heard him sing “Defying Gravity.”

“Have you seen Wicked?” he’ll ask as you walk in the door. “Oh, you’ve GOT to see it!”

Cue the song.

Now Noah hasn’t seen Wicked on Broadway, and he won’t for quite awhile. But he’s seen fuzzy YouTube clips (which I showed him one day because of his Wizard of Oz obsession — never expecting quite this reaction, and which taught him to call Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel “his girls”). And of course he listens to the songs I downloaded for him — practically on repeat.

Although he’s quite willing to belt out notes at any occasion — walking through the grocery store, for instance — he completely shuts down if there’s a camera on him. He will not perform on demand, thankyouverymuch.

Except for the other day, when he reluctantly agreed to let a video camera in on his private session. Aside from the vertically aligned iPhone video and light-saturated room, here’s a pretty good rendition of Defying Gravity a la Noah:

Aaaand scene.

A future performer?

Perhaps.

In case you missed them, here are some of my favorite recent posts over at Babble.com:

• 20 pretty hairstyles for long hair
• An easy and trendy DIY idea
• These are so cute, but pricey. Luckily you can WIN them!
• The best new strollers for spring 2012 — including Bugaboo, Maclaren, UPPAbaby, and more!
• I learned a lot about green home renovation from putting this fascinating round-up together.
• My favorite eco-friendly beauty picks.
• Baby gear that you probably don’t know is eco-friendly — including cars seats and strollers.
• How to have an eco-friendly baby shower — easily!
• An EARTH DAY giveaway!
• WIN cloth diapers! Yay!
• Look how fast time flies by.
• 20 Web sites that every pregnant woman should know and love.
• 25 baby brands that every parent should know and love.
• Designer cribs and their budget twins.
• Gwyneth Paltrow recommended something I wrote. Eek!

 

Source: Hello.Jess/Tumblr

I know how many of you look forward to these cloth diaper giveways, so…ta-da!

I’m giving away a stash of Charlie Banana hybrid one-size cloth diapers (plus more goodies!) over at Babble.

Enter to win!

1. Noah’s first family portrait.

 

2. Wands.

When Noah was a baby, I secretly wished that he’d have a childhood “thing.” Remember that laundry detergent commercial where that little boy wore a beanie hat everywhere — even to bed — and his mom had to sneak it off his head just to wash it? That. Maybe it would be a superhero cape. A batman costume, even. Just something that was uniquely his.

And wands it is.

 

3. The faint smell of Justin’s new cologne after he leaves the house.

 

4. The magnifying glass always by his side, to examine.

 

5. The artwork piling up around our house.

 

6. Noah finally sitting down for a real haircut

…and being so well-behaved and patient.

 

7. The possibility of maybe, hopefully, finally setting down roots in a house of our own.

Eeek!

 

8. My new iPhone cover that matches my clothes.

 

9. Spending beautiful Thursday afternoons at the park, rather than at a desk.

And feeling so overwhelmingly grateful.

 

10. Noah singing songs from Wicked everywhere he goes.

Like, everywhere. And with DRAMA.

 

What’s making you happy right now at this very second?

A reader sent me this video — admittedly a pretty long time ago — and it’s worth a watch. Just to prove my point about that pregnancy/parenthood myth that bugs the heck out of me.

BAM! There it is.

Now, I’m not saying they don’t have a point. Of course there are things that are easier to do pre-kids — like biking across the country, for instance. Or jumping on a plane on an hour’s notice. Or jumping out of a plane without being preoccupied with life insurance policies.

But really, Honda? The Northern Lights? The only thing cooler than experiencing the Northern Lights would probably be watching my son looking up at the Northern Lights. My kid stares at a sunset like it’s the most beautiful painting he’s ever seen.

And building a fighting robot? How kick-ass would that be for a 9-year-old boy? Honestly.

CAN WE JUST STOP? Let’s stop. Let’s stop telling the world that parenthood is the end of accomplishments or goals. That we’re confined to housework and PTA meetings and traveling soccer matches in our mini vans. That we better get everything done before we have kids, because those little babies suck the life right out of us.

We can travel the world with kids in tow. We can become masters at our craft. We can become famous celebrities. We can change the goddamn world.

It’s not a Leap List, Honda; it’s a Life List. And parenthood is certainly not the end.

End rant.

As you were.

As I alluded to in my last post, being a wife is a lot different than I had imagined — 22 years old, standing in the courthouse with my 8-month-pregnant belly bulging from my brown dress. Just as every little girl dreams.

Three years later, I’ve learned a lot. Mostly that I still have a lot to learn.

As a girlfriend, you want to get comfortable, right? To make sure he’ll love you no matter what. He’ll say you look cute in sweats. He prefers you without makeup. You ask about exes and maybe even let your jealousy (or anger or any other unattractive emotion) go unchecked, juuuust to see what happens.

But as a wife, you suddenly realize that you’re going to grow old with this person — in all its wrinkled, sagging, grey-streaked glory. So why waste your youth in sweats? You suddenly realize that this person will be sitting across from you at the dining room table for the rest of your everloving life, so it’s more important to keep the peace than test your limits.

It’s hard to tell whether I’m learning how to be in a marriage or I’m learning how to be in an adult relationship — because they’re one in the same for me. And the pair of little eyes looking up at us, absorbing our words and habits as social norms, is even more reason to grow up. And fast.

At the risk of publishing something that I’ll laugh at it in 10 years (oh the naivety!), here are 15 things I do or think, in an effort to sustain my young marriage:

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We’ve now been married for 3 years and 4 months.

Our son is 3-years-and-2-months-old. (Ahem.)

I don’t say this so that you’ll assume we only got married because I was pregnant (partly true) or that I regret marrying him (not at all true), but because I know nothing about marriage without the context of parenting. Our decision to share a last name came from a place of practicality, not romance. And our commitment came from our decision to raise a child together, not from a signed document. To be honest, the idea of being “married” doesn’t hold nearly as much weight as the commitment of being co-parents and co-partners. Of wanting to create a stable and secure foundation for our family. Of wanting to model a healthy relationship for our children.

For us, that’s why divorce isn’t an option. And I don’t mean we’ll stay in an unhappy, unhealthy marriage for the “sake of the kids” — but I mean we’ll do everything to keep our marriage happy and healthy for the sake of our family. That’s what motivates us and keeps us in check.

That, and I love him very, very much.

I haven’t talked a lot about my husband or our marriage, besides my optimism about our young relationship. Yet, right now, it’s probably the biggest “thing” in my life. The “thing” that’s most on my mind. The “thing” that’s taking up the majority of my focus.

Mostly because I’m now realizing that I had no idea what the hell I was getting into.

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