Baby is here!

Baby Grace Kathleen Farley is here! 

Born July 6, 2011 7:55 p.m.,19.5 inches long and 7 lbs 14 oz.

The last week my back and hip were hurting so bad...I was already sleeping in my big comfy chair (thank you Mr. Fantastic!) and I really didn't know if I was going to make a week past my due date like I did with Fletch. So at my last appointment, I discussed with Dr. Owens and we scheduled me for induction on the 6th, 1 day past my due date. 

I was really nervous about inducing because I'd heard so many awful things about it - ranging from the Pitocin causing massive painful contractions to labor stalling out and requiring a C-section if you don't progress fast enough. And I've heard stories that most unscheduled C-sections happen on days before holidays or after 4 p.m. because the doctor wants to get home. Thankfully Dr. O assured me that she was on call that night, so had nowhere to go and would be happy to wait however long it took.

We went in at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. Heidi was a godsend, because she came over at like 4:30 a.m. to wait for Fletch to get up, then took him to her house to hang out with Brody and wait for the baby to come. I am so glad I have her in my life. She does so much for me and my family.

We got me all checked in at Rose, and my friend Erin came to meet us a while later. She was awesome too - brought bagels & cream cheese for the nurses. After her long stay in the pre-natal ward when she was on bedrest before she had Flora, she wisely concluded that nurses are your best friend and it doesn't hurt to bring them a little bribe to be extra nice to you.

They got me settled and got the Pitocin going. I was worried about the Pit, but hardly even felt the contractions once I got it. In fact, a lot of the time the nurse would say, "ok, you're having a big one right now! Can you feel that?" and I'd feel like a mild menstrual cramp. I was really surprised by that after all the horror stories I'd heard about Pit making the contractions so much worse.

I was progressing very slowly so I agreed to have my water broken. I did the epidural beforehand because with Fletch, (who was not induced) the contractions were horrible after my water broke and I had to wait for the epidural. I SO didn't want to go through that again. 

The epidural was great. You can't get up and walk around, but for me both times I still had a lot of control over my legs and so was able to move around quite a bit in bed. You don't see the needle or anything they're doing, which for me makes it much less scary. They do a numbing cream on your back first so it doesn't hurt as much. It did hurt but it wasn't unbearable. Like a bad bee sting and sort of a really hard muscle cramp, and very brief.

So pretty much, I hung out in the bed all day with Jack and Erin. The nurses allowed me to have popsicles and water (thankfully I ate a nice breakfast!) so I kept hydrated. They give you a catheter with the epidural so I could drink as much as I wanted and not have to get up to pee every five minutes, which was awesome. Except I think I overdid on the water - later in the day a nurse told me I really wasn't supposed to have water, just ice chips and I think possibly having so much water made things go slower than they would have.

Progress was pretty slow all day and poor Jack was just sure it was going to be the middle of the night when the baby came, like Fletch did. But Dr. O wasn't worried, and every time I saw her, she was like, "no pressure, just relax, I don't have any place else to be," which really did put me at ease. Since nothing much was happening, I told Erin and Jack to go out and get something to eat so they left for a bit.

While they were gone, I had an awesome nurse who was determined to get me to dilate. She worked with me doing some hip rotations, stretches, and turning me on my side. During the hour Jack and Erin were out getting dinner, I went fully dilated  - like from 5 cm to 10 cm in no time at all. When Jack and Erin walked in to the room, the doctor was there and they were setting up for the delivery - good timing! 

They set up the big mirror so I could see, which I'm glad I did, since I didn't with Fletch. It was absolutely amazing to see the baby being born. The delivery was pretty painless and quick, and it took maybe three pushes to get her out. Much less drama than we had with Fletch! And also not the middle of the night - Jack was thankful for the respectable hour.

Heidi brought Fletch to the hospital at like 9:30 or 10 and he got to meet his brand new baby sister Grace. Grace was thoughtful enough to bring Fletch a gift of a big semi & trailer stocked full of Hot Wheels. He loved it and I think it will help pave the way.

They all stuck around to get me settled into my room and then headed home. Erin - what a trooper! She stayed with us all day, and took pictures and did my hair and entertained us and in general was just a totally awesome support for me and Jack both. She is one of my oldest and dearest friends and I am truly thankful to have her in my life too, and to have been able to share this experience with her.

We stayed two nights in the hospital - I think if you deliver after a certain time of day, you get an extra night. Jack and Fletch came to visit, along with most of the rest of the family - except Nana and Auntie Sheila, who were on a little holiday and didn't get to see her until we got home.

Thankfully, this was a much easier time than I had with Fletch. No baby heart rate dropping and getting "stuck" face up, no kidney stone, no dehydration, no extra nights in the hospital. Breastfeeding got off to an easy start and has been trouble-free so far. And we of course are so very, very happy to bring home our darling baby girl!

 

Cute pics

Fletch and Brody at Cherry Hills for Mother's Day brunch. Ain't they cute?

Peanut is 2!

Yes, yes, he turned 2 just over a month ago. We've all seen how well I've kept up with posting about him, so nobody is surprised are they?

My little boy is an absolute treasure and a joy and keeps us very busy! And as always, my lament over the past two years has been, "where does all the time go?"

So while I spend lots of time enjoying his actual awesomeness, that means I don't have a lot of time to write in depth posts about what he's doing now. I don't know how other moms do it. I seem to have found enough time to Twitter a few times a week but somehow, 140 characters doesn't seem enough to tell you about how great my little Monkey Boy is.

But he is - great, amazing and wonderful. He learns new things every day and teaches me something every day. He runs and jumps and plays and loves trains and balloons and his family. He is mostly a good eater and doesn't hassle us too much at meal times. He is still a terrible sleeper although we're down to usually only waking up once at night. He's 3 feet tall and weighs almost 30 lbs. And growing fast! Must be all that Mama Milk.

Speaking of Mama Milk, with little fanfare and a few tears (on my part only!) I weaned him in January, 6 weeks shy of his 2nd birthday. Being pregnant, it got to be too painful for me to continue any longer. Considering he was only nursing occasionally at night it was an easy transition for him and it surprised me at how much he didn't seem to notice it had even happened.

Peanut loves tunnels and is constantly wanting us to come play trains and build tunnels with him. When he wants you to come somewhere with him, he will tug on you and say, "Pull!" When something is out of his reach or too high to climb on he says, "Too big, mama!"

He talks so much now and one of his favorite questions is "Whatcha doin' dere?" and he is CONSTANTLY asking it. How many times a day do I say, "I'm making breakfast, buddy." "Putting on your shoes." "Mommy's going potty, baby."? I feel like I am my own narrator sometimes!

He still has some trouble with F and L, and so says "I yove you" and "yeyow" (for yellow) and his own name has become "Betcher." When he sees a picture of himself he excitedly exclaims "Betcher!" or sometimes "Brody!" which is his cousin who is two months older.

Cousin Brody and Auntie Heidi are two of his favorite people EVER. He is constantly asking, "Go Brody house?" Auntie always lets him borrow one of Brody's trains when we go home, and so at our house Monkey is always asking, "Where Brody trains?" which is so cute because he really does know and specify which ones are his and which are Brody's. And he also knows all of the Thomas trains by sight, whether on t.v. or in the books or his actual toy trains, as well as the "supplemental" cars that come in the sets - one of my favorites to hear him say is "BAGGAGE CAR" in this funny little voice.

And of course, aside from I love you, one of my favorite things to hear him say is something he says all the time: "HI MOMMY!" Even if he's already sitting on my lap, he will often turn an look at me with delight and say HI MOMMY! I love his little voice, but even better is his laugh. He laughs often and heartily and has even inherited Mommy's laugh-snort if you get him going.

He loves tickles and will scrunch his fingers on your side and say "Tickle you!" and then look at you and go, "Tickle me!" One of our favorite games is when Mr. Fantastic does "Everybody tickle!" and we all tickle whoever's name Daddy says. He loves Mousey Mousey and Bumble Bee and any other tickle game you can come up with.

Peanut also loves his books - especially when we point to the pictures and ask who that is and what color and what sound do they make. He knows his animals and animal sounds and colors very well but is still working on numbers and letters. He knows the numbers - just not the order they go in past 3, and so will sometimes say "1,2,3...7!"

I could keep going on and on (and on...) so I'll just say it's been amazing becoming a mom. Fletch has taught me so much about myself and about how much you can love another human being. I finally understand now how my parents felt about me. And I can't believe that come July, we get to do this all over again with a little girl.


Hard to believe in two years he's gone from a little 7-pound-something burrito...

to this amazing ball of energy and inquisitiveness.

Coming soon: Fantastic 2.0

A week or so ago, I took a pregnancy test since I was starting to have some similar symptoms from when I was pregnant with Fletch. Unfortunately, just missing my period isn’t a good indicator of pregnancy or not – due to my PCOS, my cycle is unpredictable and it’s not unheard of for me to go 8 weeks in between.

However, I’d been feeling really tired – like, the idea of going to bed at 7:30 (or even 4:30, when I got home from work!) was really appealing. And I started getting crops of zits on both my forehead and neck. At least with Fletch, my skin was kind enough to take turns on where the crops were located.

So anyway, I took this test and got an “inconclusive” result. Like the result I got was one of the three YOU DID IT WRONG pictures in the instructions. So I must not have peed on the stick long enough or something. Seriously, I don’t know how you screw up a pregnancy test, but if it’s possible, you know I will do it. In my defense, this was an old test, the one left in the box from when I tested positive with Fletch. So perhaps it was an expired test and not operator error.

A couple days ago, I sent Mr. Fantastic to the Dollar Store to pick up another test for me. I have to digress and say that you should never, ever buy your pregnancy test at the regular grocery store again. Even the cheapie, store-brand ones are like seven bucks at Safeway. But you can get ‘em for ONE DOLLAR at the dollar store! Last time we were in the dollar store, we saw the display of pregnancy tests at the register and commented on it to the cashier and she said we would not believe how many of those they sold – it’s one of their highest revenue generators. Mr. F and I thought that was pretty funny, but you know the minute we needed one, that’s where we went.

So I got out one of my dollar pee tests this morning and checked to make sure it was all sealed and not expired or anything (‘cause you just never know when you’re buying something at the dollar store – caveat emptor!). This one was not a pee-on-the stick kind; instead, I had to pee in a cup and then use a little pipette to suck up the pee and carefully drip four drops in the little circle. Just like high school chemistry! (Um, for certain values of high school experience.) Mr. LaRue would be proud of me; I didn’t spill a drop. I think this way is actually easier than trying to pee on the stick for ten seconds and also much cleaner (for me, anyway; I somehow cannot manage not to pee on my hand as well.)

Without delay, the little pregnant line came up – no inconclusive result here! I didn’t even have to wait 3 seconds, let alone 3 minutes. But in that three seconds, whoosh…my whole life changed again. The major difference this time is that I don’t feel nearly as scared as when we found out about Fletch. This time I feel like an old pro! Check me out; I already have one kid who still has all his limbs and stuff. Despite never having had to pass any sort of parental competency test, Mr. F and I have so far done okay by our little Peanut.

We are so excited for this new chapter in our lives! I know it will be hard with two – currently there are moments when little man runs rings around us both, so we have only to hope they don’t wise up and gang up on us at some point. But I am up to the challenge!

I am also looking forward to being pregnant again. For the most part, I really enjoyed pregnancy last time. There were some drawbacks (food aversion, failing the glucose test, ANGRY LADYPARTS) but I know how to deal with all those this time around. Let’s hope there are no new curveballs!

And since it will be a while before we find out if this one’s a boy or a girl, we are calling this one JellyBean until further notice. Cheers to you, JellyBean! Can’t wait to meet you some time next summer.

*Meep-Clench-EEE*

Yesterday I had one of those heart-meltingly wonderful moments with my son that made my whole day...heck, my whole month.

He climbed up on the kitchen chair to hug me, and as he put his head on my chest, I said, "I love you, baby." and clear as day, he replied, "I love you." He's never said it before and generally doesn't string more than 2 words together, but apparently this is something Mr. Fantastic's been working on with him.

What a great feeling. My whole heart went meep-clench-EEE! ♥ This is just one of the many reasons I love being a mom.

It begins again...Happy 12 Days of My Birthday to Me; Plus: A Surprise!

As many of you know, I like my birthday to be a Big Deal. To that end, each year I often have multiple celebrations of various types – BBQs, drinks with the girls, etc. with the different people in my life. Quite a few years ago, my brother Steve noted this fact and called it “the 12 Days Jennie’s Birthday.” Ever since then, I have continued the grand tradition of the 12 Days of My Birthday, celebrating my frequently as possible with as many of my loved ones as I can in the two weeks surrounding the day itself. There is no set beginning or end and sometimes it’s more than 12 and sometimes less, but it is always wonderful and is my way of fully embracing becoming another year older instead of trying to pretend it’s not happening.

Sadly, this will be the first year since its inception that the 12 Days won’t include a celebration with its inventor, Steve. I am trying not to be sad about that and instead am soldiering on, determined that this year’s 12 Days will be just as grand as they always are.

So tonight kicks off the first of the 12 Days, drinks with my friend Debra at the Cruise Room. And Sunday is a combined Father’s Day/Birthday BBQ with our families. And tomorrow…tomorrow I am doing something but it’s a complete mystery what I’ll actually be doing. You see, my darling cousin H3 has planned for me…A Surprise.

So the other thing many of you know about me is that I Like Surprises. A lot. I am the kid who never once, not ever, peeked at my Christmas presents despite knowing where they were kept. I’ve never so much as peeled back a corner of tape on a gift ahead of time. I like knowing something good is coming, but not exactly what.

I have always really, really wanted someone to throw me a surprise party, but it’s kind of hard to pull that off when I’m always going around telling people it would be okay if they threw me a surprise party this year. But I also love anticipating something, so one of the best things in the world for me is to make plans with me for something like six weeks ahead of time so that I have a whole month and a half to think about it and what I’m going to wear and where we’re going, etc. etc. etc.

Well, at least a month ago, H3 told me she was planning something for my birthday but it was A Surprise. Eee! A Surprise! So I’ve had a whole month of thinking about what it could be. I know almost nothing – she keeps giving me these cryptic clues like what kind of shoes to wear or the fact that I may have to change my clothes but don’t need to bring a change of clothes and that I will be gone from noon until ???. And today she gave me the most intriguing clue of all. She said I would receive a phone call at noon tomorrow with directions and not to dilly dally! Ooh! A Mystery Phone Call…from who? What will they tell me to do? It's like I'm a Birthday Spy.

Seriously, a surprise outing for my birthday…I’m so excited I could wet my pants. I love to plan things and entertain and throw parties and in general do stuff for other people. So when somebody plans something especially for me, I can’t even tell you how much it means. We could be going to the dump tomorrow to pick up old tires for recycling and this would already be the best birthday ever because...A Surprise!

ETA: The surprise was so much fun! We went to an old school beauty salon and got our hair done - but like big giant roller sets under the dryers so we all had huge 60s hair.

Then we went to goodwill and bought crazy clothes to match the crazy hair and went out all dressed up! I looked like a prom queen. It was awesome and I drank too much and had a great time. ♥

Happy 1st Birthday, Monkey!

Happy Birthday buddy! It's been a priviledge & a joy being your mom. Here's to many, many more.

Fletch vs. The Roomba

Christmas dinner

Christmas mas dinner w/ my family tonite, then laid in bed w/ hubby & son watching It's a Wonderful Life...and it truly is. ♥

The Blue Bayou and Buckets

On our recent trip to Disneyland, we ate at the Blue Bayou restaurant, some place I have wanted to eat since I was a little girl. This restaurant really isn't that great - mostly just another overpriced, marginal food, theme park restaurant. But the thing about it is, it's located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I know! Coolest thing in the WHOLE WORLD to a little girl on her first trip to the Happiest Place on Earth.

When you get on the ride, before you get to the Pirate part, you first go through this sort of Louisiana swamp area at "night", and it's all dark and there's crickets chirping and fireflies and such. (This is because the ride is located in the New Orleans Square area of Disneyland. You know, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland...and New Orleans Square. Yeah, I don't get it either.)

So in this first part of the Pirates ride, you go through the swamp, and in the swamp, there's the restaurant. And you go by in your little boat and can see all the people on the "terrace" "outside" at their tables eating by lantern-light. And when I was a little girl, I wanted DESPERATELY to eat at that restaurant. A restaurant! Inside the ride! Clearly, you had to be somebody special in order to eat there. Of course, on that trip, we didn't eat at the Blue Bayou, probably because it was too expensive, but all I really remember is how much I wanted to go there and we didn't.

Since that first visit to Disneyland, I have been back several times. And each time, I still wanted to eat at the Blue Bayou and for whatever reasons, circumstances have always prevented it. So finally, this time, neither time nor money nor ANYTHING else was going to stop me. I told Mr. Fantastic that no matter what, we were eating there, come hell or high water, whether he wanted to or not. I called two weeks early to make a reservation.

Come the big day, it all went off without a hitch, and suddenly, there we were, sitting in the dark of a Louisiana swamp, listening to the frogs and crickets, watching the people go by in their little boats and eating our marginal food. And I could not have been happier. I sat there the whole time enjoying the heck out of myself, remembering how it felt to be the little girl in the boat going by, wanting so badly to be on that terrace eating my lunch. I was inordinately pleased - so happy I was almost in tears and could not wipe the giant grin off my face.

As our meal came to a close, I had a realization. I had just done something I had longed to do almost my entire life. I looked at my companions, Mr. Fantastic and Mummy Fantastic and little Fletcher, and I said with swelling heart, "I think I just crossed something off my bucket list."

And the thing is - I don't even have a bucket list. Or, I didn't. But I do now. The feeling of happiness and accomplishment over achieving something so trivial yet so important coupled with the recent loss of my brother made me remember that yes, life IS too short. Too short to put off doing the things you want to do and too short not to have a list of crazy things you've always wanted to try.

So, here it is, the start of my bucket list - most definitely a work in progress that I will be adding to as I think of things that time or money or distance or sheer seeming-impossibility have always kept me from doing.

1. Eat at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland
2. Go on a hot air balloon ride
3. Visit Australia
4. Visit Ireland
5. Ride/drive a Ferrari
6. Wear a sexy red dress someplace fancy
7. Partake of a croquembouche
8. …

My ray of sunshine...

My reason for smiling every day. My happy little monkey. I could not be more thankful for him.

More videos here and new photos in the Peanut Gallery too.

Pants! (in the good way)

I have, right now, comfortably on my person, a brand-spanking-new pair of jeans...in a size 10. Please join me in celebration!

This means it is entirely possible that in my adult lifetime, my pants size might actually become one digit. It boggles the mind.

Health care reform is a joke. Here's proof!

My dad sent me this email today:

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new health care plan being developed by the Obama Team.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

The Anesthesiologists thought the idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

Breaking News

I officially now weigh less than my driver's license says I do. *\o/*

Peanut: Four months!

Peanut - four months already! So it turns out, we're not really calling him "Peanut" all that much anymore. He has lots of nicknames - most often I call him Monkey. I have no idea where that came from, although he does have these big ears that kind of stick out, so maybe it was subconscious. And he gets called PreciousPreciousPants by the both of us a lot, with the occasional Captain FussyPants thrown in as needed. Also, there's Noodle and Doodlebug, and I seem to call him ____-y Bear all the time, inserting whatever adjective fits at the moment, such as Sleepy Bear, Hungry Bear, etc. This has somehow morphed into Monkey Bear oftentimes which I'm sure when he gets older will be confusing. Also, he gets from Daddy a lot Fletch-y Poo. And to round it out, I seem to be calling him Buddy a lot when we're (I'm) having a conversation. So, lots of names, but strangely, not usually the one we started with.

All is well, although we have discovered that it turns out Mom really does know best. See, since about the time he was three months-ish, Fletcher has been excessively drooly, fussier than usual - especially at night, and had green poo. If you read as many baby books as I do, you would know that these are all classic signs of teething. The books say average age for first teeth is around 6-7 months but it can happen as early as 3 and as late as 12. So I was thinking maybe he was teething but couldn't believe it was happening this early.

Fletch had a cold a couple-three weeks ago and while we were at the doctor for this, we had to see a different doc than our usual Dr. Matt. So I asked Dr. NewGuy about Fletch possibly teething already and he totally dismissed it, like "No. No chance. Waaay to early."

So of course you know where this is going...about five seconds after that doctor visit, Fletcher's first tooth broke through. I know! My little baby, all grown up. :) It's the bottom right front tooth and from the looks of things, the left one is close behind. And let me tell you, that sucker is SHARP. I am trying to figure out what we can give him to gnaw on to dull the thing down a bit.

As you may recall, some time ago Fletch randomly decided he doesn't like the binky anymore. This means that when I'm not boobing him, if he wants to suck on something he gets one of our fingers. The other day Mr. Fantastic and I were talking and right around the time Fletcher's tooth was cutting, we both thought we had paper cuts on our finger because it would sting whenever we stuck it in his mouth. Turns out it was the brand new little tooth! Ah, if only we had each complained about our respective paper cuts sooner.

Now that the tooth has fully broken through, you're taking your chances putting a finger in Fletch's mouth. Kid has a powerful bite and it hurts like the dickens if he gets a good chomp on you. Naturally, I am very concerned with how this affects breastfeeding. Turns out, since it's the bottom teeth, as long as he's latched right his tongue will cover the teeth and it shouldn't hurt me at all. It's when the top teeth come in that I'm going to have to worry. I can only hope that won't be until he's a bit older so he will be more "trainable" and I can teach him not to bite Mommy. Yikes.

Let's see...we had our 4 month checkup and shots on the 29th. Everything went well. He was a champ with the shots again and again, I cried more than he did. Same process as before, Mr. F helped hold him and two nurses gave him two simultaneous shots each. Then Mr. F cuddled him and gave him a bottle with a little sugar water (maybe 1/2 oz.) and all was right with the world. As before, he didn't seem to have any lingering effects, although he was hot that night, which I'm not sure was a fever from the shots that they told us we could expect or if it was just because of the heat. Either way, he was fine the next day.

Peanut's growing like a champ. At the 2 month checkup he was 24 inches and just shy of 10 lbs with head circumference of 15 inches. This time he was 13 lbs 13.5 oz, 25.5 inches and 16 inches head. Last time he was in the 15th percentile for weight and the 85th for height, now it's 25th for weight and 75th for height. So while he's still considered tall and skinny, he's much more roly-poly and chubby-baby looking. And of course, still the cutest baby ever. :)

He's made good progress in the rolling over department and although he hasn't quite mastered the straight front-to-back, he is quite good at the multiple roll and pushing himself off things. What that means is that I'll put him on the play mat, turn around for a millisecond, and when I turn back he is three feet away and sideways from where he was. I can see this becoming troublesome in the very near future. He's super strong - holds himself up really well, will push all the way up on his arms when on his tummy with no head wobbling at all. He can almost sit up unassisted and when he's on his back, he will lift his head up and do like a half-crunch and hold it for ages just so he can look at his feet. (They appear to be very interesting feet!)

Peanut's also getting very vocal - lots of laughing and squealing, cooing, etc. He's getting LOUD too. We'll all be minding our own business and suddenly out of nowhere Peanut will start squealing and yowling to raise the roof. I've had to ask him to hold the ruckus down several times. And now we can't stop him smiling, especially when he sees Mommy or it's time to eat. This makes Daddy sad to be second fiddle, but what can we expect? It's Mommy that has the boobie juice.

Doc tells us we can start solids any time now but we would like to hold out until 6 months. There's no evidence that it will make him sleep longer at night (we are still feeding every 2-3 hours at night but sometimes up to 4 hours during the day) and he doesn't appear to be ready yet anyway - still has the tongue thrust thing where he pushes foreign things out of his mouth.

Peanut has some favorite things (besides Mommy, that is...). He still likes bathtime and doesn't mind riding in the car. In fact, riding in the car and going for walkies in the stroller are two surefire ways to put him to sleep. Mr. F has been on some nighttime strolls when Peanut doesn't want to go to sleep. Lots of times the little guy is asleep before Mr. F gets out of the building. Peanut received a gift of a brightly colored squeaky moose from Mr. F's Aunt Joan and he seems to be partial to Mr. Moosey, so we don't go anywhere without him. Peanut also like to clutch fabric in his hand and suck on it - does this a lot with his bibs, so we have taken to giving him these cute little burp cloths to hang on to instead and he seems to love them.

And we had another first this month - swimming! Well, not actually swimming but going to the pool. First we went to the pool in our building, then to Aunt Heidi's pool with cousin Brody, and finally to Water World for cousin Megan's 12th birthday. He doesn't know what to make of the water at first but I think he had fun. He especially seemed to like the wave pool at Water World.


I have uploaded lots of Peanut videos (fairly short - most under a minute long) at my YouTube channel if you want to see Peanut being cute and hear Mr. F and me being dorks. I think I might even be in one or two of them. And as always, for Peanut pictures, check out the Peanut Gallery, which I update regularly with new photos.

Fletcher: 3 months, plus bonus HATSTRAVAGANZA

So. Three months. Apparently, the mantra for the rest of my life will be "Where does all the time go?"

Our little Peanut is doing great. He has his fussy moments, but for the most part, he is still a happy little guy. Lots of "talking" and smiles, squeals and laughs. He has excellent head/neck control, and so loves to be upright, whether in his bumbo chair or when we're wearing him in one of the carriers or sitting on a lap. He's also gotten good at grasping things, especially if you touch them to his fingers. His playmat/gym thingy has a monkey hanging from it and he spends a lot of time pulling on it. Because we are twelve, Mr. Fantastic and I giggle like loons when one of us says "Look, he's yanking the monkey!"


Fletcher has also gotten the hang of rolling over, although he doesn't do it a lot. He's pretty content to lie on his back, but he hates tummy time, so he's pretty good at flipping himself over to his back. He's much happier doing tummy time when we lay him on our own tummies. He also does the little mini-pushup thing and rests on his elbows.

Since he was born, when it's time for him to eat, we have always called it "Yum-yums." As in, "Time for yum-yums, baby!" And he may not recognize his own name yet, but he sure as heck knows what yum-yums is. He can be fussy or crying or whatever, and we'll say "time for yum-yums!" and he will stop whatever he is doing and lift his eyebrows and look around for mommy. And then he'll open his mouth when Mr. F brings him to me. The downside to this is that if we accidentally say "yum-yums" and the yum-yums are not forthcoming in the next minute, we move immediately to Defcon 5. You can bet we didn't slip up often once we learned that. Also, "boob" has become a verb. As in, "Well, lets go for a walk now so I can boob him at 3."

Sometime in this last month Fletch suddenly decided he doesn't like his binky (the pacifier) anymore. I know there are whole books written on this subject and many, many people who feel babies should never use a binky. But when the other alternative is your boob, it sure would be nice to have the binky sub in. Luckily, he seems to find a pinky an acceptable substitute, so at least Mr. F can take over.

While he's pretty great at sitting up in his bumbo chair, he's not real good at sitting on his own yet.

Still a little top heavy.

















Success! And a little bit of a smile.






















Peanut, being the sartorial genius he is, has a lot of hats. Many of which he doesn't get the opportunity to wear that often, especially now that the weather's nice, so I decided to take pictures of Peanut in his hats for posterity. I have to say, he tolerated the pictures for hatstravaganza extremely well. Mr. F would like you to know this is his favorite bib in these pictures. It's a polar bear!



The bee hive hat. How cute is this? That's a little row of bee buttons going up the front.




















His other baseball hat, which is a bit bigger than the one he usually wears. But which is nonetheless darling.





















Ride 'em cowboy! He is clearly thinking, "Look, lady, I'll wear the hat. But don't you dare put me anywhere near a horse."


















Winter cap with a dinosaur on it. "I have just seen the pile of hats you have over there..."





















An absolutely adorable hat my friend Erin knitted him. I wish he could wear this hat every day. "OMG, what is sprouting from my head?"




















"Hmm...actually, this is quite fetching. I can see why the bringer of the boobie juice likes it."



















Traditional baby bonnet. He'll probably wear this a lot this summer since it's so light even though it looks pretty old fashioned. "Lady, what year do you think this is? Bring back the ball cap."




















Another winter hat that I adore. "Ah! The fetching sprouty one in blue. Very nice."



















Reversible summer hat. "How YOU doin'?"





















"Good lord, I have just seen the inside of this hat!"





















And this hat, which he has worn only for this picture and probably never will again. It's one of those painter-style caps with flaps in the back, very reminiscent of the 80s. It reminds me of Russ from European Vacation. Probably not the look we're going for this summer. "Duuude."





















So that's it from the world of Peanut for this month.

Straight No Chaser - The 12 Days of Christmas

Mr. Fantastic and I heard this song on the radio today and it cracked us up.

Straight No Chaser - The 12 Days of Christmas

You can't be a dentist! You're an elf. Elves make toys.

Or, me, Dad, Steve and Mr. Fantastic (twice!) as disco elves.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I voted!

Mr. F and I voted this morning. And I'm shocked, it literally took us less than half an hour, including time spent walking to and from the polling place. Also, we did our first-ever non-electric ballots - it was weird using a pencil. Felt like I was back in school!

We were prepared for long lines and waiting - we brought snacks and everything, because the last few times we've voted we've had to wait for hours. I don't know if we just got there at the right time or something, but it was funny because there were more volunteers there than voters.

Anyway, civic duty done, although this is the first time in a while I've really, really cared about the outcome. No matter who you're voting for, please be sure you exercise your right to vote!

Sweet!

I'm flipping channels and just watched a dog walk up a flight of stairs carrying a glass of water on its head. Yes, we are all aware that I'm a huge dork. I'm sorry, I can't help it. That was FUCKING AWESOME.