Fletch and Brody at Cherry Hills for Mother's Day brunch. Ain't they cute?
Showing posts with label peanut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
How big a nerd ARE you?
So Mr. Fantastic and the boy and I went out to eat last night. As we were waiting to pay the bill, we let Monkey wander over to this little waiting area where there were some toys to play with.
It's a three-sided little space, so he couldn't go anywhere without our seeing him - but there was still a blind corner where he could stand and I couldn't see him from where I was sitting. Despite knowing that he couldn't go anywhere or get hurt, it still made me nervous. I said as much to Mr. F.
Mr. Fantastic: Honey, he's fine. Nothing's going to happen.
Me: But what if a wormhole opens up back there?
Mr. F: ... How big a nerd ARE you?
It's a three-sided little space, so he couldn't go anywhere without our seeing him - but there was still a blind corner where he could stand and I couldn't see him from where I was sitting. Despite knowing that he couldn't go anywhere or get hurt, it still made me nervous. I said as much to Mr. F.
Mr. Fantastic: Honey, he's fine. Nothing's going to happen.
Me: But what if a wormhole opens up back there?
Mr. F: ... How big a nerd ARE you?
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, November 19, 2010
*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.
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.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Happy 1st Birthday, Monkey!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monkey: ONE YEAR
How do I even begin to tell you what's new with my ONE YEAR old child? I had planned to do an update every month with pictures and everything but oh, how life gets in the way sometimes.
When we left off, Peanut was 8 months old and getting ready to crawl. Now, he is just about 12 months old and taking tentative steps. I still call him Monkey, along with an assortment of other offhanded endearments.
Our little guy is as fabulous as ever – an incredible joy who brings us more happiness than we ever came close to imagining. I don't know what we would do without him. (Besides watch a lot more TV and surf a lot more internet!)
He is growing like a weed and flourishing like a flower. At his year checkup today, he was just under 30 inches tall and weighed 21 lbs 6 oz. Developmentally he's spot on – pulling up, cruising around on the furniture and sometimes taking as many as eight or 10 steps before he stops and sits down. It won't be much longer until he's a toddling maniac.
So much has happened over the last few months! It's hard to look back at pictures from six months ago and believe it's the same kid.
Food: We have been blessed with (so far) a non-picky eater. In fact, I would say he is exactly the opposite. He will and has eaten everything we've given him. If you ask him what his food preference is, it's "YES." And how funny that he's like this when, when we first started him on solids – not until after 6 months, mind you – he was all DO NOT WANT about everything we tried. I despaired that we would ever be able to sustain him with something other than my magic boobs. Formula is still strictly on the No-Fly list, however.
I don't know what happened but all of a sudden he became Hoover-baby, chomping at the spoon no matter what's on it. Apples, pears, cheerios, pasta, of course. Sweet potatoes, yes. Peas, yes. Prunes, yes. Spinach, broccoli, chicken, bagels, beef, yogurt, ham, lettuce, cheese YES YES YES!
We generally let him eat some of whatever we're eating, chopped up into bits and put on his tray, and then he usually also has a thing of baby food as well. Even though it's awful messy, he loves anything covered in spaghetti sauce, so I try to overcome my mess-phobia and let him have it even when we're not. Who knew that broccoli in spaghetti sauce would be a hit? He'll eat it plain but likes it much better sauced.
Monkey is a great eater and I'm so happy – I can only hope he keeps it up when he's older. Especially because despite the fact that I worry he's eating too much sometimes, he is in the 24% percentile for weight. Dr. Matt says he's just fine and to continue letting him eat as he wants.
Also, there have been many, many attempts at eating things that should not be eaten. I picture Monkey with a permanent little thought bubble over his head that says, "What's this? Can I put it in my mouth?" Or, more accurately, "What's this? I shall put it in my mouth!"
They say babies explore with their mouths and this is definitely true with our little guy. Everything he gets his hands on goes into his mouth. He especially loves to chew on tags. I hear there's a line of toys designed with all kinds of tags just for kids like him. Guess he'll have to get some for his birthday!
Teeth: He's got 8 fully in now – the four across the front on top. #s 9 &10 have finally broken through, which are a top molar on one side and a bottom molar on the other. They really gave him a hard time, at night especially; it kept him up, poor guy.
Walking: Monkey learned to stand in November and is now cruising around on furniture, people's legs, etc. In December my friend Erin gave us a walker that he runs around in like a madman – it has been his favorite thing ever since. He goes for walkies with Daddy down to get the mail and you can hear him squealing a mile away. He just loves it. Now that he is better at walking on his own, he tends to sit in the walker and roll himself backwards. It's hysterical to see him look back over his shoulder and kick off, flying down the hallway. I imagine in the next couple weeks when he's fully mobile upright, the walker will be abandoned and that will make me sad because I do love to see him zipping around in that thing.
He has also discovered using the dining room chair as a push toy. I can't believe he's strong enough to push it! But he is, and he's awesome at navigating that thing around the whole house. It's hardwoods all over so it is not unusual to come across an abandoned dining room chair in the hall or somewhere.
The other day, I was in the dining room working and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement across the kitchen. Looking up, I saw the stroller going by backwards. And then along comes Monkey, happily pushing it along and smiling at me as he went by. I love that my day is filled with such simple, beautiful moments like this.
Communication: My little guy babbles up a storm. He continues to be very vocal and has lately started mimicking us. We'll say something and at the end hear this little echo of the last two words we just said. And he sure talks to himself a lot…we always wonder just what it is he's saying. Won't be long now before he gets a few words that really sound like they mean something. Meanwhile, he does seem to know what we're saying much of the time. He knows who Mommy and Daddy are and claps and waves bye-bye, and especially loves to play "Where's Mommy?" The other day after dinner, I let him play with the washcloth I used to clean his face, and he started doing "Where's Monkey?" – held the cloth up in front of his own face, then yanked it down and smiled at me. He did it a couple of times until I caught on and started saying, "Wheeeere's Monkey?" and then he would giggle and hold it up again. Darling! I even got some on video.
He also knows "no" although we try not to use it except for the really dangerous stuff. Instead we aim for things like "hands off" or "hands to yourself" and thankfully, he is easily redirected.
We are trying some baby signs – right now we're working on "more" and "all done" and continuing to use the sign for milk as "yumyums."
Other stuff: It seems Monkey's favorite song has changed from Itsy Bitsy Spider to Little Bunny Foo Foo. Only problem is that I can't remember what happens at the end of Bunny Foo Foo when his three chances are up. Luckily, we tend to finish whatever it is we're doing before I get to the end. (Note to self: Find out what the hand motions are for when Little Bunny Foo Foo gets turned into a goon.)
He still loves Goodnight Moon, although we have gotten him some more books for his birthday so we can add a few more things into the rotation, seeing as I can recite Goodnight Moon in my sleep. We have quite a few more books but many of them are regular paper books which my little man destroys in seconds, so we're still on board books for a while yet. Also on the hit list: Guess How Much I Love You and Time for Bed.
He does great playing on his own too. A couple of months ago, I gave him a "safe" cabinet in the kitchen, filled with Tupperware and stuff. It also includes a large wooden spoon, which, according to Monkey, is AWESOME for banging. Mommy only agrees with this opinion for about half an hour; Daddy, not so much. It is super cute though to see him sitting on the kitchen floor with all the bowls and things spread out around him, happy as a clam banging away with his spoon.
Monkey doesn't seem to have a favorite toy as yet – he has lots of them but seems to give them all equal time. I suppose if we had to pick, the ones he seems to enjoy the most are the play keys from Aunt Heidi and the pretend cell phone I got him for our trip to Disneyland in December. We generally keep those in the car, though, so maybe he seems to like them so much because he doesn't get them all the time.
We are looking forward to his monkey-themed birthday party at Nana's this weekend. We are actually re-gifting some of the presents we got him for Christmas because he got spoiled by everyone, especially his Uncle John and Aunt Sherry. They got him so much stuff! Among other things, some cute clothes and a rocking horse that makes gallop-y noises and this adorable penguin thing that is like a giant weeble that laughs when you knock it down. He really loves the penguin and it's funny, if you bump into it and it bobbles a little, it lets out this loony laugh which is a sure fire way to get Monkey to come running (or crawling just as fast as he can!) Anyway, he pretty much liked the wrapping paper just as much as the actual gifts, so he won't even notice that many of the ones from Mommy and Daddy are the same.
Christmas this year was great but obviously a little sad. We missed Steve so much and couldn't stop thinking about excited he would have been for Monkey's first Christmas. It is getting easier day by day, but sometimes I get such an awful pang of missing him. Especially when Monkey does something exceptionally adorable that I want to tell him about. I sure hope there's some way that my mom and Steve can see what a great kid I've got.
He is such a joy – so happy, laughing and smiling all the time. Such a good kid and makes us so happy. I hope he knows – will always know – just how much we love him.
A whole year gone by already. We can't believe how much he's grown and how much we've grown too! I was so nervous about being a parent, about taking care of a baby and now I feel so accomplished and proud of my little boy.
It went so fast. I just hope the next twenty years don't go by like this or I will be an old lady all too soon!
As always, pictures here, video here.
When we left off, Peanut was 8 months old and getting ready to crawl. Now, he is just about 12 months old and taking tentative steps. I still call him Monkey, along with an assortment of other offhanded endearments.
Our little guy is as fabulous as ever – an incredible joy who brings us more happiness than we ever came close to imagining. I don't know what we would do without him. (Besides watch a lot more TV and surf a lot more internet!)
He is growing like a weed and flourishing like a flower. At his year checkup today, he was just under 30 inches tall and weighed 21 lbs 6 oz. Developmentally he's spot on – pulling up, cruising around on the furniture and sometimes taking as many as eight or 10 steps before he stops and sits down. It won't be much longer until he's a toddling maniac.
So much has happened over the last few months! It's hard to look back at pictures from six months ago and believe it's the same kid.
Food: We have been blessed with (so far) a non-picky eater. In fact, I would say he is exactly the opposite. He will and has eaten everything we've given him. If you ask him what his food preference is, it's "YES." And how funny that he's like this when, when we first started him on solids – not until after 6 months, mind you – he was all DO NOT WANT about everything we tried. I despaired that we would ever be able to sustain him with something other than my magic boobs. Formula is still strictly on the No-Fly list, however.
I don't know what happened but all of a sudden he became Hoover-baby, chomping at the spoon no matter what's on it. Apples, pears, cheerios, pasta, of course. Sweet potatoes, yes. Peas, yes. Prunes, yes. Spinach, broccoli, chicken, bagels, beef, yogurt, ham, lettuce, cheese YES YES YES!
We generally let him eat some of whatever we're eating, chopped up into bits and put on his tray, and then he usually also has a thing of baby food as well. Even though it's awful messy, he loves anything covered in spaghetti sauce, so I try to overcome my mess-phobia and let him have it even when we're not. Who knew that broccoli in spaghetti sauce would be a hit? He'll eat it plain but likes it much better sauced.
Monkey is a great eater and I'm so happy – I can only hope he keeps it up when he's older. Especially because despite the fact that I worry he's eating too much sometimes, he is in the 24% percentile for weight. Dr. Matt says he's just fine and to continue letting him eat as he wants.
Also, there have been many, many attempts at eating things that should not be eaten. I picture Monkey with a permanent little thought bubble over his head that says, "What's this? Can I put it in my mouth?" Or, more accurately, "What's this? I shall put it in my mouth!"
They say babies explore with their mouths and this is definitely true with our little guy. Everything he gets his hands on goes into his mouth. He especially loves to chew on tags. I hear there's a line of toys designed with all kinds of tags just for kids like him. Guess he'll have to get some for his birthday!
Teeth: He's got 8 fully in now – the four across the front on top. #s 9 &10 have finally broken through, which are a top molar on one side and a bottom molar on the other. They really gave him a hard time, at night especially; it kept him up, poor guy.
Walking: Monkey learned to stand in November and is now cruising around on furniture, people's legs, etc. In December my friend Erin gave us a walker that he runs around in like a madman – it has been his favorite thing ever since. He goes for walkies with Daddy down to get the mail and you can hear him squealing a mile away. He just loves it. Now that he is better at walking on his own, he tends to sit in the walker and roll himself backwards. It's hysterical to see him look back over his shoulder and kick off, flying down the hallway. I imagine in the next couple weeks when he's fully mobile upright, the walker will be abandoned and that will make me sad because I do love to see him zipping around in that thing.
He has also discovered using the dining room chair as a push toy. I can't believe he's strong enough to push it! But he is, and he's awesome at navigating that thing around the whole house. It's hardwoods all over so it is not unusual to come across an abandoned dining room chair in the hall or somewhere.
The other day, I was in the dining room working and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement across the kitchen. Looking up, I saw the stroller going by backwards. And then along comes Monkey, happily pushing it along and smiling at me as he went by. I love that my day is filled with such simple, beautiful moments like this.
Communication: My little guy babbles up a storm. He continues to be very vocal and has lately started mimicking us. We'll say something and at the end hear this little echo of the last two words we just said. And he sure talks to himself a lot…we always wonder just what it is he's saying. Won't be long now before he gets a few words that really sound like they mean something. Meanwhile, he does seem to know what we're saying much of the time. He knows who Mommy and Daddy are and claps and waves bye-bye, and especially loves to play "Where's Mommy?" The other day after dinner, I let him play with the washcloth I used to clean his face, and he started doing "Where's Monkey?" – held the cloth up in front of his own face, then yanked it down and smiled at me. He did it a couple of times until I caught on and started saying, "Wheeeere's Monkey?" and then he would giggle and hold it up again. Darling! I even got some on video.
He also knows "no" although we try not to use it except for the really dangerous stuff. Instead we aim for things like "hands off" or "hands to yourself" and thankfully, he is easily redirected.
We are trying some baby signs – right now we're working on "more" and "all done" and continuing to use the sign for milk as "yumyums."
Other stuff: It seems Monkey's favorite song has changed from Itsy Bitsy Spider to Little Bunny Foo Foo. Only problem is that I can't remember what happens at the end of Bunny Foo Foo when his three chances are up. Luckily, we tend to finish whatever it is we're doing before I get to the end. (Note to self: Find out what the hand motions are for when Little Bunny Foo Foo gets turned into a goon.)
He still loves Goodnight Moon, although we have gotten him some more books for his birthday so we can add a few more things into the rotation, seeing as I can recite Goodnight Moon in my sleep. We have quite a few more books but many of them are regular paper books which my little man destroys in seconds, so we're still on board books for a while yet. Also on the hit list: Guess How Much I Love You and Time for Bed.
He does great playing on his own too. A couple of months ago, I gave him a "safe" cabinet in the kitchen, filled with Tupperware and stuff. It also includes a large wooden spoon, which, according to Monkey, is AWESOME for banging. Mommy only agrees with this opinion for about half an hour; Daddy, not so much. It is super cute though to see him sitting on the kitchen floor with all the bowls and things spread out around him, happy as a clam banging away with his spoon.
Monkey doesn't seem to have a favorite toy as yet – he has lots of them but seems to give them all equal time. I suppose if we had to pick, the ones he seems to enjoy the most are the play keys from Aunt Heidi and the pretend cell phone I got him for our trip to Disneyland in December. We generally keep those in the car, though, so maybe he seems to like them so much because he doesn't get them all the time.
We are looking forward to his monkey-themed birthday party at Nana's this weekend. We are actually re-gifting some of the presents we got him for Christmas because he got spoiled by everyone, especially his Uncle John and Aunt Sherry. They got him so much stuff! Among other things, some cute clothes and a rocking horse that makes gallop-y noises and this adorable penguin thing that is like a giant weeble that laughs when you knock it down. He really loves the penguin and it's funny, if you bump into it and it bobbles a little, it lets out this loony laugh which is a sure fire way to get Monkey to come running (or crawling just as fast as he can!) Anyway, he pretty much liked the wrapping paper just as much as the actual gifts, so he won't even notice that many of the ones from Mommy and Daddy are the same.
Christmas this year was great but obviously a little sad. We missed Steve so much and couldn't stop thinking about excited he would have been for Monkey's first Christmas. It is getting easier day by day, but sometimes I get such an awful pang of missing him. Especially when Monkey does something exceptionally adorable that I want to tell him about. I sure hope there's some way that my mom and Steve can see what a great kid I've got.
He is such a joy – so happy, laughing and smiling all the time. Such a good kid and makes us so happy. I hope he knows – will always know – just how much we love him.
A whole year gone by already. We can't believe how much he's grown and how much we've grown too! I was so nervous about being a parent, about taking care of a baby and now I feel so accomplished and proud of my little boy.
It went so fast. I just hope the next twenty years don't go by like this or I will be an old lady all too soon!
As always, pictures here, video here.
Monday, January 25, 2010
First time away from the boy
Well, tomorrow I'm leavin' on a jet plane. Have to go to L.A. for work and won't be back until Thursday. It will be my first time away from Fletch for more than a few hours - I have never been away from him overnight before.
I'm nervous for all three of us. I know it will be hard on me - I will miss both him and Mr. Fantastic like crazy and I'm sure my boobs are going to wonder what the hell happened. I know it will be hard on Mr. F to take care of the baby all on his own and not have me and my magic boobs to help out if the going gets rough. And I know it will be hard on the boy to be without me, especially at night.
In the end, I'm sure it will be good for all of us. I need to learn how to be away from him and Fletchie needs to learn how to be away from me. And Mr. F needs to learn how it will be without me there.
I know I'm long overdue for an update on the boy - all is well, he is awesome as ever - but for now, check out the new photos and videos.
I'm nervous for all three of us. I know it will be hard on me - I will miss both him and Mr. Fantastic like crazy and I'm sure my boobs are going to wonder what the hell happened. I know it will be hard on Mr. F to take care of the baby all on his own and not have me and my magic boobs to help out if the going gets rough. And I know it will be hard on the boy to be without me, especially at night.
In the end, I'm sure it will be good for all of us. I need to learn how to be away from him and Fletchie needs to learn how to be away from me. And Mr. F needs to learn how it will be without me there.
I know I'm long overdue for an update on the boy - all is well, he is awesome as ever - but for now, check out the new photos and videos.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Bleargh. Feel crummy today.
Bleargh. Feel crummy today. Baby puked all over me this morning. Great...Looks like we both have the plague.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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. ♥
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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.
More videos here and new photos in the Peanut Gallery too.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monkey (or the baby formerly known as Peanut): 5 & 6 months
MonkeyBoy (as Grandpa calls him) turned 5 months in July but as you know, I've been distracted by the situation with my brother, so I'm late. So late in fact, that he turned 6 months yesterday so I seem to have missed out on the 5-month update. For posterity's sake, here's things that have happened in the last couple of months.
Big news: He learned to sit up! All by himself! The first week of August we were at my dad's and I had just finished feeding Monkey and had him on a pillow on my lap. Like I always do when he's done eating, I sat him up on my lap - normally he leans back against me, but this time he leaned forward and sort of sat there. I thought maybe the pillow was making it easy for him, so I plopped him on the floor and poof! There he was, sitting all by his lonesome. Luckily, I told Mr. Fantastic what I was doing first and so we captured it all on video. It was terribly exciting and exceedingly adorable.
He's getting better at sitting for longer periods - but sometimes he will get distracted and reach for something or just forget what he's doing and tip over, but we're working on it. Practice involves the use of many, many pillows as our hardwoods are not forgiving to tender little baby heads. Monkey is also thiiiis close to crawling, I think. He's doing this sort of army-crawl thing - only backwards - and when he sleeps, he sticks his butt in the air, which I've heard is a sign crawling is nigh. We've also started him using a sippy cup, trying to get him used to water and a new method of drinking. He took to it right away, although he makes a yuck face when he realizes it's just water in there. He's even drank from a straw which surprised me that he figured that one out on the first try.
Monkey has definitely found his voice and spends much of his time babbling away and also making "pbbbbbt" raspberry noises with requisite spit bubbles. LOTS of spit. Also there's this happy little "arooo" noise he does that comes with a super cute face. He continues to be the drooliest kid on the planet, despite the fact that I don't think any more teeth are coming for a while. He has his two front bottom teeth and they say the top two are next but so far they don't look like they're coming anytime soon. He chews on his hands a lot and has now discovered his feet in earnest. It's really hard to change a diaper when he's got his foot in his mouth. Babies are bendy! Plus, if it's not his foot or hand in his mouth, it's whatever is within grabbing distance. They say babies use their mouths to explore the world, and boy does this one! He still won't take a binky with any regularity though - there was a brief week or two when he started taking one so we rushed out and bought some more, but he's back to not liking them. And he does a thing where he doesn't so much suck his thumb as chew on it, with it stuck way back where his molars will be.
Big news: He learned to sit up! All by himself! The first week of August we were at my dad's and I had just finished feeding Monkey and had him on a pillow on my lap. Like I always do when he's done eating, I sat him up on my lap - normally he leans back against me, but this time he leaned forward and sort of sat there. I thought maybe the pillow was making it easy for him, so I plopped him on the floor and poof! There he was, sitting all by his lonesome. Luckily, I told Mr. Fantastic what I was doing first and so we captured it all on video. It was terribly exciting and exceedingly adorable.
He's getting better at sitting for longer periods - but sometimes he will get distracted and reach for something or just forget what he's doing and tip over, but we're working on it. Practice involves the use of many, many pillows as our hardwoods are not forgiving to tender little baby heads. Monkey is also thiiiis close to crawling, I think. He's doing this sort of army-crawl thing - only backwards - and when he sleeps, he sticks his butt in the air, which I've heard is a sign crawling is nigh. We've also started him using a sippy cup, trying to get him used to water and a new method of drinking. He took to it right away, although he makes a yuck face when he realizes it's just water in there. He's even drank from a straw which surprised me that he figured that one out on the first try.
Monkey has definitely found his voice and spends much of his time babbling away and also making "pbbbbbt" raspberry noises with requisite spit bubbles. LOTS of spit. Also there's this happy little "arooo" noise he does that comes with a super cute face. He continues to be the drooliest kid on the planet, despite the fact that I don't think any more teeth are coming for a while. He has his two front bottom teeth and they say the top two are next but so far they don't look like they're coming anytime soon. He chews on his hands a lot and has now discovered his feet in earnest. It's really hard to change a diaper when he's got his foot in his mouth. Babies are bendy! Plus, if it's not his foot or hand in his mouth, it's whatever is within grabbing distance. They say babies use their mouths to explore the world, and boy does this one! He still won't take a binky with any regularity though - there was a brief week or two when he started taking one so we rushed out and bought some more, but he's back to not liking them. And he does a thing where he doesn't so much suck his thumb as chew on it, with it stuck way back where his molars will be.
"Arooo!"
We also have just started him on solids. My cousin Heidi and I did a day of baby food-making for our boys - steaming & pureeing a bunch of fruits and veggies and then freezing in ice cube trays. So far the jury is still out for the most part. We have tried peaches, pears, banana, avocado, sweet potato and rice cereal. Mostly everything gets spit back out although he does seem partial to the pears and might actually be swallowing some of that. Until he's 1, solids are mostly for fun and learning new textures and tastes, not for nutrition. Which is a good thing because some of the yuck faces he made while eating were hysterical. We did a video of the first time and at one point, he gave me this big smile, so of course I stuck some food in there and the speed at which he went from smiley to yuck face is hilarious. He looked so betrayed. Evil, evil Mommy, where is the boobie juice?
So, it turns out Monkey is a boob snob. We thought it might be a good idea to try and introduce some formula in case I'm unable to pump enough boobie juice for times when I have to be away. Unfortunately, in a disastrous trial by fire, Mr. Fantastic learned that formula is NO GO. He wound up having to drive home from his mom's with a hungry, crying baby so I could feed him. He called me from the car and put me on speaker phone so I could talk to Peanut, which would calm him down momentarily until he figured out that I was not actually present and the yumyums were not forthcoming. Poor Mr. F. That was a rough one for him. We are going to try some other formula brands and maybe work on getting him to take a little each day so he'll get used to it. The majority of the time he'll still have breastmilk, but we'd like to have the option just in case.
We had his 6-month checkup and shots yesterday, including flu shots for all three of us. As always, he cried for a minute or two and Mommy cried for ten. The doctor (Dr. Sarah this time) said he looks great - good strength and control, and she commented on how resourceful he is when she put the eye/ear scope thingy down on the exam table and he wanted it but couldn't reach it. So after a few tries of reaching for it, instead he started pulling the paper table cover towards himself until the scopey thing was close enough to grab. Smart boy!
This month he weighs 17 lbs, 5.5 oz and is 27 3/8" long, putting him in the 50th percentile for weight and 80th for height. Funny, I keep thinking he's gotten quite thick - in fact, I've taken to calling him Chunky Monkey - but people still comment on how skinny he is! Also, we get asked a lot if he's a boy or girl (despite the fact that he wears a lot of blue and baseball hats). This is because although I call him the Cutest Baby in the World, a more accurate word is pretty. He has ridiculously long eyelashes and big blue eyes and this little tuft of blond hair that sticks up in the middle of his head.
Aside from being beautiful and intelligent, Peanut is still the happiest baby I've ever met. He is so content, so happy to just sit and play or be held. He hardly ever cries except when he's hungry. He takes to strangers easily - so far has no fear of being held by someone he just met. He smiles and laughs all the time, especially when he sees Mommy or Daddy. I cannot tell you how much joy it brings us when he just lights up at us. I hope he has some idea just how much we love him and how much our lives have been enriched with his presence. I think having a child my own has finally given me an understanding of just how much my parents loved me.
So, all is well in Peanut Land and I will hopefully be back on track for next month's update. Stay tuned for such newsworthy evens as Peanut tries Peas! and Bathtime for Monkey: Is it time for the big tub yet?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Is there a word that means "bigger than a poosplosion?"
OH. EM. GEE.
I'm writing this naked because my clothes are covered in baby poo. If you don't want to know more than that, stop reading now.
As the parent of a nearly five month old child (!!), I am no stranger to the various bodily fluids that come with the territory. I have, at times in the last five months, had various parts of my body covered in drool, spit up, pee, poo and breast milk. Sometimes all at once. We have had our share of barfs and poosplosions and diaper blowouts that require changing baby's clothes, maybe a ghetto bath with a washcloth, sometimes even requiring an actual bath if it's 'splosion-y enough.
Look, the point is, I am not afraid of a little poo or what-have-you. I have determined that once you become a parent, your acceptable level of tolerance for having any or all of the baby-associated bodily fluids on your clothes or person increases greatly. Look at all the parents walking around covered in spit up. You become resistant to the disgustingness of things. Either that or you're so sleep deprived that you just don't notice.
Despite my increased tolerance for baby poo (hee! it's funny when baby poops on daddy's hand!), today's poosplosion and subsequent blowout was masterfully horrifying. I got done feeding my little Monkey and was holding him sweetly on my lap, still sitting on the boppy, as I talked on the phone with my dad.
It started innocently enough. There were the usual poo noises he makes after a feed and I thought nothing of it, planning to let him finish the job and then change him. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then I started to notice that the places where he was pressed against me seemed a little sweatier than usual, so I leaned him forward to check his diaper, just in case - and - AND. OMG. POO. EVERYWHERE. This was like the silent assassin A-bomb of poosplosions. All up and down his back, all over my shirt and pants, all over the boppy.
I gasped mid-sentence, got off the phone with my dad and then hollered for Mr. Fantastic because this was a job for two people, at least one of whom was not screeching in horror. Mr. F took Monkey - he had to hold him by one arm and one leg to avoid getting pooed - and I ran to strip off in the bathtub, only to discover that my bra and underwear had also been 'sploded. I can't believe the amount of poo that escaped that little body. Thank heavens for Mr. F who got the boy cleaned up and dressed in new clothes while I was hopping around going "ewww" and trying to wash poo off everything at the same time.
This is why they make babies so cute. See?
I'm writing this naked because my clothes are covered in baby poo. If you don't want to know more than that, stop reading now.
As the parent of a nearly five month old child (!!), I am no stranger to the various bodily fluids that come with the territory. I have, at times in the last five months, had various parts of my body covered in drool, spit up, pee, poo and breast milk. Sometimes all at once. We have had our share of barfs and poosplosions and diaper blowouts that require changing baby's clothes, maybe a ghetto bath with a washcloth, sometimes even requiring an actual bath if it's 'splosion-y enough.
Look, the point is, I am not afraid of a little poo or what-have-you. I have determined that once you become a parent, your acceptable level of tolerance for having any or all of the baby-associated bodily fluids on your clothes or person increases greatly. Look at all the parents walking around covered in spit up. You become resistant to the disgustingness of things. Either that or you're so sleep deprived that you just don't notice.
Despite my increased tolerance for baby poo (hee! it's funny when baby poops on daddy's hand!), today's poosplosion and subsequent blowout was masterfully horrifying. I got done feeding my little Monkey and was holding him sweetly on my lap, still sitting on the boppy, as I talked on the phone with my dad.
It started innocently enough. There were the usual poo noises he makes after a feed and I thought nothing of it, planning to let him finish the job and then change him. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then I started to notice that the places where he was pressed against me seemed a little sweatier than usual, so I leaned him forward to check his diaper, just in case - and - AND. OMG. POO. EVERYWHERE. This was like the silent assassin A-bomb of poosplosions. All up and down his back, all over my shirt and pants, all over the boppy.
I gasped mid-sentence, got off the phone with my dad and then hollered for Mr. Fantastic because this was a job for two people, at least one of whom was not screeching in horror. Mr. F took Monkey - he had to hold him by one arm and one leg to avoid getting pooed - and I ran to strip off in the bathtub, only to discover that my bra and underwear had also been 'sploded. I can't believe the amount of poo that escaped that little body. Thank heavens for Mr. F who got the boy cleaned up and dressed in new clothes while I was hopping around going "ewww" and trying to wash poo off everything at the same time.
This is why they make babies so cute. See?
Monday, July 6, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
And so it begins...
Last night was day one of the Twelve Days of My BirthdayTM. Went out with my cousins H1, H2, H3, T and G to one of my favorite restaurants, Cherry Creek Grill (where I had a glass of champagne, a grilled artichoke and my favorite salad. YUM!) It was a really lovely way to celebrate my birthday and I had such a good time just talking and laughing with them.
I missed Peanut horribly though, and H3 and I had a hard time not talking about our babies, but everyone assured us they'd just tell us to shut up when they got sick of it (which they never did, bless them.)
Today is my actual birthday, and Mr. Fantastic and Peanut have let me take a nice long nap. And when I woke up, there were beautiful roses and cards from both of them and Mr. F is in the kitchen right now baking me a cake! And he tells me that later we are going out to eat with my dad and Steve and I'm to put on my pretty dress but won't say where we're going just yet.
Tomorrow we have a family BBQ for the both of us at Mummy Fantastic's (Mr. F's birthday is on Wednesday) so I am looking forward to that too.
By now you all know just how much I love to have a big deal made out of my birthday, so this one is already shaping up wonderfully. I love surprises!
Thanks to all of you who've already posted birthday wishes! ♥
I missed Peanut horribly though, and H3 and I had a hard time not talking about our babies, but everyone assured us they'd just tell us to shut up when they got sick of it (which they never did, bless them.)
Today is my actual birthday, and Mr. Fantastic and Peanut have let me take a nice long nap. And when I woke up, there were beautiful roses and cards from both of them and Mr. F is in the kitchen right now baking me a cake! And he tells me that later we are going out to eat with my dad and Steve and I'm to put on my pretty dress but won't say where we're going just yet.
Tomorrow we have a family BBQ for the both of us at Mummy Fantastic's (Mr. F's birthday is on Wednesday) so I am looking forward to that too.
By now you all know just how much I love to have a big deal made out of my birthday, so this one is already shaping up wonderfully. I love surprises!
Thanks to all of you who've already posted birthday wishes! ♥
Sunday, May 24, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Fletcher: Two months (and a bit)
Ok, more like ten weeks, but who's counting? Either way, it's still hard to believe my little guy is already two and a half months old. I have to ask again, where does the time go?
Fletch is grand and growing like a weed. He is a skinny boy, but I think that's mostly because he's long (tall?) and we just can't fatten him up fast enough to keep up. He is outgrowing clothes already (!!) but it's funny because they are clothes which he never filled out around the middle but which are too short. If they have feet on them, he can't straighten his legs but has room for an entire pillow to be stuffed around his tummy. It makes me sad though, to already have to set aside some of those teeny tiny outfits that I love so much. My favorite bear suit may only have one more wearing left. (Which I suppose is ok anyway, considering it's May now and he prolly doesn't need to be quite so bundled up!)
I got nervous for a while and tried to feed him extra, but to no avail. At his two-month doctor appointment Fletch was in the 15th percentile for weight and the 85th for height. Dr. Matt says not to worry and that he is likely just destined to be a tall, skinny kid. Who ever would have thought any child of mine would be both tall and thin? At his one month he was about 8 pounds, at the two month around 10, and I'd bet he's already at 11 by now. And 24 inches long! He's no longer my tiny burrito.
OMG, my whole life is going to be like this now, isn't it? One milestone after another and at some point I'm going to have to let him out of the house alone, aren't I?
People keep asking if he's sleeping through the night...I don't even know what that means anymore. The books classify it as a 5-6 hour stretch at night, which, NO, we are not doing. Sometimes we get a 4 hour stretch without having to feed him at night, but that's not often. He's still eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock but it's gotten easier to live my life around that schedule. Plus I have gotten better at dozing/napping when I feed him at night, so in all I am feeling pretty well rested.
We also had Fletch's first round of vaccinations at his last appointment. He did a great job! I was all prepared for an unhappy baby the whole day, but he hardly even cried. Mr. Fantastic helped hold him while two nurses gave him simultaneous shots. He cried briefly but calmed down right away when they handed him back to me and I gave him a bottle with some sugar water. As a matter of fact, I cried harder and longer than he did! What a trooper.
Fletcher smiles all the time now - it's hard to catch it on camera still, but we did get a great video a few weeks ago.
As you can see, he continues to be the Cutest. Baby. Ever. More photographic evidence here. In addition to the smiling, he also laughs all the time - one of my favorite things ever is when I am feeding him, and he's all peaceful and sucking away with his eyes closed, and then he will pause - eyes still closed - and start laughing around his mouth full of boob. I wonder what's going through his little baby head to make him laugh so. I would video it for you but again, it would require showing you more of my clown porn boobs than I'd like.
He's also started "talking" in earnest. When we get up in the morning, he's particularly chatty and we have long conversations that involve him laughing like a fiend as I repeat his gurgles back to him. Also, he has inherited my laugh-snort. It is spectacularly adorable.
Peanut: Grr?
Me: Grr!
Peanut: heeheehee!...Ghee?
Me: Ghee!
Peanut: heeheeheeSNORT!
Me: *heart melts*
We had a lovely Mother's Day and I got a gift certificate for a mani/pedi at my favorite place from Fletch (he had a little help from Daddy picking it out.)
Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done in my life. Here are some reasons why:
Fletch is grand and growing like a weed. He is a skinny boy, but I think that's mostly because he's long (tall?) and we just can't fatten him up fast enough to keep up. He is outgrowing clothes already (!!) but it's funny because they are clothes which he never filled out around the middle but which are too short. If they have feet on them, he can't straighten his legs but has room for an entire pillow to be stuffed around his tummy. It makes me sad though, to already have to set aside some of those teeny tiny outfits that I love so much. My favorite bear suit may only have one more wearing left. (Which I suppose is ok anyway, considering it's May now and he prolly doesn't need to be quite so bundled up!)
I got nervous for a while and tried to feed him extra, but to no avail. At his two-month doctor appointment Fletch was in the 15th percentile for weight and the 85th for height. Dr. Matt says not to worry and that he is likely just destined to be a tall, skinny kid. Who ever would have thought any child of mine would be both tall and thin? At his one month he was about 8 pounds, at the two month around 10, and I'd bet he's already at 11 by now. And 24 inches long! He's no longer my tiny burrito.
OMG, my whole life is going to be like this now, isn't it? One milestone after another and at some point I'm going to have to let him out of the house alone, aren't I?
People keep asking if he's sleeping through the night...I don't even know what that means anymore. The books classify it as a 5-6 hour stretch at night, which, NO, we are not doing. Sometimes we get a 4 hour stretch without having to feed him at night, but that's not often. He's still eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock but it's gotten easier to live my life around that schedule. Plus I have gotten better at dozing/napping when I feed him at night, so in all I am feeling pretty well rested.
We also had Fletch's first round of vaccinations at his last appointment. He did a great job! I was all prepared for an unhappy baby the whole day, but he hardly even cried. Mr. Fantastic helped hold him while two nurses gave him simultaneous shots. He cried briefly but calmed down right away when they handed him back to me and I gave him a bottle with some sugar water. As a matter of fact, I cried harder and longer than he did! What a trooper.
Fletcher smiles all the time now - it's hard to catch it on camera still, but we did get a great video a few weeks ago.
As you can see, he continues to be the Cutest. Baby. Ever. More photographic evidence here. In addition to the smiling, he also laughs all the time - one of my favorite things ever is when I am feeding him, and he's all peaceful and sucking away with his eyes closed, and then he will pause - eyes still closed - and start laughing around his mouth full of boob. I wonder what's going through his little baby head to make him laugh so. I would video it for you but again, it would require showing you more of my clown porn boobs than I'd like.
He's also started "talking" in earnest. When we get up in the morning, he's particularly chatty and we have long conversations that involve him laughing like a fiend as I repeat his gurgles back to him. Also, he has inherited my laugh-snort. It is spectacularly adorable.
Peanut: Grr?
Me: Grr!
Peanut: heeheehee!...Ghee?
Me: Ghee!
Peanut: heeheeheeSNORT!
Me: *heart melts*
We had a lovely Mother's Day and I got a gift certificate for a mani/pedi at my favorite place from Fletch (he had a little help from Daddy picking it out.)
Being a mom is the best thing I've ever done in my life. Here are some reasons why:
Monday, April 27, 2009
So I forgot to tell you that my brother is home from the hospital and doing great. We actually got to bring him home last Friday (the 17th) - can you imagine, having brain surgery on a Monday and going home by Friday? Last time he was in the hospital for almost two weeks and on the ventilator for like five days.
The nurses told him that it was not being on the vent that made such a difference. Apparently, the ventilator really takes a toll on your body and you get really weak. The difference in him between last time and this time is astounding. He felt so good when he got home, in fact, that he decided to start his next round of chemo right away, so he went in on the 21st for that. I couldn't be more thrilled with his progress, and he is in such better spirits this time around as well, which I think can only do good things for his recovery. So keep your fingers crossed that things keep going well!
~~~
Sadly, it has already been two months and my maternity leave is over. I started back to work today, but luckily I have sneakily been checking my inbox during my leave and deleting stuff that I don't need to take care of. So the potentially scary inbox situation was luckily under control. Plus, the cool thing my company does is give you a "transition week" your first week back, where you only work half time but get paid for the full week. Peanut and I have somewhat settled into a routine and I am sad to have to chage it. Hopefully we'll be able to fit work into our busy schedule of eating, sleeping and pooing.
Speaking of eating, sleeping and pooing...I haven't been doing much of any of them lately. This unfortunately landed me in the ER again last night with that same stomach pain/gallbladder thing that I had back in August. Since we are now getting it down to an art form, some pain meds and a couple hours of IV fluids to rehydrate me, and I was good as new. I think what we are learning from this is that I really have got to look after my diet better. And apparently, since I'm breastfeeding, I need to drink sixteen glasses of water a day as opposed to the usually recommended eight. Unfortunately, it hit me at about 1 a.m. and so we didn't get home until almost 5. And Peanut, while he was so good at the hospital, was fussy as soon as we got home and didn't really let us get much in the way of sleep. Very glad I didn't have to do a lot at work today because I was pretty useless until after noon.
That's pretty much it for me...Peanut is two months old now - where did the time go? I'll post more about his second month later, but in the mean time, let me leave you with this picture.
The nurses told him that it was not being on the vent that made such a difference. Apparently, the ventilator really takes a toll on your body and you get really weak. The difference in him between last time and this time is astounding. He felt so good when he got home, in fact, that he decided to start his next round of chemo right away, so he went in on the 21st for that. I couldn't be more thrilled with his progress, and he is in such better spirits this time around as well, which I think can only do good things for his recovery. So keep your fingers crossed that things keep going well!
~~~
Sadly, it has already been two months and my maternity leave is over. I started back to work today, but luckily I have sneakily been checking my inbox during my leave and deleting stuff that I don't need to take care of. So the potentially scary inbox situation was luckily under control. Plus, the cool thing my company does is give you a "transition week" your first week back, where you only work half time but get paid for the full week. Peanut and I have somewhat settled into a routine and I am sad to have to chage it. Hopefully we'll be able to fit work into our busy schedule of eating, sleeping and pooing.
Speaking of eating, sleeping and pooing...I haven't been doing much of any of them lately. This unfortunately landed me in the ER again last night with that same stomach pain/gallbladder thing that I had back in August. Since we are now getting it down to an art form, some pain meds and a couple hours of IV fluids to rehydrate me, and I was good as new. I think what we are learning from this is that I really have got to look after my diet better. And apparently, since I'm breastfeeding, I need to drink sixteen glasses of water a day as opposed to the usually recommended eight. Unfortunately, it hit me at about 1 a.m. and so we didn't get home until almost 5. And Peanut, while he was so good at the hospital, was fussy as soon as we got home and didn't really let us get much in the way of sleep. Very glad I didn't have to do a lot at work today because I was pretty useless until after noon.
That's pretty much it for me...Peanut is two months old now - where did the time go? I'll post more about his second month later, but in the mean time, let me leave you with this picture.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Maybe the Grumpy Face was better.
So we finally were able to snap a picture of Peanut without his usual Grumpy Face. The result:
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