Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Cub can roll from his tummy to his back.

Bad News: Cub cannot roll back.

Cub learned his new trick in the middle of the night (last night). Trouble is that when he gets to his back - he thinks- oh crap, how do I get back - and then flails around like a dying bug waiting for me to come and roll him back onto his tummy (wow, how many times can I use the word "back"?)

I tried explaining to him that if he just wouldn't roll over in the first place, we would not have this issue. He didn't listen. Instead he practiced his new trick about 15 times last night.

Here is Mr. One-Way Roller waiting for a swim:

Monday, August 30, 2010

You Are My Sunshine

Buttin and I sing You Are My Sunshine to Graby every night while he's going to bed. I also sing it to him in the car whenever he gets fussy. I remember the first time I told Buttin to sing it to him - Buttin was amazed by how quickly it calmed the cub.

Here's a little picture of our sunshine today playing in his jumperoo.

I Won Something?!

I never win anything.

Part of the virtual race I did last week included prizes for the fastest runners. Well, I certainly wasn't going to win any of those prizes - BUT I did win one of the RANDOM prizes. It's not cookie dough, but it could be yummy. Now I guess I need to start running some longer distances to justify these running goodies.

MCM Mama also requested that everyone who did the virtual race stop by a new blog and say hello! I picked Barefoot Angie Bee because I have been facinated by barefoot running ever since reading (listening) Born To Run last year. Angie has FOUR sons and is a barefoot runner and is also my new inspiration.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Napping Strike Over

Graby finally gave up his napping strike and took a three hour nap this morning (11 - 2) and another nap from 3:30 - 4:45. He seems a little happier today although he was king grumpy-butt this morning before his nap.

Here's a cute little picture of him sneezing - I know I find everything that he does cute, but this really is cute.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Baby Free Friday - Sarah Palin

NOT MEANT TO OFFEND (well maybe just a little)
JUST TO BE SILLY!


Today's Baby Free Friday topic is SARAH PALIN.

To me, she is scarier than bears.

This is my MS Paint drawing of Sarah Palin wrestling a bear.

Here's a pie chart with the thoughts in Sarah Palin's head (I say "head" because I'm not sure if she has a brain).

Here is my poem about Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin used to be Governor of a state,
but then she quit because she's so full of hate.
It's against her religion to be a smarty,
and the only thing she says is "Yeah, Tea Party!"
Her favorite animal is a dead panda,
and if she becomes President - I'm moving to Canada.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Teething Much?

I'm not sure if Graby is teething yet. However, he does seem to enjoy putting everything in his mouth, chewing on it and covering it with slobber.

Here are two of his favorite chew toys:

Mouser the cat.

Buttin the daddy.


Before little cub was born, I did a bunch of cloth diaper research (What does this have to do with teething you might ask? - I'll get there) and as you might imagine some of the cloth diaper using mamas are into other "natural" things. I ran across a lot of message board posts about amber teething necklaces and their help with teething.

Amber is also known to reduce inflammation of the throat, ear and stomach and to fight irritation, infections and respiratory disease as it dramatically improves the body’s immunity. Natural amber beaded necklaces are a completely non-invasive remedy for side effects associated with teething, such as lack of appetite, upset tummies, ear ache, fevers and colds. Baltic amber is also a natural analgesic that will calm your child and is recognized by allopathic medicine specialists as antispasmodic and anti-fever. Many adults report improvement of arthritis discomfort in their hands when wearing amber on the wrists.

Well, I thought it was worth trying (even though little cub isn't moody or feverish and doesn't seem to have any of the other teething symptoms - except the chewing and slobbering) so I bought one for Graby and we got it in the mail today.

Here's my conversation with Buttin when he got home from work:

Buttin: He looks like a caveman.

Me: No, it's cute. One of the other mamas in my group has one for her son.

Buttin: Is she a wizard?

Me: No. (For the record, Heather is an accountant.)

Buttin: When do we start buying him crystals?

That's my Buttin, the funny smart-ass.

Here's Graby modeling his necklace, I'm not quite sure how much he likes it.


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Daydreaming Cash - Pillow Tester

Here is Cash dreaming (he actually IS sleeping in this picture) of being a pillow tester. I think he likes this job.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Chasing The Deer Picture

My MCM Mama Virtual Race Report

The title of this post could also be called - Worst Running Photo Essay Ever (or, Who do I think I Am, RunningLaur?)

First a couple things:
  1. I love the running blog community and I REALLY love the running moms blog community. Some of the ambitious runners (especially those who have followers or stalkers) host virtual races, so that we can all participate even though we're spread out all over the world (I realize this sounds kind of cheese-bally, but it's fun).
  2. MCM Mama (she helped me out a bunch with my boob infection) is turning 40 this week (actually tomorrow) and so she decided to host a virtual race. The distance choice was 4 miles, 8.25 miles or a 40K (aka a metric crap-ton of miles). I had originally planned 8.25 miles, but that takes some planning (and a little more training). I decide to just do the 4 miles.
  3. I'm four months postpartum so speed is really not my thing (not that it ever really was), so I decided to take my iPhone with me and take some really cool pictures of all the pretty deer that I usually see on my morning runs.
Now, to the race report and photo essay.

In honor of MCM Mama I decided to start my race at 4 -0'clock in the morning (actually Graby is now somewhat in the habit of waking up at 3:30 - after 8 straight hours of sleep - so I just didn't go back to bed). After a quick boob pumping (to maximize my aerodynamics) and a pop tart, I headed outside where it was a balmy 78 degrees.

It was pretty dark, but here's my first (and probably best) picture -it's of the moon, in case you were wondering.


I started my run and was listening to The Girl Who Played With Fire on my ipod. I love running to books on tape and it's really the only reading I've done in a while.

My four mile race was the route I usually take in the mornings and so I expected to see a bunch of deer. When I hit the half mile marker I stuck gold - there was a group of deer! I snapped a picture. Wow - this is a pretty crappy picture. All I got were little deer eyes - I drew some arrows so you could see them.

I tried again without the flash. Not much luck but at least now you can kind of see the deer.


Mile 1 - 12:56. All this picture taking was really slowing me down (or at least that's what I told myself).

I'm having fun with my camera and as I started mile two, I noticed a huge pile of trash in the road (I mean really huge). Should I take a picture? No, probably not very interesting to others. After the brief trash distraction I spotted deer running! I quickly took a picture. Damn it - the one blur in the front kind of looks like a small camel, but no one is going to believe I even saw deer. Can you see the deer running across the road?


Mile 2 - 11:53. A little faster.

I began mile three with a renewed focus on my running. I'm not going to win any prizes for speed, but I knew I could negative split this thing.

I spotted an opossum, but by the time I got my camera ready it had scurried off under a bush. Stupid opossum doesn't he know he'll be famous if I post a picture of him on my blog? Next I saw a house with lights - I'm guessing they're Christmas lights, so I took a picture.


I think they were actually Fourth of July lights, but I prefer to think of my neighbors as proactive rather than lazy.

I continued on my quest of good deer picture (and run). I saw so many (especially cute little baby ones), but the more nonchalant I acted - the faster they would run away from me. I tried saying, Here little deer, here little deer - I'm not going to hurt you but MCM Mama NEEDS a picture of you for her birthday. It didn't work. It is too much to ask for the deer to stand still underneath a street light?

I kept plodding along. As I turned down one street I noticed my long, skinny shadow (just like real life . . . ha, ha . . . not so much the skinny part). I decided to take a picture of my shadow - don't ask why - just be thankful you aren't looking at photos of my neighbors' trash right now.


Mile 3 - 11:48, getting a little faster especially considering the my two photo sessions.

As I started mile four, the book started getting really good (just ending the exposition, if you will), but I was still focused on getting one good deer picture - well that- and running a good final mile.

Just as I reached the homestretch of my run (around the 3.6 mile mark) I saw a big, beautiful deer with horns (err . . .antlers). I noticed he was slightly back lit by a porch light. Snap. It wasn't the perfect picture, but it was better than the others and at least I could tell this picture had an object that resembled a deer in it.


Mile 4 - 11:41.

I finished in just over 48 minutes with about 52 blurry deerish pictures. I have a feeling the fastest virtual race participant (doing four miles) will finish in less than half my time, but that's not what's important.

This is what's important:

Race bib was designed by RunningLaur and modeled by my little cub.

Happy Birthday MCM Mama - hope you like the deer photos. Thanks for hosting such fabulous race!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Back To School

On Facebook today, I saw so many pictures of kids headed back to school.

I know we'll be there soon enough and I can certainly wait.

I wonder if little Graby will be wearing these colors in 18 years?

?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Lazy Sunday

Following our busy Saturday, we had a lazy Sunday.

Here is the evidence.



Even with all this laziness, we still had time for a swim.


Saturday, August 21, 2010

One Busy Saturday

First - last night little cub slept from 7:30 PM - 5 AM!! I doubt this performance will be repeated, but at least we KNOW it is POSSIBLE.

5 AM - Wake up & Feed the little cub
5:30 AM - I go for a run while Buttin plays with Graby
6:30 AM - I return home, Graby is back asleep and Buttin is soon to follow
6:50 AM - After a quick shower, I'm out the door to the grocery store
7:45 AM - Return home to an awake Graby and Buttin
7:50 AM - Feed Graby while Buttin puts the groceries away
8:00 AM - Make breakfast
9:00 AM - Graby back to sleep for a nap
10:30 AM - Get email from my mama's group friend, Bethany, who lives down the street - they're having a pool (plastic) party and we're invited.
10:45 AM - Graby wakes up (that's right it's an almost 2 hour nap) and we head to the pool party.
11:00 AM - Buttin leaves the party to go see Piranha 3D.
Noon - Cub and I walk back home (he's getting hungry and a little tired)
12:05 PM - Cub and I realize we've been locked out by Buttin/Daddy
12:10 PM - We walk back to Bethany's and ask if we can stay at their house until Buttin is done with the movie
12:10 - 1:15 PM - Cub eats, Bethany's sweet husband gets us some food and we all hang out and have a good time. On a side note, her darling daughter, Violet (age four), told me that one of my teeth looked like it was about to come out - I had to explain to her that it was just crooked. Makes me think about one day when silly things will come out of Cash's mouth.
1:15 PM - Buttin returns!
1:20 PM - My friend Suzin arrives (she had texted me, but I didn't have my phone - it was locked in the house) bearing slightly used toys and car seats!
1:30 PM - Suzin leaves and I head to my friend Liz's house while Cub and Buttin spend some quality father/son time together.
1:45 PM - 4:30 PM - Liz and hang out and watch Mummy 2. I eat again (I can always eat).
4:45 PM - I'm at home. Graby napped from 1:30 - 3:00, but I can tell he's tired again. He refuses to take a quick nap, so we just play together as a family.
6:00 PM - Bathtime
6:30 PM - Cub is crashed in his bed.
6:50 PM - Buttin walks through the front door with sushi. Yum. Yes, I'm eating again (actually starving).
7:04 PM - Sushi eaten, time to relax on the couch.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Baby Free Friday - BEARS

**Caution, very random and somewhat stupid post below**

OK - I'm starting a new blog tradition - BABY FREE FRIDAY.

This idea is actually stolen (because I can rarely come up with a good idea on my own) from another blog. The lady happens to be pregnant and I guess she didn't want to steal my "Fetus Friday" idea.

So every Friday (until I get pregnant again - don't be alarmed there's no hurry on that one - or until Graby is a toddler, and it becomes Toddler Free Tuesday or Thursday) I'm going to write about something other than Graby. Just as a warning these will probably be very silly or random or just plain dumb posts.

Today's topic - BEARS.

This is in honor of my friend Liz who is very afraid of bears (I think it's #1 on her phobia list). Thankfully we don't have a lot of bears in Texas.

This is my drawing of a bear that I did with the Doodle Buddy app on my iPhone. This bear is at the beach (which is not exactly like real life, but just go with it). You will notice the sharp teeth and claws.


Most bears are dangerous unless they're cartoon bears. Bears sometimes look cute and cuddly, but I'm guessing (I don't actually know from experience) that they don't cuddle as well as say, a dog.

There is a documentary called Grizzly Man that Buttin and I saw a couple of years ago. That guy was nuts. He wanted to be friends with wild bears; he died (via bear). Sadly, his girlfriend died too. Maybe she didn't know that bears were dangerous?

I don't understand why there are so many good, warm and cuddly childhood things associated with bears (like Yogi and Teddy Ruxpin). You don't see a lot of shark, piranha or child molester stuffed animals, do you? What are we teaching our children?

Now baby bears are very cute, but I'm sure they could probably hurt you too. Baby bears are called cubs. The Cubs are my friend Liz's favorite baseball team (actually I'm not sure if she really cares about baseball - she just likes Chicago). This is somewhat surprising because she really is very afraid of bears, but I went to a Cubs game with her and she didn't get scared of anyone's t-shirt or bear cub pictures.

Cub is also the nickname MorMor has given to Cash. Look, I couldn't even go one post without mentioning the kiddo. So this Baby Free Friday was a failure. I'll try again next Friday with what promises to be an equally fascinating post.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

A Good Thing?

The past two nights Graby has slept from 7 PM - 3:30AM and then back to sleep around 4 AM for a couple of hours. This is certainly a very good thing.

On Wednesday morning, I gleefully went back to bed for another two hours and I think it was the first time since Graby was born that I got a good seven hours of sleep in one night. This morning was a running morning, so instead of going back to sleep at 4 AM, I went for a run. I didn't think I'd be able to go back to bed for just one hour and then wake back up to run. I would have either been very groggy or talked myself out of running.

So Graby slept well and I went for a run, but I've still been awake since 3:30 AM.

Here's the cub picture of the day - we were laying on the bed practicing our rolling.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Thirty Second Movie Review - The Other Guys

The Other Guys

Another movie with Graby! Really funny. There were times when I actually had to hold my laughter (which is kind of like holding a sneeze) because Graby was asleep in my lap and every time I would shake I would wake him up.

My Heart

Tonight, when I got home from dinner with my friend Liz, my heart almost burst with joy.

This is what I saw when I walked into my bedroom (picture was taken with an iPhone so is a little blurry):


It was the first night EVER that Buttin was able to feed and get Graby to bed without help from the magic boob.

It was just so sweet to see the two of them cuddled up on the bed together and the way Graby held his bottle was adorable (I know, I drank the parent kool-aid).

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it made me just the teenie-weeniest bit sad to know that Graby doesn't really need me to go to sleep (although mostly it made me extremely proud and happy). This means that I can now go places in the evening and the little cub CAN (happily) go to sleep without me.

Little boy is growing up.

Famous Again

Yup, I'm a guest blogger again today.

This post even includes a picture of Graby.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Brains

Buttin and I were talking about our brains earlier today. I had already been planning this post, but our discussion prompted tonight's posting.

We were talking about how our brains are sometimes very foggy, forgetful and often dumb. We both have a lot on our minds, but I think Graby takes up a huge portion of our brain power.

I made a pie chart of the thoughts in my brain:


Just for fun, I also did one for what I think Graby thinks about:

Graby wants to put everything in his mouth. In fact, his swing now frustrates him because he can touch the little stuffed toy thingies, but he cannot eat them.

Here's a picture of him in the swing today (also, just for fun I included a picture of Graby at two weeks old in his swing - if you can't tell which is which, your brain is worse off than mine).


Here is another picture of Graby today - he's trying to reach for the camera lens and eat it!


Monday, August 16, 2010

A Quick Story

Time for a little SBOS.

Most of our misfits are very good hearted; however, some of them just have the worst luck.

On Friday night, one of our misfits locked his keys in his car. He knew that he had another set of keys locked in his manager's office. He tried calling numerous other misfits to let him in the office, but he was unsuccessful (after all, it was a Friday night). So, he did the only reasonable thing and decided to climb on the roof and try to crawl down into the office.

Sounds like a good plan - right? What could go wrong?


Well, I bet you can guess where this is going - he fell through! Thankfully, he fell right onto the couch in his manager's office but managed to break six ceiling tiles in the process. Buttin got a phone call from a very apologetic misfit.

Sometimes I swear this stuff could only happen to us.


Sunday, August 15, 2010

Daydreaming Cash & The Houston Marathon

Continuing my quest to be creative like this mother, here is my picture of Cash daydreaming today.

I call it, Daydreaming of Being Back in Utero

In other (totally unrelated) news, my mom and I both got into the Houston Half-Marathon! They had a lottery and we both made it. If you live in Houston watch for two slow joggers to invade your city come January!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Thirty Second Movie Review - The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right

Fantastic comedy/coming-of-age film that made me tear up a little. Everyone in this movie was just fantastic and I loved every minute.

Thirty Second Movie Review - The Expendables

The Expendables

Highly entertaining action movie, but pretty much the furthest thing from a "good" movie I've seen since Clash of the Titans. It was a blast watching it with people clapping and cheering throughout the theater, but there was also quite a bit of unintentional laughter.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Four Month Dr. Sharpie Appointment

Today was Cash's four month check-up.

I've been having some pretty high anxiety regarding his vaccines, but my mama's group gals said the four month shots were better than the two month ones. So I sucked it up and decided to be a brave mama and go with Cash and Buttin.

When I went to pick up the little Cash cub from daycare I noticed on his "report card" that he hadn't slept or eaten in about two hours (he can only go about 2 hours without a nap before the cranky monster pays us a visit). I thought, oh great . . .sleepy and hungry and now I'm going to stick him with needles . . . gosh, I'm a good mom.

Buttin met us at the office and Graby was super happy when Daddy walked through the waiting room door. They spent the five minutes in the office laughing at each other - it was pretty freaking cute.

When we got into the room, Cash was all smiles for the nurse. I didn't give her smiles. Instead I played 20 questions with her about how good (gentle and fast) she was at giving shots. When I was convinced of her competence - I smiled, a little.

Here are the stats:
  • Height : 26.5 inches - 92nd percentile
  • Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz - 70th percentile
  • His head circumference was in the 45th percentile, so I wonder if that means he's going to be like one of those large people with tiny heads. I hope not.
When Dr. Sharpie came in we talked briefly about what to expect at this age. She mentioned that we could start rice cereal whenever we wanted, but I think we'll wait till about 6 months. We can also start giving Graby a little water (up to 2 oz) everyday so that he gets used to the taste. We'll probably wait a little while on this too. I guess there are some parents who are very anxious to start doing these things - but I'm in no hurry.

Next she examined Graby. She put her little doctoring tool to his chest and he started crying. I'm thinking, oh shitsville if he's already this grumpy with a smiling doctor putting a cold object on his chest, what is he going to do with needles???!!!

He calmed down quickly when Buttin and I started making fools of ourselves for his benefit. Everything checked out great - ears, nose, eyes, chest and penis!

Dr. Sharpie said she would see us at the 6 month visit. Now we just had to wait for the nurse to come back in to give Graby his shots.

Tick-tock . . . the nurse was taking what seemed like forever to come back in the office. I impatiently decided to go looking for her - well, not really but I did stick my head out the door (I think Buttin was a little mortified) and asked Dr. Sharpie how long the nurse will be (because Graby is getting VERY hungry at this point). She said the nurse would be back in about seven minutes - SEVEN MINUTES - Graby could eat two meals in seven minutes. I decided to feed him a snack. He ate and burped before the nurse came back in - even though it was less than seven minutes.

First she gives him the oral crap, which must taste gross because Graby didn't seem to like it and it took her a few times to get all of it in his mouth. Next, two shots . . . one in each leg. Buttin laid Graby down and made silly faces at him. The first one was over without a peep and he just started fussing when shot two went in his leg. By the time shot two was finished he was making small, "eh, eh, eh" noises, but Buttin picked him up and he startsed to smile within about five seconds. No tears, no turning purple, no nothing! Sweet precious baby - he must have known his mama really couldn't take too much this afternoon.

He fell asleep the instant the car started moving.

Now we're just waiting at home for Gigi and Nana to get here.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Release The Crapp'in

I've been meaning to write an "update" on cloth diapers for a while now. A friend of mine actually suggested the topic.

I was finally motivated because I'm the guest author on another blog today! This particular post is about how I "line dry" our diapers on hangers (more on that later).

Enough about me being super-famous, back to the update . . .

I LOVE CLOTH DIAPERING.

I don't really think Buttin loves cloth diapering, but he's adjusted to it just fine as have the grandmas. MorMor sewed little black (for Johnny Cash) stars on all of Graby's diapers because the permanent marker I used to label them for daycare was fading. PLUS the black star is just so much cuter - SEE:


I don't have to worry about going to the store because we're out of diapers, I don't have to worry about whether or not to go up in size (because most of Graby's diapers are one-sized and they grow with him) and I don't have to worry about the huge increase in trash production.

I think one of the biggest hesitations mothers have with cloth diapering is the extra laundry. I do about three loads of diaper laundry per week. I usually just start the load at night after Graby has gone to bed: one cold pre-wash (without detergent), a hot wash (with regular powder Tide) and then an extra rinse. In the morning (while Graby is hopefully taking his nap) I throw everything in the dryer OR (what has been a big surprise for me & what the other blog post is about) I hang them on hangers and put them outside to sun dry.

I had no idea about the power of the sun. I'll let you in on a little secret - babies poop and when they're newborns they poop a poop-ton (we've cloth diapers since Graby got home from the hospital). The sun makes the stains disappear - like magic.

BEFORE


AFTER
As an added bonus, I'm saving on some energy costs by using the sun to dry my diapers. If I hang the diapers out in the morning before I go to work, they're usually clean and dry (and crispy) by the time I get home around 1:30. I throw them in the dryer for about 10 minutes just to fluff them up a little.

After 10 minutes in the dryer, I take all the diapers that aren't all-in-ones (meaning there's no assembly required) and put them on the kitchen table. Assembly for our pocket diapers is VERY easy. I just stuff a cloth insert into the cloth diaper cover (this takes about 2 minutes of time for about 15 diapers). I throw all the stuffed diapers (and all-in-ones) in Graby's dresser drawer and they're ready to go - just like a disposable.

It's really a fairly simple process, but you DO need a couple dozen diapers or laundry could become burdensome. The more diapers you have - the less frequently you have to do laundry. I have about three dozen and it works really well for me (especially because they change Graby's diaper EVERY hour at school).

I also think that cloth diapers are cute. The one downside (if you can call it one) is that Graby seems to need bigger sizes of clothing because his butt is so cute and fluffy. I don't really see this as an issue because he's mostly in little onesies, but if you dress your child in multi-layered outfits - you might be frustrated.

I am so thrilled that we decided to cloth diaper and I would highly encourage it.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Running In The Rain?

Does it count as a run if I jogged home from my friend Bethany's house (all the way down the block) while pushing a stroller and wearing flip flops in the pouring rain? I think so.

I covered Graby up with a blanket so he didn't get soaked, but I got drenched. Here's Graby after our "run".

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Our New Toy

A few days ago I wrote about a new toy we got for the Graby.

Well, last week Buttin and I got new toys too - iPhones!

I feel like we're the last people under the age of 40 to get an iPhone. It only took until the fourth generation for us to hop on the band wagon. I guess we're not early adopters anymore (don't know if I ever was and Buttin has kind of resisted new technology too - took him forever to embrace the mp3 because he LOVED the packaging that came along with a new cd).

Anyway, enough about getting old - back to the toy!

I'm still exploring my new toy, but so far I really love the shutterfly app because I can look at about a million pictures of Graby whenever I want. I also enjoy the "face time" feature. It's the one they show on all the commercials where you can see the person you're talking to (if they also have an iPhone). Buttin is addicted to the game Angry Birds - I'm quite sure I'll be an iPhone widow within the next day or two.

Now, to my picture. Last week I posted about how I wished I was as creative as this other mother who posed her daughter during naps in cute little daydreams and took pictures. Today is attempt #2.

I call it, "Graby dreams of floating on a piece of poo in a huge toilet"


Monday, August 9, 2010

Oh Happy Sleep Dance!

Last night, Graby slept from 6:45 PM - 4 AM. Once he woke up at 4, he was ready to party (but took a morning nap from 6 - 7:30). I'm doubtful it can happen two nights in a row, but at least we know it is possible!

I know that I take an obscene number of Graby swimming pictures. I'm sure no one else can tell the difference day by day, but here he is today.


He is such a happy, joyful kid. I'm one lucky mama.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Thirty Second Movie Review - Dinner For Schmucks

Dinner For Schmucks

Better than average comedy, but it took a little while to get going. It was also kind of sweet. Maybe if it had been less sweet, it would have been more funny.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Dear Cash - 4 Months

Dear baby Cash,

Another month has gone by - I can't believe how quickly time is passing. All I want in the world is for time to slow down and for you to be happy.

This month was full of exciting adventures. The biggest change in our lives occurred when you started school. The transition wasn't as difficult as I was expecting, but it still kills me on the days when I walk into your room and you are crying (thankfully that's only happened two days). Most of the time you are asleep and I love being right next to you as you wake up. Every weekday after school, you and I go home and spend the afternoon playing, sleeping (more you than me) and cuddling.

You spent half of the month with a cold - your first cold (you still have it). I really wish there was something more that we could do to ease your congestion, but even with a stuffy nose you were a smiley baby. It doesn't take much to get you to smile or laugh.

I have a new favorite thing that you do. I lay you down on the couch next to me and let you look at the fan while you eat your blanket (this is a favorite of yours). I'm usually on the computer or watching TV and you'll start to make little happy noises to get my attention. As soon as I look at you, you beam your big toothless grin and in that moment there's nothing that could keep me from smiling. If I look away, you'll do it again.

I've discovered that every parent of an infant talks about sleep. It becomes an obsession. I'm trying to let go of the obsession and just enjoy all the time that I have with you, even if that time is at 11 PM, 1 AM, 3 AM and 5 AM every night. Some nights you can sleep from 7 PM - 3 AM, but other nights you're awake every couple of hours. As with last month, you're never awake very long and you're very easy to console. I've been trying to put you into bed ever so slightly awake (sometimes this happens more by accident because in the middle of the night I have to pee and you're not asleep yet) which is what all the "experts" say will teach you to soothe yourself. I don't know if I'll ever be able to let you cry in your bed alone. Thankfully, you're not at the age where we even have to consider that as an option. I'm such a sissy.

When you're asleep, I'm thankful for the time I get to spend with your dad, but I also miss you. I think we both miss you.

Please be sweet to your dad and me and please don't grow up to quickly.

Love you so much,
your Mom

P.S. You're really working on rolling over - here's a picture:

Swimming Movie

I'm working on a few blog posts right now (including my 4 month letter to Cash).

I'll be posting them shortly, but in the meantime - here is a video of Cash swimming.



Thursday, August 5, 2010

New Toy

I took the advice of my new mamas group friend, Bethany, and went onto Craigslist to find some baby toys. She has a son (Archer) who is just a couple weeks older than Cash and a daughter (Violet) who is four. She knows from experience that kids grow out of things quickly and she's found some great stuff for both her children on Craigslist.

I've been wanting a jumperoo for Graby, but they're pretty expensive - about $80 -$120. I found one that I really liked at Babies R Us and decided to do Craigslist search. I found a VERY gently used one for $45!

Graby loves it! We tried it out yesterday for the first time.

No Home Internet

No post yesterday . . . our interwebs at home is not working.

On top of this - I have a flat tire, Graby's cold seems to have gotten worse (translation - no sleep last night) although he is still a happy kiddo and I forgot my breast pump today so I've got to find a way to run home at some point to pump.

Thankfully MorMor is coming into town at noon today. She'll be able to play with Graby and maybe I can take a nap.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Assault On Barbie

OK - time for another quick SBOS.

Assault on Barbie

Once upon a time, there was a delightful woman named Barbie. She loved working at Carpet Warehouse and was usually able to find the good in people (she is certainly much sweeter on the phone than yours truly).

Barbie spends her days doing many different things (especially in August, very busy). One of the things she does is try to collect money from customers who have promised to pay for goods and services, but have taken much longer than any sane person would consider acceptable. Most customers pay and some are even embarrassed that they are late. Barbie has a very sweet way about her and people respond positively to her understanding nature.

Today, Barbie experienced the opposite of a rational (forget nice or sweet or embarrassed) customer. A man came in today who was very late in paying for work we had done (like last summer) to pay his balance. He was hoping that we would continue to do work for his company, but Barbie told him at this time, we could not.

He reacted as if Barbie had called him a Nazi, kicked his puppy and threw a flaming bag of poo in his face. He lunged at her, grabbed her hand (which was holding the checks he had just given her) and ripped the checks away from her. I was just coming down the hall when this scuffle started (it lasted about 10 seconds). I heard Barbie yelling, Hey, Hey, Hey, Wait. At first I thought she was laughing (Barbie usually laughs a lot), but then (about a millisecond after realizing Barbie was NOT laughing) I got to her office and saw the mean man reaching over Barbie's desk and struggling with her for the checks. I started calling for Buttin and just stood in Barbie's doorway. I said something to the mean man, but I don't remember what exactly (it was probably something very intelligent like, you pee-waffle get away from Barbie). By the time Buttin got to Barbie's doorway (which was about two seconds after I called him), the mean man brushed past me. He was very ogre-like, about 8 feet tall (well at leas 6'5") with crazy-eyes and mean looking (that's why I creatively call him the mean man).

Buttin went out after him (mostly to make sure that he had left the building) and Barbie started shaking. I was shaking a little too. It all happened so quickly, but it was just so unexpected.

After work, Barbie went home and had many adult beverages.

The End

Here is Graby demonstrating (with Sophie) what he would have done to the mean man (hang him upside down over a pool of sharks and break his legs - or at least chew on them).


Monday, August 2, 2010

I Wish

I was as creative as the mother from Mila's Daydreams.

The sentiment of this blog is so sweet - she tries to imagine what her daughter is dreaming about and then creates the scene while she is sleeping.

I'm guessing she has access to some kind of fabric store and she obviously has a kiddo that can sleep through anything - these are two things that I am without.

I've decided that Cash has really boring dreams (probably because his life is so exciting while he's awake). Here's a picture where he dreams of being a flooring installer:

I bet you didn't know that hardwood floors are installed with a plastic spoon or that Graby sleeps with his eyes open. (Like I said, I'm not that creative, I don't have that much fabric and there's no way Graby would sleep in those cute little scenes).

Sunday, August 1, 2010

More Fun With Swimming

One of my absolute favorite things to do with Graby is to take him swimming. It's not really swimming in his $10 plastic pool, but I still think it's a blast. He really enjoys laying on his back and splashing. It's kind of like swimming.

Here are a couple cute pictures.

Thirty Second Movie Review - Salt

Salt

Highly entertaining action movie - even though I was sitting in the second row. None of the "twists" are surprising and you know where it's going , but it's enjoyable getting there. There will no doubt be a sequel.