I did it! Seven days of continuous blogging. It was so UTTERLY EXHAUSTING that I've had to take a little break to recover (hee hee). I'll be back next week (really!) but here are a few cute pics from the past couple of days just to tide you over...
June 18, 2011
June 15, 2011
I don't have much today, but I'm determined to make my 7 day pledge, so here I am with a random mishmash of things. I didn't take any pictures today, but Danny was wearing this adorable bubble from Kelly's Kids:
I adore their clothes; especially the bubbles. This sailboat one is from there as well:
With Dan's first Father's Day coming up, I wanted to get him something fun, but he's incredibly hard to shop for (he doesn't read the blog so I'm safe to talk about it here). Really, all he wants in the world is more wine for his collection, and I don't even dare go there since he's so picky. So usually I just get him silly things, but that can be hard too. Danny and I ordered this cookie bouquet to be sent to his office on Friday. It will say "Doggone Purrfect Dad" which, I KNOW. LAME. But he will love it.
I've had my eye on these Jonathan Adler salt & pepper shakers for a while now and decided they would make a great gift:
We have a white cat and a black cat and Dan adores them (shhh, don't tell him I told you that!) and these are really fun. I see him putting them in his office as a fun conversation piece. They are goofy enough to be just the perfect gift. It's either wine or cats with Dan, so cats it is. I PROMISE WE ARE NOT CRAZY CAT PEOPLE. Or like, that crazy.
June 14, 2011
Another big "milestone" here today! We are officially done with the carseat-in-the-shopping-cart routine (um, HEAVY) and have moved on to cruising big-boy style:
Here we are at Babies R Us (which, that place is a total shit-hole, for the record). I love how it looks like he's holding on for dear life. And here at the grocery store when I figured out how to use the fancy shopping cart cover:
It's hard to tell in these pictures, but he really enjoyed this new view. And because there's not much cuter than a baby in just a diaper:
We call this "PWT'n it."
June 13, 2011
Sometimes the hardest thing about blogging is coming up with titles for posts, right? I'm just skipping it today and may from now on unless I have something clever or the post really has a specific topic. Which doesnt happen very often. Anyway, we had kind of a down day today... I've got some kind of stomach bug (hopefully just a 24-hour thing) so we stayed home and just played. And I feel like a terrible mom for saying this, but Danny took three long naps today and I was SO HAPPY. I napped when he did, which I hate doing since it's the only time I can get things done around the house, but I gave myself a pass today.
Just for fun, here's a little movie from this afternoon that's classic Danny right now. Dan and I noticed him doing this gum-smacking thing this weekend, and we just think it's hilarious (of course, we think everything our kid does is hilarious, genius, or both). And he's doing his signature swim-crawling moves in this one, too:
June 12, 2011
Sunday
I think it's funny when people assume that weekends don't really matter to stay-at-home moms; I mean, we don't have a job to go to, right? I have heard this said a few time and it always baffles my mind. The fact is that it is MUCH easier to take care of a baby when your husband is home for a couple of days and you get a little backup. I've been meaning to re-plant some big pots that flank our driveway for a while now but it's almost impossible when it's just me & Danny. Finally we had a nice weekend day where it wasn't raining or 100 degrees out, and we didn't have any plans. Dan cut the grass while Danny and I headed a few miles up the road to the garden center. I also dropped off my hanging baskets to be re-planted.
We have the most beautiful garden center just a few miles up the road, with a giant greenhouse, gift shop, and cafe. I just love the plant guy (official title) that works there. He's an eccentric older man who just loves to talk your ear off about plants. And he always give me trouble for bringing my baskets in late every year. "Mrs. Marsh, you made it in before July this year! You know I did all of your neighbors' planting back in February..." This year I had an excuse, I tell him.
Danny and I had a good time walking around outside in the beautiful weather and looking at all of the plants & flowers.
Then we headed a few more miles out to one of the wineries in our town (we live in Missouri wine country - and yes, we do have decent wine here!). They have a Farmer's Market on Sundays that I was eager to check out. I'm making all of Danny's baby food so I was hoping to get some fresh local produce. Unfortunately, they didn't have much to choose from, but I did get some homemade apple butter, salsa, and fresh bread so the trip wasn't in vain.
While Danny napped and Dan manned the baby monitor I finally took care of my planters. I know nothing about gardening but the plant guy helped me pick out Lantanas and Setcreasea. I think they look good already and they should really fill out pretty quickly.
A good Sunday, and it's about to be capped off with a glass of wine and a good book. I have three Junior League meetings this week due to last-minute cancellations during our crazy string of tornado threats last month, so I need to relax while I can.
June 11, 2011
A New Perspective
The big news around here this week is that Danny is now sitting up on his own! We've been working on it for a few weeks now, and he'd been making great progress but still toppled over from time to time. Then last Sunday he got it down perfectly!
It may seem like a silly thing to get so excited over, but I can tell that he is really enjoying seeing the world from this perspective. Before he could sit up, he spent most of his time either on the floor, or recently, in the jumper or exersaucer. He's never been a big Bumbo fan so that option only worked for about 10-15 minutes each day. I guess the jumper & exersaucer are sort of sitting up, but it's not the same as really sitting and being able to play with a whole new bunch of toys.
One of his favorite things to do is play soccer, much to his daddy's delight. We roll a mini soccer ball to him and he rolls it back (sort of... usually he tries to put it in his mouth and we grab it and roll it to him again). I think Danny and I were both getting bored of our old playtime routines on the floor, so we are really enjoying some new games!
Next up... crawling! He is trying so, so hard and I think he will get it soon:
Ignore my high-pitched voice; it's just baby talk (or as our PAT lady would say "parentese").
June 10, 2011
Pool Boy
Yesterday morning we got all slathered up with sunscreen and packed up our giant boat & tote (babies, it seems, don't travel so lightly; you could fit about four Dannys in this thing)...
...and made our first trip to the pool!
There is a beautiful community pool about 20 minutes from our house (which is really close, considering we live in the country) that has tot time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's just perfect because it's only kids under age 5, so you don't have to deal with rowdy tweens and oversexed teens.
One thing about Danny is that he is a very thoughtful child. He really studies new situations and like to quietly observe and take it all in before he makes up his mind about something. He was apprehensive at first, which did sort of surprise me since he is absolutely nuts about bath time. Our stint in the big pool didn't go so well, especially when I steered us right underneath a giant fountain that, as it turns out, ferociously erupts every 30 seconds or so. That made for a little meltdown, understandably. We fared much better in the splash park area.
I think that he'll warm up to it the more we go and it will turn out being something we both love to do. We're spending two weeks on lakes in Wisconsin in July, and I think he'll be a real water baby by then.
June 09, 2011
The 7 Project
...sort of like The 365 Project, but for lapsed bloggers who need a more realistic goal. So, here's the deal: we are having so much fun right now and Danny is changing so much that I really want to start documenting it again. I am not foolish enough to try and make a triumphant return here, so I've come up with a little challenge that hopefully I can meet.
Seven straight days of blogging.
We shall see.
I obviously dig the whole "seven" theme around here, and it's fitting since it's a solid week and Danny turned seven months on - wait for it - Tuesday (the 7th). And if I make it, then maybe I'll consider this an actual comeback. I may even treat myself to a little blog makeover, since I've had this layout since 2006.
Also, I'm about to go FULL-ON MOMMY BLOGGER ON YOUR ASSES. I got nothin' else, as this kid is (joyfully) pretty much my whole life now. Stay tuned!
PS - Happy 4th Anniversary to my sweet husband and Happy Birthday, Lisagh!!
February 20, 2011
February 07, 2011
Danny is Three Months Old!
If you've been following along (which, I'm sure my once-monthly posts are more than enough to keep you interested) you'll notice that I totally skipped month two. No apologies here - I just very recently started getting some actual sleep and not just a series of 45-minute naps at night (love you buddy!).
I've decided to switch up these monthly "birthday" posts and just do more of an update of what's been going on. I'm still writing letters to my boy, but I've decided to just do those in a little journal for him to keep them more intimate. But I definitely want to keep track of everything else he's doing. This post will cover the past two months, or at least what I can still remember.
We have had quite the eventful couple of months! Christmas, New Year's, winter storms, the Super Bowl, and lots in between. Danny is a completely different baby than he was at one month (all you moms out there are doing a collective "DUH" but this is news-worthy to me). He's now smiling all the time, "talking" like crazy, and having hours of active alert at a time. It is so much fun!
We had a truly amazing Christmas, celebrating with our sweet little boy for the first time. My family came in the day before Christmas Eve, including my brother who was weeks from deploying to Afghanistan at the time. Seeing Danny meet his Uncle Benjie for the first time ranks up there for me in Best. Moments. Ever.
We spent the next few days just hanging out, laughing, and playing Pass the Baby. Christmas morning everyone came to our house for presents and brunch, including my BFF Amy and her sweet family. It was really casual, and we just spent time enjoying being together and oohing and aahing over our sweet baby. To me, there is nothing better in life than being with my family. In fact, that really is life.
I am absolutely loving staying at home. I don't miss work at all. I won't lie and say that it isn't a bit tough right now, which is just regular new-mom stuff, trying to figure it all out, along with what has been the worst winter we've had here in recent memory. There have been weeks when we haven't been really been able to leave the house at all, so I'm definitely looking forward to spring when we can start getting out more. We have started doing Stroller Strides at a mall not far from our house, and have LOVED it (on the days when we've actually been able to go and not been snowed/iced in). It's a surprisingly great workout and Danny either sleeps through it or just kicks back and enjoys hanging out in his fancy new stroller that mommy got for Christmas. This moves from the mall to a park once the weather warms up, so just one more reason we are looking forward to spring.
My other BFF Heidi had her second beautiful boy in mid-December. Danny loved meeting his new best friend Tate!
Lock up your daughters!
Last weekend, Dan and I had our first big date night since Danny's arrival. We headed down to The Chase on Friday night for our very favorite annual wine event. My parents came up and stayed with Danny overnight and we stayed at the hotel. It was a great time (I think my parents enjoyed it the most!) but I was definitely ready to get back to my little boy on Saturday morning.
Also? PUMP & DUMP is an awesome thing for wine-loving mommies. Just, you know, FYI.
The cats have REALLY taken to Danny, especially Henry (please excuse my very unmade bed; the duvet was in the wash). Henry is pretty much obsessed with Dan, so once he saw that Dan loved Danny (are these names confusing you?) he was on board.
I'm going to also try and have a few consistent categories that I update each month with these posts, starting um, now.
Eating
Boobies, boobies, boobies! This kid loves to nurse! We have really hit our stride with nursing and luckily don't really have any issues here. The only maybe "issue" is that he doesn't like to go more than 1.5 - 2 hours without nursing, which I don't mind at all except it does affect the next category...
Sleeping
So, knock on wood, we are just starting to do better here... Up until a few weeks ago, our regular pattern was basically waking up every hour or two at night to nurse. And change diapers. This kid is not fussy about anything except his diaper - he HATES a wet diaper and refuses to nurse unless it's immaculate. I get where he's coming from! Anyway, as you can imagine this has been BRUTAL. He's still for the most part sleeping in our room, which has basically been a necessity since the nursery is on a different floor in our house and there's no way I could go back and forth, half-asleep, up and down slippery wooden stairs all night. When Danny was a newborn he really didn't like to be swaddled and seemed to sleep better without it, so we skipped it. A couple of weeks ago, we had the worst night we'd ever had. He woke up every hour, on the hour. All night long. I knew something had to change. I had noticed his arms flailing around more than usual, so the next night we tried swaddling again and he slept for 6.5 hours straight. SUPER MOM!! I was ecstatic; it is such a great feeling to know that you are responding to your child's needs. Since then our regular pattern has been 4 hours of sleep followed by three 2-hour chunks, depending on the night. He wakes up at 7am every day, almost to the minute, so that means we're getting up usually about 3 times at night. I know this will continue to get better. We're also getting a more regular bedtime routine of bath, books, nurse. Danny has been wanting to go to bed earlier and earlier, which is fine with me, so we generally start this at about 8:00 with him in bed and asleep by about 8:45. We're also working on transiting him to his crib now that he doesn't wake as often. He's done a couple of nights up there and so far so good. Last night was the best night we've ever had, which funny enough consisted of him sleeping in his carseat. We went to a Super Bowl party and he zonked out on the way home and didn't wake even as we brought him inside. The cardinal rule in our house is NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY so I put the carseat next to our bed and we went to sleep. Fast forward eight hours, and he was finally waking up. Wait, back up. Let me repeat that. EIGHT HOURS. THANK YOU BABY JESUS!!!!! AND BABY DANNY!!!!!!!
Nicknames
This is a silly category, but nicknames are a big deal in our family and are ever-changing. We all have them, and in fact, Dan and I almost never call each other by name. So Danny's nicknames over the past two months:
Poppy - this started when I was pregnant, as the books said he was the size of a poppy seed when we got the big news
Christmas Jammies - used throughout out the month of December when he was constantly in his various, um, Christmas jammies
Snorts - our favorite! When he cries, he snorts. It's funny. Simple as that. My mother-in-law despises this one but Dan and I think it's genius.
Other nicknames, not as commonly used, include: buzz cut, cue ball, jungle jammies, spaceship jammies (we have a theme going here) and diaper slayer.
Other Milestones
Danny can now reach for certain toys and even hold them for a bit. He can follow us with his eyes as we walk around a room. He's not quite rolled over, but is almost there. He's talking and cooing like crazy and adores looking at himself in the mirror (narcissistic much? I kid, I kid). He has found his hands and loves to suck on them. Thank God he has no teeth or they would be a mess! He has almost complete control of his head. And he's thisclose to curing cancer.
He loves his nightly bath and squeals with delight when I pour water over his head. Also, he loves to poop in his tub. Which is pretty hilarious. And, when you become a mom you lose all concept of TMI so you'll have to humor/forgive me here.
These three months have been amazing in every way. Exhausting and exhilarating. Filled with more joy than I ever thought my heart could hold.
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