Our Sweet Life

A photo explosion!

2012-01-04T10:26:00.000-05:00

Howdy, happy holidays and happy new year! Every single week I intend to write a post, and then every single week flies by without a post. I am continuing to take photos each week though.

Things are going well with the pregnancy. We found out in early December that baby 2 is a boy! His name will be Lucas Charles, and I think we'll call him Luke. Our silly nickname is Luke Chuck. When Erik and I first thought of that nickname, we laughed and giggled and laughed some more.

Nate was confused at first, because he really thought the baby was going to be a girl. Now he understands that the baby is a boy, and he'll tell anyone who asks that the baby is named Lucas Charles. He loves talking to the belly, telling the baby stories, and giving the belly hugs and kisses. He also really enjoys it when the baby "talks back" to him. I just use a silly voice and respond to what he says and he gets a kick out of it.

Speaking of kicks, I am finally feeling regular movement. I've felt some kicks way down low for quite awhile now. However, I have an anterior placenta, which has made it hard for me to feel the majority of the baby's movements. I could feel kicks that were really low, really high, or way over on the sides. Everything else was being absorbed by the placenta. Just yesterday, I started feeling all sorts of movement all day long. And it seems to be continuing today. It is such a relief to feel kicks. It's amazing how reassuring it is.

Our life has been incredibly busy and crazy recently. We have big news to share, and I can't wait to share it. Once I have the all-clear, I'll be telling the world, I promise!

Now for the photos!

18 weeks:

19 weeks:

20 weeks:

21 weeks:

22 weeks:

17 Weeks

2011-11-30T07:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! We had a great couple of Thanksgivings here. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, my mom made her Thanksgiving dinner and all of the usual suspects showed up. I'm still having meat aversions, so I didn't eat any turkey, but I think I ate enough mashed potatoes to make up for it.

We went to WV for the official Thanksgiving. Nate was so excited to see his Nana and Poppa again, as well as his cousins and aunt. I think the child slept as little as possible while we were there. It's like he wants to spend every possible moment playing with his grandparents. We indulge him and let him stay up pretty late while we're there. He tends to be pretty well behaved because he's so happy. It's really sweet.

Baby #2 continues to grow, and I think I look undeniably pregnant, though I guess someone who didn't know me might think I had a pot belly. I have been feeling occasional kicks for several weeks, but nothing consistent yet. I have felt a couple of big movements too, like the baby is rolling over or doing a big flip. I think I've only felt that 3 times so far. I'm really excited about feeling more movement as the baby grows.

I didn't get around to doing a 16 week post, so here are my 16 week and 17 week photos.

15 weeks!

2011-11-14T19:07:00.000-05:00

Today I am 15 weeks pregnant. It's kind of hard to believe. I pretty much live in a state of disbelief about this pregnancy though. It's like I'm going to wake up tomorrow and someone's going to say "Just kidding! This isn't really happening!"

At 15 weeks, I'm feeling pretty good. Most of my nausea seems to have subsided. I wouldn't say that I have more energy, but maybe I'm a little less exhausted? Maybe not though. I would still love to take long naps every day if I could.

I was told not to exercise in the first trimester, due to a subchorionic hematoma. I finally started exercising again at 13 weeks and then last week everyone in our family got sick. Nate had some sort of virus that gave him some super high fevers for a few days, and Erik and I had colds. I made it back to the gym today and had a great workout. I have been exhausted all day though! It's 7 pm and I want to go to bed right now. I know I'll adjust to working out again; I just have to keep it up.

Here is a pic of my 15 week belly:

August 25, 2011

2011-11-10T10:21:00.003-05:00

Hello there... it's been awhile...

August 25, 2011 is a day I will remember forever. Much like I will always remember August 12, 2007. The circumstances were very different, but the outcome was the same - I found out I was pregnant!

The journey for #2 couldn't have been more different than the journey for #1. Both pregnancies were planned, very planned. We talked for years about when we'd start a family before we tried to get pregnant the first time, and we were so lucky to get pregnant on the first try. We knew we were lucky, but did we really, truly understand it? I'm not sure. We definitely understand it now.

When Nate was about a year old, I started thinking about having another baby. Erik wanted to wait awhile, and I thought that a 2 to 2.5 year age difference would be great. So I kept myself busy and trained for a half marathon. In January 2010, we decided to start trying. I truly believed it would be easy again. I remember telling my sister that I thought it'd likely happen on the first try, and she agreed. I don't know why I thought it would be so easy, but I did.

I don't want to go into all the issues that we (I) faced, at least not right now. Let's just say that there were blood tests, semen analyses, ultrasounds, and more. If you've ever read about any of the standard infertility testing, then yes, we had that done. I started seeing a specialist in August 2010, and nobody came close to making any sort of diagnosis until July 2011.

I started taking prednisone in July to help reduce my DHEAS level, which was elevated, but not out of range. I also changed my diet to a glycemic index diet, due to elevated blood sugar levels. In August, we did an IUI (intrauterine insemination, also known as artificial insemination) - our 4th attempt at an IUI in 2011. I was on different meds than I had used before. Previous attempts were using Clomid, and this one was using Femara and Menopur (injections). I was very lucky that someone donated the Menopur to me, since my insurance doesn't cover it. Too bad nobody could donate the IUI to me. I was out of coverage for IF (infertility) so I had to pay for it all out of pocket. Anyway...

Somehow, miraculously, what felt like it was against all odds, the 4th IUI worked. I was pregnant. On August 25, I was 11 days past the IUI, which is the equivalent to being 11 days past ovulation. I swore I wasn't going to take a test, but decided to use a dollar tree test at the last second before I took a shower. And when I got out, I saw a faint line. I then tried a pricier test (first response) and saw a 2nd line. Then I pulled out the digital test, waited for what felt like forever, and saw "Pregnant" pop up. I was truly shocked. I felt like I was making it up. After all the months and months of trying, waiting and nothing happening, how could I possibly be pregnant?

It's still hard to believe what we went through. It is painful to think about. It hurts to remember, so I try not to think about it much. Right now, I prefer to focus on the fact that I am pregnant, and so far things are going well. I'm in the 2nd trimester. Nate knows he's going to be a big brother and is excited. Our families, friends and coworkers are thrilled for us. And so are we.

14w3d pregnant with baby #2 (Due May 7, 2012)

World Breastfeeding Week!

2010-08-03T08:18:00.004-04:00

It is World Breastfeeding Week! What a great reason for me to return to my blog.

Even though it has been about a year since Nate weaned, I still miss our breastfeeding relationship. I don't mourn the loss of it. I'm not sad about it. But, I do miss it. It was a beautiful thing that we shared.

Check out the link above. There is some really interesting information on the website, and some great photos of mamas nursing their babies.

The World Breastfeeding Week organization lists 10 steps that health care providers can follow to promote breastfeeding. They are:

Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all staff
Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy
Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding
Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth
Show mothers how to breastfeeding and how to maintain lactation, even if they should be separated from their infant
Give newborns no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated
Practice rooming-in; allow mothers and infants to room together 24 hours a day
Encourage breastfeeding on demand
Give no artificial teats or pacifiers
Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic

If you had to score your hospital or clinic on these 10 steps, what grade would you give them? Why? Do you feel like breastfeeding was actively promoted by your doctor and hospital? Did you get good hands-on assistance? Were you encouraged to room-in and breastfeed on demand? Were you given information on LLL or other breastfeeding support groups?

My experience at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center was pretty good. They clearly promote breastfeeding and encourage all moms to nurse. They ask all parents to take a breastfeeding class before birth. At the birth center, rooming-in is the only option. Moms are encouraged to breastfeed as soon as mom and baby are ready after birth. It's hard for me to imagine a place that could be more supportive of breastfeeding moms.

How is it possible?

2010-03-30T14:51:00.007-04:00

How is it possible that Nate wore that tiny green sleeper on his second day of life, and now he fits into these new, huge, clothes we got him for this summer?

How could my little baby boy from back then (hanging out with his Uncle Greg in this pic)

turn into my big boy today?

It doesn't feel like that long to me. I knew he would change and grow on a daily basis. I just didn't realize how fast it would happen.

Go!

2010-03-22T10:20:00.002-04:00

Ever since Nate started eating table food, Fiona has decided that this kid is okay! He is not her BFF by any means, and most of the time she keeps a safe distance from Nate's overenthusiastic "petting." But when Nate is munching on a waffle or nibbling on some O's, Fiona is there to catch the crumbs and to to take advantage of Nate's generous "one for me, one for you" approach to snacking.

The problem is, Fiona's confidence has grown a bit too much over the past year. She went from staying a few feet away and only running over when she heard something hit the floor, to literally taking food out of Nate's hands. Even though Nate doesn't mind (or he finds it funny), it is annoying to me and Erik. We don't want our dog taking food from our child's hand. We don't like that she is begging more. She really doesn't need the extra calories that come from bites of peanut butter sandwiches, cheese crackers and goldfish.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been trying to enforce a more respectable distance while Nate is eating. If she tries to creep up for a nibble, we sternly say "Go!" and point for her to walk away. She understands the command and generally listens. Nate has heard it enough that he is now telling Fiona to go if she is getting too close while he is eating. He doesn't really say the "g" properly though, so it comes out as "Do!" but it's clear that he's saying "go" because he even does the pointing gesture when he says it, and he uses a very stern tone when he says it.

The past few days, Nate has decided that "go!" is also a good command to use on Mommy. Over the weekend, he kept messing with my parents' TV, trying to turn it on. I went over to intervene, and he looked up at me and said "Go!" and pointed to the couch. Then he went over to the couch and patted it, as if to say "here... this is where you need to sit." I went and sat on the couch to see what he would do, and he immediately returned his attention to trying to turn the TV on. What a goof.

This morning, Nate went in to see his Daddy during Daddy's morning ritual of checking his email. He asked to be picked up, so Erik put Nate up on his lap. I came over to say something to Nate, and he looked at me and said "Go!" and pointed to the door. I said, "You want me to go?" and he replied, "Go!" I said something along the lines of "Oh really?" And Nate returned with "Bye, bye. Bye! Buh-bye." No joke. I seriously thought he was going to ask me, "What part don't you understand? The buh, or the bye?" He is one opinionated child, I'm telling you.

Meet Bubba

2010-03-19T08:28:00.003-04:00

This is Bubba. He is a super-soft, super-cuddly, wonderfully cozy bear pillow that we got at Target. He is Nate's best friend. Bubba lives in Nate's crib. Nate snuggles with him every night. It's the sweetest thing to see him lay down and put his head on Bubba to go to sleep. If he wants to move around in his crib, Bubba goes with him. I really like that he has this attachment to Bubba. I think it gives him comfort to have a friend with him at night. :)

Bubba also has a very important role in our house. He is the Keeper of the Pacifiers.

Several months ago, Nate suddenly decided he didn't need a paci during the day anymore. He just stopped using it one day. We took advantage of that one day where he wasn't interested and we tried to wean from the paci altogether. He did great during the day, but nights were a little rough. After a few nights of seeing no improvement, we decided to return the pacis to Nate, but only for night time use.

Every morning when Nate wakes up, he leaves his paci in the crib. If he forgets, we remind him by saying "Give your paci to Bubba!" and he takes it out of his mouth and throws the paci down to his bear.

We like Bubba. Bubba's a good bear.

22 month letter

2010-03-15T19:32:00.002-04:00

Note: I wrote most of this blog post on 3/3, but didn't finish it until today.

Dear Nate,

On Monday you turned 22 months old. I think I am still in denial that you are about to turn 2 years old. How is it possible that my tiny little baby is turning into a full-fledged toddler? One who walks and talks, sings and dances, giggles and throws tantrums? Time has flown by since you were born and it makes me wish that I could step on the brakes and slow things down just a tad. Just a tiny bit, you know? Maybe I should be like the mom in Almost Famous and lie to you about your age. I wonder if I can get away with telling everyone that you’re about to turn 1? You’re just really advanced. And tall. And heavy. Yeah, that’s it.

Recently you have been going through trends with foods. You fall in love with a certain food and it’s all you want to eat. You must it every day for every meal for a week or two before you move on to something else. The past few foods you’ve been obsessed with have been applesauce, waffles and yogurt. The waffles have been the worst, I think. You would eat 3-4 waffles a day if it were up to you! We’ve had to pick up more waffles several times a week to avoid running out. I shudder to think of what would have happened if we were to run out of waffles during Waffle-Fest 2010. It would be a Black Day in our household, I assure you.

Another trend that I find kind of…odd… is your obsession with smells. You love to smell things. It all started one day when your dad took you to Target. He was trying to keep you entertained, so he took you down the candle aisle and held out a scented candle for you to smell. You were hooked. Now whenever you see a candle, you have to smell it. In addition, you figured out that our coffee beans also smell good, so you want to smell them too. You also enjoy smelling our canisters of chai and hot cocoa. Sometimes you even want to sniff my vitamins. It’s bizarre. You go into the kitchen with the express purpose of smelling all the coffees and teas. You want to smell them over and over again. I’m guessing that you are probably going to love coffee as much as your dad and I (and all your aunts, uncles, grandparents and great grandparents). I’m just hoping we can keep you from requiring a morning cup of coffee until you’re at least in kindergarten, though I suppose it might help you get through a particularly stressful day at preschool.

The weather this winter has been strange. We have had snow, snow, snow and more snow. It even snowed last night, which is pretty unusual for March in NC. Despite all the snow, we are getting little previews of warm weather here and there. A couple of weeks ago we had a particularly nice weekend, so your dad took advantage and decided to wash cars. All the cars. And you got to help with the washing (and you even took your first ride in the MGB, on my lap, in our neighborhood, don’t tell the police, and by the way, you LOVED it). You had a blast washing cars. You loved the whole process. A bucket full of bubbles and a water hose? Yes please! We see a sprinkler in our future this summer.

Like every other monthly letter, I want to take a moment to thank you for being you and for being a part of our lives. You keep our days full of music, funny faces, raucous games of chase, and tons of laughter and love, and we are so grateful for that!

I love you!

Mama

21 Month Letter

2010-02-02T19:24:00.006-05:00

Dear Nate,

Yesterday you turned 21 months old. It’s getting to the point where it’s easier to say that you’re “almost 2” instead of telling people your age in months. Let’s face it, no one really cares if a child is 21 or 22 months old. “Almost 2” is good enough, and it seems to get across an entirely different meaning as well. Almost 2 means that the Terrible Twos are almost here. Oh yes indeed. When I tell people that you are almost 2, it’s like I’m subliminally telling them to excuse your behavior. They should not take it personally if they say hello to you, and you scream for 5 minutes because they dared to talk to you. No one should be surprised if putting your shoes on (or taking your shoes off) leads to a half-hour long tantrum. Don’t believe the cute little toddler who answers “No” to every question you ask him. Even when (especially when) the question is “Did you poop?” we get a “no” response. Guess you haven’t figured out that um… we can see you. And smell you. And it’s not so pleasant. So hop to that potty training, okay? At least with 2 comes more potty autonomy, right?

Speaking of the potty though, you have gone through spurts of interest. We have tried to foster your interest by making it as fun and exciting as possible. We sing songs, we clap, we cheer, and we even offer cash rewards, but they don’t interest you much yet. We have even given you a potty seat with Elmo on it. We really aren’t expecting much in regards to potty training for quite awhile, but we certainly wouldn’t mind if you took to it sooner rather than later.

And that brings me to…ELMO. There. I spoke the unspeakable name in our house. Your dad and I have taken to referring to Elmo as “El Rojo,” because we suspect that when you hear the word “red,” you know we’re talking about Elmo. So instead he gets a sort-of Mafia name in our house, so that we can talk about him without you insisting that we need to watch Elmo on TV. Not every moment of every day is the right time for Elmo. When is the right time for Elmo? When you get the babysitter’s house and I’m dropping you off. I think that’s about it. I could go without ever seeing El Rojo again, but I fear that we’re in for a long stretch of Elmo love. Your love for Elmo is pure and unwavering, matched only with your love for peanut butter and your love for your Mama. I’m glad I rank right up there, but I am not willing to make you choose between us. Elmo knows way more fun songs than me, and you really appreciate the way he sings about everything to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” How can a Mama compete with that?

I want to go ahead and acknowledge that I didn’t write a 20 month letter to you. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. There is a lengthy explanation about why it didn’t get done, and I’ll explain it to you when you are old enough to notice and to care enough ask. Until then, just know that I’m sorry I didn’t get to it and that even though things prevented me from writing it, December was a wonderful month. We had a cozy Christmas full of family and cheer. We ate, we sang, we traveled, we opened gifts, etc. A good time was had by all.

Since I didn’t write a 20 month letter (or any blog posts for quite awhile), I don’t mind this one being really long. So I will continue by listing some of the ways you have changed recently and things you have done that have made me laugh, smile, or things that melt my heart. One thing I love is that you now make a “funny face” where you pull your cheeks apart and stick your tongue out. It’s really silly and completely hilarious. To prove that you’re all boy, the other day you farted and then laughed, and of course we laughed too. Your dad and I both noticed that you were straining to fart again, certainly to get another laugh out of us. Nice. Now begins 18 years of farting on demand, I’m afraid. You are getting quite good at kicking a ball and you constantly impress us with your soccer skills. We are taken aback at your seeming ability with all things sports-related. Is a sports scholarship in your future? If we don’t need to worry about saving for your college, that would be awesome! One more thing… on Sunday afternoon, you and I were playing in the living room and you ran into another room for a moment. Then you came back to find me, walked up to me, and gave me a kiss on the mouth, then said “bye” and walked out of the room again. You came back just to kiss me. And my heart exploded with love and happiness. Regardless of the tantrums, all the “No’s” and the constant question of “Elmo?” you always have the ability to melt my heart, and I thank you for that.

I love you,

Mama

19 month letter

2009-12-02T21:19:00.010-05:00

Dear Nate,

Yesterday you turned 19 months old. You are turning into such a big boy these days! The other day, I was looking at last year’s Christmas photos and I can’t believe how little you were. I can barely remember the days when I could sit you down and you would stay put. Your dad likes to quote a friend who said that having a baby means “Long days and short years” and I think it is one of the truest quotes I’ve ever heard. Time slips through our hands like sand these days.

A photo from last December

You are learning so much, grasshopper. I hesitate to put this in writing, but you have been showing an interest in the potty for awhile now. It caught us completely by surprise, but we’re going with it. We got you a little potty ring that has Elmo on it, and you like to sit on the potty before your bath. So far it hasn’t led to any actual peeing on the potty, but it’s neat that you want to give it a try. You also like to go into the bathroom and watch me flush the poop down the potty when I clean off a dirty cloth diaper. I make it into a big game and we say “bye bye” to the poop before we flush it, and then we applaud. I feel like a total idiot, but hey…whatever. Nobody said that motherhood was glamorous.

Recently, we’ve gotten into a funny pre-bedtime routine of wrestling! I never thought that I’d ever say that, but there it is. I think because it is dark at 5:00 these days and we can’t go out and play before your bath, you need a good 15 minutes of wrestling to get the rest of your energy out. You usually initiate the wrestling by coming up to me and pushing on my chest until I collapse. Then you jump on top of me, all while screaming as loud as you can. I usually grab you and sit up really fast, tickling you while I’ve got you laying across my lap. Then your dad comes in and we trade off wrestling with you until we’re all exhausted. It’s a ton of fun and I think I can say that we all enjoy it immensely. Soon you’re going to have to test out your wrestling skills on your Uncle Greg, because I was his wrestling buddy (unwillingly) for much of my childhood. I’m sure he’d enjoy showing you how to do a figure four leg lock. It’s so funny to me that we do such BOYISH things. I often wonder if moms of little girls sit around having tea parties and playing dress up, while I chase you and attack you with monster puppets and you try to figure out how to put your dad into a headlock. It’s a crazy, loud and hectic existence, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

The past month has been one of the happiest months of my life. I think that part of it is the excitement over sharing the holidays with you. Last year was fun, but this year is just amazing. You love the Christmas tree, and I have to admit that every time I see you take a peek at the tree, my heart fills up with so much love that I think it’s going to explode. Sometimes I wonder how I can continue to love you more and to feel even happier and more excited than I did yesterday, but somehow all that love continues to fit nicely into your mama’s heart.

Photo taken by Nicole FabyLove you forever,
Mama

I am so thankful...

2009-11-27T07:45:00.001-05:00

For my sweet son. We are so blessed to have a happy and healthy family.

Oh no!

2009-11-22T20:19:00.006-05:00

This evening, Nate and I were wrastling, and every time he attacked me I said "Oh no!" He started repeating me and saying "Oh no!" every time he tackled me. It was so funny. The way he says it makes him sound like he is foreign or something. It's hilarious.

We were able to get a video of him in the bath this evening saying "Oh no" and "boo" and "bye." He's too funny.

18 month stats!

2009-11-10T10:27:00.003-05:00

Nate had his 18 month appointment this morning. The pediatrician assured me that Nate is still the handsomest and smartest baby she has ever seen. It's not like I didn't already know that, but it's nice to hear anyway. In addition, he was weighed and measured, poked and prodded and injected with vaccinations.

He is now 26 pounds, 4.5 oz, 33.5 inches tall and his noggin is 49 centimeters. He has stayed in the same growth categories for about a year now (about 50% for weight and 75-90% for height). He is growing great and the doctor was pleased with all of his progress. :)

18 month letter

2009-11-01T20:00:00.008-05:00

Dear Nate,

Today you turned 18 months old. You are a year and a half old! Wow. How can it already be half a year since you turned one?! Time goes by way too quickly.

We have been all over the state this month. We went to the zoo in Asheboro, we visited friends in New Bern, and we went to the mountains last weekend. It has been a very hectic month. Luckily, you seem to go with the flow and you enjoy our crazy schedule.

You got a terrible, horrible, angry, mean diaper rash a couple of weeks ago. It plain sucked. It's something we haven't dealt with in the past and I was completely unprepared for how awful it would be. Diaper changes were so painful that you would cry so hard you were shaking. It completely broke my heart to see you that upset and in that much pain and to not be able to help you. Even worse, I felt like I was causing some of the pain because wiping your red bottom and applying diaper cream seemed to be the most painful part of the process. Luckily, the pediatrician told me to try Lotrimin under your diaper cream and it worked! In the meantime, we were sure to give you lots of naked baby time, to allow your bottom to air out. It was super-de-duper cute to see you walking around naked. Hee hee...

We celebrated your 2nd Halloween this weekend. We went to 2 parties and had a blast at each one. You were Yoda. How did you come to be Yoda this year? Well, I wanted you to be a pirate. I had this idea that if you were a pirate, we could draw a moustache on you. Hilarious, right? But your dad wanted you to be Yoda. He told me that this was the last opportunity we would have to pick your costume without your input and that you would want to be a pirate one year anyway. Apparently all boys want to be pirates for Halloween. I conceded and I'm glad I did. I honestly think that seeing you dressed up as Yoda was the proudest moment of fatherhood that your dad has experienced to date, possibly including your birth. It was that important to him.

You are becoming more opinionated by the day. I constantly make the mistake of asking you a question like, "Do you want a diaper change?" only to have you shake your head "no" at me. So far, we've been lucky that you have not started saying "no," but you started practicing with it this evening. I'm afraid we haven't got much longer before the answer to everything is going to be "no" and I'm going to have to be that crafty mom who gives a toddler two choices, neither of which is what you actually want.

November 1 starts off the next phase of the holiday season. We have Thanksgiving this month and then Christmas next month. I will admit that this morning, we went to Target and we were disappointed that they did not have their Christmas trees up yet. We were so excited to show you the trees and to see your reaction to them! You are going to LOVE Christmas this year, and we cannot wait to share it with you. The next couple of months are going to be so much fun, Nate! I'm so, so glad you're here!

Love,

Mama

Best Weekend Ever

2009-10-26T16:20:00.026-04:00

I think I can safely say that this weekend was the best weekend ever. Back in August, a friend of mine offered to let us use her cabin in the mountains. It was so hard to find a weekend that the cabin was available and we were also free, but we finally decided that the weekend of October 24 would work. I can't tell you how many times I almost said "Never mind! It's too much of a hassle to try to pick a damn weekend!" but I'm so glad I didn't.

We drove up Friday evening and had a pretty easy trip. We had dinner and then Nate slept most of the way. He did wake up as we got into the mountains, and I felt so bad that his ears were popping and there was nothing we could do to help him. He was confused and crying and there was no one in the back seat to comfort him, other than Fiona. She didn't even offer one tiny little doggy kiss though. I wish she knew how much help a doggy kiss would be in a moment like that.

The cabin was wonderful! It's located in West Jefferson, NC, which is a cute little town full of Christmas tree farms.

Saturday morning, we got up early and went into West Jefferson for breakfast. Afterwards, we took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed towards Grandfather Mountain.

Despite being NC born and bred, I had never been to Grandfather Mountain before! I was really excited to finally go. It is definitely worth all the hype and I can see why kids love it so much. There are trails to hike.

The mile high swinging bridge is one mile above sea level. Pretty neat, and not nearly as scary as I expected.

The scenery is beautiful.

There are bears to feed!

And bears you can't feed.

There are otters.

And a bald eagle.

I hear that there are also cougars and maybe other animals, but someone (I won't say who) was melting down at that point, so we needed to go. The drive back to the cabin was gorgeous though!

After we got back to the cabin, we took a walk up the road. The road was covered in leaves. It was a beautiful fall walk.

Then we built a fire in the fire place. It was warm and cozy. Nate sat in his dad's lap and watched the fire in amazement.

We also roasted marshmallows. They were delicious! We were going to introduce Nate to s'mores, but after 2 roasted marshmallows, we decided to save the s'mores until after he went to bed. I didn't want to see what sort of tummy ache he'd have if we gave him even more sugar.

After Nate went to bed, Erik and I picnicked on the rug and drank some wine by the fire. We roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores. We talked and snuggled by the fire. It was heaven. Just heaven. Normally, my idea of the perfect vacation involves lying on the beach. But laying in front of a fire with a great glass of wine and an amazing husband can't be beat.

Sunday morning we made breakfast at home, and then went out to Mount Jefferson State Park. The plan was to hike up there, but the temperatures proved too cold for us. We were not prepared for the wind chill! It was COLD! Instead, we enjoyed the view and then explored the area (by car) some more.

We were sad when we had to pack up and leave. Why didn't we plan to stay for a 3 day weekend? Or a 4 day weekend? Why not a 7 day weekend? That would have been nice. At least Nate helped us clean before left.

Even though it was just 2 days, we had one of the best little vacations we've ever had. It was so quiet and relaxing. Sometimes the best things come in small packages.

The end. :)

Osmosis

2009-10-09T19:21:00.002-04:00

Most nights, I get the honor of putting Nate to bed. He goes to sleep easily for Erik too, but this is a task that I usually handle and I very much enjoy it most of the time. We sit in the glider and read, and some nights Nate is too tired to even read, so instead we just sit quietly together and he presses his head on my chest to snuggle until he falls asleep.

Often, he tries to curl back into the fetal position on my chest, just like he did as a newborn. He balls himself up as tight as he can, knees curled underneath him and his arms hanging straight down, with his head on my shoulder. We sit like that, his head under my chin, and I take in all the wonderful baby scents as I notice that we are breathing together. Inhale...exhale...inhale. If I really focus, I can feel his heart beating on my chest, directly above my own heart. And I feel the love pouring out of me and into him, and at the same time, love is pouring out of him and into me. For just a few minutes in the evening, if I'm lucky, I get to experience this osmosis of love.

A big change

2009-10-06T14:45:00.003-04:00

Last Friday was Nate's last day at his daycare center. We left the center with a heavy heart, as we loved the teachers and the other kids in his class. However, they were increasing their weekly rate significantly... more than a 15% increase in tuition, in a year where Erik didn't get any salary increase (no state employees did) and I received a standard increase, which is obviously much less than 15%. It seemed like a really bad time, economically, for the daycare to make such a significant increase to their tuition, especially when there are no visible improvements being made. It would make sense if they were installing webcams, getting new playground equipment, or making some other improvement. Instead, they provided no explanation for the increase, other than their "excellent salary and benefits package" which is probably laughable.

Anyway. When we were notified of the increase, I looked around and found a stay at home mom, C, who was looking to babysit full-time to allow her to continue to stay home with her son, who is almost a year old. We emailed some and then met to let the kids play and to get to know each other better. Immediately, we felt at ease with her. She was on the floor playing with the kids the whole time. She has a very gentle manner and her patience seems endless (and wouldn't it have to be to stay home all the time and to watch someone else's child too?). I checked her references, and they all loved her and had nothing but great things to say about her. So we met up a few more times between then and now, and yesterday Nate went for his first full day with C.

So far, it has gone really well! C has an older yellow lab, and Nate loves her! He points and says "dog" over and over again. C gets Nate to help her with the dog whenever she takes the dog out or lets her back in. He loves helping out whenever he can. C took Nate and her son on a long walk around their subdivision yesterday and she said when she took Nate out of the stroller, he climbed back in, so they walked even more. I'm sure he enjoyed seeing the lake and all the green areas in their neighborhood. Yesterday, he fell asleep on their living room rug and slept there for over 2 hours! Silly boy! He napped on the floor again today. I guess after being used to napping on a mat at daycare, he's happier on the floor than in a crib (mental note: this weekend, put a mat on the living room floor for Nate to lay on).

One other awesome thing about C? She's willing to use cloth diapers! Wahoo! We got some more diapers this week and we're starting with full-time cloth diapers tomorrow. I'm really excited that Nate gets to go fluffy bottom full-time now. We'll still send disposables as a back-up, but I'm hoping that we can move to mostly cloth from here on out! Yay!

17 month letter

2009-10-02T19:47:00.007-04:00

Dear Nate,

Yesterday you turned 17 months old. To celebrate, you and I spent the entire day together. Just you and me until your dad finally came home at 4:30. You were sent home from daycare on Wednesday because they said you had a stomach bug. Unfortunately/fortunately, you were fine all afternoon on Wednesday, but I still had to keep you home on Thursday because it’s their policy. So we had a mommy and son day, including a fun trip to the park. Despite all the fun we had, I was completely exhausted! Goodness gracious child, you are a handful! That’s okay, I guess, you keep me on my toes.

We visited your grandparents and the rest of the West Virginia crew this month. You had a great time up there. You got to dance and play with your grandparents, and you loved playing with the bubbles in their back yard. Your cousins kept you laughing all weekend long. I really hope that you will have a close relationship with your cousins and aunts and uncles, like your dad and I had with ours. I really hope that your dad and I will teach you to value family the way we do. Friends are wonderful, but family is family! They love you no matter what and they are always there for you. We are so lucky to have such a great family Nate, and everyone is so happy that you are a part of the family. You are a very loved guy!
One thing I love about you is that you’ve got my back. Your dad and I have been trying really hard to watch what we say around you. We (meaning I) have already had one incident of you repeating an inappropriate word. Luckily you didn’t enunciate it clearly and you haven’t repeated it since then, but still…. we just can’t have that. Like my good friend Stephanie said, ugly words just sound uglier coming out of children’s mouths. Hearing “shut up” isn’t nice from anyone, but when a child says it, it sounds awful. So we’re not just cleaning up the curse words, but trying to use more appropriate language all around. Anyway, the other night I was complaining about something and out slipped some sort of word that is better saved for adult company… Your dad called me out on it, and turned to you and said, “Nate, did you hear that?” And you, my favorite son, shook your head and said “Uh-uh!” I told you I loved you and put an extra $5 in your piggy bank. Thanks for getting my back, Nate. Mommy appreciates it. Speaking of that interaction, we have been really enjoying communicating with you recently. It astounds me how much you know and understand! I can ask you if you want something and you can tell me yes or no. You follow instructions pretty well these days too. And you LOVE to help out with things. Last weekend we were at your grandparents’ house for dinner and I was helping your Grandma clean up the kitchen. It was clear that you wanted to help, so I gave you a bottle of salad dressing to put in the refrigerator. I showed you where to put it and you were so happy to put it away for us. So then you put away all of the salad dressings. You were looking to see if anything was left on the counter, and the only thing remaining to be put away was a pot holder. To my surprise, you took it right over to the drawer where the pot holders are stored, opened the drawer and tried to put the pot holder in there. I’m not sure that I would’ve known where the pot holders were stored, but somehow you knew where it went! You pay attention to everything. You continue to amaze me every single day!
Sometimes I cannot believe how amazing it is to be your mom. I wonder if all parents feel this way. And, if so, does it go on like this forever? When you’re 10, will I still be completely overwhelmed with love for you and utterly amazed at all the new things you are learning and doing? When you’re 20, will I still stare at you, trying to capture who you are right now in this exact moment and store it away so that I never forget it? Somehow, to me, that feels like one of those great human mysteries that I just have to wait and see and experience for myself, and it makes me really excited and curious about the future. I’m so grateful that I get to have the experience of watching you grow up, Nate. I love you!

Love,

Mama

Mo? Mo?

2009-09-13T18:26:00.003-04:00

It seems like Nate learns a new word every day. He is constantly amazing us with what he understands and says. But one of his favorite words is still one of his first words: More. He learned the sign before he was a year old and he started saying "Mo" pretty early on. He still says it all the time. It can mean anything from "I'm hungry" to "I want more of that." If he's eating something he likes, he is constantly saying "Mo? Mo?" and doing the sign at the same time. We have been working on the sign for "please," so now when he really wants something he says "Mo?" then signs "please." It's ridiculously cute and pretty much ensures that he's going to get whatever he's asking for.

16 month letter

2009-09-01T20:12:00.005-04:00

Dear Nate,

Today you turn 16 months old. The past month has flown by and I can barely think of anything that distinguishes August from July. The whole summer has been a complete blur and I am already thinking of all the fun Fall things we get to do with you as a toddler. I can’t wait to see you excited about picking a pumpkin, and to let you “help” us carve it into a jack-o-lantern (the pumpkin guts are going to be so much fun!). You’re going to eat pumpkin pancakes and muffins with us. You get try apple cider. We’re going to see your Nana and Papa in WV and we’re going up to a cabin in the mountains too. We’ve got so many fun things to look forward to!

The other day, we took you out for an evening stroll and several of our neighbors were doing the same with their children. Our stroll turned into a play date in the middle of the road. Allie, who is about 6 months older than you, stood quietly next to her parents and took it all in. Savannah, about 1 year older than you, stood next to her mom and watched everything too. You… well, you ran up and down the street, screaming as loudly as you could. You’d run in one direction, stop, and turn around to run in the other direction. Occasionally you veered off the road and ran into someone’s yard, climbing through the ditch line to go explore their yard. I watched you, amused, and wondered why it is that you are always the most exuberant toddler when I have you around a group of children. I love that just being outside can be such a thrill for you.

We picked up some new shoes for you on Saturday and you were very excited about them. I put them on you, and you started running around downstairs, practicing wearing your new shoes. I noticed that you kept looking at them and smiling. After awhile, I asked your dad to take them off of you, but apparently you weren’t ready to give up your new shoes yet and you became very distressed. So we put the shoes back on and let you wear them until bath time. Sunday we took you to your grandparents’ house and you just grinned and grinned every time someone complimented your shoes. When your Uncle Greg said something about them, you tapped your feet around, like you were doing a new shoe dance. It’s absolutely adorable that a pair of converse are bringing so much joy to you.

More and more each day, it feels like you are becoming a little boy and leaving the baby stage behind. I love watching each new development and I celebrate each new skill that you learn. But I also mourn that your babyhood is gone. Where did it go? Did I cherish each moment as much I should have? Did I snuggle you for hours and kiss your little baby head at every chance I got? Did I stare at your tiny feet and hands, all while inhaling that lovely baby smell? I sure hope so! My promise to you is that I will do my best to cherish every moment that I can, Nate. I will memorize you at each stage and do my best to hold on to who you are and what you are each and every single day. Because I know when we wake up tomorrow, we will be waking up to a little boy who is slightly different than the one who went to sleep the night before.

I love you, Nate!
Love,

Mama

A huge responsibility

2009-08-30T20:07:00.002-04:00

So, I was listening to NPR the other day and I heard this amazing interview with a man named Geoffrey Canada, who has been working to transform the lives of children who live in Harlem. He is not only tackling their education system, but pretty much every system that comes into contact with these children, starting from birth. He calls the system that he has developed "the conveyor belt." He starts with getting parents involved with more prenatal care and education. He started a class called "Baby College" that teaches all sorts of parenting skills. The kids get enrolled in daycare, pre-k, and then a K-12 program that will help prepare them for college. It's like this all-in-one intervention into providing a better start for kids who otherwise have very little in terms of resources.

Anyway, go to the link above and listen to it if you want to know more about the program. It's fascinating. And my understanding is that Obama has asked for funding to pilot more of these projects across the US. I hope that there are also research organizations involved in collecting data on these kids, so that we can see (statistically) what type of difference these programs make.

There were things in the interview that really hit me hard though. Little pieces of information that research studies have revealed, that shows me how hugely important the role of a parent is in a child's life. I know that my job is to protect my child, to keep him safe and happy, and to teach him as much as I can. But I had no idea the depth of the teaching role until I heard that interview on NPR. One thing that was brought up was the importance of reading to your children. Most educated parents know to read to their babies and start at a young age. But what I didn't realize was this: Good readers become great readers and limited early readers almost always wind up as poor readers. Late bloomers are rare. By middle school, the variance between avid readers and reluctant readers has grown. Some research concludes that “if children’s impairments in word-reading ability have reached moderate or sever levels, catching up may simply be impossible.” (Joseph Torgesen, researcher at Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida St. Univ) Source

One thing they talked about that really struck me was the talk about discipline. Well, first of all, they begin the discipline segment by saying that "well-off kids" hear 20 million more words by age three than poor kids. Seriously?! 20 million? That's insane. But then they go on to say that the kind of words they hear are different. By age 3, a child of well-off parents hears about 500,000 encouragements and 80,000 discouragements. A child with parents on welfare hears just 80,000 encouragements and 200,000 discouragements. And that just blew me away. They go on to talk about how hearing encouraging comments affects cognitive development, etc.

But what really killed me about that statistic, and the one about 20 million words, and the comment about kids never being able to catch up if they don't read early, was this idea that parents have SUCH an important role to play. Way more than just the feeding/safety/shelter thing that we knew we had to do. Our job is to read to our children. To encourage them. To talk to them constantly, about everything. And we need to do those things from birth! You can't be slack! You can't wait until a child seems like they care about books. You have to make them care about books. And you can't wait for your child to ask you what something is. You have to tell them what everything is! I mean, it makes sense that that's how they learn, but hearing the actual statistics on it really drove the point home for me.

So now I'm trying to teach Nate lots of new words, to make sure we get to 20 million before he turns 3. We worked on "isosceles" and "Vonnegutesque" today. Tomorrow we're going to tackle "cosine" and "syntax." I can't let my guard down!

If you want to read more articles about this program and some other research, check these out:
http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=111193340
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/magazine/26tough.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94576366

T is for Thirty

2009-08-24T21:07:00.004-04:00

If you are obsessed with my blog and you notice every tiny detail and spend your spare time scrutinizing my fascinating prose, then you probably noticed that I updated the About Me section last week.

No? You didn't notice? Well the About Me section is right over there. ---->

I used to refer to myself as a laid back mom in my late 20's. Sadly, that had to be changed last Monday. I have moved into a new age demographic, that of the early 30's. I'm embracing it fully, and insisting that everyone call me ma'am now. I'm growing my hair out so that I can put it up in a bun. My compression hose and Depends have been ordered. Guess there's nothing left to do now but wait for the wrinkles to take over my face.

Actually, turning 30 hasn't been a big deal for me. I had a great birthday, thanks to my wonderful husband. I was surprised a few days before my birthday by my sister's early arrival to NC, which was so awesome. We had a big pig picking this past weekend, and I got to party with all of my friends. It was such a great time and it reminded me that I am a very lucky (thirty year-old) lady.

What a difference

2009-08-20T10:02:00.002-04:00

Back in May, I posted about a negative comment that one of Nate's daycare teachers made about him. Despite my best efforts to have a better attitude about that teacher, I could not bring myself to like her. Almost every day when we picked Nate up from daycare, she (let's call her M) made some sort of comment about how he had cried all afternoon. And what sucked was that she didn't say it with sympathy, like she felt bad that Nate had been upset and had a rough day. Instead, she said it like it annoyed her. Like she was frustrated that she had dealt with an unhappy toddler all afternoon. I get that, to an extent. Who wants to deal with a crying toddler when you also have several other kids to care for and entertain? But... that's also her job, you know? If you don't like it, then maybe you shouldn't work at a daycare.

Anyway, this went on for awhile and it made me dread picking Nate up from daycare. I had to prepare myself for whatever comment M was going to make about Nate. It broke my heart to think that he was having such a hard time, and that his teacher didn't seem to care. I started thinking about switching daycares or looking for an in-home option. One day when I picked Nate up, M said something about him being unhappy and she made the comment "That's just Nate." Like, "he's just always crying and miserable." It killed me to hear her say that! I felt like something had to change because despite whatever M said, I knew that Nate was not an unhappy child. He was always happy at home. He loves to play and to have fun. He never sits around crying and inconsolable. If that's how he felt at daycare, then we needed to do something about it.

One morning when I was dropping Nate off, I decided to chat with his morning teachers. I asked them how he behaved in the mornings. They said he was as happy as a clam and that he played really well. He would cry for a moment when I dropped him off, but as soon as I was gone, he was off with the other kids, carrying on and having a good time. I mentioned to them that M told me that Nate was miserable every afternoon. I told them how hard it was for me to hear that he was crying and inconsolable. They said that sometimes kids have a hard time when they wake up from their nap, but that otherwise Nate seemed really happy.

I knew when I talked to them that the gossip mill would take care of everything else. You can't say something to one of the teachers without everybody knowing about it by the time you pick your child up in the afternoon. That afternoon, M was a tiny bit softer in her comments about Nate. But Nate still started crying the moment he saw me, and I could tell that M still felt the same way and was only softening her words for my sake.

And then, a wonderful thing occurred. M quit. She moved away. When another teacher told me, she said to me "I think Nate's afternoons are about to get a lot better. M isn't here anymore." WTF? Isn't it sad that other teachers observed that somehow there was this strained relationship between M and my son... who is a toddler?!?! Anyway, ever since then, things have been great at daycare. Nate is happy in the afternoons now. They tell me that he's had a great day when I pick him up. He doesn't cry when he sees me walk into the room. He happily waves bye-bye to his teachers and classmates when we leave. It is like night and day, and I couldn't be happier.

It is really amazing what a difference a good teacher can make. I have no idea why Nate was so unhappy around M. Maybe she didn't give him any one-on-one attention. Maybe she didn't interact with the kids well. It's hard to know since I wasn't there to witness whatever took place. I just know that I am thrilled that he is having fun again and we have our happy boy back.

15 month appointment

2009-08-12T19:51:00.003-04:00

Nate had his 15 month appointment on Monday. He weighed in at 24 lbs, 3.8 ounces he was 31.5" tall. Both of those measurements put him in the 50th-75th percentiles. His head circumference was 48 cm, which is also the 75th percentile. The past few appointments he has been on about the same growth curve, so I think we can expect him to stay there for awhile.

Dr. Anderson said that he looked great and that he was the cutest toddler she had ever seen. She also said that he was clearly a genius and we could plan on him being able to support us in our old age. It's really nice to have a confirmation of what we already know.

**That last paragraph may be a slight exaggeration.

A mother's love

2009-08-09T20:32:00.003-04:00

Note: If you are squeamish or eating, do not read this. Trust me.

Yesterday I went out for most of the day to get caught up on some well-deserved Mommy Time. I was gone for about 8 hours, and when I came home, I went through the usual round of questioning that moms go through with regards to their toddler's day. "How has he been?" "Did he take a nap?" "What did he eat?" and "Did he poop?" The answer to that question was a surprising, "No." Surprising because Nate is like clockwork. He eats a balanced diet and we never have any poop issues with him.

Until now.

This morning, Nate woke up in the foulest mood. Everything was setting him off. I could raise my eyebrow at him and he'd throw himself on the floor in a red-faced fit of hysterics. So I knew that the only way to save ourselves was to get me and Nate out of the house as quickly as possible. We threw on clothes and rushed out the door to Super Target, leaving Erik and Fiona behind to revel in the sweet sound of silence.

But Nate cried the whole way to Target. Unheard of for him. I was counting on him falling asleep in the car, but instead he was a crying mess. He did fine at Target, but a brief trip to the restroom showed me that he had still not pooped. My suspicion that Nate was constipated was starting to feel confirmed. I just knew that he really should have pooped by then. I made a detour down the baby food aisle and picked up some of those tiny bottles of pear juice. Nate got a few ounces of juice before we got home, and then he collapsed into bed with me for a nap that we both desperately needed.

When we woke up, I tried to feed Nate lunch and he was so miserable. He was clearly straining to poop and he was screaming and crying with the effort. It was breaking my heart, but I felt so helpless! I checked his diaper again only to find that it was sadly empty.

I remembered hearing that a warm bath could help, so I took Nate, sans diaper, into the bathroom to get a bath going. I was holding him in my arms and he was resting with his face pressed against my chest, completely exhausted. And then it happened.

He pooped. On the bathroom floor. As I was holding him. And it was freakishly huge. I should probably say it was HUGE! Like, an adult could've made that poop. But it came out of a toddler. My toddler! And I just kind of sat there, holding Nate, staring at the poop. And he turned and observed the poop on the bathroom floor and had this look on his face like, "Huh. That's interesting."

Years ago, I had read a post on Dooce about her daughter being constipated, and I found myself clearly recalling that she described Leta's poop as being like a torpedo. Her description made total sense now, and seemed 100% accurate to me.

It was one of those moments in parenting that I had never anticipated. I remember when I read that post on Dooce, feeling somewhat horrified and bewildered by her odd obsession with Leta's poop. But parenthood teaches endless humility. Endless, I tell you.

And oddly, when I found myself sitting on the bathroom floor, holding a bare-bottomed toddler, and staring at this HUGE! poop on the floor, I did not feel (much) horror or disgust. Instead, I felt relieved to know that it was over and Nate would feel better now.

Always the right answer

2009-08-05T19:26:00.002-04:00

This evening, Nate and I were playing with his shape sorter. We had all the shapes on the floor and I was helping him put them back where they belong. I got the brilliant idea to see if Nate knew the names of any shapes yet, you know, just in case I have a genius on my hands here. It'd be nice to know. So I held up each shape and said what it was and then I put them all back on the floor.

Then I did a simple quiz. "Nate, can you show me the triangle? Where is the triangle?" I got the blank toddler stare. I tried again "Where is the star, Nate?" That time, he stood up, walked over to me, and gave me a huge hug. A hug is always the right answer as far as I'm concerned!

15-month Letter

2009-08-03T17:39:00.000-04:00

Dear Nate,

Saturday you turned 15 months old. July was a fun month for us. You traveled across the country for the very first time. Pretty impressive to me, since it took me 28 years before I accomplished the same thing (and you were actually there on that trip too, just as a 6 week embryo. It’s okay if you don’t remember).

Your vocabulary is really taking off. You try to say new words all the time. Recently, you’ve learned trees, kitty, cheese, and I think you were trying to say hot dog yesterday. It’s really neat that you are trying to communicate with us more and that you are learning more about the world around you.

You continue emulating us too. You want to vacuum clean. You want to unload the dishwasher. You love to put things away and to throw away trash. Can you please keep that trait? If you could continue helping us around the house for the next 17 years we’d really appreciate it. Clearly we could use another set of hands around here.

You also continue to get a good laugh out of me when you grab one of my purses, put it over your shoulder (or sometimes over your head) and walk away, waving and saying, “Bye bye!” It’s ridiculously funny. You will make eye contact with whoever is in the room and you say “Bye bye” to everyone, kind of like “Hey. I just want you to know I’m walking away now. Bye.” The purse is just the icing on the cake.

The past week or so, you’ve been matching pitch! If I sing a note and hold it, you’ll find the pitch and sing the note with me. Your dad is convinced you are a musical genius. If you are, all credit goes to him.

Your favorite food right now is blueberries. Blueberries, blueberries, blueberries. Every morning I expect to wake up to a blue toddler, but so far you’ve maintained a normal color.

You now have 14 teeth. FOURTEEN. That’s a lot. That’s 2 of your hands worth of fingers, plus most of the toes on 1 foot. You will have 20 baby teeth when it’s all said and done, and the last 4 teeth will be your 2 year molars. We are SO hopeful that those last four molars will wait until you are 24 months before they come through. These last 2 canines are so close and we are very eagerly anticipating a break in teething. I swear you have been teething constantly since you were 4 months old. We want a break. I bet you do too.

Last night your dad and I were watching TV and we heard you stirring over the baby monitor. We sat and listened for a moment to see if you were going back to sleep or if one of us needed to go check on you. After a few “meh!” noises and some more insistent shuffling around, your dad went up to check on you. When he came back down a moment later, he said “Ah, I love that baby.” He says that every single time he goes to check on you in the evening. Every time. Even when you are tired and grumpy, you fill our lives with love and joy and we will always appreciate it.

Love,

Mama

Summer in the country

2009-07-26T19:24:00.012-04:00

The past few days have been nice and low-key. We've had one of those ideal summer weekends where you play hard and nap harder. There was swimming, grilling, strawberries and ice cream bars. Perfect!

Nate has decided that he wants to eat anything we are eating, straight from our plates or hands. So when Erik sat down to eat a few strawberries, Nate just had to have a few bites.

He kept taking bigger and bigger bites and when Erik would tease him for eating all of the strawberry, Nate showed no regret whatsoever.

Fiona wasn't sure what to think about the whole scene.

After getting his belly full, Nate decided to roll around on the exercise ball for awhile. He loves this thing! Luckily, his lunch all stayed down too.

For dinner, we grilled chicken and made ribs in the crock pot. And, we let Nate have his very own cob of corn! He loves corn on the cob. He made sure to get every single sweet kernel off that cob. By the end of dinner, he was covered in corn juice.

We figured there was no point in getting dressed after the Great Corn Massacre of 2009, so we let Nate run around in his diaper. Things got kind of gangsta around our living room.

This evening, I decided to take Nate out on the deck to experiment with some edible finger paint I made. He worked on some art, but quickly gave up and decided that the more important task at hand was our filthy deck. How dare I even take him out on such a dirty deck? Good thing he isn't afraid to clean up for me.

Check out his first ever finger paint creation though! It's not that far from Joan Miro.

Beach

2009-07-20T13:42:00.009-04:00

We took Nate to the beach this weekend. This was his second trip to the NC Coast. He loved it! I am so glad that he is a beach baby! I hope he stays that way.

One of Nate's favorite things about staying in the beach house with other people was that he had more people to mooch off of. After he finished his breakfast, he would go around and beg pancakes and sausage off of everybody else. Fiona is definitely a more polite companion than Nate.

Nate seemed to enjoy playing in the water too. He had a great time sitting in the shallow area, picking up the wet sand and throwing it into his bucket. After a couple of waves hit, he got used to them and didn't even notice or care when they came.

He really wanted to play fetch with Fiona out there too. But that's no different than when we're in the house. It'll be awesome when he understands fetch a little better! Right now he just holds a toy out and waits for Fiona to take it from him. Or he throws a toy at her. :\ Once he understands that he has to throw something for her to chase, I bet they will be best friends.

The end of an era

2009-07-14T10:18:00.002-04:00

I think I can officially say that Nate has weaned. It's been over a week since he nursed, and it's been a few days since he has latched on at all.

I've known that it was coming to an end for awhile now. Nate was only nursing twice a day for quite some time, and then he started dropping a session here or there. It was never consistent. Sometimes he would nurse at night and other times during the morning. Occasionally he would nurse twice a day. Every now and then, he would nurse during the middle of the night. But it all dwindled down over the past month. Sometimes he would go 24 hours without nursing. On our flights to Seattle, he nursed for a moment but wasn't very interested. On the way home, he wouldn't nurse at all.

I've read up on nursing strikes, because the breastfeeding literature out there states that babies rarely self-wean before even 2 years old! But it's clear to me that this is not a nursing strike. It's been a gradual process. It's been 100% Nate's decision, so I am okay with it.

I am really grateful for the 14.5 months that we shared breastfeeding. It was a long road, and at the beginning it seemed like I couldn't possibly make it through a week of breastfeeding, much less a year! But we persevered, and my little boy grew and thrived on my milk. The times we shared nursing included frustration, elation, crying, laughing, snuggling, sleeping, hours and hours of staring into deep blue eyes, and what feels like an eternity (and the briefest possible moment) of soft, sweet baby skin curled up against me. I always knew that I was giving Nate a gift by nursing him, but I never realized that it was a gift to me too. I will always cherish those memories.

Seattle!

2009-07-12T19:52:00.000-04:00

Warning: Very long post ahead. Grab a cup of coffee (why not your favorite Seattle brew?) and get comfy.

We headed out to Seattle last Wednesday. Our trip out to Seattle was fairly hectic. The flight to Boston was delayed by 3 hours, which meant that we were going to miss our connection to Seattle. Luckily for us, the gate clerk re-booked us on a flight to DC before I even had the opportunity to call the 800#. By the time I called the 800# to rebook, I was told that we were flying to DC and not Boston. Pretty awesome service there (thanks American Airlines)! Unfortunately, the DC layover sucked. We had less than an hour between flights and we had to go through security again before we could get to our gate. Nate's toy, affectionately known as Buzzy McCrinklewings, is apparently a terrorist. We had no idea, but carrying a musical blue bee toy in your diaper bag is grounds for a major search. Rubber gloves were worn. Wands were waved. Poor Buzzy was carried with delicacy as though he were a bomb, ready to explode at any moment. It would have been funny if it wasn't so infuriating. I suggested that they just throw Buzzy away so that I could make my flight, but they took my bag and held me hostage until they were convinced that Buzzy was safe. I had told Erik to hurry along to the gate while they did a cavity search on Nate, so once they released us, we had to RUN to get to the gate. I had gone to the gym that morning and wore my ass out on the treadmill. I was not prepared to run with a toddler strapped to my chest in the Ergo. But I did it and made it to the gate in time to board. Whew.

Flying out to Seattle was kind of rough. It never got dark! We hadn't thought about the fact that the sun was not going to be setting on the west coast until after we landed. Ooops. So Nate stayed awake until past midnight Eastern Time. He passed out the moment we got in the car, at least. We survived that long flight with lots of snacks, a DVD player, and awesome flight attendants (thanks Alaska Air).

Our first day in Seattle was somewhat low-key. We went down to Pike Place Market and looked around. We grabbed a bite to eat at Piroshky Piroshky, whose food tastes at least as good as it smells. We did a lot of worrying, because our friend Robin had missed her layover at JFK the night before, and was robbed while she was sleeping in the airport. We were all sick with worry for her, but she managed to get to Seattle and have a fabulous time despite not having an ID or her own money. We constructed a plan to cook Robin a fantastic dinner, feeling as though it was the least we could do. So we made chimichangas, got lots of beer and wine and had a great time when she got there.

Day 2 was the highly anticipated trip to Mount Rainier! It has to be one of the most beautiful places in America. Unfortunately, we had a parenting faux pas and we forgot our Ergo! Oh no!! *sobs* I was so disappointed. We had planned to do lots of hiking, but instead we did a short hike which was cut even shorter due to a huge amount of snow blocking our path. Erik was carrying Nate on his shoulders, and I was not keen on the idea of him walking across the snow with Nate in such a precarious position. So we didn't get to do a ton of hiking, but we still got to enjoy some beautiful views at Rainier, and a little picnic in the back of our Scion Zipcar.

When we got back from Rainier, we got ready for a night out! My sister's boss agreed to babysit for us so that we could all go out together! Hurrah! We ate Indian food, drank beer, and bar hopped. It was a ton of fun. Nate did okay with the babysitter. She said he had a bit of a hard time going to sleep, but she "had a little talk with him" and he finally chilled out. ;) Thank goodness!
Day 3 was the 4th of July! We filled it by visiting some Seattle tourist attractions, including the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project and riding on the monorail. Nate got to see Michael Jackson's jacket and glove he wore when he debuted the moonwalk. Pretty cool! One of the coolest things at the EMP was the Jim Henson Muppet exhibit! I was very excited to show Nate Bert and Ernie in person! And we got to play with some puppets and perform "Mahna Mahna" with our puppet band, Mud Garden. We totally rocked out. We were also able to get into a music demo room, where we got to play with guitars, a keyboard and drums. We all loved playing the instruments.
We finished the day up with the American tradition of cooking out (and by that, I mean that we let Casey and her boyfriend grill up some tasty burgers for us). The group went out to watch the fireworks and Nate and I stayed home. I was exhausted! On Day 4, we headed out to Ballard for their Sunday market. Ballard is such a cute neighborhood. It feels small and cozy and it reminds me of Chapel Hill. It's also the home of the famous Cupcake Royale! Since it was a special cupcake occasion, we had to let Nate (and mommy) have a small cupcake. We also hit up some of the cute shops in Ballard, where we decided to try on some hats.

On the way home from Ballard, we stopped at Thai Tom for lunch. They have the best Thai food, possibly ever! While they were cooking our food, we ran over to Red Light, where I got an awesome vintage mod dress.

Then, Casey and Robin sent me and Erik out for a date night! Wahoo! We had a nice dinner out, followed by drinks at a local bar...and I got to wear my new dress! It felt almost like pre-parenthood days!

Day 5 led us to the Coastal Kitchen for a fabulous breakfast. They made the cutest pancake for Nate (no picture, sorry). We all raved about how wonderful our food was and then we headed out for the Seattle Aquarium.

Nate and I got to meet one of my online friends, who I have known since I got pregnant! Her daughter is just 2 weeks older than Nate.

At the aquarium, we visited jelly fish, an octopus, salmon, otters, and more. Nate had a great time and wanted to run around by himself as much as possible. He is getting very independent.

After the aquarium, we went on an Argosy boat tour. It was a warm afternoon and a sunny day- perfect weather for being out on a boat. Seattle is a beautiful city to view from the water. That night, Erik stayed in so that the girls could have a night out. We got cosmos and had girl talk. Our last full day in Seattle, we visited the Uwajimaya Asian market. Wow, talk about a HUGE market. They had so many cool things. Their fish selection was the largest I have ever seen in a supermarket. It would be a great place to shop to make your own sushi. We ended up eating there too, and Nate eyed all the noodles and sushi, but chose to eat his own cheese crackers instead. His loss!After the Asian market, we headed back down to Pike Place to wander around some more. There is so much stuff in that market. The vendors are really nice too. It would be fun to shop there with unlimited funds!

We (meaning Erik and Casey) grilled up some more fantabulous burgers and hot dogs for our last dinner in town. We said goodbye to Robin, who miraculously was allowed to board with just a police report as evidence that her purse had been stolen. Erik, Casey and I stayed in and relaxed and chatted before we all had to say goodnight, which led to the inevitable goodbye in the morning.

We were so sad to leave Casey and Seattle behind. We had such a fun time! I think Nate really enjoyed everything we did, even if he slept through some really cool things. :) We all loved spending lots of time with Casey, and Robin too, even though we get to see her more often. I hope Casey knows how much we appreciate everything! She rocks!

14 month letter

2009-07-08T00:23:00.004-04:00

Dear Nate,

You turned 14 months last week. Yes, last week. I am sorry that it has taken me this long to write your letter. My excuse is that we were traveling on July 1 and I didn't get a chance to write a letter to you while we were finding out that our flight had been delayed by 3 hours, or while I rebooked us on another flight, and definitely not while we got stuck in security at Reagan National Airport which meant that we had to run to make our flight. I was just too busy dealing with all of that to write. I hope that you will forgive me for being almost a week late this month.

I am too tired and excited from our vacation to think of much to write... I just want to tell you that I love you so much and I am so happy to be your mom. You bring so much joy into our lives and into the life of everyone who meets you. Thanks for being my son!

I love you!

Mama

Megan Grace

2009-06-30T08:50:00.002-04:00

Baby Megan Grace was born yesterday at 4:34 AM. Her parents had 10 sweet minutes with her before she was taken away to heaven. Since I got news of Megan's birth, she and her parents have been on my mind constantly. I keep finding myself thinking of them, wondering about those moments they had with their angel and hoping that they are finding strength in each other and in their friends during this difficult time. Please take a moment to pray for Amber and Steve and their sweet baby girl today.

Adventurers!

2009-06-29T20:07:00.003-04:00

If you couldn't tell from my post below, we are heading out on a big adventure soon. We are going to visit my sister in Seattle! All 3 of us are piling on an airplane and flying across the country.

I am choosing to look at it as a big adventure because the idea of traveling with a toddler is pretty damn intimidating. I absolutely do not want to be those people on the plane that everybody else hates. But, we really have very little control over that. We'll do everything we can to make the flight comfy for Nate - we borrowed a DVD player from a friend, I've got some new toys for him to check out, we'll bring some books, and lots and lots of snacks. Most of the flight is after his bedtime, so I hope that he'll be able to fall asleep and stay asleep for most of the flight out there.

We've got all sorts of fun things planned for our trip. Nate is going to see so many cool things, and he's going to spend tons of time with his Aunt Casey and his honorary Aunt Bina (as I type that out, I realize it sounds like Robin is Casey's girlfriend. She's not. She's my honorary sister). I am so excited! It's Nate's first big trip! I know he won't remember it, but I have a feeling that Erik and I will never forget it. :)

Still dirty hippies!

2009-06-28T22:07:00.006-04:00

Our weekend was full of wearing Nate in the Ergo. I've been making an effort to wear him in it more in an attempt to burn more calories (because surely doing anything with 24 pounds of toddler strapped to your back has to burn more calories) and in an effort to "train" for our upcoming vacation to Seattle. We'll need to wear Nate a lot while we're there, so I wanted to be sure that I was up for the challenge.

Saturday, we went to Lake Johnson and I walked the entire trail with Nate in the Ergo. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of him in the Ergo, but we did get some pictures at the boat house, where we got some water and took a break.

Today, we dedicated ourselves to thoroughly cleaning the house. My mom taught me that you never leave a dirty house when you go on vacation. So we spent time today doing laundry, vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc. It was a lot of work! I put Nate in the Ergo so that I could focus on cleaning. I guess all the hard work wore him out!
He got a really good nap in too. I was surprised that he was able to stay asleep while I ran the vacuum, did laundry, etc. My back must be quite comfy.

What not to say

2009-06-26T13:58:00.002-04:00

For some reason this morning I got to thinking about the things that people say to pregnant women. I don't know what it is about a pregnant belly, but it seems to just set-off the verbal diarrhea in people... and people say the most inappropriate things to pregnant women! So here is a handy-dandy guide of what not to say to a pregnant person, whether that person is a total stranger or your identical twin sister. Trust me. No matter how well you know someone and love them, if you find yourself wanting to say any of these things, just bite your tongue.

You are so tiny for X months pregnant! This makes a woman feel like there may be something wrong with her baby. Why am I so small? Is everything okay? Don't say it.
You are so big for X months pregnant! This is just mean. It's hard enough to deal with your body changing without having people tell you that you are huge.
Are you sure you're not having twins? Ha ha. You are so clever. You think nobody has said that to her before? Women today have ultrasounds. They are high quality. There is no second baby hiding in the uterus. This is just another way of saying "Wow, you're huge." Don't say it!
You look like you're about to pop! Ugh, seriously? If a woman looks like she's about to have a baby any moment, I can just about guarantee that she is uncomfortable and irritable. Please don't piss her off (or make her cry) by saying this!
Are you excited? I know, I know, it seems harmless enough. I'm guilty of this one myself. But think about it. Of course she's excited. And if for some reason she's not excited, she probably doesn't want to talk to you about it and you probably don't want to hear it.
You're still here? aka You haven't had that baby yet? These phrases come up during the last few weeks of pregnancy and they drive women up the wall. Yes, she is still pregnant. If you are a friend, she will tell you when she has had the baby. Also, if she's at work, the odds are good that she's still pregnant. So please, don't say this. It's only going to annoy her.

These are just a few of my suggestions. And yes, the last 5 were all said to me at some point during my pregnancy. And yes, it either hurt my feelings, annoyed me, pissed me off, made me cry, or some combination of those. Feel free to add your own in the comments!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T20:23:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day, Erik! You are a great daddy!

Nate is very lucky to have such an awesome dad. How many dads out their teach their babies how to play recorder, djembe, and piano? How many babies out their get to rock out to all genres of music before they turn one? Nate's going to know the difference between bebop and dixieland before he goes to elementary school. What a lucky kid!

He has a dad who has gotten up with him at all hours of the night to pat his back, return a lost paci, and to give the required snuggles to help him back to sleep. A dad who can't wait to teach him all about cars, motorcycles, and all things British. A dad who has travelled all over this beautiful country of ours and who can't wait to show it all to him. A dad who loves getting to know other people and other cultures. A dad whose enthusiasm for history is unending, and whose thirst for knowledge will never be quenched. A dad who is truly a teacher, not just by trade, but as an intrinsic part of his being.

Here's to you, Erik, for being one great Dada! Nate and I love you so much!

Mama!!!!

2009-06-16T09:02:00.002-04:00

Nate's vocabulary has really taken off over the past week or so. He is now saying "Dada," "Bye bye," "Uh-oh," "Bubbles," "Hey" (very rarely though), "Teeth" (also rare), and he is finally saying "Mama" with meaning. He has babbled the sound for awhile and occasionally I thought he meant it. Now there's no doubt.

Last night in the bath, he turned around and looked at me and said "Mama?" Then he had a very important conversation with me, which consisted mostly of a bunch of "Ba's."

Nate woke up with a fever in the middle of the night, so he is home from daycare today. Since Erik is out of school for the summer, he's taking care of Nate so I can work. I came up to my office with my coffee and a few minutes later I heard "Mama! Mama!" from downstairs. *sigh* Excuse me while I put my broken heart back together and get back to work...

The short drunk who lives with us

2009-06-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

Nate is walking all over the place now, and he looks exactly like a drunk man walking around our house. Most of the time he does great, but sometimes he is wobbly and he sways back and forth as he walks across the room. It's really funny to watch him wobbling all over the place. He reminds me of this game.

Good times

2009-06-08T21:38:00.004-04:00

(When I typed the subject of this post, I was totally picturing the SNL skit for the Delicious Dish with Alec Baldwin).

Guess what? Erik and I went on a date Friday night for our anniversary! And guess what? It was awesome! No wonder we got married. We like to spend time together. It's fun. We get along well. Who knew? Ha. It is really easy to forget what it's like to have time to focus just on us. We've only gone out on a few date nights since Nate was born. We definitely need to do it more often.

We went to King's Dominion on Saturday. OMG we had such a blast! We are amusement park junkies, apparently. It has been a long time since either of us had been to one and we went with total immersion when we got there. We ran from the car to the gate, rode as many rides as we could (including riding the Dominator 3 times and the Volcano twice) and we didn't stop for 7.5 hours. We're hard core ya'll. We kicked that park's ass. It was a ton of fun and I want to do it again this weekend.

5 years!

2009-06-05T09:08:00.016-04:00

Five years ago today, I married my love. After 4 years of dating, including 1 year of being engaged, we finally tied the knot on June 5, 2004.

We had a beautiful wedding in my parents' backyard.

We had an amazing honeymoon in Jamaica.

We have had so many adventures in the past 5 years...

We got a dog.

We bought a house.

We've been to the beach...

and to the mountains...

We've celebrated Halloweens...

and Christmases.

We went to Guatemala.

We got pregnant.

We had a baby.

And through it all, we've had each other.

I love you Erik! Thank you for 5 wonderful years of marriage!

Quick video

2009-06-02T21:49:00.003-04:00

Here's a short video of Nate walking. I posted it on Facebook, but thought I'd share it here too. :)

13 month letter

2009-06-01T19:48:00.005-04:00

Dear Nate,

Today you are 13 months old! I guess that you are a toddler now and no longer a baby. Your dad says that you’re not a toddler until you are walking more. I think you’re ready to prove that you are a toddler though. This weekend you worked on your walking a lot and you seem determined to fine tune your new skill. I think it won’t be long before you’re walking all over the place.

We took you to the beach for the first time on Saturday and you LOVED it. It was so much fun to watch you play in the surf! When a wave would come and wash over your feet and legs, you just laughed and laughed. Your dad and I had sore cheeks from laughing and smiling the whole time. We’re really excited that you loved the beach so much. It makes me want to drive back every weekend this summer so that we can share that experience over and over again.

Sometimes you like to show us a bit of your temper now, and I have to admit that it makes me giggle. Our friend Jamey gave you a Bob the Builder backpack and you love to put things in there and take them back out. The other day, you were trying to put a cup in the backpack and I guess it wasn’t working the way you wanted. You got mad and threw the cup down. I handed the cup back to you, and you threw it down again and then hit the cup. You were so angry that you couldn’t do whatever it was you wanted to do, and it really took everything in me not to laugh at you. That part of your personality is just SO me. Believe me, I know how you feel. Just ask your grandma about trying to teach me how to write in cursive (at my insistence). I’m sure she’d love to tell you that story!

You are learning so much these days, it just blows us away. You are emulating us a lot more and it’s funny to see the things that you pick up when we never knew you were paying attention. Everything that you do makes us speculate about your future. You hit a few notes on the piano or play with your recorder, and we wonder if you’re going to be a musician. You throw a ball across the room and we see your career as a baseball pitcher. You play in the waves at the beach, and we know that you’re going to be a surfer dude.

No matter what or who you become, we will always love you Nate!

Love,

Mama

Milestone Envy

2009-05-29T10:57:00.002-04:00

Some friends (okay, I admit it... they were internet friends) and I were chatting recently about how to encourage our kids to walk. We all have "late(r)" walkers, I guess: Kids who are not walking before 1. For some reason, everyone expects children to walk before they are 1. My pediatrician says the normal age range to start walking is 9 months to 16 months, so obviously many kids do not walk at or before 1. But still, everyone seems to expect it regardless.

And I'll admit, it's frustrating to have to wait for these milestones. Nate didn't crawl until he was 10 months old. It was nice to not have to worry about him getting into anything during that time, but it was also annoying to have people constantly asking if he was crawling and to have to say "no." The same thing goes for walking. Every stranger we meet (and many friends) ask "Oh! Is he walking yet?!" and when I say no, they avert their eyes like there is some problem. Either that, or they tell me about their child, or their best friend's child, or their mom's cousin's neighbor's child who started walking at 8 months.

Our pediatrician offered me a comforting story about her own daughter at Nate's 1-year appointment. She told me that her daughter started walking at 9 months. She said that her walking was just beautiful. She had excellent balance and she was very graceful for her age. She thought that surely her daughter would be a great athlete if she was such a talented walker at a young age. Nope. At 12 years-old she has shown no extraordinary athletic ability. She's just an average kid.

I try to remind myself that milestones like this really mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. I don't think there are any college applications that ask when you started walking. I've never seen it on anybody's resume. I never dated a guy because he was such an early walker. Nate is who he is, he'll walk on his own schedule, and then he'll be on his way to his ivy league education. Right?

Not weaning

2009-05-27T13:56:00.003-04:00

I was just reading a post over on Baby Rabies about weaning. I think it's really interesting to see how different people approach breastfeeding as you reach the one-year milestone. My initial goal was to breastfeed for one year. After that, I knew that we would re-evaluate as we go. I currently have no goal set. I intend to continue for as long as Nate and I are both happy with it. If my feelings change at some point, I may try to gently wean. If Nate seems uninterested, I clearly cannot force him to breastfeed! :) So we're just taking it as it comes for now.

Like Jill at Baby Rabies, I am planning a weekend away from my son in a couple of weeks. Erik and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary, and we are going out of town alone to celebrate. However, I am not planning on weaning OR pumping during this time. I have been told by some more experienced mamas that the milk supply after one year is different and it kind of hangs around even if you aren't using it. It's not like the earlier days when everything is supply and demand. We shall see! I am not too worried about engorgement because I have not experienced that in a long time. Even when I dropped pumping sessions I didn't have a problem.

My fingers are crossed that it all goes well and that our little trip doesn't lead to weaning. I'm happy to continue breastfeeding for awhile if we continue along the same path.

This day brought to you by Conjunctivitis

2009-05-20T20:22:00.018-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, around 4:15, I was diligently working on a report for work when I got a call from Nate's daycare. I was really worried that he had gotten hurt or that he was having an awful day, but instead they told me that they suspected he had pink eye. Due to the highly contagious nature of pink eye, they asked me to come and get him right away and to call the pediatrician to have a prescription called in.

I got Nate, Erik got the eye drops and then I pulled out my handy Daycare Manual that tells me the rules for when a sick child can go to daycare and when they can't. To my dismay, pink eye requires 24 hours at home and on medicine before returning to daycare. I was not thrilled about taking time off of work and doing my typical thing where I run in and check email constantly, battle Nate to take a good nap so I can work while he sleeps, and basically run myself into the ground trying to work and be a mom at the same time.

This morning I decided "Screw it. I'm taking the day off!" I didn't want to be pissy and angry all day. I didn't want to do a half-assed job at work and at parenting. So all of my energy went to Nate today. And we had a great day!

After breakfast, I took Nate down to a jogging path near our house. I even broke out the BOB stroller and we went for a jog. It was hard and I definitely didn't run nearly as much as I would on a treadmill. But I got a good workout and I think Nate napped. Jogging is hard work, after all.

When we got home, Nate wanted to help me drink my water.

Then we played with his toys.

And Nate became very curious about the camera.

...then decided to cruise around the couch a bit.

Fiona became worried about Nate's mischievousness.

Nate and I decided to break into his piggy bank so we could take all the change to the bank to be deposited into his Fat Cat Account.

We had lunch.

Then we headed out to Smithfield and Nate napped in the car.

We tried on shoes at Stride Rite.

Then came home (after stopping at the bank) to test out the new shoes.

Showing off the new shoes & the sticker from the bank.

We played with the monster puppet (his name is Smitty) from Aunt Casey.

Then had dinner...

We wrapped the day up with our evening wagon ride.

It was a great day! Sometimes conjunctivitis can be a very good thing. :)

"Does he always cry this much?"

2009-05-18T19:35:00.003-04:00

That's what the daycare teacher said when I went to pick Nate up this afternoon. It really rubbed me the wrong way.

First of all... "this much?" Like I was there all day to witness his behavior? Well, he wasn't crying when I dropped him off this morning and he wasn't crying when I picked him up this afternoon, so how am I supposed to know what she is talking about? I just stood there and said "umm..." and she explained that Nate had been fussier today than he was last week. She also seems to be the teacher that Nate has chosen to bond with, and apparently he follows her around everywhere all day. I know it's exhausting to be followed by a demanding toddler all day long, but it's kind of sweet too, right? I guess she doesn't think so.

I'm just irritated about the whole situation. He just moved into that room! Friday was his first full day in there! Can you give a baby more than a day to fully adjust to his new surroundings? Especially considering how vastly different this room is than his old room? Seriously.

I remember when Nate moved into the Crawlers room, I didn't like the teachers as much and I didn't think that they would ever care for Nate the way they did in the Inchworms. But we all got acclimated to the new room and Nate loved his teachers and so did I. I really hope that's what will happen in the Waddlers too. Right now I am feeling irritated and the growing pains are evident. I really hope that soon we will all adjust and the Waddlers will end up being an awesome room just like the past 2 rooms were.

A baby-filled weekend

2009-05-17T19:48:00.006-04:00

I don't know about Nate, but I am exhausted! We had one super busy weekend. Unfortunately, Erik has the swine flu (joking... I hope) so it was pretty much me & Nate all weekend long while Erik recuperated.

On Saturday, we met up with our Bradley friends again. We had a great time! Erik had to stay home, but Nate and I partied enough to make up for his absence. Nate had a lot of fun playing with the other kids. His favorite part was probably eating the cake. Everybody brought awesome food, so it was really nice to hang out, relax and eat and watch all the kids play. It's still so neat to me that we all met when we were pregnant and here we are with babies a year old (and one who will be 1 this summer).

Today was another get together with some friends and babies. There was only one other toddler there and the rest of the babies ranged from a few weeks old to about 7 months old. Nate really isn't great with little babies yet because he doesn't know how to be gentle yet. He is really rough and he's FAST, so he's able to fake me out and hit a baby in the head with his left hand while I'm holding his right hand back. Anyway, it's really fun to see all these friends but I am probably going to opt out of these play dates for awhile... or maybe I'll go without Nate. It's just too exhausting to chase him around and to try to keep him from hurting other people's babies!

I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

One thing that I loved was watching Nate flirting with some of the other moms. At the Bradley get together, he decided that he could not get enough hugs from one of the moms. He kept going back and forth between us and hugging her, then hugging me. It was SO sweet!

Today, he decided that he was quite fond of another mom at the group, and not only did he give her a hug, but he also patted her bottom when the opportunity came up. ;) I got a good laugh out of it... I hope she did too!

Moving up is hard to do

2009-05-15T08:51:00.003-04:00

This week, Nate started transitioning from the Crawlers room at daycare into the Waddlers. This is a HUGE change. In the Waddlers, the children only take one nap a day, and they sleep on mats instead of in cribs. Also, everyone eats at a tiny little table sitting on tiny little chairs (kind of cute, really). In addition to that, they go outside and play twice a day as long as it's not too hot, too cold or rainy.

The room feels much more chaotic than the Crawlers room ever felt. It makes sense that it would be that way, with a bunch of toddlers running around all day long. Nate still isn't walking yet, so I imagine that he gets trampled on occasionally too. Hopefully being around kids walking all day long will get him moving too. :)

The transition has been a little tough for Nate. The first day he went in there, he was pissed. He wanted nothing to do with that room. He even refused to eat in there, which says a lot. Nate is usually all about food. But each day it has gotten a little better. He has started eating at the table with the other kids, and I guess he likes it because he had food all over his pants when I picked him up yesterday. I know he likes playing outside each day. He always has dirt under his fingernails when we bring him home. This morning when I dropped him off, he didn't even cry. He spent a few minutes looking around the room, as though he was surprised to be there. And then he started playing with a toy. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:23:00.005-04:00

Today was my second Mother's Day as a mom. Last year was my first, but I couldn't tell you much about it. I was busy with a 10-day old baby. If you've lived with, or been a parent to, a 10-day old baby, then you know that it's kind of hard to think clearly, much less dedicate a day to celebrating motherhood. So even though last year was technically my first Mother's Day, this is the first Mother's Day that I'll remember.

And I have to say... it's been a great one! Erik got up with Nate this morning and let me sleep in. I'm not sure how he timed it, but just as I was stirring and starting to think of getting up, he walked in with a plate full of scrambled eggs, organic sausage (that he grilled this morning), and a capuccino! Seriously?! No wonder I love him. I have always wanted to have someone bring me breakfast in bed, and this is the first time that it's ever happened. It was as wonderful as I have always imagined it to be.

We puttered around the house this morning and took Nate on a wagon ride. Then we headed to my parents' house to have lunch with them. Nate had a great time playing with everyone, exploring the house, and banging on pots and pans. My mom made an awesome lunch, as always, and topped it off with homemade banana pudding. And more yummy coffee.

I have had a lovely day and I'm really grateful to Erik and my parents for making that happen. And to Nate, for being the real reason that I get to enjoy this day.

P.S. When I picked Nate up from daycare on Friday, this was waiting for me. What a thoughtful child I have. :)

Farewell, Old Friend

2009-05-08T16:41:00.002-04:00

It's the end of an era! I am done pumping! Wahoo! I have not pumped in a week and I am doing just fine with it. In fact, I still have a container full of bags of frozen milk in our deep freezer that I am not quite sure how we'll use. I'll probably find a way to sneak it into Nate's food over the next few weeks and months.

Anyway, I am just soooooooooo thrilled to not have to pump anymore! I feel so free!

Goodbye, Medela Pump in Style. You were a good pump.

Baby steps

2009-05-06T20:05:00.002-04:00

Nate has started taking steps this week. It's really cute to see him take a few steps forward all by himself. He grins really big and he's so proud.

I think it will still be awhile before he's really walking though. Maybe once he moves up to the next room at daycare and he's surrounded by other walkers, he'll be really motivated to walk more. I do think that he wants to walk now. But he's shaky and a little intimidated.

One thing that was weird about this whole experience was that Nate took his first step at daycare on Monday. I thought that it would make me sad to miss something like that, but it really didn't. I was happy for him that he had done it. I knew I would see it myself soon enough, and I did. And it was SUPER exciting to see it at home. I didn't feel like it was any less exciting because he had done it before. Right now, all steps are exciting. I'm sure in a few days or weeks it will wear off some, but right now we're proud of every step that Nate takes!

Birthday party!

2009-05-05T20:50:00.006-04:00

Nate had his first birthday party on Saturday! We celebrated by having a party at my parents' house. There were 7 babies and toddlers there, as well as their accompanying parents and some other family and friends. It was a bit of a zoo, but in a fun way! I loved having the other babies there, as they are all my friends' children and I hope that Nate will be growing up with them as best buddies.

My favorite part of the party was when we sang "Happy Birthday" to Nate. He was sitting in his high chair and we were all circled around him. As we sang the song, his eyes got SO huge and he was looking around like "Why on EARTH are you all singing to me?!?!" It was so funny that I couldn't even finish singing because I was laughing too hard. I was grateful for that laugh, as it kept me from getting too emotional about singing Happy Birthday to my big boy.

The party was really wonderful and it felt so good to surround Nate with family and friends on his big day. He is one very lucky little boy.

Celebrating 1 Year of Nate

2009-05-03T09:21:00.002-04:00

12 month letter

2009-05-01T16:06:00.002-04:00

Dear Nate,

Today, at 5:35 am, you turned 1 year old. Your dad argues that you turned one at midnight, but I know better. I know that last year at midnight we weren’t even at the birth center yet. It wasn’t until 5:35 am that your sweet eyes met mine for the first time. I haven’t stopped staring into them since then.

You got your new red wagon last week, which was a first birthday present from your Papaw. It is one cool ride, Nate. I love that it has cup holders, and you seem to love that too. Now you can roll down the street with your sippy cup in tow and I know you like having your cup there, so that you can show me your “gangsta cup mouth” face.

You have been into everything recently. Everything. It’s making me question the layout of our house because it’s not possible for me to baby gate everything that needs to be protected. I need about a dozen baby gates to keep you off the stairs, out of the litter box, out of the dog’s water, etc. I feel like all I do is chase you around and pull you off the stairs. It’s both amusing and exhausting. It makes me glad that you’re not walking yet because then I will know true exhaustion.

The other day, your dad went to pick you up from daycare and found out that you had thrown a tantrum for Ms. Kristin. She said that she “didn’t pick you up fast enough” and you balled your fists up, started screaming and crying, and you were so angry that your face turned purple! You’ve been showing us bits of your temper recently when we tell you “no” or take away something that you want to play with that we’d rather you not have (like the remote control). Sometimes you just lay your face down on the floor and cry. It’s like you can’t handle looking at us or anything else in the world, you’re so frustrated and disappointed. It cracks me up.

We introduced you to cow’s milk this week and you LOVE it. You must have gotten that from your dad, because I hate milk. I normally won’t even let your dad kiss me after he drinks milk, but I guess I’m going to have to get over my fear of milk-breath, because I don’t want to miss any of your kisses.

Tomorrow we celebrate your birthday with some family and friends and I can’t wait. I so look forward to celebrating this past year with you. It’s quite a feat we have accomplished, Nate. We survived! You thrived! We got through the angry newborn phase… we made it through the 4 (to 6) month wakeful period where you fought sleep so hard. We have seen EIGHT teeth emerge from your pink gums and we learned that we should have bought stock in Motrin. We’ve watched you go from a helpless baby to a little boy who can go from the living room rug to half-way up the stairs in about 5 seconds. We went from staring at your face waiting for a brief cherished smile to spending hours a day dancing and laughing with you. It is so appropriate that we will celebrate this wonderful year with family and friends, with cake and laughter, because sweetness and smiles is what you have brought to us, Nate. Thank you for that.

I love you, so, so, much, my sweet baby boy!
Mama

Birth Story!

2009-04-30T08:16:00.005-04:00

Since I didn't have this blog last year, I didn't get the chance to blog about the birth. In honor of it being one year since I went into labor, here is the story of Nate's birth.

Tuesday 4/29/08- Erik and I had decided that it was “time” for this baby to come! We went for a couple of walks that evening and he massaged my acupressure points. He spent a good 30 mins talking to (and singing to) my belly, telling Nate that it was time to be born. I had had some bloody show and other signs that things may be happening soon, so I felt pretty optimistic.

Wednesday 4/30- Erik told me that he planned to not teach the entire day that day. He just felt like he should be at home with me. I also decided to take it easy with work, so I could focus on things around the house. I vacuumed and decided to go to the grocery store before Erik got home. I finished my shopping and got in line to check out. As I was standing there being checked out, I felt a warm gush. I tried not to look surprised and to stand as still as possible. The cashier was chatting with me about my pregnancy and asking me when I was due. I didn’t want to tell her that I thought my water had just broken! LOL So I waddle-ran out to the car, put down an emergency pad in the car seat and drove home. When I got home, I hurried to the bathroom and there was no doubt that my water had broken. I called the birth center and they told me I could keep my appointment that afternoon. It was about 12:30 when my water broke. My appointment was at 4:30.Erik got home and I rested and waited for contractions to start. They started around 2:30.

The first contraction was very strong and I wondered what this whole labor experience was going to be like. Mostly though, I was very excited to be in labor. We spent the next couple of hours getting everything ready in case I was going to be admitted for delivery after my appointment. At my appointment, I was checked and found to be 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. We did a NST and all looked fine with the baby. Even though I was having frequent contractions, since they were not consistently intense and regular, our midwife suggested we go home, eat, rest and come back when the contractions were 4 minutes apart.

We actually went out to dinner at Doc Greene’s on the way home. I remember feeling like it was the coolest thing to be eating dinner with my husband while I was in labor. It felt like this intimate secret that only we shared, while the world around us went on. We both knew that we'd be introducing a new baby to the world within a matter of hours. It was a very neat and special moment. After dinner, we stopped at Target, where I sat in the café and called my parents to tell them I was in labor.

When we got home, I got in the tub for a little while and it felt wonderful. After awhile, I decided to get out so that Erik and I could be together. We went downstairs and put Dan in Real Life on, and he dozed on the couch while I labored in our big arm chair. He kept a rice sock heated for me, which I used on my lower back. The contractions were manageable as long as I stayed still. Whenever I would get up to use the bathroom, I had very strong contractions that made it impossible for me to move. I labored at home until about 12:45 am, when I had noticed that contractions were consistently 4 mins apart and I was really focusing to work through each one.

We called the midwife and headed out to the birth center.The drive to the birth center was tough. It’s about an hour to get there and I was having consistent strong contractions. I didn’t talk much on the way there. I’d just put pressure on Erik’s leg when a contraction would start, so that I could breathe through it. He told me later that he didn’t speed too much on the way to the birth center, but every time I had a contraction he really hit the gas. :)

When we got to the center (around 2 am), I was 8 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I asked to labor in the tub, since I knew it had felt good at home. While I was laboring there, my parents showed up and they stayed in the room, but out of the way. Erik was by my side, holding my hand the whole time.I started to feel a little pushy, and told the midwife. She confirmed that I was completely dilated. This was around 3 am. I tried pushing in the tub, but I had nowhere to put my feet to get good leverage, so I decided to get out. I then tried the birthing stool, but I was still having trouble. I was having back labor, due to the position of Nate’s head, and the midwife needed me to lean back to get him under the pubic bone. I think I was still mentally resisting pushing too. At one point I said something like, “What else can I do?” and the midwife laid it on the line for me. She told me I could push on the stool or in the bed, but the fact was that I had to push this baby out. I owned up to it at that point and we moved to the bed. I never had planned to deliver on my back with people holding my legs up, but that’s what happened. The midwife felt that it was the best position to get Nate out. Even though the back labor was very painful, once I got used to pushing in that position, I was okay with it.

I still had trouble coping with pushing at times though. I had to take breaks for a couple of contractions, which was almost impossible. Sometimes I’d say “I can’t push – I need to take a break!” but the contraction would be so overwhelming that I would have to push after all. It seemed like I was pushing forever and they kept telling me that they saw the head and that he had tons of hair! Erik even told me later that the midwife was playing with his hair in between contractions. LOL

I was really glad my parents were there after all, because my mom held one of my legs for me, and my dad stayed up near my head, giving me drinks of Gatorade when I needed it. I never felt like I was alone in my labor, because I was getting so much support from Erik, my parents, and our midwife, Sarah.

It took a couple of hours of pushing and Nathaniel Phillip was finally delivered at 5:35 am on May 1. I remember feeling such relief when he came out, and complete shock when he was placed on my stomach! There was the little boy that had been growing and moving around in me for the past 9 months! He looked so familiar to me, with what I thought was my sister’s nose and the most beautiful little mouth. His eyes were wide open and he was observing us as much as we were admiring him. It was such an amazing experience and it has led to the most wonderful year of our lives so far.

That's Nate's Jam!

2009-04-26T19:56:00.003-04:00

51 weeks and 1 day

2009-04-26T19:52:00.002-04:00

Nate made it 51 weeks and 1 days without bleeding. Unfortunately, we broke that pristine record yesterday with a busted lip. I guess injuries are to expected with an exuberant baby who wants to climb on and explore everything around him. Nate decided to explore the bath tub at my parents' house last night during his bath... He pulled up in the tub, lost his footing and slipped, and bumped his lip on the side of the tub. I felt awful when I saw the trickle of blood coming down his trembling little chin. Poor guy. Luckily it stopped bleeding before we even finished the bath and he seemed to forget about it completely. Thank God for resilient babies.

Adios a Miami

2009-04-24T09:32:00.003-04:00

We survived the Miami trip! Wahoo!

Here are the basics:

Nate did great with Erik! He took his bottles easily, ate well, slept well and was generally a happy boy. He worked on his walking a lot, learned how to make "clucking" noises with his tongue, and is now fluent in Spanish. Okay, that last one is an exxageration. But things went well for them while I was gone and I am so happy about that!

I did great in Miami! I thought that I'd be miserable missing Nate & Erik, but there is a very wonderful thing called the Mojito that helped me to handle it all better. Oh, and another wonderful thing called Per Diem which meant all of my meals (not alcohol though) were paid for. And Miami is beautiful, so that helped too. And, I learned a lot at the training too. So it was worthwhile, I gained probably 10 lbs, I drank plenty of mojitos and 1 beer, and I survived.

Pumping and traveling worked out just fine. I ended up dumping 1 day of milk from Monday because the hotel didn't have my fridge in my room when I got there and the milk was already room temperature by the time I got to the hotel. My flight had been delayed by a couple of hours, and I ended up not getting to my room until about 1:30 am. I was so exhausted and not thinking clearly. Had I been more awake, I would have gotten some ice from the machine and kept the milk cold that way, but I didn't even think of it. Still, I was able to bring the rest of the milk home without a problem so that was good. The TSA agents in Miami did take a peek in the cooler, but they didn't test the milk or anything.

So....

Nate turns 1 in a week! One week from today, my baby boy will be 1! Wow!

I'm very excited that I am going to be done pumping very soon. I'm dropping a pumping session today to see how that goes. Then half-way through next week I'll probably drop another one. I've got enough milk frozen to get us through, and I'm going to start transitioning Nate to cow's milk next week too. Nate is moving up to the next room at daycare on 5/18 so he will have to be off all bottles by then anyway. We're going to work on transitioning to cow's milk, transitioning from bottles to sippy cups, etc. Lots of big and exciting changes!

How do you do it all?

2009-04-15T15:12:00.003-04:00

I posted this on a message board today and decided it would make a good blog topic. I've edited what I wrote on the board, but the general sentiment is the same.

Something I have really struggled with since Nate was born is trying to find a way to "do it all." I feel like I have to choose between so many different priorities and like it's impossible to keep every aspect of my life in order. I feel like if I'm going to focus on keeping the house clean and meal planning, then I have to give up on exercise because the only time I have to do either of those is early in the morning before work. If I want to clip coupons and work on budgeting and financial planning, I'd have to give up any time I have with Erik in the evenings. Seriously, how do you find a way to manage all of the aspects of your life that need to be managed when you have a family and you work full-time?

The things I think I need to focus on (in no particular order) are:
1. Nate
2. Erik
3. Exercise (3-5 days a week)
4. Meal planning, including grocery shopping at least once a week and cooking dinner or planning something Erik can cook AND something that Nate can eat with us... so dinner has to be cooked and ready to eat by 6:00 (and I get off work at 5:00)
5. Coupons. I have tried to clip and use coupons numerous times and I can never keep up with it. I manage to keep up for a couple of weeks and then I fall behind. I often don't grocery shop on Sundays, so I don't buy a paper. Even if I do, I don't find time to clip the coupons for days or weeks at a time.
6. Paying bills and financial management. I keep a spreadsheet every month, but I still suck at managing our finances. It's really embarrassing to me because I manage finances for multi-million dollar projects at work. You'd think I'd be able to do a better job with ours.
7. Pets. My poor dog rarely gets a walk. I almost never have time to play with her. Erik tries to play fetch with her every day or so and he does all the "pet maintenance" (brushing, washing, etc).
8. My family. My parents live in the Raleigh area and we try to see them every Saturday if they're around.
9. Me time. Ha! Other than exercise time, I rarely have any time for just me. That's one reason I value time to exercise, but it's always the first thing to go because other priorities seem more important.

Things that actually get taken care of in our house are:
1. Nate
2. Pets
3. Groceries (I always get to the grocery store eventually and we eat at least 2-3 home cooked meals and leftovers each week)
4. The bills. I'd like to say I'm better about this, but I'm not. I tend to forget about the phone bill and our water bill. There's no explanation for why I forget them other than they are small amounts.

Unfortunately, everything else just kind of gets done when it gets done. We stay on top of the dishes because we have to wash them so that we'll have enough clean forks and spoons, not to mention bottles (I can't even imagine what it'd be like if Nate got more than 2-3 bottles a day). I tend to run the vacuum in the living room frequently because of Fiona's insane shedding, but I can't remember how long it's been since we carried the Dyson upstairs.

And that's just basic cleaning we're talking about. When am I supposed to scrub the bath tub? When will we ever work on our yard again? That pile of stuff on my desk waiting to be filed? It's been there since Nate was born.

I know that the condition of our house right now is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. As Nate gets older, he'll be able to play unsupervised for awhile and he'll eventually be able to help us with small tasks too. When my friends have had babies, I've told them not to worry about their housework. It will get done eventually, I remind them. But why is it so hard for me to tell myself that? Why do I feel like I let myself and my family down when we have a sink full of dishes or corgi-fur tumbleweeds rolling down the hallway? Doesn't it seem like there are people out there who really do have it all together? Great working moms with happy babies, successful and loving husbands, clean houses, and they also happen to run marathons in their spare time? How on earth do they do it?

So anxious!

2009-04-13T20:54:00.002-04:00

A week from now, I will be landing in Miami for my first business trip since Nate's birth. I have a job that doesn't normally require much travel, but a training opportunity came up and my boss "strongly recommended" that I take it, so I knew it was in my best interest to go. But I don't wanna! I am going to be away from Nate for 3 nights, and I'll be back too late to see him on the 4th night. :( This will be my first time away from Nate for more than a few hours. I am so sad about this!

I keep trying to cheer myself up about the trip by telling myself that I'm going to get 3 nights of uninterrupted sleep and I will get to sleep past 5:30 every morning. It's just a ruse though. Yeah, the sleep may be nice (if I actually sleep well) but I'd much rather be at home with Nate and Erik.

I feel so bad for Nate because he is going to be so confused. He's not going to know where is mommy is! That's so unfair! He only nurses 2 times a day during the work week (first thing in the morning and before bed), but I know that he is going to be pissed about being offered a bottle at those times instead. Poor Erik. I think it's going to be a rough few days for everyone. I hope that I'll be pleasantly surprised and it will all be just fine (I doubt it will, but one can hope, right?).

I'm also a little worried about pumping while I'm gone. I have to pump because I am not planning to wean any time soon. I don't want to be all engorged and uncomfortable either. So I'm going to have to find times during breaks in the training to go pump. I'm going to be at a convention center, so where will I be able to pump? A bathroom? A computer lounge? Who knows. It's going to be a pumping adventure, I'm sure.

Weeks ago, I talked to my mom about bringing my milk back on the plane with me. Despite all the regulations on the quantity of liquids you can take onto a plane with you, you can carry expressed breast milk (whether you have an infant with you or not) onto a plane. My mom suggested that I dump the milk that I pump since I've still got an okay amount in the freezer and it'll just be a week before Nate's 1st birthday. I thought about it, but I just keep thinking, "I'll be damned if I'm throwing out any milk!" That is really just not an option. Breast milk is waaaaay to precious to be tossed out unless there is one extremely good reason. The inconvenience of traveling with it is not a good enough reason for me. So I'll be traveling with the trusty Medela pump, a ton of empty bottles, a soft-sided cooler and some ice packs.

So please, wish me luck on this big adventure and HUGE step for me next week. Please keep your fingers crossed that everything will go smoothly for Erik and Nate while I'm gone. And definitely share your traveling tips and advice on how to deal with being away from my sweet boy for that long. I just don't know how I'm going to handle it!

Smarty Pants

2009-04-12T20:53:00.004-04:00

Here's Nate signing and saying "more." So cute!

A year ago...

2009-04-08T11:54:00.003-04:00

This is what my belly looked like.

Hard to believe that a year ago, I was 37 weeks pregnant. It's crazy to think that Nate was living a simple existence in my womb, not having to worry about anything at all and now he's such a busy, smart and funny guy.

Baby Sign!

2009-04-07T08:25:00.003-04:00

In March, we took a baby sign language class over a few Saturdays. The class was taught mostly by Jess at Signs of Learning, but our last class was covered by a substitute because Jess was busy having a baby that day. :) The classes were a lot of fun and we learned SO much. I don't know how they manage to get so much content into such a short time, but it was really amazing how much we covered in just a few hours of class time.

We signed up for baby sign classes for 2 reasons. First, we thought that it would be beneficial for Nate to have some way to communicate with us as he is learning how to talk. Verbal communication takes awhile for a child to learn, but sign language is easier to learn and use at an early age because babies know how to use their hands before they can communicate verbally. Sign language is supposed to help reduce frustration as a child gets older too, since children can communicate things like "I want more" even if they don't know how to say that yet.

The other reason we signed up for the class is because most of the families in our Bradley class were signed up for it too. :) How lucky have we been to have the best Bradley class in the world? Erik and I love getting together with the other families to catch up and watch the babies play. Everyone in our class was so much fun to be around. I'm really glad that we've all stayed in touch for the past year! Check out our class photo below. Hee hee.

Anyway, back to baby sign. Nate is signing "more" now! I'm so proud of him. A couple of weeks ago, I thought he was signing "more" but it wasn't completely clear if he was trying to sign more or if he was kind of clapping. Well, now he's doing the sign perfectly. He looks so happy as he does it too. He gets this little grin on his face, probably because he's asking for more graham crackers and knows he'll get them. :) I have to say that "more" is the sign that I've worked on the most, but I'm really encouraged that he's picking it up so well, so I am going to try to use more signs from here on out. It's so much fun to see him learning and communicating with me!

Blowing kisses

2009-04-03T12:21:00.003-04:00

Nate is blowing kisses now. It is soooooo cute! I took a video of him doing it in the car the other day. At that time, he kept sticking his finger in his mouth when he blew a kiss. Hee hee. Now he normally just puts his hand to his mouth.

11 Month Letter

2009-04-01T19:59:00.006-04:00

Dear Nate,

Today you turn 11 months old! I feel so proud typing that out. I’m not sure why, really, but I guess I am proud of what a big, smart boy you are becoming. I can’t believe you are already 11 months old, and that we’ll be celebrating your first birthday in a few weeks!

This month you have really taken off with your mobility. You crawl so fast that you could easily sneak to the dog’s water bowl without me noticing, if only you would realize that you can’t giggle the whole way there and get away with it. It’s so funny how you do that. You decide to go check out the water bowl or to get into something else you know you shouldn’t get into, and you laugh the whole way there. I think you’ve inherited my non-existent poker face. Don’t even try to lie, believe me. When you laugh the whole time, you pretty much give away your whole game. Anyway, your crawling is amazing, you are pulling up on everything, climbing, cruising, etc. You’ve figured out the stairs. You know where the front door is, and I’m grateful that you aren’t tall enough to open the door, because I know you’d be outta here if you could!

You finally have rewarded me with those 2 syllables every mom wants to hear: Mama. Yeah, you’ve been “saying” (read: screaming) Mama since you were tiny, whenever you get all riled up. But you said Mama just yesterday and I think you know that it’s me. You were crawling towards me and you said “Mama,” paused, and then said “Mama” a few more times. Ah, melts my heart. You’ve been saying Dada for awhile and sometimes we think you’re saying it to your dad, and other times we think that you just like the way it sounds.

You’ve been showing off all of your smarts a lot recently too. You know where stuff goes! You know that socks go on feet, and you show us by placing socks on your foot or on your dad’s foot. You are starting to understand shapes and that certain toys fit together in a certain way. You know that hats go on heads, and you LOVE to see us put a hat on or take it off. Last night, you got a huge laugh out of playing the hat game with your Papa G. That was probably the hardest I’ve heard you laugh and it was the best feeling ever. I can’t believe how much joy your laughs bring into my world.

Thanks for all the joy and laughs, sweet boy. I love you!

Love,

Mama

What a miracle!

2009-03-27T19:36:00.004-04:00

Today I was blessed to witness my dear friend Susan give birth to her first baby! Owen was born at 4:08 this morning.

A few months ago, Susan had mentioned that she would like someone to take photos of the birth, but she wasn't sure about having someone she didn't know in the room. Even though I'm far from even an amateur photographer, I offered to be there. I was really surprised and honored when she took me up on my offer. Honestly, I kept waiting for her to tell me that she had changed her mind. But she didn't, and so when she called me yesterday to tell me that she was being induced, I was completely ecstatic.

Since she was being induced, I expected to get a call around 4 or 5 this morning that she was ready for me to come to the hospital. Imagine my surprise when my phone rang at 12:18 am! I threw on my clothes, grabbed my camera, and drove through the treacherous fog, arriving at Rex Hospital right at 1:00 am.

The story of Owen's birth is Susan's to tell, but I am just thrilled that I got to be there to witness it. March 27, 2009 was probably the 3rd most amazing day of my life. First was Nate's birth, 2nd was my wedding day, and then Owen's birth. It was so incredible! If you have never been present at a birth, I highly recommend attending one if you get the opportunity. There is nothing more life affirming than seeing a beautiful baby come into this world. Seeing Susan get her first look at her son... listening to Owen's tiny newborn cries as he took his first breath... getting a peek at those little newborn fingers and toes. Ah, there is just nothing like it. It is a sacred moment. It is one of those perfect windows of time where you just know that God is present and you are so, so grateful to be alive.

P.S. I got a ton of pictures and I am really pleased with them! I hope that they are everything Susan hoped for!

Who is this baby?!

2009-03-25T17:00:00.001-04:00

Today when I dropped Nate off at daycare, they had this picture in his cubby for me to take home.

This photo was taken on one of Nate's first days at daycare, so he was probably about 3.5 months old here. It cracks me up, because it doesn't even look like Nate to me. I guess the eyes still look like Nate, and you can kind of see his personality in his expression, but overall I just don't recognize that baby! It's hard to believe how much he has changed this year.

Also at daycare, they have a photo of Nate up on the wall near his cubby. One day when Erik and I were picking him up, I commented on that photo of Nate and pointed it out to Erik. He looked at it and said "That's not Nate!" I insisted that it was Nate and pointed out the green shirt that he was wearing and told him we have several other photos of him wearing that shirt. Erik was dubious, but later conceded that it was in fact, our son in that photo. Here's a picture from that time, was taken about 3 weeks before the photo above. Nate was 12 weeks old in this picture.

Erik and I both agree that we thought Nate was cute back then, but he is WAY cuter now! I can only imagine how cute he's going to be a few months from now...

Family time!

2009-03-25T09:14:00.003-04:00

This Sunday, Nate finally got to meet his great Uncle Don! Growing up, I just adored Uncle Don because he is really funny and he can do an excellent Donald Duck voice. I'm glad that he and Nate finally met, and I hope that we see him again soon. Nate really took to Uncle Don, and I honestly think that all kids do. There's just something about him that kids love. In addition to Uncle Don, Nate got to hang out with his great grandfather and his Papa G for a bit too. It was nice to see all the guys together.

Thoughts for a friend

2009-03-18T17:06:00.001-04:00

I started writing this post on Saturday 3/14 and am finally finshing it today, 3/18.

It's a rainy and somewhat cold Saturday in March. My house isn't super clean, but it's not too messy either. I just made a chocolate cherry cake to take over to a friend's house for dessert tonight. Erik is upstairs with Nate, trying to get him to take a longer nap (because one 45 minute nap is just not enough).

For the past 24 hours, all I have been able to think about is how blessed I am. How unfair life is, that I get to be at home with my sweet baby boy when others may not get to bring their babies home. I don't understand why these things happen and I know that I'm not meant to understand it. But it's still hard. I look down at my sweet baby boy and I am filled with so much love and gratitude, but also with confusion. Why is he here with me? Why do some people have to experience so much loss?

On Friday, one of my "online friends" (in quotes because all of those ladies are real friends to me) found out that her daughter, her unborn baby, will not be with us for long after her birth. The baby, Megan Grace, was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism that impedes growth in utero so severely that the lungs are not able to develop sufficiently enough to sustain life outside of the womb. Just typing that out brings tears to my eyes. Sweet, darling, Megan Grace will be born to this earth, but how long she will be here is unknown.

The community of women on our message board is so strong and united. We all have differences, but in a time of need we pull together like the closest knit family. First and foremost, we are all thinking of this family and praying for them constantly. In addition to that, a variety of fundraising ideas are being considered to either help the family, to go towards a scholarship or foundation, or to go to whatever feels appropriate to the family. There is still a great deal to be decided, but we all know that we want to do something to help.

A blog to discuss fundraising events and efforts and to provide general support is here: http://www.formegangrace.blogspot.com/. Please bookmark it, add it to your Google Reader, and visit it frequently. More importantly, please keep Megan Grace and her parents in your thoughts and prayers.

Fitness update

2009-03-16T21:45:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll. Even though the popular vote is for me to join a gym, I've decided not to go that route for now. The simple truth is that I do not want to spend $75/month on a gym membership. Money does not grow on trees people! For $75, I could get a couple of pedicures a month! Not that I would, but still, I could. Realistically, that $75 is going to go towards paying off some debt that I want gone. Maybe once that is out of the way, I can add an unnecessary expense like a gym membership and not feel guilty about it.

So, I have started running again. Yay me! I started half-way through the Couch to 5k program and it's going well so far. The best part is how good I feel when I am done running. And how much I enjoy being outside for a little while, even if it's chilly out. In addition to that, I am trying to walk Fiona around our neighborhood once a day if it's not raining (no way in hell will she go for a walk in the rain), and I'm doing what strength training I can at home. To stay motivated, I'm planning to sign up for a local 5k that takes place in early May, and I'm hoping to sign up for a few more races throughout the summer and fall so that I'll be sure to keep running regularly. So that's that.

Still a party girl

2009-03-16T14:03:00.003-04:00

On the day I was born, my parents had a big party. My mom went into labor on the day my dad graduated from nursing school, so the party had been planned for weeks. After I was born (that evening), my mom sent my dad home to party like it was 1979. Throughout my childhood, my parents had some pretty awesome parties. Down here in the south, we like to have pig pickins and they tend to be raucous affairs. I like to think that partying is in my blood. It's a part of who I am. I don't do it often, but when I do... I do it well.

About a month ago, my sister was in town and we decided to gather up some friends for a night out. We had a blast. It was pretty much all that you could ask for in a night out with friends. Good drinks, good music, good dancing and very good times. I think that the fact that these nights out are much less frequent these days makes me appreciate them all the more.

101 Reasons

2009-03-12T09:00:00.002-04:00

I just came across this and it is fascinating!

101 Reasons to Breastfeed: http://www.notmilk.com/101.html

Sunday at the park

2009-03-10T15:44:00.006-04:00

Nate and I met up with our friends Beth and Emily at the park on Sunday. The weather was so gorgeous and the park was packed! We were able to get some time on the baby swings, and I think they had a good time. Nate was very non-chalant the whole time we were there. I think he was just drowsy. But Emily had a blast on the swings. She was squealing and laughing the whole time and it was adorable.

You can't make this stuff up

2009-03-08T13:40:00.006-04:00

I have now created a new category of posts. It's called "Misadventures." I think I am coming to terms with the fact that there are going to be many more misadventures in my life now. Today's really had nothing to do with Nate. It likely would have happened with him here or not. Having him around for it made the whole debacle a little more challenging though.

So Erik had rehearsal with the NC Wind Orchestra this morning and he had to leave right around Nate's nap time. I got Nate down for his nap, then took advantage of the time to myself to read my email, do some laundry, brush my teeth, etc. All these activities took place upstairs, and I managed to stay upstairs until Nate woke up.

Once he woke up, I took him downstairs to play, and on my way downstairs I noticed a commotion in the dining room. We have a big bay window in our dining room, and I thought I saw a bird hit the window. "Poor bird!" I thought, as I walked into the dining room to peer outside and make sure the bird was okay. Well, as I started walking in there, the bird flew up into my curtains and around my dining room! Oh crap! We had a bird in the house!

How the hell does a bird get into a secure home? I had windows open, but they all have screens on them. Then it hit me. The kitchen door. Erik and I know that our kitchen door has issues. We have to make sure to close it firmly AND keep the garage door closed, or else strong winds can blow the kitchen door open. I figured that was what had happened, and I was right. I went into the kitchen (Nate still on my hip, mind you) and found the door wide open. So, now I have a bird in my dining room and a strong suspicion that my indoor cats are probably somewhere outside.

Carrying Nate, I go outside and find Fred in the front yard. I basically just had to make a noise at him and he ran into the garage and back towards the house. As much of a bad-ass as Fred fancies himself, he's really terrified not to be inside. I still suspected that Miles was probably in the garage, but I know that he's too much of a wimp to go anywhere else. I figured he'd come back in, so I turned my attention back to the bird.

I came back into the living room and made Fiona go upstairs and locked her in the bedroom. I think she had already chased the poor bird some and I didn't need her bossy Corgi "assistance" with the bird. This is where things got tricky. Nate was in a fussy mood and didn't want to be put down. I couldn't see how I could possibly catch a bird (or encourage it to go outside on its own) safely while holding Nate. I didn't want the bird to scare Nate or to somehow flap by us, inadvertently scratching us or something. Maybe I've watched too much Hitchcock, but I really was kind of scared.

I grabbed my Baby Hawk Mei Tai, got Nate situated, and started over for the neighbor's house to ask for assistance. Half-way there, I remembered that my kitchen was a mess and I'd be really embarrassed if they saw it. So I turned back, determined to take care of this on my own.

I found a large 4 quart tupperware container, grabbing several more tupperware containers and sat Nate down with those. I hoped the novelty of something "new" would keep him entertained while I took care of the bird. Of course, I went into the dining room to approach the bird and Fred came in to "help." I started screaming, shrieking really, at the top of my lungs. I knew I could not stomach watching Fred kill this bird in front of me.

I grabbed the damn orange tabby, threw him in the upstairs bathroom, and returned to the bird. The first time I tried to gently scoop him up with the tupperware, he flew around the room and landed on the other side of the wine rack. I went back over to him and he flew around the room again, and then down the hallway. It took me awhile to find him after that, but he was near the kitchen table, and let's be honest. He wasn't looking so good. He didn't resist this time, and I was able to scoop him up easily. I took him outside to the side of our house and put him near some bushes. He didn't move much, but I figured he was tired and stressed so I left him alone. I came back out to check on him about 10 minutes later and he was still there, just opening and closing his tiny beak. I felt so bad for him that I went in and filled a tupperware top with water and took it out to him. I was able to tilt it to get some water into his mouth, which I genuinely think he appreciated (I swear I saw him swallow it). But the next time I came back out to check on him, the little bird was dead. :( I gazed down at his tiny little body for a few minutes and said a little prayer for him. Poor guy.

RIP Cute little birdie, RIP. I'm sorry we left our garage door open and you got sucked into such a terrible turn of events. :(

What would you do?

2009-03-06T19:07:00.007-05:00

I am unhappy to report that I have been living a sloth-like existence since the last 5k I ran. It's pretty embarrassing how lazy I've been and how much chocolate I have eaten. It's amazing that I have not put on a ton of weight, and I credit that to breastfeeding. Still, despite the breastfeeding, I've managed to gain back some weight and I really want to see it gone. Summer will be here soon and it would be awesome to feel good about myself in a tank top.

So, the way I see it, I have two options. I can join a gym or I can run outside and lift weights at home. Here is the pro/con list for each option.

Join a gym

The gym is near daycare, so I could drop Nate off in the AM and work out before work.

The gym has cardio equipment and weights, as well as both an indoor and outdoor pool.

The gym membership is a family membership and includes child care, so we could work out on the weekends.

The gym has cardio classes.

I don't have to worry about the weather, and I can't use "it's too cold" or "it's too hot" as an excuse not to work out.

The joining fee is $150 and monthly membership is $75.

They do not have a spinning class, which is my favorite class.

Run Outside/Workout at home

It's free.

I get fresh air and quality time with mother nature 3 or 4 days a week.

It's free

I can watch DVR'd shows on days that I do strength training at home.

It's free.

It's hard to stay motivated to run when it's cold, raining, or hot.

I am limited in the strength training I can do at home because all I have is a few free weights and an exercise ball.

It's hard to stay motivated to do strength training when there are household chores I could do instead.

So, dear readers, I am adding a poll to the blog and I would like you to vote. What would you do? Join the gym? Work with what I've got around me (the outdoors and free weights)? Or other (which you will explain to me in the comments)? Any other ideas or thoughts are more than welcome.

10 Month Letter

2009-03-01T14:00:00.007-05:00

Dear Nate,

Today you are 10 months old. Only 2 months until you turn 1! Wow!

Your dad and I are in agreement that we love this age. We have so much fun with you, all the time. You laugh easily, you are very interested in the world around you, and you love to play.

When I took you to your 9 month appointment, Dr. Anderson commented on how babies your age like to make up games. She is so right! Recently, your favorite game has involved throwing a toy and crawling after it. Basically it’s like you’re playing fetch with yourself. It’s pretty funny to watch. You pick up a toy, throw it as hard as you can (sometimes it ends up a couple of feet away, and sometimes it goes all the way across the room), and then you crawl to the toy just to start all over again. To me, it seems like you are working on perfecting your crawling, so you challenge yourself with this little game. Look at you, Mr. Motivated! I hope your motivation carries forward to your school work one day. ;)

In the past month, you have become extremely interested in books. They are one of your favorite toys. You love to open & close books, over and over again. You also like to flip through the pages. Recently, you’ve started turning the pages for me when I read to you. It’s really cute and every time you turn the page, it melts my heart a tiny bit. Funny how little things like that can make a mom so proud. Your obsession with books has gotten to the point where you seem to get a little anxious when I stop reading to you at night. I can no longer put the last book down and snuggle with you before you drift off. You want to fall asleep while thumbing through a book. I let you rest your head on my chest, and you drift to sleep while opening and closing your well-loved copy of Barnyard Dance.

Your dad and I think that you are really close to saying some words, too. It’s so much fun to analyze all of your babbles to see if there is a meaning behind them. Yesterday, you looked straight at your dad, made eye contact, and said “Dada.” It felt like you knew what you were saying and we were very impressed. But we’re going to wait until you’ve done that several more times before we’ll officially call “Dada” your first word (which, by the way… I’m not bitter about. No. Not bitter at all). Going along with D-words, you also seem very close to saying “Dog” and “Duck.” Now if we could just get you to work on the M’s a little more!

I’m sure that before we know it, you’re going to be talking our ears off, and I cannot wait to hear all that you have to say. Mostly, I long for the day when you can say “I love you” and I can tell you “I love you too.”

Love,

Mama

If these don't make you smile

2009-02-27T08:21:00.005-05:00

...then you have a cold, cold heart. A couple of videos from yesterday:

Thoughts on breastfeeding

2009-02-26T22:03:00.002-05:00

I spend a lot of time every day thinking about breastfeeding. Even though it is second nature to me and Nate now, it still occupies me thoughts frequently throughout the day. This is probably partially because I pump 3 or 4 times a day during the week, but also because it’s something that is so incredibly important to me.

Before Nate was born, I did a lot of research on breastfeeding. I always knew it was the best thing for the baby and I knew without a doubt that I planned to breastfeed for at least a year. I went into it with a very stubborn attitude of “I will be breastfeeding my child.” There was no wishy-washiness about it. I never even considered formula feeding as an option. If something had happened that would have prevented us from being able to breastfeed, I would have been devastated. My heart aches for moms who try so hard to breastfeed (and who want it to work so bad) who find that they are not able to for one reason or another.

I’ve recently had a couple of experiences that have completely validated my reasons for breastfeeding.

Nate’s stomach bug was the first thing … he had some of the nastiest, foulest diapers I could imagine. I took him off solids for a couple of days and exclusively breastfed while he got past the virus. Being able to give him breast milk was a huge relief for me. It’s so amazing that it changes to be exactly what a baby needs, when he needs it. I felt confident that my milk was not only providing Nate with all the nutrients and calories he needed, but that it also gave him antibodies to help him fight the virus. I can’t express the relief it gave me to know that he was getting exactly what he needed in my milk.

The other thing that has happened in the past few days is that I have given Nate a couple of bottles of pumped milk. He had cut back his night time nursing to almost nothing last week. But with the illness, he wanted to nurse more and I could tell that my milk supply was not meeting his needs. He was frustrated, so I gave him a bottle so that he could get what he needed to be satisfied. Let me just say that I never, ever give Nate bottles. In his life, these 2 bottles were probably the 3rd and 4th bottles I’ve given him. When I’m around Nate, I breastfeed him exclusively. Always. I felt so detached from him while bottle feeding him. He holds the bottle himself, so it’s basically like sitting there and watching him eat. I felt none of the closeness and bonding that I feel when we breastfeed. When he nurses, he frequently looks up at me and smiles. He reaches up to touch my face, or he curls a hand around my finger. I look down at him and gaze at his bright blue eyes, stare at his perfect little nose and marvel at the beautiful baby laying in my arms. With the bottle, he sat up in my lap, facing away from me. He looked around the room. There was no interaction at all. It made me sad. It re-confirmed that I want to breastfeed for at least a year, and hopefully until Nate self-weans. Even though all the pumping is hard work, and I’m gulping down vitamins, herbs, teas and drinking 100 oz of water a day in an effort to get more milk when I pump, I know that it’s worth it. And even though Nate is a boy who will never have to make the decision on whether to breastfeed or bottle feed, I hope that he’ll appreciate that this is the decision I made for him (and for us). I feel so fortunate that I have been able to share this experience with him for this long, and I hope that we can continue until he is ready to wean on his own. I never knew how much I would cherish this special relationship that only Nate and I share, but here I am, and I am so grateful for it every day.

Schizo post

2009-02-23T09:39:00.008-05:00

Things have been so busy recently that there are probably 5 blog posts lurking in my mind just waiting to be written. But it won't happen because there's just not time for that. So here are some blog post summaries of what I would write if I had more time.

"I want my money back!" Nate had diarrhea starting Saturday evening and I'm not sure if it has resolved yet. Oh wow, it was nasty. Nasty, nasty, nasty, nasty. I don't think I signed up for this! Or at least I didn't realize that I did. It's another one of those "learning moments" of motherhood. Erik and I somehow find a way to deal with the yucky diapers and we do our best.

"The baby shower" I was honored to throw a baby shower for my friend Susan this weekend. I loved hosting it for her. She is a great friend and I know she's going to be an amazing mom. Her son is so highly anticipated! I just can't wait to meet him!

"Gangsta Spoon Mouf" Nate has started to really enjoy playing with spoons at meal time. It is so cute! He stuffs the spoon in his mouth and then does a "spoon dance." Oh man it cracks me up. We call him Gangsta Spoon Mouf because he looks very thug as he chews on the spoon.

"Lots of learning going on"

I'm sure there's more, but since Nate has the Big D he's home from daycare today, so I need to get back to my sweet boy.

Songs for Nate

2009-02-19T10:45:00.003-05:00

Erik and I are total nerds and we like to make up songs for Nate (and for our pets... and for just about anything that is going on at any given time). I would feel embarrassed about this confession, but due to my hoards of internet friends, I have discovered that this is actually pretty normal. Apparently most people out there take lyrics to popular songs and change them to fit whatever is relevant in their lives at the time. Who knew?

Our most recent song for Nate has been to the tune of Bob Marley's Jammin'. The song is about getting dressed for bed. It goes something like this (and it is sung with a Jamaican accent, of course):

Pajamas
I wear pajamas with you
Pajamas (pajamas)
I hope you like pajamas too

Then the chorus goes:

Pajamas (jammies, jammies, jammies)
Pajamas in the name of the Lord
Pajamas (jammies, jammies, jammies)
I wear pajamas with you

We realize that "Pajamas in the name of the Lord" makes no sense, which just makes us laugh harder. You should hear us when we try to go "Pajamas, pajamas, pajamas, pajamas" like at the end of the song. It cracks us up.

See, it really is the simple things in life sometimes...

Busy, busy

2009-02-16T20:00:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to post that I don't have time to post. I'm busy. Nate's busy. Erik's busy. The pets are lazy, but they have no opposable thumbs so their typing skills suck.

I'll leave a couple of pictures of Nate as a consolation prize until I'm able to write a more substantial post.

Nate with his Aunt Casey. See! He really is almost as big as her!

Eating some chicken & dumplings that Grandma made! Yuuum!

Beautiful Day!

2009-02-08T22:06:00.005-05:00

We had amazing weather this weekend, and by 10:30 this morning it was already about 70 degrees out. We decided to take Fiona and Nate to the park. It was a lovely morning at the park, and Erik and I ate it up with a spoon. I think that this morning, hanging out at the park, introducing Nate to the see-saw and the slide, going on a walk as a family... all of that is kind of how we envisioned "life with a baby." Reality with a baby is often very different from how we like to picture it in our minds, but this morning's reality was picture perfect.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

2009-02-04T09:51:00.004-05:00

Today is Nate's Grandma's (my mom's) birthday! When I told him that it was her birthday, he demanded that I write a blog post just for her. So here I am, blogging while Nate alternately chews on a book and grabs the curtain in his room and shakes it.

Why is Nate's Grandma such a special lady? Well, the list is too long to even try to be inclusive of everything. But for the most part, I have learned everything I know about being a mother from her. My mom perfected the art of being a dirty hippy when my siblings and I were babies. And she passed that knowledge on to us. She breastfed all three of us. She made our baby food. We were cloth diapered. We coslept. What's the result of all of this "coddling"? We all are very close to our mom; we share our secrets with her. We laugh together and we cry together. I can't keep something from my mom if I want to. Somehow in her magical motherly way, it just comes tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop myself. And do I feel bad about it? No. I feel better. Because she smiles at me, gives me a hug, and even now, she makes it all better.

9 month letter

2009-02-01T20:06:00.002-05:00

Dear Nate,

Today you are 9 months old! Congratulations! You have now officially been out of the womb for as long as you were in. Well, that will be true in 3 days. Or whenever you’re 40 weeks and 3 days old. I don’t know. I stopped counting how many weeks old you were once we got into the 20s. It was too hard to keep track. Regardless, this is a cool milestone and I’m proud that we’ve managed to do so well in the past 9 months.

The past month has been so much fun. We started Aquamoms class, and we are both having a great time with it. I love seeing you having a blast in the pool. I hope that one day you’ll love swimming and the beach as much as I do. You also saw your first snow, and saw the inauguration (on TV) of Barack Obama. I’d love to write about how momentous that occasion was, but many people much more eloquent than me have blogged about it. If you want to know how significant and meaningful it was for us (and believe me, it was- you’ll see the video we took of us watching it on TV one day) you can go check out all the millions of other blog posts written on or around January 20, 2009.

In the past couple of weeks, you have gotten really close to crawling. You are getting to where you can move backwards on your knees, so I think you’ll be moving forwards in the near future. Your teachers at daycare are so eager to have you crawling, that I bet it won’t be long at all now. And then, God help us all! Nate the destroyer will be here to wreak havoc on the household and the pets (sorry, Fiona!).

Speaking of wreaking havoc. We must talk about your new “skill.” I like to call it “free pooping.” Yes, I wrote on the blog about our misadventure last week, when you pooped on the bath towel. I considered it an accident and I thought maybe your tummy was bothering you a tad. Well, sugar plum, you have done it 3 more times since then. Three. Three times now, I have taken a diaper off of you or taken you out of the tub, to find you pooping in front of me. I love you so, so much. But I really do not need to physically watch poop leave your body. I don’t want to embarrass you, so I won’t go on and on about it. But please know that free pooping is not an Olympic sport, and there are no metals to be won from perfecting the art of it. Thank you!

If eating were an Olympic sport, you would definitely win a metal. First place in Table Foods goes to Nate! At the beginning of last month, I stopped visiting you at lunch to nurse you. It made me sad to give up that time with you, but I knew it was time to let you start trying more table foods. You love it! I shouldn’t be surprised, because let’s face it. Your dad and I are excellent eaters ourselves. But still. I have to say I’m impressed with your eating stamina. You can put away a cup of cheerios in a flash. I think that spaghetti might be your favorite food, because your daycare teachers say that you practically inhale it. What’s not to love about pasta and sauce?

Last weekend we met up with our friends from the Bradley class and you got to play with all the Bradley babies. This weekend, we met up with some of my message board friends and their babies. I love hanging out with both groups of people. It’s so much fun to talk to other parents and to see the babies play together. I think that you are going to be seeing a lot of these children in the months and years to come, and it warms my heart to think that you already have a big group of friends to play with.

You are learning new things constantly now. You seem to understand the idea of playing with others more. Your dad can try to keep a toy away from you, and you understand the game and enjoy trying to figure out how to get the toy. You have even learned how to fake your dad out and reach with your left hand, but then grab it with your right. It’s a riot and both you and your dad have lots of laughs when you play. You also get a kick out of knocking toys down. The other day, your Papa G kept stacking toys up and you would knock them down as fast as you can, laughing the whole time. Watching me throw a ball up in the air can also throw you into a fit of laughter and shrieking. And so can seeing Fiona walk into the room. It seems like just about anything can make you laugh these days. And I love it because it makes me laugh too. Everyone can use more laughter in their lives, and I love that you bring so much laughter into mine.

Love, Mama

Already a Sid Vicious fan

2009-01-30T11:48:00.006-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, Erik and I went to pick Nate up from daycare. When we walked in the room, I scanned the babies in the room and didn't see Nate. I did a double take and realized he was sitting right in front of me. But his hair looked like this.

I guess one advantage of being a daycare teacher is that you get to play around with baby hair. Nate probably has the most hair in his class, so I can see how it would be a temptation to make it into a mohawk.

After we got him from daycare, we had to stop at Food Lion and I was feeling kind of paraniod carrying around my punk rock baby in the store. I wanted to tell everyone "It wasn't me! I didn't do this to his hair! I don't think that babies need a hairstyle at 9 months!" But I kept my mouth shut and tried to ignore the glances from the other shoppers in our small town grocery store, choosing to enjoy my son's mohawk-for-a-day.

Another game

2009-01-29T21:53:00.003-05:00

My good friend Susan tagged me for another game that's currently making the rounds. I am supposed to name 10 things that begin with the letter "N." So here we go:

1. Nate! The cutest baby in the world. He is getting so big, I can't believe it.
2. Nine. The # of months old Nate will be on Sunday. He's almost 75% through his first year.
3. North Carolina. Where I live, and the best state in the country. That's right, I said it.
4. Nocilla. It's this chocolate hazelnut spread similar to Nutella. It's only sold in Spain and my host mom would give it to me for a snack or for breakfast sometimes. It is delicious!
5. Nirvana. One of my favorite bands in high school. I am still sad about Kurt Cobain's death.
6. Ninjas! They are cool.
7. Nineteen. If you've read any of the Dark Tower series, then you understand the meaning of nineteen.
8. Nothing... What I've got when it comes to ideas for this list.
9. Next! I'm almost through this list.
10. Never. Never thought I'd make it to 10.

Sorry ya'll that was lame. I'm tired and I have no vocabulary.

Why I'm eating ice cream for dinner

2009-01-26T19:51:00.003-05:00

Oh my. Ohhhhh myyyyy. Oh. My.

Where on earth do I start with this story?

It was a day like any other day. An evening like any other evening. Erik had big band rehearsal this evening, so it was just me and Nate. No big deal. I'm used to evenings alone with Nate and we have the routine down pat.

We had a fun time eating some broccoli, rice and cheese (I guess that counts as a part of my dinner too) and then we played for awhile before heading upstairs to start the bath.

The first little signal that things were going to be...uh... I don't even know... a hassle? maybe? was when I got the tub filled up, got Nate undressed, starting taking off his diaper and I caught a whiff of a foul odor. Crap. (literally). Dirty diaper and I'm in our room with no changing stuff around me. So, I get resourceful and carry his dirty tush over to the sink, grab a wash cloth and wet it, and wipe him down. I feel proud of myself. Look at me solving problems! Yay for smart mommy! Nate goes down into the duck tub and we begin bath time.

The bath was rather uneventful. Lots of water splish-splashes. Then it's time to get out and I reach to grab Nate's towel. What? There's no towel in the bathroom? I guess I had taken all the towels out to do laundry, but never actually did the laundry. Darn me and my procrastinating ways. And then I find myself ina little conundrum. I've got a child in the tub. A child who likes to try to climb out of the tub. Do I pick up my wet child and carry him in the cold air through the hallway to grab a towel? Do I risk pissing him off, making him cold ,and possibly having me and my carpet covered in pee? Do I grab a dirty towel out of the laundry to dry him with? (eww) Or do I run down the hall, leaving my child unattended in the bath while I grab a towel?

I chose the last option. Yeah yeah yeah. I know how little time it takes for a baby to drown. I am completely aware that he could have stood up in the tub and hit his precious head on something. I ran over all the scenarios as I stood frozen in my bathroom trying to decide what to do. Luckily, none of that stuff happened and in the 15 seconds it took me to run down the hall, grab a towel and run back, Nate managed to stay seated and alive in the tub. I'm not sure he even noticed I was gone. Thank goodness.

So why am I eating ice cream for dinner? Get on with it already, right?

As I start drying Nate off, I reach down to dry the little folds on his thighs (lots of moisture hides out there) and I see some poop lurking in the crack. Great. Did I somehow do a really terrible job of washing him, or is this post-bath poop? I still don't know. But I grabbed a wash cloth from the bathroom, cleaned him off again, and then it happened. A massive, large, huge amount of poop started its way out of Nate's body. On my bath towel. On my bed. Nate started crying, and I just stood there watching the poop continue its extensive journey down the towel. What do I do? I have no freaking idea! I've got a naked baby laying on a towel that is now covered in poop. I have no other human being in the house who can help me. My dog doesn't know how to fetch the baby wipes. Here again I find myself in a place where I have to leave my child unattended so that I can grab supplies to handle this unprecedented mess.

The clean-up was pretty uneventful. Much strategic folding of the poop-covered towel took place. Wipes were used. No extra bathing was required (somehow, Nate's little body remained free of contact from the poop) and we managed to get jammied up. Yeah, I had to leave a towel with baby poop ON MY BED while I finished the bed time routine.

So after all that, I had no desire to cook the baked spaghetti that was planned for this evening. I probably would have ordered a pizza if it didn't mean I'd have to wait an hour to eat. A quick scan of kitchen contents led me to the conclusion that the only logical choice for dinner after all that insanity is ice cream. I even had seconds.

I guess I'm "it"

2009-01-23T14:30:00.005-05:00

Beth from Bringing up Baby has tagged me, so I'll answer some questions about myself today. I'm going to aim not to copy anything she wrote, even though I agree with a lot of her answers!

I am: Always hungry these days.

I know: Most of the songs in Mary Poppins by heart. And most of the dialogue in the entire movie.

I won: A metal for reading a ton of books for our 2nd grade read-a-thon. I was really proud of myself.

I have: The cutest son in the world.

I hate: Baby talk. It makes my skin crawl.

I miss: My sister. Why did she have to move so far away?

I feel: A little tired this afternoon.

I hear: Complete silence. Maybe I should find some This American Life to listen to.

I smell: Nothing. Man, is my office boring or what?

I crave: A date night with my husband. It's been way too long.

I search: For cute cloth diapers for boys.

I love: Macaroni and cheese. Yum!

I care: About doing the right thing for the environment. I really want to make more changes to have a greener household.

I always: Forget to pay the water bill. I don't know what my problem is!

I believe: That the Outer Banks is a magical part of NC. It's so quiet and pristine there.

I sing: to Nate every night before bed.

I write: funny messages in Erik's birthday cards. When I find an old card I've given him, I love to read what I wrote in there. I crack myself up.

I lose: Nate's diaper cream all the time. Where does it go?

I never: want to stop drinking coffee. It's the world's best beverage.

I listen: To my mom and dad's advice. Even now, they're usually right.

I am scared of: Unemployment. It's a scary world out there right now.

I need: To get back into the exercise routine. I've been lazy to the extreme recently.

I am happy: To have so many good friends. I'm very blessed.

Soo.... I'm tagging my new friend Sonya. Your turn!

A Drive-in Saturday

2009-01-17T21:57:00.006-05:00

Sometimes we have days that are practically perfect in every way (like Mary Poppins). Today was one of those days. The stars lined up right, the moon was in the seventh house, and we had an awesome day.

This awesome day started at 6 am for me. But the early hour was quickly remedied by Guatemalan coffee, and a son who decided to sleep in while Erik and I got ready for Aquamoms class. That's right, Aquamoms! Nate and I started this class last weekend. It's kind of like water aerobics meets play date. The class is extra fun for me because I know several of the moms in the class, so I get to catch up with friends and see their precious babies each week too. Erik came this week to provide a set of helping hands and to take pictures. :)

Erik and I had made plans to attend a cloth diapering workshop at noon, and we had a few hours to kill before it started. Erik had agreed to go to the workshop with me, but I know he wasn't super thrilled about going. I'm pretty sure that now he'd say that he's glad he went. Because in the few hours between swim class and the workshop, we went to the mall and we actually just.... hung out. We got coffee and chocolate croissants and we window shopped. And. We. Had. Fun.

We were like giddy teenagers skipping school. We were giggling, joking around, holding hands and all other sorts of lovey dovey things that we tend to forget to do when we get bogged down in the nitty gritty of our lives. Yeah, we tell each other we love each other all the time and we cuddle on the couch when we watch The Office, but let's face it. We don't get out much. Just being out of the house helped us to forget that we need to do dishes and that there's enough fur under our sofa to make another entire Corgi (or two). We had fun, and I think Erik would have attended a workshop on feminine products for that time out with me and Nate. ;)

Alas, the workshop was NOT on feminine products, it was cloth diapers and I learned a lot. I discovered one important thing. I really, really want some Goodmama diapers. Those diapers are so soft that I want to wear one. *sigh* Why must they be so pricey? I was also really impressed by the CuddleBuns. If we ever win the lottery, Nate will only wear the softest, most wonderful diapers in the world. Until then, it's Bum Genius buddy!

Oh, and to backtrack just a second. One of the highlights of my day today came after I finished getting dressed after swim class. I came out of the locker room to find Nate completely passed out in Erik's lap. He looked completely peaceful and so angelic. And it was made even sweeter that he was being held by his daddy, who loves him so much (and who I love so much).

My stash

2009-01-12T21:15:00.004-05:00

Ever wonder what 350 oz of frozen breastmilk looks like? No? Well, here's a picture anyway.

Yep, that's my stash as it currently stands. It's all organized by date, with the oldest milk up at the top left and the newest milk down at the bottom right. And because I'm a total nerd, I even have a spreadsheet to track it all. Man, I love excel!

I'm so glad I have a deep freezer! Milk stays good for 6-12 months in a deep freezer. I'm currently using milk from mid-June. My plan is to use frozen milk on Mondays, fresh milk on Tues through Friday, and to freeze all of Friday's milk for the stash. In a month or two, I'll probably drop a pumping session and start using more of the frozen milk. When Nate's closer to a year old and starts transitioning to cow's milk, I may drop pumping altogether. I guess I'll just see how it goes. Although I won't really miss pumping, I honestly don't hate doing it. It's just what I do to take care of my son the best way I know how.

Happy Birthday, Parrot Ass!

2009-01-09T07:38:00.004-05:00

Today my mother-in-law, Nate’s Nana, turns 60! Wow! 2009 is actually a neat year for us because she turns 60, my sister-in-law turns 40, and I turn 30. We were all discussing this at Thanksgiving and my MIL said that she wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate her birthday. I asked her what she’d like to get, and she said she wants to get a parrot on her ass (she’s a big Jimmy Buffet fan). She added that she liked the idea of being in nursing home and having all the people who worked there know that she was the old lady with the parrot on her ass. “Hey, someone needs to get a bed pan for old parrot ass!” “Who wants to give parrot ass her bath today?” “Parrot ass got a hold of the vodka again. Watch out!” Hee hee…

Nate wants to send an extra special birthday wish out to his Nana. If she were here, he’d grab her hair, pull her face to him, and slobber all over her cheeks for as long as she’d let him. She’s a great Nana and Nate, Erik and I hate that we can’t see her more often. We miss and love you!

2008 Performance Review

2009-01-08T09:44:00.008-05:00

It's that time at work where we have to look back at the last year and explain to management what we did and why we deserve a raise. The standard raise is usually a COL raise, so it's nothing too exciting (though I admit that in this economic climate, I certainly can't complain about that). More than a COL raise requires getting promoted, and I got promoted last year so I'm not expecting it this year. As a matter of fact, in 2007 I worked really hard for my promotion because I knew this year would probably be about survival.

As I started working on my annual review, I thought about how I have to name my key accomplishments for the year. I'd think about the projects I work on and draw a blank. I know I've been doing my job and learning new things as I go. I'm taking on extra duties when I can and trying to give my project leaders what they need to run the projects efficiently. But still... what were my key accomplishments this year?

For me, my key accomplishments all took place outside of work.

I delivered a healthy baby boy! I even achieved my goal of delivering him without any medical interventions. All natural! Now that's an achievement!
I learned how to breastfeed. It's hard work. I wanted to give up. I had to use a nipple shield for 7 weeks until he was able to latch on his own.
We weaned from the nipple shield! I was convinced we would use it forever. Weaning from the shield greatly improved our breastfeeding relationship.
I sustained another human being's life for 6 months on my milk alone. Damn, that sounds impressive!
I kept a human baby alive, healthy and happy for 7 full months. Not only that, but he appears to like (and even love) me.
I returned to work and didn't lose my mind in the process.
I lost the majority of my pregnancy weight in a respectable amount of time.
I ran 2 5k races.

I will never look back at 2008 and think "Oh yeah, that's the year I developed that new labor spreadsheet for that project!" or "That's the year that I first wrote a section of a proposal on my own." 2008 will always be the year of the baby for me. The year that my life changed as I became a mom. That's the accomplishment that I'm most proud of.

Last 2 photos by Lux Photography.

Separation anxiety, exposed

2009-01-05T20:53:00.003-05:00

Nate has dealt with separation anxiety for the past couple of months, off and on. It got better for awhile, but over Christmas it got a lot worse. I don't know if it's coincidental, or if he just got tired of being passed around and then decided that the only person he trusts 100% is Mama. But he seems to want me all the time now. It's kind of sweet, but it's also frustrating for both me and Erik. We're hoping it'll pass quickly. But what do we do as concerned and loving parents? We document his anxiety and share it on the internet! ;) Enjoy!

8 month letter

2009-01-01T08:57:00.009-05:00

Dear Nate,

Today you turn 8 months old. The past month has been a lot of fun and we are seeing even more of your personality develop. You are beginning to show your opinion more, as well as your stubbornness. Your dad and I have no idea how we created such an opinionated and stubborn baby. ;) You are the product of two Type-A personalities. Good luck.

You had your first Christmas this month. You got a lot of toys to help you start standing and walking. You have been working on pulling yourself up for a few weeks now. You like to practice early in the morning when you first wake up. You’ll grab my hands and pull yourself up, then sit down and do it all over again. If there are other people around, when you stand up, you look around at each person and give them a big grin to show how proud you are. It’s uber cute. Anyway, you’re already trying to pull yourself up on your new toys, so I don’t think it will be long before you’re standing and cruising all over the house.

In addition to the toys you got for Christmas, Santa thought it would be funny for you to get your 2 front teeth for Christmas too. Nobody else seems to appreciate the joke though, least of all you. Teething has been hard on you and it has made my sweet boy a lot fussier than normal. Your top left tooth came in pretty quickly and now you’re a snaggle tooth. The right tooth is close though. Somehow, thinking of you giving me a big toothy grin makes me sad. It’s just another sign that you are growing up and moving closer to toddler-hood.

Another alarming development is your sudden hatred for baby food. Purees? Ha! They are so beneath you! This is one way that you are showing us your strong determined attitude. You want nothing to do with being spoon fed or purees. You may take a bite or two, just to try it out, but then you start screaming like we’re torturing you (or insulting you with our silly baby food). If I give you a chunk of food, green beans or something similar, you’ll happily pick one up and start munching on it. You get this satisfied look on your face, as though you’re thinking “Yes, this is exactly how I would like it. Thank you, very much!” It amuses me because I imagine that I was the same way as a baby. I’ve always secretly (and not-so-secretly your dad would say) felt that my way is usually the best way. I think you’ve inherited that from me. God help us all.

Today is January 1, 2009. It’s the beginning of a new year. Last year, your dad and I referred to 2008 as “The Year of the Baby.” I suppose 2009 will be “The Year of the Toddler.” As scary as that is, it’s also really exciting. Having you in our lives makes us look forward to the future in a way that we didn’t even know was possible before. There is so much to see and so much to do, little one! You just wait!

Love,
Mama

A Holly, Jolly Christmas

2008-12-29T20:38:00.006-05:00

Belated Merry Christmas everyone! The past week has been a total whirlwind. It was fun, but I am glad that it's over.

Nate's Aunt Casey came in from Seattle last week and he got to spend lots of time with her. It was awesome. It's really hard on me (and I know on her too) to have her so far away. She's my best friend and when she lived in town we were together all the time. We always had a plan that if we didn't get married, we'd eventually buy a house together and party all the time. We even wanted to have a parking lot at our house, so there'd be plenty of room for our friends to park. :) Needless to say, Nate, Erik and I soaked up every second we could get with Casey. As always, our time with her flew by and it seemed like it wasn't enough. But that's how it goes with visits, I guess. Hopefully we'll be visiting her in Seattle this summer.

Christmas itself was full of ups and downs. My family has a Christmas Eve tradition of gathering at my parents' house for a night of food, fun, and homemade egg nog. I look forward to it every year that we are here. Each year it seems to grow bigger and bigger as we invite our friends and any "stragglers" who don't seem to have family in town or whose family doesn't celebrate Christmas eve. This year's celebration was full of wine, the obligatory nogged-up egg nog, and lots of Wii. Unfortunately, it was also full of a very unhappy baby. Poor Nate just couldn't get settled into the pack & play in the guest room. He'd fall asleep for 30 mins or so, and wake up screaming. Erik or I would go and get him settled, just to repeat the whole pattern again. At home, we'd probably let him cry for 5-10 minutes to see if he'd fall asleep on his own. It's kind of hard to subject a house full of party goers to a baby's screams, so we never got to really relax and enjoy the evening. I still had a couple of glasses of wine and some delicious egg nog though, so I'm not complaining.

We spent Christmas day with my family and then headed to WV to spend time with Erik's family. Nate got to see his grandparents, great grandparents and his cousins too. It's really special to me and Erik to see Nate with his grandparents and great grandparents, since we don't get to see them as often as we would like. Nate and his great-grannie found a common ground with squealing. She got a huge kick out of squealing at him and having him squeal back. It was hilarious. Nate also found that he likes giving his Nana his special grandma kiss. He grabs a couple of handfuls of hair and then tries to suck on her face. Getting this kiss from Nate is an honor. He tends to reserve that kiss for me and his grandmas. :)

I think my favorite Christmas memory this year was Christmas morning with my little family. When Nate woke up, we brought him to bed with us for some cuddles. Then we went downstairs, had some coffee, and then opened presents. It felt so cozy, warm, and family-like... exactly the way Christmas should be. It was so much fun to hold Nate in my lap and help him open his presents. Those few minutes of quiet happiness with my little family were perfect and I know that I will always cherish that memory of Nate's first Christmas.

Hello, old friend!

2008-12-23T09:03:00.004-05:00

Dear alcohol,

Hello, my sweet love. I am sorry that we were apart for 9 months last year. It was a long 9 months and I missed you dearly. Since then, we have had a few quick rendezvous, but nothing of significance. I am glad that I could sneak away on Saturday night for some quality time with you, cher. Thanks for the warm belly, the smiles, and that old familiar buzz. To us, dear friend, to us!

Yummy, yummy, yummy fudge!

2008-12-19T13:29:00.008-05:00

I have been debating for weeks on a Christmas gift for the ladies who work at Nate's daycare center. His current room has 3 permanent teachers, but he starts his day off in the infant room and that's the class he started off in, so I wanted to do something for those 3 teachers too. Adding an extra 6 people to our Christmas shopping list is a little painful, so I had really wanted to bake for them instead. Then I remembered that I have a baby... when am I supposed to bake? Baking! Ha ha ha!

And then I remembered that lovely Christmas favorite.. FUDGE! Quick, easy, economical and delish.

I made 3 varieties of fudge: classic fudge, peanut butter fudge, and oreo fudge. I put some of each variety in a tin for each teacher. I have done more than my fair share of taste testing this fudge (gotta make sure it's good!) and it is awesome.

The basic recipe I used was Kraft's original Fantasy Fudge recipe that came off the back of a jar of Marshmallow Creme. This is the "old school" recipe. Apparently the new recipe on the jar is slightly different.

Fantasy Fudge
Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup butter
12 oz chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 7-oz jar of marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Cook the sugar, evaporated milk and butter in a large, heavy sauce pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil on medium for 5 minutes, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Beat in marshmallow creme, vanilla and nuts. Pour into a 13x9 pan and cool completely before cutting.

Variations:
Peanut butter fudge- use peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips (can stir in chopped peanuts for crunchy pb fudge)

Oreo fudge- Follow standard recipe, omitting nuts and adding 1 cup crushed oreos instead. I also topped my fudge with some oreo crumbs.

An unwanted "first"

2008-12-17T17:13:00.000-05:00

Nate was diagnosed with his first ear infection today. Poor guy. He was running a fever of 102.5 this morning. After 2 days of feeling bad and 3 days of not eating well, we knew it was time to visit the pediatrician. Finally, a sick visit that paid off. All previous sick visits diagnoses have been the infuriating "it's a virus and it will pass" and then Nate always feels better the next day, making me wish I had saved myself a $15 copay and waited it out one more day.

On top of the ear infection, he also has a tooth coming in on the top. It broke through the gum last night. Can you imagine how much it must hurt to have an ear infection and a tooth coming in at the same time? Nate's been a little fussier at night, but he is taking it really well. I guess boys must learn the "man cold" behavior, because Nate is definitely not exhibiting those characteristics yet.

Photos Courtesy of Lux Photography