Help for the Jolly Fat Man

Question for you about toys: Katy loves this laptop. She's obsessed with it. I think it's because she sees Brian and I click-clacking away on it so much, so she thinks it MUST be pretty important. She also loves toy laptops. If we're at a friends' house who has one, all self-control is out the window as she obsesses over it. When we go to the library, she makes a bee-line for the computer and stays there until I make her get up.

So I've looked at a couple of them. Some are just free-standing toys. And then some are actually USB keyboards that attach to your computer and then have software with educational games. Like this one. Seems pretty intense. It says it's for ages 6 and up, and it's pretty pricey. Plus you have to buy the software in addition to this piece. Does anyone have any recommendation for something similar that would be more geared toward younger kids and more economical?

Otherwise I'll just get her some more play-doh and call it a day.

First of many, I'm sure

Isn't playing with each other's hair the ultimate female bonding experience?

Thanks

It's Thanksgiving Day, and David is 8 months old.

This year I wanted to say thanks to YOU. Thanks for reading here. Thanks for commenting (whether through the world wide of web or just in person). Thanks for being a wonderful group of support. Thanks for giving me a hobby to enjoy that fits into my stay-at-home lifestyle right now.

I love you guys, Happy Thanksgiving.

Bloggy Award

Quite a while ago, Pam offered me an award, which basically means that she likes this blog. Thanks, Pam!! I've taken forever to accept the award mostly because I wasn't sure how to go get the image and put it over here (silly, I know).

If you accept, here's what to do:

1. Put the logo on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who has awarded you

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add links to those blogs on yours and

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

A few of my favorites have already received this award, so don't think I've forgotten you! But there are so many blogs that I enjoy reading, it's not hard to come up with 7 more:

Jane @ Little Boys are Made Of...

Beth @ Coupon Coach

Weed @ The World of Weed

Kate @ The Mommy Files

Andrea @ Mommy Snacks

Mommy Daisy @ Mommy Daisy

Brett & Abigail @ Humphreys Blog

Occasional Hand-Me-Downs

With a girl and a boy, I don't often get to experience the warm fuzzy feeling of seeing David wear something that Katy wore as a baby. Until winter comes...

Katy, February 2007

David, November 2008

Ready Freddie

We're leaving tomorrow for our cruise. I'm excited and nervous. I have literally been packing for a week. It's all about strategy. I'm trying to bring everything that I could possibly need for a baby and a toddler for 6 days, but only as much as I am able to carry through the airport and stuff into a stateroom. Plus there's the warm weather thing - David doesn't fit into his summer clothes anymore and I put Katy's away a couple of months ago. (I'm not asking for sympathy here, obviously this is a good problem to have) And how many diapers and wipes will I need? And how much baby food? And the stoller and the car seat and the boppy and the pump...

But we'll be ready. We've got it together. Katy is really excited to get on the airplane. She keeps telling me she's going to have a cookie. (note to self: pack a cookie) She knows that when she gets off the airplane, she will see her cousins. Beyond that, she's clueless. How do you explain to a 2 year old that you're going to live on a boat for a few days with thousands of strangers and an adult size mouse? I think she'll figure it out.

I've been saving up some (short) blog posts that will be posted here while I am gone. I'm a firstborn, so I can't just give up on the whole NaBloPoMo thing, ok?

So hopefully I'll be wrapping up NaBloPoMo with a report about returning home. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Maybe Another Day

This is Katy's new favorite phrase. Except it sounds like, "Maybe 'nudder day." It stems from her constant requests to do things that aren't reasonable (can we go to the zoo? can we go swimming? can we see our out-of-state cousins?), to which I respond, "Not today, maybe another day."

What's funny is how she is now using it to talk herself out of everything that comes to her mind.

*Yesterday as we were leaving swimming lessons, we were walking past the pool, and Katy had maintained her composure better than the last two weeks (we were able to get out of the pool without a fit).
Katy: The pool's closed. Nobody swimmin'.
Me: Yep, bye-bye, pool, we'll see you next week!
K: We go swimmin'. Maybe 'nudder day.

*On the way out of the rec center, Katy spotted some idols: 9 year old girls!! Playing volleyball!
K: What're they doin', Mom? They playing soccer!
M: It's called volleyball. They're hitting the ball over the net.
K: I wanna play volleyball!
M: We can watch for a minute, but those are big girls. You can play volleyball when you're a bigger girl.
K: I play volleyball, maybe 'nudder day.
M: Maybe you can play volleyball with your cousins next week.
K: Cousins' big girls. I see cousins 'nudder day.

*Driving home we saw the Good Year Blimp (there might've been a football game or something :)
K: Look, Mommy! A rocket!
M: Yeah, it's called a blimp.
K: Can I fly in the rocket?
M: No, it's too high.
K: Maybe 'nudder day.

Yes, Katy, maybe 'nudder day.

Mystery of baby sleep

I mentioned back when David turned 7 months old that he celebrated by sleeping 12 hours through the night. Twice. Actually he did it 4 times, and then he gradually went back to getting up twice a night, at his usual midnight and 5am. I was disappointed, but had learned from my experience with Katy that this might happen, so I was only cautiously optimistic to begin with.

This month has been a tough one for Bubs. He's had a never-ending cold, his two top teeth have been poking through the gums for weeks, and then, of course, he had a little incident with his finger. So I'm not surprised that he hasn't been sleeping through the night. But this is what I don't understand. Three nights ago he got up twice. Two nights ago, only once at 5am. Then last night, he slept from 7pm to 8am. Huh? I was floored. It was the first time I got 8 straight hours of sleep in probably close to a year. (Because I find it physically impossible to go to sleep before 11, so even when he has slept 8 hour stretches, it's never coincided with my own bedtime.) But what is the change? What causes him to wake up one night and not the next? I wish I knew.

And once again, I'm only cautiously optimistic. Even if he sleeps through for the next few nights, we're going on a trip and that'll fix that. But I'm encouraged that we're making forward progress. Maybe, hopefully, we're on our way to those precious consistent nights of sleep.

Another danger of TV watching for children

Perhaps we need to rethink the position of our television, because even when I tell her to sit down and watch, she sometimes insists on doing this:

My mommy intuition is to say, "Be careful, or you'll get stuck like that!!"

School lunch

There's a lot of talk in the media these days about how unhealthy school lunches are, and how it is contibuting to childhood obesity in this country. Which has gotten me thinking:

1) Were you a buyer or a packer? Or some of both?

2) Do you remember how much your school lunch cost?

3) What was your favorite and least favorite school lunch?

In Elementary school, I had the school lunch menu posted on the refrigerator, and I looked at it each night and decided whether I wanted to buy or pack. If I remember correctly, it was almost 50/50. Lunch cost 85 cents (I think it went up to $1.50 + by the time I got to HS). Each morning, the teacher would ask for a show of hands for who was buying lunch. Every Tuesday we had pizza, and more kids bought on Tuesdays than any other day.

If you forgot your lunch money, there was a lunch aide from whom you could borrow, and she would write it down on an index card, and then she was always looming around with her card and her fanny pack, reminding kids to bring in the money they owed for past lunches. I think I forgot maybe once, because I was terrified of her. I think I honestly believed at the time that she was using her personal money to loan to students so they could buy their lunches. Out of the kindness of her heart. I also remember that she would eat your tater tots if you didn't want yours, because to her, they "tasted like candy."

I don't remember what happened in jr. high. I think I blocked it out.

But in high school, I packed 99% of the time, but this was a social decision. My high school had an East Cafe and a West Cafe. The same menu was served and you could eat in either one, but it was well known that the cool kids ate in the West Cafe. You needed to be pretty confident of your social status to walk in there. Everyone else ate in the East Cafe. But my circle of friends? We thought we were SOMETHIN', because we bucked the system and ate in the cool math teacher's classroom in the basement. He would leave the room, let us eat lunch and hang out in there, and the hall monitors looked the other way. I never understood why at the time, but now I think it's because teachers are sympathetic to the complications of social drama. And having to feel bad about where you eat lunch is just one of those things you shouldn't have to worry about everyday.

So what did you do?

6 more

Pam tagged me for a "6 things" meme. My mom answered the call, and I have to admit that even I learned a couple of things about her. So hmmm...I'll try to think of 6 things that y'all might not know about me.

1. I was in band in high school. I had played the flute through 9th grade, but then they had 14 flutes and no oboes, so they paid for me to have private oboe lessons if I would switch. Learning to play the oboe was pretty tough, and it was almost impossible at first for me to play in tune but play quietly. The solution? My teacher had me stuff a hair scrunchy up inside my oboe. I played concerts and contests with a scrunchy up my oboe.

2. I was one of a handful of people who took band but didn't do marching band. I opted out because I wanted to play tennis, which was about the only sport I had ever played semi-well. But everyone in marching band was really close because they spent all their evenings and weekends together, and I only had 4th period with them. So I was actually a band reject. I'm not kidding.

3. I didn't remember this until just now, but my oboe teacher taught me to make my own reeds. I had to soak pieces of cane in water and then shave them with with razor blades into a specific shape. The whole experience was very odd, because I remember thinking, "Once I graduate from high school, I'll probably never touch another oboe." I'm pretty sure I was right.

4. Once when I was 16, I was supposed to pick my little sister up from day care and take her to piano lesson. I picked her up and then ran out of gas on the way. A nice guy stopped and pushed me to the gas station nearby, and then waited for me to put gas in the car to make sure that it would start once I did. I was too embarrassed to tell him that I didn't have any money (and no credit card back then, of course), so I just pumped a dollar's worth, started the car, and said "Thanks!" Then after he left, my sister and I dug some change out of the seats, but I still didn't have enough. I went inside and cried to the cashier, who made me fill out an I.O.U for 35 cents. My sister was late for her piano lesson.

5. I've worked in several restaurants, including waiting tables at Bob Evans and Applebee's, but perhaps my favorite was the drive-thru at Fazoli's. I loved wearing the head set and keeping up with the flow of taking orders, collecting money, and bagging food. I still like to eat at all 3 of these places.

6. For a fundraiser in high school, I sold bags of vidalia onions out of the back of a van in a gas station parking lot.

If you have a blog and you'd like to do 6 things - consider yourself tagged!

Head above water

So the part time job that I do from home? The one that is typically about 4 - 5 hours per week? It's been really busy lately. In fact, I worked 5 hours today. It just happens to be busy right now, it should slow back down, but I'm feeling overwhelmed. 12 hours of child care and 5 hours of work makes for a long day.

At least I accomplished one goal today, which was getting all the lists that have been running around in my head down on paper. It drives me crazy when I'm thinking of all of these things that needs to be organized into bullet points and my busy hands cannot write them down! It makes me feel better now that they're on paper. At least I know they cannot permanently escape from my mind...never to be found again.

Baby Doc Report

We went to the pediatrician, and I was so nervous that I felt sick in the waiting room. Looking back, that was really ridiculous. The appointment went really well. The stitches look good, and the finger is healing, which means the tip is healthy (yay!). They showed us a new way to wrap it which I think will be easier to keep on him, and gave us lots of supplies. So now we have to clean and bandage his hand a couple of times a day, and wait for it to finish healing. But the craziest part was that they thought it might be healed within a week - what?!? I was assuming this was going to be a long mess. But a week? I can handle a week. Hopefully their estimation is accurate.

Special bonus diagnosis: while we were there, I mentioned that he's had a cold on and off for 6 weeks and has currently been coughing for over a week. So they checked him out and confirmed that it's just a cold. Which is great because it was falling in the, "I-wonder-if-I-should-take-him-in-to-make-sure-this-isn't-something-more-serious-but-it's-probably-not-and-I-don't-want-to-waste-the-copay" category.

If it ain't broke...

As an attempt to use our resources wisely, we try to use the belongings we have until they are pretty much non-functional before replacing them. But right now there are several things that are hanging on by a thin thread, and I feel as if I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. As if one of these mornings, I'm going to wake up and none of these items will work, and we'll have to replace them all at once.

1) Refrigerator: Ever since Hurricane Ike blew through Ohio and knocked out the power for several days (during which we were on vacation), our refrigerator makes a loud shaking noise every time it stops running. Word on the street says that means the compressor is going out, and it's only a matter of time before your fridge is dead. Apparently compressors are so expensive to fix, you may as well get a new fridge. New fridge ~ $700-$900.

2) Laptop: Oh, my precious. I have worked this poor thing to the bone. And lately it's showing it's age by running. so. very. very. slow. And holding a charge for about 3 minutes. And freezing up or shutting down for no good reason. New laptop ~ $600-$1200.

3) DVD player: Also showing it's age by more and more frequently displaying a never-ending "loading..." sign on the screen when I insert a DVD. Sometimes I can eventually get it to play, sometimes not. Oh, and the DVD player is also the way we play CD's, because the CD deck in the stereo broke a long time ago. New DVD player ~ $50-$200.

4) Microwave: Oh, it's pitiful. I keep having to add more and more time to whatever the box says to get my frozen lunches hot enough. New microwave ~ $50-$300.

5) Digital camera: I'm actually ok with the one we have, but Brian is itching to get a new one, because ours is 4 years old, and I guess the technology is a lot better now. Plus I see the amazing pics that other people take, and I know partially it's because they have a nicer camera (and more of a clue than I do what to do with it). Oh, and there's the fact that on ours you have to hold the battery compartment closed with your thumb while you shoot. But you get used to it. New camera ~ $200-$500. (I'm really guessing on this one)

But ok, with the exception of the refigerator, we could actually get by just fine without these items, right? Ooooo...but not the laptop, because I use it for work. Yeah... that's right... I need it for work. And the DVD player is part of Katy's daily routine, and I wouldn't want to totally throw her off of her routine and scar her for life, would I? And I just remembered that I don't know how to cook without a microwave, so I guess we need one of those, too. So...hmmmm...

I know my daughter is short, but...

We got these pants as a hand-me-down from my generous in-laws (who aren't vertically challenged like we are), and Brian and I both think they are super cute, but is Katy really that short? These are 24 months, and I just don't understand why the waist is so long?

Baby finger update: we had to re-apply the bandage again today, so we got to look at the finger more closely. The nail part looks bad, but I'm not sure how it's supposed to look at this point. I think the tip part looks good. Visibly better than the day before, so I think that's good news. I'm really anxious for our appointment on Monday.

We are beginning to prepare for a long-anticipated trip over the week of Thanksgiving. Brian's mom asked us 18 months ago (before I even knew we'd have David) if she could treat the whole family to a Disney cruise. (The bene's of having a travel agent for a Mother-in-law!) Katy will be absolutely thrilled with the whole experience, which will include grandparents, cousins, swimming, and Disney characters. So that's exciting, and we are looking forward to all the time with family. But this will be our first time flying with the kids. So does anyone have any advice for me? What have been your keys to flying success? Is there anything that you can't take through security that isn't obvious?

Rite of Passage

So I didn't post yesterday, but I think you will consider my excuse a valid one. It's crazy how you are chugging along in life, going about your day, and BAM, you're headed for the Emergency Room.

Last night I was giving the kids baths, and Brian had just left to catch a drink and go to a basketball game with a friend, a treat that he had been looking forward to all week. I had dried and dressed David and sat him on the bathroom floor while I did the same to Katy. I gave him a toy, but he quickly tossed it aside and started reaching for the bathroom scale. I didn't think too much of it, until a moment later when I heard screaming, and I looked over to see the blood. Lots and lots of blood.

The next few minutes was a blur of rinsing and applying pressure to David's finger and trying to figure out what had happened. Later we discovered a sharp metal piece on the bottom edge of the scale that was the culprit. But I was pretty sure from my winced observations that David had severed the tip of his middle finger almost completely off, including most of the fingernail. I called Brian, who literally sprinted home while I called the pediatrician. I was pretty sure that we needed to go to the ER, but felt like I should call for some reason. She told me to go to an urgent care. My sister was at my house within 10 minutes to watch Katy so we could go. (Oh, how THANKFUL I am for that. It would've been a nightmare to take her).

It just so happens that our closest urgent care is actually in the Children's Hospital. We attempted to go there, but they took one look at the finger and sent us to the ER. I was so glad that this was a walk through a hallway rather than another screaming car ride with me stroking his face and still squeezing that tiny little appendage. But you know how the ER goes. It doesn't matter what problem you're there for - it's going to take 4 hours. Four grueling, traumatic hours.

This accident happened right at David's bedtime, right before I was about to nurse him and give him some more ibuprofen for his teeth. So through the whole experience, he was exhausted, hungry, and in pain. Eventually I was able to nurse him, but it was difficult to do because I had to be so careful with his hand. The worst part was the times we had to pin him down to do procedures on him - twice for numbing shots, then for x-rays, then for the sutures. The sutures took about 20 minutes, he screamed the whole time, and I just had to look into his face and say, "I'm so sorry, Bubby. It's almost over, Sweetheart," etc, etc. They confirmed that he had cut the tip almost entirely off, but that they had been able to stitch it back together. She said she was optimistic that the tip would survive, but that we would have to be really careful to keep this boxing glove of gauze on his hand clean and dry. Ummm...yeah...about that. He's 7 months old.

Brian and I were incredibly relieved, however, that we live so close to such a tremendous Children's Hospital. If we lived out in the country and had to go to a small adult ER, what are the chances there would be someone there with experience sewing 7 month old finger tips together? The suture tech compared it to sewing together 2 pieces of wet toilet paper. That's pretty impressive.

When we got home, we put a sock on his arm and hoped for the best. We'll go back to the pediatrician on Monday morning, and until then I'll be nervous. Nervous about keeping the bandages on (we've already had to replace them once today), nervous about avoiding infection, and nervous that the finger tip will heal properly. So if you could pray for those things, that would be great.

I didn't sleep well last night with all of those haunting images and what-ifs going through my mind. He was able to sleep today and didn't seem to be in too much pain. And it could've been worse for many many reasons. Now I'll settle in and pray for the best.

I can explain...

There is a perfectly logical reason why this doll (ironically called My Friend Emily by Lamaze) is doing a nosedive into a detergent solution in my kitchen sink.

In this house, there's a good chance that the reason has to do with poop. And it does.

You guessed it (or maybe you didn't): David pooped on her face. He was playing with her, among other toys, when his diaper once again leaked beyond the depths of his outfit, onto the doll sitting next to him on the blanket. It's a terrible fate for a doll, if you ask me. Especially one who has been so loved by both of my children while they were very young. And she says "surface wash only" (she's got lots of crinkly extra parts), so what else was I to do? So I'm soaking her face in detergent. Poor, poor Emily.

Dueling videos

See how whenever I'm paying attention to one, the other is demanding my attention in the background?

Right after I took this video, I stepped into the kitchen for a minute and returned to find this (I guess Katy thought he wanted a few more):

(In)dependent woman

Question.



So I thought that 2 year olds were supposed to be getting more independent as they got older?



I remember around the time that David was born, I think I even said out loud, "Katy's gotten so independent. She plays by herself and does so many things for herself." But not anymore. Pretty much all day long I hear a continuous mantra of, "Mommy, color wis me. Mommy, read books wis me. Mommy, up, up, up!!! Mommy, do blocks wis me. Mommy, up, up, up!! Mommy, come sit down on da carpet. Mommy, up, up, up!!"



And it's not like I don't play with the child. I really am doing the best I can to give her some individual attention during the day, and make sure that I'm playing with her and giving her some structured things to do. But I do have another child to take care of, a job to do, and a house to maintain as well, you know? So I basically feel guilty ALL. DAY. LONG. Because every time she asks me to do something with her, it makes me feel like obviously I'm not paying her enough attention, or I'm making the wrong things a priority. It's a pretty horrible feeling.



And the "up, up, up!!" is the weirdest part. Katy has never wanted to be held. Even as an infant, she had to be held facing out because she wouldn't get comfy otherwise. But all of the sudden over the last couple of months, she is constantly asking me to pick her up. And if I can't, she gets hysterical, so sometimes I find myself with a baby on each hip, walking around my own house thinking, "Is this for real?"



So has anyone else had a 2 year old go through a phase like this? Or is this the new normal for her? I know that someday I'll look back and long for the time that she wanted to be around me, but how do I find the balance between cherishing her and maintaining sanity? Am I a terrible mother for even asking the question? Oh, just look at this face. Yes, I'm a terrible mother for asking the question.

A Realization

I've come to realize something this week. I don't know why it's taken me so long to see it for what it is, because it's actually pretty obvious. I guess I haven't been able to move beyond a gender stereotype in my own home, and maybe my pride was standing in the way, too. But it's basically thrown me completely for a loop.

Brian is a better cook than I am.

I'm not saying this to fish for compliments, like, "No, no, Emily! You're a great cook! Really!" It's not some wallowing in self-doubt and pity. It's just a fact. I'll explain...

When we got married and had Katy, and I was going to stay home, we decided that I would take on the core responsibility for preparing dinner each night. Most of the time that I had known Brian while he was single, he ate out a lot, and made things for dinner like red beans & rice or the occasional crock pot meal. I guess I just assumed that I, Susie Homemaker (lol), would naturally be the obvious person to prepare meals for us.

But of course over the last few years, and even more so since little David arrived, there have been many times when I have set something out to prepare for dinner, but the time comes to make it and I'm busy, so Brian jumps in and does the dirty work.

And it always, ALWAYS turns out better than when I cook us dinner. Significantly better. This happened once this week, and I was eating my food, thinking, "gosh, this turned out great - how did he get the pork chops to stay so moist?" and it hit me like a ton of bricks! OMG! He's a good cook!

Not only that, but he enjoys it! He doesn't stress when we don't have exactly the right pan or ingredient. Or give up and want to order pizza when the chicken is taking too long. He seems to be having a good time in there, which is a totally foreign concept to me.

So I'm not throwing in the towel and saying, "That's it! I'm not cooking dinner anymore - that's YOUR turf." But it has changed my perspective on the dinner hour. There are 2 cooks in this kitchen now, and it isn't a bit crowded. Actually, I'm pretty relieved. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and Meal Prep is just not one of my strongest points. I'm happy to share the toque with my teammate.

34 years

Today is Brian's 34th birthday. And it's been a busy one. Brian's folks are here, Katy had her first swimming lesson, we made muffins, we went to church, and Aunt Mel babysat so the adults could go out to dinner! We went somewhere that takes reservations, and I wore pants that weren't jeans! David is cutting teeth and he's a bit cranky. But Katy is beside herself: grandparents, swimming, and CAKE in the same day.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband... I hope it was a good one!

One for the wedding slideshow

Isn't communal bathing one of the best reasons to have more than one kid? At least for a season...

Good idea

I just thought I'd pass along what I thought was a terrific idea. While I was leaving the children's section of the library recently, I noticed something I hadn't seen before: Grab Bags of books in age categories. So there was a crate labeled "2-3 yrs" with 10 or so bags of books that the staff had put together to check out. Brilliant! I love going to the library, and I love getting new books to read with Katy at home, but I feel totally overwhelmed by those shelves and shelves of books, and have no idea what to pick up (not to mention I'm toting a 20 pounder on my hip and chasing a tornado). When I do pick something, I get home and realize that it's way too old for her and she gets bored too quickly. So these bags are perfect.

And to top it off, guess who is responsible for these particular bags? My local children's librarian is fellow mommy blogger Kate. She makes it all happen!

On this day in history

I know many of you who read this blog sit passionately on either side of the political fence. And others, like myself, do not affiliate with either political party. But no matter where you stand on the results of the election, I hope we can all be optimistic about the change ahead. I got all teary eyed listening to Obama's speech in Chicago last night (and it wasn't just because Oprah was crying). The area where I live is largely Democratic, and there has been this excitement in the air this week. I think it could be summed up with "hope." Times are tough, and people are hopeful that this new presidency will bring change, relief, and progress.

It occured to me this morning that Obama will likely be the first president that my children are aware of. For me, it was Ronald Reagan. I think it's amazing to consider that it won't seem historic to my children to have an African American president, but rather the norm. Obama is right, we've made a lot of progress as a nation in the last 100 years, imagine what we can do in the next 100?

This is the land of the American dream...so let's hope.

Hot Diggity Dog!!

After being downright stressed about the possibility of extremely long voting lines, Brian and I had both voted by 8:15 this morning. (Hmmm...I'm noticing a pattern here, where I get stressed about something, but it turns out fine.) He got up and got to the polls at 6:30 when they opened, and he waited about an hour. Then he came home, where I had been showering and feeding the kids, and relieved me so I could go. I only waited 15 minutes (unbelievable compared to 5 hours during the last presidential election, and I lived in the same district!) and was home in no time. Brian wasn't even very late to work (although he might disagree, he and I have a different definition of "late.")

So how about you? What time did you go and how long did you wait? I'm excited to watch the results tonight...after I make a massive trip to the grocery that I've had planned since Saturday.

What Dave-o's been up to - 7 months

In keeping with the theme of posting a video of David every month to mark his milestones, here's another one. It's a little long, but the highlights include: excited hand waving, attempting to put too-large items in his mouth, babbling, drool and snot, and a chuckle. Enjoy.

Falling Back is Hard to Do

Before I had kids, I used to love Falling Back. You either got an extra hour of sleep, or for those of us night owls, you got to stay up an hour later. But now, it's a different story. I still love daylight savings time, and the change is easier to deal with in the spring. But this Falling Back thing. All of the sudden your teething baby is waking up an hour earlier, he's up from morning nap at 9:25, and you have to come up with more interesting ways to entertain your toddler because it gets dark at stinkin' 5:30pm.

One positive note, though. Now that they've changed the Fall Back to November, at least we have snack size Snickers to help us cope. Happy End of Daylight Savings Time!

Capturing cuteness

I took David to JCP a couple of weeks ago to get 6 month portraits (he was practically 7 months at the time, but anyway...). Once again, I was happy with the pictures for the price, they're good enough to document his cuteness right now. It's some good stuff...