MMM... beer!

Yesterday I had my first hard alcohol drink in over a year. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for Jeff's b-day, and I had a Caramel Apple Martini. YUMMY! AND I also had a Newcastle BEFORE we went out. OOOO, I'm telling on you! Before I start getting hate-mail from the BF Police out there about what a horrible mother I am...less than 1% of alcohol goes through breastmilk. Besides, Travis is already a Jr. Alcoholic! See?




Seriously, a cold beer bottle is the best teething ring! That is, if you don't mind all that extra baby slobber in your Brown Ale...

Lent is over

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of my ass getting bigger. And my arteries clogging.THIS STUFF is the reason I could never completely go low carb:

Oh my God, is it really 6 servings? I ate the whole thing today!


AND I also had a Chantico!

Lent may be over, but surely, I am still going to hell!

Easter & Big Rolling Boy!

Happy Easter everyone!! Today Travis rolled over for the very first time!! He rolled over from front to back twice! We got the very first one on video. Yay! In the last few days, he's changed to the big car seat, size three diapers, and now rolled over! Wow!

Anyway, here are his Easter pics, as promised! He's SO adorable I could eat him up!

Woah!! For the first time in days I can add an entry!!! Wooohoo!!


We just got back from my my Moms Group/Playgroup. I cheated and got Chicken Nuggets, fries and a hot fudge sundae at McD's. I had an unsweetened iced tea though! It was the first time I had fast food in forever! I even ate my sundae first... so I'm REALLY bad!

But,it's been a long day.... I brought Travis into the shower after I was done this morning, and gave him a good washing. Then I had some waffles, and we left the house for the massage class this morning at about 11:00am. We took it about a month ago, but he's much more alert now... he loved it!

We got his spring/Easter pictures! Simply adorable! See?

Anything else? Oh, we still haven't installed his new car seat, because it's been pouring here the last few days!

I'll try to do it myself later, though... I hope it's not too hard!

Teethy boy, and the weekend

My poor little guy is teething. :(

I took him into the pediatrician Monday because he was yanking on his ears, and I thought maybe he had an ear infection.

Doctor proclaimed him to be in great health, and that he was most likely beginning to teethe.

In the past week, he's started drooling, chomping, he has a rashy butt, lots of poops, and today I could see where the tooth is coming through, on the lower left side. He's been extra cranky today. We got him some numbing gel, and he's crashed out right now on Tylenol.




I love him so much! I'm sad to see him in pain. Sigh. Yesterday we met Jeff's Mom, sister, and husband for shopping and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in San Jose. The trippiest thing happened! We went to the front of the mall to meet them (after driving around for 20 minutes looking for parking) and guess who was out front smoking a cig? Julia! She and Hailey and Toby were up there for the day. What are the odds of that?? We live over an hour away from that mall, and there they were, just like that! Weird, huh?

Today we bought his convertable car seat.


It's an Eddie Bauer. I like it a lot! He's an inch too long for his infant carrier.

We're holding off on the new stroller for the moment. I can carry him in the Moby Wrap for now. We just found out today that we owe $3k more in taxes than we have allocated. If I were to ever go on a rampage and you know, levelled some buildings... the IRS would be gone...I'm just sayin'...(purely conjectural, mais oui!)

Also, the hospital bill for my labor and delivery came the other day, but it is pending secondary insurance billing (yay!), and the registration on my car is due this month. Plus, last month the $300 for my car starter going out was not an expected expense. Sigh. I want the winning lottery numbers, and I want them now!

Keeping up with the (Mrs.) Joneses

Today was a nice day! The weather was great! I brought Travis into the shower with me for the first time ever today. He seemed to like it, at least a little better than a bath. It was a bit tricky to navigate me actually shampooing my hair and getting clean, but I think I did a pretty good job. I did use too much shampoo, though! I got about 4 inches cut off of my hair yesterday. It's short, to right below my chin length I like it, though!

We went to Jeff's Grandma's for dinner Saturday, and played poker. Yesterday we had a lovely time at Chez Hoffpauir.

Today Travis and I went to the St. Patty's Lunch with the Mommy/Playgroup. It was a lot of fun! I am still trying to fit in, being new and all, but everyone made me feel very welcome. I interject comments here and there and participate in conversation. I do have this bad habit of secretly coveting things that others have. Like the Wendy Bellissimo diaper bags, and the Pottery Barn Kids bedding, the Peg Perego strollers, the Glamourmom nursing tanks, and the Zolowear Slings that a few of the girls have. It's probably a growing up poor thing - all the girls had Guess, and Reebok, I had K-mart and Prowings. Not a big deal, I am just a connoisseur of nice things. Now that I can (sometimes) afford them, it's great - BUT I know it's MUCH more important for me to stay home and be with Travis than to work and have his poor little self in daycare, even if I could earn a little more money for spending, and he doesn't care if I have a Sak bag (which I love!) or a Wendy B. He told me so himself!

:)

I love my boy!


Thursday we're having his Easter pictures done with live bunnies and chicks. I hope they turn out!

Hair, hair, everywhere!

I've been up since 8:00am doing laundry. I'm sure I've mentioned that we only have 3 washers and 3 dryers for our whole complex of over 30 apartments. Lame! So I get up early, especially on weekends and take all 3. The early bird gets clean undies!

Today we're going to the Hoff's to have a celebratory BBQ for Tobias' new job. He doesn't know it yet. Ha! I can't wait to see Hailey... she's going to be 2 years old in a couple of months. Time flies! It feels like it wasn't that long ago I was there holding her mom's legs while she pushed! But, then again, her mom held MY legs while I pushed! So, yeah, nevermind.

I made my new favorite fruit salad. It used to be fruit cocktail, sour cream and mini marshmallows all mixed together, but now it's (light) fruit cocktail (in fruit juice), crushed pineapple (in juice), tropical fruit cocktail (in pear nectar), bananas, red grapes, and coconut cream pudding and cool-whip all mixed together. Dump drained fruits in bowl, save all the juices. Then, you make the pudding recipe but with half the reserved juice and half milk and then fold in the cool-whip. Mix everything together, and refrigerate. It's Yummy! Oh yeah, and make sure you put the banana slices into the juice before you add them to the mix or they'll turn icky colors on ya. Brown bananas don't look that good, at least not to me!

I also NEED to get my hair cut! TODAY! Badly! My split ends have split ends! You think I'm kidding? According to Microsoft Money... the last time I got my hair cut was JULY 26, 2004! There ought to be a law!

Actually, I think there is one somewhere....
With the post-partum hair loss, it's like, I'm losing it anyway... may as well get a few inches cut off! :)

Seriously, I find my shed hairs EVERYWHERE! On the baby, wrapped around his fingers, or clutched in his palm. On the back of his sleep sacks, on the bathroom floor, on the couch, tickling me when I wear short sleeves, because one is coming out, inching its way down my arm... let's not talk about my brush... or the fact that my hairdryer almost caught on fire the other day. (No, really it did, but I don't think it's related to hair loss... just crappy workmanship)

Sigh, I miss my hair....

Night Night

Grr. Every time I have come to post an entry the last too days, I get that annoying Diaryland message saying I can't do it because the servers are overloaded, and I should stop being a cheap-ass and just pay for a Gold Membership.

Ack.

Anyway... nothing to say now. We're actually going to bed early. I set up a Flickr account with a buncha Travis pics, so if ya want into the circle of friends, leave me a note with your email address, and I'll hook ya up!

:)

Crazy shrieking boy!

Travis is asleep in his swing right now. I woke up, and he kinda did too... I nursed him, and he fell asleep again. Usually his nap is around 10:30... but I guess it's gonna be screwy today. I should really be picking up the clutter right now.... returning things to their proper places... but I'm not. Ha!

Maybe he's exhausted himself. Silly boy... he started shrieking last night. Over and over and OVER again. Shrieeeeeek!! Smile... Shrieeeeeek!! Smile... That's how it went. The kind of loud piercing sound that breaks glass. Or makes mommies want to run away from home...

Usually he only does it when he's in the swing and wants out. But he was doing it in his Bumbo, on the couch, and in daddy's lap while he was watching "Tilt". He was doing it on the changing table and all through his diaper change. It's like he just realized he has lungs. Yikes.

He started doing it while we were sitting down to dinner last night. I couldn't take it anymore! I moved his swing in front of the television, put in a Baby Einstein DVD, and we ate our Panko and Pecorino fried chicken, au gratin potatoes and garlic green beans in almost complete silence while listening to the relaxing sounds of Baby Mozart.

Thank goodness for Julie Aigner-Clark. Dinner is saved!

Mommy Stylee

need to get myself together soon. I have Mommy Group in awhile, and ideally I'd like to leave the house by 11:30. Ha!

At least baby boy is dressed. Unless, of course he barfs like he's been known to do seconds before we depart to anywhere with no time to spare.

Yup.. it's clockwork I tell you!

I'm really liking my Moby Wrap!
We walked all over the other day... even on the beach where his stroller can't go! He likes it too, cause his big fat baby thighs don't fit into the Snugli anymore, and he hates the other front carrier I have... (I hate it too... it kills my back!)

I've elicited the funniest responses from people just from wearing him in it "Do you have a REAL baby in there?" (no, of course not... it's a FAKE baby!) to "Where can I get one of those?" Here ya go!
to "Is that baby okay? He looks squished!" (Yes, he's fine, thanks, and he had A LOT less room than this while he was incubating! Also, he's not upside down anymore!)

People are funny. I am one of those "AP" (attachment parenting) Mommies. I hate putting labels on myself, but that describes my parenting style. I'm not at all sanctimonious about what I choose to do, I just do it. I co-sleep, breastfeed on demand(even if that demand is in public! AND in restaurants!) I "wear" or hold Travis 18+ hours a day. I don't let him "cry it out" and I don't think I'm spoiling him. (I have heard it from well-meaning family members, including my own mother.) I am a stay-at-home mommy. We have never been apart for more than an hour on a couple of occasions. (He was at home with daddy, asleep.) I use disposable diapers, even though I originally wanted to use cloth. (too much freaking trouble, for me at least.... and I can't afford a diaper service.) BUT, I don't plan to breastfeed or co-sleep until he's 3. AND, I also have no problem if that's what you want to do.
I also don't care whether others bottle or breastfeed, or put their kids in daycare, or whatever it is that they want or need to do.

I just want to do what I feel is best for my baby and my family, and let everyone else do the same for theirs.

Politics, baby Signs, and Bumbo.

Ahh. It's such a nice day again here! You'd almost think it was summer time!

I realized I never finished with what we did this weekend....

After the Pub Saturday night, we went to Gramma's for Trivial Persuit. I think my team won... I don't know if we ever finished or not... I got pretty tired. Around 11pm or so, we packed up, and left, and talked for another 1/2 hour (politics) on the way to the car. Bob & Laura are libbies.... no doubt about it, but we agree on a lot more than either side once thought. We are pretty Libertarian about a lot of stuff... ie: drug legalization, prostitution legalization, and some tax issues. But there is also A LOT we disagree on. At least we can all have a respectful, though-provoking conversation without it turning ugly and personal.

We decided to meet for brunch in the morning (sans Gramma)at our favorite family restaurant.

We went home and I nursed Travis, and we watched some Tivod stuff before going to bed.

I got up early, and puttered around reading my daily blogroll, and such. Then Laura called and said they were awake early, thanks to some inconsiderate people at the hotel, so could we meet early? We got it together pretty fast... in about 20 minutes, and met them downtown.

We had a wonderful breakfast, and walked down to the Wharf. More political discussions... walked down the rec trail talking about issues like gay marriage, etc. very interesting to get an "insiders view" of what the "other side" thinks... not just the echo-chamber of politics and the idea (for them) that all conservatives are hick-right-wing-intiolerant-bible-thumpers, and (for us) that all lefties are elitist-non-moral-commie-pinko-bastards. Well, of course that's not what we all think... but you get what I'm saying... the rash generalizations most of the time prove to be untrue... but the bit about the sqeaky wheels and all of that... you know what I mean. Right?

Anyway... after all of that we went to Borders. We talked some more, and Laura gave me this article on Baby Signs. I told her I though it was strange timing, because the Mother's Group I just joined was talking about starting on it.

I heard about it a few years ago... and it sounded so interesting. My Uncle actually taught my cousin ASL when she was very young... so I know it works. She stopped signing when she learned to talk, but it served its purpose.

Laura bought me the Sign with your Baby set with book, DVD, and sign chart. That was so nice of her.... I just wanted the book alone, but they didn't have it. Then I found the whole thing and it was $50. I said I wasn't going to get it... not for that much. She offered to go in halvsies with me, but she ended up buying it since all I had was a credit card, and we weren't going to make them split the bill up between both cards... not that they can, most likely. She said I can pay her back, but it doesn't seem like she meant it.

I have to say I'm not at all into "hot housing" babies. I just think it would be fun to communicate with T.J. before he can articulate verbally. Like, Hailey right now... she'll be 2 in may, and still only says a few words. She gets so frustrated because she wants to make sentences but she only knows words... and if she could sign, it would be so much better for her mom and dad to understand her.

I'm not into drills, and all of that with flashcards... or anything. If it's fun for both of us we'll do it. If it becomes not fun, or frustrating, we won't.

Like, Travis loves his Baby Einstein DVDs. He's just started really watching them in this last week. But I'm not trying to turn him into some super-brainy-baby-prodigy. I just like to be able to say... make dinner, or something without holding him all the time. He enjoys them, we enjoy them, that's all.

We got his Bumbo chair last night from onestepahead.com. I had heard about it about 6 months ago, while I was pregnant... but sadly, they were only available in the UK or South Africa. Now they are available here!

He loves it! He can nearly hold his head up all the way. We've been propping him up in the corner of the couch with pillows, but he always flops over. He doesn't like being on his back or tummy. He wants to sit up. Whoever invented the Bumbo is a genius!

That makes sense....

Wow, two entries in one day! When did that happen last??

I got back from my Mom's Group at around 3:30pm. Last week I thought the other babies appeared, well... more advanced than Travis. He's a big boy, so size isn't the issue. These kids are all crawling, sitting unassisted, rolling etc. I was told it was a 2-6 month old class.

Last week (my first week) we did an infant massage class before the Mom's Group class. The massage class went over into the Mom's Group by about an hour. So, I missed all the introductions, etc. This morning I arrived a bit early to get a feel for who was there, intros, etc. I started asking the woman on my right about her baby, who was starting to crawl. She said she was 8 1/2 months old. And she made a comment like "Oh, I think so-and-so has the youngest baby in the group." I looked over to who she was pointing to, and it turns out the sizable young lad she was referring to was 6 months old! I said, "Well, my baby is only turning 4 months this week. I think I'm in the wrong class!" It turns it was the 6-8 month old class. I was, in fact, in the wrong class.

There was a mix-up in the office, and they told me the wrong room, but the right time. The new group is very nice, and I already know one person because she's a patient at Erik's.

Very cool. The guest speaker was talking about introducing solids, and when, etc. I think some of my questions made her nervous. Hehe. I read far too much....

On another note, happiness is a new nursing bra! Except somehow mine has smashed banana on the center near the underwire... (Me trying to eat while nursing...)