Dexter's got all his Hokie gear. So he's definitely ready to go to college this fall!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A Rainy Tuesday
We've been spoiled here in Maryland with nice spring weather. Dexter and I have been spending lots of play time out in the back yard. CoCo comes out with us sometimes, when she is not snoring. But not today. Today spring is back with a vengeance (really? Is that how you spell vengeance?), with cold rain, no sun - good day for a nap!
Speaking of naps - I was beginning to think that my boy was a weirdo - 30 minutes of naps at a time, and none of this "Oh, my 2 month old sleeps for two hours - doesn't yours?" crap. Then I re-read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" which says that at about 4 months of age a child's brain develops enough so that he can start to consolidate his daytime sleep. So naps start to develop. Starting with the morning nap. AND - in the past week or so Dexter has been doing just that. Sleep 30 minutes in the morning, wake up, suck thumb for a while, go back to sleep. HA! Take that! My kid just may be NORMAL! All y'all with the sleeping kids - YOU are the weirdos! ;-)
Dex weighed in at 14 lbs 15 oz this morning at lactation group. Judging by the amount of poop in his diaper this morning, had he weighed in before breakfast he'd have been over 17 pounds...
I get competitive at lactation group. Quietly so, but still. Competitive. Silly, right? I'm all checking out everyone else's weights to see how big their baby is. 14 pounds? HA! My baby will kick your baby's ass. Only ate 4 ounces? HA! My kid just guzzled 7! Your baby was 25 inches at his last doctor appt? HA! Mine is currently 7 feet tall. Your kid only sleeps on your chest at night? HA! Mine sleeps in his own room. The DOG may sleep on my chest, though... I, of course, don't actually say any of these things. Probably for the best.
On Thursday last week I was chatting with Christie and I told her something to the effect of "I am taking a baby and a dog to volleyball tonight. I may want to shoot myself when I get home." And then off we went to John's work to watch our team play volleyball. And? It went way better than I thought it would. The baby was great. Ate well, kind of went to sleep in his car seat, played nicely. The dog? Well, the dog was a pain in the ass. THIS is why I didn't take her to volleyball at all last year. Now I remember. It's because I can no longer yell at the begging, annoying dog because she is DEAF. So when she wanders over to another group of people, begging pizza crust, I have to go get her and poke her and make her come back. Also - she is a sissy. By the end of the night she was shivering with cold. Remind me next spring to leave her shaggy coat on til about July... So - this week Dex and I will go to volleyball. I may actually even play. And CoCo? Well, CoCo will stay home. Which she's fine with. Volleyball disrupts her evening nap.
I used to make fun of people waiting in line at the drive-through at McDonald's. Why not park your car and walk your lazy butt inside to order? And then I had a baby. Who sleeps in the car. I now hit every drive-through place I can think of. What I really want? A drive-through candy store. Someplace where I can get M&M's, and maybe a bottle of water, without taking the sleeping baby out of the car. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Will they let me carry on a backpack with a laptop and a camera, plus another backpack with a breast pump, on the airplane? Where, pray tell, shall I pump in the airport? Or in the plane? I can't imagine sitting in the airplane bathroom for 15 minutes, pumping away, while someone waits in line doing the pee-pee dance.
Pssst. Chatty baby. GO TO SLEEP!!
Double fisting the toys
Happy Memorial Day, Dex! We celebrated by eating hush puppies at the Promenade Grill.
Happy Moo-morial Day, Dex! We celebrated by eating ice cream at Bomboys.
John's idea of funny. If you stick the ball on to the baby's foot, he can't drop it on the ground...
Just cuz there's a ball on my foot - doesn't mean I can't play with the other foot, too!
Speaking of naps - I was beginning to think that my boy was a weirdo - 30 minutes of naps at a time, and none of this "Oh, my 2 month old sleeps for two hours - doesn't yours?" crap. Then I re-read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" which says that at about 4 months of age a child's brain develops enough so that he can start to consolidate his daytime sleep. So naps start to develop. Starting with the morning nap. AND - in the past week or so Dexter has been doing just that. Sleep 30 minutes in the morning, wake up, suck thumb for a while, go back to sleep. HA! Take that! My kid just may be NORMAL! All y'all with the sleeping kids - YOU are the weirdos! ;-)
Dex weighed in at 14 lbs 15 oz this morning at lactation group. Judging by the amount of poop in his diaper this morning, had he weighed in before breakfast he'd have been over 17 pounds...
I get competitive at lactation group. Quietly so, but still. Competitive. Silly, right? I'm all checking out everyone else's weights to see how big their baby is. 14 pounds? HA! My baby will kick your baby's ass. Only ate 4 ounces? HA! My kid just guzzled 7! Your baby was 25 inches at his last doctor appt? HA! Mine is currently 7 feet tall. Your kid only sleeps on your chest at night? HA! Mine sleeps in his own room. The DOG may sleep on my chest, though... I, of course, don't actually say any of these things. Probably for the best.
On Thursday last week I was chatting with Christie and I told her something to the effect of "I am taking a baby and a dog to volleyball tonight. I may want to shoot myself when I get home." And then off we went to John's work to watch our team play volleyball. And? It went way better than I thought it would. The baby was great. Ate well, kind of went to sleep in his car seat, played nicely. The dog? Well, the dog was a pain in the ass. THIS is why I didn't take her to volleyball at all last year. Now I remember. It's because I can no longer yell at the begging, annoying dog because she is DEAF. So when she wanders over to another group of people, begging pizza crust, I have to go get her and poke her and make her come back. Also - she is a sissy. By the end of the night she was shivering with cold. Remind me next spring to leave her shaggy coat on til about July... So - this week Dex and I will go to volleyball. I may actually even play. And CoCo? Well, CoCo will stay home. Which she's fine with. Volleyball disrupts her evening nap.
I used to make fun of people waiting in line at the drive-through at McDonald's. Why not park your car and walk your lazy butt inside to order? And then I had a baby. Who sleeps in the car. I now hit every drive-through place I can think of. What I really want? A drive-through candy store. Someplace where I can get M&M's, and maybe a bottle of water, without taking the sleeping baby out of the car. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Will they let me carry on a backpack with a laptop and a camera, plus another backpack with a breast pump, on the airplane? Where, pray tell, shall I pump in the airport? Or in the plane? I can't imagine sitting in the airplane bathroom for 15 minutes, pumping away, while someone waits in line doing the pee-pee dance.
Pssst. Chatty baby. GO TO SLEEP!!
Double fisting the toys
Happy Memorial Day, Dex! We celebrated by eating hush puppies at the Promenade Grill.
Happy Moo-morial Day, Dex! We celebrated by eating ice cream at Bomboys.
John's idea of funny. If you stick the ball on to the baby's foot, he can't drop it on the ground...
Just cuz there's a ball on my foot - doesn't mean I can't play with the other foot, too!Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sunshine and Smiles
It's been a fun couple days for Dexter and I. Gorgeous weather, fun stuff to play with.
I just started using my exersaucer. I can't quite sit up in it yet, but I'm ok with that.
All these toys attached to the exersaucer, and I am chewing on Leon, my favorite toy that Dad likes to hate.
Mom caught half a smile from me. Damn! How'd she trick me like that?
Tricked me again! Note how I am SO not looking at the camera. Mom has to trick me by putting the camera on something, then sitting next to it and making ridiculous faces at me. And then I laugh at her and Mom tries to push the shutter button quickly.
Ummmm. Mom? You're insane.
Sweet! This brown fuzzy thing has cool hangy-down toys that I can grab on to and play with!
Mom and I must be related. We're making exactly the same face. It's the "why the hell are you taking THAT picture" face.
Do you think I look mildly E.T.-ish when Mom tickles my neck and makes it stretch out? E.T. phone home! Also - check it out! I appear to be growing a chin!
And then I erupted spit. Party over.
I just started using my exersaucer. I can't quite sit up in it yet, but I'm ok with that.
All these toys attached to the exersaucer, and I am chewing on Leon, my favorite toy that Dad likes to hate.
Mom caught half a smile from me. Damn! How'd she trick me like that?
Tricked me again! Note how I am SO not looking at the camera. Mom has to trick me by putting the camera on something, then sitting next to it and making ridiculous faces at me. And then I laugh at her and Mom tries to push the shutter button quickly.
Ummmm. Mom? You're insane.
Sweet! This brown fuzzy thing has cool hangy-down toys that I can grab on to and play with!
Mom and I must be related. We're making exactly the same face. It's the "why the hell are you taking THAT picture" face.
Do you think I look mildly E.T.-ish when Mom tickles my neck and makes it stretch out? E.T. phone home! Also - check it out! I appear to be growing a chin!
And then I erupted spit. Party over.No! Sleep! Til Brooklyn!
I think I say this every month. I love my girlfriends. I love our monthly gatherings at someone's house to "watch a movie." Or to sit around a table eating good food and having good conversations with fantastic people. This month we even got our butts off the chairs and played "Guitar Hero" on the Wii. Granted, this didn't happen til about 10:30 at night, after we had chatted for a good long while. But, I think we kicked butt on Guitar Hero. And by "we" I mean "everyone but me" because my hand-eye coordination skills are so lacking that I was pretty terrible at just being the foot pedal girl for the drums. For a really pretty easy Beastie Boys song. That was then stuck in my head the entire way home...
Before we begin playing, baby belly must be molested
The band and the groupies
The look of total concentration on my face - TO PRESS A DAMN FOOT PEDAL! - is priceless. Hand-eye coordination and I do not get along well.
Before we begin playing, baby belly must be molested
The band and the groupies
The look of total concentration on my face - TO PRESS A DAMN FOOT PEDAL! - is priceless. Hand-eye coordination and I do not get along well.As all this happened at about 11:30 at night... I seriously needed a nap the next day. I have NO idea how Dexter napped on Tuesday. But me? I napped GREAT!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Off to College
Dexter is now reading. Tomorrow he is filling out his college application, and we expect to send him off to school in August. Virginia Tech, of course...
This reading thing takes deep thought and concentration
Uh-oh. Losing focus! Dexter! More reading, less playing with fingers!
My reading skills are so fantabulous that I can even read upside-down
Ah, to hell with the reading. Let's actually ENJOY this book!
This reading thing takes deep thought and concentration
Uh-oh. Losing focus! Dexter! More reading, less playing with fingers!
My reading skills are so fantabulous that I can even read upside-down
Ah, to hell with the reading. Let's actually ENJOY this book!Filly Power
I was back to work for two days this week. Not my real job. Just working at Pimlico for Preakness. Honestly, this whole working thing is for the birds. It's way more fun staying home.
John's always entertained by the stories I bring home from Preakness. On Friday I am the trophy bitch, so I hand trophies over to relatively famous people. At least famous in the racing world. Last year I gave a trophy to some guy who was a child acting star - maybe from the Partridge Family? I have no idea who he was, but everyone was all ga-ga over him. Whatever. He was short. His filly ran a good race, though. This year I was in the winners circle with one of the NBC anchors who hosted the Preakness show on TV. I walked in on an interview with D. Wayne Lucas and with Bob Baffert. And I gave trophies to Larry Jones and Steve Assmussen (he trained the filly who won the Preakness on Saturday). Saturday I told the local news anchors we watch on TV that they couldn't come in to my tent. The Governor of Maryland was in my tent. There were 70 people in the Mine That Bird group in my tent, dressed in their best blue jeans and cowboy hats. In that same tent? Rick Porter (Delaware car dealership owner) dressed in a red jacket and a blue bow tie. I wandered past the tent where band members from the group "Buckcherry" were eating lunch. I did not, unfortunately, see ZZ Top. Bummer!
John and Dex had a good couple days together. John is now sympathizing with my frustration at Dexter's lack of napping, which makes him cranky and fussy (Dexter, not John. Although, maybe John, too). And the lack of time to get anything substantial done. Excellent. Now I won't feel like such a slacker when I get NOTHING done all day.
Two days of being away from the baby, pumping irregularly and not nursing, seems to have brought back another bout of mastitis. Fun! So at least part of my day tomorrow will be spent at the doctor getting a prescription, and at Wal-Mart filling it.
Mom and a naked boy do tummy time. Somehow, Mom can roll over, and Dexter still can't. At least not with any regularity.
Dexter the contortionist while eating. John spends much time fending off hands and feet that threaten to hit the bottle out of Dexter's mouth.
John's always entertained by the stories I bring home from Preakness. On Friday I am the trophy bitch, so I hand trophies over to relatively famous people. At least famous in the racing world. Last year I gave a trophy to some guy who was a child acting star - maybe from the Partridge Family? I have no idea who he was, but everyone was all ga-ga over him. Whatever. He was short. His filly ran a good race, though. This year I was in the winners circle with one of the NBC anchors who hosted the Preakness show on TV. I walked in on an interview with D. Wayne Lucas and with Bob Baffert. And I gave trophies to Larry Jones and Steve Assmussen (he trained the filly who won the Preakness on Saturday). Saturday I told the local news anchors we watch on TV that they couldn't come in to my tent. The Governor of Maryland was in my tent. There were 70 people in the Mine That Bird group in my tent, dressed in their best blue jeans and cowboy hats. In that same tent? Rick Porter (Delaware car dealership owner) dressed in a red jacket and a blue bow tie. I wandered past the tent where band members from the group "Buckcherry" were eating lunch. I did not, unfortunately, see ZZ Top. Bummer!
John and Dex had a good couple days together. John is now sympathizing with my frustration at Dexter's lack of napping, which makes him cranky and fussy (Dexter, not John. Although, maybe John, too). And the lack of time to get anything substantial done. Excellent. Now I won't feel like such a slacker when I get NOTHING done all day.
Two days of being away from the baby, pumping irregularly and not nursing, seems to have brought back another bout of mastitis. Fun! So at least part of my day tomorrow will be spent at the doctor getting a prescription, and at Wal-Mart filling it.
Mom and a naked boy do tummy time. Somehow, Mom can roll over, and Dexter still can't. At least not with any regularity.
Dexter the contortionist while eating. John spends much time fending off hands and feet that threaten to hit the bottle out of Dexter's mouth.Thursday, May 14, 2009
Things I've Gotta Write Down Before I Forget
I've always been like that. I can't remember a darn thing without writing it down. In college, I'd re-write my notes to study for a test because writing things down made me remember. Now I just write stuff on the back of my hand. One day they will discover that pen ink causes cancer or something, and my left hand will fall off...
Anyway, as I am not keeping a baby book of any kind, this is kind of my baby book. So I need to write some things down before I forget. And then we'll just hope that the internets don't spontaneously explode, deleting any and all baby memories I have. Such as:
Over the weekend Dex was staying in our room, where we have a full length mirror. I was holding him and stepped in front of the mirror. And smiled. And he was so cute - smiled right back at me, in the mirror.
A few weeks ago nursing got lots better and less painful for me when I decided to stop trying to hold Dexter's head to my boob, but rather just lay him on my arm and let him figure it out. He is surprisingly good at figuring it out. It's almost like he's been nursing for three months. Or something.
Nursing, however, takes FOREVER these days. Mr. ADD Child will nurse a bit, then look up at me and grin. Nurse a little more, look up and giggle. Nurse a little more, freak out because Dad sneezed. Good lord, child. How about you just EAT?
Dexter is becoming more tolerant of tummy time. He'll go a good five minutes before screaming his head off. No more rolling over yet. But we practice, so I am sure he will do it again on his own, all in good time.
** As I am writing this post in stages today... This afternoon I gave Dex a bath, rolled him over on his tummy, and watched him roll himself right back. Woo-hoo! Two weeks later, we've figured it out again!
I tried a suggestion from my friend Michelle to try letting Dex fall asleep on his back, then roll him over to his tummy to see if that would extend his naps. The result, both times? He'd wake up at 30 minutes, pop his little head up, look around, and... immediately start screaming. Experiment failed! :-)
Yesterday's long napping was a complete fluke of nature. Today we are back to our predictable 30 minute naps. Actually, I do believe it was because he was going through a growth spurt on Tuesday and Wednesday. And all that growing tired him out. We'll see today at lactation group how much he grew.
** Insane amounts. On Tuesday he had gained 4.2 oz in 7 days. Today he had gained 3.5 oz in TWO days. He's up to 14 lbs 11 oz.
My mom said that at three months my sister and I both weighed over 15 pounds. What were you feeding us, Mom? Prime Rib?
Dex has been drooling like mad and chomping on anything he can get in his mouth. Pre-teething? Just drool? How do I know the difference?
In the "Holy Shit, That Worked?" category today - Dex just woke up after 30 minutes. I got him up, held him, sang his going to bed song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as it's the only song I know the words to...) and put him back down. And... he went back to sleep. Holy Shit! Similar things happened last week, but I actually got him up, played a little, changed his diaper, read, sang, and then put him back down. If this shortened version works, too, though - I'm all over it!
I own pre-pregnancy pants that still fit me! Hooray!! Now SHIRTS. That's a different story. I currently don't have much beyond tee shirts that will fit over my ginormous rack. So Dex and I need to do some shopping today, as I need something decent to wear to Preakness on Saturday. Yes - Preakness! I am working on Friday and Saturday at the track. Go, filly power! And I like the little horse who won the Derby, too. He and his trainer seem like laid-back kind of folks.
I bought a plane ticket to California!! :-) My cute friend Cristin is getting married in June. John and Dex are invited, too, but I am going solo. A break will be nice. Plus I didn't really want Dexter's first overnight trip to be on a plane to San Francisco. He probably would be fine. I would be a bit of a mess.
Carole (John's Mom) saves the day in my grumbling about not having any pictures of Dex and I on Mother's Day. Giving Carole a new camera was a good thing, we think. We always have LOTS and LOTS of photos from family gatherings! Although we may have created a bit of a monster, with Ms. Shutterbug.
Anyway, as I am not keeping a baby book of any kind, this is kind of my baby book. So I need to write some things down before I forget. And then we'll just hope that the internets don't spontaneously explode, deleting any and all baby memories I have. Such as:
Over the weekend Dex was staying in our room, where we have a full length mirror. I was holding him and stepped in front of the mirror. And smiled. And he was so cute - smiled right back at me, in the mirror.
A few weeks ago nursing got lots better and less painful for me when I decided to stop trying to hold Dexter's head to my boob, but rather just lay him on my arm and let him figure it out. He is surprisingly good at figuring it out. It's almost like he's been nursing for three months. Or something.
Nursing, however, takes FOREVER these days. Mr. ADD Child will nurse a bit, then look up at me and grin. Nurse a little more, look up and giggle. Nurse a little more, freak out because Dad sneezed. Good lord, child. How about you just EAT?
Dexter is becoming more tolerant of tummy time. He'll go a good five minutes before screaming his head off. No more rolling over yet. But we practice, so I am sure he will do it again on his own, all in good time.
** As I am writing this post in stages today... This afternoon I gave Dex a bath, rolled him over on his tummy, and watched him roll himself right back. Woo-hoo! Two weeks later, we've figured it out again!
I tried a suggestion from my friend Michelle to try letting Dex fall asleep on his back, then roll him over to his tummy to see if that would extend his naps. The result, both times? He'd wake up at 30 minutes, pop his little head up, look around, and... immediately start screaming. Experiment failed! :-)
Yesterday's long napping was a complete fluke of nature. Today we are back to our predictable 30 minute naps. Actually, I do believe it was because he was going through a growth spurt on Tuesday and Wednesday. And all that growing tired him out. We'll see today at lactation group how much he grew.
** Insane amounts. On Tuesday he had gained 4.2 oz in 7 days. Today he had gained 3.5 oz in TWO days. He's up to 14 lbs 11 oz.
My mom said that at three months my sister and I both weighed over 15 pounds. What were you feeding us, Mom? Prime Rib?
Dex has been drooling like mad and chomping on anything he can get in his mouth. Pre-teething? Just drool? How do I know the difference?
In the "Holy Shit, That Worked?" category today - Dex just woke up after 30 minutes. I got him up, held him, sang his going to bed song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as it's the only song I know the words to...) and put him back down. And... he went back to sleep. Holy Shit! Similar things happened last week, but I actually got him up, played a little, changed his diaper, read, sang, and then put him back down. If this shortened version works, too, though - I'm all over it!
I own pre-pregnancy pants that still fit me! Hooray!! Now SHIRTS. That's a different story. I currently don't have much beyond tee shirts that will fit over my ginormous rack. So Dex and I need to do some shopping today, as I need something decent to wear to Preakness on Saturday. Yes - Preakness! I am working on Friday and Saturday at the track. Go, filly power! And I like the little horse who won the Derby, too. He and his trainer seem like laid-back kind of folks.
I bought a plane ticket to California!! :-) My cute friend Cristin is getting married in June. John and Dex are invited, too, but I am going solo. A break will be nice. Plus I didn't really want Dexter's first overnight trip to be on a plane to San Francisco. He probably would be fine. I would be a bit of a mess.
Carole (John's Mom) saves the day in my grumbling about not having any pictures of Dex and I on Mother's Day. Giving Carole a new camera was a good thing, we think. We always have LOTS and LOTS of photos from family gatherings! Although we may have created a bit of a monster, with Ms. Shutterbug.
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