Random thoughts

Like me, my son loves to eat. He gets so excited to eat that he can’t stop smiling.

Like his father, he gets so distracted by my beauty that sometimes he can’t even focus on the task at hand.

*****

This morning Chris made a confession.

Chris: There’s something I haven’t told you.

Me: What?

Chris: The cafeteria at the hospital sells containers of Blue Bell ice cream.

I would officially like to thank his meal points for my future dessert bliss.

*****

Scrubs and Underwear: A Memoir

While sorting laundry a few months ago, I commented to Chris that all we have are scrubs and underwear. He thought that would make a great title for my future memoir.

Really?

I sure hope my life doesn’t boil down to those two things.

*****

I tried to get back in the swing of things one morning this week by going for a jog. The first four minutes were feeling really great. Surprisingly. I haven’t run in about a year.

Then it got hot.

Then I couldn’t breathe.

I walked the rest of the way around the block, walked inside, and told Chris it was too hot.

Sadly, my legs were sore the next day.

12 weeks is a trimester

Twelve weeks ago (yesterday), we welcomed Miles into our family, and I am happy to say that we have survived the “fourth trimester.” It truly is amazing how different he is now as an almost three month old—again this infant aging schedule is a little weird.

The biggest news is that we broke his addiction to the blow dryer about a week ago. We used my blow dryer for nap time an night time, usually only leaving it on for the first 15 minutes, but occasionally for an entire nap or the first hour of night-time. It truly was like a drug to him. As soon as we turned it on, his eyes would get droopy, and he would stop crying.  We still swaddle him to keep his arms from knocking his binkie out of his mouth, but someday he might experience true freedom with his hands out.

I think he is getting more consistent, but every time I say that out loud, he decides to cry for an hour before falling asleep. He is only waking up once at night, which I am really happy about. But my favorite new sleep development is the smiling I get when he wakes up instead of screaming.

And I know that I might be biased, but I’m pretty sure he is the cutest baby ever.

Five Years

Today marks five years that Chris and I have been married. I remember when we were engaged and first married thinking that people who had been married five years must really have it figured out. I guess.

Here we were five years ago (and we thought we were tired then):

Four years ago (the paper anniversary—I made Chris a photo album of our first year; he made me paper flowers):

Three years ago (the cotton anniversary—we bought the clothes we are wearing in the picture):

Two years ago (the leather anniversary—we “gave” each other a fake leather chair)

One year ago (the fruit and flowers anniversary—I got him some Juju fruits):

And, today (the wood anniversary--we didn’t even try):

 

It’s been a busy five years, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Here’s hoping that the next five years bring us more of everything (except weight….did anyone else notice my fat arm in this picture? It’s got to be carrying-the-baby-muscle, right?).

Ice Cream or Hot Chocolate?

 

Chris and I have been working on a night-time routine to help Miles, and part of that routine is taking a walk around the neighborhood with the dog before bath time. We don’t always do this because it is usually 90 degrees and like 70 % humidity, but we try.

On tonight’s walk, we were on the sidewalk that butts up to an apartment complex. (Side note: there are two streets that are supposed to connect our two “neighborhoods” that have been blocked off. At first, we weren’t sure if we were trying to keep them out or if they were trying to keep us out. We know now. It’s us trying to keep them out.) Driving around in their parking lots was an ice cream truck playing “Do, Re, Mi” from The Sound of Music. I thought it an odd choice for ice cream, but I sang a few bars anyhow.

The next song?

“O, Come All Ye Faithful.”

Followed by “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Chris thought maybe the driver gets really sick of the same songs. Perhaps. But I know hearing Christmas carols definitely does not put me in the mood for ice cream.

But hot chocolate I could do if it wouldn't make me absolutely melt.

The Return

I haven’t mentioned this before because I was holding out hope, but Jem ran away over four weeks ago. This cat really wanted to be an outside cat, so he was always trying to get out of opened doors. When all of our family was in town, I made it a point to describe the house rule: never leave a door open because the cat will get out.

And he did. But not because of my family. It was me.

You see, the Sunday that Miles was blessed, I was in a bit of a hurry. Chris and I had been rushing around trying to get ourselves and the baby ready for church early enough that we could arrive at the building about 20 minutes before the meeting started.

That clearly wasn’t going to happen. Frustrations were high. Words were said. Chris left without me.

My mom sent him to church in her car so that he could meet his family there. I was to come with baby and grandparents in our car. By the time we were leaving,  I was really rushing. So much so that I think I left the garage door open just a few seconds too long.

When we got home from church, I couldn’t find the cat anywhere. We all looked in every possible location. My mom even tried calling to him outside, not realizing that this cat liked to run.

There were a few incidents when we all thought we heard the cat meowing. As it turns out, when kids scream at the pool across the street, it sounds strikingly similar to cats.

After about a week, I didn’t think we would see him again. I gave him as much time to turn up as I did Chris’s phone.

(Side note: Chris was convinced he had lost his phone. After a week, we went to Verizon and dropped some good money to get Chris a new droid and an additional line to make it complicated, but cheaper. The NEXT day, I was vacuuming in the bedroom and found the old phone on the floor under the bed. Next to the nightstand where it charged every night. You’re kidding me? He never thought to check there???)

Anyway, after a week or so, we packed up all of our cat stuff.

But today, I received a call from a vet’s office in town. They said that someone had brought in our cat today.

And as it turns out, Jem had been living up the street. One of our neighbors from one street over brought the cat back. He said that the cat had been living on their street for a while. All of the neighbors were feeding him. This guy took him in a couple of days ago.

Chris wasn’t thrilled to have the cat back. He may have even tried to convince this guy to keep it. It was nice to be able to leave doors open. It was nice to not change litter, etc.

But the cat has returned. More mellow, but he is back.

under construction

I was trying to rearrange some thing on my blog and things got out of control. I'm not happy with the changes, but will have to wait until the baby is in bed.

Isn’t it ironic?

I’m pretty sure it is, but ever since that stupid Alanis Morissette song, my idea of irony has been clouded. It isn’t really ironic to have a black fly in your chardonnay, just unfortunate. But that’s a different post altogether.

What I really want to tell you about is our dog’s new fear: mockingbirds.

Why is that ironic, you say; well because our dog is named for Scout, the protagonist of the greatest American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird (which celebrates its 50th year in publication this year). In the novel, Scout is taught by her father, Atticus, that it’s a sin to shoot a mockingbird because all they do is sing…a great lesson about true innocence.

A few days ago, I took Scout out behind our townhouse to do her business. She loves to run around back there, always hoping to catch a bird or a rabbit. While she was sniffing around under a tree, she was dive-bombed by a mockingbird. I didn’t see the bird at first, but I was pretty sure that she was scared as she quickly ran over to me and Miles for protection. A few minutes later, she was going to her usual spot to do her business, when that bird flew down low again to scare her, and then sat on the telephone wire above her head, mocking her.

Ever since then, she refuses to run to her usual spot. She stays very close to me or Chris, always checking over her shoulder for the bird. The bird that now follows her every time she goes out.

Not the greatest picture, but you can see the mockingbird sitting on the telephone wire.

 

This isn’t the first case of Scout being a little scared of things. In fact, in a true case of irony according to Chris, our next dog will be brave, but be named Chicken. He always reminds Scout that “Chicken won’t be scared of that, Scout.”

I like to eat words

My words, specifically.

Remember when I said that this motherhood thing was all feeling very natural, and that I didn’t feel the need to read all of those routine/sleep training books? Well as it turns out, I was very wrong. I’m pretty sure that Miles wasn’t getting enough sleep because I wasn’t really working on giving him naps…when he fell asleep, he fell asleep. His naps were very short and irregular. He was getting rather fussy. I kept telling Chris that he as a great baby, but just not at times when Chris was home. But really, I think he was exhausted.

First I read On Becoming Babywise because it had been recommended by several people that I know and trust. This is what helped me to realize that he was probably tired. So I started to put him down more regularly for naps, stretching his feeding times from 2 hours to 3. For two days, it worked fabulously. He would cry for about ten minutes, I would go put the binky back in his mouth, and he would fall asleep. He was sleeping for much longer, too. We were amazed.

Then it stopped working.

Then I read parts of  Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child because it came recommended by several people that I know and trust, including our pediatrician. It said a lot of the same things as Babywise, but also talked about this scary thing called “Extinction.” For those of you not in-the-know, this is when you don’t respond to baby’s crying (when you know it isn’t something like needing to be nursed, burped, or changed). But the book is really long. I don’t have time for really long books, so I’m not sure I was getting all of the information. Am I supposed to be using extinction for naps or just for night waking? Am I supposed to start sleep-training now or when he is older? Am I supposed to comfort him and rock him to sleep or am I supposed to let him figure it out.

I was feeling rather overwhelmed.

But after two days of feeling inadequate, I came to my senses and decided to just do what works for now. I came to this realization after talking with Chris a bit about it, and after he let me go shopping sans baby one afternoon. It’s amazing what a little bit of time away can do.

And I guess it’s all worth it for this little guy. He’s trying so hard to decide if he wants to suck his thumb…and I kind of hope that he does because he can put it back in himself when it falls out.