Muppets for everybody!

Haha!
For those of you who follow the AAP recommendations for kids and TV, here is a tiny parade in your honor: (guy with baton/band/clowns/monkey on tricycle/elephant/tiny people with balloons).
As for me, I have decided to introduce Adrian to the wonder and miracle that is the Muppet Show. And this is what I have learned from watching with him:
1. Standing while watching Muppets is good. Sitting is completely unacceptable. Dancing is allowed, but not to every musical number.
2. Skits are a waste of time. Musical numbers are the only thing worth watching.
3. Harry Belafonte=good. Linda Ronstadt= not so much.

Adrian especially enjoys the Banana Boat song.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaay-Oh!

Update: 5 months!

(photo) All hail the exersaucer!

Dear Adrian;

This month you have decided to assert yourself. Good for you. Now all you have to do is learn the English language to a rudimentary degree so that your assertions don't sound like this: yeaeeeeaeaeaeaeaeaeagh. Who taught you to be so loud? So very very loud? And how do you scream for two hours without breathing? Last week you were so angry when I put you in your own bed for naptime that you screamed for 2 hours, even after I took you out of your bed. I had to call your father to come home, and then vacuum while wearing earplugs so that I didn't melt into a puddle on the floor. If you could put "learn to talk" on your 'to do' list that would be super. I think we'll teach you to complain in an English accent so that when you hit the stage where nothing is agreeable at least we'll find it amusing: "Mummy, I simply cannot stand another morning of cheerios. I find them repulsive."

But it's not been all screams this month. You're actually quite charming when you're not bored or angry--your bored vocalization sounds like a very determined pig grunt. The other day I decided (on a whim, b/c I'm like that) to bunny hop across the room to where your father was holding you and you thought this was so funny I got a full belly laugh from you. And I have to tell you that laugh made me completely forgive you for all the loud screaming. Of course nothing is funny two days in a row so your father and I are trying every day to elicit a full laugh from you by being the most ridiculous human beings we can be. Today I discovered that the first verse of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is funny. The second verse and chorus are not.

We've decided to invest in an Exersaucer for you, which you seem to enjoy. And what's not to love? The standing, the twirling, the spinney plastic bit that goes clackita-clackita-clackita. Best of all, it makes you look like you're at the helm of a really wicked space ship. Following in your father's footsteps...well, the footsteps of his daydreams. (The man would move to a colony on Mars if they asked)

You've also taken to eating foods not produced by me: rice cereal, oatmeal, and squash. You really enjoy the squash. And we really enjoy the squash because we give it to you before bedtime and it makes you sleep for 7-8 hours. You’re still putting up a fight before sleep, and I have to ask: what gives? You’re always so happy after naptime, and a high holy terror beforehand. I promise that we're not doing anything interesting while you sleep. So GO TO SLEEP.

We love you, little man. Every day is an adventure with you.

Love you,
Mama

Nothing says Spring like...

Nothing says Spring like babies and bunnies. So here, for your viewing pleasure, is a little of both.

(photo) This is my bunny. 

(photo) Tasty bunny. 

Happy dance!

We've done it!
Okay, we've half-way done it.
Adrian now sleeps in his own bed for naps and bed time! He still needs to nurse to sleep, but BABY STEPS people. He's only 4 3/4 months old.
You know what this accomplishment has done? (Besides making me feel like I'm not too bad at this whole mom-thing)
GIVEN ME TIME!!!
I now have time! Last night after he went to bed I cleaned the kitchen--I was going to work in my studio, but Aaron had a traumatic roach incident earlier that evening so we decided to scrub down the kitchen and create a less friendly environment for the grossest bugs in the world. SO GROSS.

As a matter of fact, that's where Adrian is now: napping.
Hooray for a baby that sleeps in his own bed! Hooray for time!

Update: after typing this post, Adrian decided to stay awake for 4.5 hours and scream at me for 3 of those hours.
Aren't children great?

(photo) Spit bubbles and all. 

Happy Spring!

Here is a post of totally random thoughts! (Don't you feel lucky?)

We've been trying to get Adrian to fall asleep by himself in his bed. He hates it. I'm sure some of you are wondering why this is happening now and not, say, 4 months ago when he was first born. The answer...the honest answer is that I am lazy. When a baby wakes twice in the middle of the night to eat, it is soooo much easier to roll over and feed him rather than get up and go get him and feed him and then put him back to bed. Plus there's all that hoopla about constant contact helping baby to develop his own biorhythms and whatnot. But mostly, the cosleeping, it's because I'm lazy. So, yeah, he hates being put in his bed to fall asleep on his own. Screams at us--and if he had the vocabulary, I'm fairly certain we'd need to have a talk with him about his language. Now bed time and nap times are SO MUCH FUN! I simply can't contain myself! And really, the whole thing is my fault, so boy do I feel dumb. But do you know how snuggly newborn babies are? It's irresistible. I'm a snuggle addict. I need the snuggles--can't get enough of the lovely closeness and snuggly bits. You can ask Aaron--it drives him nuts. I've always been like this, though. I'm fairly certain it drove my parents nuts as well.
Speaking of parents (how was that for a segue?), this week they are visiting relatives in the south. (Hey y'all!) I was hoping to be able to go with and show off my husband and my baby, but Aaron's schedule just wouldn't allow for it. He hasn't yet signed out on leave, and therefore can't leave town; not to mention all of this interviewey stuff he has to do so that he can get a new job. So that we can leave Oklahoma.
And I'll have to say that when I was growing up, I never thought to myself "one day I'll live in Oklahoma"--but here I am. I did make plans with an elementary school friend to move to Florida and live in a condom*, but that never happened either. It's funny how life sort of drags you along behind it.
Spring! It's right around the corner, and usually I would be picking out which vegetables to plant and then watch wither in the 100+ degree heat. However, we will be moving before anything blooms or fruits so I guess maybe I'll just dream about the garden I could be ignoring. Complete with tomatoes that get eaten by obnoxious birds nesting in my neighbor's pear tree. Stupid birds.
Stupid Birds! (this post goes on forever, doesn't it?)
There are some stupid birds that have decided to renovate the front of our house. At least they sound like tiny contractors outside of our window every morning--if I didn't know better I'd swear they have hammers. I'm not sure what it is they are doing (other than being loud and torturing the cats), but they are punctual and obnoxious. I'm half tempted to put a rubber snake out there to scare them off.
That's all for now...

* We were 8. Condo, condom...it could happen to anybody.

P.S.-- I've created a new blog for all things arty in my life. If you're interested, you can find it here.

Laundry Math

I put 6 pairs of socks into the washing machine. I pull out 3 1/2 pairs of socks.
What gives?

(photo) Monkey baby! 

Loud toys are the worst.

Loud toys are the worst. Especially the loud toys that are placed in the crib during play time and unthoughtfully left there, thus waking baby when you put him in the crib for sleepy time.
I'm forgetful.
Also, what's with all of these noise-making toys having only one volume? The settings are as follows: off and UNBELIEVABLY LOUD. It's as if the volume has been set for use in a home for the hard of hearing; or maybe the manufacturers have decided to make toys that can be heard over the commonplace drone of the TV.
Either way, I don't see the appeal of PLAYING WITH TOYS THAT SOUND LIKE THIS ALL DAY LONG. What happened to the fine-tuning of one's own sound effects?

In other news, Adrian's favorite color appears to be yellow. At the grocery store, he lunges for things packaged in yellow: yoohoo, iced tea mix, bananas (you get the idea). I'm not sure where this affinity will take us, or even how long it'll last, but it's pretty convenient to know that I can hand him something yellow to keep the fussiness at bay.

And to toot my own horn: I made blueberry muffins (from scratch) this morning while Adrian was in his highchair*, playing with toys. So (toot) I can bake (toot) while my baby is awake (toot toot) and Aaron sleeps in.
thank you, that is all.

*spell check believes that highchair should be "hijacker". Silly computer.

eeeeeew and a shout-out

After a 5 day hiatus, Adrian pooped. It shot out of his diaper and up his back, so a bath was in order. And how come nobody mentions the explosive qualities of baby poo until it's too late to send 'em back?

(Now for the eeeeeew)
Why do Adrian's poops smell like mothballs? It's not like he eats mothballs, or anything mothball-related. And unless he has a rocket-powered jet pack, he's not going down to the store and helping himself to mothballs there either. At any rate, it makes him smell like an old man.

And the shout-out:
To my wonderful husband for dealing with the poop situation.
To Linkin Park and Jay-Z for putting the world's fussiest baby* to sleep.
Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

* Yeah, 2 weeks ago, someone flipped Adrian's fussy switch to "on" and I can't get it to switch back to "off". This was at the same time that he stopped sleeping from 10pm to 4am and switched to sleeping from 10pm to 2am to 4:30am to 7am. What happened to my good baby? Where did this grunty, grumpy, old-man impersonator come from?

APB

We're putting out an APB, you know, like they do on those cop shows. The person we're looking for is 2.5 inches in height, with an olive drab complexion.
GREEN ARMY MAN has gone missing. I guess he's technically a member of the military you could even say he's gone AWOL. Adrian and Aaron do not seem to be as concerned about this as I am, but dude? Little plastic men do not just disappear.

(photo) So that's what a spoon is for... 

(photo) Adrian and rice cereal. 

(photo) Adrian sits! 

Update: 4 months!

Dear Adrian;

You, with the screaming, knock it off. That's right. You've discovered that screaming is a sure way to get our attention, and I'm here to tell you that there are other ways. Ways that don't make me want to go around with cotton stuffed in my ears. To sum up: if you can see me, you don't need to yell.
This month has been lots of fun for you, as you are slowly beginning to gain mastery over your body. You can take off your socks by rubbing your feet together, which has earned you the name "sockless wonder". If we place you in a seated position, you can hold yourself up with your arms--I call it your "gorilla sit" because you do look quite like a gorilla. You're able to reach out and grab things with an 85% accuracy rate--which makes drinking out of a glass around you challenging. I've taken to using a straw, placing the glass on a counter, holding you on the opposite hip and leeeeeaning in to drink. Antelopes near croc-infested waters don't have to go through this much trouble. You're also starting to regulate your schedule and you've become fairly reliable: morning nap, midday naplet, afternoon nap. Your naps are 2-2 1/2 hours each and your naplet is half an hour to 45 minutes.
Today we went to the doctor for your 4 month check up and vaccinations. You're 15 pounds and 3 ounces--you officially weigh more than the cats (individually, not combined). Good job!
The pediatrician said that we could start you on rice cereal...so we did. And boy are you a fan! I'm not sure if it's the cereal, eating with a spoon, or just the new experience but you were lunging for that spoon like your life depended on it. I wasn't sure that you would be ready for it, but you've proven me wrong.
You've also displayed a crow-like affinity for shiny things: zippers, brass switch plates, jewelry. And you love to look in the mirror--at yourself, at us, at Lunchbox (who also enjoys the mirror).
The cats fascinate you. About 2 weeks ago we were all hanging out in the kitchen, you were in your dad's arms, and Jack came trotting through and you just laughed and laughed. If a cat walks through the room, you'll stop what you're doing and maneuver your body so you can watch the cat until it vanishes from your line of sight. I've taken this and turned it into a game called "let's follow Lunchbox"--it's played by following Lunchbox around the house until she stops walking, sits, and stares at us. I don't think she's as amused by it as you are.
My favorite thing is your smile when you see me--I'd do just about anything to see that smile... Lucky for me all it takes is to kiss those sweet kissable cheeks of yours.
I can't wait to see what you do next!
Love,
Mama
P.S.-- Sorry if this seems scatterbrained--you kept me up most of last night with your fussing (you were gassy). I tend to become unfocused with a lack of sleep.