Party Dude

Boy howdy did we have a busy weekend, Friday night we went to meet Carter. He has a ton of dark hair and a very sweet face. Saturday we went to yoga and took a long walk with Adrienne, we borrowed her stroller. Uncle Ian came over after golf to see us and then we took off to Missoula to party at our Uncle Brian's new Clinton House.

We got to see all of our awesome Missoula uncles, Uncle Walt, Uncle Mikey, Uncle Brian, Uncle Heffe, Uncle Bad Brad and our mostest favorite, Auntie Liesel.We all stayed up way too late on Saturday night and had to relax at the Moogs on Sunday. It was an awesome Hawaiian Shirt kind of weekend.

Finally

The last of our baby friends was born on Tuesday evening. Helmet - er - I mean Carter is here! Finally Ed Jr. has another little boy to share all of his beautiful girlfriends with.

We made Carter's parents some yummy breakfast bars so we can go drop them off and hopefully sneak a peek at the newest Mr. Handsome.

That is it, none of the rest of our friends are pregnant - or at least as far as we know.

You be the judge

I am mildly obsessed with a few things - stop laughing Ed!

Sleep, actual time vs. perceived time and who Jr. looks like.

His momma.

Or his daddy?

I vote his daddy.

Happy Three Month Birthday!

Ahh The Laughter

Ed Jr. is a laughing fool these days. And to prove once again he is his daddy's boy, he loves to laugh at fart noises. To see if there was any of me in there, I tried explaining to him the hilarity of "How I Met Your Mother" last night. . .crickets, but if you make a fart noise, HILARIOUS.

The ceiling fan is also pretty funny. Don't quote me on this, but I may have seen Ed Sr. laugh at a ceiling fan once, yes I do believe there was whiskey involved.

Like the smiles, the laugh is very hard to capture on film. Here is our best attempt.




Ed Jr.'s recent milestones include reaching out for toys and grabbing them, rolling over from his stomach to back and grabbing his feet with his hands at his body's mid line.

Ed Jr. is also getting to be a BIG fan of baby massage. I signed up for a class where we go to learn how to massage babies. It is nice. He LOVES to have his feet rubbed. Face and head, not as much. According to the literature and videos we have to watch, infant massage helps him gain weight. Boy howdy is that working. He hasn't been weighed for a month, but if I was to guess, he weighs 16 HUNDRED POUNDS. In all seriousness, I bet he is weighing in at around 17 lbs. Heavy baby.

Tomorrow he will be 3 months old (13 weeks too!). When he was born and I was totally overwhelmed at how hard it was to care for a newborn, I kept saying to myself, I can't wait until he is 3 months old! He is going to be so awesome. At three months old, he is very awesome. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed every minute of his life, even when he screamed and screamed for a couple of hours when we first brought him home, I just knew that he would be a more social, more fun baby at 3 months and he is. When he smiles or laughs, I know he loves me. When he squirms his way over to snuggle with me in bed, I know he loves me. When he cries and I pick him up and he instantly quiets, I know he loves me. He loves his daddy too. That is what three months gets you, payback for all of your hard work.

12 Weeks

Or as long as it takes to recover from a temporary disability called pregnancy and childbirth.


Happy 12 week birthday to Ed Jr.


Unhappy return to work day for his mother.

I can't complain TOO much, at least I will only be part time, and until we can get a babysitter, part of my part time is from home. Still, since he was born I had hoped that something magical would happen to allow me to stay home with him full time. That magic moment has about 2 hours to happen. Waiting. . .

I can't say that before I was pregnant I ever would have considered being a stay at home mom, but then I had no idea what it was like to love some small child this much. Today for example, it was his first day watching Sesame Street, he loved it. I held him and we danced around to Oscar the Grouch singing a song about the Princess the Grouch. I feel like I am just hitting my mommy stride. I am just starting to get the hang of hanging clothes on the clothes line one handed, the other holding Jr. and keeping the sun out of his eyes.

No, I am not bored at home and no, I do not miss adult companionship, I am happy here. We are happy here.
I know that I will get used to going in to work again and my "maternity leave" will all seem like a distant memory. I am worried, however, that I forgot to kick back and enjoy it for all that it was worth. Perhaps putting my nose to the grindstone will cause me to remember these 12 weeks as the best in my life. How blessed I was to be able to take such a long time. How blessed I am to be able to afford to have this life in the first place.

Shouldn't you get flowers for having to go back to work, or something like that?

Bask in the Beauty

That is Adrienne Mabel.

Later Daddio!

Ed Sr. is leaving us for the weekend. Rafting in Idaho. I am sure he will have a blast. While Ed Jr. and I will be left holding down the fort. We are kind of sad about him leaving/not getting to go.

For me, it is hard to know what fun I am missing out on. For Ed Jr. it is sad, because weekends are when he gets a break from his mom and gets to spend some serious daddy time.

Last night I told Ed Sr. that I was 100% sure that I was going to get a super nice present for him leaving me at home alone this weekend. I can't wait to see what it is!

Look how big he is at 11 weeks versus 1 week.

Adrienne Mabel

She was born at 1:09 PM. She was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. According to her mom she is blonde.

Everyone is healthy and happy.

We are going to see her this afternoon. I am dying to see her! I am going to love that baby girl!

Waiting

We are waiting and waiting for Adrienne to be born. She is late! Her mom and dad are very anxious to hold that little girl in their arms. Our wait will soon be over. By my calculations, the latest she can be born is Thursday morning. They check into the hospital tonight.

All of our thoughts are with them.

Kung Fu Sleep Fighter

Ed Jr. has a love hate relationship with sleep - and it is driving his mom CRAZY! It is not like he doesn't get enough sleep, or sleeps too much, it is how hard he fights it.

Naps. He needs at least three a day, or so the experts tell us so. Here is the drill, tired and crying I get him to close his eyes, hang out with him until he is limp and then put him down. Instantly awake, sometimes mad, sometimes happy, but always awake. I try to get him back down to sleep and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. He will take a solid 2-3 hour nap if I hold him the entire time. So there is that. If he does 45 minutes unheld, I throw a parade. No, cars don't always work, they work SOMETIMES. No, walks don't always work, they work just until I park his stroller in the house and run to the bathroom.

I read books, I ask for advice, I am becoming obsessed with sleep, and those are just his naps.

I know, from personal trial and errors (of which there are many) that a well napped kid is easier to get to sleep than a tired one. Maybe this explains my obsession with the elusive power nap. We have been working toward a 8:00 PM bedtime. Most of this last week, he will happily oblige, as long as I (not we) hold him until 10 PM and then place ever so gently in his co-sleeper, genuflect 100 times, dance around in a circle and calculate Pi in my head.

As you may notice, I am blogging around midnight. What you don't know is that I am holding the king of kung fu sleep fighting in my lap while I type. His kung fu moves are powerful, kicks, punches, scratches and an occasional giggle, he is fighting off his sworn enemy, sleep. He did fall fast asleep at 8, but since we were at a house party, as we put him in his car seat to bring him home, he woke up and now, my friends, the real party can begin. Kung Fu Party. I know that in the morning my chest and his face will bear the battle scars of fighting off sleep, his nails are sharp, because I have to cut them while he sleeps. . .another story for another time.

So here we sit, me dreaming of sleep, him kung fooing it away. I know that I can't complain too much, I mean two weeks ago, he slept 7 hours in a row. My head almost exploded with joy. I called, texted and e-mailed all of my close friends, relatives and state and local representatives I was so excited. He has been pulling 6-7 hour stretches ever since. Yes, I am one of the lucky ones.

So, if you see me and ask me how I am doing and I babble on about naps, minutes, hours or stretches of sleep, just smile and tell me that we are doing well, that I am one of the lucky ones and that soon, we will worry about solid foods, grades, or girls.

Serious Business

Ed Jr. recently discovered that not only are his hands fun to play with, but they are TASTY DELICIOUS! All day (while awake) he has those hands going and going. He kind of reminds me of Mr. Burns from the Simpsons - Excellent! When not plotting with them, those hands are in fists pounding against the sky or jammed in his mouth.




Ed Jr. also likes to sit up these days. His days of laying flat on his back are OVER! He sits up in his mom's lap while she works on the computer or watches TV. As I type he is sitting up in his boppy, kicking my leg and yelling at me.

And to top off the Ed Jr. baby olympics, if you let him, he will use his legs to try to stand. If his pudgy body could just keep up with those legs - this kid would be walking for sure.

Jr. also had quite the weekend. Friday night we went to his Uncle Artie's wedding. He danced and danced with his Straganona. He also met another of his girlfriends, Allie. She is a week older than him and about half of his size. She is such a petite beautiful little thing.

Saturday Ed Jr.'s mom and dad drug him all over town to hang out his aunt Kim and uncle Jon who at the time of this post are still pregnant - and a little overdue. We know how they feel, don't we?

Sunday Ed Jr. and his mom jetted off to Great Falls to hang out with his Nanna and Papa. We were so lucky to have Aunt Lisa to ride with us. She kept the pacifier in during the road trip. It was a major road test for mom's new car - a Honda Element! I call it the mini van for dude brahs. Which means that it serves as a mini van, but has the outdoorsy yuppie edge. Plus you can literally hose it out. It is perfect for mom, dad, baby and two stinky labs. You can pull the back seats and sleep in it.

While in GF Ed Jr. got to meet his other godmother, Jody. Photos later. She was very happy to meet Ed Jr.

Yes, good looks do run in the family. Every day he looks more and more like his handsome daddy. Happy 9 week birthday sweet angel baby.