Mia and Andy

We went to a friend's last week to watch the Redskins game and show off how beautiful our kids are. As cute as they were and as many pictures as we tried to take, THIS is the best of the lot. I'm sure you're glad I uploaded it for you.

Seriously, how cute is that? I found a hat from last season that still fits him (rather a miracle since his head is gianormous) and put it on. Then he had to go and look all cute.

Training

I'm in training all day today. Thankfully, they haven't turned off my Internet access so I have some diversions (thank you www.PerezHilton.com). The best is we'll probably get out early (like 4) so I'll get to pickup my chicken earlier. Yay!

I bought DOTS, my favorite sugary treat next to gummy bears only to get up to the session and find they're stale. Damnit. They're almost crunchy and really stick to my teeth - and not in a good way.

My Favorite Klingon

So Andy is starting to put together different sounds and syllables. It's so startling because it sounds like words so I listen in but it's not. I did think I heard "at" for "cat" tonight but it's so hard to tell. He didn't do it again so maybe it just sounded like that.

My little martian also has discovered it's easy to pull the door stops out of the wall and promptly try to put in his mouth. Great. Now I get to worry about him finding one somewhere and poking out an eye with the screw end.

I counted up my Christmas list today to get organized - 19 names on the list and that actually doesn't include Andy. Granted, for him the boxes are probably more interesting than anything that could come in them at this point, but that's weird since he'll probably be the only one of a few kids that would still be eligible for Santa. I'm looking forward to Santa for next year. That will be pretty cool although since the Swedes do Christmas and the Juletompte on Christmas Eve, it's going to be tough to try to keep it all straight. I need to ask my brother-in-law and his wife when I see them how they handle it. Thinking about it, they're never with us on Christmas proper since they live on the West Coast so I guess it's not an issue.

Teeth grinding

Yeah, so his new trick - teeth grinding. It's so irritating it gives me chills just thinking about it. I'm hoping this phase passes sooner rather than later. It's so weird. I'll be holding him and then look around to hear a noise only to realize it's coming from him. It's like listening to chalk on the chalkboard. I now need to read to see if it's perfectly normal or not.

Seeing what's to come

We went to a friend's yesterday and saw two kids that are two and 18 months. Wow. The differences were amazing. Both those older kids can walk and kind of talk. It's hard to believe that's where we'll be in just a few months.

Christmas card debate

And the votes in the great Christmas card debate were fairly evenly split between the red which is more holiday-ish and the green/non-matching picture that was more relaxed. So I ordered some of both. Turns out at Costco is was like $2 more total to order 75 of each so I did. That may turn out to be way too many cards, but Bjorn may try to use some for his work contacts.

Beautiful precious darling angel baby

So after a day of being the spawn from hell with a lot of crying and carrying on, today he's been a perfect angel. I can only think that staying up way past his bedtime Thursday is what really threw him off yesterday. I need to remember to do my best to keep with his sleep schedule around the Christmas holidays so that he (and me) have fun and try to avoid days like yesterday.

Invisible

So what is it about women with small babies that makes them invisible? I had to go to the mall today (I know, terrible idea on the Friday after Thanksgiving) and people were downright hostile, knocking me into racks, banging into the stroller. And all the stores had all their crap way too close so you couldn't even get in and out. I swear people, there will be plenty of crap to buy tomorrow!

Andy stayed up too late last night and as a result, was weird and cranky all day. He took three naps (normally only two) and each seemed to make him crankier and more upset than before. It was quite odd. I'm hoping that a good night's sleep tonight will put him back as his happy self. I wonder if he's a little sick, but so far no fever or cold symptoms (crosses fingers and knocks on wood).

More Christmas pictures

Here's the other option for a Christmas card. Thoughts?

Thanksgiving feasts

We had a great day of feasts. We started at the home of an old family friend's for omlettes and Bloody Marys. There was a good crowd of nice folks. Andy was a champ, thankfully, and played for the couple hours we were there and then home for a good nap. Then out to Fafa's for the full feast. Bjorn made sweet potatoes and some awesome cranberry sauce (with tangerines and port, yum). It was late, but good. Bjorn did manage to cut his hand really badly opening a bottle of wine with an old wine opener. The cork got stuck and then the neck of the wine bottle broke and really cut his hand. It seems to be better, but I'm planning to take a good look and really clean it out tonight.

A long day today, but we have a lot to be thankful for - including good friends, good families and good food.

Mad props

Thanks for the mad props on the Christmas card picture. Indeed, those are good looking kids. I'm going to see if I can get something a little better today, otherwise, I'm going to order these and be done with it.

Snow

So it's snowing here. It looks beautiful. It won't stick, but for now it's pretty magical.

I think this may be the Christmas card picture. If you're reading this, pretend you haven't seen it so you'll be surprised when you get it in the mail. It's slightly out of focus, but it was the best of the day.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow will be Andy's first Thanksgiving so to mark the occasion I will be dressing him in one of his almost Christmas outfits and taking lots of pictures in between stuffing myself with all kinds of fat-free foods.

Self feeding

Andy insisted on stealing the spoon tonight. It was amusing. And very, very messy. He also figured out that the toilet paper roll is a toy.

Christmas cards

I got all three kids together for Christmas cards - not a small feat getting everyone together at the same time. I'm not overwhelmed with the results, but at least it will be something. I was going to use KodakGallery, formerly Ofoto, but it looks like Costco is half the price and I can pick them up sooner. Perhaps that will make me wait until after Thanksgiving in the hopes of getting a shot where everyone is smiling.

Lazy days and Sundays

Phew. Glad today will be less hectic than yesterday. Andy slept from about 6:45 last night until 7 am this morning and he's just gone down for a morning nap. I bet he's tired. The pictures from Santa Lucia didn't turn out at all, but I did get a couple of cute ones earlier in the day.

Party people

We had three parties to hit today, no small feat considering they were in upper northwest DC, Haymarket, Va., and Chantilly, Va. Phew. I'm tired. Andy was a wonderful sport. I managed to keep him awake until 7 pm and he fussed for about a second until he realized he could finally go to sleep.

Rats

Robinson lost the football game last night to Westfield so they're out of the playoffs. Everyone is very sad. It really stinks since they beat Westfield last week, but due to a BCS-type playoff determination, they had to play again last night even though the team both Westfield and Robinson had beaten was ranked number one and played Annandale who they had all beaten. So if Robinson had lost to Westfield last week, they likely would have won last night, which makes no sense. Mark had three catches though and has his name in the Washington Post, which is always exciting.

Big head, big head, big head

My mom got Andy a great new hat and mitten set last week only it was too small for his gianormous head. I took it back only to find out Buy, Buy Baby didn't have any hats that fit over that noggin. I'm going to have to start shopping in kids/toddler stores.

Sippy cup

We're working on transitioning from bottle to sippy cup. The transition is, ehem, a little messy.

REI

I swung by REI at lunch yesterday and checked out their bike trailers. Very cool, but very expensive. Here is the Burley, which people rave about. I don't know enough to know the differences except the price.

Naps

So after not really napping Monday and Tuesday, Andy decided to take two full, two-hour naps at his babysitter's yesterday. She was surprised as I was. I was thinking that would make for a late night, but seemingly on cue, he was ready for bed about 7:00, lights out by 7:30. I was trying to keep him active and awake until his dad got home. I was also thinking that encouraging lots of crawling around would help him sleep better. Fortunately, he was awake when Pappi got home and then slept through until 7 this morning. I may have to get him a pony.

Bikes?

Dang. It's way more complicated than I thought to find a bike accessory for Andy. They've got the over the wheel kind and the behind the wheel (trailer) style. Of course, prices are all over the map, too, from like this one for $30 for the behind the seat kind to $1,000 for the trailer from REI.

Sleep, beautiful blissful sleep

So guess who slept from 7:15 last night until 7:15 this morning? Can you say the best baby ever? Of course, now that he's so fun it kind of stinks that he goes to bed so early. I am finding that he's generally much more fun to be around though now that he's getting a good night's rest. His babysitter is reporting that he is trying not to have an afternoon nap this week. She says he has slept like 15-20 minutes in the afternoons Monday and Tuesday and that after that, he played quietly in his crib for a little while. I read somewhere that quiet time is actually good for babies, that they're so overstimulated that they need time to play quietly, but it's weird to think he's awake and just chilling out.

Brrrr

It's going to get into the 30s on Thursday. I'm a little nervous about getting us all bundled up properly. Mom got Andy a cool hat and gloves, but unfortunately, they're too small for his enormous noggin so I need to return them this weekend for the next biggest size. Fortunately, we have his cool other hat he can wear. It's not as warm, but it looks great!

Arkansas

We're not Arkansas fans, but Andy had the shirt on at a party last week and just looks precious.

Bikes

For our anniversary, Bjorn got us his and hers bikes. I'm psyched! I've been coveting a bike for sometime and have never gotten around to it so this is great. Now I need to find the right kind of bike trailer so Andy can ride with us. Like the stroller, it turns out there are all different shapes and sizes (and prices, of course). I may put this on my Christmas list - assuming I can wait that long.

Haircut

Actually, it was more of a trim than anything, but I did take scissors to his hair this morning. He had like 5 strands that were ratty and in his eyes so I cut them off. It looks much better now although I'm sure I'm the only one that noticed. I'm not sure if that officially counts as his first haircut. I'm going to say it doesn't since I didn't take enough off to even save for a baby book if I wanted to.

Back in the routine

Today we got back to our normal routine - me back to work and Andy to Nasrin's. He was excited to see her today and actually reached out for her when we got there, which was sweet. I imagine he'll like getting back onto his regular schedule. The little boy at daycare he likes the best, George, was on vacation in England all last week so he's back today so I imagine that will be fun, too.

New trick

His new trick is to pull the "dishwasher safe" top off the high chair tray. This is going to make meal time even more messy. Mom said she used to put newspapers down under the highchair when we were little. That's a pretty good idea actually.

Great weekend

What a great weekend with my parents. Here are a couple of choice photos. I love the sweater vest Mom got Andy. I also love that he can finally wear his jean jacket with Byron written on the back. Very cool.

Oh, and I'm tinkering with the picture format. You can click on these to see a bigger version.

Precious angels, everyone

Another nice day with the family. Andy (thankfully) slept from 7 pm last night until 7 am this morning. You just can't get a better baby than that unless he got up, changed his own diaper and made us coffee. We'll work on that for next year. We went to Fafa's for brunch in her new house in Gainesville. It was really a beautiful day and a nice visit. We stopped and did some of the civil war stuff in Manassas on the way back, which was pretty cool. We couldn't have asked for a prettier day -- cool weather, good breeze and sunny.

Tonight we're going to dinner with Mom and Dad at a nice restaurant in Arlington called Willow (www.willowva.com) for our anniversary. It should be fun.

Looong day

Long, but fun day today. Mom and I hit the birthday party, which was a tad overwhelming. Lots of dads, grandmothers and babies as well as moms and babies that we haven't seen in a while. Andy had a weird morning nap and was a little cranky. We headed home for an official nap, but that didn't work out either. Later, we went to the mall where Grandmother Dearest got him a darling outfit for Christmas. It's precious. Sweet corduroy pants with a long sleeved shirt and a reindeer sweater. I love it! Dad babysat a very asleep Andy (he'd had a long day, to say the least) while the rest of us went to the Robinson-Westfield football game. It was very exciting and Robinson won 14-10.

Birthday bash

Today is a birthday party for all the November babies in the playgroup. Rather than celebrate one by one (although I imagine many parents will have separate parties at home), we're having them for the month of the babies' birth (baby's? No, babies' since it's plural babies birthdays?) November will be the first month where kids in playgroup are turning one so it should be a celebration of excess. I offered to bring lunch meats. Well, it was suggested I bring that. I am also bringing champagne because while these kids are a year, we as mothers have survived the year as well and in some ways that's just as momentous.

Pop

Pop and his namesake, who turns 10 months old tomorrow.

Phat New Hat

Andy's phat new hat Grandma got him today from the Children's Place.

The Grandparents

My folks are in town. We saw my dad for just a minute and we spent most of the day with my mom. Here Grandma lets Andy play in a fountain at the restaurant.

Election night, cont.

So it's the day after the election and now I'm getting calls asking me if I voted and how I felt about the election in general. They never tell you who they're calling on behalf, but based on a couple of the questions about how I felt about Bush, it's probably some paper or think tank wanting to know if I did/didn't vote Republican because I hate Bush. They did have some odd questions about the NRA and several about illegal immigration, neither of which I remember being mentioned at all during the election.

Grandma and Pop

Andy's grandparents from Texas arrive today. Yay! We probably won't get to see them today, but we have big plans the rest of the week. I'm taking off work tomorrow to play with Mom and then Friday we will be hitting a birthday party for the kids in my playgroup with November birthdays. It should be a riot.

Election night

We're anxiously awaiting the results of the election. So far it's looking like Kaine, the Democrat, won over Kilgore. It's been a fierce election for Governor, but the delegate race has been brutal. Apparently Marsden, the Democrat, accused Golden, the Republican, of being for marital rape. And Golden accused Marsden of some other hideous crimes. I tend to not believe any of them. This has been a hot election since we've been getting two or three pieces of mail every day for the last two weeks. The nice thing has been they're big and glossy, just the kind of material Andy likes to "read." And by read, I mean, chew, rip and destroy.

Peas and carrots, oh my

Tonight Andy got some defrosted peas and carrots. He wasn't crazy about the carrots, but he really liked the peas. It was fun watching him search the tray looking for the peas. I guess we're officially moving into finger food and slowly away from jars. This may force me to start eating healthier to be able to feed him something off my plate. I imagine Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (with processed cheese bits, no less) isn't so great for babies.

Hair

I came across this picture at the office. It's several months old, but still cracks me up.

Fall

It was a beautiful day so we sat on a blanket outside Sunday. I like this picture because it looks like he's directing a symphony or something.

Voting

Andy got to see his first election today. I took him with me to vote and then handed him off when his father went to go vote so he got to see it twice. I'm sure he was thrilled although all the nice election volunteers loved him and smiled a lot. He does like that. It's going to be interesting to see who wins. The polls close at 7 pm tonight.

Open and close

His new favorite game is opening and closing the door. I do worry a bit he's going to squish a finger by slamming it on himself, but part of me thinks he should maybe learn about that, hopefully without really hurting himself.

Tonight he was so cute. We were playing in the living room when his pappi walked in and he hustled his little crawling self across the room right over to him. It was adorable. Reminded me a little like a puppy though. In fact, so much of what he does is puppy-eqsue in the way we talk to him and how I can get his attention. I wonder if that's bad...

So productive

This morning I got up early and actually took Andy for a short walk and a ride on the swing before getting him ready for "school." Since it's getting dark at 5 pm now, we're not getting to walk in the evenings anymore really so today it just worked out. I can't say I'll be able to keep it up, but it was nice for today. And nice that the weather was cool, but not cold. It may get too cold before too long.

Teeth

I think Andy is getting SIX teeth right now. I've been watching the top gums and it seems that he's getting one front tooth and one second front tooth (I don't think that's an inciscor, but I'm not sure) that have already broken through and then the two matching ones on the top. But I checked today and it looks like one of his second bottom teeth has also sprouted. That may explain part of his illness this weekend (maybe). What's weird is otherwise he's been generally happy and fun to be around, which I would think might be changed by the teeth on their way in.

Dalahest rider

We went to visit Fafa today and he took a ride on her Dahlahest, courtesy of Pappi. He seemed to like it once he got over his initial concern. I was thinking it was an indication he'll love horses the way I did, but I have a feeling it has more to do with them being painted orange.

Oh, the places you'll go

I came across a CD in an attempt to clean up earlier. It turns out it has some pictures from earlier in the year. My, my how Andy has grown. In the top picture, he's about 4-5 weeks old. In the bottom picture, he's less than a week old. I see similiarities in the pictures, I mean, I see part of who he is now in them, but at the same time, with all his progress, he's a totally different kid somehow.

Beautiful Sunday

It's just gorgeous outside. The leaves are brown and falling like snow. I'm going to get Andy on a blanket outside under the trees once he gets up from his nap. He will, of course, try to eat the leaves.

Water main

They're still out there working on the water main. I was nosy and walked by a while ago and saw they had these hockey-puck sized things attached to what seemed like long curly straws, I guess to hear under the road. I also saw them load off several jackhammers. The good news is they said the water will only be shut off for a few hours, likely when everyone is asleep. The bad news is we're going to be listening to jackhammering tonight.

Water main break

Our neighbors just rushed over to tell us there was a water main break and to fill up our sinks and tubs with water before they shut it off. Seriously? Could this day get any longer or weirder?

Sick? Who me?

Fortunately, Andy is feeling much better. It's as if he knew what we were planning and scheduled the whole thing to foil our romantic weekend. The good news is that by noon he was back to his old self. The doctor said to just give him Pedialite in small doses until he seemed able to hold it down. She thinks he had just a viral thing that would be quick to pass, and so far, she was right.

His new trick of the past few days is opening and closing doors. It's pretty funny to watch actually.
He also likes to pull books from the shelves, as you can see.

Relief...sort of

I talked to my friend who could not have been nicer or more gracious about the whole thing. I'm just sick about it. I checked out flights and nothing gets in before the wedding. I even checked a nearby city and I still couldn't get there in time. Gah. I just planned this all badly. I had no room for error and I forget with a baby you HAVE to leave room for error. I totally need to make it up to my friend though. Now I just need to figure out what.

Ugh

So we're supposed to be on our way to Charleston for a wedding, but Andy decided to start vomiting last night. And then I decided to follow suit this morning. We. Are. Miserable. And worse, I have to call in a bit and break it to my friend that we can't make it. Ugh.

A well documented event

Here's another cute Halloween picture. What can I say, it's his first one. We probably won't take this many pictures of his graduation.

Oh, Susanna

So having a kid is making me reexamine a lot of things I grew up with, but never thought much about. The latest, the song "Oh Susanna." Seriously, have you listened to it lately? It totally makes no sense. I must not have studied this in my Folk Music class at Emory.

"Oh! Susanna" by Stephen Foster, 1847

I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee
I'm going to Louisiana,
My true love for to see

It rained all night
The day I left
The weather it was dry
The sun so hot,
I froze to death
Susanna, don't you cry

Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee

I had a dream the other night
When everything was still
I thought I saw Susanna
A-coming down the hill

The buckwheat cake
Was in her mouth
The tear was
In her eye
Says I, I'm coming from the south
Susanna, don't you cry

Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee

Another one

Another mom announced her pregnancy today at playgroup. I must be the only one not jumping down that path to have three out of our regular 10-15 women is a fairly high proportion, at least it seems that way to me. Granted, it's not like we're all 25 or something. Everyone is well into their 30s and many were career women before having this kid so at least one said she's hoping to have two kids two years so she can go back to work once they're in preschool.

I drove by a couple of daycares on my way home. Both came highly recommended. A Child's Place is right across from where my new office will be. I dropped in and said I'd like to sign up for a tour and the woman could not have been a bigger bitch, "Uh, we schedule tours a month out adn we're not even accepting any new children's until October." I said that was fine and she begrudgingly signed me up for a tour. What the hell is that all about? I also stopped by the Merritt Academy. Interestingly, it's affiliated with a Sunrise Assisted Living Center, which is actually a pretty smart idea. It's a real school and they were very professional and very nice. My brother-in-law's cousin's kids go there so I've heard good things about it. We're taking a tour there next week. They said they didn't forsee openings until August. It can't hurt to look. I've heard some people are already getting on wait lists for preschools so if that's what these turn out to be more so than infant care, that would be fine.

Grover Norquist

So it must be 10 minutes after my last post when I got a voice recorded message from Grover Norquist asking me to vote for Golden in the delegate rate. Seriously? Since when did big DC lobby types get invovled in state delegate races? I just read an article in USA Today about how the Governor's race is neck and neck between Kaine (Democrat) and Kilgore (Republican). Everyone seems to like Mark Warner the current governor (D) so he's helping Kaine while Kilgore is being hampered by the general loathing of the Bush Administration right now. Since Northern Virginia is largely populated by Washington-types, the state race is more moved by the national politics than in other places.

Elections in Fairfax

Man, this is an interesting election year. It's really contentious between the candidates for state delegate and for governor. I swear I get two or three calls a DAY about this election. I think we'll both end up voting for the Democrats. Virginia is so conservative that the liberals are even more conservative than in other states. That also means the Republicans tend to be super-conservative, you know, eliminating gay rights, banning gay adoption, and of course, anti-abortion. I do like that the Republicans say they'll improve roads, but I'd take traffic so long as we get to keep civil liberties.

How far we've come

I took this back in May. It's hard to believe that it was just a few months ago considering how much like a baby he is there compared to now. At the time, I kept thinking he was the perfect age. I was wrong. THIS is the perfect age.

Lobster

How cute are they!

Reading

I took this picture last night. It cracks me up how he "reads."

Kindercare

We took a tour of the Kindercare today. The director was very nice. I met the two of the teachers for the 12-18 month room. It was rather amusing to see these kids sitting in chairs to eat lunch. They were cute little chairs. Lots and lots of toys, too, and they have a separate playground for the toddlers so they don't play with the bigger kids. I really liked one of the teachers, a nice Korean lady. The other one wasn't very engaging. It was fine. They have things I like, like playtime outside, lots of toys, more of a set teaching program. The main thing I didn't like (and I know this sounds weird) is they never turn the lights off for nap time. I ended up going into the office later and asked a friend about that and she said that her daughter's daycare does turn out the lights so she thought it weird that they didn't. Oh well. It was nice to check it out. I'm not sure it's top of my list so we'll keep looking.

Not one, but two teeth!

I checked last night and Andy has not one, but two teeth coming in. I can see one of his two front teeth and what looks like the one next to that. He's going to look pretty funny when they finally come in, assuming he has one front tooth and one side tooth. Today we're playing together since daycare is closed for the end of Ramadan. I am trying to be proactive and I have an appointment to take a tour of a daycare center for when the office moves in March. I have mixed feelings about leaving where he is. Part of me thinks it's great all the family interaction he gets, but part of me thinks he should get into more of a curriculum than he would get with a babysitter. A friend of mine said to visit lots of places and decide which one feels best. She swears I'll know. We shall see.

Cheerleaders

Aw. Check how this Halloween picture. Another great outfit (and cute kid, too.)

Turkey-sized

I just heard that my friend Susan in Dallas had her baby. A healthy, nine pound, nine ounce little boy. I know, NINE POUNDS. She's not a big woman either! I'm glad it was a C-section, for her sake.

Cheesy

So I read somewhere to start giving babies three meals a day since at one we're supposed to stop bottles cold turkey. So I've been giving Andy a tray full of cheerios, puffs, some cut up cheese and occasionally fruit. Funny, the fruit is so slimy it's hard for him to pick up and eat. I found I was wiping off a piece of pear last night to try to make it less slippery. The good news is he seemed to like pears. I've tried bananas and that just makes him mad. Go figure.

New favorite toy

Andy's new favorite toy is tinkering with the two office type chairs in our computer room. He now makes a beeline for them when he's left to his own devices on the floor. It's rather amusing. I took a picture, but my digital camera is acting weird so I can't download the pictures at the moment.

Wipe clean?

So after Andy wore his Tigger costume for the fourth time in so many days last night, I decided I'd better wash it so it was clean for person that inherits it. However, as I read the care instructions is says "wipe clean." Not dry clean, or wash in cold or anything, no "wipe clean." Why didn't they just say, "Upon soiling, THROW AWAY" as that's about what they suggested.

We're making progress on daylight savings

Andy stayed up until probably 7:30-7:45 last night and slept unitl 6:30. An improvement on the new time. He was so tired last night with all the kids coming by for Halloween (we probably got about 20) that he just fell back asleep when I put him in his crib. It was adorable. We did put him in his costume one last time to walk and see a couple of neighbors. The nice lady next door even had animal crackers for him since he can't have candy (how nice is that?). We also walked over to see the twin girls across the street. They were dressed as cats and appreciated seeing another cat like Tigger. After he went to bed, Bjorn and I talked about washing his costume to pass along. What's funny is the cleaning instructions say "wipe clean." Not wash in cold or dry clean or what not. No, just "wipe clean." I'm not sure what to do except pass it along to the next person with a caveat.