Monthly Archives: August 2011
This face.
| August 30, 2011 | Posted by Lisa under Uncategorized |
See this face?
This is my favorite face. This is the face that reaches right into my chest and grabs my heart and won’t let go. Its the one that makes me get a little antsy starting around 11:30 when I know that there are just a few more minutes before lunch, before I get to walk over to see this face, to feel teeny hands on my cheeks and get wet, slobbery and snotty kisses with pureed sweet potato on top. This is the face that makes me giddy, that brings tears to my eyes because, damn, I love her SO MUCH. This is the face that makes me frustrated because I’ll never be able to describe this love fully. This is the face that makes me sad to leave her in the morning to go to work, but so happy to pick her up in the afternoon. This is the face that makes it all worth it, and the one that reminds me that, damn, I have it good.
I walk in, say, “Hey sweet baby, Mommy’s here,” and this is the face I get. How did I ever get so lucky?!
9 Months!
| August 10, 2011 | Posted by Lisa under Uncategorized |
NINE! That means we are only 3 months from…from… I can’t even say it! I’m pretending it will never happen.
Babydoll, you are 9 months! What an awesome age. I am both exhausted and elated at being your mommy. You are still teething and just the other day your top right tooth broke through. I’ll really miss your gummy smile. Teething on the top teeth seems to be a lot harder on you than it was to get the bottom teeth and I hope this phase is over soon. You aren’t napping well, you night wake every once in a while and I can tell that you just don’t feel right. I try to soothe you with teethers, ibuprofen and oragel, but it seems that sometimes nothing works. Its a very helpless feeling.
You became even more mobile this past month and we are now on constant alert when you are awake. Everything that you shouldn’t be touching you touch, anything that shouldn’t be in your mouth is in there. You went from barely pulling up on tables and chairs on a Friday to quickly and effortlessly pulling up on anything you want by Sunday. We are scrambling to baby proof the house before you are full on walking. Its very exciting to see you develop by leaps and bounds daily. Every day you are more cognizant of your surroundings and more interactive with us. Some days when we pick you up at school you will spot us from across the room and crawl all the way over to us. You seem to know that we belong to you. That moment when I pick you up from the floor and hold you to my chest and you lay your head on my shoulder and wrap your arms and legs around me is one of the highlights of my day.
My other favorite part of the day is putting you down for bed. Daddy bathes you every night and then turns you over to me to put in PJs and rock to sleep. We sit in your dim, quiet room and I rock and you nurse and I watch your eyes as they go from darting here and there to still and then covered by your heavy eyelids. I love watching you go to sleep, feeling your body become relaxed and loose in my arms. It is almost the only time of the day when I’m not browsing the internet or checking my e-mail on my phone or watching TV. Its just you and me. You smell so good and you are warm on my lap. I squeeze you and try to permanently etch a picture in my mind of how small you are and how you look right now.
It is in those moments that I thank you for still wanting to nurse, for letting me rock you to sleep, and for choosing me to be your mommy. I silently thank Daddy for building a life with me and being such a wonderful person to parent with. And I thank God for giving me both of you to love, for trusting me with you, and for knowing that I’d need someone strong like Daddy to lean on. I am so thankful.
Happy 9 months, sweet Boobin.
Blowin’ it up.
| August 10, 2011 | Posted by Lisa under Uncategorized |
A blowout is a very disgusting term that describes a very disgusting occurrence when a baby poops in a diaper with such force and of such volume that it overflows out of the diaper, up the back, and onto the surrounding carseat/caretaker/carpet, etc. A day with a blowout is generally not pleasant. A day with two blowouts is a rarity. A day with three is unheard of.
Yesterday, Alice attained that holy grail of high maintenance babies… Three Blowouts. Three Outfits. OH BUT WAIT! There’s more! When we got home I loaded her up with apple/peach yogurt and milk and gave her a piece of cheese to chew on. After a while she gagged a little so I put my finger in her mouth to fish it out and BOOM. Throw up. All over me, her, my chair, her chair, the floor. G laughed. I would have kicked him but I was trying not to move as to further spread the vomit around, so I instead settled for yelling a notnice at him that sounds like Duck Soo. Which made him laugh even harder. Obviously, I smothered him with a pillow later that night in his sleep.
After the Big Chuck we called it an early night, took the Boobin straight up to the bath, hosed her down and put her to bed. Hopefully “Body Fluids Tuesday” won’t become a tradition in our house. Keep your fingers crossed.
Viva Las Vegas!
| August 4, 2011 | Posted by Lisa under Uncategorized |
Last week G and I dropped the Boobin off at Grandma’s and stole away for a little weekend trip to celebrate our friend Gary turning 30. Of course, it wasn’t that easy getting there. I bought the tickets a few months back and instantly regretted it, fearing that I might shrivel up and die without my baby on my hip for 3 days. As the big day approached, I considered buying my mom a ticket to Vegas so that she could come and watch the baby (plan was quickly vetoed by George), not going and sending George by himself (a fleeting thought), and having both of us stay home and going at a later date. But, in the end, I figured I needed to rip the bandaid off all at once, so to speak, and get it over with. So, I did.
The evening before we left I drove Alice to my mom’s. I hugged her, got her set up at mom’s, kissed her, fed her, snuggled her, smelled her… and handed her over. It was hard. It hurt. I teared up a little. But the minute she saw her grandma she smiled, and I knew she’d be just fine for a few days without me. So, with a little push from my mom, I left for home to pack and get a few hours of sleep before our SIX AM (SIX!!) flight the next morning. G and I packed and were in bed by 11:30, with our alarm set for 4:30 (OUCH!).
And then at 12:30 I awoke to find George on the phone with a friend in need. I assessed the situation, decided that George had it under control, and rolled over to go back to sleep. But, for the next few hours he’d wake me up to give me an update or ask a question, and before we knew it it was 4:30 and the alarm was screaming at us. No time for sleepy, its Vacation Time. By the time we got to the airport an on the plane I was so dead tired that I didn’t need the 8 bloody marys I’d predicted I’d need to help with my distress at leaving the baby. I napped on the plane and felt much better by the time we arrived in Vegas.
The first day I ditched G and spent 5 hours at the spa. If you haven’t been to Qua at Caesar’s, go. Go right now, because if you get hit by a bus tomorrow you will regret not going for all of eternity. Its a bath house with saunas (steam and dry), whirlpools (cold, hot body temperature), a tea room, a dressing area, 360 degree showers, and an artic ice room where snow falls upon your nakedness. It is heaven and it never disappoints.
The rest of the trip was spent eating, shopping, gambling, napping, and drinking. We spent at least 4 hours at the same craps table on Friday night, and I left only because I was exhausted from standing in the same place for so long. By Saturday morning we declared we were ready to go home. It was so great to get away, to recharge, reconnect, and rest, but it was long enough and we were ready to cuddle our bean. Also, one of us was broke, and the other refused to share his winnings. Time to go home.
We got home so late on Saturday night that I had to wait until Sunday morning to get Alice. I slept in one more time, then made the drive up to Mom’s, noticing that I was driving faster and getting more antsy the closer I got. I finally got to mom’s, ran inside, and there she was, sitting on her grandpa’s lap, smiling. I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. Perfection. A wonderful end to a really great weekend.
And, although what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… here are just a couple of cell phone pics:
Me. Elvis. Horrible bag.
George and I waiting for a cab.
The Strip!
No, I hadn't been drinking. Why do you ask?
Us with Gary, et al, in the Venetian Casino.
