Mike's Baseball Game

Last night we went to the Reds Game to watch my brother, Mike, throw out the first pitch. He won a contest that Lindsay entered him in and got tickets, the opportunity to watch batting practice and throw the first pitch as previously mentioned.

A bunch of us all went down to watch the festivities and we scored big time in my opinion with $5 seats that allowed us entry into the ballpark and access to sitting anywhere (we were about half way up the lower section on the third base line). To top it all off, the Reds actually WON!

Here’s Mike and his big honor!

The best news however was announced during the game. Can you tell from the pictures below?

Respecting Greatness

I'm going to be an aunt again!

Enjoying the game with my two kids

Our goal was to convert her to be a Reds fan... at least we got a shirt out of her...

Firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts for Chris:

1) he gave me my first moment of Chris panic – In the bathroom of Chik-fil-a I was using the restroom and Nicole pulled on the plastic bag of the sanitary napkin trash bin. It fell off the shelf and landed on Chris. All three of us went into alarm mode and both kids started crying. I pulled it off him, unbuckled him out of the car seat and picked him up right away. Fortunately his crying subsided almost immediately upon being held. Nicole on the other hand was scared and kept saying “sorry, baby Chris”- she took more effort to stop the tears. I called the doctor and asked what types of signs to look for should he have any head trauma (I think it just landed in his lap versus hitting his head) and in the last 24 hours I haven’t seen any of said symptoms so I’m assuming he’s okay.

2) We got recognized by a stranger- another mom at the Chick-fil-a playground started talking to me and asked “weren’t you at Parky’s Farm the other day?” Wow… I’m getting in with the stay-at-home mom crowd.

3) First blow-out- Chris’s poops are textbook new baby – mustard yellow, thin and seedy. I can always tell when he’s about to poop though – he gets wiggly, crunches his legs up and contorts his face as if he’s pushing a boulder through his bowels. His poops are always very audible and incredibly forceful. I have no idea why pooping the equivalent texture of pea soup takes so much effort, but apparently it does. Yesterday’s poop was no different in the signs leading up to it but the squirt seemed louder and longer… when I picked him up my fingertips were wet and the really cute outfit I had on him was all slimy with baby poop at the leg and up the back. Fortunately I’ve developed an amazing tolerance for poop of all textures and quantities, a skill I’m not proud of but routinely grateful for (poor Jim still sometimes gags…).

1 month and 1 day – kid’s still alive and I’m still sane! Wa-hoo!

Long Life Updates

Deck Photos

Chris lets me work on the computer (aka he sits with me while I type). This is great and something his sister would never do. In general things with him are going well. He eats at 10:30ish and we both get up at 3:00 (without an alarm!) to feed again. Sleep is at about 6.5 hours for me/night now which is enough that I function all day and only nap on weekends. He's SUCH a better eater than Nicole in general at this point which has made feeding him much more efficient/relaxing. He's got a set schedule now that we stick to and since it's 3 hour time increments it's even better.

Jenny J. lent me some books – a vampire series she’s a big fan of. I finished the first one in a few days and gave it a D which was very disappointing as I was looking forward to the books. It was the writing style that I didn’t like and the plot was only “eh”. However, I trust Jenny’s opinion so I started the second book. I’m only 100 pages in in 2 days and already it’s SO MUCH better. At this rate I will keep plowing through the series. I have to admit that I like Twilight's twist on vampirism better in general though...

In the 3.5 weeks I’ve been home with the kids only once have we not gone somewhere. Today I told Nicole we were going to pretend we were Kipps and go hiking in the nature preserve near our house. Chris slept most of the walk and Nicole wanted to be carried for about 40% of it but the hike was a success overall. :) Pictures for Ella:

Christopher enjoying the ride.

Girl after my own heart - a tree-hugger!

Stopping to smell the ... flowers.

While I was pregnant Martha asked me about any food cravings I was having. While I wouldn’t classify them as cravings, I found myself buying and eating sautéed mushrooms and orange bell peppers for the first time in my life (that I made at home, I’d eaten both before). These two have become somewhat staples in my diet now and I purchase at least one package of sliced mushrooms and one pepper a week. I’m the only one in the family who’ll eat either though, which is fine by me.

For Lisa: Here’s Nicole eating her first (technically second, this bowl is her second helping!) Skyline 3-way.

Truly a Cincinnati native

I’ve lost 26lbs. of the 50 (I know, I know…) that I gained with my pregnancy. This makes me very happy to have done in just four weeks but I’m very aware that 1) half of this was shed immediately between Chris himself and the water and 2) my sweet-tooth and pension for snacking on cupcakes and ice cream will limit me from maintaining this weight loss speed. Is it worth giving up/limiting sweets though… haven’t decided… I'm about half and half maternity clothes and non at this point.

2 more weeks and we go on vacation! 3 more weeks and I'm back to work!

Mother of a 2-year old

Nicole's second birthday is now past. All the rush to get the deck done for the party and then... it rains. :P

The morning was low-key as we were out at a grill-out the night before and all went to bed late. Her nap was 3.5 hours long and ended in my waking her which meant she was not in the best mood. True to her age she threw a fit because she wanted to wear PJ's and not her dress to the party - wouldn't have been a big deal but she was hollering with guests downstairs which is not the impression I like to make, even with family. Fortunately the tantrum was short-lived.

We had about 25 family members over for the celebration. Lots of wonderful, generous presents, many of which were Dora or Sesame Street themed so they went over real big. Her new pool will be blown up for swimming tomorrow as she keeps asking for it and the sand/water table is already assembled and in use. I have a cute video of all the kids jumping on Mike (below) which illustrates their enthusiasm pretty much the entire time.

Our last guests left around 10:15pm and Jim did some cleaning before bed.

Her 2-year well-baby check-up was this morning and she's doing great. 75%ile for height (2'11"), weight (28lbs) and 65th %ile for head - very proportionate. Overall she

• knows her ABC's, can count 1-13, knows nearly all body parts by name including the "odd" ones like ankle, jaw, etc.
• I've heard her say 6-word sentences before but 3-5 words strung together is most common.
• Her most favorite phrase is "this is mine" or "I want ____" which I hear over and over all day long.
• I try to give her options for things like which cup to drink from but she can be frequently indecisive which makes me regret giving her a choice at all some times.
• Her ability and desire to pick clothing is very clear but the child has no fashion sense what-so-ever so I don't often let her go out in public with the outfit she's put together. We're learning to "work together" (a new favorite phrase of mine!) where she picks one item like a skirt or a shirt and I get to pick the coordinating piece.
• She's OCD about her sippy cups and won't touch them if her hands are dirty. I get lots of "mommy, hold" at meal times.
• Her favorite song, which is on repeat in the car for as long as we can tolerate it, is Ice Ice Baby. Working on getting a video of her singing and dancing...

The In The Next Year sheet the doctor's office gave us was oh-so encouraging with things like "shows Independence by saying 'no' to everything", "hits, pushes and bites other children", "can not often be reasoned with", and "begins to resist bedtime". Ohhhh, can't wait!

Updates

AHhhhhhhhhhhhh! 8:15 and no kids awake! Nicole and Chris seem to have opposite schedules – if she’s awake, he’s asleep and vice versa. The end result is me not getting hardly anything productively done but quality time, a situation that’s hard to be frustrated about but doesn’t help the to-do list get any shorter.

I’ve been leaving the house with the kids every day so far. We’ve taken trips to the library, to lunch and the pool with my aunt, shopping with my grandparents, etc. It makes the day go faster and keeps Nicole away from the TV which she frequently asks for (old habits from daycare die hard…). Places I still want to take her: the zoo, Parky’s Farm, the water park, Make-a-Mess Thursday (arts and crafts), and the bounce and play at the library which is today but we won’t make due to lunch with Martha.

Nicole’s birthday is Saturday – I’ve ordered her balloons and have a to-buy list already made for today/tomorrow’s shopping trip. We’ll be having Mexican for dinner and she’ll have about 25 guests, all family, attending.

Nicole feeding baby Allison

Chris is doing well – he’s dropped his sleeping from 20 hours a day to about 18 and is happy all but about 2 hours of the 6. Crying’s part of being a baby though and while it doesn’t bother me the sound does get on Jim’s nerves. Unfortunately for me he still wants to eat every 2 hours-ish which makes coordinating outings, etc. more challenging. Last night he extended his sleeping to 4 hours before he wanted to eat so that was a nice break except for Nicole waking up around 3 and needing to be changed/cuddled. His cord fell off over a week ago, the circumcision has totally healed and I’ve not gotten hit with “the fountain” in over a week! I’m learning how to take care of a boy!

The deck is really coming along. It will be done tomorrow but unfortunately I haven’t found any furniture that’s blown me over to buy and fill it with. Though I want it to look as “real” as possible for the party I don’t want to be hasty with spending money on thing just to have them in time. Pictures to follow tomorrow upon completion!

I’m down 23lbs but that still leaves me much to go. Damn sweet tooth…. I finished the Twilight series and a book Lisa gave me a while ago. Jenny’s going to lend me a new vampire series today when I see her for lunch. All of the above are great for keeping me awake/not bored during these late-night feedings (which Jim blissfully sleeps through for the most part- the one big downside to breast-feeding is that the husband doesn’t have much he can do to help….).

On to productive things while I still have some time!!!