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Oh yes we’ve got Trouble, right here in Bethesda

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Another week has passed and once again, I’m way behind on posting! Work has been crazy – a bunch of deadlines and our sitter has been MIA quite a few days. I am so excited to be starting Micah in daycare in a few weeks – the predictability should make my life a bit easier. Let’s start off with a cute picture of Micah:


Micah has been working on his troublemaking skills this week. He discovered how to shove his hand out of the crib and throw his pacifier on the floor, or grab things off of his nightstand. He got some paper off the nightstand, so I cleared off most of the odds and ends. One day when I went in to get him after his nap, I noticed that he grabbed the doggy Build-a-Bear from the nightstand that my father made for him. I guess the good news is he loves his Build-a-Bear.

Micah has also recently discovered that he loves power cords. He especially loves to grab hold, yank and chew. It is not a habit I find amusing. He also loves to pull all the paper stuff off the new coffee table. If left on his own, he will shred and/or eat the paper. He gets VERY angry when I keep the papers away from him. We just purchased baskets for under the coffee table – one for papers and another for his toys. I think he will spend most of his days emptying the contents of these baskets. Monday, he could not stop pulling out and playing with all of his toys (and he also decided to claim a few of the dog’s as well).

I also think that we may have crossed into “mobile” territory – Micah is rolling and army crawling all over the place. He is not quite crawling, but he does lean forward from a sit to all fours and attempt to crawl before flopping on to his belly and taking off. He is also trying to pull up on things now – if I stand him up, he can hold on and cruise, but even without my help, he is pretty close to pulling himself up to a stand. He manages to get into some interesting spots, and he pulls down any items within his grasp.

He really needs to be watched at all times – he likes to eat everything. Monday, he managed to get his hands on one of those little silica gel bead packets (for keeping things dry). I found him chewing on it – I’m just lucky he didn’t choke!

I am amazed how he manages to sneak all this stuff in his mouth WHILE we are monitoring and watching him! He is definitely trouble with a capital T.

Speaking of trouble, this hunger strike has been a real pain in the neck – he just has not been drinking enough milk. It has had me worried, but I’ve been trying to be patient. In the meantime, Micah does seem to LOVE solid foods. He is a bottomless pit, just like his father. We have been experimenting with pasta, and I finally successfully made some zucchini for Micah. He just loves his veggies! We are slowly eating thicker chunks of food, and he can easily eat pieces of pasta and other soft fruits and veggies. Nevertheless, he still seems to hate the mesh teether – this great contraption for delivering bigger chunks of table food. I think he just hates the texture of the mesh bag, but I wish he would use it! Even without the mesh contraption, he is doing really well with table food. We have tried Cheerios, and he seems to love those. I still think he has an easier time eating the puffs because they melt in his mouth, but it is good that we have a few more options! He also seems to be developing his pincher grasp – he can pick up the puffs, pasta and cheerios and put them in his own mouth! I am amazed everyday by how much he is growing.

Micah is a pooping machine. One day, he managed to make a big pooping mess, and then he peed in his hair while the babysitter was changing him. Twice. Yes, that is right, twice. He was soaked and we had to bathe him. I could not figure out how he managed to get THAT wet.

Last Wednesday was a fun day for us. Our sitter took the day off, so it was a Mommy & Micah day. We spent a few hours at playgroup, and I got a little work done in the morning and afternoon while Micah napped. At 5:00, we went to another one of those concerts – Micah just loves watching all the kids dance and the entertainers singing. Immediately after the concert, we went to a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s at a local diner. A friend of mine from high school will be running a marathon, and all the money he is raising will be donated to Alzheimer’s research.

On Friday, we went to a potluck at Micah’s new daycare center. We had a great time – we were able to meet his new teachers and a few of the other babies in his class. Micah will be a “Minnow” starting August 31, and I already have a good feeling about this center.

On Sunday, we were slightly…overbooked. I have a bad tendency to overcommit. We attended a first birthday party for my friend’s daughter at 2:00. We had agreed to go to a “Cousins” BBQ at 4 hosted by one of my cousins, and we had reservations at 6 at a new restaurant to celebrate my father’s birthday. We left the house at 12, and went to Target to pick up a present. While walking through the aisles, Micah saw Elmo. He has recently fallen in love with Elmo – he had one in the pack ‘n play with him at my friend’s house, and he couldn’t stop smiling and hugging Elmo. Ever since them, he shrieks with joy when he sees Elmo on Sesame Street. When he spotted Elmo, he smiled and reached for him. I thought it was so cute, so I grabbed Elmo and handed him to Micah. After we were finished in the aisle, I took Elmo and put him back on the shelf. Which led to Micah’s first tempertantrum. It started out slowly – first the bottom lip began to curl down in a pout. Then the whimpering started. Then the sobs and tears and back arching followed. I was stunned – I did not think Micah cared enough about any one particular thing right now. He immediately stopped when I handed him Elmo (I needed to test the theory), and then shrieked bloody murder when I promptly returned Elmo to the shelf, told him no, and headed off to the next aisle. I briefly considered just buying him Elmo on the spot, but I decided it would be a bad precedent to set. I will definitely go back and get him that Elmo soon – he really is too cute when he is hugging it! Who knew his love of Elmo would lead to his first tempertantrum? I did not see that one coming.

After Target, we ran a few other errands, then arrived at the party. It was a nice afternoon, and Micah had a great time. He even surprised us by ending his hunger strike – he drank 5 ozs of formula at the birthday party! At 4:00, we left the party to stop by the Cousins BBQ. We had fun hanging out with all the cousins. Elliot offered to do the grilling, and we stayed long enough to taste the marshmallow fluff and ice cream pie. Yes, that is right – graham cracker crust, 2 layers of ice cream, a layer of chocolate, a layer of marshmallow fluff, topped off with mini marshmallows, all lightly broiled to melt the marshmallows. At 6:00, we said our goodbyes and drove to family dinner.

Micah was a trooper – even without getting his afternoon nap! We tried out a new Italian restaurant, and the food was wonderful. We ordered the restaurant week special, and I think we were all stuffed before our entrees even arrived! At dinner, Micah drank another 3 ozs. He ate 2 jars of baby food (rice lentil dinner and banana peach oatmeal), and he spent most of dinner gnawing on a crusty chunk of bread. He was so cute at dinner – smiling and waving at the people sitting next to us and happily munching whatever he could grab.

After dinner, my brother and parents came back to the house for dessert. Naturally, I decided to make a cake. We (my brother, mom and I) decided to buy my father an ipod touch for his present, so I made him an ipod touch cake. Or rather, I attempted to make an ipod touch cake. You see, my edible image printer decided to stop cooperating. It was feeling rather…pink. Yes, I said pink, not blue. Apparently, the printhead is all clogged, and pink is the only color that can get through. Instead of a black screen with colorful icons, the image was…pink. Needless to say, the image did not look so good. Yes, I stuck the horrible image on the cake anyway – I was frustrated, out of town, and figured it was better to have an ugly cake than no cake at all. Clearly, the cake was a bit of a bust – tasted great, but not one of my success stories.

Monday we were without a babysitter (again). We think he might be saying “Hi” in addition to waving, and he might have said “mama” and “dada” today. I also thought he might have said “doggy” but it is pretty hard to tell. I did end up videotaping Micah being adorably cute all afternoon – I just couldn’t help it!

Tuesday we had our babysitter back, so I had a productive day – I got some work done and made and decorated a cake for a baby shower. Wednesday (today), we went to see a singer at a local mall with our playgroup, and the kids had fun! Our babysitter came back this afternoon, and I got a bit of work done. Tomorrow we have our babysitter again, and I think Friday we will be trying to get Micah’s 8 month photos done!

On another note, my dog is turning pure white. I am not sure if it is the new medicine she is taking, but overnight she seems to have gone from chocolate brown to white. My poor puppy!

Our week at the beach

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Our week down in Emerald Isle, NC has been fantastic – such a relief to get away and enjoy a bit. We had a long drive to get here in the car, so we decided to try leaving at night so that Micah would sleep through the entire trip. Surprisingly, we managed to get ourselves together and out the door on time (despite a vet appointment during the day for Nugget and a visit to the hospital to see a friend), and Micah cooperated by falling asleep in his carseat and sleeping the entire trip! The weather was horrible and it took us forever to get going, but we made it to the beach safe and sound. Micah transferred easily into the pack ‘n play, and Elliot and I settled in and went to sleep.

The house we are staying in is nice – nothing fabulous, but clean, in a good location, and nice. Micah woke up around 7 on Thursday morning. I nursed Micah, and Elliot was wonderful and took care of Micah while I went back to sleep for another hour. I took over in time to put Micah down for his nap. When he woke up again, I nursed him and fed him his breakfast. While I was taking care of Micah, Elliot took the time to go exploring. He likes to scope out the neighborhood – he found the grocery stores, and he went in search of a pool we could use later in the week.

After lunch, we headed off to the beach. Poor Elliot – he was loaded down like a pack mule! We used the bike trailer I bought him for Father’s Day as our stroller, and it was really an asset this trip. The big wheels handled the sandy beach quite well, and we strapped Micah in along with the beach bag, blankets and towels. Unfortunately, we did not think to bring enough beach toys, a sun umbrella, or beach chairs on our first trip. It took us a few days to finally get it all down to a science and remember everything we needed.

As an aside, I’m amazed by how much more complicated it is to travel with a baby. We just have so much more STUFF we need to bring. We had toys (we brought the jumper, an activity table, the gumball machine, a few animal chimes, the giraffe, the winkle, the stacking rings, and the nesting pails for the beach), a travel high chair/booster seat, towels, baby food, bottles, pumping stuff, baby bowls and spoons, diapers, wipes, swim diapers, music, a pack n play, a bottle brush, a cooler, the sun tent, the baby float, puffs, rice cereal, oatmeal, sippy cups, a diaper bag, music, hats, bathing suits, suntan lotion, shampoo, lotion, baby monitor, lovey blanket, cloth diapers, and strollers. Not to mention our regular beach stuff and our own clothing. AND we brought the dog, so we had all of her stuff, too.

Once we finally got everything together and made it out the door, we decided to stop at the pizza place and grabbed lunch. On our way to the beach, we walked by one of the pools we were considering trying out this week. It took us a while, but we made it to the beach around 2:00 or so. Micah had a great time – he had such a big smile on his face. He loved the ocean, and he loved the sand and water. We purchased a sun tent for Micah – it kind of looks like a mini camping tent, and it has SPF in the fabric to protect him from the sun. We tried to keep him in there most of the time, and he seemed to really like it. The sides are mesh, so he had a nice breeze flowing through the tent. We also took him down to the water and found a spot right at the edge where the waves were lapping the sand. I sat him up on the sand (how much do I LOVE this sitting thing!?!). About every 8th or 10th wave came out and touched us. Micah watched the waves, screeched with joy, and dug his hands in the sand. I picked him up and held him upside down over some of the waves a bit further in so he could stick his hands in the water. While he was sitting, he did keep trying to eat the sand. I’m not sure I understand the fascination there. I mean, I understand sticking the handful of sand in the mouth the first time, but seriously, how many times does it take before one realizes that a mouthful of sand is just icky!?!








After a few hours at the beach, we came home, showered, changed and tried running to the grocery store before meltdown. Unfortunately, we *just* missed getting all of our shopping done by 7:00 pm, and Micah was not happy towards the end of our trip. I had to run with a screaming baby out to the car and sit and nurse him. By the time we got him home, he was over-tired, and let’s just say bedtime was not a fun experience. I finally got Micah to fall asleep around 8:45, and he was out for the night.

On Friday, my parents joined us mid-day. Micah woke up at his usual time, we played, he napped with his Daddy, then he ate his breakfast, and we waited for my parents. Once they arrived, we headed off to the beach while they unpacked and got lunch. We did not make it there until almost 2:00 pm again (far cry from the time I like to be on the beach when I vacationed pre-baby), so we only stayed for a few hours. Micah was just adorable! He kept screeching with joy at the beach. He smiled when he saw the waves, and he had a great time rolling around in his sun tent. He napped on the beach, and I nursed him, and it was another wonderful and relaxing day. Friday night, Elliot decided to cook dinner – he made fajitas, and they were delicious! We spent the evening relaxing and hanging out. Micah spent some time rolling all over the floor (and getting stuck under furniture) before he went to bed.












On Saturday (4th of July) my mom, dad, Micah and I went to the shops for a few hours in the morning. Behind the stores, there was a small lake with turtles (probably snapping turtles). We had so much fun watching them swim and eat! After lunch, we went back to the beach with my parents. Another relaxing day. Elliot and I took a long walk together down the beach, Micah napped, and we stayed on the beach until almost 6:00 pm. We headed home, got Micah bathed and ready for bed, and Elliot grilled in honor of the 4th of July. We were able to watch fireworks from our deck, and we watched A Capitol Fourth on tv. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.








On Sunday, we woke up and decided to take the boardwalk to the Sound.





(Sidenote: many years ago, we went on a family vacation to the Thousand Islands in Canada. We spent one day fishing out on a boat, and each of us, in turn, caught a very large fish . . . except for my father. When we each caught our fish, we took a picture grinning from ear to ear and holding our fish up. My father, so as to avoid being left out, worked for 20 minutes trying to catch a minnow with a fish net from the bait bucket. When he couldn’t grab that, we fished one out for him, and he, too, posed for his picture, holding a tiny little minnow. We met some nice people on the dock, who humored my father, helped him fish out another little bait minnow, and he posed for this picture – just a bit of deja vu!)



We had a lovely walk, but when we came back, we realized we had locked ourselves out. Elliot and my father were working on breaking into the house when the cleaning crew showed up! Luckily, they showed us where the spare key was, and we were able to get back inside. Good thing they showed up on the wrong day! After spending the afternoon at the beach, we decided to attempt dinner out with Micah. We went to eat at a local restaurant, Portofino, and my little guy was great. My biggest complaint for the day? Andy Roddick. For you tennis fans out there, I was DEVASTATED when Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the finals at Wimbledon. The match was so exciting, and Roddick just made 1 poorly timed error (well, 4, if you count those 4 set points he blew in the 2nd set) and it was all over. Such a disappointing end to a fabulous match!

While I was putting Micah to bed Sunday night, Elliot and my dad decided to run out to the grocery store and then to the ice cream store. Long story short, my dad tripped on the way inside with the ice cream. He has a bad back and made a HORRIBLE noise – we were sure he’d fallen down a flight of stairs and seriously re-injured his back. While he had a nasty cut on his arm, a few bruises (including a bruised ego) he was just fine. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the ice cream! Yup, it spilled ALL over the carpet. And the walls. Needless to say, the ice cream was chocolate, and the carpet is beige. Yes, it was quite a mess. After making sure my dad was okay and securing the area from the dog, my mom and I set about the task of cleaning up. We started with water and did our best to minimize the stains. We then headed out to the store and bought some Resolve (and some bandaids for my dad). We soaked the area and scrubbed some more. The mess was better, but we were still concerned about the stains on the floor.

On Monday morning, I decided it was time to take Nugget to the beach – her first trip! She has been spending most mornings basking in the sun on the deck, but I’ve always wanted to bring her to the ocean. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. When she was a puppy, she had such an energy – she loved to pounce, and she loved the waves at the local lake where I would take her wading. I thought she would be chasing waves and going crazy in the sand – all full of life. We arrived at the beach, and she looked around. She seemed to like the sand, and smiled at the ocean. She was curious about the waves. . . . until they got her wet. Then she looked at me sideways as if to say “okay, mom, I’ve seen the ocean – can I PLEASE eat my breakfast now?




After I returned from walking Nugget (and bathed her), I soaked the carpet with Resolve AGAIN and scrubbed some more. We felt the stains were better, but we were still concerned. We figured a little time and soaking would do the carpet some good, so we sprayed it again and let it sit. The weather was lousy on Monday, so we headed out to Beaufort, a small town here on the Crystal Coast, and hit the shops. We ate ice cream and fudge, bought a few things, and just had a pleasant afternoon. We went out for a buffet dinner at the Golden Corral (we intended to go to a local buffet, but it was closed on Monday), and we made it home just in time to put Micah to bed. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up more Resolve – yes, we used an ENTIRE bottle trying to clean the carpet. After a bit more spraying and scrubbing, we started to feel better about the condition of the carpet.

Today was Spa Day! We headed out to the OC Spa in Indian Beach and scheduled facials, massages, and a nice lunch. Micah spent the day hanging out by the pool, and enjoyed his first day at the spa. We are all thoroughly relaxed and refreshed. Unfortunately, this is the end of our vacation. We stayed in and ate leftovers for dinner, and we are starting the process of packing up to leave. My parents will leave first thing in the morning, and we will be spending the day on the beach and then packing up to leave when it is time to put Micah to bed. We are hoping the weather will be better on the trip home and Micah will sleep through the ride back.






All-in-all, it was a wonderful, relaxing and pleasant week. I am so thankful my parents could join us and help out with Micah. I think it was a great way for him to spend time with his grandparents, and it was a great getaway for all of us.

Click Click

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Another new discovery – Micah can flip switches . . . light switches, the on/off switch on his playmat – he loves switches! Yesterday, Micah was on his playmat and he kept turning the music on and off. Earlier in the day, I was holding him and he managed to turn the light switch on and off. He has skills! I’m thinking I should buy him one of those switch controls that are used by people with disabilities to operate a computer – with that, I think he’ll be surfing the net in no time!

Actually, I was quite impressed with him. First, I had him sitting up (with the boppy behind him to protect his head if he fell over). I stepped into the kitchen to grab some lunch, and when I returned he was on his back (not on the boppy) playing on the playmat. I smiled, pulled the boppy out of the way, and let him roll. As I chatted with him and listened to him playing, I turned my back and opened up my computer to check some email. I was about 8 feet away standing at the table, when all of the sudden I heard the gumball machine noise. I turned around and saw that Micah had moved about 3 feet and was now on his belly pushing himself up high and playing with the gumball machine! He smiled at me and went back to playing. My little guy is moving. Later in the day, I picked him up and carried him for a bit, and he was bending over backwards, smiling and talking. It took me a few minutes, but I realized that he was talking to the recessed lighting. Yes, apparently recessed lighting is fascinating and worthy of a chat. He seems to love recessed lighting and ceiling fans in equal measure – I guess a ceiling fan is kind of like a mobile without the decorations, but I have yet to comprehend the allure of recessed lighting. I mean, it doesn’t do anything – it is just a light bulb in the ceiling, right?

After his little adventure rolling all over the floor yesterday, I debated taking Micah to the pool. I really wanted to swim laps, which is something I cannot do if I am at the pool alone with him. Thankfully, my father said he could come by and stay with Micah for an hour while I ran to the pool. The two of them took a nice walk together, and I exercised. I’m in terrible shape, and my asthma is still bothering me, but I did manage to swim for 20 minutes. I’ll have to work on that a bit more. I raced home after swimming so my dad could go about his business and I could get ready to go out.

Thursday night is usually date night around here. Normally, my mom comes to babysit and we head out for some fun. Last week, we went to see a show at the Bethesda Theatre – 3 Blonde Moms. I have to say, if it is touring in your area, you should definitely go see it – it was hysterical! Well, the 1st and the 3rd mom were funny – the 2nd was kind of annoying. The 3rd mom had us crying we were laughing so hard. She did a bit about public bathrooms, and she hit the nail on the head. She talked about the quest to find the “perfect” stall, and how sometimes that stall doesn’t have a door lock or the hook for your purse, but it is the cleanest so we use it anyway and have to do a kamikaze squat and hang our purses on our necks. Anyway, last weekend when we went to visit Elliot’s family in New Jersey, we stopped at a rest area on 95. I generally will not use a public rest room, but in this case, it was unavoidable. I can only tell you as I went in search of my “perfect” stall, found it, realized the door didn’t lock and there was no hook for my purse but decided to use it anyway, I started laughing all over again. I even hung my purse around my neck for good measure!

But I digress – I intended to talk about last night. This week, we did not have our typical date night. It was my father’s retirement party (after working 42 years at Montgomery College). They arranged for a nice little dinner for all of us at the Summer Dinner Theatre performance of Cabaret. Just before the show started, the chair of his department (and long-time friend) gave a nice speech thanking my dad for his years of service to the College. My dad had about 5 tables of friends and family (mostly people from the college) there, and many people coming up to him and taking the opportunity to wish him well. We had our babysitter Christin come last night. I spent most of the evening worried that Micah was raising hell and shrieking hysterically, and I was terrified that Christin would never come back again to babysit (at least not at night). Despite my consuming fear about the events transpiring at home, the retirement party was lovely. When we returned home at 11:30, Christin swore that she took him upstairs, got him ready for bed and he fell asleep after drinking only 2 ounces of milk (much to my shock and amazement). Way to go, Micah – thanks for being such an angel when Mommy really needed it! And congratulations, Dad, on your retirement – we are so proud of you, and I am certain the next chapter of your life will be filled with things to do. I think you will enjoy retirement, and knowing you, you’ll be even busier than you were before.

Micah is currently upstairs napping. He has finally taken to napping in the crib. While he still prefers to sleep on his side, he now sometimes sleeps on his belly, too. This new habit started last weekend when we were visiting Elliot’s family in New Jersey. It is so cute to see him on his belly. I have to say, I occasionally miss him napping on me. We rarely take naps curled up together anymore. There was one day last week when he napped on me for about 20 minutes, but it dawned on me that it has been a few months now. I used to think it was such a pain to be tied down while he was napping, but I do miss those moments.

No surprise here, but Micah is still in love with Nugget. Right now Nugget adores him, but she can walk away from him at any time when she has had enough. She has been so patient with him when he grabs her fur a little less than gently, and she just nuzzles him, kisses him, or gently escapes from his iron grip. I am certain that once he is crawling, he will spend all day chasing her around the house. She may not be pleased then, and I think Nugget is going to be greatful for daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, too.

I have one other thing I will share before closing this post for the day – television. I think Micah loves television far too much. I try my best to keep the television off when he is around, or to put on educational shows such as Sesame Street. Elliot, however, is obsessed with watching the news, so we do have the news on sometimes when Micah is around. And I am currently obsessed with watching Wimbledon, and I fail to see how tennis in the background could endanger Micah’s development. Nevertheless, when Micah sees the tv screen sometimes, he turns comatose. He gets that vacant look on his face and all he wants to do is stare at the screen. It is particularly challenging when he is eating, so I generally make sure the tv is off during meal time. But yesterday, he was cranky for a bit, and the only thing he wanted to do was sit on Mommy’s lap and watch tennis. I told him all about the players, and the rules of the game, and we counted the score. That has to be educational, right? Elliot is worried that I am creating another tennis monster in the house. I’m okay with that. Just wait until the US Open – I sure hope Rafael Nadal is feeling better by then – I’m so disappointed his injury allowed Roger Federer to win the French Open. Did I mention I am NOT a fan of Roger Federer? For those of you who do not follow tennis, forgive my rant, but someone else better step up and put an end to his run this Wimbledon – I just cannot stomach another win from him, and I do not want to see him beat Sampras’ slam record. Come on Andy Roddick or Andy Murray or really anyone else – you have my support!

Here, doggy doggy doggy!

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Micah has discovered the joys of calling Nugget. I don’t mean actually saying her name, but he noticed that when I want Nugget’s attention or want her to jump up to be close to me, I call her name and pat my hand on my thigh, or I pat the couch next to me, or I pat the ground next to me. Since Micah figured that out, he now looks at Nugget, smiles, and starts banging his hand on his thigh or the ground. It is CLEAR he is calling her over. And the smile that lights up his face (and the accompanying squeals of delight) when she actually comes over are priceless. Unfortunately for me, his favorite time to call her is meal time. He can’t stop looking for her and smiling at her and calling her long enough to focus on eating. He wakes up in the morning and while I am nursing him in our bedroom, he tries to roll over and bang on the bed to get her attention. He has a new hierarchy of needs: NUGGET, food, NUGGET, toys, NUGGET. Okay, maybe it is more like NUGGET, NUGGET, NUGGET, food.

He has hit a few other milestones this week – he is really sitting steadily now, and rolling all over the place. When on his belly, he uses his arms to pull himself around in circles (and sometimes forward). He grabs for toys, and he recognizes people and things (especially Nugget). He is starting to express some wants and preferences. He has learned to pick up these small balls that go into his gumball machine toy with one hand! I think he is developing his “pincher” grip skills. He sucks on his toes, and he definitely can pass objects from hand to hand.
Micah is getting better at napping – he now naps upstairs in his crib, and he takes about 2-3 naps a day. We added in a second meal each day almost two weeks ago. We keep thinking he says “hi” and he seems to spend a lot of time trying to form sounds/shapes with his mouth – I think he wants to speak but has not quite figured it out yet.
Today I am going to try and take Micah to the pool for a little while – or at least the park (he loves to swing). Tonight is my father’s retirement party (he has been teaching at the same place for 40 years!), and we are having Christin babysit – I’m hoping Micah cooperates and goes to bed easily. We shall see.

He sits . . . and do pigs fly?

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Let’s start with the good news! I can’t believe it . . . Micah can hold a sit! Over the past few weeks, I have noticed that Micah can sit when he is propped up against something. Every few days, I try sitting him up and moving my hands away for a few seconds to see if he can actually stay put on his own. Over the course of the past two weeks, I noticed that he was able to hold still for longer and longer before flopping over. Then, yesterday, I let go . . . and he stayed . . . and stayed! I called to Elliot, and we were so proud of our little guy. He is definitely able to hold a sit . . . he only flops over if he leans back or tries moving his arms around, but it is a solid start at sitting. Here are a few pictures – sorry they are blurry!



And for good measure, here are my two babies napping together.


Now, on to my more serious question . . . do pigs fly? What I am really asking is whether it is safe to fly right now with the swine flu circulating. I know the government (with the exception of Joe Biden) is saying that it is safe to fly right now, but can you blame me for worrying about bringing a 4 month old on a business trip? I am not so much worried for me – if I catch the flu, I’ll be okay. They keep saying the only reason not to fly right now is if you are exhibiting symptoms, but my concern is, can I really trust most of the idiots out there? Today, a plane was diverted because a woman decided it would be smart to fly while she had the flu. How many people did she infect? And are those people on the flight contagious during the incubation period? They really do not know yet. Which leads me to my next point – what if there are asymptomatic infected people who are contagious on the plane – how easily transmissible is it? Right now, it does not appear that the current strain circulating in the US is that virulent . . . but they just do not know. So . . . I am worried, and I wish I knew the right thing to do. Should we drive instead of flying? It is a 10 hour trip, so that won’t exactly be easy with a newborn. We would probably try to drive at night so as not to disrupt Micah’s schedule. What do you think . . . do pigs (in the form of swine flu) fly, or should we?

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPER MICAH!!

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Part of our new bedtime routine is to swaddle Micah in the Halo SleepSack Swaddle. We were swaddling him in the Kiddopotamus SwaddleMe, but he managed to get his arms out of the middle and kind of wrap it around his neck a few weeks ago, so we switched to a different swaddle for our own peace of mind. Well, the new swaddle is sort of a dress . . . with a cape on the back. Anyway, we couldn’t resist taking these pictures:



Here are some other adorable videos of our little Micah man this past week:



Oh, and as promised, here is my dog loving the playmat:

If I only knew . . .

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That my dog would love the playmat as much (if not more) than my son, I would have bought the playmat years ago! My cute little dog has figured out how to make the lights go off, and she lies on her back and hits at all the animals, and pulls them with her teeth. When we go out for a few hours, I come home and find her napping on the playmat. Every time Micah gets on the playmat, she joins him – to sit, to snuggle, to just roll around. The playmat is an endless source of fun! So, for you animal owners out there – feel free to go out and buy a playmat – I’m sure your pets will love it! Here are some photos of my babies – I’ll have to snap one when the dog is playing on the mat by herself! Maybe some video – she loves to start the music and hit all the toys while she lays on her back.


A registry!

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We did it . . . we finally started a registry yesterday at Buy, Buy, Baby! Yes, we have been putting it off, and no it isn’t anywhere close to complete, but we started it! Elliot was a bit of a maniac with the gun . . . if he could shoot it, I think he put it on the registry. Of course, he has no idea that I have the power of edit on the web site, so many of the items he placed on there may have “magically” disappeared. He initially registered me for 4 different breast pumps! I think Elliot can’t wait to go back so he can have the gun again for more play time. He is also currently obsessed with strollers – I’m not exactly sure what the fascination is about, but he can’t stop investigating strollers, and was quite upset that I wouldn’t go inspect and select the strollers yesterday.

We still want to start another registry at Great Beginnings, and we may put some things online at Target or Babies R Us, too, to make it easier for out-of-town friends and family, but we finally got the ball rolling. We also went ahead yesterday and bought a reclining chair for our living room – so that will complete our living room furniture. We still need to go back to Great Beginnings and pick out a glider, but we hope to do that this week.

As for me . . . . today I am 28 weeks pregnant! Overall, I’m feeling well. This little guy is kicking up a storm. For some reason, he seems to have a fascination with my cervix – he continually likes to poke it and make me uncomfortable. I’m sure when I tell him that during his teenage years, he’ll turn bright red with humiliation and say “eww, mom, do you have to say things like that!” Is it wrong that I am looking forward to embarassing him like that one day? I also have a pain in the lower right side of my abdomen – I hope it is nothing, but it is extremely uncomfortable. I guess I probably pulled a muscle or something . . . I think it started yesterday – I’ll have the midwife check it out at our appointment tomorrow! Here is my latest belly shot, taken today:


Tomorrow we go back to the midwife for my gestational diabetes test (wish me luck!) and a regular checkup. As of tomorrow, we will now be on a 2-week appointment schedule. I can’t believe how the time is flying! Now . . . if only we could get those renovations on the house finished, we’d really be in business!

On another note, I’m obsessing about my dog, Nugget, again. She has skin and allergy issues, so back in July, I switched her to a high-quality grain-free diet. I’d tried all the other tricks, but read an article indicating that many dog skin allergies may be caused by the grains in commercial dog foods. I think her skin has been better, but she has also had a skin infection that won’t quite go away, and has been on antibiotics, so it is hard to tell. My one worry with the new diet is that it is very high in fat, and I was afraid she would gain weight. Today I took her to the vet, and we have to go back on antibiotics for the skin infection. But, I learned that she did put on a bit of weight – maybe .4 lbs. So, of course, I’m wondering what to do next! I’m not ready to give up on this grain-free diet, but I don’t want to make her fat, either. I think Elliot is ready to kill me for obsessing this much over dog food.

After our appointment, I went to the pet food store (since we are almost out of dog food anyway), and found a different grain-free brand that has a low-fat version, but of course, it is even lower in fat than the food she was on before switching to this diet (and if the fat content is too low, it can give dogs dry skin and make them itch!). So . . . I couldn’t decide what to do! I know it isn’t a good idea to change dog food too many times, but I also want to do what is best for Nugget! I can’t believe how indecisive I’m being! So, I was an overwhelmed pregnant lady in the dog food store today. The saleswoman kept making suggestions, and all I wanted to do was strangle her. First, since the new dog food we’ve been on has double the calories of her previous food, she suggested cutting my dog’s food intake in half. Great idea . . . when you are dealing with a big dog. My dog is tiny – and only gets 3/4 c. food per day. And she is already pissed about that, because back in her younger days, I used to give her more like 1 1/4 c. per day. She now KNOWS when I cheat her out of even just one piece of kibble, and is not afraid to cause a raucous if she doesn’t get her share. She has made it quite clear she will not tolerate any more reductions in quantity, caloric count be damned! And my favorite comment from the saleswoman – why don’t you let your dog taste the new brand and decide which she likes better? Um, yeah, my dog will eat rabbit poo, vomit, and dead frogs – exactly WHAT makes you think she has discriminating taste and will “prefer” one over the other – it is food, she’ll eat it (or rather inhale it), probably within about 3 seconds after I place it in her bowl!

So, after coming home and doing some research, and discovering that this new low-fat dog food also was given 6 stars by a pet food analysis web site (that I’ve decided is reliable and have been consulting for the past few years), I decided that perhaps we will try switching to the new low-fat grain-free dog food. For some reason, I felt the need to share this piece of information with Elliot – whose response was the classic “okay.” Men! He could have at least feigned interest in my momentous decision. I might even be able to give her closer to 1 full cup a day, so she will probably love that. Do you think Nugget realizes how much agony I go through for her? And to think she gets pissed at me when I put the food down 5 minutes late.

Oh . . . and here is a pic of my adorable spoiled princess:

Surprise, surprise!!

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This morning we woke up nice and early to take Nugget in for her surgery. She was all peppy and spunky, and couldn’t stop BEGGING for breakfast. We arrived at the vet, and he asked how we were. I told him I was having second thoughts because she seemed to be doing so well, and I asked him to reassure me that we had no choice but to do the surgery. The doctor said he couldn’t do that, and if I wanted we could wait until next week (but I’d have to monitor her and bring her in for emergency surgery if she got worse).

We talked about it, and I didn’t want to put off the surgery and keep her unnecessarily sick just because I was uncomfortable with proceeding. He suggested doing another xray to see what her stomach looked like today, and if we could still see all the blockage then he would recommend going forward. So, we did the xray . . . and her stomach had shrunk back to a normal size, and there was no evidence of any food backed up in her tummy! He could see tons of food and the barium in her intestines. He said he thought it looked like the blockage was passing, although he couldn’t guarantee that the blockage wasn’t hiding and her stomach wouldn’t back up again. He also said the blockage could have moved lower, and she could still end up with a new blockage in her intestine, but for right now, it was looking okay. The other vet was there (he came in to help with the surgery) and they both agreed that surgery may not be appropriate right now.

So . . . we checked her into the hospital for the day so they could monitor her. They fed her small amounts of food every 1/2 hr, and tracked her bathroom habits all day. In the meantime, Elliot and I went to the furniture store . . . and we bought new couches for the house! When we went back, they told us she was eating normally and moving her bowels and they released her. I have instructions to feed her normally and see if she stays stable for the next few days. We go back again on Wednesday for another check/xray – hopefully there will be no emergency visits before then!

My poor doggy

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Well, we just got back from the vet, and the news isn’t great. My poor doggy has to have gastric surgery tomorrow morning. There is a giant blockage in her tummy – it is about 2 inches thick, and 4-5 inches long (perhaps bigger). On the xray, the vet noticed her stomach had not yet emptied, so he decided to give her barium and do a 2nd xray. It became quite obvious that about 1/2 of her stomach is totally blocked and it is preventing things from digesting and passing through to her intestines.

So, tomorrow morning, we will get up and go take her for surgery. While the doctor is fairly sure this is something she ate, he said that he cannot rule out cancer until he goes in there and looks around. Wish us luck! I hope the surgery isn’t too awful and that the blockage is nothing more than things Nugget should not have eaten.