Old News

I picked the lil' dude up from daycare yesterday. In the busy entryway were two other parents. And one of them had a wee baby pudge in a carseat.
"Who was that?" I asked the daycare lady after they walked out.
"That's G. This is his first week! He's 3 months old."
My heart sank a little. That means Mister G is the new baby, and more (or less?) is expected of the lil' dude now that she is no longer the baby of the place. She's the old baby. Daycare lady went on to say how much she enjoys my baby girl, how independent and fearless and fun she is. She told me how she and her two littles BFFs spent the morning playing together. She's playing! With Friends!

I smiled when she was telling me lil' dude stories. I told her how fun it is to cheer her on as she tackles new things. How can you not want to eat every little delicious morsel of this amazing baby! It's too much. It makes me happy to be her mama, it makes me proud.

After the lil' dude and I spent some QT together buying groceries and making old ladies' days, we came home. I sat her on the counter as I thumbed through the mail. Coupons for Bath & Body Works, junk, junk, junk, wrong address, and this:



Look closely. It's a flyer from the school district- highlighting all the new Early Childhood Education classes available for the school year. It was addressed to her, her name was right there on the address label. They know about her. Old baby is right.

Wordless Wednesday: Help You, Daddy?

Just So You Know . . .

Hey, lil' dude, that thing you did this weekend? That thing, you know. How when you got tired you sorta just wanted Mama? When I would get close to you and you would twist your little body completely in my direction, waiting to get scooped up?

That was completely awesome.

And then, there was that one time in the tent yesterday morning, where you just couldn't fall back asleep after breakfast until your hot, wet, little face was smashed into my chest and your arm was stretched as far as it would go across my belly? Not until then would you fall back asleep for 3 more hours.

That was awesome too.

Mama loves.

Adventure

I'm happy to report the lil' dude is back home where she belongs. She did not learn any foreign languages either. She's just bigger, and way more mobile. There was that initial leeriness as she exchanged arms from Grandma to mama in the DQ parking lot last night, but she remembered us. When she got home, she completely disregarded bedtime and would stand up in her crib and holler away . . . get me out of here, I want to go exploring . . .

And exploring she shall do. This weekend, the lil' dude is joining the Dad and I and some "aunties and uncles" as we go camping. In a tent.

With a baby who can crawl and put things in her mouth faster than you can say, "Mr. Park Ranger, these ARE plastic beer bottles. We completely abide by the no-glass rule." So, it should be fun. We are affixing her to her turtle floaty tomorrow for a trip down the lazy river. Her sippy cup and Dora yogurt will be safely nestled in the floating cooler and everything.

Happy weekends, Internet.

Five

It's been 5 years today the Dad and I have been Us.


Far longer than I've been with anyone else, and for that, I am grateful.


You've wiped my tears, kissed my neck, hugged my Grandma, and helped my friends. I love you for those things, for so many things.


My memory is powerful, I'll always remember our first whirlwind summer together- even the littlest of things. The littlest things count as the biggest, really.

I always remember.

You're my favorite.
LUMM.

Camp Grandma, Day 2, Part B

Subject: Hey Mama

Grandma and I just checked the stock market so decided to type you a little message. I had a 4 hour nap this morning so am in a great mood. itgitjthuyhyhytf;totrdomtntbut nhjytkr;r;gohgkgjhg hg h gffkflfdd;d'vlvkvk vk v jmvjm uig ugugjgugkigg g g kjidjkfdjfdhfh. Love lil' dude

Camp Grandma, Day 2

Let me back track a bit here, Saturday night the lil' dude was up for a few hours, restless, full of snotty boogers, and running a temp of 102*. She was better by the time the Dad and I dropped her off at my parents' Sunday afternoon. Now I have her crud, full of snot and sinus headache and sore ears and throat. Just gross, and feeling sorry for myself. The lil' dude is where I want to be, at my mama's, getting loved on, fed delicious food, and having my neck rubbed. Lucky little girl indeed.

Lil' dude is fine-just a running nose. She seems to be a little warm at bedtime so have given her Tylenol at night and she sleeps just fine. Dad came home late last night so she didn't get to bed until 9:15 pm. She slept until 7:30 this morning but was still tired and went down for a nap at 8:45. She is still napping. She seems to be able to manage her own sleep schedule pretty well. She was extra hungry yesterday, ate an extra helping of carrots with oatmeal at about 4 and had to have a bottle before bedtime. She had mixed veggies with chicken for lunch and canned peaches but no cereal stirred in so maybe just didn't fill her up enough. She ate the whole jar but it is probably mostly water. We went for a walk yesterday, rocked in the swing and were mostly lazy-truly a week of vacation. Dad on the other hand worked at the cabin, bought a new generator and started putting up the ceiling boards. I will help him on Friday, lucked out with the lil' dude here or would have had to spend the whole week......what a good baby!!!!!!!!!

Camp Grandma

The lil' dude is at her grandparents' for the week, daycare is closed, my heart is breaking. She changed so much in the 5 days the Dad and I were on vaca. Here's hoping this week goes fast, and that the sweet baby girl-child doesn't learn how to ride her bike, speak Spanish, or grill a perfect Ribeye this time.

I am having a good time at Grandpa and Grandma's. Grandpa and I are watching the Today show but I figured out the remote and can change to Sesame Street when it gets too boring. Their TV is really little so I have to get up close to watch it. I slept really good but do you know what Grandma did? She bought me BOY pajamas-blue with cars on them!-What was she thinking? I did a blow out diaper at bedtime though and then got to wear pretty girl jammies-so much better. I had apricots with mixed fruit for breakfast-I liked it a lot but her mashed potatoes are yucky! Grandma said she doesn't know how to send you a picture but I am as cute as ever. Hugs for Daddy and Beagle-Love Lil' Dude

Protecting Her Innocence

Do you remember when you consciously made the decision to start putting thought into the underpants you wear?
I mean, when you stopped thinking plain white was good enough. When you added colored underpants to your life?

Who today owns plain white full-butt panties? The white Pink brand from VS does not count because the trim is colored, and because there is a pink dog stitched onto the hip. You see? None of you. You are all sluts. And I prefer you that way. But I digress . . .

I made a startling discovery last night during bath time. As I was was lotioning and pajamaing the lil' dude, I grabbed for a diaper in the drawer of her changing table. There is one row of Swaddlers size 2-3 left to use, and a row of new Cruisers size 3 that will be her next diaper. She will never wear a Swaddler diaper again. She is out of sizes. That is not the startling discovery, however; I have seen this coming. Her cute butt cheeks get plumper and plumper. It's simple science. What follows is my gruesome discovery.


Note the simplicity of the Swaddler diaper, the pure babyness of it. A white diaper. The band at the top has cherubic little baby Elmo, happily and pudgily playing away. He himself is wearing a wee diaper of his very own. This diaper and this Elmo were made for baby. I chose these diapers as the lil' dude's diapers of choice because they were the softest and sweetest and the most baby-like diapers out there. One little yellow band of color with either baby Elmo or baby Zoe (I don't know her, she was not on Sesame Street in the '80s) portraying life as sweet, calm, and serene as can be. The Swaddlers size N diapers the lil' dude used in the hospital (to shit out black tar) had a little line on the front that turned from yellow to green when wet. It was a newbie parent's easy way of telling if baby needed to be changed. Little did we know only hospitals' Swaddlers have that feature, and we were stuck with our size N diapers from Target without the pee line on them. I don't know if she is wet. Can you feel it? Why don't you try smelling it. I don't know, baby pee must smell like your pee, only nicer.


THIS atrocious contraption is the Cruiser diaper. OMG, look at all IT. And this photograph merely represents the front of the diaper. I could not stomach photographing the butt. The butt has Cookie Monster AND Bird Bird on it. If you look close, baby Elmo has morphed into a teenager. He is no longer wearing a Swaddler diaper. Hell, he is not wearing ANYTHING. He's naked horny Elmo on my infant daughter's diaper. Forget every girl's worst nightmare of panty lines, the obnoxious colors on this diaper show through just about every outfit the lil' dude owns. The colors are in purple and green, too. Um, gross. Is that Cookie Monster I see on your ass, beneath your Ralph Lauren bloomers? I am pretty damn sure I was about 16 when I decided to try wearing colored underpants. Up until that point, my mom did the shopping and laundry- she wears white scrubs to work in a white hospital lab, so white underpants were the choice, the whole household in white underpants. 16! The lil' dude is 7 months old! Her underpants have over a decade and a half of white left.

To answer your question, I have contemplated switching brands, opening every package of every brand in the store in size 3 to see if the lil' dude has white diapers left on her baby horizon. But, I picked this line of diapers for specific reasons. They are soft, stretch well, never leak, don't sound, feel, or look like a "diaper". The lil' dude is proud to announce she has remained diaper rash-free for each of the 223 days she's been wearing them.

I'm sorry, but I have to go. Off to send a comment or two to Proctor & Gamble's customer service website.

Wordless Wednesday: High Fiber

Lil' Dude 2.0

This post is brought to you by . . . Tropical Storm Lil' Dude


She done crawled her cute butt across the kitchen floor and opened the cupboard and left . . . a mess. I think she could smell her food, only shelves above her eating utensils, much like a rabid Grizzly.



Next, she cuts a path to where she found the Beagle's water and food . . . oh, tasty brown nuggets in my mouth!



Which lead me, her Mama, to believe she was hungry. Woman, release me from your grip. I will not sit down into this eating contraption.



So, the Dad runs interference and cuts her off in the living room, where he tries his hand at bottle feeding her, not unlike nailing Jell-O to a tree.



So, we sent the little monster to her room, where she took her fury out on her bestest pals. Innocent bystanders, really.



But then, there it is. One fleeting moment where you realize, oh, she's still there. She's just been upgraded into a faster, more advanced model than the one you had before. More tricks and features, same low price.

Return

I wish I were cool enough to have left my Internet friends with guests posts while romping away on vaca, but simply, I am not.
The Dad and I returned home around midnight Saturday night. The grandparents had graciously returned dog and baby to home so we could go straight there and into familiarity. I had a hard time letting the lil' dude sleep on, and secretly hoped she would wake at 5am Sunday so I could scoop her up and smell her. The sleepy little munchkin slumbered on until 7:15am. She grew in 5 days, and the Dad said as he rolled over to greet her in bed, all groggy-like, You don't look like me this morning.
We had breakfast at a little diner before the grandparents made their way home. I fed the baby her first real toast, breakfast potato, and orange slice. 5 days?


The Dad and I on the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, hello, ocean breezes

Having a child makes it bearable to board the flight home. Never before have I arrived at the airport three hours early hoping for a magical voice on the intercom saying, Attention Passengers Going Home, Special Flight Leaves Now. In all my prior travels, I had always welcomed flight delays and even toyed with the idea of giving up my seat on an overbooked flight to stay and extra day. This time, the inconsolable crying toddlers in the terminal and hour-long departure delay made me ache. Home.


The Dad and I in front of Paul Revere's home

I don't want it to seem like I spent my vacation wallowing over missing the lil' dude and her days. The Dad and I had days packed with fun, sun, and laughter, albeit, while appropriately missing the baby. We each picked out sweet souvenirs, sent a postcard home, and commented on just about every baby/child we saw. Boston is the land of the Nanny and Bugaboo, so we saw plenty. Even the screaming ones on the flight home, the little towhead in the plaid overalls who wailed and wailed. And, wailed until we had to return our seatbacks to the full and upright position.

But, we are home. Home!

Letter from Mama, v7

Hello sweetheart . . . 7 months on 7/7!
As I write this, you are on the floor behind me, crawling everywhere and talking to yourself. You are laughing at something in your hands. You are so big now, and so much fun to cheer on. I will always be your number 1 fan, cheering you on, I promise. You amaze me every single day. When you bump your head or pinch your fingers in a book and your face scrunches into instant tears, you turn looking for me. I scoop you off the floor, hug you, whisper to you. Only then are you OK, and you wiggle to be put back down. Your independence will mean everything someday, so keep practicing. Just remember to stop for a hug from Mama every so often.

It seems this last month so many things have happened. You went on vacation, got your first two teeth, learned how to use a sippy cup, tried more foods, learned to crawl, learned to swim . . . Daddy and I are so proud of you and all your accomplishments! Through all these milestones, I can't help but wonder what will be your thing. Or, things, even. Will you be really good at spelling? You loved watching Coldplay perform on the Today Show, you watched intently for all three songs. Will you love music? Will you be an athlete? Left-handed? Will you paint? Will you enter baking contests?

You know what makes me happy about you? Your outgoing personality. Oh yes, baby girl, you have a definite personality at 7 months. I love how you will smile and laugh at anyone or anything. It makes me and Daddy so proud when you willingly go to some one's arms and let them love on you. It's as though you're sharing the goodness with everyone, showing them the love. It's a good trait to have, accepting everyone and being sweet to them. That's our girl!

You'll have more months like this one, where all sorts of big things happen. You'll also have months where it's just days of you being you although that won't likely happen for awhile. Always remember big or small, slow or fast, I'll always be there for your things.

Mama loves.

Him

Happy 30th, The Dad.



Mama loves.

Reason 147. And 148.

Not only did the Dad volunteer his lunch break to buy diapers and butt wipes, he is coupontastic, too. Check out his mad-coupon skills!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Baywatch

T-Minus 7 days . . .

The Dad and I embark on our big summer vaca to the East Coast one week from today!

I can picture the early- morningness of the quiet, quick airport. I love flying so early in the AM, waiting for the metal door to be lifted at Starbucks. I can picture a $5 bloody Mary on the plane.

I can picture the gummy bears the Dad will surely have tucked into his backpack.

I can picture us taking our sweet, lazy time to find our luggage, shuttle, and hotel.

I can picture us eating big ol' sandwiches in historic pubs. I can picture us drinking "One More, No Shit" then spending the rest of the afternoon where we are, people watching, talking about our friends, laughing hysterically.

I can picture . . . us.

I am so so so excited, I can't even stand it. This will be our first "alone" vacation since our honeymoon nearly three years ago. I am so proud of both of us for wanting this and knowing how good for us this will be.

The lil' dude will be tucked away safely at her grandparents', no doubt crawling, being squished to death by grandma's friends, and eating vanilla ice cream with grandpa. The Dad and I will find that children's book store I highlighted in our vacation guide and pick her out awesome souvenirs. Unless we never leave that pub.