Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Milestone tracker: Solids!

Our NY pediatrician gave me the ok to start Russell on solids about a month ago. However, I wanted to remove a level of complication from our lives, and wait until we both hit the west coast and he looked like he was interested.

Over the last week or so, he has begun swallowing his own saliva, being interested in the foods Justin and I eat, and, perhaps most importantly, being hungry ALL THE TIME. So last night, we tried some yummy rice cereal for the very first time.

Russell at like a champ, seemed to 'get it', and did a great job keeping it in his mouth. It helped, I am sure, that I made it very very thin so it was mostly the spoon that was new.



I admit, there was a bittersweetness to it for me. He's already getting big, and he's only 4 months old.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I am a worn out baby.

I wish mom and dad knew how tired I am after the last few days.

First, the movers came and took all of our boxes and put them in a big truck. Mom was at work finishing up stuff when they came, so she wasn't around to take any pictures. But the movers were nice and all stopped to play with me between loads.

After the movers left we went to movie night and said goodbye to our Long Island friends.



Then mom and dad spent 24 hours cleaning the apartment, which took far longer than they thought it would. I sat in my bassinet and played with my rattle and was a very good boy the whole time.

Then we drove up to Mass to visit all of my relatives. It was cold there.



Then we got on a PLANE! I've never been on a plane before, but I was a very good boy and slept most of the way there. I was so good that a few people even told mommy and daddy how good I was when we deplaned in Phoenix. One lady at the baggage claim said she didn't even know there was a baby on the plane.



We drove to our new home and Sandy was glad to see us.



When we got there, we had lots of presents waiting for us. The nice lady who watches the dog left a welcome home basket for us and a toy for me.



Great Nana also sent us a Halloween package, and it included cute booties with kitties on them for me. I wouldn't hold my feet still enough for mommy to get a good picture though.

There is no furniture here yet. Mommy says it will come next Monday or so. Until then, I get to play on the floor.



Tomorrow daddy goes back to work, and mommy says she has to work on her dissertation. Maybe then I will finally be able to get some rest!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Moving Day

The moving truck comes today! The boxes all leave my house today! We are officially no longer Long Island residents today!

Woo Hoo!

Now, back to packing/cleaning/etc.

Disclaimer: This post was actually written on Friday night and scheduled for today, because I KNEW I wouldn't have the time, energy, or inclination to post today.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pic of the day: sleeping baby edition

I let him sleep in my bed the other morning. He was too cute to not take a picture.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Still packing.

T-minus 3 days until the movers, and my house is a pile of cardboard.

My kitchen.


My living room.


My bedroom.


I can't wait for the chaos to be over.

Friday, October 17, 2008

A parent's gratitude.

Russell had his last day at daycare today, which meant that we got to take home his 'artwork' from the last few months. Look what he did!






The last page of the book was personal notes from the ladies who work at the center.

While Russell is too little to notice the fact that he isn't going back, I will. I am indebted to the wonderful women who not only took care of him, but clearly cared for him a great deal.

So, thank you Miss Kathy, Miss Gina, Miss Jackie and Miss Katelyn for all you did for us. I know that for you, it's a job, and often a joy, to care for our children everyday. But for me, it was a comfort and a relief knowing that Russell was well cared for every day, that I had someone who clearly loved him taking care of him, and that I never had to worry while he was in your care. Not to mention the care you showed me as I made it through these last three months.

From a first-time parent. I thank you.
I only hope I can find someone in Phoenix to care for him half as well as you did.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Let sleeping mommies lie.


Russell has always been a good sleeper. At this point he is consistently asleep by 8:30, and will sleep through to 6:30, waking up only once between 2 and 4am. I'm pretty sure that when he wakes, he doesn't NEED to be fed, but I usually feed him anyway, if for no other reason than he goes to sleep again faster and therefore I get back to sleep sooner.

And while getting up once a night is not my favorite thing, I'll take it. Why? Because Russell has a skill that is far more important than sleeping through the night. He lets his mommy sleep in.

Now, I'm not talking 10 or 11 am sleep in, but when he wakes up on weekends, and I am still sound asleep in my bed, he is perfectly content to play in his crib quietly for an hour or more. To be fair, I have no idea how long, because he doesn't wake me up!

He's a great kid. I am so spoiled.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Like a sasquatch.

No really, it's a baby holding up it's own head.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Nine days...

The countdown has begun. In nine days, I have to be done with the data at work AND have the whole house packed for the movers. It's crunch time.

I admit, I am a little worried. So, I have called in my support team. My mother will come by later today and spend the night. Her mission, help me pack as much as humanly possible.

Next weekend, Justin's folks are coming down and watching the kiddo so I can go to work Saturday and Sunday and HOPEFULLY finish everything I need to before I leave. Then Justin gets here Sunday giving us until Tuesday to get everything else packed and ready to go.

Fingers are crossed that we can pull this off.

Please bear with me if posting doesn't happen for a week or so - things are CRAZY!

In the meantime:

Guess who hit his 4 month milestone last Monday! Yes indeed - Mr. Cuteypants - he was surprised too.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Boxes everywhere.

Packing is inherently terrible.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Mornings.

A big part of our lives right now is the challenge of weekday mornings. I need to get up, get showered, and get breakfast, preferably before the babe wakes. Then I have to get him up, fed, dressed and all our stuff packed for the day. This inevitably takes longer than I planned for (regardless of how much time I planned) and we are almost always later to daycare/school later than I had planned.

Just to add to the challenge, Russell isn't a big car fan. He used to fuss the whole ride. Then, we discovered that Sheepy (our white noise generating sheep) made everything better.

A few morning pics:



I need to get out of the house every morning with my computer bag, the pump, my lunch, Russell's lunch, and anything he might need at daycare. Oh yeah, and the baby! So I am usually 'bagged down' with a lot of stuff. (Ok, bad pun)



An unusual picture of Russell awake and in the car. You can see Sheepy's foot in this picture. Without Sheepy, that would have been a screaming baby.



Thankfully, we often wind up with sleepy baby in the car. He does fuss worst as he is falling asleep, but it is short lived. Then he goes out cold. Isn't he the cutest baby when he's sleeping?

In only a few weeks, I will be staying at home full time to write my dissertation. Then my morning routine will be much easier to handle.