Tuesday, December 30, 2008

We're in trouble soon.

Russell is nearly mobile-on-demand.

Right now, he rolls and scoots and rolls and scoots, and can get anywhere he wants to fairly quickly. But any day now...

Just before the holidays I left him for a couple of minutes (less than 10, I had a timer running for something else) and he found his way under his swing.




I guess it's time to invest in baby gates.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

When vacant lots give you lemons.

Reason #3 that I like Phoenix.

Across the street from Midwestern University (where Justin is working) there is a lemon grove. It's on property that belongs to Midwestern that they are not currently using, effectively a vacant lot. So, if one is so inclined, one can just walk on over there and pick whatever lemons you want.

Citrus is a weed here. How cool is that!

So, one day we stopped and picked a bunch of lemons. 'Cuz we could.

Then we let the baby play with them. 'Cuz we could. But it was cute.





And then I tried to get a picture of Jus, and this is what he gave me:



All told, we had way more fun than 5 free lemons ought to provide.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Success!

I did it! A post every other day from 12/1 to 12/25! Maybe, just maybe, I have finally trained myself in the fine art of regular posting. Only time will tell.

But wait, there's more! I still have more to share in the coming weeks, so more bloggy* goodness for you. I am going to try and keep up the every-other day posting schedule as long as the content holds out.

And with a kid this cute, the content well may never run dry.



*bloggy (blo - gee), adj. 1) Related to or deriving from blog content. 2) total gibberish I just made up. Hey, it's the web, you're allowed to make up words, right?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas Eve


Merry Christmas to all my family and friends the world over. May the new year be filled with Peace, Joy, and Prosperity for you and yours.

For us, Christmas is always a celebration of family and friends, seeing everyone we can, and enjoying the time with those we love.

I am looking forward to sharing that love with Russell for the first time.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Baby Kisses

Russell learned how to kiss his mommy a month and a half ago.



There is nothing better than sloppy wet kisses given to you by your baby. Even if they are more like having your chin chewed on than kissed. It just can't be beat.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Reason #2...

...that I like Phoenix.

There is a damn fine zoo. And I am a sucker for zoos. In fact, I am such a sucker for zoos, that the first day of our honeymoon was spent at the Seattle Zoo. That is how much of a sucker for zoos I am.

And the Phoenix zoo is fun.

(Please forgive the quality of pictures, for some reason the white balance on our camera was off...)

Now, technically this isn't Russell's first zoo trip. He went to the Bronx zoo with us in July, but I (ahem) lost the camera and didn't get those pics. (And if you want to get really technical, he went to the San Diego Zoo with Jus and I in April at -2 months old) But, this is now the first zoo trip which A) I have pictures for and B) He noticed he was at the zoo.

Now, 'B' may be pushing it, since at most of the exhibits he was looking at something fascinating, like the stroller. Or a tree. Or the little tag that sticks off of his pants. But he did notice a couple of animals. And I truly believe he had a good time.

Russell and Daddy looking at the Coati.


Russell and Daddy looking...well, cute


Russell and Mommy in front of the giraffe exhibit.


Of all the things at the zoo though, Russell LOVED the duck pond. But he was so tired, he fell asleep while watching the ducks.


We only did part of the zoo, but we got memberships so we could come and go as we please in the next year(s). What a treat to be able to share something I love so much with the Hug Monkey.

And I leave you with the following words of wisdom:

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Giving of Thanks

We had a lovely and quiet Thanksgiving here in Phoenix with friends who drove down from LA to spend it with us. We spent the day in our pajamas, played with the baby, ate and ate and ate, and spent the evening geeking out in front of our (4!) laptops. It was a great joy.

BTW: If you are looking for oodles of hilarity, both fail blog and cake wrecks are great ways to kill time!

However, between the baby and the culinary delights, my hands were full the whole day and I never once took my camera out and took pictures! How delinquent. It's probably better that way - we WERE all in our pajamas.

I hope all of my family and friends who live near and far had as lovely a holiday. I want to say thank you to all of you for making my life so full of joy and love.

And of all the things I have to be Thankful for this year, this one tops the list:

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

One of the hardest things I've done in a long time.

Last Tuesday I went to Long Island to meet with my advisor and get some progress made towards the dissertation.

WITHOUT RUSSELL.

Wow. Was I not ready for that.

I worried about it for weeks before hand. Did I have enough milk stored up for him? Was he going to have enough day care so that his daddy didn't have to miss work? Was he going to be OK without his mommy? Was I going to scar him for life?(!)

Turns out, I probably should have been worrying about whether I was going to scar me for life instead. I missed him constantly, and I missed him even more those times when I called home and Justin told me he had a bad morning, or a bad night. Add the fact that Justin was sick, and we have a case of MAJOR MOMMY GUILT.

When I finally landed in Phoenix, and passed through security, they were there waiting for me. I dropped my bags and grabbed my baby, elated to have him back where I could hug him. He took one look at me and his face turned bright red and his eyebrows furrowed and he yelled at me. Boy was he mad. I was clearly getting a rant to the tune of "How dare you leave me Mommy! I missed you and you were gone and I am so mad at you...etc." He did it for about 10 minutes. Damn near broke my heart. At one point he even threw himself towards daddy, hoping daddy would take him back and he wouldn't have to be held by "That awful Mommy person who abandoned me, she doesn't deserve to hold the baby!"

Thankfully, within minutes, he decided that having Mommy back might actually be more important than yelling at her about being gone. His face cleared up, and he snuggled in as close as he could and wouldn't let go of my shirt. I even got a smile, followed by a hundred more. He fell asleep in the car seat holding my hand on the way home, and when we finally got home, he was more than happy to be able to nurse again. Sunday I got a full day of baby time. We both needed it.

So, all told, a little rough on both of us, but we survived it.

Mommy guilt still has me worried that he won't trust me not to leave again. I hope not...

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Visits

I alluded to Jus' family visiting in my last post. They came out in mid-November. His folks had a wedding to attend in LA, and since they were already out on this coast, they figured why not grab Geoff and Tally (Geoff's dog) and drive down to Phoenix for a few days...

We did some fun stuff (like the hike) but mostly we just visited. And for that, I am truly grateful. It made the transition a lot easier. I am still having a hard time with the idea that my family is so far away. Knowing that visitors can and will come out, really made the move easier on me. I know they don't read my blog - but if they ever do, I thank you guys. I know you think that barging in when the boxes were hardly empty was hard on me, but it meant more to me than you can ever know.

Some highlights from the visit:

Russell thinks dogs are the coolest thing ever, and Tally thought babies were pretty interesting too.


Uncle Geoff with Russell.


The spectacular sunset.


And, Russell in Grammie's hat.


It was a good visit.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Welcome to Phoenix; now go take a hike.

I guess I should get around to answering the burning question on everyone's mind.

I really like Phoenix. Here's one reason why.

Most of Phoenix is flat. No hills, flat. Then right in the center are a couple of smallish mountains that stick straight up out of the flatness. Which means there is mountain hiking right in the center of metropolitan Phoenix, and very popular with the locals. We went up one of the 'moderate' trails (read, slightly above my current fitness level.) Actually, Justin, Russell and I got 3/4 of the way up, and Jus' parents and brother (who were visiting at the time) took the two dogs the rest of the way up while I fed Russell and waited for their return trip. Proof positive that when this dissertation is done, I need to get some more exercise.

But the views were lovely. I leave you with pics.



Thursday, December 11, 2008

Another technical note.*

Now that I am paying much more attention to the blog, I realized the current comments settings weren't working for me, or for some of you for that matter.

I have therefore changed them, and if you weren't able to post a comment before you will be able to now. Keep in mind however, that your comments won't show up immediately, because I have to OK any comments that appear.

I think this new arrangement will be more satisfactory to me.

Happy reading...

*This post also does not count towards my "post every other day" promise...still not cheating.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Holiday Confusion

So, I was a bad mommy. Ok, a distracted one. And when we moved from Long Island I packed Russell's Halloween costume on the truck.

The truck came on November 4th. Oooops.

So, Halloween had no costume for the baby. In fact, Russell spent his first Halloween lying around on the living room floor with his parents because we still had no furniture. We had lots of Trick or Treaters though, and gave out a ton of candy.

As an aside, I think the highlight of my night was early on. I gave out some candy to a cute little witch (the costume, not the child) and as I closed the door, I heard her say, "Daddy, those people have no furniture." I nearly cried I was laughing so hard. More children commented on it, but that first one was so sweet and cute. It was hilarious.

But, at least he had cute Halloween slippers his great grammie sent to him. (Thanks Nana!) Don't even get me started on how hard they are to photo on baby feet.



Russell loved them, they made rattling noises when he moved his feet. I think they contributed to his first "finding of his feet". He's playing with them here.



However cute, kitten booties do not a 'first Halloween' costume make. So, we did the next best thing for dressing him up for Halloween. We dressed him up for Election night! Yes, we had a big Election night party to go to with coworkers and friends from Justin's new job, so Russell wore his Halloween costume.



Besides, they were all anatomists, so they appreciated it.

Don't worry, next year he'll dress up for Halloween, not election night. We'd hate for him to get confused.

Monday, December 8, 2008

6 months old!

Russell turned 6 months old on Saturday.



When he was born, I never thought I could ever love him more than that first moment in my arms. Boy was I wrong. I easily love him more than the day before each and every day.

In six short months, he has learned so much. I look forward to what comes next.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Daycare Evaluations.

I have waxed poetic before about how much I adored my day care for Russell on Long Island. Turns out, it was a blessing and a curse.

Now I can't find one here I like.

Russell has been going to daycare here, three days a week, for three weeks now. And every day I walk out of there feeling not quite right when I drop him off. At first I thought it might just be that I was used to to ladies on Long Island, and after a week or two I would learn to love this center too.

Not. So. Much.

It's not that he isn't getting perfectly adequate care, he gets changed, and fed and he's safe there. It's just that, beyond that, I don't feel that he's getting anything at all.

So it's time to trust my gut. Yesterday, I went and found a new daycare.

First, I spent about an hour at the daycare I am currently using just to get an idea of a) whether I was just imagining that it wasn't what I wanted and b) what it was (if anything) that bothered me. Up until that visit, it had just been a 'something doesn't feel right' experience.

I highly recommend this tactic for ANY parent who has a kid in daycare. After a couple of weeks, go in and spend an hour. It's very telling. (And if they don't want you to - get your child out of there ASAP) Every daycare has a different personality. Every set of caregivers interacts differently with your child. An hour with them helps you see what your child's day is like. And, truth be told, I expect them to behave slightly better with a parent in the room. (It's like having your boss in the room - don't tell me you've never behaved better with the boss in the room.) You can evaluate the things that are important to you, not just what their literature and their 'tour guide/director' tells you are important.

After an hour at our current daycare, I went to a daycare I had contacted earlier about a space and just spent about 15 minutes sitting in their infant room and talking to the ladies there. I had Russell with me. I could see how they interacted with him (and me) and the other kids.

Now that I've had a daycare I love, and one I am uncomfortable with, I know what I am looking for. OK, at least I know better what I am looking for.

For me, a good daycare:

*Has to be clean. Now my house isn't gonna make the cover of Ladies Home Journal, and kids are messy (often all the way to disgusting) so I won't be all hypocritical and require it's so clean I can eat off the floor. But it has to smell good, or at least not smell bad. There can't be bits and pieces on the floors in the infant rooms. That sort of thing.

*Has to be safe. Duh. Not just babyproofing, but visitor flow control, no one in or out without reason, that sort of thing. It has been my experience that the chains have books worth of literature about how safe your kid is there. Do they have emergency plans? Do they have a nurse on site? Most of the time, this is all required by state law. Check that your state certifies the place.

*Has to have pleasant staff. This one is KEY for me. Easily the most important step, and what was missing at our current daycare. They have to interact with the kids in a pleasant way, talk to the adults...care. I want them to do more than tend to my child, I want them to care about him. The ladies on Long Island did. I need to be able to communicate and relate to the ladies taking care of my child.

Those are the basics. Without those three, my kid ain't going.

The place Russell is in now, is missing the third one. The ladies are nice enough, but they don't interact well with me, and they are so busy tending to diapers and bottles and putting out fires that they never really interact with the kids. That was what was missing.

And the new place has it. At least, it sure seems that way from my visit. I loved the way they engaged Russell when we went in. I loved the way that they had time to interact with the kids in the room. More than anything else, I loved the way they interacted with me. I was asked questions, and they were interested in Russell's development. (How old was he, was he sitting up on his own yet, etc.)

We will be putting in our two weeks notice at our current daycare on Monday. Russell will be starting at the new place in January after the holidays.

I feel so much better now.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Things may be out of sequence for a while.

Just a heads up.

So, I've promised you a post every other day until Xmas. (This one doesn't count...don't worry, I'm not cheating.) Which includes a bunch of back-logged stuff and some current events.

I've decided that current events will go into the lineup as they happen, bumping back-logged stuff further back. So tomorrow you get a lovely post about my day-care dilemma (which is current) but it means that posts about Halloween and Thanksgiving get bumped further into December. Eventually I'll catch up with myself.

Until then, have fun watching my chronologically challenged brain at work.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, with a gratuitous pic of the dog (who will be the first to tell you that she doesn't get enough love anymore.)

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Ode to Monkey

Russell was born with monkey toes. Big, long, prehensile, he-still-grabs-us-with-them monkey toes.

Add to that a long-standing joke in our household about the "Birthday Hug Monkey" and we have ourselves a guaranteed baby nickname.

Russell is our Hug Monkey.

Which, of course, means that many of the toys we have gotten him have had monkeys on them. Like jungle mat:



A better pic of Monkey.



Even early on, monkey was a favorite (this one is from August)



and then there is the classic photo which will probably get shown to his prom dates: "When Monkeys Attack"



We have hundreds of photos of our Hug Monkey with his monkey



I suspect monkey will be loved for a while.

I know our Hug Monkey is.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Is it December already?

So much to do, so little time.

I have spoken to at least three of you in the last week. You know who you are, you faithfully check my blog...which, of course, makes me feel terribly guilty for having a piddling 1 post in the last month.

Without further ado (or unfulfilled promises) I have a post every other day until Christmas, all set and ready to go. This is my gift for you, the people who make the blog worthwhile. Happy Holidays.

...

About a month ago (gasp! time flies!) Russell started thinking about mobility. He started rolling over just before Halloween, which, is hard to get on camera. But, he did start picking himself up and looking darn cute whilst doing so.



Of course, we are lucky that saliva is clear, since our carpets are white.



That same day, I was playing with the camera and got a pretty good picture of mommy and baby.



Thursday: Monkeys!