Russell's first Haircut

Russell's hair is so fine and so blond that I almost feel like he doesn't have any. So, it was a hard to decide that he needed his first haircut. But I finally grew weary of him looking like a balding old man with the wispy stuff at the back of his neck and took him to get his haircut.

Before:

from the front:



profile:



We went to a chain place that caters to kids, so he got to sit in a car shaped seat that faced a tv screen. He loved it, until the buzzers were turned on.

During:

Playing with the car:



Then the buzzers went on:



Then the buzzers touched his head:



Then mommy had to put the camera down to comfort him.

But he looked really handsome when he was done. The other mother in the place (with 2 school-aged kids) commented that he looked older afterwards. The cut seems to have done his hair good, since then it's looked like it's fuller. He does have hair, it's just clear.

After:

Babies in high chairs: Part II

Russell is learning to use a sippy cup. Mostly this means that Russell is learning to turn a sippy cup over so that he can pour water (or juice, or formula) on the tray of his high chair. Occasionally, he even gets some in his mouth!

Milestone Tracker: First Tooth!

On Wednesday last week, Russell's first tooth broke the surface. I found it when he chomped down on my finger!

As of yet, however, we still can't see it well enough to get a picture, but I didn't want to put off posting it any longer. It's just too exciting.

Besides, for someone with a memory as bad as mine, if I don't record it somewhere, I will never remember when it happened.

Happy Inauguration Day!

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.

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...

RMG pic of the day

(taken June 9th - 3 days old)

Yep, he's still cute.

For today's "mega-milestone" he puked on me for the first time today. Not really earth shattering, but quite exciting in it's own way.