True Stories

This is a true story.  The other day I got a postcard in the mail from my old dentist in Colorado.  It said, "It has been 760 days since your last visit, time for another appointment!"  Not only have we found another dentist, but we have lived in a completely different state for over two years. I know they probably just used some mass mail computer program and didn't screen anything...but come on.  As much as we loved Colorado, our dentist wasn't one of the reasons that keeps us going back.

Another true story: I was out walking with Russell a few mornings ago and I saw the backside of this big hairy animal in our neighbor's yard. I slowly tip toed into their driveway to see if I could see it better. As I moved closer, I thought, "I probably shouldn't be pushing my baby towards a wild animal." I then noticed my neighbor's teenage son sitting on the front steps. "Oh, he sees that thing, too! I wonder how long he's been watching it..."  I looked at the beast again. A javelina? A bobcat? Then the neighbor called out, "Hello?" The animal moved. I quickly realized that the wild animal was the neighbor's dog. "Sorry!" I shouted, "I thought your dog was a wild animal!"   "Oh" he yelled back, "Its not."  "I know!  Sorry!" I felt like an idiot and promptly left.

Also, I made two types of freezer jam last week. I felt accomplished. Among my other cooking endeavors were a slightly overcooked pan of brownies. I tend to do that. I don't know why but it is sure annoying. Seems like that is an easy fix, like, just under cook them next time, duh! But for some reason I always chicken out. "If I take them out now, they'll be all goo!" I always tell myself.  

In terms of Russell updates, he is becoming more and more like a little boy...sometimes I can't stand it.  He's almost 9 months. Where did my baby go? He weaned himself from the pacifier which is so bizarre because anyone who knew him in his infancy to 2 weeks ago knew how obsessed he was with that thing. Countless people said Russell reminded them of Maggie Simpson with his vigorous and continual sucking of the binky. I was actually pretty worried he would be taking it to kindergarten. But, he suddenly became disinterested in it. Whenever we'd give it to him (usually when he was hungry or upset), he take it out of his mouth and throw it on to the ground, insulted.  Like, "You want to shut me up? You think this thing will placate me? Well I'm onto you guys and let me tell you NOT COOL. So not cool. You are not going to win this one. I will not be shut up!"

He is also army commando crawling everywhere and is quite speedy. His big toes are getting blisters, which is not surprising as he moving constantly and is into EVERYTHING. His newest tricks are sitting up by himself, pulling himself to standing on furniture and the occasional wall. He continues to cruise along furniture and loves to hold on to our hands as we walk him around. You'll also notice from the picture above and in one of the videos below that his tongue is always out. I find it pretty silly and of course, quite cute. One of the videos is of him sort of waving...another new trick. The second is when he got another case of the giggles. For some reason he thought it was hilarious when we made a certain sound. Like usual, pardon my annoying voice. I tend to say "Buh bye!" in the most obnoxious way in every video with Russell. I keep hoping that if I get his attention in the final seconds of recording, he'll do this amazing trick, but as you can tell, it never works. Probably because saying "Buh bye" is not an attention getter. It is more like an attention zapper.  And on that note...before I zap even more of your attention, here's the videos.  Adios!

Musings

Russell is on the right, Owen on the left.

Russell:  Um, Owen, I have a question.

Owen: Shoot.  I'm all ears.

Russell: Have you seen that big girl that keeps running around here?

Owen: I think so...the one who keeps singing Ba Ba Black Sheep?

Russell: Yea. Traci? I think that's her name.

Owen: My mom says she is my cousin.  She says you're my cousin, too.  I don't really get that word but I think it means that we have to be friends or something.

Russell: My mom keeps saying that cousin word, too!  Wierd.

Owen: What do you think of her?  She's not little like us but she's not big like our moms.  But she can walk around and eat all by herself.  I have seen her cry, though.  A lot of times.  So I know she's not all the way grown up.

Russell:  I think she's cool.  Sometimes, she takes off her diaper...without any help!  It is amazing.  All the moms and dads around her sure think she's hilarious.  They are always asking her questions and laughing at what she says.... (Pause)  I'm a little jealous of that.

Owen:  I know what you mean.  All the moms and dads just say, "Owen, you look so cute!  Those glasses are just so adorable!"  Cute this, cute that.  I'm more than just my looks.

Russell: Seriously!  I have sand all over my body.  It is totally itchy and it tastes so salty...but instead of doing something about it, my mom just laughs and says, "Aw, Russell looks so cute with sand in his mouth!"  Don't get me wrong, I like the attention and I am kind of obsessed with this sand, but sometimes it is kind of insulting.

Owen: You know what, Russell? I think we are going to get big like Traci.

Russell: I was wondering about that. I wouldn't be surprised.  There's that other baby here, Carmen.  My mom keeps saying, "Oh...I can't believe Russell used to be so tiny like baby Carmen."  I don't really remember, but my mom does know everything so she must be right.

Owen: I think it'll be cool to be big.  You get to sing songs a lot and everyone gets so happy when you say thinks like "Icky Bug" or when you tell people you have to go poop.

Russell: Yeah.  Mostly, I just can't wait to walk.

Owen:  Word.

Russell: Actually, I've been wondering something.  When you get big, do you have to walk all the time?

Owen: Probably.  I've seen that Traci girl walk up stairs and everything.

Russell:  Well, sometimes I like it when my mom carries me.  Sometimes I cry just so she'll pick me up.  Does that make me a baby?  I don't want that to go away.

Owen: Hmm....I don't know.  I do the same thing.  I especially do that around bed time.  I just like my mom to hold me so sometimes I pretend like I'm really sad about something.  If I don't, she'll just put me in that thing she calls the 'Pack-N-Play' which, FYI, is not really for playing at all.

Russell: Well, let's see if we can ask Traci about that.

Owen: How?  Traci verbalizes stuff.  We just send telepathic messages.

Russell: Um....we are going to have to revisit this conversation because here my mom comes, with the camera and my hat.  I think it is time for another photo session.

Owen: Ugh.  Why are they so obsessed with that stuff?

Russell: I don't know but Owen...

Owen: Yeah?

Russell: You'll always be more than 'cute' to me.  I think you are so rad.  I'm glad we are cousins, whatever that means.

Owen: Thanks Russell.  You can suck on my yellow shovel whenever you want.
Enter Moms with hats and cameras.  Moms scoop up babies and smoother them with terms of endearment and sunscreen.

This is one of my favorites from the trip...you can see Russell's snaggle tooth and Owen happily chomping away on that shovel....

Traci!  Russell and Owen really did just stare whenever she was around. 

Baby chaos

Sunkissed.

Stuff and Whatever

A confession (that is always a juicy way to start a post, eh?):

I gave up on my garden. So sad! It just kept getting browner and browner despite anything I did...and aside from a teenie-tiny mini zucchini and watermelon that started to grow and then quickly withered away, no fruit or vegetable ever developed...and I should have been able to harvest everything by now. Everything started out so green and flowery and then just tanked. Plus critters just kept eating all the blooms. So did it get too hot (The garden is west facing)? Not enough fertilizer? And of course, the critters are partially to blame.  I dunno. When we get back from our trip, I'm gonna rip everything out and try to transplant some peppers and chiles and forgo planting from seed in the middle of summer. I'm also going to contact the local community garden experts to see what they recommend. 

Also, there have not been additional sightings of that snake. Phew! I do have flashbacks every time I go into the garage, though, and have visions of snakes coming out of unexpected places to terrorize me--something a la Snakes on a Plane (yes we saw that movie and it was awesome. FYI Tim Riggins is in it and is just as Tim Riggins-y as ever although he has a somewhat naughty role).

Which makes me want to digress to Friday Night Lights. We have Season Four episodes accumulating on our DVR and cannot wait to watch them. Plus, every time I see a Super 8 commercial I just want to freeze it on Coach Taylor and hear him say, "Clear Eyes Full Hearts Can't Loose" and then see him have the perfect marriage with Mrs. Coach. If I could live in a TV show, I would live in Friday Night Lights and wear the coolest aviator sunglasses and look effortlessly beautiful and not care that life revolved around football. 

Back to my post--which, if you haven't gathered, is about nothing. So maybe I should continue talking about FNL? Eh, maybe next time.

Yesterday, when the baby was sleeping and Brandon was away at work, I snuck a few bites of ice cream.  In the middle of the day! With a fork!  Don't tell.  My waistline will, if that keeps up. But it was a Sunday and I was all alone, a little bored, and hungry.  That makes it OK, right?

I fed Russell green beans again and he ate them up. I guess he is broadening his horizons which is more than I can say because I still pick at my veggies. 

Here are two videos I wanted to share.  The first needs no explaining, although I did kind of feel like a mean mom for filming this.  Does that make me meaner for showing ya'll?

This next one demonstrates Russell's superior crawling skills.  He crawled over from the other side of the couches...the whole way with that little ball.  I've noticed him crawling with a toy cradled in his arms several times now and I find it pretty cute.

Oh, here's another confession that is Internet appropriate--that ball is a freebie from the VA hospital. It says, "It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help" and it shows the silhouette of a soldier with their head in their hands against the back drop of an American flag. Yes, our son's current favorite toy is suicide prevention schwag. But he loves it and Brandon interprets it to mean that Russell will one day become a skilled athlete.  I smile and nod...wait, who am I kidding...I always (and quickly) remind him that all babies love playing with balls, especially ones that are so shiny, smooth, and squishy (ie perfect for licking and trying to suck). That's me, the dream-dasher. At least I use a nice tone of voice...            

Food Wars

This picture is hilarious to me.  Russell doesn't really look that cute but it is illustrative of what it is often like to feed that boy. He usually battles me for the spoon the entire time.  By the end, he is so desperate for the spoon that he is practically climbing out of his chair to get it from me and whining in his baby moans and grunts, "I want it Mom. I want it so so so bad! Why do you get to hold it and not me? Why won't you give it to me? That is going to be so gratifying to suck on and you won't let me do it. You are so mean!  Grrr!!!"  

At first, we used to give him a spoon to hold on to while we fed him with a different spoon. It only worked so so. As you can see from the photo, he usually ended up with both spoons, which defeated the whole reason I gave him a spoon to hold in the first place.  Now I just use one arm as defence against his aggressive grabbing and the other arm to strategically feed him.  He does a great job of simultaneously reaching for the spoon and opening his mouth to recieve his next bite. 

So the question/caption for the above photo is "Victory or defeat"?  He looks exhausted from our great battle, but a little smug too, like "I got the spoons, Mom, not you." 

This picture is an obvious victory.  If there was any doubt, I always let him play with the spoon at the end of his meal, mostly because it keeps him occupied for a good five minutes as I play Clean Up After Baby.  He gets another victory if he can figure out how to take off his bib and suck on it while holding his spoon.   

This victory is similar to the battle he wages while nursing as he usually likes to simultaneously and frantically search for the tag of my boppy (nursing pillow). "Where is it?" he seems to be saying. "I know there is a silky long tag somewhere around here. I want to hold it and put it in my mouth soooo bad. The way it feels in my mouth is amazing...A-MA-ZING!  It is so smooth and coated in my old saliva. I could just suck on that all day. And my mom won't let me look for it while I nurse. She is so rude! Grr. Why can't I wiggle around for it?  Why why why??!!" 

At the end of each nursing session, he knows the drill. I sit him up, flip the pillow around, and he immediately grabs the tag and inserts it into his mouth. Tags are the perfect desert for him. Not for me though. I prefer cookies and brownies.  I wish I could go for fruit but I have little willpower in that department.   

Desert Life and Video Bonaza

OK, so there are 4 videos in this post.  Total overkill, I know.  The cutest one is the last one.  But I mentioned one last week and never delivered and some new ones have happened in this past week.  There are two snake videos, mostly for Brandon's dad to see but others might find them Animal Planety (?).  And the other one of Russell is interesting only if you like to track the growth and development of babies. So without further ado....

Yesterday, as I was heading out for some errands, this is what I found in the garage:

Except it was on the driver's side of my car and made me scream repeatedly.  As you can see, it was not a rattlesnake.  Brandon was a big hero, captured it, and put it in our backyard in the hopes that it will eat rodents, specifically the ones that are terrorizing the garden.

Ignore the part where I scream and talk like a complete wuss.  Please.

I'm not sure if Tucson has officially reached 100, but it certainly feels like summer is officially here.  This morning I took off our heavy down comforter and we've started sleeping with the windows closed, which is one of the saddest things I have to do all year.  The AC has been running and we are bound to see the aftermath in our electric bill.  We've been grilling, swimming, eating Frostys, Eegees and Orange Leaf (frozen yogurt mix-in place), and I'm trying to remember to wear a hat if I'm going to be outside for more than five minutes.

Russell is now over seven months....this month has been a big one for him!  His first tooth popped up last week and he is officially quite mobile, having learned a slither motion that gets him from A to B quite well--although he is often whining out of frustration as he does it.  His current obsession seems to be this game called Putting Dangerous or Dirty Things in My Mouth and he is very good at it.  His favorites seem to be saran wrap, flip-flops, computer cords, tissue paper, and the salt shaker and I know he is only going to get more and more skilled (i.e. knives, pills, raw meat) at it in the near future.  Just as I know that my life is rapidly becoming a really great game called Cleaning Up After Baby.  I'm not as good at that game as Russell is at his.  But you know, whatev.

Below is a video of Russell walking along our ottoman, something he gets better and better at each day.  The video is fairly long but since our computers are from the Stone Age and are super slow, editing it is out of the question because I would go crazy and poke out my eyes, making me unable to attend to my child as he plays his new game, Putting Dangerous or Dirty Things in My Mouth.  

This is another video, taken about a month ago, but it is pretty silly because Russell had the giggles.  Again, ignore my voice and the stupid things I say.  I need to learn to stay quiet while filming, but quiet is one of those games that I'm not too good at either.

Happy Memorial Day! 

Shameless Baby Show-Off Time

Here are just a few pictures...my commentary is kept at a minimum for better or worse.  I'm mostly trying to just get a post in before church and trying to make pictures of our growing boy more available to grandparents. 

We have ventured into feeding baby solids.  For the first few weeks, we was only tolerating it and he downright hated green beans.  I don't know what I was thinking, giving Russell green beans as one of his first flavors.  I mean, seriously.  Of all the wonderful flavors in the whole wide world...and I gave him green beans.   I probably would have made that same face!  So far, zucchini seems to be his favorite.  

One of Russell's favorite things is standing.  He has loved to stand on our laps since he was about three months or so...but lately he seems to be the happiest and most proud of himself when he is standing alongside a piece of furniture or holding onto our legs.  He can't pull himself up yet, but there are some days when the only thing that will satisfy him is when I prop him up on something and then put a desired object (like the remote or my phone) just out of his reach.  He will spend the next long while just reaching reaching reaching for that object, anticipating the awesomeness of being able to put it in his mouth when he finally grabs it.  

(Aren't those letters adorable?!  Caitlin made them for me!) 

Of course, he is just as fat as ever.  Friends complain when I bring him somewhere and have pants on him because they can't see his fat thighs.  And really, they are remarkably fat. At his last pediatrician appointment, about a month ago, he weighed 17 lbs 7 oz.  According to their stats, he is in the 50th percentile for weight...but that doesn't make sense.  Russell seems to have more rolls and dimples on his body that any other baby we know!  We love it, though, and will not be buying him baby spanx.

And finally, this is mostly for Leslie. This is my garden....so pretty and green!

Something is starting to eat my precious harvest.  Jerks.  We put some chicken wire along our fence in hopes of preventing the bunnies from coming in but leaves are still  going missing.  Grrr.  I'm starting to to think it might be birds.  I don't know what to do about that...are we going to have to build a cage?

 

These are our first fruits!  I don't love radishes but it was quite rewarding to pull these from the ground and eat them in a salad that evening.

Happy Spring dear friends!  This has been an especially enjoyable one.  We hope yours has been too.

Also, Katniss Everdeen forever!!  I think I'm going to read Anna Karenina next but I'm worried I'll just quit in the middle and don't want that to happen.  Has anyone read it?  Will I love it?

PS I tried to upload a video but it didn't work.  Anyone know why?  I tried to do it from Picassa.  I'll try to fiddle with it when I have more time.

Inspiration, Por Favor

Give it to me folks. I wanna write a blog people, I really do. I just can't think of what to write about. I'm not good at travelogues and the whatnot. What do you want to hear about? Inspire me. Give me ideas and I'll see what I can do.

These are the tidbits on my mind:

I have lots of adorable baby photos that I just took off my camera. That little boy of ours is pretty awesome.

We had a fantastic weekend in the mountains. It was windy but we saw deer and caterpillar cocoons had a fire and I'm now over the fact that I was a bad mom and got Russell a little sunburned (even though I almost cried about it last night).

I've been watching American Idol and have opinions about everyone. Sometimes I feel kind of embarrassed about it, but really, it is a great excuse to eat ice cream mid-week, debate about something extremely trivial with Brandon, and then text my sister and dad about it the next day. One of the latest issues of People has the most hilarious picture of Scotty McCreary; it looks like he is wearing pink lipstick, which was likely not intentional because he is the most conservative, innocent contestant.

Osama bin Laden is dead and it is weird. It feels bizarre to celebrate the death of someone, as evil a person as he likely was.

My garden is growing--my basil just sprouted which was a 'phew' because for some reason it popped up later than everything else. I'm thinking I should thin the radishes because there are like a million of them, but I don't really know how. And plus, I feel successful when I see all the green in my garden.

I saw four coyotes crossing the street near my house the other day.  I was sad Brandon wasn't with me because he would have gotten excited and asked if I had the camera.

Russell has been acting crazy lately.  He wakes up at night now, and he never used to.

I wanna go on a date with my husband but I don't want to leave him with someone because he'll probably scream nonstop and I'd feel both guilty for subjecting that person to misery and sick to my stomach that my baby was so distressed. But we've only had one date since the baby was born and it is time.

We started giving him solids last week and now when I eat in front of him, he leans forward and opens his mouth all funny, expecting me to feed my apple or cereal to him.  Sorry bud, not for a while still.

The other day, we went to Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop night and it was bomb. We each got three scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone and the total was like $2.39 or something. I ate most of mine, but had to give the rest to Brandon. The best flavor was Gold Medal Ribbon. So gooey and rich.

Soon we will have to start using the air conditioner and take the down comforter off our bed but that's OK because we do live in Arizona and that's what happens here.  But at least it is a dry heat.

We'll soon start swimming in our pool a lot. If you come and visit, we'll have a major pool party, but we probably won't play Marco Polo because I kinda hate that game. We can do cannonballs and drink sugary pop and listen to pop music (just not Katy Perry because she wants to go all the way tonight and that is not a good message for the youth of today).

I'm reading the Lisbeth Salander books and wish they weren't so salacious and gruesome but I'm going to finish them anyway because I'm like that.

I kinda want to dye my hair platinum blond.

I need a new pair of black flip flops because I threw out the pair I wore last summer because by the end of my pregnancy, that was the only shoe that fit and once the baby was born, looking at them brought back unpleasant memories of my swollen feet and limbs.  They looked hideous, I'm not gonna lie.

 See? I have a little to say about a lot...but I can say a lot about a little if ya'll inspire me with the right topic

 6 months!

 Love.

 I get to be the only girl.

Those roses are on the bush right outside our bedroom window. Pretty great, eh?