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Just Me

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Sometimes I feel like this past year has turned me from Caitlin into a mom, and nothing more.  Don't get me wrong, being a mom is awesome, but every once in a while something happens that leaves me feeling a little funny.  Someone will ask me a question I normally would know the answer to, and I realize I have no clue. 

For instance, I went to a Red Sox game recently!  There was a time where I'd go to 10-15 games a season, and lately I'm lucky when I average one.  This was actually a pretty easy game to go to, but it still required a bit of planning.  I went with my co-workers, and it was a 1:05 game.  Tom worked from home so he could do daycare pickup, but I still managed to get home for bedtime.  

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Week Nights

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When I say you love sleep like your dad, I mean it.  Someone could honk their horn 4 blocks away and it would wake me from a dead sleep.  On the other hand, the alarm can go off, I can turn the lights on, and still sometimes I have to hit Tom to wake him up.  

Usually I try to put you down for a nap when we get home from daycare.  You don't sleep enough there during the day, and in my mind more sleep is always better.  You usually go down when we get home at 4:30, and hopefully wake up an hour later.  When you hadn't woken up by 5:45, I decided to help things along.  You see, I needed you to wake up so you could eat dinner and then go back to bed.  It seems stupid but if you don't wake up, you'll get angry around 10pm and demand food.  If I didn't give you the nap, you'd melt down.  It's a delicate balance.  

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A Birthday Wish

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I ran out of wipes, once, when we were on vacation.  Even though I had packed one of those huge packs from Costco, and even though I had a backup in the diaper bag, we ran out.  I remember the panic that came with knowing that I had no more.  It wasn't even that big of a problem, really.  It meant an extra trip to town to go buy more, but that wasn't a huge deal.  I missed an hour of time with my baby, and Tom had to deal with some witching hour antics by himself, but it was fine.  I ran out, bought some more, and our crisis was over.  I remember I barely even paused in the aisle with the wipes.  I grabbed whatever was closest, and was on my way.

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Tales from Daycare

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I love picking E up from daycare.  I love opening that door, spotting him and waiting for him to look up.  That moment of recognition is the best.  A grin spreads across his face, and he will book it across the room toward me.  It doesn't matter what's in his way - toys, books, other babies - he'll climb right over.

The other day, though, was a bit different.

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E These Days

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I'm not sure if it's on a commercial or TV show or the radio.. but someone has been playing "My Favorite Things" lately.  And so it's been stuck in my head.  Which has lead me to want to document what E's favorite things are lately.  Because I'm sure they will change, and just the fact that he has favorite things are amazing now.  For so long he was just a baby.  Now he's developing opinions and it's just too cute.  

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Where Does the Time Go?

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Is time moving at warp speed lately?  I've always felt like summers go by quicker than winters, but given that we still have snow in the forecast and I'm already feeling like time is slipping between my fingers, I'm a bit worried. 

Take Easter for example.  {How/When/What!?!?}  Yeah, that pretty much describes how I feel about it.  It came out of nowhere and then blew past me super fast.  All of us being sick might have had something to do with it, or the fact that it was early this year, but WHERE DID EASTER GO!?  Ever the practical one, I just decided that it was still here and took E's Easter pictures last weekend.  Close enough, right?  I'm not sure he was on board with the idea, though.  Sure he humored me for a bit in the beginning, mostly because I was bribing him with puffs, but as soon as I tried to lie him on the ground he decided he was done.  Oh well. 

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

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The funny thing is, last year I didn't even manage to get a post up on his birthday, yet I felt much more put together than I do this year.  It's true that when you have a baby, it becomes all about them, and the parents get put on the back burner. 

That doesn't mean the birthday won't be celebrated, but it does mean there won't be a cake waiting for Tom when he gets home tonight.  Because baby.  We'll find some time to celebrate this weekend, and we've already picked out a joint birthday present of sorts in the form of a home improvement project that will happen in the next month or so. 

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What's New?

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Recently I pointed out a few things that haven't changed, but now I want to talk about things that have.  Things that are new and different around here lately!

New Tricks

Some times it seems like E doesn't change or learn anything new for a few weeks, and then there are weeks where he learns a new trick every hour.  All of a sudden you're watching him and saying "Wait, since when does he know how to turn pages in a book??"  And then you scoop him up and smother him with kisses because you're so proud and he's so squishable!

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The More Things Change...

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Recently I was looking at a post from a year ago, and I started laughing at how much it sounded exactly like our life now.  

Maia checking out all the baby stuff? Check!

It's pretty funny how quickly she'll jump on something if she thinks it's for the baby.  Her favorite spot is still the changing table, although she'll take just about anything she can get.  And that car seat she wouldn't test out before?  Officially taken over.  We had a baby gate delivered the other day and before it was even out of the box, she was jumping all over it, claiming it as hers. 

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Chaos

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I've been going through a hard time at work lately.  The powers that be have decided to change, well, pretty much everything about the way we work.  People have gotten new jobs, teams have been split up and regrouped in different configurations, and the physical space has been transformed.  Which means I've been working in a construction zone with people who aren't sure what their job description is anymore, or where they even sit.  It's a bit.. chaotic.  

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Sick, We've Got It

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Oh have we got it.

Poor Bubba's had it pretty bad.  He was fighting off a virus for about a week, but seemed happy.  Then came the puking.  Oh so much puking.  At daycare.  At home.  On me.  On the bed.  On the floor.  Everywhere.  Just when he seemed like he was getting better, he got hit with another virus/cold.  Suddenly he wasn't eating, not acting like his self, all stuffy, and hit with a fever.

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TEN Months

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Nick Names: Bubba, Sweetness, Love bug
Height: 28 inches (Estimated - No doctor's appointment)
Weight: 19.5 pounds (Estimated)
Special Outings: Still going to count the trip to Florida, since that was also part of this month
Visitors: Alice and family, plus we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa!
Loves: Exploring, playing with friends, trips to Target, his moo cow, mooing, the kitty
Hates: Throwing up, being hungry, not being able to sleep when he's tired

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I'll Never

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There's a reason parents will give a knowing smile when people without kids, or parents-to-be, say they'll "never" do something. 

And maybe you won't.  You'll have rules and routines and will stick to your convictions.  And then one day you'll find yourself in a new place, on vacation, and routines will go out the window.  It will be late and everyone is tired and crying.  You'll be at the end of your rope and you'll think...well maybe...

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"Are They Twins?"

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Yes it's easier to leave him home.  Let him stay with Tom while I go hang out with my two favorite ladies.  Two on one, big people to littles.  It's a lot less hectic, a lot less tiring.

But.

The look on their faces when they see each other?  When they realize that this wasn't just a normal outing, that they get to see their buddy?  Pure joy, happiness and excitement.

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Active Denial

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I don't want to talk about it.  Nope.  I'm so over it, so done with it, I just want it to go away.  So I won't talk about how since my last post, we got another storm which dumped 30+ inches of snow.  I also won't talk about how today we're supposed to get ANOTHER storm today.  I'm ready to jump back on a plane with a baby and run to Florida because I would rather deal with flying than shoveling at this point.  I'M DONE!

So instead, I'm going to focus on a few small moments that have happened lately.

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Food Adventures of E

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In case you were wondering how much sand a baby will eat before deciding it's not edible.. I don't have an answer for you.  We never got to that point with E!  Eventually we were able to distract him with pickles and oranges, but I swear that kid would have sat in the sand eating fistful after fistful.  

I'm not sure where he'd rate the sand on the list of things he tried while in Florida, but I think I'd put Florida farmer's markets at the top.  We spent one afternoon eating our way through one, and I think I'd gladly go every day if I could.