The Bean's first official snowfall!

We dashed out this morning for a few minutes amidst the flakes :o)

Happy Seven Month Birthday Little Bean!

After waking up three times last night you were so generous to let Mommy and Daddy sleep in until 9:20 am! I actually felt somewhat human getting a few extra hours of shut-eye in.

Today was a rather uneventful day, we hung around the house playing most of the afternoon but we did have a few firsts, your first official meal (sweet potato bits) in your super-fab high chair and your first bath in the sink sans bath-sling. You had so much fun splashing and playing with your toys in your favorite position- sitting up like a big boy.

Also, you had a fantabulous two hour nap- Mommy hopes this is the harbinger of a new day in 'napdom'- naps that last longer than 20 minutes!

I'll post my letter soon enough (I hope) but here's a few photos that captured our day....

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

We had a busy day buzzing between families, but Charlie was a charmer and had tons of fun with everyone :O)

Excess

I remember when I was pregnant walking around town I would look at some of the local toddlers in their designer outfits and preteens with their blackberries (I kid you not- they call it the gold coast for a reason) and think to myself, "I will not spoil my child." It is an easy affirmation to make when you have yet to look into the beautiful eyes of your sweet baby.

Now it seems as if each time I am out shopping I have this urge or need to buy something- clothes/toys/etc- for Charlie. Fighting that urge is extremely hard.

I used to have a will of steel when it came to making purchases. I would wait for the sales, swoop in with my coupons and make out like a bandit. Now, if I see a toy has a seal of approval or won some parenting award I cannot walk away from it.

It's ridiculous to me when I know that Charlie cannot truly appreciate or understand the things I'm providing for him, and yet at times I still can't help myself. I don't want to make a precedent that I feel obliged to maintain- I never was a "keep up with the Jone's" type.

It's even more difficult when we are entering the media-tagged 'season of giving.' I want my son to know that Christmas and the holidays are not just about presents and Santa. I want him to know intimately the real meaning of the this time of year- the birth of Jesus.

I want my son to being thankful for the blessings in his life. My hope is to make an annual trip with him to deliver old toys and clothes of his to the Salvation Army, and when he is old enough donating our time as a family to a soup kitchen. I'm going to try and tighten the purse strings and find some sort of balance in the midst of it all.

Craving some inspiration?

I wanted to share a mommy blog that a close friend of mine recommended to me. This blog is incredibly uplifting and inspirational. Tragically, Stephanie and her husband were severly burned in an airplane crash this past August. Against the odds, they are fighting to recover at a burn unit in the southwest.

I only learned of her blog after the accident and have found myself going into her archives to read old entries. Nie's spirit is so bright and the depth of love for her husband and family is moving. The repost for today was especially touching, take a look if you have a minute, and maybe say a prayer for her and her husband's recovery if you have five.

The Nonexistent Nap

The past few days Charlie has been fighting his naps with more fervor than usual. Sometimes nothing would get him to go down and I would just give up and try again later. Other times a combination of rocking, holding his arms and legs down, shushing in his ear, trying to give him a little formula and tapping his butt simultaneously has worked. That process requires about four arms, but I digress...

I tried keeping him home to get better naps. No luck. So yesterday, exhausted from the battles, I decided to try and get him to nap out on the road. That is the only way he has ever 'nodded off' on his own. Unfortunately, I must report that it went just as badly as when we were home. He took 15 minute naps and was super cranky by the late afternoon.

Last night Joe walked in the door and relief poured over me, like it always does when he comes home. I honestly have no idea how single parents do it, I don't feel like I would be capable. I guess they have no choice and just find a way to get through it, but nevertheless it is awe-inspiring. Joe put the bean to sleep which gave me time to clean up the kitchen, make bottles, run a load of clothes and just breath.

I decided to go to bed early; the days of constantly having to entertain the bean without downtime because of the nonexistent naps had my brain feeling par boiled. And then I woke up this morning, not at 2am, 3am, or 4am like I usually do...but at ten to 7am!!

Charlie wasn't even crying, he was cheerfully carrying on a conversation with his feet. The irony of it all is that my body feels worse for the extra sleep, perhaps it is so accustomed to the deprivation it doesn't know how to react to 7 1/2 uninterrupted hours of shuteye. Or maybe it's the fact that I need to catch up on 6 months of sleep, not one night ;o)

Xmas Picture Out-takes

This morning I made my first attempt to get some holiday shots of the bean. Although I'm quite the amateur, I'm starting to understand the camera a bit more (still need to read that manual-oops).

The bean's reaction to Mom's raspberries...

The business executive shot

What is this thing on top of my head?

Can we wrap this up? The exersaucer is calling my name...

All done!

Crickets chirping...

Apologies for the radio silence as of late. The bean has been battling an ear infection and teething which has kept Mama fairly occupied most of the day and night. My poor little guy has been so uncomfortable. When you throw the reflux into the equation I have a troublesome trifecta on my hands ;o)

This weekend was awful, I think I clocked about three hours of sleep total from Friday to Sunday... OK, that's a slight exaggeration. The scratchiness in my throat tells me I'm on the brink and if I don't catch up on some zzzs soon I'm going to fall under the weather. So that's where I'm headed. Next stop dreamland *hopefully*...

A few shots from the weekend:

Trying to 'army crawl' his way over to Malcolm's bed.My hat's...oh about four sizes too big ;o)

Our fifth month

My sweet Little Bean (fast becoming a little man!),

Another month has come and passed, I can't believe how quickly time is flying. At this rate you're going to be asking for my car keys in a few months.

You're becoming stronger every day. At the beginning of the month you were practicing your tripod skills and now you are full blown sitting up on your own. It's amazing, one day you just decided, 'enough of this, I want to sit!' Of course, there are times when you topple over, but I've been lucky enough to always be very close to catch you when you fall. I pray that I will be able to be there for you, my arms a safe place to fall, for many more moons.

You are completely enthralled with Malcolm, your reaction when you see him is a combination of the following: blowing raspberries, thrashing/jumping up and down (if you're in your exersaucer), reaching your arms out, breathing heavily and Malcolm's all-time favorite- squealing. Malcolm's reaction to you ranges from fleeing the room as quickly as possible to slightly tolerating your presence if you want to pet him. I call it progress.

In the morning when you wake up in your crib, you love talking to yourself,(or as Daddy calls it- shouting) and playing with your feet. You also love having conversations with yourself in the mirror. Lately, you've been singing along when I sing to you, it is so adorable.

You're reaching for everything now, from your toys to Mommy's dinner. Your exersaucer has taken on a new purpose as you have discovered different ways to play with all your toys. Speaking of playing, you love to cook and bake with me, you sit in your bumbo and hold all the measuring spoons and cups while I mix the ingredients together.

Your favorite toy for the past month has been...drumroll...a red plastic cup. Who knew, but you think its magical when I pour your bath water out of it like a waterfall. You try to catch the water with your hands every time. The other day I caught you grabbing an empty cup with your feet and bring it up to your hands like a monkey (while in your bumbo). Now that's talent!

At night when we put you down to sleep you look like the sweetest thing on earth, little man. You see you sleep on your side now, all curled up just like a little person. You wearing out your sheets with all the circles you make around your bed.

I check on you countless times before I make it to bed myself. Daddy thinks I worry about you and that's why I check in so often, but I will tell you a secret. I know it may sound funny, but I miss you when you sleep. However long the day- even if you're having a tough one and don't feel good- there's never enough time I can spend with you. I will tell you the truth, there will never be enough time. One day you're going to grow up on me. So for now I will indulge in my need to 'check on you.' We'll keep that our little secret :o)

All my love,
Mama

Bad Blogging Habits!

I'm so behind on writing my monthly letter to the bean, but the past few days have been very busy- keeping me from getting the task completed.

Halloween was a fun day. We spent it at a little party with other baby friends during the day and also visited the in-laws.

Yesterday we had to get our car fixed up (it had recalls on it needing repair) and vote. Fortunately, I had nothing else planned for the rest of the day because Charlie was in a 'fit to be tied' mood. He wouldn't nap and every time I tried he would have a meltdown/tantrum/let-me-arch-my-entire-body-and-scream-bloody-murder reaction. Not so much fun.

Luckily, in this case, the 'sleep begets sleep' theory did not ring true for us, because when he finally did go to bed (after trying 8 times) he slept from 7pm to 4am. He then ate and went back to sleep until 730.

He's lucky he's so damned cute. My frustrations and stress all melt away when I see him all curled up sleeping like a little angel.

Here's a few shots from our latest photo shoot, the preppy bean:

Mamas first foray into homemade baby food

It's something I've been meaning to do since Charlie started eating solids. I wanted to make sure I knew of the beans favorites before taking on the project of making everything from scratch. I remembered when I had to pour left over breast milk down the drain and didn't want my efforts to go in vain.

This morning while the bean took a marathon nap (2 full hours!!), I went to work. I baked an acorn squash and a sugar pumpkin for about an hour and ten minutes at 375 degrees, microwaved several sweet potatoes and organic green beans.

The pumpkin, acorn squash and green beans did not need anything added to make a nice puree in my mini food processor. The sweet potatoes mashed up perfect with just a tablespoon of formula. It was surprisingly easy.

I tested the sweet potatoes out on Charlie once he woke up, a little apprehensive that he might not like it because they were thicker in consistency then what he was used to eating. But he ate every last bit of them. There's something to be said for freshly harvested produce. And now for some pictures:

Charlie's pumpkin went from this:

to this:

Beans for my bean :o)

And finally, the result of a sneeze with a mouthful!