Tuesday, September 18, 2007

hit him with your best shot





This baby went to the doctor for
his two month check-up last week












This was the result:

(look at that devastated bottom lip)

These are the vitals:

14 lbs. 6 oz.
24 1/2 inches tall


and since we like to start comparing our children early on here in America that puts him in the:

95th percentile in weight & 93rd percentile in height (head is 85th)

What I learned:

  • shots are just as sad for mommies as they are for babies
  • babies' legs get sore after shots resulting in at least a few hours of sad babies
  • don't take babies to jewelery parties the same day as their shots
  • especially not jewelry parties an hour away (long car rides are bad)
  • when babies' legs are sore they don't like to eat
  • yanking off band-aids on babies' skin is not pleasant for anyone

Anything else I should know for the 4 month shots? Our first experience really wasn't THAT bad, but I didn't like knowing that he was in pain at all. Luckily after about a day and a half he was back to his normal happy self and he seems to have forgiven me for letting the nurse stab him with needles 4 times.

Ah, the joys of being a mommy. :)

Monday, September 10, 2007

Labor Day-ish this and that

Now that it is a week after Labor Day I figured I should post about what we did over the holiday. Be prepared for a billion pictures...

A few days before Labor Day I was pleasantly sitting in our living room with the baby when J came inside looking mildly flustered. He had been up on our roof ripping off all of the old tar paper and other stuff that involoved him getting incredibly filthy. He was dirty enough and calm enough that I didn't notice that he was limping very badly. Even after he said, "I just fell off our roof," I wasn't really concerned because of how calm he seemed. It wasn't until he hopped over on top of the counter and put his leg up that I realized how bad he had hurt his ankle. Have a look:


He fell off the roof when a board broke and landed on his right food inside this 3 foot deep trench. And yes, it does have rebar sticking up out of it, and yes, there is really no reason that J should not have impaled himself on the rebar other than that he must have a really good guardian angel.

This is what his foot looked like the next morning, and in the following few days it got much more gruesome-- super swollen and excellent bruising.
He didn't break anything-- just tore the ligaments on the outside of his ankle and a severe sprain. He is still limping around, but the swelling is going down and he can put on shoes for short periods of time. We are just so grateful that it wasn't any worse than this. The orthopedic surgeon who looked at it said that some of the very worst, life-changing injuries he sees are from people falling off of roofs. We are very lucky.



In other news, the wonderful T-Bo family came to visit over Labor Day and we had so much fun with them. Here is a photographic record of some of the highlights:
Camping up Little Cottonwood Canyon (and by "we" I mean Uncle K and the kids went camping and the rest of us went up for an evening of hot dogs, s'mores, and sitting by the fire only to come back home to get in the hot tub and sleep in beds).





We saw a large moose













We boiled water inside a bottle in the fire











J made a s'more that included fire-roasted pineapple















We sat around and ate















Uncle K ate a lot


















Aunt K did the Macarena





Baby G fell asleep









My father ruined this picture that would have otherwise been very cute











The boys brandished some weapons










E and R looked really cute

Baby G smiled and looked really cute, too


And what would a trip with the T-Bo family be without Aunt J's famous brownies:

K is the chef













The girls do the dishes










J gets the baby to sleep after eating the whole pan

We had such fun, and are always sad for a few days when they leave us. Luckily they are coming back in a few weeks for Baby G's blessing and B's mission farewell. We can't wait!

***Not pictured: the totally awesome synchronized swimming routine that Mom, Aunt K, and I choreographed and performed in the pool. Note to self: get pictures of it next time Aunt K is in town.

Friday, September 07, 2007

To bink or not to bink?



I have a love-hate relationship with Baby G's binkie (or is it binky? maybe we should just call it a pacifier).

Things I love:
-the way it looks in his little mouth
-the way we can see him sucking vigorously through the back of it
-that it will keep him from having a break down in the car
-that it can hold him over when he thinks he is the hungriest baby in the world but it has really only been an hour since he last ate
-that he finds the sucking so soothing and will fall asleep literally within a minute of it touching his lips when he is exhausted but is fighting a nap

Things I hate:
-the thought of having to take it away in a few months because I refuse to let him be a toddler with a binkie (don't want to chance ruining his little teeth)
-that he may not be learning to soothe himself as well as he would without it

I think about this all the time. Am I a bad mom because I let him have a binkie during the day (he doesn't get it at night because I DO NOT want him being dependent on it to sleep at night, and I DO NOT want to have to re-teach him to sleep at night when he no longer gets the bink)? Am I a bad mom because I don't let him have it all the time? Am I being slightly anal and paranoid about the whole thing? Because really, is it the worst thing in the world if your toddler loves a binkie? Does it really matter if your baby calms down easier with a binkie than he does without one?


Probably not. Any advice?

But really, look how cute that is!

Mama's boy?