Santa Baby

Our Christmas sure was special.

Photo tour ensues.

Ian woke up to find that Santa had stopped by for a visit, despite us having forgotten to leave out milk and cookies.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that he was actually interested in his toys. He loves his new stacker, and he got some Pete the Cat items, 2 books and a stuffed Pete. You haven't heard of Pete? You must check him out. We discovered him down in Savannah a few years ago.

We think that perhaps the Phoebe cat felt a little threatened by Pete.

J got me a new necklace. Here's to hoping Ian doesn't rip it off, he's already made a few attempts.

Ian liked his new toys, but he also liked the wrapping paper. A lot.

There's a distinct possibility he ate some paper. Oh well, we're almost a week out and he seems fine.

We could't get Phoebe to sit still long enough to take a family photo. We're lucky Ian sat reasonably still for it.

We headed over to J's folks house, and had a great time. Ian picked up some pretty sweet loot there as well. For example, he got some blocks.

He likes to bang them against the tray. Loudly.

And a dinner ware set - all the animal names are in French!

One of the neatest gifts we received was from J's nephew and niece - they took a bunch of the photos that had been uploaded here and made us a 2012 calendar. It is amazing!

And this particular piece of shiny paper kept him busy for at least 45 minutes.

Monday we went out to my folks house for their Christmas celebration. His Meemaw and Peepaw got him a truck, and he loves it!

His Aunt C got him this hat, which makes his cheeks look like they're going to explode.

Aunt C also got him some really neat books, called Indestructibles - they are chew and tear proof and 100% washable. They are made out of the same material FedEx envelopes are made of. He has enjoyed trying to unsuccessfully destroy them.

We had a great time visiting with the family, and he liked being the center of attention!

From our friends over at Atomictumor, he got a Radiohead lullabye CD, which is AWESOME.
The company that makes them also makes other lullabye CDs from various artists, like The Beatles and Pink Floyd. We may have to start a collection. They also got me this Tshirt.

Isn't it awesome???? Note: everyone this holiday season has fed my desire for cat stuff. I got a cat necklace, cat Tshirt, cat cheese spreading knives, and cat socks. Yes, I will be a crazy cat lady one day.

Speaking of socks. I got 7 pairs of socks this Christmas. You know when the last time I bought socks for myself? Never. I have enough decorative socks to wear a different pair every day for a couple of months. Ha!

In all seriousness, it truly was a special holiday. The two things that made it so incredibly special? We have this amazing little boy who has changed our lives. And to be able to spend it with such wonderful family. We are blessed.

Happy Boy Despite Little Sleep

It's been nuts around here this week. We had a long Christmas weekend that stretched through Monday, then Tuesday and Wednesday were a bit of a haze of sleep deprivation for me. Thursday and Friday we had a new HVAC installed in our house - that itself is an interesting story I'll elaborate on sometime soon. But anyway, by the video below you wouldn't guess he had slept a total of 6 hours in a 48 hour stretch. That would be 6 hours cumulative, ahem.

It's been a little frustrating to say the least, but good grief. Really. How can you be frustrated when he does this?

I am completely, 100% smitten.

Walkman

He can't walk yet, but he loves to pretend. Sorry for the low light and my high pitched screeching, but you just can't help but smile!

7 Months

Dear Ian,

Baby boy, you are 7 months old today.

The last month has been another blur of developments and changes. You babble really well, saying strings of mama and dada, but I don't think you're addressing us quite yet. But you chatter away, and it's so neat to hear your voice! You got another tooth, and we can see both those pearly whites when you grin. 

You are becoming increasingly mobile. Not crawling yet, but does rolling count?

We can't leave you alone on the floor anymore!

You can sit up now by yourself, but it's wobbly and we have to sit right with you or you topple over. But oh my it won't be long!

You're playing with more toys now. You're fascinated by the glow worm, and you like for us to stack up blocks so you can knock them down.

We've introduced many new foods to you, and it's looking like you have a sweet tooth. You really detest squash, and giving you a bite is kinda like watching and adult take a shot of whiskey for the first time.

 You're not the biggest fan of veggies, but like all the fruits we have offered. Bananas are still your favorite!

So how do you get a baby to eat peas? You mix them with some home made apple sauce. Even the Phoebe cat wanted some!

At your well visit this month, you were still at the top og the chart for weight. And although you're definitely a chubby baby, you're starting to grow into your chub a little, if that makes any sense.

You don't seem to care that it's winter and you should be wearing socks. We CANNOT keep them on you. We joke that 5 years from know we'll be finding your socks in odd places.

Sleeping is still a huge struggle. For every step forward we seem to take 2 back.

You had your very first Christmas, and it was a blast!!! (pictures to come soon).

Is it even possible that you're over halfway to 1?

I love you so.

Happy Christmas Eve!

He may not know what's going on, but he's going to enjoy all the toys!

Sugar Rush

It has been a very busy week here indeed. Between work, finishing up Christmas shopping and trying to get presents wrapped the week has flown by. I have a ton of baking to do as well - that's tomorrow's project.

All of this holiday food has brought my post partum weight loss to a screeching halt. I haven't really done any sort of dieting or exercise since I had Ian, but the 40 lbs I gained has been slowly coming off. I had 10 pounds to go, then work got in the way. Work? Yep. You see, people like to make plates of goodies and drop them off at the hospital. It's really quite fabulous. For the past two weeks any time I go in there are plates and containers filled with fudge, cookies, homemade shortbread, candy, and more stuff that I can't even think of. I have ZERO self control. Apparently the doctor I work for is so well respected, he gets gifts that go beyond your run of the mill sweets. I opened the fridge yesterday in the break room to see a whole Honey Baked Ham, complete with a red bow, taking up the entire bottom shelf. A whole ham!!! And apparently the day before he received a whole turkey. Before I left yesterday, the florist was bringing in 2 dozen poinsettias - apparently someone gave a poinsettia to every individual that works there! Good grief! By the time all of the holiday festivities are over next week I'm not going to want to even look at anything made out of sugar. But for the next 4 days I will enjoy it.

Wednesday was my mom's birthday, and we went over for a visit. The little man was fascinated by their tree!

Weird Night

What a strange night. Ian slept from 8 pm to 4:30 straight last night, and as I stumbled into the nursery and looked down on him, I just had to smile. Even in the dim glow of the night light, I could make out his little face. He had stopped fussing, and was smiling up at me. He seemed to be saying, 'Well, hi! I thought you'd never come get me.' And then he reached for me. This is something pretty new, this reaching for the people he loves. It's so sweet, melts my heart.

So we curled up on the couch, he nursed and I tried to fall back asleep myself. Tried being the operative word. The dry winter air has given me a sore throat, and I got a tickle. I spent the next hour or so trying not to cough. Then, when I finally did fall asleep I had a very vivid dream of trying to get Ian to go to sleep. Seriously?!? Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with this subject matter?

I fell asleep again only to be woken up by the neighbors dog barking incessantly at 6 am. I know I'm a veterinarian and I'm supposed to love all animals (and I do love all animals except llamas, those things are evil), but I can't stand that dog. The neighbor obviously has no consideration for anyone else. He lets it out, it stands on their porch, faces our house, and barks. It's better than it was, he used to leave the dog outside for up to an hour at a time. One night when I was 8 months pregnant, J and I were watching a movie, the dog had been barking for who knows how long and I lost it. I called the neighbor and politely and firmly let him have it over the phone. Okay, I wasn't exactly polite.


We honestly didn't hear the dog much after that. Until about 2 months ago. Now he only lets him out 5-10 minutes at a time, but it's early in the morning and late at night. It's making me a little crazy, and I've been toying with the idea of calling Animal Control and putting in a noise complaint. But, I just can't do it. The neighbor is a World War 2 veteran, his wife is bed ridden, and I have a feeling that little barker means the world to them. I'm scared they might take the dog away from them. Sigh.

So, instead, I fantasize about blowing an air horn at the dog every time I hear it barking. It would be fun, I swear.

I was talking to J about this the other day, and it struck me. I hear A LOT of barking at work, as you might imagine. There is so much barking at work I don't even really hear it. . . but you have to understand that there's always a chorus of barking. Kind of like when you're at the mall, there's so much noise that it's almost like static in the back ground. If there's just one, it's so distracting I can't hardly do my job. I've been known to stop in the middle of a procedure and have someone go hold the barking dog so that I can finish what I am doing.

Hey, everyone has their "thing," right?  Okay, I have two. The other is dogs (and cats) with their ears flipped inside out. Can't. Handle. It.

He'll Knock His Socks Off!

So I was always under the impression that once babies found their feet they pulled their socks off. Not mine, he PUSHES them off. The right one, and only the left if he's upset about something. He does this about 1000 times a day (I might be exaggerating a smidge). It's driving me batty.

I have been trying to get it on video for days, but he's fast. He can sometimes get enough momentum to pop them off about 10 feet away. Their are several socks missing.

In other news, his new favorite toy is a pacifier. He doesn't suck on it. No, he chews on it. I'm glad to know the $75 we invested in pacifiers is going to good use . . .

Incidentally, did you know that in the UK they refer to pacifiers as dummy tits?

The Science of Sleep

I think if someone figured out what would make babies sleep they would become kazillionaires. I would probably give that person most of my material possessions. Maybe even the Phoebe cat.

Wednesday morning the little man was quite grumpy after a poor nights sleep. I thought he would fall asleep while nursing, but alas, no luck. For two and a half hours I tried everything in my power to lull those baby blues to close, but he wouldn't have it. Finally, after a 15 minute session of sad, tired crying I scooped him up and I'll be darned if he didn't whisper in my ear, "Momma, I really need to go to the park. I know we were just there on Sunday and all, but puh-leeeze? I might even fall asleep in the stroller." He even winked at me!

How could I resist? I mean, the boy has a point. Here it was, the middle of December and almost 70 degrees and sunny outside. December! And to think last week we had "freezing fog." (yes, apparently there is such a thing). That's East Tennessee weather for you.

So off to the park we went. This is the coolest park in town. Has a super awesome fort/play structure that was built completely by volunteers this past spring over a 5 day period. J volunteered for one day, and I think it was such an awesome community project. The park is usually packed on nice days. Ian's going to have a blast when he old enough to run around.

The park has a paved walking path that circles its perimeter, so off we strolled.

During lap 1 we finalized our plans for a trip down to Chattanooga with Auntie Karen to meet Ian's new girlfriend (he has several, you know - he's such a ladies man) who was born last month. He must have gotten really excited about this trip, because he certainly didn't fall asleep.

I get to go on a road trip!

During lap 2 momma got really annoyed at a dude with 2 large dogs, unneutered, in choke collars, and on a split leash sharing the walking path. He had zero control over the dogs, both of which were trying to go after all the other dogs in the park. Why on earth would you bring dog aggressive dogs to the park? How rude! After all that barking, he certainly wasn't going to give in to the sandman.

Sleep? I laugh at sleep!

Lap 3 was fairly quiet, but I was intrigued with a young man (who looked like he was about 14), sitting in the drivers seat of his car with a cat in his lap. A cat! It took everything I could muster not to go rap on his window so I could ask 1. Are you sure you're old enough to be driving? and 2. Um, what's the story with the cat? Does it regularly ride in the car with you or is today a special occasion? I mean, if I let the Phoebe cat loose in the car like that she would be howling, climbing all over me, and vomiting. After all this, there wasn't much noise coming from the stroller so peaked around the front to see if he was asleep.

Do I look like I want to take a nap?

Nope.

And during the last lap we pondered all of life's great mysteries. Such as, who in the heck figured out the recipe for Chex mix? That stuff is seriously awesome.

So, did he ever fall asleep?

 No, but he discover that the strap on his stroller tastes delicious.

Biceps

I love how it looks like Ian has biceps.

When truthfully they are fatceps.

All Wrapped Up

I am honestly not a big fan of shopping, and I think it's the crowds. I know a lot of folks love the holiday hustle and bustle, but oh not me! I get all flustered and clammy in big crowds. Maybe because I'm short, I just feel like I'm drowning. J and I went to downtown Ktown last Friday (I know, two Fridays out in a row!), and I swear it was like Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve. We had to wait an hour to get seated for dinner, and while waiting we strolled through Market Square and Mast General Store, and I could just barely breath it was so congested.

We walked back to the restaurant for the last 20 minutes of our wait where it was standing room only, and then I noticed the bar. One pint of stout and suddenly the crowd was just fine, thank you very much (can you tell I don't drink much anymore?).

We had a lovely dinner of fried stuff and then saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops perform at the Bijou Theater. We had super awesome seats - front row, center balcony. I am soooooo glad we have the Bijou, it's such a treasure - and no matter where you sit you have a good view! The Chocolate Drops put on a fabulous show.  I was a little sad Ian wasn't there, he so would've loved to hear Cornbread and Butterbeans.

Anyway, back to shopping. I guess I should rephrase, I dislike shopping for myself, but I truly enjoy shopping for those I love. I try hard to find something unique for each person.  I am so thankful for the Internets. And mail order catalogs. I have done 95% of my shopping from the comfort of my couch, while the baby is nursing. Now that is what you call multi-tasking, yo!

And isn't exciting to get packages in the mail!?!

Even the Phoebe Cat gets in on the fun!

Cats love boxes!

Now I just have to find some time to do some wrapping . . . .

Sniffles

The past week has been rough. Ian cut another tooth last week, and the next day started to sound congested. Both of those things make for a grumpy, unhappy little man. The worst was hearing him try to get to sleep. Laying flat out on your back with a snotty nose results in much coughing. Boo. It has also made nursing difficult since he can't breath well through his nose. 

Poor little boy. By Sunday afternoon both J and I were struggling to keep him content. He didn't want to play, eat, smile, or sleep.

So what do you do with the saddest of sad little bears in a situation like this?

Why, you bundle him up and take him to the park!

Because a swing will make everything better, especially on a sunny December afternoon.

We even got a video with some giggles.

It brightened his and our day!

Future Musician

O Christmas Tree

Following a much too busy week, last Sunday I woke up on the right side of the bed and got busy doing some holiday decorating.

To mark this special occasion, I dressed the little man up in his Christmas outfit. I bought it several months ago at our local children's second hand shop - a steal at $3.00!

I look like a fat elf! 

He looks so cute in it I can hardly stand it! Problem is, I didn't realize when I bought it that he was going to be such a chubster. It's a wee bit tight on him - not dangerously so or anything, just the pants are a bit short and the bodysuit, um, accentuates his curves.

Anyway, he will be wearing it at least twice weekly until Christmas comes and goes.

I even wore some holiday socks and a red fleece pullover.

Snowman socks!

It was 65 here last Sunday and I roasted the whole day, but by golly we looked festive!

J worked hard putting all up all of our Christmas lights up on the outside of the house! A couple of years ago we went a little overboard a bought a silly number of LED strands from Big Lots. They were so cheap! And the LED lights are so pretty and energy efficient!

I love our candy cane pillars on the front porch.

J's got them on a timer so we won't forget to turn them on at night (which we likely would). Score!

Mid afternoon we drove out to my folks house to pick out a tree. Most of you probably know, but my folks had a choose and cut your own Christmas tree farm for 30 years. They closed the farm the year before last. But for many years they made a lot of memories for families - providing hay rides and hot chocolate and the beauty of a REAL Christmas tree.

There are still handful of trees left, probably enough for my parents, my siblings and I to have one for another couple of years. My mom diligently trims and cares for the trees year round.

This field once had hundreds on trees. Just a few left now.

We found the perfect tree for our house - tall and skinny so it won't take up much of our floor space. Here's a picture of us, squinting in the midday sun - J the smart one in a T-shirt, and me sweating profusely in the fleece pullover and the 19 pound baby strapped to my chest.

Our tree!

The ceremonial tree cutting.

Timber!

When we got her home, she decorated up right nice.

More awesome LED lights from Big Lots!

I realize this may be the last year for a couple that we can have a tree like this in the house. Ian should be fully mobile next year. I think our options are put the tree on the dining table or sofa table. My mom suggested putting it in the pack n play, we'll see.

But for now we're going enjoy the sights and smells of our real tree :)

And I can't forget the beautiful wreath my mom made us - isn't it pretty?

Good Grief

I think I've said this before, but as a medical professional I really don't understand how Phoebe can be so fat. She eats practically nothing. She doesn't even eat it all - she leaves crumbs in the bottom of the bowl that she refuses to eat! Crumbs!

Her obesity probably has something to do with the fat that she does this. All day.

Pa.The.Tic

Seriously, she sits in the office in her "donut" all day. She only comes out to get a drink, poop, or nibble on her kibbles.

Here is a typical day for the Phoebe cat. Due to her "singing" habits she gets to sleep the night on our enclosed porch, she first asks to come inside whenever I get up with Ian and lay down with him on the couch (this can be 1am or 5 am), I ignore this request. At 7 am I get up and take Ian into the nursery to get him ready for the day. Phoebe is now actively pleading to come in the house, but I ignore her until I have Ian diapered and dressed. We go and let Phoebe in. She comes into our living room through the window seen here.

Can you make out the glow of her creepy eyes?

This window is covered in nose prints and cat hair.

As she rockets through the window she meows loudly and takes off for her food dish. I suspect that she is cussing us. Ian tries to grab her tail as she flies by.

Ian and I calmly walk to her dish. She meets us halfway there and escorts us the remainder of the 10 feet. You know, in case we forget where it is.

I pour 1/4 cup of kibble in the dish. She impatiently dives in, eats for approximately 10 seconds, then walks off.

Said bowl. Filled with unacceptable crumbs.

 The only time she eats for more than 10 seconds at a time are when she gets a can of wet food (only offered on major holidays). On those occasions she spends 10 minutes at thee dish, leaves no evidence that there was ever any food there, and then tries to convince us that she needs more.

Over the next 2 hours she drives me absolutely crazy by asking to go in and out through the window onto the porch approximately 20 times. Seriously, I let her out there and within 60 seconds she's asking to be let right back in.

Let me in you silly human!!!!

She even has both my mother and mother-in-law (who take turns watching Ian while I'm at work) trained to let her in and out.

Why does she want in and out so much? No clue folks, but she does prefer the litter box and water dish that are on the porch for some reason unbeknownst to me.

Next, if it's winter, she migrates to the heating vents on the floor. She lays her entire self on top of them, blocking out the heat for the rest of us.

Heating vent in our hallway. Note that her wide rear covers one entire end of the vent.

We had to block off the heating vent pictured below because she was turning it off. I'm honestly a little sad we had to do that because it was funny watching her wedge herself under the shelf. She had to kind of shimmy herself in.

She is yawning in this picture. Classic.

From here she goes to the office "donut" and remains until around 4pm, at which point she starts the 2 hour long act of begging for dinner. This involves staring at me intently for the entire 2 hour period, and if I make a move in the direction of the food dish, she meows excitedly and runs towards it. Again, this drives me bonkers. I hate being stared at.

Time changes are not Phoebes friend.

At around 6, I say the magic phrase that she has been waiting for for several hours. 'Phoebe, you want din-din?' This is followed by a very loud yowl and running full speed towards the dish. We repeat the morning procedure - 1/4 C in the dish, she eats for 10 seconds, then leaves. Sometimes she doesn't eat at all. She just looks at the dish and leaves, saving it for later. This one really has me perplexed.

After dinner she returns to her "donut" for another nap. Until J gets in the shower. She is obsessed with J after he gets out of the shower. She wants to sit on his chest while he is still warm, making biscuits/kneading with her sharp, sharp talons. I'm not kidding about this. She has become so obsessed with this routine that she waits at the bathroom door while he is taking a shower, meows at him as soon as he opens the door, and follows around until he sits on the couch. She stays on his chest for about 3-5 minutes - purring and drooling with a glazed expression on her face - then abruptly walks off.

Only J will do.

And she does not do this for me. She could care less when I get out of the shower. My duties are to fill her dish with kibble and open the damn window 20 times a day.

Around 9:30 pm or so she starts begging to be let out on the porch for the night. She begs because she gets 4 cat treats for going outside. And she knows if there aren't four. It's creepy.

And thus the cycle repeats the next day.

Right now? It's 4:15 pm and the cat is sitting on the couch beside me, purring, and staring at me.