Miscellaneous

There's a lot to report, it seems. We've had a busy week. First, we've had a birthday among us. Will is officially one year older, that's right. In the pictures, you'll see Will's birthday celebration at his parent's house in Winnetka last weekend and then pictures from his actual birthday on Tuesday, the 11th. I could not help but post a picture of the cake I made and decorated for him since it was, by far, my best work to date. It's a boxed cake but with two different homemade frostings. I got some tips and a recipe from the Feed Your Family blog I like to look at. The cake he features is way fancier, but I was happy with the way mine turned out. :) There's also a video of Ethan's latest obsession: blowing raspberries. He does it all the time now. It's a messy habit but still cute.

Another piece of news we have is not as celebratory. Ethan had his second head scan this week, and because his head shape has not improved, we are going to go ahead with a reshaping helmet. We're not too happy about this but know it's the right thing to do. From the front, you cannot tell there is any kind of problem, but there is definitely an obvious flatness on the back right of his head. Hopefully, he will only be in the helmet for a few months. He's still pretty young, which is a great advantage. But I'm still sad. I realize he could have far worse issues and in the grand scheme of things this is not at all a big deal. But the mama bear in me is really dreading this helmet. I don't want strangers looking at him funny or feeling sorry for him, and I know I will not be able to help feeling sensitive about this, even though I know I shouldn't. Also, both Will and I were talking about how strange it will be to not kiss his little head and how the helmet will seem a bit obstructive. He'll have it off for only 1 hour a day. Even though it's only a few months, I won't get this time back with him when he's just my little man. He loves to burrow his face into my shoulder, which is such a wonderfully cute thing, and I keep thinking he won't be able to do that anymore, at least not easily. Thankfully, when it's all over, his little head will be back to normal, and we won't have to worry about teasing later on.

This leads me to a contest for all readers of this blog. Please leave a comment with your most entertaining comeback to someone that either asks about the helmet or stares at it in an annoying way. Will said to tell people he was born with an extra large brain and is waiting for a cranial transplant. What do you think? Might as well have some fun with the situation.

I have to close now because our replacement keyboard (ours broke this week), which is a floor model while we wait for a new one, is making me have to pound on each key in order to work. Very annoying.

*Dec. 19 addendum: Click on the first picture below and it will show up nice and big. Then look at Ethan's face. We discovered this last night...so hilarious!

Peek-a-boo!

I couldn't resist posting this video right away. I played peek-a-boo with Ethan for the first time today. Oh, to be so easily amused...

I became a mom today...

No, I didn't give birth to another child 5 months after the first. And, no, Ethan didn't start saying Mama today. Nope, I think I just have calmed down enough to observe my own life, and it is the life of a mom for sure. My musings started this morning when I saw an LT friend at the bagel shop, where I was meeting another friend from LT, who pointed out the spit up on my shirt. He said, "Oh, you are definitely a mom!" I didn't know Ethan had spit up on me before I left, I promise, but I also didn't care all that much when I did discover it. (Sadly, I'm also not going to change.) Once I left the bagel place, I started thinking about what he said and decided he's right.

So, as proof that I am, in fact, a mom, here's my day today so far:
I crawled out of bed around 6:15 this morning (after having been up twice in the night), put on my giant robe, and sleepily tended to my very awake, and very happy, baby. After changing his incredibly heavy diaper (morning diapers are a treat), I fed him and proceeded to start my own morning feeding routine. I got my coffee ready, a new addition to my morning routine since having Ethan; put Ethan in his high chair; heated up my oatmeal while I cleaned up Will's kitchen mess, not a new addition unfortunately; turned the kitchen radio on to Good Morning America; and ate my oatmeal while Ethan played with his new teething ring. When I was finished, we went to the living room for some floor tummy time. Ethan gnawed on anything within reach and also gave me a bit of a scare when I left the room for a second only to come back to an empty blanket. He had rolled off of it and from where I was standing, I couldn't see him. (I had a brief moment where I thought he might have crawled away before I noticed him kicking his arms and legs right next to the couch and off the safety of his ABC blanket.) Once I established Ethan had not, in fact, run away from home, we played for a bit before nap time. His nap routine is so well-established at this point, he goes down with little or no fuss. It's beautiful. While he napped, I showered. I hadn't washed my hair since Sunday - it was time. I picked out an outfit that was not sweatpants for a change because I knew I was meeting my friend. I also put makeup on, a rare thing these days. By the time I was all set and dressed, Ethan was up so I changed and fed him and got him out of his pajamas for the first time in a while, too! It took us about 15 minutes to get out the door and into the car. When I got to the bagel place, I had to unfold the giant stroller and put Ethan's car seat into it so I could keep him covered from the snow. I struggled getting through the not one but two doors to get into the shop. A cute older man watched as I tugged at the stroller that was caught on the door. I remarked to him, "It will be nice when he can walk," and then struggled some more, trying to find a spot to park the giant stroller where I wouldn't be in people's way. Once settled, I took out the car seat and unfolded all the layers of blankets and such covering Ethan so I could take him out and sit him upright in the stroller. I got out the toys I had brought with him in my big diaper bag and got him settled. All of our extra stuff (my coat, his car seat, and my diaper bag) took up one small table in the store. My friend Katy and I used the table next to it. We had a nice visit (Ethan was a very good boy) and then it was time to go. I packed away Ethan's toys, snapped him back into his car seat which had to be lifted back into his stroller, covered him up, and walked him the ten feet to the car. Then I lifted the car seat out of the stroller (he's about 18 pounds now so no easy feat) and snapped it into the base. Next, I folded the stroller back up, put it in the trunk, and drove the 5 minutes back home, where we started the nap routine all over again.

Those of you who are parents read this and think, "Yeah, so? Try it with two or three kids. Deal with it." My sister Lisa is thinking, "Try it with two kids under 4 and one baby on the way!" And those of you without kids may not have made it through the entry and, if you did, think, "God, I'm exhausted just reading that." And a couple of years ago, I would have thought the same thing. I remember watching other mothers lug their kids around and thinking simply, "That looks hard." I was right. It is hard. I am exhausted. But the thing is, I don't really think about how hard it is or how exhausted I am. (OK, that's a bit of a lie, but I don't dwell on these things at least.) I just go through each day, following my new mommy routines because it is my life now. And what a good life it is - spit up and all!

Rashes and Rolling Over

If you've been following the life of Ethan on the blog, you know that he rolled over for the first time about a month ago. Well, he hadn't done it since. That is, until yesterday. I was practicing with him by tucking his arm under and he was doing it. Then, I put him on his stomach with both arms totally free and then left the room for a second. When I came back, he was on his back playing. What a little stinker! He did the same thing this morning. He seems to have gotten the hang of it at last.

The other new thing in Ethan's life is the rash that just won't end. It appeared last weekend, and we took him to the pediatrician Monday. She said it was something viral going through him, manifesting itself as a rash. She also said it might get worse before it got better. Well, it seemed to be going away already the next day but on Thursday, it flared up and got a lot worse. It almost looked like hives everywhere but without raised bumps. On Saturday, his back and the back of his head were covered! So I took him back to the doctor. She said he's still fine. He was happy as ever, eating her stethoscope and clearly not bothered by the rash. (see video) Yesterday and today, the rash has migrated to his front, attacking his face and belly. Still, he seems completely fine otherwise. He does have a mild fever and had a little one yesterday but it's very low. I imagine it's just the virus working its way out. Stay tuned...

I Got My Hair Cut...Don't Tell Will

I just got back from a salon in Wheaton where they cut more than 10 inches from my head. Tomorrow, my hair will be on its way to Locks of Love where it will hopefully make a nice looking wig for a deserving young child. I feel good about that. What I don't feel good about is the look I know I will get from Will when I pick him up from the airport on Sunday. Don't get me wrong. I do not allow Will to determine my hair styles, nor am I afraid of him. But I know that he really, really, really did not want me to cut my hair short, and it makes me a little sad that he will not be able to hide his disappointment when he sees the new 'do. He will still love me (I think), and he won't say it looks bad, but he will be sad. Poor Will.
My decision to cut it came after one too many, "Wow, your hair is really long" comments that was not followed with any kind of compliment. It's kind of like when you see someone wearing a terribly ugly sweater. It startles you and before you can even process the sheer ugliness you have to say, "I love your sweater," mostly because you need to say something so you don't throw up all over said sweater. OK, well, I hope my hair didn't make people want to loose their lunch, but it definitely needed to be cut. I made the wrong decision to put long layers in. It looked fine, I think, when it was done properly, but these days I'm lucky to get a shower during the day. I certainly never had time to dry and style my hair. I ended up air drying it, and all of you know how crazy thick and unruly my hair is. Air drying just doesn't work for me. So then I'd pull it back and have the long bangs hanging. It annoyed my grandma so much to see me constantly tucking the bangs behind my ears, last time I was over, she pinned them back with a bobby pin without asking. She, unlike Will, will be thrilled with my haircut!
Yes, so anyway, I'm not going to tell Will about my haircut while he's in San Diego at his conference. This shouldn't be hard since he's not calling me because he doesn't want to pay for roaming charges. And, actually, his fiscal responsibility (quite the euphimism) might just help me justify my new haircut. I'm going to save a lot on water and hair products. Do you think that will help lessen his disappointment?-

Gobble Gobb-Ho Ho Ho

Ethan loved his first Thanksgiving! And, I know that I am a bit partial, but Ethan and Jake were PERFECT yesterday. Both boys slept all the way through dinner in Winnetka. Seriously, I was amazed at the great timing. Never in a million years did I actually expect to sit through the duration of the meal. I thought, OK, I'm a mom now, so the time of relaxing holidays are over. But, man, I tell you, it was like I didn't have a kid for that little bit of time! He's such a good boy! And when he was awake, he was wonderfully social and tolerant of the many flashbulbs. And there were many! Can you blame us? They're cute enough without their matching Thanksgiving outfits, but come on, they were adorable! And I really can't get over Jake's fantastic hair. It was parted and styled yesterday - classic! He's such a tiny peanut compared to our big boy. I like to hold him and relive my tiny baby days from just a few months ago. We all had a great day. And we even got to spend some time with my family, too. We drove from Winnetka to Lemont in under an hour and had some dessert and visited with the family. OK, I'll admit it: I also had another plate of turkey with the trimmings. I thought it was only fair to sample it since the food was still out. In my defense, though, I chose an apple for dessert and skipped the pies. I was glad we made it out there because it was the first time for a while that the WHOLE family was around for Thanksgiving at the same house. Auntie Nancy does an amazing job cooking for so many people. Fun times!

Then today we got ready for the next holiday! Our house is fully decked out, tree trimmed and all, ready for Christmas. And we had Will's Grandbob, his friend Jan, his Aunts Marge and Carolyn, and his parents over for a big pasta dinner. I made meat sauce, they brought a salad and pie, and we had a tasty meal. I was excited to use my individual dishes for oil and cheese that I rarely use. (Thanks Crate and Barrel.) Will's Grandbob lives in Indy and doesn't get a chance to visit often, so it was nice they could make a trip out to our house. Ethan ate at the table with us, and Will's aunt commented that it was his first dinner party. These days are full of firsts, that's for sure.

Can I just gush for a bit and tell you that I really am so in love with my son. He is the cutest little man in the world, and he's laughing and smiling all the time now. I just want to squeeze him! Being a parent, with all the exhaustion and worry, is so worth it. Who knew we had this capacity to love so fiercely?

Senior Day at Kohls

Our lives have been fairly uneventful this past week. Hence the following blog entry about Kohls:

Ethan and I took a trip to Kohls today so that I could return something. I ended up buying an outfit for Ethan, the picture of which is below (along with a few other recent pics). He will wear it when him and Ben and Drew have their winter picture taken. We've been talking about it, so I thought I better get him a nice wintery outfit. I figure since it has a polar bear and not something strictly Christmas (like Santa...or Baby Jesus), he can wear it all season. Smart shopping, I say! Today was senior day at Kohls as well as a big 50% off sale. What this means is that there were even more than the typical amount of seniors at the store. Everywhere I looked, old, old women were wheeling around those basket walkers you can use at Kohls. It was quite difficult navigating around the hundreds of grandma's stocking up on, well, seemingly everything. You see, those wheel around baskets were a marketing genius on the part of some Kohls employee because I have never seen one of those carts not filled to the brim. It's incredible! People can really pack it in those things. There are clothes (with hangers poking dangerously through the mesh) and frames and shoeboxes all crammed in and usually items hanging out. I really think people end up buying more because they have someplace to put it. I mean, how many department stores have carts? You don't walk into Carsons or Macys, put your kid in a cart and tool around like you do at a grocery store. No. You only get as much as you can carry in your arms. But at Kohls, they give you that cart, giving you the excuse to buy one more holiday novelty decoration that, for some reason, is ALWAYS at least 50% off. Man, you gotta love Kohls. But, alas, I do not use those carts because then I would need to fill it, and I don't want to hear about how much we don't need that cute soap dispenser in the shape of three stacked pumpkins. But, Will, it was only $3.95 marked down from $12.00!
OK, here are the pictures:







Move over Hugh Hefner...

Ethan's discovered his tongue.









Cute, huh?