Staying at home

I've been full-time at home for a month now and I'm loving it! Our life is so much more balanced now and we're all happier. I'm actually sleeping, riding my bike again, and spending a lot of time with my favorite people: Robert and Peter!

As predicted though, I'm bored as anything. Not! Does he look boring?

Try watching him as he stealthily "re-organizes" everything in the house. Daddy's boxers go in the garbage, Mommy's hairbrush in the laundry bin, Peter's toys into the wine rack and his ball into the toilet, etc. Pete takes his job very seriously too. He rarely takes a break, and when I ask him too (aka nap time) he protests vigorously.

Celebrating two years of marriage tomorrow! Couldn't be happier than with my little family.

Celebrating his birthday with his first steps

Happy Birthday to me

Another generation of terrible sleepers?

Peter's transition to the floor bed, and move back into our room for the summer (since Mary is here) has revealed that he might have gotten his sleeping patterns from yours truly. I have found him asleep in different parts of the room including beside his bed, in the middle of the floor, half-on and half-off the bed in a kneeling position and half-on half-off the bed with one leg and one arm on, the others off. Just the other night when I went to move him completely onto the bed, I thought he woke up because he moved into a sitting next to the bed. He didn't, he was still completely asleep. 


He also laughs in his sleep - something I have been known to do - and which, I have been told repeatedly, is pretty creepy. 

Here's to a lifetime of creeping people out while you sleep, Peter! Can't wait to tell you all the stories of your crazy aunts and uncles...

Watch out - she's extra crazy in her sleep!

They're asleep here...creepy right?

Since our SC trip:

Peter doesn't talk or say words any more - he just yells, 

Is convinced he can walk,

and continues to boss Mary around shamelessly, and can't get enough of her. She is incredibly patient and funny with him!!

He has also started to sleep again, occasionally.

This was his makeshift bed at the beach - he had a cold so we had to prop him up

We miss everyone like crazy!! Thanks for a great trip.

Overheard at work today...

"One baby is just an accessory, two babies means a lifestyle change!"

American daycare at its best? Or perhaps just a highly sedated child. It has to be one or the other to say that one baby didn't change your life at all. They for sure don't have an almost-one year old who is daily growing in cuteness and mischief making. A process that seems to have been accelerated by our recent trip to South Carolina... (more on that later this week).

I wouldn't change in Peter for "an accessory" for the world though. Sure I don't love squeezing myself into the 6inch space we left on the back seat so I can play peak-a-boo with a stuffed giraffe for 2.5 hours, or the cracker crumbs that are on every flat space in the apartment right now because Peter found a cracker he had rejected earlier and began crawling with it. But I love the kisses and hugs, watching him falling asleep, watching him learn to walk and get smarter on a daily basis, seeing everyone ooo and ahh over him etc. etc. etc.

Either way - I don't think Peter agrees with that choice of wording

An accessory? Really? That's the best you could come up with?

No more crib

One big change we've made in the house since starting to implement Montessori ideas has been getting rid of Peter's crib. He really disliked it anyways and was trying to figure out how to climb out of it - so we figured we might as well try the Montessori method and get a floor bed. We took a friend's suggestion and bought a toddler bed and cut off the legs. It hasn't been a seamless transition, he's had some rough nights, but overall Peter has been a lot happier - which makes us much happier too!

He still doesn't like waking up though - which I understand. It doesn't matter how much he's slept, or if he wakes up in my arms or in his bed - he is CRANKY. But he gets over it quickly.

Montessori Activity

Robert and I have been learning all about Dr. Montessori's findings regarding childhood development and are fascinated. We've been making little changes in the way we treat Peter based on what we've heard and read and are really enjoying the process. I'll write more later (it's been a crazy month!), but for now here is Peter doing a little activity I put together from some objects that I found at A.C. Moore (inspired by a random blog).

My little helper

Sometimes it's hard for me to remember what it was like to do household chores without the constant help of Peter Robert.

He loves vacuuming,

never misses laundry day,

and helps me make sure all the groceries are properly put away.

I love him, and he knows it.

Fill that quiver

I want to share something that has really encouraged me.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she told me "I couldn't have kids yet, I'm too selfish still!" And I felt again that surge of panic that I have whenever someone says something like that, or something along those lines. I think - yikes, I'm still pretty darn selfish - should I have had a baby? Should I even consider another? Am I being fair?

Yesterday I read something that once again got me on track.

"Remember: God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called."


Phewf - God is in control here. He is asking me to be holy, unselfish and good. But He's going to give me the tools to do it. And if He is calling me to be a mother (seems fairly obvious at this point...) then he is going to equip me with the tools I need to be a good mother if I ask for His help.

This psalm was in the same article I read:

Psalm 127:Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 
Are sons born in one's youth.
 Blessed is the man Whose quiver is full of them.
 They will not be put to shame 
When they contend with their enemies in the gate

He looks a little bit more like the Pillsbury Dough boy then like an arrow...but you get the point.

Dogs aren't babies, face it

Where we live, people are very fond of their dogs. A man who lives down the street, for instance, carries his dog in a baby carrier that looks exactly like our baby Bjorn. There is a doggy daycare two roads over, where dedicated owners will drop off their dog for the day while they go to work. I checked out the website. They encourage things such as "positive social interactions in a cageless environment." (But of course, who would dream of putting a dog in a cage  for goodness sakes.)

I told Peter to "settle", and he was completely outraged

I was walking with Peter the other day and a man was coming at us from the other direction with his dog. I assumed we had the right of way on the sidewalk (baby trumps dog, sir), but I got an angry hip-pop and a glare because he had to move his precious pooch off the sidewalk. I like dogs myself, and hope to have one at some point when we have some land, but I think we have to draw the line somewhere in the whole dogs=babies thing.

Today in Trader Joe's, I heard a mother repeatedly tell her young son to "Settle". I kid you not.

I wonder what kind of instructions the family dog receives? "set the table"?

But then quickly remembered he doesn't listen to me anyways. :)

Beating up Daddy

He's little - but he's not scared.

Sneak attack!

NBD - no big deal

Blonde moment

Note to self - check dimensions before ordering products online.

A cheese grater - for the next time we cook for 250 people

Solid foods

(Watching Downton Abbey has me thinking in old English all day long- something that also happens when I read Jane Austen. Peter is going to be so confused by the mixture of English, Spanish and poor accents that come at him on a daily basis...)


I haven't written a post in awhile, but watching Peter eat last night has inspired me to write again. Terribly modern, this blogging don't you think?

In an effort to encourage good eating habits, (combined with some laziness and my belief that baby food is a clever marketing scam) we've been giving Peter the same foods we eat, prepared in such a way that he can feed himself. I give him a ripe pear piece for instance, instead of blending the pear and spoon feeding him. Or if we are having rice for dinner, I'll put rice on his tray.

All signs are pointing to the fact that we may have created an 8 month old gourmand.  I daresay I'll retract this statement at some point.

He refused his oatmeal the other day until I flavored it with coconut milk and cinnamon, turned up his nose at the boiled carrots I had prepared ghastly, simply ghastly, but accepted the carrots I fished out of our lentil soup that were slow-cooked in cumin and curry. Last night he burst into tears when I fed him a spoonful of unflavored, unseasoned Quinoa. Really mamá, am I to eat like a peasant?

He is also ravenous, all day long, and will now stand at his high chair and smack his lips and go mmhhmm mhhmmm until we put him in there and give him something to eat. Oh yes he's still nursing 8-10 times a day as well. As you can see, he's simply wasting away.

Isn't he darling in this vest?

So very hungry

Lounging with Papá

With his auntie

Oh yes, and he can crawl on all fours and stand now. Well done m'lad

Army crawl

Army crawl

He loves his "Dada"

How cute is this?!?!

This past weekend my family was in town and we had an amazing time! On Saturday we went to the Natural History Museum (the exhibits are great if you can ignore all the stuff about "our ancestors"), on Sunday we watched the Patriots game at Tom and Emily's and we spent Monday Marching for LIFE!

As you all probably know, we are BIG football fans in this house. I mean - do not even ask me to schedule something on an afternoon when you know my team is playing.  I thought I was enthusiastic about the sport until I met Robert. I think I've found my match.


Here are a few of my favorite things about football.

The SNACKS

•  Chicken wings, pizza, chips and dip, beer...YUM. 

The SCREEN

• No one ever wants to watch football streamed through the internet onto our 16 inch computer screen -so we always end up going to someone's house who has a really sweet, huge, crystal clear screen. 

The QT

• In case I accidentally just used a football term, I mean "quality time". It's nice to spend an afternoon relaxing on the couch and chatting.

I look terrible - but it was cold and rainy for hours before this picture was taken.

Bernadette holding the young Prince

Watching football. Peter cried every time someone cheered. TOUGHEN UP Pete!

Uncle John got Peter a legitimate jersey!

Peter allowing Aunt Nikki to play with him

Why are baby products so big, when babies are so small?

Robert and I try to limit the amount of baby products that we buy. We don't want our house to look like a day care center and a lot of baby products are just obnoxious looking. We also don't want to break the bank - so we are pretty careful to do thorough research before we buy a high priced item. I've literally read hundreds, if not thousands of reviews for different products to try to sort through the marketing and hype. Is the $900 baby stroller really that much better than the $150 version, or do they just have fancier plastic?? Below are a few of my favorite reviews.

Carseat 
"This car seat installs easily, exceeds all the safety requirements, fits well in a small car and can fit your baby from birth all the way up to 65lbs, but the cup holder on it is too shallow. My toddlers sippy cup always falls out. Don't waste your money."
ahh - its the cup holder that makes or breaks a car seat. Gotcha. 

Bottles
"My daughter wouldn't drink out of these"
Thanks for your helpful insight.  It will not influence my buying decision whatsoever.


Jogging Stroller
"My granddaughter only likes this stroller when we run. I can't run for very long though so she always screams in it. (44 out of 45 people found this helpful)
I'm going to say "user error" on that one...


"We are very pleased with this stroller! We unpacked it and pushed it around our kitchen and were very impressed!"
Next time I go jogging in my kitchen I will call you.


Crib mattress
"I agree with all the previous reviewers that this crib mattress is way to thin. But in my opinion, it's like buying your cat fancy litter - they don't care either way."
Wow - I'm grateful you're not my mother.

I ordered a car seat and look what showed up!

Did you have to buy the Lincoln Town car? 

I could care less about the high chair, but this squash is delicious!

I LOVE jogging in the kitchen!

This crib mattress is terrible.