The Sleep of the Innocent

Baby's first Christmas

As a present to me, baby only woke once in the night.  He made it special, though, by wetting through his diaper, pajamas, and blanket, screaming bloody murder when I changed him.  Ah, memories.

Opening presents 

All the fun just wiped him out.

Being a mom (or dad) is exhausting

I know I'm exhausted.  Andrew is exhausted. Baby is exhausted.  Maybe it's just us.

Anyway, it's getting to be Christmas time.  I'm out of work, and so taking advantage of the second "maternity leave", though not really relaxing.  Can anyone relax with a tiny baby that needs tending and cuddling?

Andrew is working holiday hours (read 10-12 or more hours overnight) of physical work.  He comes home late mornings, eats a big breakfast, cuddlrs the baby for a minute, and falls asleep.

Getting ready for his first Christmas has been a thing.  I can only work on preparation for about 15 min at a time between feeding/freak outs, etc.  Then there's the housework.

We did manage to get to see Santa.

Yes, it's a picture of a picture.

He did so well!  He slept the whole time we went to lunch, shopped, and waited in line.  I couldn't hear what he asked Santa for, but I'm assuming he wants to sleep through the night, and endless snuggles.

Next time, a list of treats parading through the kitchen.

Hot like an apple turn over

As a parent, you take joy in all the new things your baby can do.  Especially as a first time parent.  I'm sure it gets nauseating.  You also can't help but compare your little one with other babies.  While other newborns are already hitting milestones, baby z is still happily kicking his legs in the air like he just doesn't care.  

Four maybe Five times, he has turned over from his stomach to his back.  Each time, it was while I had turned away for a second to get my camera, or grab a drink of water.  He'd be on his stomach, crying and fussing because he just doesn't like tummy time (when he doesn't just lay his head down and sleep), and I'd look away for seriously one second and he'd be on his back with a shocked look on his face.  I'd dutifully put him back on his stomach, but he wouldn't even try again.  Just more fussing and crying.  

Not this time.  I present to you, a turn over finally caught on camera!

kisses

Baby's first Thanksgiving

Playing around in the leaves from a giant maple tree.

the end is nigh

My office is closing.  The company I've worked for about 4 1/2 years  (if you include the 18 months I spent as a contractor) is closing the doors in Denver.  We've known this was go into happen back in May, so it's been a long time coming.

It happened in three main waves: the majority left about August 1st, the next on October 1st, 3rd November 20th, and the last is coming up soon enough.

The August date was hard:  so many leaving in one day, so many goodbyes.  The second wave happened while I was on maternity leave.  When I came back to work last week, the work force had been reduced to about 25.  So it's been like a whole new office.  And the daily activities have changed too.  No more projects, just disposing of items as they lose their usefulness.

Lots of office items have been donated, shipped to the surviving offices, or give to employees.  Walls are emptying.  Cabinets are bare.  Offices are dark.  People are missing.

Today was the last day for the bulk of the remaining employees.  To make ourselves feel better, we had a waffle bar.  Nothing like carbs to lighten the mood.  One employee, not so familiar with the workings of a waffle maker, forgot to grease the machine, then over filled it, and generally made a mess.  It was quite comical, especially knowing this person to be generally very capable.

Here's mine: Belgium waffle, maple syrup, butter, whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, and jimmies.

The Day Danger Was Born

One sunny day, in the city, life was going along happily for it's citizens.  Happily, until...

An evil villain came to destroy everything!   "My name is Dr. Death Ray," he said, "and I'm going to destroy everything!"

"Beware citizens!" The radio announcer warned.  "All could be lost."

"Oh, if only we had a hero to save us," a woman said when she heard the news.. 

The mommy-to-be felt her baby move in a new way.  

It was almost like he heard the announcement.

Suddenly, he was out and flying out the window.

"See you later, Mommy.  I'm off to save the city.  But first, a disguise to keep secret my identity."

Dr. Death Ray's voice boomed over the frightened populace.  "I'll burn it all!  My laser vision will make short work of these buildings."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a voice from the sky above.

"What are you, some kind of hero?"

"I'll give you one chance to stop and put things right, Dr. Death Ray."

"I'll do as I please.  And this city will bow to my will."

"Then you're about to have a problem."

                                     

"Get ready to experience JUSTICE!!!"

                                                             

"Aaahhhh!"

"Hmmm"

 
"AAAAAAHHH!" 

"HMMM?"

"AHHHHH!"

Bam!

Ping!

Wham!

"You're finished, Dr Death Ray.  The city is saved!"

"You're down for a permanent nap."

"And now, back home for some lunch."

"There he is. I was so worried, sweet heart.  That was so dangerous."

"No need to worry, Mommy.  Danger is my middle name."

The End

He really is made of sugar

He's just discovered what we knew all along: he's delicious.

1st Halloweem

Carved pumpkins!!

A friend threw a Harry Potter Halloween party last night.  The party was complete with potions, Hogwarts history, charms class, and the rest.  We decided to go as 2 dementors  (jailers for the wizard prison in the book series) and a prisoner from that jail.  He's an adorable prisoner, covered with kisses.

I made the costume out of a scrap of stripped jersey.  Andrew made the sign out of a manila folder.

Andrew and I dressed in black, with a small cape covered in scraps of fabric and a cut up trash bag.  I spent too much time seeing those capes, considering we wore them for all of an hour.  

Baby X cooing

About half the time he's awake, he's complaining.  Everything that happens is the worst thing that has ever happened; naturally since his life is so recent and his memory isn't that good.

But more and more, he's starting g to coo.  Here he is caught on film.

the cutest pumpkin in the patch

Call me biased, but I think he's the cutest thing.

How long have I waited to bring a little one to a pumpkin patch?  Well, this was my year.  A friend gave us this adorable little pumpkin costume (which is a little too big), so of course baby x had to wear it.

It makes my teeth ache, he's so cute.  These were taken a moment before he slipped completely to the ground.  He's a rolly little pumpkin.

Something is missing

Since we brought the little guy home, he has been on a leash.  A clear, colorless leash attached with stickers to the sides of his face.  We spent a lot of time nudging the thing back into his nose.  He spent a lot of time trying to tear it off.  We got deliveries of oxygen tanks, large and small, brought by some interesting young men so we could plug him in home and abroad.  The travel bag was designed by someone that clearly never had to use it, as it swings around unsteadily.   The tube, when not connected to it's tank, was in constant danger of being stepped on, or snagged on corners, and poor baby's head would suddenly snap back (not hard, I promise).

Ceremonial removing his stickers.  I'd told little guy he could remove them himself, but he didn't get to it fast enough.

Applying the puls-ox reader.

                               
Soomehow this red light can red the amount of oxygen in the blood.

But now it's gone.  His oxygen levels are up to the point where he doesn't need that little boost anymore.

Isn't he handsome?

Because you can never have too many canning supplies

What can I say?  There was a sale on strawberries and on apples.  And then the sale on mason jars.

Andrew loves jams and jellies.  He even ate the strawberry jalapeño jam I canned last year as an experiment.  This year, I thought I would go classic strawberry.  But then I found some black berries in the freezer from the beginning of the year when we were doing green smoothies, right around the time I started finding green smoothies completely disgusting (read I found out I was pregnant).

So as a way to use up what's available, I made a recipe of strawberry, and half a recipe of strawberr/blackberry.  There must have been too much sugar in the recipe because I don't think this is supposed to happen.

A representing of the goodness.  From left to right: 2 of the two-berry jam, 2 of the strawberry, apple jelly and apple butter.  See how the strawberry has a giant air pocket at the bottom of the jar?  I turned the jars upside down  while they cooled and this jar stayed like that.

While my friend Anadine came to visit (hi, anadine) I took the opportunity of not staring fixated like at baby x to make apple butter and apple jelly.

Andrew LOVEs apple butter.  It's super easy to make, and thought it was super clever to use the skins and cores to make apple jelly at the same time.
Super clever rarely works as planned.

I'll spare you the suspense by saying the apple jelly didn't set.  It needs to be boiled again with more pectin.

The recipe I used for the Apple butter (because I'll look for it later)

5-5 1/2 lb apples (mostly Jonagold, some granny smith)
3 T cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp whole cloves
1 1/2 c brown sugar

Core and peel apples.  Fill slow cooker.  On low for 6 hours until apples are completely soft.  Mash with potato masher.  Stir in sugar (less if apples are sweeter) and spices.  Adjust to taste.  Continue in slow cooker low for 6 more hours, until dark brown.  Use blender or immersion blender for smooth texture.
To jar:  heat jars as normal.  Fill with hot apple butter, cover with lid and rings.  Process in hot bath for 10, covered by 1 inch of water.


In the mean time, here's a gratuitous pic of the baby.

how big is baby?

So big!  6lbs 13oz and 20 inches to be precise.  Two weeks ago, the pediatrician noticed baby's weight gain had fallen off, so we started upping the formula to water ratio and giving him a bit more volume, too.  It woked, because he's filled out some, making us all happy.

And say good bye to preemie clothes.  We had gotten lots of 0-3 months sized clothes, and some newborn sized, too, but never occurred to me to buy preemie.  I was supposed to have a full term, 8lb baby.  A couple of my friends (Diana and Anadine) very kindly bought us some cute tiny tiny outfits, and then Andrew's step mother brought us some pajamas to round things out.  Baby x really did get some wear out of everything, not just a token try-on.  But now, no more preemie.  Is it weird that I'm a little sad he's already grown so much?

 At least he still looks so Tony in his newborn sized things.

Brave boy got his two months shots today, too.  He's unhappy, so we're all unhappy.  Here's his not quite chubby thigh with colorful bandages.

P.S.  it's 5 am.  He's been up every 2 hours.  I'm a bit tired.