Today was cleaning day. Rusty & I cleaned th carpet in the house, dusted a bit, reorganized shelves and cleared general clutter. Hosting a playdate increases my motivation to clean and baby proof.

Josh met a little girl yesterday evening at the grocery store. We pulled up in line behind a couple who had an 18 month old girl. She didn't have a lick of hair on her head. She was sooo adorable! She would cover her mouth when she laughed; it was mock demure. She saw Joshua and said "baby" and pointed for her mom to see. Joshua turned to look at her and started to squeal (squawk) "a-a-a!" She thought he was hysterical to squawk at her and laughed back. We took Josh out of the cart to get a closer look. The two babies just laughed at each other and had fun for a moment. It was interesting to see a baby interested in a baby. At the weekly Moms Group, Josh sees other babies roughly his age and sometimes interacts, but not like he did with his girl. I asked the mother when her girl started to crawl. Yes, I'm still impatiently waiting for him to crawl. I fear he'll start crawling and walking at the same time.

His cough has gotten better. His last cold caused him to get lots of snot and a runny nose, some of which probably dripped into his lungs. His cough sounded so bad I called the peditrician to know when I should start being worried. His toes are starting to heal too. We invested in some liquid bandages since he was apt to take band-aids off his toes and put them in his mouth.

Josh has a cold. He started feeling crummy on Sunday night and didn't sleep well at all. By Monday morning it was clear he had a bug. Runny nose, stuffed up head, watery eyes, general fussiness. Learning from the last cold, I got him bananas today to mix with apricots. Pears with cereal for breakfast, apricots with banana for lunch and dinner, yogurt as a snack if he's in the mood. I'm hoping all this fruit will help his stool be firm afterwards.

I made the mistake of taking Josh out to play with his walker. I intended to go to the church which has an indoor basketball court with a padded floor, but there were 12 teenage guys playing ball and I wasn't about to go in with Josh so I was headed home bummed out that the court was busy then I passed a car-lot-turned-church and spotted a nice open area so I got Josh out and the walker and he had a blast walker-ing around until I spotted a hole and a bloody spot on his sock and that signaled the end of play-time. He was scraping his foot. He'd walk for a bit, build some momentum then drag his feet. I didn't notice him doing this at home. Then again I have a linoleum kitchen floor so if he was doing it I'd never see any harm. I felt awful. I didn't directly hurt him but I wasn't as vigilant as I could have been. He didn't seem to mind having scraped toes- he's was more upset that play was over when he was having such a good time. I'll try the church next week before school lets out.

By the way, my new Tuesday ritual is to watch Scrubs. They brought back the series (yay!) and that's my time to veg. I don't get suckered into the tube often but this is one show I enjoy. Rusty takes over putting Josh to bed on Tuesday nights so that I can relax and have a break. I think all moms of babies or toddlers need a weekly scheduled break, whether its to go shopping or watch a show or take a long bath or do whatever.

We went to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Friday. The first half was quite... well, it was interesting. We listened to the fourth symphony of Charles Ives. This man composed on the side of his real job in the insurance field. His father, George Ives, was curious what would happen if three marching bands playing three different songs came together onto a marching field at the same time. That was all Charles needed to know about music composition. His fourth symphony sounds like someone stopped taking medication and used an Etch-A-Sketch to draw a masterpiece. The phrase "mentally departed" came to mind several times. I half expected to hear someone say "number nine, number nine". If each part played independently, it would be a fine if not all typical segment within a larger piece. There are hymns, marching songs and classical sounds all competing for the listener's ear. The performance had two conductors, three pianos, a full choir, bells, harp, organ, every drummer, violinist, bassist, and wind player they could find. The stage was packed with musicians. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would love to hear it again to see if I could make sense of it of the chaos. Perhaps with enough exposure I could some day "get it".

Kindermusic visited the Moms Group last week Friday. We sang songs, danced with our babies, moved in rhythm, did baby massage. It was fun. Josh had a good time with the marching and swinging. Lots of moms and babies showed up, many I hadn't seen in a while. I got some good ideas of movement for Josh but I don't think I'll sign up for Kindermusic classes. It's not that I don't value music or rhythm, I do. I play games with Josh that have a beat and sing to him, and Rusty plays piano with Josh in his lap. Lately Rusty is practicing "Rhapsody in Blue" by Gershwin. I think he'll get ample music and rhythmic timing from us at home.

I've been trying to teach Joshua how to wave. He did it once one evening. It was so cute! He had his arm out and he waved it with his hand up, like I've been showing him. But he hasn't one it again since that night. I was glad Rusty got to see it (witness it) with me. I guess he decided that was enough waving.

He is making new sounds, but no babbling. This week he razzes and hums at the same time, he blows air out while sticking out his bottom lip, and occasionally he'll hold an 'A' sound for a moment. I imitate his sounds with him (the best I can) and I keep making new sounds for him to try, such as ma-ma-ma and ba-ba-ba and da-da-da. He still loves it when I do jive: ma-da-ba-ga-ga-poo! mi-ti-ki-ti-loo-loo-bah! rah-ga-ma-ga-boo-ba-ba! He hasn't caught on to trying this but he thinks it's hysterical. It helps that I make funny faces and say it with a goofy voice.

In general, sleep is better for us. Josh is getting better at getting back to sleep on his own. When he wails we leave him for a few minutes to see if he works it out on his own. He usually does these days. Sometimes though he needs help, like having a pacifier or being rocked. I actually picked him up last night and rocked him back to sleep for the first time in what seemed like forever. A thunderstorm rolled through with a few loud crashes of thunder. He was just stirring in his sleep when the weather got noisy so I had to help him out a bit. I didn't mind. But I usually don't have to pick him up any more. I'll adjust his blanket, place his small stuffed dog in his hand, stroke his head or forehead and that's almost always what he needs.

I made apricots this evening for him to try some time in the future. I think I'll mix those with banana and grain when we run out of pears. I also have green beans & beef for him this week, but I can tell already he's not too happy with that. He tends to resist new foods at first so I'll give him a couple days before I move on. I have zucchini and brussels sprouts to try after green beans. I think after the beef is done I'll take a break from meat and do tofu, soy, fish or beans. He's tried yogurt and likes it. I mixed up mango and a peach yogurt for him this evening instead of green beans with beef. He didn't mind that at all. It's simple sugars and runny so I expect he'll be hungry in the morning.

I did research this morning on Portland, Oregon. I've located a great area. Well, great on 'paper'. It meets the basic requirements I want in my next home: walking distant to shops, grocer and/or bookstore, near a park and/or natural surroundings, near friends and/or family, better school district than Texas, relatively low crime and close to other liberal ad environmentally like-minded people. I found an area South of Hawthorne between 20th & 39th. If we actually manage to find a good home for sale and move in to that area, I think it will make the move to Portland most rewarding. We'd be about a mile from my cousin's current home and 2.3 miles from our good friends Lee & Barb. Although we're still loosely considering other cities to move to, Portland has been top of the list lately. At least I have some research done and can pick up when the time comes to look at our options and begin real planning.

I had insomnia last night. I listened to Rusty snore for nearly 3 hours before I was finally able to drift asleep... then Josh cried in his sleep. Luckily he didn't need much attention and I was able to go back to sleep.

Here's a first: Josh went the whole night (10 hours) without being fed. Usually he wakes up hungry around 4 or 5 am. Last night he stirred around then but his cry wasn't a hungry cry so I left him to go back to sleep- and he did. This is in stark contrast to yesterday night where he was up hungry twice before waking up at 10am.

Tonight I go to a focus group to talk about my experience of buying holiday cards from Target. It's fun, easy money if your interests line up and you have time to attend. Luckily I do. My father-in-law recently went to a focus group where he test drove 4 different types of cars with navigation systems. He made comments on the ease and intuitive design of each. I would have liked that topic.

Josh is getting good at walking around in his walker. He goes forward and backward and even stops to play with the attached toys between bouts of banging into walls and appliances. Only problem: he doesn't move on carpet well so he's confined to the kitchen. It's like a really slow screen saver with Josh banging around the kitchen from wall to wall. He hasn't tried to get into cabinets yet but he was tried to open the oven once. It wasn't on but it reminded me that there is no safety lock to keep an oven door closed.

Still not crawling. But I'm going to start baby proofing soon in anticipation. Joshua is rolling around and turning on his belly, but he isn't even trying to crawl yet. On the bed he'll do all sorts of inch worming, sticking the booty up, practice crawling- but on the floor- nothing! I am officially becoming impatient with this lack of mobility. I realize once he does crawl it's a whole new level of vigilence on my part, but it would be easier for him to entertain himself and easier for me to play with him. At nearly 8 months old I expected him to be crawling, dragging or scooting by now. I have become his personal taxi service instead. And maid. And chef. And teacher. And toy fetcher.

Rusty is trying to quit smoking again. I say again because he's tried about twenty times since I've known him. Some efforts were quite serious attempts, others were accidental like running out of smokes and seeing how long he can go without one. I detest smoking. I hate the smell it brings on the hands, clothes and air around smokers. I hate the bad breath. I hate the cost. I hate the habit forming behaviour it creates. I really hate kissing smokers. I'm not sure what I can do, if anything, to help, encourage or promote Rusty's efforts. I've tried every trick: nagging, teasing, complimenting, extra kissing, cheering, guilt trips, pouting, logic and reasoning, ignoring, boasting to friends, hiding lighters... Time will tell how long this effort lasts.

The puppies disappeared this afternoon. They were out when I left for my eye appointment but gone by the evening when we went outside to feed them. An hour after we decided they moved on to someplace else, the neighbor boy came by with my flyer asking if the puppies were inside. Sorry dude, we told him, they were here yesterday. We looked around a couple houses near us then got cold and gave up. Hopefully the boy finds them. It's supposed to get cold again tonight (36 degrees).

Josh went with me to my eye appointment this afternoon. It was a follow up from my LASIK- which is awesome to not have glasses! Bottom lie message from the appointment- use more eye drops. To help myself remember to do so more frequently, I'm going to try to do it after every bottle/nursing which occurs about every 3 hours after Joshua wakes up. He was in a great mood throughout the appointment. We played quiet games while waiting such as clap mommy's hands, rocket baby on head, bounce on lap, peek-a-boo, blow puffs of air on hands and head, tickle boy boobs, and turn baby quickly to see others. He made a few loud squeals of joy, one good laugh, drooled a bit (ok, a lot), and almost got fussy once. Rocket baby on head always cures fussiness. Unless he's hungry. When he's hungry nothing works. Tomorrow will be another test of his patience as I go to my OB appointment. I hope he's easy again.

Puppies! I looked out my kitchen window near lunch time to find two puppies huddled in a corner along the fence. They're kind of scrappy looking, like mutts. Both female it seems, hungry and lonely but not malnourished, sick nor injured. I'd guess they are probably 2-4 months old depending on the breed(s). I took pictures then posted flyers around the neighborhood. Hopefully someone will miss them and find the flyer. If no one claims them by end of tomorrow I'll take them to a vet’s office where hopefully someone will be interested in adopting them. Nicknamed Pinto and Turtle- types of beans.


Ever had a long-time-ago ex in a dream? Yeah. So I was with a group of friends in Kansas waiting to spend time with my mom when an ex-boyfriend came out of a building he worked in. A group of traveling salesmen were out of a place to stay the night so I was trying to find a place for them stay outside, which was near my mom's work. As people were coming of their offices fireworks started going off in the distant. I couldn't see them at first. My ex offered to help me up to stand next to him along a wall. As I stood there I put my arm around him as I had done 1,000 times when we dated. We chatted a bit then I said something along the lines of "losing you was the best thing that could have happened to me. I am now happily married and fully in love with Rusty. Thanks for the great memories." He seemed to be ok with this. I later caught up with my mom trying to help the salesmen find a place to crash for the night when Josh started making noises slowly waking me from sleep... I think this has something to do with the conversations we had earlier that night friend Matt Peck who is deeply smitten for a gal in Minnesota. It's a little unnerving to reacquaint an ex in a dream. I guess my subconscious still has unfinished business, even after 15 years.

Josh was a little fuss butt today. He cried and complained every time I sat him down or laid him down to play. He wanted to be held and actively played with all day. I obliged much of the time but couldn't hold him every moment. Maybe he was just cranky. He fell asleep early while Rusty held him. He had on a battle scene from the third LOTR movie when he discovered Josh was fast sleep in his arms. We roused him up gently and got in 4oz. from a bottle before putting him to bed. He needs the sleep so it's good he went down early. Posted by Picasa

Don't doubt the ability of your 7-month-old to manipulate you. Josh has learned to fake a cry. We sat him down while we ate dinner this evening. He played for a few minutes then got bored. He wanted to be held and actively played with. What we witnessed cracked up us defeating his intentions. He broke into a bawl- scrunched face, pouting bottom lip, loud schreech- then stopped to look at one of us for our reaction. It was an on-off cry to get our attention. We laughed at him every time he did this.

We did mommy/baby yoga today. I had a decently good time and worked up a sweat and Josh seemed to have fun too. Only probem was the time of the class. It started at 11am which meant Joshua wasn't able to have his usual long nap in the morning. I tossed him the car seat at 10am hoping he'd sleep in the car on the way there and I'd drive slowly and make one stop for bread at a drive-thru. However, he woke up in the car after 20 minutes of sleep while I was quietly waiting in line for bread. It wasn't the end of the world but it did throw off his routine and made him a little more cranky than usual.

We also visited Rusty at his office today. Josh watched the grown up boys toss an inflatable ball into an inflatable basketball hoop. I let out the air of one of the balls and let Josh play with it. He also played peek-a-boo using Rusty's shirt that was draped over the table. He had a decently good time while I was able to chow down on tamales & fajitas for lunch.

Still no progress towards crawling. He seems closer every so often but he's just not in a hurry to get anywhere. Fine by me. I'll encourage when I can and pay no heed to those who ask me every single week.

I am beginning to really enjoy making baby food. So far I have made apples, pears, mushed bananas, mangos, green beans, peas, sweet potato, broccoli, squash, chicken, ham, and now beets. Yes, beets! I myself have not had beets since- well I can't recall. I wasn't even sure what a beet looked like until I found them in the store. My local grocer and the nearby Stuper Wal-Mart didn't have them. I found them at Central Market, which has everything! I read up on how to do this before starting my endeavor: wash, cut ends, peel, place in roasting pot w/ water, cover, bake at 400 for 30 minutes. I had a few big ones that didn't get cooked enough so I had to chop them up and re-bake. Wow! Lots of pink everywhere! That makes me wonder if Josh will have a pink chin and lips when he starts eating this. I also made more broccoli this evening and chopped up a wheat bagel for him to chew on. I've noticed him make chewing motions with his mouth recently so I was daring enough to offer him a cracker this evening. I am trying to go the whole wheat and grains route from the start so I gave him a mini stoned wheat cracker. Only problem with these is the salt. I scraped off as much salt as I could off the top before handing it to him. I realize he probably could have had a cracker a while back without issue but it didn't occur to me until this evening. Another food trick I've learned is to have a fruit cup handy at restaurants. The last three times I've eaten out with him I ordered a fruit cup on the side and fed him tiny pieces of cantaloupe as I ate my meal. He loves cantaloupe and it distracts him from being fussy or bored.

I bought a new bag today. It's a zipper bag. No pockets inside but it holds exactly what I need (palm pilot, cell phone, keys, ID, cards, cash, and lip essentials) and won't get in the way when I'm carrying the diaper bag on my back, which was my motivation in getting one. I picked out a nice military olive color bag. When I'm done using this bag it unzips to a tiny ball. Not only has having a baby caused me to buy lots of stuff for him, I've found myself buying lots of stuff for me too. I would not need another purse bag if I wasn't lugging a diaper bag around or holding Josh so much when shopping. Speaking of which, I'm expecting a new stroller to arrive in the mail to use for everyday shopping and errands. I love holding Joshua but he's getting heavy and sometimes I need both hands to do stuff.

Joshua's new favorite meal: broccoli with ham. I made broccoli and ham at home last week for his lunches and dinners, and apples this weekend for his breakfast. He loves it all so no fussy eater for a little while. Yay!!

Josh's sleep pattern has been all wacky the past several days. He's starting to cry early in the night like 2-3 hour after being laid down. Then he's up again every 3-4 hours after either wailig to be rocked back to sleep or in need of something. It's very frustrating to say the least. We've started to let him cry it out a bit longer, especially for the early night cries. Sometimes he does put himself back to sleep, other times, mostly in the late night/early morning cries he just cries until someone can't take it any more. I find my anger level and lack of patience drops to its lowest in the late night/early morning cry sessions. Sometimes he'll stop crying an it appears he'll go back to sleep so I'll crawl back into bed and as soon as my head touches the pillow, he starts to wail again. His cry has changed recently too. This week we've noticed more of a "uh-heh" sound added to his crying.

Josh would like to say somthing in his defense:, j g uyj iujkcn b f nbkjmnmn;/. CZ8jnujhbvcx xczzzzzzzzzzz

Happy New Year! I decided a new look and feel was in order.

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