This Week in Photos

This is how Hunter spends most of his time these days. Hand in mouth, tons of drool.

But I guess 2 hands are better than 1!

So you probably can't tell but Hunter is wearing a Bob Dylan onesie here. And I know it's totally inappropriate, but it took everything I had not to Photoshop a joint into his right hand. It's almost too perfect. But I know if I did I'd just be jinxing myself for the future.

And here's his modeling pose, minus the drool all over the sofa.

We've had this mirror propped in our entry for awhile and I recently brought it to the living room for Hunter to look at himself during tummy time. For some reason now that it's in the living room the dogs pay so much more attention to it. Maybe it's the better light but both dogs spend a lot of time looking in that mirror. Almost as much as Hunter. My narcissistic family.

And I couldn't leave Ringo out. Here he is with all his stolen toys. The black and white toy is Hunter's toy moose cow named Moscow and the brown toy is Abbey's favorite giraffe. Both dogs have been so great about not messing with Hunter's toys. But I guess Ringo just couldn't resist that one. I'm sure Hunter will be taking their toys in no time.

Movies and Meatless Mondays

Hunter and I went to our first movie together today. It was fantastic. Monday Morning Mommy Movies is such a great idea. As soon as the movie came on Hunter was in awe. I think he was excited for such a huge TV. Much to our chagrin, the kid loves TV. He was fussy for a good 1/2 hour, but it wasn't too traumatizing since most of the other babies were as well. All us moms got up and walked around, bounced the kids in the aisles and changed diapers on the changing area set up in the theater. I will definitely be doing this again.

So Adam is very particular about what he eats. Even though his parents are very fit he still has a family history of high cholesterol and blood pressure. We try to watch sodium and cholesterol intake but now that we're on this health kick we've decided to eat a lot more lean meats and vegetables. But yesterday Adam decided he'd like to include a lot more vegan meals into our normal dinner repertoire. Enter Meatless Mondays (and possibly Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well.)

And now I have to give a shout out to Stone Brewing Company for having a meatless menu on Mondays. One more reason in a very long line of reasons to drink Stone.

I got this amazing cookbook from my friend Lem Jay for my birthday. It's called 'The Conscious Cook' by Tal Ronnen. And it's touted as vegan recipes for carnivores. I highly recommend it. Tonight we had Agave-Lime Grilled Tofu with Asian Coleslaw and M Cafe's Scarlet Quinoa Salad.

You'll have to buy the book for the tofu and slaw recipes, and believe me, it's so worth it. But here is the M Cafe Scarlet Quinoa Salad Recipe from the LA Times.

And here are some pics of little man from the past few days.

xoxo,

Lauren

A Dose of Cute

I've been neglecting the daily picture so here are some from the last few weeks.

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

Adam's back home and things didn't get easier as I had anticipated, although he did fix the electricity and the computer instantly. He's way busier than either of us was expecting so fewer breaks for him means fewer breaks for me, as well as making 3 meals, extra laundry, the list goes on... But he's really enjoying his work these days and he's doing it mostly from home, so that's been nice for both of us.

He wasn't supposed to have work this week but he got some awesome work very short notice. And I am so excited for him. I really wanted to post about it on Facebook but he asked me to hold off, although he did say I could put it on my blog because maybe 10 people tops actually read it. So he's working with this guy in a band that rhymes with Schmeastie Shmoys. SO COOL! I guess it's so exciting to me because I've been listening to them since I was 6. So yay for Adam!

As for me, I guess my full-time job title is now Mom. I was planning to go back to work on a limited basis in September but apparently my job no longer exists. Can you sense the bitterness?The girl that has been covering my position is only working there twice a week because there is so little work. She immediately changed stuff when she began working there and she's been doing stuff her way for the last 4 months so I'd have to be retrained to do MY job anyway. I'm bitter about it because I don't think the situation was handled very well by my ex-boss. But she often doesn't handle things well, so I should have assumed this would happen.

If I could I would do this (NSFW):

The good news is that Adam totally supports me staying at home, although he is urging me to resume painting more and maybe doing something with my art degree. I know I am so lucky to have his support and this opportunity. And I'm looking forward to giving Hunter my undivided attention, like he deserves. It just wasn't planned this way so it's thrown me for a bit of a loop. But I believe things are this way for a reason and for the better. And of course I want to spend every day with this little dude.

In other news, I'm finally below my pre-pregnancy weight. So rad! I've been working my ass off! Literally. I put on freshly washed jeans this morning and didn't even have to do the waist band pull or shimmy into them, they just fit perfectly. It did take me closer to 4 months than the 3 I had hoped for to lose the weight. But I also gained more weight than I wanted.

Because I had a high risk pregnancy I had to go to a perinatologist. Even my OB called him the "food Nazi." And he really was. Every time I went to see him (monthly) I was in tears, expecting to be yelled at for my weight gain. At 36 weeks and 35 pounds gained, when I was already feeling pretty fat and grumpy, he gave me a really harsh lecture on how studies show because I was already overweight if I gained any more I was going to keep gaining and become obese. And that when I started breast feeding, I couldn't have any extra calories because that would make my kid obese too. He was so mean. And now I'm BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight. So Dr. Doany, to you I say FACE!

So good to get that all of my chest!

XOXO,

Lauren

Tomorrow, Tomorrow... Is only a day away

Hunter is down for the evening. Hallelujah! Although I wrote that, "down for the evening" I never say it anymore. My Uncle Reland says "you should never put a baby down." You put animals down, but not babies, unless they're rabid or something :)

And Adam returns from Austin tomorrow. Can I get an AMEN? This two weeks hasn't been too difficult but we've had a few trying days.

I feel like an accomplished traveler now that I've been on a few trips with the little man. And most recently we traveled alone to Laguna for a few days with 2 dogs, a bunch of luggage and a butload of baby gear... in a Prius. It was fairly uneventful, of course that was after we went through the gas station car wash. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea with all that commotion and noise. But after the dogs tried to dig through the trunk and climb the seats we had a peaceful ride to Laguna. Hunter's a great travel companion, he sleeps the whole time. I wish I could say the same for the dogs.

Laguna was great, we got to see my parents and Hunter got to meet his great grandmother. He just loved her. But again, I wish I could say the same for the dogs. Abbey, who isn't really even comfortable with me touching Hunter (she thinks he's her baby) was really wary of Grams. At first she just followed Grams everywhere. But as soon as Grams tried to touch Hunter, Abbey would body block her. Literally throw herself between Grams and Hunter. Then it escalated to a growl. And later a snap. We eventually had to leave the dogs on the side yard for the rest of the trip. After all, we didn't want Grams to lose an arm. She already has a bad hip.

Home has been ok as well, but wouldn't you know, as soon as Adam leaves things go to shit. First, half of the power in the kitchen is out. Luckily it's not the side with the refrigerator and the stove. But it is the side with all the outlets (old 40's house, there are only a few anyway.) So I have been without a garbage disposal, which I rarely use anyway, but it's cool to know it's there. But I also have to move everything to the one other grounded outlet if I want to use it. So I've given up on coffee, toast and microwaving because it's just too annoying. I still move the electric tea kettle to prepare formula, but that's it. I would have called an electrician, but my husband is an electronics whisperer, so I'm sure if he just breathes on the circuit breaker everything will work again.

Then last night the TV goes out. Well not the TV exactly, but the computer we use as a media center. Because my husband is ultra nerd and we can't just have cable. And the thing shuts down and I get the blue screen of death. But it restarted itself and, whew, I got TV back after 10 minutes. But today I got home from my Mommy & Me class and the computer won't turn on, it has power but it's fried. I tried to trouble shoot to the best of my ability, but let's face it, my ability is close to nil.

At least I have my computer, and my sweet, sweet phone, oh yeah, and beer. Without those I swear I'd go nuts. And as I write this, the electronics are probably both slowly dying, just to drive me crazy. But all this has made me realize what a brat I am. I adore my technology and I covet it. I know pioneers didn't have this stuff and had to walk miles for water and food and shit. But I am not a pioneer! I am a spoiled kid from Laguna Beach. Is this Karma?

Then payback certainly is a bitch.

Oh wait, but I forgot to mention the result of Hunter's shots. And the 24 hours of projectile vomiting and fever. And according to the nurse, these were the "easy" shots. FYI, Polio shot is rarely easy. It almost always leaves a very tender lump. And I tried to ask for delayed shots, but they told me I had to have them. I'm all for vaccinations (really, I am PRO VACCINE) but I think I may delay the next round for a few months or even a year, even if I have to change my pediatrician. Who has polio nowadays anyway? And what 3 month old child is getting a sexually transmitted disease? Not mine.

But Hunter, the dogs and I are well and pretty darn happy. I just need to give props to the HTC Sprint Evo. I swear I would have lost my mind otherwise. It has kept me in touch with the world.

And now, I bid you adieu.

xoxo,

Lauren

A Tall Drink of Water

So I have to start by telling you that Hunter slept 10 1/2 hours last night. SCORE! Best sleep yet, but I feel like I deserved it because last week he was up twice every night, starving. And because he was so starved I was convinced he was under weight, being starved and I was doing something wrong. I did try introducing rice cereal to see if that would help, nope, just made him puke, A LOT! I'm guessing it was just a growth spurt because this week he was back to sleeping 8 hours with one nightly feeding (or early morning, 4am.)

So Hunter slept from 7:30pm to 6am which is perfection for me, I'm an early riser. I wish he would keep this schedule, but I know just by writing this I'm jinxing myself. So we got up and did all our morning stuff, walked the dogs and were out for our run by 8am. Almost unheard of.

I was just going to do an easy run with some speed intervals. But 1/2 way through I got a call from the pediatrician asking if Hunter could come in to the office in an hour rather than tomorrow. I agreed and my run turned into a tempo run. I ran way faster than I normally do for an extended period of time. It was actually really good for me. But what was better, finding out early if Hunter's growth is normal. Because I've been so stressed out about it.

It is! Hunter's stats are right on track. His weight is in the 50th percentile but his length is in the 75th percentile. He's just tall and thin. I knew he was tall because he is mostly wearing 6 month clothes right now, but only for the length. I had also heard that formula babies are usually chubbier, ranking higher percentage wise in weight, so I look at my skinny kid and think "what's wrong with you, dude?" But we've known since the beginning he's a lazy sucker, and he continues to be.

It feels so good to know Hunter's growing appropriately and behaving exactly as a 3 month old should: giggling, grabbing, gooing and gumming anything that he can get in his mouth.

He also got another round of shots today which I totally forgot was scheduled and gave me one more thing to obsess about. I still hate it. And they made him sick, he got a fever of 100 and has been extra fussy, which he never is. Last time he just slept all day which I much prefer. It's the most heartbreaking thing to know your kid is in pain. And even more heartbreaking when he's crying, screaming, and nothing will console him.

But now it's nap time, and conveniently that falls at the same time as happy hour, because mommy neeeeeeds a drink.

Cheers,

Lauren

My Little Narcissist

Or how I taught Hunter to enjoy tummy time

Infancy

Hunter is no longer a newborn! Crazy! He's just a baby now. A sweet, wonderful, little baby. I was reading my friend Anna's blog and she just put away all her son's newborn clothes (tears) and that's what made her realize her son was growing up. It's so weird that this milestone is already upon us. I feel like just yesterday he was still kickin' it in my belly.

I guess I notice Hunter's getting older because of all his actions. He's trying to roll over, he kicks and screams, but still tries. He's also trying to sit up, with the same result of kicking, screaming and getting upset. He wants to do it so badly! He also gets really mad when he wants to stand up and can't. I swear I spend half my day holding him up. I can't wait until his feet reach the floor in his little activity walker! I'm hoping we only have a week or 2 for that. I'm not sure I'M READY for him to grow up. But I know he is.

(Mesmerized by Shark Week)

xoxo,

Lauren

Sans Papa

So here's another first: It's the first day of 2 weeks sans papa. Adam is in Austin working with a band. They're actually photo blogging the making of their first album, so you can follow that here.

The Austin trip is a great opportunity for Adam, but I have to admit I was a little ambivalent to drop him off at the airport yesterday. Hunter is a great baby with a mellow temperament (knocks on wood) so far... But it's the first time I've been totally alone with him. And I better get used to it because Adam's normal work schedule usually requires him to be out of the house 14 hours a day for months at a time. The last 3 months of my pregnancy he was on a project and I thought that was difficult.

But we're doing just fine; it's just another day.

Today also begins week 3 of my training and I ran 7 miles yesterday even though I was totally not into it. I hadn't slept well for a few nights so my legs felt like there were weights attached to them. I was going to stop at 6 miles, that's my easy lake route, but I finally felt warmed up at 5 1/2 miles and was able to finish the full 7. I only lost 1 lb this week, but I feel it may have something to do with some water retention, so I'll drink some lemon water and hope to lose 3 lbs by next week and be at my pre-pregnancy weight. Although I'm totally fine with losing just 1 lb, as long as I'm losing.

And why wasn't I able to sleep you ask? Both nights my dogs were to blame. The first night my 80 lb dummy of a dog got stuck under the bed. I still have no clue what he was doing under there but at around 4am I got up to feed Hunter and when I got back into the room I heard a rustling and Ringo's legs were sticking out from under the bed and moving like he was trying to run. I tried to pull him out but he was REALLY stuck. Then I lost it and just busted out laughing. That woke Adam up and he lifted up the bed so I could pull Ringo out. But it took forever because I was laughing so hard. I finally got back to sleep an hour and a half later, but only slept for 45 minutes before Hunter was ready to wake up to start his day. Just thinking about those scrambling legs sticking out from under the bed still make me giggle.

The following night was not so funny. I got up a bit before 4 again to feed Hunter and was back asleep 20 minutes later, per usual. At 4:45 am Hunter starts screaming hysterically, which he doesn't normally do. I wake up and am immediately assaulted by the rancid stench of dog poop. Adam is out of bed first and goes to Hunter. I stumble to the living room to find out the origin of the smell. I turn on the light, step lightly onto the carpet and SPLAT! I stepped right in the poop that is trailed the 20 ft width of our family room. I hop to the kitchen to wipe off my foot, screaming expletives. All the while Adam has gotten the carpet cleaner and towels and is furiously spraying and scrubbing the carpet. He takes the soiled towels outside to dispose of them, comes back inside and SPLAT! Now his foot is covered in poop as well. We were both yelling expletives, hopping around the house, and making way too much noise for 5am. We managed to get the mess cleaned up but after all that commotion we didn't manage to get back to sleep. I guess it's kind of funny, but I'm totally glad the weekend is over.

Active Boy

Here are some pictures from the last few days. I've been a bit lazy at uploading so I'm going to TRY to post a picture every day, but it may be every other day. Now that Hunter has gotten so alert I find that I have less and less time to do everything I have to do, besides care for a newborn. He's awake more during the day and he's much more active and wants to be stimulated. In the first few months they don't really do much and now he's starting to actually enjoy playing with his toys and pretending to crawl on his play mat.