Bouncy Baby Boy

Not too much has changed since the last posting. Evan is working so hard at making himself mobile. He's able to push his upper body up to his elbows, but still can't really push up. While trying to get his upper body going, his fat little legs will be working. This morning, he was making crawling motions in the crib.

Baby boy likes to be on the go! We joke that he will not tolerate you sitting while holding him and he will only tolerate you standing still while holding him for so long. After so long, my arms feel like they are going to fall off and we have to sit down. I prop my feet up on the coffee table and lean him back against my legs. He usually isn't too happy about this, but if you let him grab hold of your fingers he will work with you to pull himself up into a sitting up position and then he just really amused by his abilities. When he gets bored with that (5 minutes later), sometimes we just take him to his "happy place" - the changing pad. There, we can have all sorts of "conversations" via bubble talk.

Then, we can usually start the rotation between the swing, play pen, Mom or Dad's shoulder, lap, changing table all over again. He is starting to get a preference for the play pen. At first, he was not at all happy about being put in his play pen, now it seems he would rather be in there because he work on his objective of self-propulsion.

We've also found little things that amuse him, like cradling him and then bouncing up and down. I think this is early practice for when he is bigger and able to say, "Again!" He enjoys bouncing activities so much that when you stop, he gets mad and lets you know about it! I'm going to have Hulk Hogan's "26-inch pythons" before too long. But it is alot of fun when he starts laughing and squealing in delight.

We haven't uploaded photos to the computer in a while, but here is one of my recent favs: "My little Simba."

Impressionable young minds

Remeber that episode of Friends where Ross and Rachel were doing just about ANYTHING to get Baby Emma to laugh? If you recall, the only thing that worked was singing and dancing Sir Mix-a-lot's 90s hit "Baby Got Back."

Evan demands to be entertained. He is not satified with sitting on your lap. You have to be standing up and you have to be moving when you hold him. One night I discovered that making the "bubble" sounds with your lips really amused him. So of course I did this ALL THE TIME. If it gets you a smile, you do it no matter how numb your lips get.

NowI see how babies, particularly our baby, can pick up on things so quickly. Check out the video:



If Evan can pick up this at 15 weeks, how much longer do I have until my poor choice in language use comes back to haunt me?

Things I can't live without

Coffee. If a car can't run without gasoline or alternative fuel, I can't run without caffeine. Some days require "higher" octane than others. And by higher octane, I mean I need a large vanilla latte from Latte Land with two extra shots in it.

A swing. The swing is Evan's most favorite place to be - except for the little dresser-top changing pad that we have for him, that's his happy place. We have two. The big one in our living room and a travel-sized item (which really isn't that compact). Some folks say they need a bouncy chair. I think its probably either or. We don't have one, but Evan loves sitting in the one at Aunt Steph and John's house.

Changing Table. We didn't buy a stand alone changing table. We didn't have room. What we did buy was a three-drawer dresser with a little side door. The side door area has two shelves and is great for storing diapers, wipes, butt lotion, etc. For the top of the dresser, we bought a changing pad that actually attaches to the back of the dresser so you don't have to worry about your baby sliding off with the pad. This is the greatest thing in the world. When Evan is red-hot, raging mad, we will often take him into his room and lay him down on the changing pad. 60 percent of the time, it works every time*.

A Boppy. I'm not breast feeding, but about one or two weeks after Evan was born, I was sitting in the rocking chair in his room. The closet door was open behind the chair, so I was hitting it as I rocked back. I reached behind with my left arm to try and pull it closed. SNAP. Something in my shoulder popped and, as a result, holding Evan for extended periods of time makes my whole arm burn in pain. This sucks, because when I feed him, I hold him in my left arm and the bottle with my right one. I can't switch. I've tried. It's like trying to write left-handed. It's just awkward. So, I grab that boppy and stretch Evan out across that on my lap and we can make it work.

Wipe warmer. I was on team "This has to be the single biggest waste of money in the entire world" pre-Evan. But, before we got the wipe warmer, he would SCREAM every time we changed his diaper. Now, the changing pad is his "happy place." I'm not saying spend any money on it, but put it on the registry. It's one of those things that people will be happy to buy for you and babies seem to prefer warm wipes as opposed to cold wet wipes -- wouldn't we all?

Extras. It is definitely a good idea to have at least two full sets of bedding (mattress pad and sheets) and a couple of changing pad covers. Babies - especially my baby - like to wait for the 2 second window of opportunity when the old diaper is removed and the new one isn't quite covering them yet to let loose.


*Did you get the Anchorman reference? Possibly the greatest comedy movie EVER. Evan will start "talking" to me and I will tell him "You know I don't speak Spanish! English please!" or, "What? What's that you say? You pooped in the fridge and ate a whole wheel of cheese?"

Parents: What are some of the things you can't live without? I'm sure my preggo friends and family would love to hear some extra perspective.

A Boy & His Dog

One of the questions I've been asked over and over again by friends, family and coworkers since Evan has been born is, "How's Truman taking him?" I have to laugh at myself because everyone must have known how much we spoiled and adore Truman. Really, Truman was like our first child...

If you've seen the movie "Marley & Me", you may remember the scene where Owen Wilson's character comes home after his wife, played by Jennifer Anniston, has their first child, and has a talk with Marley about the changes. I admit that I, too, had a similar talk with Truman the day after Evan was born when I went home to grab some sleep, shower and change. And Truman has been such a good dog. While he hates not being the center of attention, he's willing to share it with Evan. There's been times when we've had to shoo Truman away, gone past his usual dinner time because we've been wrapped up with caring for Evan, or realized we haven't let Truman out for several hours... Truman takes it all in stride, and I couldn't have asked for a better response from him. He's such a good dog.

For the first few days after Evan was born, Tru didn't really know what to think of him. But as the days turned to weeks, and weeks into months, Truman has been intrigued with Evan. He loves to be near him and loves to give him kisses.

Of course, at first Evan had no idea Truman existed... But now that Evan has taken notice of the world around him...he's absolutely fascinated with Truman. My morning routine with Evan is usually a bottle on the couch, with Truman napping at the other end...but he inches ever so close to me as I'm holding Evan...and sneaks in a few kisses every now and then. At first, we were protective of Evan around Tru and would only allow him to kiss his feet. Every now and then, Truman would swipe the back of Evan's head as we were holding him. While we still keep a close eye on Truman around him simply because he's a cumbersome 65 lb. bulldog, we've been a bit more relaxed.

As you may have read before, most mornings I take Evan into his bedroom where we have his dance party. Truman has to follow us back there and make sure everything is okay. I think this has mostly to do with Tru wanting to be near the Boy, but also because Truman must be around people and hates being left out. At night when we are trying to feed Evan his last bottle before bed, we have to coax Truman out of the room. He doesn't want to leave!

Truman also likes to 'alert' us when the Little Man is getting fussy. If we have Evan napping in his swing, and he starts to rouse...he'll make a few fussy noises. Truman is typically on the couch with us...and the swing is across the room. Tru will hop down off the couch and go over to check on the Boy, then pace back and forth in front of his swing if Evan keeps fussing then come over and whine to us about it.

One other thing I find absolutely amazing is after we have put Evan down for the night, occasionally Linda & I will share a bottle of wine or a few beers out on our front porch. Truman will tag along with us and we have the baby monitor between us in case the Boy stirs. The baby monitor is pretty awesome...and if Evan so much as hiccups, Truman again will alert us... He'll jump up, stare at the baby monitor, pace again, and try to alert us that we must go check on Evan.

The other night while I was at work, Linda was playing with Evan on the couch...and of course again, Truman was there on the couch too. Since Evan has now noticed this large goofy looking dog, he giggles, coos and laughs at him. Linda took it one step further and reached out Evan's hand to pet Truman...she reported that Evan squealed with delight. She had never heard him make that sound before. Truman then immediately started to lick his hand and this really got Evan tickled.

They are really gonna be a pair...and I couldn't have asked for anything more. But But what would you expect after Truman was voted as "Kansas City's Best Dog" in September 2008 by the Kansas City Star... He will always be our 'baby'.

Figuring things out

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I know I've kept half a dozen of you out there waiting on pins and needles. :)

Here goes... When I was pregnant, I would just about give myself an anxiety attack with all the "what ifs" and questions that would pop in my mind. And its never just one question at a time. It's 400 hundred all at once as your mind betrays you and sends you in to a complete meltdown. A friend of mine is going through this stage right now.

It's so easy to get overwhelmed. There is more information out there than anyone could ever read in a nine-month span. And, lets face it. The first three months, you feel like death so you don't really care about - or have the energy to do - anything else. During the last three months, you have a baby bouncing off your internal organs and it is impossible to fall asleep. And, when you do sleep, it's in 2-3-hour increments because you wake up having to pee, get a glass of water (because you've already downed the 32-ounce glass on your nightstand), chew up some TUMS, or all of the above.

So the second trimester is really the only time you can get stuff done before the baby arrives.

Looking back, I kind of chuckle at some of the things I was so concerned about then. Here are a few questions I had back then followed by answers that were hard learned by experience.

Question: How will I know when it is time to move up a diaper size? I seriously worried about this.

Answer: There are several ways you know, but the most telling is when the diapers are no longer capable of holding in the mess your baby puts out. When the diaper failure rate increases, its time to move up a size.

Question: How will I know if my baby is just upset or if something is really wrong? I worried about being the over-hyper parent that called the doctor every time my baby sneezes. Now, I know that Brian is this person, not me. :)

Answer: If he doesn't have a temperature or blood or green slimy stuff coming out of any orifice, he's probably fine and is just grumpy or has gas.

Question: How will we keep his nails trim so he doesn't claw up his face?

Answer: VERY CAREFULLY. You have to have the hands of a surgeon and usually wait until the baby is sound asleep before trying this out. Some people bite the nails off. I'm not a fan of this approach. I don't like biting my own nails. To keep from shaking with the nail trimmer, avoid caffeine for at least four hours prior to the operation.

Also, many PJs come with little flaps that fold over the baby's hands. Use them. Evan someone managed to get his hands free anyway, but they did provide his face with a little bit of a reprieve.

Question: How do I know what stuff to get and what to avoid? Do you really need EVERYTHING on the baby registry checklist?

Answer: You can read a crap ton of books, or just use some common sense. Or, even better, just ask people who have kids. They are always happy to dole out advice on what to get and what not to get. They will give you different answers, and what you need is usually going to be a little bit of a combo of what all your different friends recommend.

Question: How will we teach our baby to sleep through the night? The gift of sleep is not to be over-rated. Remember the saying, "If momma aint happy..."? Well, its very true.

Answer: Routine. Routine. Routine. We also recommend the "Baby Wise" book. It is a little bit more militant (and by militant, I mean it is the boob nazis' handbook) than what Brian and I do, but if you need to figure out structure, that's a good starting point. It also helps to have a big baby who just naturally sleeps for a long time.

Question: What the hell is a receiving blanket and why, according to the Babies 'R Us registry check list, do I need five of them?

Answer: I still haven't figured this out. Family and friends will give you more blankets than you can ever possibly imagine using. I don't know what differentiates a receiving blanket from a regular blanket. Someone told me that a receiving blanket is one that the doctors can use to wrap the baby in when he/she is first born, and then you have it as a keepsake. No thanks. I've seen what babies are covered in when they are first born and all blankets used to wrap of newborns should be incinerated as medical waste.

Question: How do I know what kind/type of bottles to buy? I just about started crying in the middle of Target when Brian and I were attempting to fill out our registry and there were no less than eleventy billion different brands, types and sizes to choose from.

Answer: Just pick one or two. Just buy one package. Try it out. If it works, go get more. If not, try something else.

Question: Why does my baby seem to smile and laugh every time I ask if he pooped? Evan will be sitting on our lap and then we smell something that isn't so fresh. I'll ask him, "Did you poop?" If he smiles slyly, the answer is usually yes. If he just looks at you blankly, then you just need to wait for it...

Answer: I'm not sure that this would be a very common question. I think Evan thinks its funny that he pooped because he Brian's son (and mine, too!).

That's all the Q&As I can think of now. I have been thinking about a post-pregnancy post, detailing the aftermath of giving birth - what Hollywood doesn't tell you. But, like I said, it is the year of the baby for my friends and family (the only people who ready this), so I'm going to wait on that. Maybe a good memory post for Evan's first birthday... all my friends babies will be born by then.

Here's a picture of Evan at his 3-month birthday:

Evan's 1st Fourth of July

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays, next to Christmas and New Year's Eve. As a kid, we'd always celebrate at home with our own fireworks display in the backyard. My parents would buy a few sparklers, snakes, tanks, those weird chicken things that would shoot out balls of fire from their ass (to give the appearance they were laying eggs) and screech like a chicken, some snappers, and for the grand finale mom & dad would buy a few fountains that showered out colored sparks... We always celebrated (modestly) at my house as a kid. We lived in a town that fireworks were illegal, but we did this in moderation. I remember one year when my dad bought a rocket. Not really knowing how far it'd go and the outcome of it, he set it off in the backyard. It shot probably about 200 feet in the air and exploded in a shower of sparks. Being maybe 9 or 10 years old at the time, I thought it was amazing. I still remember my dad wincing at the sight, afraid he disturbed our neighbors.

In years since, in my adulthood, I've been able to celebrate the 4th of July is some amazing locations...Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia. After Linda graduated college, she went on a 20-city-20-week promotional tour for Better Homes & Gardens...setting up displays in different malls throughout the country. Since I work for an airline, whenever she was in a city that my airline flew to, I'd fly out to visit her for a few days and see the sights. On July 4, 2001, she was in Hartford, CT, and I flew out to see her. One of the guys on her tour was a local from Boston. He had a friend that lived in a Brownstone right on the waterfront of the Charles River. Each year, the Boston Pops puts on quite the show...also including several other musicians (that year was Cyndi Lauper)...and they set off a huge fireworks display set to patriotic music, with the grand finale set to Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture". We sat on top of this Brownstone apartment, above the massive crowds below and watched the amazing display. That had to be the best 4th of July I've ever had.

Jesse, Holly, Ellen, Nicole, Mark, Linda & me on top of the Brownstone apartment

One of my favorite pictures of Linda taken at an afternoon BBQ in Boston on July 4, 2001

Linda & me chilling on a hammock in a backyard in Boston.

The following year, Linda & I were visiting friends in Washington DC. While we didn't really see much of the fireworks over Capitol Hill, we were at a bar in Georgetown. We were a bit too far away from the display, but we were able to briefly see the display up the Potomac River. All I have to say about that trip is "lee-mone-ade"! (Inside joke that few will catch.)

Chad, Mike, Ellen, me, Deanna & Linda at Mo's Bar in Washington DC

Me at the Lincoln Memorial - July 5, 2002

A few years later, my company was opening up service to Philadelphia and asked for employees to volunteer to walk in their annual parade through the streets of Philly. I volunteered Linda & me, and we were able to stay in downtown Philly and see the sights. That night we watched the fireworks go off over the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the place where the "Rocky" stairs are...which I wanted to reenact but it was too damn hot).

Some of my coworkers and me getting ready to walk in the Philly parade - July 4, 2004

Me on the "Rocky" stairs - Philadelphia Museum of Art

Linda at the Liberty Bell

Walking in the parade down Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward the Philly Museum of Art

Linda & me with Ben Franklin

Last year, Linda & I celebrated at home in Kansas City with their cool fireworks display over the Missouri River.

I couldn't figure out how to flip this video right-side-up, but this is the fireworks display from last year. Just turn your head to the right.

So as you can see, we've celebrated and experienced Independence Day all over the country. Each 4th of July has it's own memories. This year, however, we had to celebrate a day early. Due to my work schedule (I had to work a double at that), we went over to a friend's house to grill out. We were out kinda late, and Evan did remarkably well! It was great to hang out on their deck...and Evan just chilled out in his travel swing! It was just a low-key, chill kinda 4th of July. But we did end the night with an interesting game of "I Never...". Is it weird that thirtysomethings were playing this? This is Evan's first, and I'm hoping that he will be able to celebrate in some cool locations throughout his life...

Evan & his dad

Mother & son

Evan's honorary Aunt Jen

Evan's honorary Aunt Abbie

Evan's honorary Aunt Darcy

Evan's idea of chilling out

It's funny though, how much your perspective changes after you have a child. Our neighborhood is in downtown Kansas City. It's a historic neighborhood that was built at the turn of the 1900s...so the houses are very close to one another. Well, on the actual 4th of July, we had a bunch of idiot neighbors setting off several fireworks...and not just the run-of-the-mill bottle rockets, but near professional grade loud boomers that shot in the air and showered sparks down. As soon as we put Evan down for the night, the neighbors started with these fireworks... I worried about it waking Evan up, however he did well. For once, Mother Nature worked in our favor...no more than 5 minutes after our neighborhood lit up with fireworks, we got several torrential downpours of rain. This worked for a bit, but our neighbors still wanted to celebrate and decided to wait...til 2:00am to set of their stash. Hoping next year will be a bit more active...Evan should be old enough to enjoy fireworks, somewhat.