Want to see more of my lil punkin?

Operation: 'Keep Benjamin Awake' was only mildly successful. It's 7:40 and he's getting his bedtime bottle that he usually gets around 7:15 or 7:30. Anyone going to be around to talk to this morning around 3 or 4? Because that's what time I'm going to be up scrounging for coffee and playing with a very wide-awake, indifferent to the time change, baby.

:: yawn ::

I am TiVoing Desperate Housewives though finally, so I'll have that to watch while I'm up. :)

I think I have to go buy another bag of Halloween candy for the trick-or-treaters because Tom and I seem to have eaten all but the Almond Joys and the Skittles. Oopsie.

We live in a townhouse community so we get a LOT of little ghosties and goolies. People from other neighborhoods drop vanloads of costumed children off at the top of our street. It's really quite unfair. I feel like we, and the other townhouse communities in the area, supply candy to half of our zipcode.

Tom is funny. He has a system to determine how much candy each child gets. (can't just give each one the same amount... oh no no no... at our house, you have to EARN extra candy) It has a lot to do with costume genre (Star Wars characters always get bonus candy), cuteness factor (the teeny kids get lots too) and creativity. Hobos and ghosts get one piece if they are lucky. Anyone over the age of 12 and/or knocking on our door after 8:00 gets a dirty look and the crappiest candy we have left.

:) What do you all do for Halloween?

By the way, in keeping with the Ben theme of my blog, I'll tell you that Ben is being a very uncreative, yet cute and comfortable, pumpkin. Actually, he's being more of a baby in pumpkin pajamas. As you have come to expect, pictures will be both posted and plentiful. :)

You may remember that I had a little falling out with EBay/Paypal when someone who won a bid on my hardly used Playtex bottles turned out to be using a fraudulent credit card. I ended up OWING Paypal $37.00 on a $20 sale. Grr...

Well, I finally sucked it up and brought my account out of the red. Why? I have recently discovered the plethora of cheap baby clothes on Ebay! I got a pair of Christmas OshKosh overalls for $3.99... I'm bidding on another outfit right now for $5.00. Benjamin grows out of something just about every day, so it's hard for my checkbook to keep up... especially since he often will only wear something once or twice. So now I am shopping guilt-free. :)

Yay for Ebay. I'm still a little annoyed at PayPal, but I need them to facilitate my current buying obsession. :\

Since apparently I touched upon a universally wondered-about formula question... here's the official answer. ;)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Erin:

Thank you for contacting Mead Johnson, a recognized name in pediatric
nutrition. When powder formulas are added to water, you will yield an
extra 0.2 fl oz of formula for every scoop of powder used because each
scoop of powder displaces about 0.2 fl oz of water. (For example, 4 fl
oz of water and 2 scoops of powder will yield approximately 4.4 fl oz
of prepared formula.

Always use the scoop that comes inside the can of powder. To prepare
Enfamil (R) LIPIL (R) with Iron from powder, add 1 level scoop of powder
for every 2 fl oz of water. It is important to follow the label
directions to determine if your scoops should be packed or unpacked.

Thank you for choosing our Enfamil LIPIL with Iron for your son. LIPIL
promotes brain and eye development. If you have additional questions,
Erin, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Tonya
Consumer Care Specialist
Enfamil Resource Center

1) Let's say I set out to make a four-ounce bottle. I fill the bottle with four ounces of water and add the correct amount of formula, which boosts the volume to five ounces. If Ben eats the whole thing, has he eaten five ounces, or four? I've been wondering about this since day one.

2) Daylight savings time is coming up on Saturday night. This is going to mess with The Boy's schedule, I know it. Should I try to keep him up an extra hour before bed or let him take a late nap to try and counteract this? Otherwise... I have a feeling we'll be back to getting up at 3a.m. to feed him. :(

3) Why does every pediatrician give different instructions for EVERYthing? This only further reinforces the fact that I should just make all this baby stuff up as I go along and leave the pediatrician's advice for things like ear infections and broken arms.

Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. ;)

Benjamin's latest discovery... the stairs... and that his legs are finally long enough to scale them. The gates, the gates, where are the gates? Oh right, they still need to be purchased. D'oh.

Last night was Benjamin's great grandmother's birthday. (don't ask how old she is, because I honestly have NO clue) We were talking about how neat it is that he has four great grandmothers and a great grandfather around and how'll he'll really get to know them, instead of just being told stories about them. I didn't really know any of my great grandparents and neither did Tom.

Here's a picture of Benjamin with his Great Babby yesterday... he sat on her lap for the longest time and just ate his Cheerios and checked her out. :)

~*~

The Boy is 7 months old today! I can't believe it! Time is flying... and he has changed so quickly! My little peanut is 17 pounds and 26.5 inches of pure energy. He's pulling up, standing, cruising, feeding himself Cheerios, saying Mama, trying to climb the stairs and crawling all over the place and STILL not sleeping through the night!

I can't EVEN imagine what's in store for us next month...

The Official Pics... ;)

I quote the following from my January 30, 2004 blog entry...

"Friday, January 30, 2004
Working on His Night Moves...
Should I be worried that Ben is his most active around oh... 3 in the morning? We're not just talking the usual stretching, kicking, punching that I feel during the day. I'm talking full-on acrobatics ... After he's born, I will not be surprised if I go into the nursery to check on him at this time of the morning and find him hanging upside down from his mobile laughing hysterically!"

As I said to RBelle yesterday on IM when I came across this post... umm..ohMAHgah... ;)

It seems Benjamin has been the Benjamin we know and love since WAYYYY before we met him.

By the way, I took the mobile down.

I don't get to see Benjamin around other babies his age very often... he's not in daycare, so he's never in a group of babies and my friend Jen's baby Ryan is seven months older, so it's hard to compare...

For this reason, I never really REALIZED until yesterday when Ben was with Hannah all day just how um... ACTIVE he is. Next to Hannah (who sits politely and doesn't grab peoples' hair or food or whatever else is in reach and doesn't contort herself in nearly humanly impossible ways to get out of your arms), Ben looks like I slipped caffeine pills into his oatmeal.

I can't help thinking this is totally unfair. Other moms have it WAY easier and I didn't even KNOW this until yesterday.

Yeah, in some ways it's great and he's a lot of fun because he's always on the move, but in other ways... well, let's just say I'm dreading having the child no one wants at their house.

At the moment he's practically doing circles around the living room. He's pulled out almost all of the cd's within reach and now he's working his way around the dining room table. He has also discovered he can go THROUGH the exersaucer, which I must say was amusing to watch. I'll bet you are thinking, "Oh great, she's going to post another picture." You'd be right...

This is the first time they've been let loose together on the floor. I quickly realized that Ben really needs to be chaperoned... lest he inflict bodily injury upon his friends. He seems to think that noses and eyes are removable parts... I also think Hannah may have gone home with a bald spot on the left side of her head.

Got your nose!


Hey baby, what's your sign?


Hey stud!


You had me at gaga...


We're pretty sure this wasn't a kiss... we think he was trying to eat her nose...

Today Benjamin and I had lunch at The Orient with Amanda, Hannah and Dr. Fitzpatrick. This is the doctor who delivered Benjamin (and Hannah) and saw me through nine (ten) looooong months of pregnancy, not to mention the weeks and weeks of putting me back together afterward.

Thanks to some high blood pressure and some uh... birth trauma, Dr. Fitzpatrick and I pretty much had standing Monday afternoon get-togethers for several months even after Ben was born -- I was there so often I had the chance to read every magazine in the exam room twice and to memorize the list of birth control options and the labor progression diagram. Oy.

Of course, if you have been reading my blog since I was pregnant, you may remember classic posts centered around the hijinx of my always fun-filled prenatal appointments. Posts like this one, this one or perhaps this one.Oh, and I almost forgot this one, which includes my thoughts about the evil membrane-stripping move for which I have still not entirely forgiven her. (shudder) Ohmahgah, the PAIN that lady inflicted upon me that day... And yet, I still think she's great.

Sadly, she's not practicing OB anymore (which is how she has time for lunch) thanks to the current insurance crisis. It figures that I finally find a doctor I absolutely LOVE and actually feel comfortable with and this happens. Argh argh argh. No clue what I'm going to do next time around ... I think I'm still in denial.

Ah, but I digress... Anyway, so lunch was Amanda's idea to say thank you for taking such good care of us those nine (ten) months. And as it turned out, her idea was a good one.

We had fun and got some great pictures of Dr. Fitzpatrick with our healthy, happy kiddos who are among her "last crop." Here are two of my favorites! :)

It's so neat now that Ben gets excited about things. He has definite likes and dislikes and shows it. A little while ago, Tom stopped here on his way home from a meeting to make a lunch to take back to work. The boy heard the key in the door, immediately STOPPED what he was doing (chewing on something, I think), whipped around and grinned ear to ear when he saw Tom. Then he let out a squeal, collapsed to his tummy and started motoring in daddy's direction. So freaking cute. At first, Tom wasn't going to stop and pick him up before he made lunch. Ben realized this, buried his face in the carpet and started to BAWL. So Tom picked him up. Back to pure joy. It's one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.

Then, just now, I popped in Baby Mozart and said, "Do you want to watch your show?" He smiled and then turned his attention toward the tv. When the Walt Disney logo came on the screen he smiled and laughed.

I just think it's so amazing what such cool little PEOPLE babies are!
~*~

Congratulations to Leslie and Bob (finally) and their new little baby girl, Lauren Brin!

Go visit and wish them well!

I mentioned Ben's kitchen drawer yesterday in a post. Here he is exploring in it earlier this evening... He LOVES his drawer. (although he has sustained several bumps to the head thanks to the unforgiving wood floor) Bad mommy, I guess... ;) Oh, and I DO put pants on my child, I swear. I had changed his diaper a little while before these pics were taken and he wriggled away and made putting the pants back on more difficult than it was worth... anyway...

Finds a spatula...



Tosses it aside... goes back in for something new.


Finds a sippy cup full of juice. (strategically placed, of course) ;)

Benjamin spinning some tunes for mommy...

Today was a L-O-N-G day. I got up with the boy around 8a.m. Well, technically I also got up with him around 3:00, 3:15, 3:45 and 4:30. But that's beside the point. Shut up. I know I just posted yesterday about him sleeping through the night. Har har har. NOT funny.

Once we were both dressed and fed, we looked at each other and together made the decision to just watch Baby Mozart for a half hour while I tried to talk myself into going to the grocery store. We were down to basically a jar of peanut butter and the baby food rejects (green beans and creamed spinach). so not going really wasn't an option. Off to the grocery store and then home, all while battling a raging sinus headache (and a busy BUSY baby who does his best to try and throw himself out of the grocery cart every five minutes)

Spent the rest of the day trying to convince the boy to nap. Stupidly woke him up from a good one with the vacuum cleaner and never really got him back to sleep again. This resulted in a classic Ben meltdown around 4:30. High-pitched girly screams... red face, tears the works. I took him outside figuring the change of scenery and some cold air would do some good. It did, thank goodness, because the high-pitched girly screams are really REALLY hard to take. We blew some bubbles, touched the tree, pulled up some grass and tried to eat the flowers on the porch. By we, I mean HE, of course. I tried the flowers already and they're not very good. ;) My neighbor wandered by with her three-year-old and we chatted for awhile. I love having another stay-at-home mommy two doors down.

Brought boy in, fed him and let him play in his kitchen drawer while I made a quick spaghetti dinner. Thankfully, his daddy came home shortly thereafter, just when the melt-down was beginning again and rescued me.

::yawn:: and I STILL have a headache. I think it's early bedtime for me tonight. Like, how about now... yeah, now is good. Night!

* If Leslie REALLY hasn't had her baby yet, she's had the world's longest labor.

* Benjamin has a new safari outfit from Babies R Us and it's REALLY cute. He just needs a pith helmet to complete the ensemble.

* Since I posted the picture of Benjamin standing by himself, he has yet to really do it again. If I didn't have the photo as proof, I'd think I made it up.

* Despite us saying "dadadadada" in his face all the time, Benjamin still only says "mm" and "mama." I know the rest of your children will be reciting the Gettysburg address from their highchairs while mine is still saying "mmm!!!" and sticking his fingers in the oatmeal.

more later... for now I must tend to the boy who is heading full-speed for the poor kitty again.

When I was talking to my friend Jen the other day about babies sleeping through the night, she said that they still counted it when Ryan was waking up to eat because he'd go right back to sleep.

Well all right then! That lowers my standards a little! :)

So Benjamin has this week adopted a rather reasonable nighttime schedule that Tom and I seem to be able to live with and feel rested. He goes to bed around 7:30, eats at midnight (in his sleep), sleeps until 4:30, eats again (in his sleep) and sleeps until 5:30 or 6:00. This works. The feedings only take about 10 minutes and then we're all snuggled back in our respective beds/cribs again.

All you mommies whose babies are sleeping 12-14 at a stretch, I do envy you... okay, I envy you a LOT. But this is the best we're going to get for now over here, I think.

So there we go. All official for the baby book. He's sleeping through the night. ;)

But I am so happy it's just a boring Saturday and one not involving traveling or some major commitment!

First of all, I wanted to say good luck to Leslie, the writer of one of my favorite blogs. She's being induced today so we'll all finally learn the name of the baby currently dubbed Lima Bean. I hope everything goes perfectly for you!

Right now, Tom is playing with the boy while I do some quick house cleaning things that I couldn't get done during the week. Yay for daddies!

Later I think we're going to go check out some new houses they are building around the corner from us. We're not thinking about moving, just curious what's going up over there. Then we might mosey over to the Avenue and get some coffee and wander around with the boy for awhile.

See? Boring Saturday. I told ya! But it's soooooooo nice. :)

I've noticed something about my son...

Sometimes he needs a little help settling down. It's always obvious when he's tired. He rubs his eyes and sometimes they start to close and his head sort of bobs around. But he'll fight it. If he senses he might be missing something fun or if a neat toy catches his eye, he'll fight like CRAZY not to sleep.

I just put him in his crib for his morning nap. When I took him upstairs he was pretty much passed out in my arms. When I came back downstairs, I heard some bumping around on the baby monitor and the distinct sound (that I have come to dread) of the binky being thrown out of the crib. (he pulls it out when he's trying not to fall asleep...)

So I went upstairs and he had turned around in the crib and was playing with a few toys that I keep at the opposite end for when I take showers, or need to pen him up for a few minutes. First I took out all the toys... then I hunted around under the crib for the rejected binky, extracted the boy and his beloved froggie blanket and rocked him for a couple minutes.

Out like a light. So he WAS tired. He just needed some help settling down.

I will go on record right now as saying that I imagine this is a role I will serve in one way or another throughout his entire childhood... helping him settle down that is. He never EVER stops moving... Fun kid. But exHAUSTING.
~o~

This is courtesy of one of my blog readers, Bree... I figured since I can check off just about every stanza as something I've done in the past day or two, I am entitled to say I suffer from this. ;)
-------------------------------------------------------

Mommy Brain
If you've left the crayons to melt in the car,
And forgotten just where the car keys are,
There's a perfectly good way to explain:
You see, you've come down with "Mommy Brain."
When you're not sure where the past 8 hours went,
Or whether the phone bill check's been sent,
If you've left the laundry drying in the rain,
It's just--you guessed it--Mommy Brain.
If you find yourself chatting for hours on end
About diaper prices with your cyberfriends,
You've just caught a particularly virulent strain
Of that affliction known as Mommy Brain.
If you left your bags at the grocery store
Or completely forgot what you went there for,
If you called the cat by your baby's name,
You can bet that Mommy Brain's to blame.
And if you know the words to "Goodnight Moon" by heart,
Or you study your sleeping babe like a work of art,
If you're always surprised by how time is flying,
And the thought of that first birthday starts you crying.....
It's unavoidable girls, and I feel your pain,
For I, too, suffer from Mommy Brain.
But I'll admit one thing--of this I'm sure:
I hope they never find a cure.
©1998 Carlotta Stankiewicz

The handymen are here. A team of two. That's good because I always feel bad when it's just one guy and he has to work in silent solitude all day. It's nice that they have each other. Kind of like why I like having two cats. I can leave all day and not feel guilty or worry that they'll get lonely. (the cats that is) Tom has I have a tad too much empathy for people, animals and even inanimate objects. Yeah, I guess it's true.

Anyway, so the handymen keep walking through with various materials and things... everytime pass by, one of them asks me a question or two. It finally dawned on me that, like most people who come here and don't know me, they are trying to figure out how old I am and how I could possibly own a home and have a child. The most recent question that tipped me off was:

Handyman: "Soooo, how long have ya'll been married?"
Me: "Three and and half years."
Handyman: "Oh how nice. High school sweethearts?"
Me: "Umm... no, college, actually."
Handyman: "(surprised look) OH!"

I guarantee after two or three more trips through the foyer, one of them will just come out with it and ask me how old I am. I'll keep you posted... ;)

The handyman is coming today to fix our bathrooms. Hooray! Then again, it sort of sucks because he's coming between 7:30 and 8:00 and I had to up, showered and dressed before then. :: yawn :: So here I am. I think after breakfast, Benjamin and I will make ourselves scarce and leave the handyman here alone for awhile. I don't like being here when people are doing work. I usually talk to myself all day (well, to Ben, but really what difference is there?) and I don't really feel free to do that with a dude lurking around upstairs in my bathrooms.

And there's the boy calling from his crib. That's my cue. Over and out for now.

Ben has been a mess of high-pitched whining for about a week now. He cries at the drop of a hat and is hard to console once he starts... none of this is particularly like him. So I had a "duh" mommy moment yesterday when he was playing and landed in my lap with his mouth open and I saw his two top teeth starting to cut through.
Poor little guy! It's mostly just swollen, red gums at this point, so this could last awhile longer... hopefully I will still have my sanity by the time the teeth make an appearance.

In other news, all of the seniors at my brother's school have to do this project where they interview a couple who has been married less than 10 years and has a baby. Unfortunately for my brother, they aren't allowed to use relatives. HA! So one of his friends grabbed us. I'm not sure what the point of the project is (although anyone who visits us when it's Benjamin's bedtime is going to come to the conclusion that abstinence for life is probably a good idea) or what he's going to ask us, but at any rate it should be interesting. Apparently, their first interview is due tomorrow and he's coming over tonight! A student after my own heart...

He was standing next to his car, holding on with one hand. I thought, "How cute." And grabbed the camera...


By the time the camera took the picture (my Coolpix has a MAJOR delay), he had let go completely and this is the shot I got. He stayed this way for a good 10 seconds before he finally fell onto his butt...


I thought it was a total one-time thing...that he happened to be perfectly balanced just that once. So I tried it again... and this is what he did... for another 10 seconds. Are we in trouble over here, or what?

Taking the boy to get him his flu shot this afternoon... I think he's starting to recognize the pediatrician's office and, unfortunately, associate it with getting stuck in the leg four times. Happily, today he will only get stuck once. But that doesn't mean he's going to like it any better. I'm wondering if I can talk the doctor into giving ME a flu shot while I'm there. Hrm. I'm pretty sure the grocery store pharmacy flu clinics aren't going to let me get one, since there's a shortage and I'm young, healthy and not pregnant. I called my OB's office and they are just taking names for when and IF they actually get their supply of flu vaccine.

What's up with there being ANOTHER shortage? You'd think after last year they would have improved the system a bit...

Did anyone see Oprah today? She threw this mondo baby shower for 650 pregs. They got all the best baby must-haves. I was so jealous! Anyway, she had Martina McBride on who sang her song "In My Daughter's Eyes." I had heard the song before, but this time they ran a video behind it that just had me in TEARS. (it was a bunch of video of women with their babies, having babies, seeing their babies for the first time, babies smiling, playing.. babies babies babies...oy) Yes, I have a son, but the sentiment is the same... anyway, here are the lyrics:

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal
Darkness turns to light and the
world is at peace
This miracle God gave to me gives me
strength when I am weak
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand
around my finger
Oh it puts a smile in my heart
Everything becomes a little clearer
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough
It's giving more when you feel like giving up
I've seen the light
It's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future
A reflection of who I am and what will be
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy
she made me
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes

So I've just been moving moving moving all day. I started Phase II of basement cleanout. Will post a pic of my trash pile later. For those of you who think my house is really clean and organized, you will see my pack-rat dark side.
Tom is going to have a COW when he has to take the trash out tomorrow evening. He should just be grateful he's not the one who had to clean out the storage closet.

My eyes are closing... must... keep... moving... or at least must go watch Dr. Phil. ;) To keep this post baby-related, I will tell you that Benjamin is napping and the reason for the basement cleanout is to eventually turn it into a nice playroom for Ben and his siblings. ;)

Abolutely nothing. Not even the wedding. Yeah, the wedding was 40 minutes away in Wilkes-Barre. (where there is also a lot of nothing, by the way)

There WAS a Days Inn, where the bride's family had blocked a bunch of rooms for the out-of-town guests. And that is where my story begins. Let me preface by apologizing for my inevitable typos and verb tense issues... I'm running on about three hours of sleep in the last 48 hours.

Now, I'm no hotel snob. I'm perfectly happy in a Hampton Inn-type place and I've stayed in lots of them. Hampton Inns are neat and clean, no matter where they are. You always know you'll get a decent night's sleep in a clean bed, a hot shower and a nice breakfast. I figured Days Inn being a chain, it would be a similar situation.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

We pull up to the hotel, and note that it is next to the Sleepy Hollow Bowling Alley and a sleezy looking lounge. Just up the road is the Adult Playtime Boutique, a Wegman's grocery store, and a Sheetz. Okay, so there's not a whole lot to keep us busy. That's okay, we brought games!

Tom and I check in and go up to our room. Other than sort of a stale, smoky smell, not much out of the ordinary still... Whenever I'm away from home, I have this obsessive need to unpack everything I brought and find a place for it. So I immediately get down to business, shoving things into drawers and making bottles for the baby. Some friends stop in from two rooms down to say hi and play with Benjamin, who is crawling around on the floor. (something I now regret immensely)

Mom and several others check in right behind us and immediately comment that the place smells like urine and smoke. Okay. Yeah. Now that I'm thinking about it, there is a certain eau de pee pee going on. Flipping down one of the comforters in my mom's room reveals a mysterious brown stain. Hrm... somewhat the germaphobe, she makes plans to go to Target and buy a blanket and some pillows. Still not grasping the sum total of the dirt situation, I just chalk it up to icky hotel comforters which I never sleep with anyway. Everyone knows they never wash them, right?

After dinner at a TGIFridays, the only recognizable chain restaurant in the Scranton vicinity, we go our separate ways.

To say Tom and I got a bad night's sleep is saying a lot because we haven't slept a full night in over a year at this point. Our sleep standards are pretty low these days. But this was bad. The room really smelled like cigarette smoke at this point, the air conditioner sounded like it was going to take off and fly away, we had three of the saddest, flattest pillows and a sheet that kept coming off the bed. Benjamin slept happily in his Pack and Play, which I grew more jealous of with each passing hour.

OH. And they were supposed to have "high speed internet in every room" but so far, we had yet to find anyone who worked there who knew ANYTHING about this.

The next morning, I got up first and took a lukewarm shower. While I was showering I noticed there were little flecks on the mildewed shower curtain. Upon closer inspection I realized they were boogers. Yes, I said BOOGERS. I realize at this point that the rest of the bathroom was probably not particularly clean and manage to reach all of the towels and spread them out onto the bathroom floor before stepping back onto it.

I call downstairs to see what's going on with mom and everyone else. Turns out, their night was far worse. My brother got locked out of his room and the hotel staff claimed they could do nothing about it until the morning. Not only that, they told my mom it happens "all the time."(?!?) We also find out that I was the ONLY one to have a warm shower. The circuit breaker blew in the middle of the night and took the hot water with it. YAY! The front desk staff was apparently very unapologetic about the situation.

Let's do quick hotel suckage tally:

- no hot water
- filthy bathrooms
- no high-speed internet
- mysterious blanket stains
- crappy pillows
- smells like a bar

After making some calls to try and get us all rooms at ANY OTHER hotel remotely close to the wedding, we find that every hotel in all of Scranton AND Wilkes-Barre is booked full because of Columbus Day???? If anyone knows why Columbus Day is so special or why anyone would want to spend their three-day weekend in Armpit, Pennsylvania, please let me know. I'm pretty sure they weren't all there to go to the TGIFriday's and the Adult Playtime Boutique. ("Now with Private Viewing Booths!")

Resigned to another night in the Fleabag, Tom and I say we're going to go check out the "Hot Breakfast." At this point, we pretty much knew it was out of the question. A not surprisingly, it is on par with everything else. It's all tucked away in the corner of the hotel's dark, smoky, disgusting "restaurant." We decide it's best not to investigate further and join everyone for a trip to the Wegman's for coffee and donuts.

Fast forward to this morning. We've all spent another night at the lovely Days Inn Scranton... with much trepidation. At this point, most of the guests (wedding and non-wedding) have had words with the front desk staff over one thing or another. One guy was there to run a nearby marathon and was heard saying that this was the worst sleep he had ever gotten. Poor guy. I wonder how the race went.

We made our escape around 5a.m. And all of us signed our room charge slips with "Payment under Protest." because someone heard that's what Judge Judy says to do. We were all going home to call our credit card companies and file payment disputes.

Cell phone rumors on the way home revealed that there was no hot water this morning after we left. (we wouldn't know, we didn't even take the time to take showers). Oh, and that some were complaining of bugs in their rooms. Nice.

So that was our fun wedding weekend! If you are still reading, congratulations! ;)
Hope you enjoyed my account of our two days at Hotel Fleabag! My little boy seems relatively unscathed by the whole situation. Our next hotel experience with him will be on Disney property and I'm sure will more than make up for this one. :)

Jen's mom gave us this little suit when Benjamin was born. (Thanks again Mrs. Scheide!) How cute is my little man in his spiffy duds?

Testing out the adhesive properties of Gerber Puffs...

Here are a couple of pics from dinner tonight. That's all ya get because of this slllloooooow connection...

The boy eating a straw at TGIFridays... they keep him occupied for minutes at a time! ;)


Me, Boy, Mom... can you two of us are realllllllllllly tired?

Long drive but Benjamin did great. :) All settled in. Hotel is rather icky and the "high speed internet" is actually one computer down in the lobby. So we're plugging away with dialup here in the room. More later after the boy goes to bed...

We're leaving for PA this morning... fun fun. I still have some last minute packing to do, but I think I'm pretty well organized. I have THREE diaper bags. One for the road, one with all his clothes and one with all of the baby food, toys and other stuff. Sheesh.

I'm taking my laptop of course, so expect updates and pics. ;) I'm going to have a lot of downtime in this lovely four-star hotel. (har har har)

I'm off to pack up the bottles. Over and out till later!

For those of you counting, it took approximately 6 minutes for me to screw up my manicure. Then another 10 minutes passed and I dinged another nail.

Bad night again last night. They're all bad these days. My new book, The No Cry Sleep Solution, is interesting but really, we're already doing most of what it suggests. (Bedtime routine, keep it quiet, keep it dark, keep a good daytime routine, get baby taking good naps, give baby a "lovey"... blah blah blah) There are a few things I might try that are mostly feeding-related. I'll keep you posted. :\

Still in the midst of gathering things to take on our trip. Went to Target this morning for a few more last-minute things: disposable bibs, baby food...etc.

Going to get a manicure this afternoon, which if you know me, you know is something I never do. I have a gift certificate though that expires soon and a reason to get a manicure (the wedding)... so off I go. Anyone want to place bets on how long it takes me to mess it up? I say three hours... I hate long nails. Blech. I keep scratching poor Ben.

Speaking of weddings, Krystyna brought up an interesting conundrum I've been having since Ben was an embryo. How do I bring my baby to a wedding that both Tom and I are in? Personally, I don't have any big issue about not taking him. It's not overnight or anything... but he IS family and his grandparents want him there.
~*~

Want to hear Benjamin say Mama? :)

I'm working on my list for what to pack for the wedding we're going to this weekend.

Much to the chagrin of the bride I am sure, we're bringing the boy, which means packing is even more fun. Pack and play, booster seat, clothes clothes and more clothes, diapers, food, formula, bottles... the list goes on. I'm all in a tizzy thinking I am going to forget something crucial. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when I have to pack for the week-long trip we're taking in March. Plus, he'll be almost a year old and thus much harder to just "drag along for the ride," I'm sure. Mental note to ask Jen what it's like to take Ryan on trips these days. Isn't it cool how we can all learn from each other since we're all at various stages of this mommy game?

Back to us bringing the boy to the wedding. I have done such a 180 on this particular issue. I would have seethed for DAYS over someone insisting on bringing their 6-month-old to my wedding. (actually, come to think of it, several people did, and I did... seethe that is... did a lot of seething over the wedding, actually). Anyway, yeah, so now I'm the one with the baby, swearing up and down to the bride that he'll be quiet during the ceremony and thinking about how we'll have to leave early from the reception to get him to bed... heh. Interesting how your point of view changes over time...

I'm not a very good photographer, a quick flip through the albums on the right will tell you that. I don't know any of the "rules" and I don't know how to work with light or any of that stuff. But every once in awhile, by sheer accident, and thanks to a particularly cute subject to photograph, I stumble upon perfection. I give you today's accident. ;)

Since Benjamin has been here, I lose track of the days easily. I'm pretty sure it's Monday, but I have to stop and think about it. We visited Tom at his office this afternoon and went to the grocery store... did lots of playing and I finally broke out the video camera to catch Ben's first "mamamamas" on tape. Sadly, it's not digital, so I can't share it here. :( Oh well. To anyone who is listening and might care, a digital video camera would make a great Christmas gift. Please mention this to my husband. ;)

I talked to my friend Joy today, who lives in Portland. She says you can see the Mt. St. Helens steam puff thingy (I'm sure that's the technical name) from the highway. That's pretty neato. She also said it's sad that when the thing blows all the people who have rebuilt around there will lose everything and have to rebuild again. I say if you're dumb enough to build your home at the base of a (recently) active volcano than you deserve what's coming to ya.

Tom is giving the boy his 7:15 bedtime bottle. Sounds like it's going well... ah, sweet routine. I live and breathe routine. Ahhhhhhhhh.... Speaking of routine, my favorite Monday night 8p.m. WB show is on tonight.! 7th Heaven just keeps getting cheesier and cheesier, but I just can't stop tuning in for the train wreck that is the Camden family.

I was reading through the instructions for Benjamin's Baby Safe Feeder. (they were in the car and I was bored). I came across this little piece of info:


Huh. Guess Ben will taking his Baby Safe Feeder to college with him. ;)

Benjamin is babbling "mamamamama"! :) He first started doing it when we were visiting with Jen and Ryan the other day. Jen actually noticed it before I did. Since then he's been doing it more and more! Maaaaaaaaaaaa! Mooooom! Mamamamamama! I know it's totally random and he has no idea what he's saying but it's so cute... I'm trying to catch it with the video camera, but of course, he makes it difficult.

The boy is also starting to cruise pretty well! We've been playing with him all afternoon in the living room and putting toys all around the coffee table for him to walk around and grab. He looks so proud of himself when he reaches one! He's still working on figuring out how to go around the corner of the table and not bump his head on the way up and on the way down. (lots of bumps today) But we're having so much fun! :)

After the boy takes his afternoon nap, we're taking him to see his Nan and Pap. Hey. that rhymed. Speaking of naps, I think I need one too...
~*~

Today we took Ben with us to Arundel Mills just to get out of the house. We had lunch at Johnny Rockets but other than that, didn't buy anything. Tom and I are horrible shoppers. I really could use some new clothes too, but I just can never find anything I like and feel like shelling out money for.

While we were there, I was going to get the boy's picture taken at Picture People because he was dressed so cute in teeny tiny khakis and a golf shirt. (He looked like Tom does when he leaves for work in the morning). Anyway, just take my word for it, it was cute. BUT, sadly, the boy managed to get sweet potatoes all over himself while we were feeding him at Johhny Rockets. Ah well, another time, I guess.

I'm in a little bit of a funk today. Lack of sleep I guess as well as various other issues too complicated to post about.

Going to watch The Apprentice re-edited show with Tom for awhile before I go to bed. Goodnight! :)
~*~

... give my next child the sleep gene.

I think I've been very patient with this whole sleeping through the night thing. I've resigned myself to waking up at 3:30 and giving Ben a bottle and this has worked out fine... except for the nights when things go awry for no particular reason.

I had a minor meltdown last night around 2a.m. when Benjamin woke up for the 87th time since midnight. I think there may have been pillow throwing and yelling (at the air, not the baby)... this little tantrum may or may not have contributed to him becoming full blown wide awake until 3:30. We don't have any idea why, but he was waking up oh, about every 15 minutes, rolling over and whining (not crying mind you, WHINING). Or maybe he was rolling over, THEN waking up and whining. Either way, it was frustrating.

I just ordered a book people keep recommending called "The No Cry Sleep Solution." I'll keep you posted on how it goes. As I've mentioned before, it's not GETTING him to sleep initially that is the problem, it's keeping him asleep.
:: yawn ::

So at 2a.m., he was seeming like Rosemary's Baby to me but right now, he's the sweetest thing ever. He's sound asleep, all angelic-looking in our bed next to Tom, who is watching some Saturday morning tv. Here, look:


All is right with the world. (for now)

Ben is still napping, so I've been scanning in some old baby pictures of mine.

Seriously, I know I'm biased, but you aren't. (unless you're my mom). Does Benjamin look like his mommy or what? (to clear up any confusion, this is a picture of ME from 1977)


~*~

We aren't doing anything today. Nuthin'. Nada. Zip. Zilch. We WERE supposed to meet Amanda and Hannah at the mall but they canceled. So it's Ben and mommy day. Oh wait, that's EVERY day. Benjamin is weirdly fussy, so much so that I suspect there's another tooth on the way. :: sigh :: He's taking a nap now, thank goodness. I'm off to zone out and have some non-baby time for awhile...