In Memoriam

Bree, you will be missed.

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Month Two: Check

I don't plan on doing a post for each month of Timothy's life, but it's going to work out that way for at least the first two. I guess when you start thinking of your life in months instead of years, that's what happens. And if I thought the first month went fast, it was nothing compared to the month we just completed.

So I'm back to work as of Monday. I enjoyed my 9 weeks off, but I'll be honest: in some ways, it was the hardest two months of my life. Although we love Timothy to pieces, he was a little colic-y, and it got worse before it got better (but thankfully it did get better). For a while, it seemed like he was either eating or crying. There wasn't really a lot of sleeping involved. And definitely no just sitting contentedly. Unless he was being held. He had to be held constantly and was sure to let you know when he wasn't in someone's arms. This was whether he was awake or sleeping. And as soon as he got put down, he was very vocal about his opinion on the matter.

After many attempted solutions, I discovered that the only way he would sleep for any length of time was in the Boppy (a nursing pillow for those not in the know). I was guilt-ridden about this because this pillow comes with a huge tag with great big, red letters that say WARNING!!!!!!! (Ok...so the exclamation points are my own emphasis, but they might as well be there.) This is to get your attention so you read the stern lecture about never, ever letting your baby fall asleep in the Boppy. And I can see their concern when he managed to get himself into this position one afternoon:

Now let me be very clear: I was watching him the entire time while he was folded up like that. But he slept in the Boppy at night, too. I was always super careful to position him so he didn't end up like that and I never walked into his room with reason to worry. Until a couple nights ago when he wiggled off enough to head plant into the crib bumper (another big no-no, really...how do kids survive at all?) He wasn't close enough to the bumper to be in any real danger of injury, but I decided we'd no longer be using the Boppy for sleeping.

After a few more attempts at sleeping in his crib, I finally settled on putting him to sleep in his bouncy chair. He rocked that for a few nights, but last night, I was actually able to put him in his crib, on his back, without the Boppy and he SLEPT. For several HOURS. I was amazed. Of course, now that I've broadcast this to the world, it will never happen again. Ever.

Nighttime issues aside, when he's awake and has a full belly, he's pretty darn cute. He seems to concentrate extremely hard on taking in everything. He has this stare that makes you wonder just what he's making of the world around him. And of course we now get this periodically:

That right there makes those sleepless nights fade from my memory. Well, at the very least, it makes me willing to keep dealing with them.

With my return to work, Lily got to go back to daycare. She missed her friends and the lady who watches them, so she was happy to go. I think she's adjusted well to the new addition. She's still very helpful, but she's getting better and backing off when we ask her to. Sometimes it can be a little too much help. She still loves to hold Timothy and gives him lots of kisses and hugs. I do think, though, that there is still some lingering disappointment that Timothy wasn't a girl. Last week she told me that her sister isn't here yet. We would need to take Timothy back to the doctor where we got him and then her sister could come out of her belly. (While I was pregnant, I had a boy in my belly and she had a girl.). Hopefully she won't be too upset when Timothy never goes back and the sister never materializes. :)

Here's a few more pictures from the month.

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In Love Already

I've wanted a Mini Cooper for...well...forever. But slightly impractical at this point in life. Today I just found out this will be released next year:

It's so wrong to feel this way about a car...

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Life with Laddie

I recently decided to become one of those people who make their bed every day. (Hey...I'm willing to admit the few areas where I'm not perfect.) With Erik now back on days, I figured it should be super easy. We'd be getting up around the same time, so I could just do it before we all left the house. Of course, Erik's been on this schedule for several months now, and I never really followed through. But I've renewed my goal and I've reached it all week (yes...all three days of it.)

Since this post has Laddie in the title, I guess I better get to the point. So here it is. Anyone who's met my dog probably thinks he runs around like a complete maniac all the time. And most of the time, that's true. Definitely. But once he calms down, he is the biggest lump of a dog you've ever met. Especially at night. Just try to move him in the middle of the night because he's now taking up more bed space than you and it's 20 pounds of dead weight complete with an annoyed sigh.

So this morning, I started making the bed. Laddie happened to be curled up in the comforter, snoring away. Rather than disturb him like I usually do (that's the kind of person I am...friend to the animals), I left him where he was and worked around him. Because I had to pull some of the comforter out from under him, he woke up enough to watch me as I did my thing. He didn't move of course. Just opened his eyes and watched.

 I had just placed the last pillow and was moving on to my next project when he stood up. And where did he go?

Right on top of the pillows. It's like he knew what I was doing and was waiting until his throne was complete. Sometimes I think he does stuff like that just to bug me...

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3 Going on 16

Lately, Lillian has been obsessed about driving on her own. Now, when we get in the car, she reminds us that when she's 16, she will get to drive. I didn't think we would have to worry about this for at least a couple more years, but little miss independent is already counting down the days until she can drive away without us.

On a recent trip down to see Erik's parents, we had the driving conversation once again. But for whatever reason this time around, she wasn't content knowing that she will be able to drive when she's 16. She wanted to drive right then and there. So Erik asked if she'd like a Lily-sized car to drive right now. She thought about it for a few minutes and then decided that, yes, that would be an acceptable alternative.

And it just so happened that Erik's parents has his niece's pink Princess VW Bug powerwheel hanging out in their shed:

The kid took to it like she'd been born to drive, even with the one minor accident. Luckily the battery wasn't fully charged or we'd have been there all night trying to pry her away from it to head home. I'm not sure I'm ready for this...

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The Green Ones

For Mother's Day, I got a patio garden. The top was for growing...stuff. And you put tomato plants in upside down out of the bottom. I was so happy the day I found a little green tomato had appeared on my plant. (We won't discuss what happened to the other stuff that was planted on the top. You forget to water for a measly week 'cause you're caught up in having a new kid and what happens????) Then, a couple more popped up. I was going to successfully grow tomatoes!! I was thrilled. That first little green one turned red, even if it was a little small. But then I noticed that about half of it was missing. It didn't really look like it have been eaten. More like it had never fully formed. I was totally bummed. But I still had three other green tomatoes in the running.

I watered faithfully so I wouldn't lose my last hope of proving I could garden in some capacity. Then one day, during my usual inspection, I couldn't find any tomatoes. Had someone taken them? Could the wind and rain the night before been enough to knock them off? I was completely flummoxed. Until Lily joined me on the patio and shared this bit of information:

"I took the green ones off for you, Mommy."

Said like this was perfectly normal and the best idea she could have ever had. Bitterly disappointed that my hope of fresh tomatoes was now laying in the grass, I explained that we usually wait until tomatoes are red before picking. Filing that bit of information away in her "good to know" section, she went on with her day.

And I picked up my prematurely picked tomatoes and sadly went back inside hoping that the few flowers still on the plant might be promising. Nothing yet...

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