Saturday, March 21, 2009

Tourney Time


Well, the tournament is well underway and I'm guessing just about everyone got their bracket destroyed in the Midwest region.  How 'bout those upsets!!  Too bad I didn't get to see any of them.  Lathan developed a new cry last night that we spent some quality time trying to figure out.  We worked it out though and then caught up on "The Office" instead of getting sucked into a 2+ hour game.  He actually slept for about 5 1/2 hours too...not bad.

We made our first trip into the museum on Thursday...that was a big day.  Lathan was great and is obviously a ladies man.  He enjoyed all the cooing and attention very much.  It was so fun to see him surrounded by ladies on O-level.  It must've sounded bizarre to someone tucked back in their office not knowing what was going on.  I thought Susan A. was going to take him home with her, and he might have let her! :)
That afternoon was spent resting, it was pretty exhausting--for both of us.


Today is off to a good start...Lathan is wrapped up in his new snuggly "bee" wrap that Aunt Jeanne sent us yesterday.  It is adorable (I'll get pictures soon).  It's black & yellow striped and comes with a black hat with antennae.  AWWWW.
He's been snoozing for a while now--since before Daddy left for work.  I've actually gotten a ton of things done---I know, I know...you're not supposed to work while the baby's sleeping but it's hard to get back to sleep first thing in the morning when the day is as lovely as this.  I'll sleep later (ha!)

Yesterday morning I got some great pics of Lathan in our office chair.  He decided that today was the day he would give Mommy a genuine laugh & smile--actually multiples!!  It was so fun and I almost missed it while I was trying to keep him upright and take pictures simultaneously!  I did catch it though--total magic.  Isn't he adorable in his Dr. Seuss/Cat in the Hat looking "baby legs"?  Love it.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Cuddlebug


Well, we've had  a great week.  We eliminated dairy and high acid foods from my diet and it's really paid off in Lathan's demeanor.  He's been Mr. Sweet Baby this week with very few crying "episodes" and lots of alert sweet coo-time.  It's been a challenge figuring out what to eat (I'm a cheese & milk fiend!) but Andy has been a champ!  Just this morning I was treated to a lovely salmon & sweet potato hash with poached eggs.  YUMM!  Where am I, Commander's Palace or something.  It's nice to be the queen-mother sometimes.  

Yesterday Nonni (Alyce) came out to Apex and we went out for a bit while Daddy (Andy) watched Lathan--and yes...Lathan was wearing his green yesterday.  He looked like a little leprechan with his red hair and green outfit!  Aww.  


We had a lovely lunch at Coquette and a big fat Soy Mocha Latte afterwards-my new outing treat.  We also bought two gigantor boxes of diapers at BJ's Wholesale.  He's already moved up a size (this is going to be a big boy!) so we had to ditch half a box of the old size...actually we plan to give it to a neighbor who just have a baby too. Nonni gave Lathan lots of stimulation with his favorite "birdy" sounds and lots of conversation.  You can tell he's going to be seriously attached to Nonni already! :)  Just wait until she's got him for the day and they make their way to LaFarm!  He'll be spoiled on french pastries before you know it! 


On Sunday Anna & Papa came up from Gastonia (Andy's folks) to see how the baby has grown (and man has he!!).  We had a great visit with lots of smiling, alert eyes and face making.  Last time there were here Lathan barely opened his sweet eyes!  This time they got much more of a show!  LouAnne (Anna) brought all kinds of info about Andy's lineage including a photograph of the original Lathan Hicks.  So cool to see who you're named for.  


Last weekend I attended a baby shower for Heather Newberry who is due in May--she looks great and I had a great time at the shower.  I met several of her friends who were either pregnant or who had babies of their own.  There was lots of conversation about the first few months that put my mind at ease.  While at the shower one of the mommies spilled the beans about UNC's tournament loss.  That was a bummer but at least we didn't waste our time watching a game with a sad ending.  We'll just keep our fingers crossed for the big dance.

Speaking of the dance...I hope everyone is geared up for the tournament!  Have you all done your brackets?  I went pretty conservative this year with only a few upsets.  I usually go with a slightly more risky set of picks but it rarely pays off.  I would be happy if Syracuse won the whole thing after that insane 6 overtime win against UCONN.  Wow.

There's something that we've been considering for Lathan...we thought we should get everyone's opinion.  Check out this important video and let us know what you think.  

Lastly, you may notice the facebook thingy on the side of the blog.  I just broke down after much hounding by some of my friends and signed up.  It has been fun though.  It's like a big high school reunion without having to lose 20 pounds and then listen to Paula Abdul all night--wait a minute.  After just having a baby and watching American Idol last night I think I have to scratch that last comment.  :)

Finally, check out this gorgeous sweater that Aunt Fran knitted (she is a master knitter!!--this is the second amazing piece we've received from her talented hands!).  He's grown out of it already! (Sorry Fran) but he did look adorable in it.  I love the shot at the top...that was during our "shoot" when the backdrop slid.  Happy accidents make for the cutest pictures!



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Heartbreaker

It was a miracle that I got him to sit up long enough for this shot...he kept sliding down to one side...
pretty hilarious to watch.  Check out those tootsies!  

Check out our onlooker from inside the house.  Cute.  He's concerned.

Well, let's call it what it is...COLIC.  That's right.  I said it.  It's such a random term anyway.  I would say today we officially experienced it though.  I just finished putting him down after a marathon 3+ hours of "fussing".  We tried a bunch of our tricks, one of which worked for a while...a bath with mommy.  He's a slippery little bugger!  We had fun in the bath but revisited some wailing afterwards.  Finally some killer zen-buddhist temple music, a tight swaddle and a mountain of patience from Mommy and Daddy did it.  We could tell his tummy was pretty poofed out (I think that's a medical term...tummy poof) so I'm guessing it's some major gas of some sort.  It's probably some funky blue cheese I ate last night, who knows.  It totally does break your heart to see him so upset.  The only consolation for him late tonight was a double wet diaper change followed by a poop and a ponk.  Whew...big day.  Earlier today (it was kind of a fussy day over all) we hit the jackpot with a dishwasher run and the bouncy seat...here's proof.  It really does work!  I actually ran a load again later this afternoon to work it's magic again (sorry environment--I'll make it up to you next time).  It worked though :)


Anyhoo, today was a real mixed bag.  He had so many super cute sweet calm moments and some real brain-splitting crying.  Andy did mention that he thought that he may have possibly seen & heard a smile/laugh combo but that it's hard to say because of hiccups I think.  We've definitely seen some sweet smiles and happy faces though.  His favorite time is post-diaper change when we're hanging out at the changing table making faces, blowing raspberries and staring at his current favorite painting by Stanton Macdonald-Wright.  He loves that thing...and to think I thought of taking it down before he arrived, crazy!  It's such a perfect poster (formerly in the restaurant at the museum, ages ago) because it, abstractly, depicts a mother and child.  Awww.


Well, we've had some fun this week...a trip to the grandparents in Pittsboro and a super sunny walk on his warmest day yet (82 degrees!!  Yikes).  We also got out to the Apex Community Park (aka Lake Pine Park--Cary claims it as their park too...don't you have enough yet Cary?)  The first trip out was great.  Very mellow, no crying, enjoyable.  Today was more of a challenge--but we were glad to work some bugs out of our system!  We had our first park diaper change (those benches could use a couple more slats...and maybe a cushion...am I pushing it?), as well as our first outdoor nursing session.  We found a bench on a closed trail (did that stop us, uh...no) and went to it.  I
 can't wait to go to a LaLeche meeting this week to find out how the H-E-double hockey sticks ladies nurse without any kind of pillows!!  I'm so used to my home setup that it's hard to make it work out in the world.  We tried to hoist him up on our diaper bag, which helped, but it's no Boppy, I can assure you of that.  Anyhoo...we made it work well enough to get out of the park.  Lathan was carried by both Andy and myself for the last leg of our tour though...screw that carseat business.  

Last week (at least I think that's when it was...the days are REALLY starting to melt together) I had a great lunch with Kira at Porters in Raleigh.  She pulled some strings with her crew at Urban Food Group and got us their private room all to ourselves!  We rapped about babies and American Idol.  Ahhh, American Idol, one of my many luxuries.  Hopefully I'll get to watch it tonight to see the first round of the real thing.  Go Anoop!!  Represent Noop-dog!  If you don't get any of that YOU NEED TO WATCH IDOL.  Stop resisting it.  Resistance is futile.  Ryan Seacrest is your fearless leader into the world of mediocre singers and wacked out performances!  DO IT.  DO IT NOW.  (Kira, was that a good enough push for a few new members of our club?  I'll let you know the outcome)

Ok, I hear some stirring behind me in the crib.  I'm gonna slap a few photos on here and call it a long, tiring but happy day. :)

Payoff.


Oh, one last thing...guess what this Sunday is?  It's SELECTION SUNDAY y'all!!  Get ready to fill out your brackets for a chance to win ONE MILLION DOLLARS.  Just kidding, it will probably be more like $120.  Still, you could buy a serious chunk of Citibank with that nowadays! :)