All Day Shopping Extravaganza!

Mighty baby!  I can kick my feet way up in the air~

Well it's Monday morning and we're getting back on schedule! 

 We had a couple of off days where we were up at 4 and 4:30 am but we're back to a 5:30-6ish schedule!  Yippie!

Lathan's just kickin' it on his play mat (should I sing the star trek theme?  It's covered in space ships, flying saucers and planets) Mooshu is scampering around (and wanting to push the squeaker on Lathan's mat desperately) and Daddy is still asleep (he had a long weekend at work).  

Munchkin in his crib.

It's crazy foggy outside (we call this a "Mommy morning")--it has a Harry Potter feel about it.  Of course, it's not blazing hot yet so it's nice.  Lathan, Mooshu and I went out for a morning tour of the garden and brought in a gardenia for Daddy.  They smell SO nice.  Last night we went out for a walk around the yard and Lathan got to grab a giant hydrangea blossom with BOTH HANDS!  Yep, it was a big event. 

 He didn't want to let go and he started pulling himself towards it with his mouth open...yum?  Don't call social services just yet...we're not letting him munch on any plants.

Bigfoot!

Speaking of munching on things though, he did have his first bit of butternut squash last night and seemed to enjoy it!  He was probably thinking "finally something with some flavor"!  He's not woofing down huge amounts of food but we can tell he's swallowing a bit of it.  I can't wait to let him loose on some chunks of avocado and banana eventually--it will be funny to see him squish that stuff in his hands and presumably all over his face :)

Lathan, Daddy and the first food!

The plan today is to go for a walk, have lots of tummy time and a boatload of kisses.  We might fit a story and a bath in there somewhere too.

So, what's up with the title of this post?  On Saturday Lathan and I joined Coco (Mom), Great Aunt Fran and Great Grandmother Nana on a shopping trip to Crabtree Valley Mall.  It was a 10am-6pm day for Lathan.  That's a huge outing for this little guy.  He was terrific though...only one episode of crying and I think someone just scared him at PF Chang.  He almost never cries like that and it was spontaneous (not tired crying or anything).  Everyone on the trip got something (including Lathan really-he got a cool blender for his baby food-tried it last night on the butternut squash!) which was nice.  We had a great time with the Ladies!  Can't wait to do it again.

Lathan & Uncle B--couldn't be a cuter pic!

Well, here's a short video we took in front of our new computer.  Nothing fancy...just us fooling around and being silly.

Enjoy!

FOUR MONTHS & COUNTING

Such a cute smile!  

Here's the boy in his new seat--he loves it.  So much for Bumbo--this one's much better!

It's been a great month and Lathan's getting bigger and cuter by the day.  He's learned all kinds of new things including grabbing both feet at one time (for those of you who are yoga buffs...that's the "happy baby" pose--now we know why!), laughing at being held way up in the air (we all love that) and he's finally embraced the bottle and, most recently, the pacifier.  He sleeps great (we've actually had an 11 hour night if you can believe that!--most are around 8 hour stretches) and he takes lots of micro-naps during the day (not like a 2 hour mommy nap, those days are long gone!)

Here's me and the munchkin out for a ride in the BabyBjorn.  Love that thing.

We took a great walk today at the museum park after we stopped in to see Daddy and the gang at the restaurant.  They've been seeing much more of me lately but they hadn't seen Lathan in a while.  I've been working at least 2 days a week in the office and more like 3 days lately with all the continuing budget stuff and the upcoming opening events.  It's been good to be back but, of course, it never seems like there are enough hours in the day.

Crunch sun and lamby.  I think this might be a day chillin' with Daddy.

We just celebrated our 11th Anniversary!  Wow!  I got Andy a bunch of cute photos of Lathan framed (see below) and he got me a Ukulele!!  I've always wanted one and now I can't wait to learn to play!  I've already taught myself "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" so I'm on my way!  You guys need to check this guy out though...amazing.

These two pics were taken as part of Andy's anniversary present (our 11th on May 16th).  It was a series of photos of Lathan laying on many (not nearly all) of the letters & postcards that Andy sent to me while I lived in New York.  

So sweet.

Apparently Lathan really loves movie stars :)

Andy's been working out in the yard when he can.  He mostly just has to maintain what we've got and I'm sure he's dying to get the freakin' tomatoes in the ground!!  This year may be either a light veggie garden or possibly none at all.  You don't realize how much time it takes to do all that work until most of it goes towards growing a different specimen :)

Here's our beautiful clematis that I have to give Andy full credit for.  It's the best it's ever looked...still blooming like a fiend too.

We had a great 4 month checkup on the 22nd and everything seems to be going well.  We had tons of questions but they were all answered to our satisfaction.  We love our new doc--Dr. Lopez.  He's awesome with Lathan and spent a lot of time with us.  

Daddy and a budding NCSU fan!  Go pack!

Finally got our video camera hooked up to the computer (after having to upgrade and buy a new computer...ugh).  I'm going to try to upload a video but it's likely that it won't be edited at all.  Bear with me as I figure all that out.  Unfortunately I can't figure out how to get some of the first few videos off of there though and those are the ones I really want to see!  They're the videos of the first few days (even the first few hours!) of new baby Lathan.  It seems like a long time ago now--freaky how quickly time flies by now!

Last week went with Uncle B to see game 4 of the hockey semi-finals.  Too bad the Canes couldn't pull it out.  We had a great time catching up though.  AND--saw a cool iPod APP on the jumbotron...a COWBELL FOR YOUR IPHONE! Hilarious.  I must have that.

Lathan totally digs his Uncle "B" (Benton).  

He can't wait until he's big enough to get invited to a Hurricanes game too! :p

CAPTIONS ONLY! So Many Pictures!!

Lathan today outside with Zebe--Andy babysat and had him bundled up for some AM gardening!

Such a cute face and what awesome knits!  Lovely blankie from Fran and a killer toque from Marcie Schwartz!

Bundled up again...can't believe how cold it was yesterday afternoon!  

One more pensive shot.  It's as if he's staring right through you!

Let the drool flow.  That's been his mantra for the last couple of weeks.  Zebe and Lamby take the brunt of it (although Mommy's shoulder needs a frequent wringing out as well)!  Chew, chew, chew!

Coco got lucky during our Mother's day supper and was able to hold Lathan for some family viewing!  Most of the day he was a Mommy only kid (apropos considering it's Mother's day!)

Not a great shot of me but Lathan has a hysterical mug in this one.  It looks like I was testing out a baby toupee on him with my locks!

All the dads at our baby class cookout on Saturday.  These are 5 our of 8 from our childbirth class that we took pre-baby!  This was the first time Andy and I had seen the other parents and their babies.  It was awesome to see the resemblances and of course it was great to share stories!  

Only one little girl in the whole class...man, she has her pick!

The mommies!

The babies (in birth order).  Lathan's first on the left!

Chillin' on the back porch with Mooshu & Lathan.

Going on our daily garden walk.

Lathan's favorite activity with Daddy!  Apparently Andy got some guffaw's out of him today with this trick!  Flying baby! Usually when I do that I whistle the StarTrek theme song.  Yep, someday he'll know his parents are Trekkies and be like "what dorks!".

AWWWWW!  Check out this adorable baby bird that Andy found in the yard.  He hadn't yet learned to fly but he could talk...check out the open beak on this little one.  Andy's the critter whisperer.

I can't resist photographing a cute Lathan moment, even if it means shooting in a mirror.  He just looks so cute dangling from his Baby Bjorn.  Especially in his prison break-out suit :)

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

Well, it's been an eventful two-ish weeks since the last post with lots of ups and a couple of downs. Lathan's growing by leaps and bounds and he just gets cuter and funnier every day.
We're all loving that it's spring so we've been out in the garden a bunch, out for walks and out to the Garden Supply Company for lots of supplies! Not only do they have great planties but they have a kitty (always a bonus) and a blue merle great dane (like Khan!).

It's beautiful out there and one of Lathan's new favorite places. Yesterday we went out with Coco and shopped for plants for her window boxes. It was a beautiful Saturday, lots of people out, and Lathan took a ride in our "Baby Bjorn". He loves Swedish design :)

Sadly, our big down was that a couple of weeks ago we lost our beloved kitty Skippy. He was getting up there (16 years old--if you figure in dog years that's 112!) but was still frisky. He frequently chased & swatted at his doggie counterpart MooShu and loved to lay in the sunshine. Anyway...we're terribly sad to see him go. He was the best cat Andy or I have every known. I'm not going to elaborate here since those that knew him have already heard the stories. Suffice it to say, he was dearly loved.


Well, to perk things back up a bit--we've been busy in the yard, Andy's been getting tomatoes ready to go in the ground (yep, we're a bit behind...a baby can slow things down a bit). Lots of other things are really popping out though. Andy loves what he calls his "old lady flowers"- or evening primrose and I'm loving our fancy Iris' They're purpliscious.

Work's been crazy with a couple of big events and budgeting (ugh!) so those are some other things that have been holding up the blogging. We're really starting to see the opening of the new building on the horizon so plans are heating up. It is less than a year away now! WOW. They're finally getting to placing the new "skin" on the building so it's looking more finished these days. Work on the "plaza", the link between the old & new buildings (or the east & west buildings as we're supposed to say!) has started as well. That's where the bulk of the opening events will take place. It really is going to be lovely when finished...especially all the new landscaping. Can't wait.

So, I'm really looking forward to my first Mother's day as a mom coming up next weekend. Sounds like we'll have a good group out to Coco & Poppy's house for some good eats! There are so many things to celebrate in May--Mother's Day, Dad's Birthday, Andy & my anniversary, Andy's mom's birthday (LouAnne), Fran's Birthday and...am I forgetting anything? Jeez. That's enough right there! I guess we won't have any graduations to deal with for a while (whew!)

It's a blast to see how Lathan's developing. He's getting really strong and can hold his head up really well these days. We do a lot of "pull up" and tummy time exercises that keep him on his toes. Speaking of toes, he really loves to stand and I'm sure he'll be running around the house in no time! He'll probably walk before he crawls, he just seems like that kind of kid. He's also really started chewing & drooling lately. It's pretty cute (and slimey). Here's one of the toys he most frequently slobbers on (Lamby). Thanks Suzie & Rene--he loves this guy.


We have a checkup with the pediatrician at the end of the month so I can't wait to hear what they say. It's always interesting to see what milestones they've met and which are coming up. I'm sure teething is fast approaching! He's sleeping great (and he's doing so right now). We usually get at least 8 hours out of him at a time at night...of course we (or should I say, I) only get about 5 of those at a time 'cause I gots ta gets my LOST and 24 in when I can! He's great though...8 hours, up for a short feeding and then 2-3 more hours. Then a couple hours up in the morning and another short nap. There's a lot to take in! It's so nice outside today we'll probably go out to the park for a walk.

Ok, I don't want to push my luck here so I'm signing out. Hopefully I can get out some more frequent updates this month!

Let's Ride

Well, it's 10:57PM and Lathan's just up from his 5 hour "nap".  Since he's not sleepy he's joining me while I type out a quick entry--say hi Lathan!  (He says--"en-geh" which we'll take as meaning "hi")

We went for  a walk today and it was pretty sunny (but cool) so here are some pics of my bad little dude pre-walk.

We also had some excellent "tummy time" and a drawer cleaning session (he's already grown out of so many cute outfits!)

He's really starting to dig his ABC flash cards (the Charley Harper illustrations are so cool) and getting into some of his books...my fav is "I love you Stinky Face".

Lastly, Mooshu wants some props for being the baby guardian...he's been such an awesome "old baby".  Here's a recent pic of him :)  He's really not as miserable as he looks!

BUSY BEE

It seems like an eternity since the last post!  I think I've had spring fever...just checking out all the fresh green leaves everywhere and then holding Lathan up in front of them to improve the view (doesn't a baby ALWAYS improve a view?)

He's been captain smiley lately and we've found several things that bring it on.  We have the "mommy says (insert coo or silly sound here), and Lathan says (hopefully he repeats the sound or makes some kind of general grunt or noise)"  then he smiles a little and I (mommy) go nuts.  I know, it sounds like a stretch for me to go nutty (ha) but it's true!  I love it when my baby smiles.  I'm probably the first mom to ever say that.

Anyhoo, it is so super sweet to see.  It's mostly just weird faces and raising eyebrows that bring on the smileys.  He's also been chatty, making cute sounds and responding a little when we talk to him or show him some of his favorite toys (mainly the keys...sometimes his new surfer-duck).  Tummy time, the kind when I rest him on my shins and lift him up in the air, elicits some cute grins too.  

We had a great time at Coco & Poppy's for their 40th anniversary last week!  The gang was all there, Nana, Fran & Steve, me, Andy & Uncle B.  We had a lovely dinner (and amazingly Lathan slept through it) and got to heckle some golfers (not to their faces of course).  C & P's new digs have a great echo-chamber hallway that is like white-noise sleepy-time for Lathan.  We eventually decided to wake him up so everyone could pinch & squeeze him but he even slept though all of that!  He saved up and was very conversational (screaming) while Uncle B & Mommy drove home.  He just wanted to see what UNC was gonna bring for the big final game on Monday!  Go HEEELS!  

Andy's been working outside lately sprucing up the yard (it looks so juicy in the spring).  He went postal on our Quince (it needed to be punished, it's been scratching up the cars for 2 years now, it's so big) but decided to spare it's life and let it remain in place (who wants to dig up all those roots anyway).  It did get a major haircut though.  It's like we shaved it's head after losing a bet.  Remind me not to make any bets.

We had a great visit with Aunt Jennifer (or Aunt Slow-J as the other niece & nephews call her now, I'm Aunt J-Dawg) and Uncle Mark.  Lathan decided that he likes them both (can't believe its their first meeting!) and that he wants to visit them in Marshall.  Our visit couldn't have been better...we had tacos, held the baby, shared "true facts about the world's greatest human--Chuck Norris", caught up on world events and traded gifties. We always have an awesome time with J&M, just wish it could be more frequent!

I've been working towards working more lately (yeah, sounds fun, right?) but it's been fun to go into work if even for a short amount of time.  When I stopped in the other day I walked through the kitchen and mentioned to Pattie that it was like visiting an old school...sometimes you just want to walk around to see if anything has changed.  Ever re-visit your old elementary school...know how everything seems miniature now when it seemed huge then?  It was a little like that at work but not too bad.  It's only been 3 months not 15 years.

It was weird to see my desk though.  It's just as I left it on January 17th.  I probably have about 140 voicemails (sorry if you're someone that left me one 3 months ago).  It's funny to think back on a time that wasn't that long ago but that is so different from you life in the present.  I knew it would be great but it was hard to imagine what he would be like then. People kept asking, "are you excited"?  What are you going to name him?  I always had answers for those questions but it really is the "unknown".  I'm glad we joined the club.  Who wouldn't be when you have a face like this to look into day-after-day. :)  Love him.

AS PROMISED...

That's his "Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?" face.

Daddy captured a shot of Mommy & baby snoozing.  

Thanks for leaving out the drool (coming from me, that is) :)

Andy & Lathan in front of the new shed.  Roof complete.  Door in progress.  

Chris J. is making some killer metal work to go on the door!

Baby bear post bathtime.  Pre-massage.

Me & Lathan testing out the new Baby Bjorn.  Hmm...now I can get some housework done.  Don't tell Daddy!

Discovery

For all you Spinal Tap fans.  This one goes to 11.

It's been quite a while since the last post and there's been lots of discovery going on.  He has officially learned to smile!  Today has been the "smiliest" day yet...so much fun.  Currently an exaggerated yawn and saying "OOooh" repeatedly is what will elicit the best grins.  He's napping right now.  All that smiling can wear a guy out!

The mobile and his new spacey "skip-hop" activity mat are giving him a lot to look at (they also buy Mommy some free time occasionally).  He also digs his keys that Jessica Gross gave us.  They're one of those basic toys that an adult would think "that's not that interesting", but of course he's fascinated by them.  Just shaking them in front of him does the trick.  Who knew?  

He really wants to figure out what his hands are for.  Most of the time they're in fists and he thinks they're for bonking himself in the face.  Funny, that's not really what they're for kid.  We're going to break out the wrist rattles again and see if he can start to figure it out.  He has grasped a few items but I don't think they're really purposeful grasps...with the exception of my hair.  He means to grab my hair and not let go, ever.  That's the monkey coming out in him. :)

Coco & Lathan practicing "standing".  He's got crazy-strong legs!!

Yesterday was the first time Lathan was left with babysitters sans Mommy & Daddy--fortunately it was Coco & Poppy (my mom & dad) so they were familiar faces!  Sounds like things went well--no trauma.  Seems like it was a good experience for everyone.  Coco & Poppy got to feed the baby a bottle (he scarfs that thing down in no time), burped him (no spitup!!), changed a couple of diapers, played with him, got him to nap, encountered a brief period of screaming.  That just about covers it.  Add to that a bath and carrying him for hours on end until your arm goes numb and that's about it for now!  We're so lucky to have them so close by (and willing)!  Lathan had a great day yesterday with them and with me.  He was super sweet in the morning, had a good time with the grandparents, then was super-nappy all afternoon.  He even snoozed while I watched 2 Jeopardys, a Daily Show and American Idol (Andy napped through some of that too :)

Mommy & Baby--Back in Black (what, did we just come from a Black Sabbath concert or something?)

There are too many pictures for one post so I'll put a few here and pop on a few without all the wordy-words next.