Just a Little Bragging...

This must be Joey's week of firsts. So far this week he has:

• Sat up for 10 minutes without support (not even using his hands)
• Said "dada"
• Got a tooth (this morning!)
• Found his binkie in the middle of the night! (YAY!)
• Sat in the cart like a big boy at Babies R US
• Slept through the night 3 times! (that binkie-finding definately helped!)

"Dadadadadada"

Joey says "dada" now! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! He's been babbling all week, and today he actually got "dada" out while we were out to lunch. (dada was at work, so I don't think he's made the word/object association yet, but it was awesome to hear him say it.) Then he said it all night while laying on the floor playing. Just a matter of time before he's saying all kinds of things. I'd better start watching my language or he'll be babbling things like *sshole, sh*t, and worse! Somehow I think *grandparents* and others might be slightly disturbed by hearing my baby say "awww, sh*t" when he drops his sippy cup! :)

Look Mom, I'm floating!

Joey is too big for his bath sling, yet not quite able to sit up in the bath seat that suctions to the tub. So Grammy suggested I bathe him in his bumbo seat in the tub. What a great idea, I thought! So I put the bumbo in the tub, turn on the water, pour in some bubbles (joey loves bubbles) and go to get him undressed. We get back in the bathroom and the bumbo is more like a boat. A bumbo boat. It's floating around in the tub. Figuring Joey would weigh it down, I put him in it to start the bath process. Well I don't know much about physics (is this physics?), but the shape of the bumbo allows water to get underneath it, plus it's very lightweight to begin with, and my 16lb. baby doesn't weigh quite enough to stop the seat from moving around the tub. He looooooooooved his bumbo boat though. I had to hold on to it so he didn't tip it over, but he was so freakin happy sitting up like a big boy in the tub! Here's a pic of my bumbo boat baby:

Mom's Day Out

When Joey was really little I didn't want to leave him. Not with daddy, not with anyone. I was just too anxious, and the thought of being away from him was a bit overwhelming. Now that he's a little older, and goes much longer between feedings, and is on a "regular" nap schedule I look forward to taking a break by myself. Usually I just go out to the store or run errands but today was so much better than that.

You appreciate things like going to the movies so much more when you have a child. Kate and I went to see Juno at a ridiculously cheap movie theater with really deliciously greasy popcorn and very clean bathrooms. Joey stayed with Daddy, and I appreciated my time away in such a way that I never have before! Seeing Kate is always one of my favorite things to do anyway, so needless to say I'm a happy girl now. :)

Ron is taking classes Monday, Friday, and Saturdays until May, so I'm hoping I can hit up Joey's Grandma for some Saturday afternoon babysitting from time to time...

Good Mornin', Momma!

Joey has never been much of an early riser. Even when he is up early morning (around 5 or 6), he usually eats and goes back to sleep for a few hours. His usual wake up time is somewhere around 7:30-8:30, which is great for me because I'm not much of a morning person! (Ron will agree...) Well, today he was up at 6:40... wide awake, smiling and talking. No going back to bed for Mommy! So I'm overloading on Caffeine to keep my chipper self awake. Guess we'll hope for a looooooooong morning nap and early bedtime tonight!

Happy (half) Birthday!

Today is Joey's half birthday. I can't believe that he has been here for 6 months already! But at the same time I can't believe he's only been here for 6 months. Not sure if that makes any sense... Will post a half b-day pic later.

Best Friends... well, sort of

Joey and Daisy have discovered each other. I don't know which is the more interested party, but Daisy is definately getting the short end of the stick out of this situation. She has been carefully approaching and sniffing the baby since we brought him home from the hospital, and until recently that has worked out just fine for her. However, Joey has started to pay attention to her and before she can retreat he grabs onto her with a death grip (usually somewhere on her head, face, or ears.) Poor Daisy just stands there pathetically until he lets go. Sometimes she'll try licking his fingers or nudging his hand with her nose. She has not growled at him or shown any aggression whatsoever, so that has been a relief. I still watch carefully though, b/c some day she might get pissed at his grabbing and grab back. I'm just wondering when she will learn her lesson and stay clear of this little person. When he does let go she runs for dear life, but her memory must be like that of a goldfish, becuase she returns moments later like the whole thing never happened. I feel like Joey is saying, "ha... you came back, you dumb little dog..."

I'm addicted

I'm addicted to shopping. It's official. It doesn't help that every store that I go into has super gigantic clearance prices going on. Today I was at Old Navy and got 2 sweatshirts for Joey for $2.49 each! Also a few onesies for a dollar each, and socks for $0.24! Who can pass that up? Seriously. But it's every where I go. It's like the sales are haunting me. I got him 2 jackets for the spring at Macy's for $3.48 each on Saturday. With prices like that it is very hard to stop myself.

And let's not just blame Joey here. I also got some new towels for the bathroom, $100 worth of new clothes for Ron, my most favorite soap from Bath and Body Works, and some new clothes for me too. Don't worry. All of what I purchased is 100% necessary. I swear.

A Very Looooooooooong Day

Today was just that. Two infants and a 3 year old... two of which aren't mine, make for one very exhausted (and grumpy) mommy. No one napped for longer than 45 minutes at a time, and the 3 year old had a very short fuse that needed to be reset every 27 seconds. Poor kid spent some serious time in the "time out" corner. Not sure it should really be called a "time out" with such frequency. Maybe "time in" is more appropriate.

I don't mean to complain, really. I love them dearly, no one caused any real problems, and everyone is still in one piece. So I guess my day was a success by those standards.

Joey Loves God

Today in church Joey started laughing. At nothing, just playing with his blankies laughing all by himself. And you know how churches are all echo-ey so I think the sounds that were coming out of him were pretty amusing to him and he just giggled more. Let's hope he is always so happy about going to church, and doesn't become one of those screaming 3-year olds that everyone rolls their eyes at...

Happy New Year

Last year's New Year's Eve was spent like this: Spend the WHOLE day getting the house super clean, pick up lots of food and even more alcohol, set up beer pong in the basement, have lots of people over and party well past midnight, with several crashers on couches and extra beds.

This year's New Year's Eve was spent like this: Take a family trip to Ikea, cook chicken and baked potatoes for dinner, baby to bed at 7:30, watch a movie, and go to bed at 10:30, because really... what is the point of staying up to watch Ryan Seacrest count down a giant glowing ball dropping?

My how things change dramatically when you have a child. :)