Sock Theory

Grandma Caro is coming to visit Cade (and me and Ross but mostly Cade) on Friday. The theory is if he wears his Friday socks then it must be Friday and Grandma Caro must be on her way. Right?




Also, don't you love how any photo can be made to look more artsy by being black and white? I do.

The (Nap) Counter Strike

No naps for baby makes no sanity for mommy.

I had been thinking we'd try to get Cade to take 2-3 respectable naps (ie over an hour long) per day. Clustering his sleep if you will. But I think when doing that I'm letting him be awake for too long which then means he is over-tired, angry, fussy and unable to sleep.

Today we're moving to a new approach. The E.A.S.Y. approach. Even just the name sounds good right? Less than 3 hours into our day and it isn't going awful. He woke up at 6a (on the dot, my little alarm clock baby), ate, played (despite my suggestion that it was still night time and we should sleep) and then at 8:15 went down for a nap. He's been zonked out for 30 minutes. If we were to stick to it to a T, he'd be up in 16 minutes to eat again.

Know what I don't care about? If he's up in 16 minutes to eat again.

I'm going with a 2.5-4 hour rotation. I know he's "supposed to eat" every 2-3 hours but ya know what, he goes 5 hours over night between feedings so if he's taking a good nap and we go a little more than 3 hours between feedings, he'll probably live. Besides at some point he has to stop eating every 2 hours. That's not exactly a sustainable lifestyle for anyone.

Cross your fingers that Cade takes to this eating/sleeping approach and that I have a happy baby during his waking, well-rested hours.

Strike

Cade has been on a napping strike for the past week. Today we are implementing new, stricter napping requirements in hopes of breaking the strike. A well-rested baby makes for a happy baby and happy parents. Come on Cade, give in!

Birthday Smile

My birthday present from Mr. Cade

Truth

If it's on a shirt (or onsie) then it must be true. Right?

Thanks Auntie Val for this onsie of truth!

Over the Hills and Through the Woods

Over the hills and through the woods to grandmother's (and grandfather's) house we go!

Friday I loaded Cade up into the car and we took our first road trip. He was a very good road-tripper but nonetheless, it was a bit more of an adventure than I anticipated. What is normally a 3.5 hour drive took us no less than six hours. We had to stop in Brenham to feed and do a diaper change. Make that two diaper changes since mid-feeding seemed to be the best time to do his dirty business. Then we hit traffic in Houston - parking lot like conditions on 610 - and I just knew we wouldn't make it all the way home before the next feeding was necessary. And a hungry baby Cade equals angry screaming which I just wasn't feeling to keen on. So since we were only a few exit's from Mom's office, we stopped in there, showed off a baby, changed a diaper (just once this time) and enjoyed a bottle. THEN we got on the road and ended up at our final destination. Six hours later.

Our visit was pretty good. Cade was a bit fussier than usual but in retrospect I think that was from over stimulation with all the visitors. Once it was just us, Mom and Dad, he was much calmer. Granted Mom and Dad didn't think he was that fussy, just normal new baby fussy. Maybe this means I have it really good and I don't know it?

The drive home was much quicker - a mere four hours! I think this can be attributed to

1. Having an extra set of hands to get ready. Mom fed him a bottle while I loaded the car and got myself ready. This meant that from feeding time to leaving time was 15 minutes shorter.
2. Cade got an extra big bottle before we left so he could go a little longer between feedings.
3. Sunday driving meant no traffic.
4. We only went through one diaper at our stop and he ate like a champ. Our stop was only 35 minutes instead of 45 minutes like on the way down.

Enjoy the pics of the wee baby Cade, Grandma Caro, Grandpa and Great Grandma!

Hallelujah Hands

Ross calls these Cade's hallelujah hands

Happy Birthday Boys!!

Yesterday both my boys celebrated birthdays - Cade 1 month and Ross 32 years. Best birthday boys ever

Good Money

I just started reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham. It didn't take much more than a chapter to see it was clearly written at a different time and in a different place. Why? Because the main character is decently pleased with his $34,000 annual salary. As a lawyer.

This reminded me of a question on the radio a few months back: What is "good money"?

I think the question came up in relation to a woman saying she wanted to date/marry a man who made "good money." The male DJs wanted clarification on what good money was. What was the magic figure?

Surprise surprise, I had/have an opinion.

I vote that "good money" is whatever you need to live without (much) debt.

For John Grisham's Memphis lawyer, maybe $34,000 is good money. If he can pay rent, eat, etc and not go into debt, it probably is (granted I doubt any real lawyer would say $34,000 is good money - how would you ever pay your school loans on that?).

Honestly, even if you make six figures, if you have outstanding credit card debt, are financing EVERYTHING and wonder how you are going to pay your bills - does it even matter if you are making six figures?

I hope the lady looking for a man who makes good money is actually looking for someone who knows how to live within his means and not who makes some arbitrary annual salary. She's likely to be much happier with someone who does the former v the latter.

It's hard

Being a baby isn't all sunshine, unicorns and sparkles.

Some days it's really hard. Like when you drop your pacifier and Mom takes an extra 10 seconds to fetch it so she can take a picture of your screaming angry baby face.

Days like that it's really hard to be a baby.

By the numbers

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for Cade's one month appointment. By the numbers, here's how he stands

Weight: 8 lbs, 12 oz (25th percentile)
Length: 21 in (50th percentile)


Long and lean. Since neither Ross nor I are either we're wondering whose kid we ended up with.

Firefly Lane

Somewhere between feeding and diaper changes I read a book on my new Kindle (thanks hubby!). The funny thing is when I bought Firefly Lane it sounded vaguely familiar. But I knew I had read the author, Kristin Hannah, before and she's one of those authors who has found a formula that works well for her. So I wasn't really sure if I had read this book before or if the "teenage best friends who grow up and tackle life's obstacles" plot was just familiar.

Turns out I had read it but I couldn't remember any of the plot more than a page before things actually happened. I must have liked it the first time around though because I liked it this go around too.

It sticks to the best friends formula described above focusing on two girls/women, Tully and Kate, who start as polar opposites and end as polar opposites but besties the whole time. The character development is really good and I thought very realistic - I could hear myself having the same conversations with my bestie. It has some pretty raw, realistic emotions through it too. Jealousy, anger, pride, love.

I'd characterize it as a chick drama of a read and if you are looking for a good book, recommend it with two thumbs up. Further I suggest reading it now as a sequel of some kind comes out April 23 (you know what I'm getting myself for my birthday!).

Walk in the Park

First park adventure

When Mom's Gone

I become a Bears fan.

A bit more stylish

Yesterday Cade and I took our first full on car-stroller-and-diaper-bag adventure. We met Erin and Rowan at the mall for some window shopping and mall walking (us and the senior citizens...).

As part of this adventure I realized how absurd my "diaper bag" situation was. I was using a backpack as I had see another new mom friend using one this past summer as her diaper bag and it made so much sense. Free hands! Well she had a Jansport backpack - fairly simple and functional. What backpack did I have? Our LL Bean perfect-for-a-day-hike backpack of course.

I looked ridiculous.

I looked like I was ready to hike the Alps, which of course is exactly what said backpack was purchased for and used for last year. And while the million pockets were pretty nifty, I discovered that for me, having all my stuff on my back was not as convenient as I thought it would be.

So today Cade and I went on shopping adventure #2 of the week. (He's a great little shopper; the motion of the stroller makes him a happy gurgling baby or knocks him out cold. And he always thinks my purchases are smart.) This time it was to the outlet mall (gorgeous day outside!).

I am pleased to say that having a baby has not impacted my bargain shopping skills. I'm still a money saving champ. I got this purse-converted-to-a-diaper-bag from the Fossil outlet. Originally $148, I snagged this bad boy for $40.

I feel significantly more stylish as a mom now. (And much less like a hiker.) I also purchased a pink birthday dress (50% off), navy tank top (75% off), open-toed black flats (50% off) and a present for one of my favorite soon-to-be college graduates.

Throw in some sunshine, a Starbucks drink and happy baby and outlet shopping has to be one of my favorite activities ever.

Six

Six. That's how many hours of sleep I have gloriously had in the past 14 hours.

Little Cade was a FUSSY baby yesterday afternoon. I nearly lost my mind - he wanted to be held constantly. Meg coming over for a few hours was a blessing. I was able to fix myself dinner, eat, go to the bathroom, shower, all with two hands and no screaming child.

However I guess partially due to hours and hours of wakeful crying and screaming, he was pretty worn out by bedtime and after his 10p bottle...blissful silence and sleep. For both of us. We weren't quite so sleepy or quiet after the 2a bottle but I still managed another hour. And then Ross came home early this morning and gifted me with as much uninterrupted sleep as my body would allow. It came out to be another three hours. And now I feel great.

So great I attempted to put on some of my skinny shorts. Amazingly THEY FIT. And then I added eyeliner to the mix. That's right ladies and gentleman, the bathrobe has been hung up and real clothes plus a little make up are being worn.

Now I must go wake the wee baby Cade for his lunch. Then I have big plans for us like a walk through the neighborhood. Cross your fingers he's more accommodating today than yesterday, ideally awake but calm and relatively quiet (a girl can dream right).

Piggy

Getting our savings on at the bank

1. My son is a porker. Our pediatrician wants to see him gain an ounce per day at this point. Well oink oink, baby Cade has gained 9 ounces in the past 4 days! That means he's at a wonderfully chubby 8 pounds, 2 ounces. And trust me, with his recent feeding habits - my fav being when he wants 2 meals within 90 minutes - it adds up.

2. He has a big boy piggy bank! He's letting us bring home the bacon and put it into his brand new savings account! Hopefully in 18 years there will be a respectable sum saved for the fancy pants college he's going to get into (and/or a respectable sum saved for the car we'll bribe him with if he can get a full ride to college).