Spring Game

Took C to his first BC Football game (it was a Spring scrimmage game, but that still counts). Loved the great weather and time with friends. C especially enjoyed cracking up at his favorite 4-year old friend. He has been talking up a storm and is a huge bundle of energy (energy that we wants to burn off by crawling, except that he can't figure out how to go forward, just backwards. That is starting to frustrate him). But we are sure he will figure it out soon enough. So we went ahead and bought our first safety gates. He already looks like he is going to be trouble!

I Scream Because I Love You

That is what I imagine C is trying to tell me when he screams his head off.

* Note that this is NOT a picture of him screaming, this was our first try at holding a cup. I like this picture because he seemed so calm and cool...just as I imagine he is when crafting his plan of how to get mom to lift him out of his crib...oh yes, the screaming!

So up until now we usually hold C when he gets sleepy, and then put him in his crib. We'll let him cry for about 10 minutes, and if it goes longer, we'll pick him up for a bit. For a while Matt has asked me when we are going to Ferberize/let him cry himself to sleep. Or when we will stop using the monitors in our room. For a while my response has been, we're sticking with the monitors. I might wake up without it, but I don't trust that Matt will.

But now the answer is, "now". We are stopping with the monitor now. Because if we used it, we would have heart attacks when he lets out this scream.

We put him to bed the other night, and he did his new thing. The minute he hits the cribs, his eyes get wide, and he kicks his legs feverishly like he is running the 50 yard dash, but over and over again. It is like a glimpse of a temper tantrum. He gets so upset that you think, "maybe something IS really wrong". But then you pick him up and he calms down, and usually smiles a minute later.

So when we hit the 10 minute mark, Matt said," leave him for a couple of minutes." 11, 12, 13...ticked away slowly. Then at 14, it was quiet. He conked out. It worked again the next nigh (18 minutes). We warned daycare about this, but so far there had been no screaming there.

We get little yelps throughout the day to, if one of us is playing with him, and the other leaves the room. So glad that C loves us so much, but we need to figure out a better way for him to communicate it...ones that does not trigger headaches!

Goodbye, Lamby Swing

Yesterday C took his last ride in the lamby swing. This toy was highly recommended to us by good friends, so when we were registering for gifts, we made sure to put it on the list. Boy, did it come in handy. C's first 2 months home, the swing was the only place where we could get him to take cat naps during the day. There were at least a handful of nights where he was on the swing with either Matt or I sleeping on the couch next to him...trying to get through a sleepless night when we didn't trust ourselves rocking him to sleep because we were too exhausted. When the top picture was taken (back in October), C and I were planning our first overnight at Grandpa's house, and I seriously thought of packing this large swing in our small car trunk, the thought with life without it scary. (Although we did manage without). Although there was always an acute sense of horror when the music began to sound warped and the swing slowed down, and we weren't sure that there were D batteries in the house!

Like everything else these days, C has grown out of it. Technically, he might have ca few more pounds to go on the swing, but it is too close. It is just time. So we gave it one more ride. Unlike a couple of months ago, when he just tried to get out, he really seemed to enjoy his last ride. He gazed up at the mirror and smiled at himself.

So, thanks to Aunt Malou for getting us his first favorite toy. And thanks to Aunt Kate for helping us with the countdown to the weight limit. The swing is in the attic now, and there is more space in the living room for C to rock and roll!

Shopping for a Better Week

I don't want to jinx it, but so far this week is much better than last week. The weather has been nice and sunny. C and Matt had a lunch date with friends on Monday, and C had his first big boy shopping cart ride. Tuesday we brought cupcakes and Dunkin gift cards to daycare for Teacher Appreciation week. And Wednesday C got his first Red Sox cap (albeit a Toddler size, but that's ok) and enjoyed his first swing ride outside.

Much better than last week, when C was home two days with a fever. Last Tuesday was a particularly bad banner day for me. It was pouring rain, and I was debating lugging my two large work bags on the 10 minute walk to the train, given the downpour (I opted to do so). Matt was taking care of C (who we had just discovered had a fever) and was waiting for our groceries to be delivered (we don't do this all the time, just when we feel like its too crazy of a schedule...we opted to spend the weekend time hanging out rather than shopping). I put waterproof gym pants on over my work clothes and headed out the door. After the puddle-filled-car-splashing-walk, I waited for my train to pull up. Right as it stopped in front of me, I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out my keys. Hmmm, that's strange, I thought I put my keys in my bag.

Unfortunately, I did put the keys in my bag. Matt's set of keys.

My heart and mind immediately races. I do the calculations: I have both sets of Toyota keys, The Toyota is blocking the Honda. That means Matt can't go anywhere. I have my house key, and Matt's house key. I have locked them in the house. There is no way for them to get out.

As I head out of the train station and hope in a cab, I see a missed call from Matt, who has discovered that the keys were missing when the grocery delivery guy came and couldn't get in.

Long story short...Matt was creative and got the groceries in through a window. I took a cab home and delivered the keys. I made my own punishment by doing the walk all over again back to the train. And now I pack up my work stuff the night before, including my keys! Some days you feel like you try to have it all and are failing miserably. That was one of those days.

Luckily this week is different. Feeling good.

Happy Easter

Our family had a great Easter! Was amazed that we made the family mass at BC in the morning, with 20 minutes to spare! It is so nice to be surrounded by other families (and have all of C's coos and "words" blend into the noise!) Was also the first time that I have ever seen a priest wear bunny ears! Had a nice dinner with my extended family...C continues to be spoiled by his aunts. We left with 3 books and a new toy (a toy that plays music and has parts that he can put in his mouth. Score! His favorite things!) We are so glad that grandpa was able to get up off the floor after playing with C! You could hear C talking to grandpa all the way from the next room. We missed Aunt Kate, but had a great video chat with her on Saturday.

Car Seat Time Machine

Wow, the difference 6+ months makes! Last weekend we bought a big boy car seat. So far, there is very little that Matt and I have looked back on and said," wow, we should have done this differently". Except maybe the car seat. We did the whole consumer reports thing, and bought the #1 safest bucket car seat. And we loved it. At the time we bought it, there were 2 options: up to 22 pounds, or up to 30 pounds. We got the 22 pounds, thinking "our child will be on the smaller side, so let's just get the smaller one. And do we really want to carry a 30+ pound car seat around?"

The answer is no, we didn't want to carry a huge car seat around. But we also didn't think we would need to get another one 6 months later. So for car seat #2, we actually considered just getting this one giant car seat, and moving it back and forth between our 2 cars every time we do a day care pick up, which would be crazy. So thanks to our friends that are loaning us a second seat.

Hard to believe he was ever so small!