I wish I would have posted earlier in the trip, because I've been home for a full week now and most of it is a blur. The Topeka High Reunion went pretty well. There are a lot of people I wish would have come, but a lot that I was very happy to see as well. As usual, I didn't take enough pictures, but hopefully others did and I can steal some of them later. Friday night was a lot of fun, and the tailgate was nice because people got to meet Keaton. Strange how Facebook made the reunion a lot less awkward- for me, at least. I felt like I knew were most people were now, and it was easier to catch up with them (and even some I barely talked to much in high school) thanks to FB. Weird, I know. I guess it pays to be a stalker.
I have plenty more to write, but tiny man (who is teething hard-core the last few days) just woke up and wants some attention. I will attempt to write more later!
-Ash
Casey, Ashley, Keaton, Nikolaus, & Rowan take on Chicagoland...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I'm out.
In honor of being consistent (something I am continuously striving to be but not very successful at so far in life) I am blogging at work. However, this is the final time I can say that, since today is my LAST (full) DAY. :) I probably shouldn't be so happy, but really, nothing is phasing me right now. The internet could shut down, a jackass attorney could come in and yell at me, and the phone could ring off the hook, but nothing is bringing me down today.
Sometimes I picture myself in the scene from Half Baked, looking around and pointing at people, saying, "F-you, f-you, you're cool, f-you, I'm out." But I won't, because I like people here (for the most part) and do not want to burn any bridges. It's kind of fun to picture myself doing that, though, because it would be pretty out of character for me. Instead I will go quietly, knowing that I was lucky enough to get a job here when it looked like there was nothing out there for me. I remember being pretty upset and depressed looking for a place to work, and then how lucky I felt to be given a chance to work here. Yes, it was stressful. Yes, I hated it at times. But I am pretty sure I've felt that way at every single job I've had so far. It just comes with the territory I suppose.
Heck, even being a Stay At Home Mom can be stressful. I can't say I really 'hate' any part of it, but it's tough. I keep saying it's the hardest, most rewarding job I have ever had. I get paid in kisses and smiles (and spit up and other things), which is better than the tiny little paychecks I get here. It's better than any BIG paychecks I've gotten here, too. Time with him is priceless, and I'm really glad I get to spend more of it with him and less of it with printers that don't work, computers that are slow, and people who are grumpy. I'm ready to be home.
Speaking of home, I had a fun night with Casey and Keaton last night. Keaton sat in his high chair while Casey and I made experimental brownies. No, that's not another reference to Half Baked, either... Casey wanted to jazz up the boxed brownies by adding peanut butter and marshmallows, and they turned out well. Keaton seemed to enjoy watching us buzz around the kitchen, and sat there quietly for quite awhile while we worked. I love how observant he is. He is usually completely content just watching people and does not need to be entertained all the time. Shortly afterward, he ate and passed out for the evening. Casey went to a movie around 10, and I stayed up later than I should... I got wrapped up in making my previous blog about Japan into a book. For less than $40, I will have a hard cover version, with pictures and everything, of my Japan experience. I'm pretty excited to see the final product- it should arrive at the beginning of next month. For anyone who may be interested, I did it through Blog2Print.com. I'm glad they have this option so that all of my memories aren't lost if the site shuts down someday. The only downside I saw was that there is very minimal editing you can do to the layout, but overall, I'm just glad to have the memories in print form.
I guess that's about all for me for today. I work 2 hours tomorrow night, then I'm OUT. :)
-Ash
Sometimes I picture myself in the scene from Half Baked, looking around and pointing at people, saying, "F-you, f-you, you're cool, f-you, I'm out." But I won't, because I like people here (for the most part) and do not want to burn any bridges. It's kind of fun to picture myself doing that, though, because it would be pretty out of character for me. Instead I will go quietly, knowing that I was lucky enough to get a job here when it looked like there was nothing out there for me. I remember being pretty upset and depressed looking for a place to work, and then how lucky I felt to be given a chance to work here. Yes, it was stressful. Yes, I hated it at times. But I am pretty sure I've felt that way at every single job I've had so far. It just comes with the territory I suppose.
Heck, even being a Stay At Home Mom can be stressful. I can't say I really 'hate' any part of it, but it's tough. I keep saying it's the hardest, most rewarding job I have ever had. I get paid in kisses and smiles (and spit up and other things), which is better than the tiny little paychecks I get here. It's better than any BIG paychecks I've gotten here, too. Time with him is priceless, and I'm really glad I get to spend more of it with him and less of it with printers that don't work, computers that are slow, and people who are grumpy. I'm ready to be home.
Speaking of home, I had a fun night with Casey and Keaton last night. Keaton sat in his high chair while Casey and I made experimental brownies. No, that's not another reference to Half Baked, either... Casey wanted to jazz up the boxed brownies by adding peanut butter and marshmallows, and they turned out well. Keaton seemed to enjoy watching us buzz around the kitchen, and sat there quietly for quite awhile while we worked. I love how observant he is. He is usually completely content just watching people and does not need to be entertained all the time. Shortly afterward, he ate and passed out for the evening. Casey went to a movie around 10, and I stayed up later than I should... I got wrapped up in making my previous blog about Japan into a book. For less than $40, I will have a hard cover version, with pictures and everything, of my Japan experience. I'm pretty excited to see the final product- it should arrive at the beginning of next month. For anyone who may be interested, I did it through Blog2Print.com. I'm glad they have this option so that all of my memories aren't lost if the site shuts down someday. The only downside I saw was that there is very minimal editing you can do to the layout, but overall, I'm just glad to have the memories in print form.
I guess that's about all for me for today. I work 2 hours tomorrow night, then I'm OUT. :)
-Ash
Friday, September 17, 2010
Houston, we have a tooth!
Finally, after months of drool, pain meds, and fussiness, WE HAVE A TOOTH!! It wasn't there yesterday morning, but by afternoon it had popped through the gums. (If you're wondering, it's the lower front tooth on the right.) Yay!!! I had to wait until he was passed out yesterday to actually see it because he refuses to let me look in there, and sure enough, there was a tiny little point sticking up. :) It's through even more this morning. I wonder what he'll look like with teeth! I guess we'll find out very soon. My little guy is growing up!
He also started this funny growling thing last night. I'm not sure where it came from but he thinks it's pretty entertaining. I like it more than the fake cough!!
I think we're going to have a play date with Kelley and possibly Danielle this morning, so it'll be nice to get out of the house while Casey's working so we don't keep interrupting him... it's hard not to when he's home, so I have to pretend like he's not here at all so he can actually get work done. If that doesn't work out, I may take Keaton out to search for his Halloween costume. We've decided to only dress him up this year since he won't be Trick or Treating long, and we don't have any costume parties or anything to go to so it won't be worth the three of us getting totally dressed up and spending the time and money to have a theme if he won't even remember it anyway. Next year should be more involved.
That's all for this morning. At the rate he's going this week, he may be walking by Monday!
-Ash
He also started this funny growling thing last night. I'm not sure where it came from but he thinks it's pretty entertaining. I like it more than the fake cough!!
I think we're going to have a play date with Kelley and possibly Danielle this morning, so it'll be nice to get out of the house while Casey's working so we don't keep interrupting him... it's hard not to when he's home, so I have to pretend like he's not here at all so he can actually get work done. If that doesn't work out, I may take Keaton out to search for his Halloween costume. We've decided to only dress him up this year since he won't be Trick or Treating long, and we don't have any costume parties or anything to go to so it won't be worth the three of us getting totally dressed up and spending the time and money to have a theme if he won't even remember it anyway. Next year should be more involved.
That's all for this morning. At the rate he's going this week, he may be walking by Monday!
-Ash
Thursday, September 16, 2010
More Milestones
New Keaton stuff:
He now rolls from tummy to back.... YAY! That was all I wanted him to learn right now since he kept flipping over in his crib and getting ticked when he couldn't flip back over. He flipped twice during Cradle Talk yesterday and then again after we came home. I finally got it on video for Casey, too!
We are about 99% certain he said "mama" last night. Casey and I were eating dinner and listening to Keaton on the monitor, and Keaton was crying (as usual) while in his crib because he didn't want to sleep. He was pretty pissed, when suddenly we heard "mama"... I looked at Casey, who looked at me and said, "Yeah, I heard it, too." Crazy stuff! It sucks that he said it out of anger, and I probably won't really 'count' it until he says it on a regular basis, but it was still nice to hear. :) I think he also says "huh uh" (he shakes his head when he does it, so I'm pretty sure he knows what it means) and it almost sounds like he says "Hi" sometimes. I could be reading into all of it... is it only by accident? Besides the huh uh thing, it's probably coincidence... but we'll see!
He's still doing the 'wiggle wiggle' and 'click click' thing. He also started eating finger food last night. I bought the little peach yogurt melts at Babies R Us yesterday, and I think he's a fan. He got most of it in his mouth, but quite a bit of it on the floor, high chair, and even some in his hair and behind his ear. He loves peaches, but they are an absolute mess to clean up. He now sticks his fingers in his mouth and/or grabs the spoon when I'm feeding him, so he gets it all over his hands, then touches everything in sight. But it helps him learn, so it's kind of fun when I stop thinking about how messy it is and start focusing on how much more he can do now.
He also sat in a high chair at a restaurant yesterday for the first time. He realized it, too, and was pretty excited and happy about it. We sat near the front door, and he loved watching people come in, especially if they noticed him and talked to him. He's such an attention hog!
Casey's working from home today (with the exception of right now- he had to go in for some training) but we have enjoyed his company this morning. He gets to do the same tomorrow, too. It's nice to have him around, even if he is locked up in the office working on work. We take what we can get! :-D
My last full day of work is this Sunday, and then I work 2 hours Monday night and I'm DONE. Then next Thursday we fly home for my 10 year high school reunion. I think it'll be fun... hopefully we get to see a lot of people and hopefully Keaton travels better than he did in July. I hope he actually sleeps this time! Looking forward to being home soon.
-Ash
He now rolls from tummy to back.... YAY! That was all I wanted him to learn right now since he kept flipping over in his crib and getting ticked when he couldn't flip back over. He flipped twice during Cradle Talk yesterday and then again after we came home. I finally got it on video for Casey, too!
We are about 99% certain he said "mama" last night. Casey and I were eating dinner and listening to Keaton on the monitor, and Keaton was crying (as usual) while in his crib because he didn't want to sleep. He was pretty pissed, when suddenly we heard "mama"... I looked at Casey, who looked at me and said, "Yeah, I heard it, too." Crazy stuff! It sucks that he said it out of anger, and I probably won't really 'count' it until he says it on a regular basis, but it was still nice to hear. :) I think he also says "huh uh" (he shakes his head when he does it, so I'm pretty sure he knows what it means) and it almost sounds like he says "Hi" sometimes. I could be reading into all of it... is it only by accident? Besides the huh uh thing, it's probably coincidence... but we'll see!
He's still doing the 'wiggle wiggle' and 'click click' thing. He also started eating finger food last night. I bought the little peach yogurt melts at Babies R Us yesterday, and I think he's a fan. He got most of it in his mouth, but quite a bit of it on the floor, high chair, and even some in his hair and behind his ear. He loves peaches, but they are an absolute mess to clean up. He now sticks his fingers in his mouth and/or grabs the spoon when I'm feeding him, so he gets it all over his hands, then touches everything in sight. But it helps him learn, so it's kind of fun when I stop thinking about how messy it is and start focusing on how much more he can do now.
He also sat in a high chair at a restaurant yesterday for the first time. He realized it, too, and was pretty excited and happy about it. We sat near the front door, and he loved watching people come in, especially if they noticed him and talked to him. He's such an attention hog!
Casey's working from home today (with the exception of right now- he had to go in for some training) but we have enjoyed his company this morning. He gets to do the same tomorrow, too. It's nice to have him around, even if he is locked up in the office working on work. We take what we can get! :-D
My last full day of work is this Sunday, and then I work 2 hours Monday night and I'm DONE. Then next Thursday we fly home for my 10 year high school reunion. I think it'll be fun... hopefully we get to see a lot of people and hopefully Keaton travels better than he did in July. I hope he actually sleeps this time! Looking forward to being home soon.
-Ash
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Guessing Game
Something very interesting happened last night. Keaton only ate a tiny bit of food while sitting in his high chair and ended up falling asleep in it. He continued to sleep (in his crib) for 4 hours afterward. We woke him up at 10 so we could change his clothes and diaper, then he slept another 4 hours. He had a low-grade fever around 9:30 this morning, so I think he wasn't feeling well and it's carried over to today. I really can't tell if it's teething or if it's something more... hopefully both will get better in the very near future. It's tough having a 'sick' kid... or just an abnormally fussy one.
Not much is going on other than that. Casey's busy working on building a new computer (or upgrading our old one... he has yet to decide) and has spent quite a bit of time researching said computer, which I know makes him happy and probably relaxes him a bit. It's good that he has something like that to think about other than work. The guy wakes up around 4 every weekday to go in to work, and while he's trying to get home earlier so he can see Keaton before bedtime, sometimes he's not able to leave when he wants and I can tell he is disappointed when he comes home and Keaton's already getting tired.
This is another reason why I'm glad I am not going to work anymore after this month (even if it's only 2 days) so I can really spend some quality time with the boys. September 20th is my last day. I basically thought December was my last month there last year when I was about to have Keaton, so I've already said my goodbyes one time, and I'm not feeling the sadness that I felt back then. This feels like the right thing to do. Now I just have to figure out what my next step is. School? We'll see. I still have a desire to go, but I'm not ready yet to have someone watch Mr. K while I'm in class. I'm sure I'll figure it out one of these days.
Speaking of Mr. K, he just woke up from another nap, so I'm going to tend to him and hope he's feeling better. Poor guy. I hate teething!!!!
-Ash
Not much is going on other than that. Casey's busy working on building a new computer (or upgrading our old one... he has yet to decide) and has spent quite a bit of time researching said computer, which I know makes him happy and probably relaxes him a bit. It's good that he has something like that to think about other than work. The guy wakes up around 4 every weekday to go in to work, and while he's trying to get home earlier so he can see Keaton before bedtime, sometimes he's not able to leave when he wants and I can tell he is disappointed when he comes home and Keaton's already getting tired.
This is another reason why I'm glad I am not going to work anymore after this month (even if it's only 2 days) so I can really spend some quality time with the boys. September 20th is my last day. I basically thought December was my last month there last year when I was about to have Keaton, so I've already said my goodbyes one time, and I'm not feeling the sadness that I felt back then. This feels like the right thing to do. Now I just have to figure out what my next step is. School? We'll see. I still have a desire to go, but I'm not ready yet to have someone watch Mr. K while I'm in class. I'm sure I'll figure it out one of these days.
Speaking of Mr. K, he just woke up from another nap, so I'm going to tend to him and hope he's feeling better. Poor guy. I hate teething!!!!
-Ash
Monday, September 13, 2010
Grandparents Visit
It seems like life goes into fast forward mode whenever we have family in town. I blinked and my parents are already on their way back to Topeka. Mister K had some interesting moods while they were in town... he decided that fake coughing got him attention, so he did it all the time. Not fun. But he's already getting better about doing it less. I think he's exhausted today, though- he's on his 3rd mini nap of the day. Sleep has been really rough for him this week, too. It's almost like he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his grandparents and fought sleep every single time... naps, nighttime, everything. He would throw an absolute fit whenever he got sleepy and would kick his feet to keep himself awake. Yikes! Today he's been a lot less fussy, though, so I hope he'll get out of the habit.
We did a lot of things while my parents were in town. We bought a bunch of clothes on sale at Carter's for Keaton, since he's in 9-12 month clothes now and barely had any long sleeved items at all. We hit up Walmart and Mom cooked a lot of food. :) We went to the Brookfield Zoo on Saturday and although we only went through about a third of it, Keaton seemed to really enjoy it- especially the Children's Zoo. He got to pet a baby chick (which was adorable... he was so gentle!) and absolutely loved the goats! He laughed at them and wasn't scared at all to touch them. I got some funny pictures of him (in his new Monkey hat!) enjoying them. Love it!
He got to play the keyboard with Grandpa, and got some new toys from Grandma. He learned that 'click click' is one of his new favorite activities (clicking two toys together) and loves to 'wiggle wiggle' (rock back and forth while sitting) now. I think he thoroughly enjoyed his time with Grandma & Grandpa Harding. And so did I.
Yesterday we threw a little party for Casey's 30th. It was like Babyfest in here at one point; 4 boys within 2 weeks of each other in age, all sitting in our living room, while the girls, Darielis (almost 2 year old) and Vivian (4 year old) watched. We had quite a bit of people, and a ton of food. I think it went well, although it was a little crazy with all of the kids running around. Hopefully Casey enjoyed his birthday this year- we had fun celebrating throughout the week.
I guess that's about all for now... I'm sure there's plenty more to write about, but Keaton is awake now and is getting bored. Looking forward to our trip to Topeka in less than 2 weeks!
-Ash
We did a lot of things while my parents were in town. We bought a bunch of clothes on sale at Carter's for Keaton, since he's in 9-12 month clothes now and barely had any long sleeved items at all. We hit up Walmart and Mom cooked a lot of food. :) We went to the Brookfield Zoo on Saturday and although we only went through about a third of it, Keaton seemed to really enjoy it- especially the Children's Zoo. He got to pet a baby chick (which was adorable... he was so gentle!) and absolutely loved the goats! He laughed at them and wasn't scared at all to touch them. I got some funny pictures of him (in his new Monkey hat!) enjoying them. Love it!
He got to play the keyboard with Grandpa, and got some new toys from Grandma. He learned that 'click click' is one of his new favorite activities (clicking two toys together) and loves to 'wiggle wiggle' (rock back and forth while sitting) now. I think he thoroughly enjoyed his time with Grandma & Grandpa Harding. And so did I.
Yesterday we threw a little party for Casey's 30th. It was like Babyfest in here at one point; 4 boys within 2 weeks of each other in age, all sitting in our living room, while the girls, Darielis (almost 2 year old) and Vivian (4 year old) watched. We had quite a bit of people, and a ton of food. I think it went well, although it was a little crazy with all of the kids running around. Hopefully Casey enjoyed his birthday this year- we had fun celebrating throughout the week.
I guess that's about all for now... I'm sure there's plenty more to write about, but Keaton is awake now and is getting bored. Looking forward to our trip to Topeka in less than 2 weeks!
-Ash
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Labor Day
It's amazing how many times a day I think about blogging, or something that might be noteworthy to blog about. I just sat here for a good minute trying to think of something to write, because all the good stuff slipped out of my mind. Let's see where this one goes.
My parents are driving in from Kansas tomorrow to stay for almost a week. I am so excited for them to spend time with Keaton now that he's doing so much more... he gets more fun all the time. Yes, even when he's spitting peas at me (he decided he doesn't like them now) and fussy for one reason or another. *Oh, I just remembered one thing. If you use T9 Word mode while texting, the word 'fussy' can come out as 'furry'. I almost sent a text that said, "Keaton is super furry today!" Thank goodness for proofreading... he's too young to be furry. :)
Yesterday Casey had the day off, so we took Keaton to a farmer's market near our house and got some fresh fruits and veggies. We plan to go back when my parents get to town... I'm pretty excited about the home cooking in the week ahead! Anyway, after that we went to the mall and walked around for a bit. Keaton did really well and enjoyed people watching. He is a very observant little kid. He was flirting bigtime with a cute little Asian girl at JCPenney's... she sure didn't know how to react to a little baby smiling and cooing at her, but I thought it was pretty adorable. That said, we could be in some serious trouble when Keaton goes to high school if he keeps this up... he bats his eyes and everything. I apparently used to do the same thing when I was a kid, so he'll surely grow out of it... we'll see. :)
While at the mall, Casey and I stopped by Gymboree and ended up buying him quite a few things because he's now in 9 month clothes! We thought the pajamas we bought would be too big, but when I put them on him tonight... they MAY last through to Halloween, but I doubt it. I have a big pile of things that I have to put in storage now because he's outgrown almost all of his 3-6 month clothes. With the weather cooling off around here, he has a limited amount of pants, and virtually no long sleeved shirts. We ended up finding some really cute things yesterday (including an outfit that has a raccoon on the front that says "It wasn't me"... too cute). Pictures to follow, of course.
Well, it's almost time for bed, and I've got laundry all over the bed which will make sleeping a little difficult. That all for now....
-Ash
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Milestones and playdates and employment... oh my!
Lots on my mind today... forgive me if this is random.
Keaton has done a few new things this week. He held his sippy cup and bottle for the first time by himself. Granted, he had to do it while laying down or being propped up on his Boppy pillow because he hasn't mastered the concept of holding the cup up so the liquid goes to the mouthpiece, but it's a start. He also gave me an open mouth kiss twice this week! I really don't know if he knew what he was doing, or if he just wanted something to chew on and found my face, but either way it was really cute. He put his hands on my cheeks and came at me with his mouth wide open. Funny, and slimy at the same time. He's still drooling a lot, and I think he is really going to get a tooth any day now. Casey and I can feel a bit of a rough patch on his gums at the bottom. He will not under any circumstances let us actually look in his mouth, though, so there may very well be a tooth in there already and we just haven't seen it yet. I know it's starting to get a bit painful when he eats! (Too much information. Sorry. But it's true!)
On Wednesday we went to Cradle Talk for one of the last times. They normally cap the age at 6 months, and while they said they will make some exceptions because the newer moms seem to like asking the 'experienced' moms questions, we are the oldest in the class now and it shows. Danielle's son Blaine and Keaton spent almost the entire class period sitting up, to the amazement of other moms whose children haven't reached that milestone yet. Now we feel a little old! I guess they say now that once our kids can crawl, they have to kick us out. I wonder when I'll be able to check that milestone off the list...
Thursday we went to Kelley's for a playdate with Nolan/Kelley and Blaine/Danielle. The three boys really feed off each other and when Blaine got scared of Kelley's dog Wrigley and started crying, it caused Nolan to cry, which caused Keaton to chime in. We couldn't help but laugh... they did it more than once. I called it "waterfall crying". I have noticed the same type of thing at Cradle Talk- when one kid gets fussy, more kids start crying, and they all seem to get hungry or tired around the same time... it's a little strange!
I really enjoy spending time with Kelley and Danielle- I feel like I've finally made good friends here- people I can really talk to and confide in. I think that's another reason why I don't feel as bad about quitting my job- I don't need to go to work to fulfill the need to say something other than 'goo goo gah gah' all day. It really does help to be around moms who are going through the same things I am. I had a blast with them when we went out for our Moms Night Out a week ago... it was great to go out and relax. I look forward to doing it again soon! Maybe with a few less ounces of adult beverage this time, though... yikes. ;)
We ended up meeting up again on Friday and went to downtown Naperville to walk around with the boys. I guess we were quite a sight around there- three moms with three strollers and three boys... we got asked quite a few times if the Labor Day parade had started early. Haha.
Yesterday, Case and I took Keaton to downtown Naperville to the Last Fling event they were having for families. Keaton got to go to the petting zoo and saw his first farm animals up close and personal. He really seemed to like it, and was enthralled by the calf and the chickens most of all. I took a bunch of pictures of Casey and Keaton with the animals... I'll post them on the Flickr site soon. I also got what seems to be some nice shots of the boys together by the riverwalk, and Casey took one of Keaton and I that will probably be one of my favorites... at least it looked good in the viewfinder of the camera. :)
In other news, I had an embarrassing thing happen earlier in the week. One of the ladies on my street thought Keaton's name was 'Keegan', and instead of swallowing my pride and correcting her, I made the mistake of talking about it to two of the other neighbors. I think it was because I don't like 'confrontation' (I hate calling it that, because it wasn't a negative thing... just embarrassing). Anyway, one of the neighbors e-mailed her about it, and she drove up shortly afterward while we were sitting outside and was completely embarrassed. To make matters worse, her 4 year old daughter yelled from the car, "I want to see baby Keaton" to which one of the neighbors yelled out, "See, even your 4 year old knows his name!". Then the ladies started talking about how I should have just told the woman she had his name wrong, and how it's similar to having food stuck in your teeth but no one telling you it's there. Soooo... lesson learned. Next time I'll woman up and say something. Blah. I have never been good at that and often find myself avoiding a situation so the other person isn't embarrassed... turns out it's like ripping off a bandaid. Just freaking do it and get it over with. (Sigh).
Well, I'm about to go Office Space on one of the printers here who will not make up its mind and keeps trying to print from the wrong tray, no matter what I do. Where's a baseball bat when I need one?? Ahhh! Right now it's nice to know that the only printers I will have to abuse soon are the ones in my own house. That's about all from me for one day!
-Ash
Keaton has done a few new things this week. He held his sippy cup and bottle for the first time by himself. Granted, he had to do it while laying down or being propped up on his Boppy pillow because he hasn't mastered the concept of holding the cup up so the liquid goes to the mouthpiece, but it's a start. He also gave me an open mouth kiss twice this week! I really don't know if he knew what he was doing, or if he just wanted something to chew on and found my face, but either way it was really cute. He put his hands on my cheeks and came at me with his mouth wide open. Funny, and slimy at the same time. He's still drooling a lot, and I think he is really going to get a tooth any day now. Casey and I can feel a bit of a rough patch on his gums at the bottom. He will not under any circumstances let us actually look in his mouth, though, so there may very well be a tooth in there already and we just haven't seen it yet. I know it's starting to get a bit painful when he eats! (Too much information. Sorry. But it's true!)
On Wednesday we went to Cradle Talk for one of the last times. They normally cap the age at 6 months, and while they said they will make some exceptions because the newer moms seem to like asking the 'experienced' moms questions, we are the oldest in the class now and it shows. Danielle's son Blaine and Keaton spent almost the entire class period sitting up, to the amazement of other moms whose children haven't reached that milestone yet. Now we feel a little old! I guess they say now that once our kids can crawl, they have to kick us out. I wonder when I'll be able to check that milestone off the list...
Thursday we went to Kelley's for a playdate with Nolan/Kelley and Blaine/Danielle. The three boys really feed off each other and when Blaine got scared of Kelley's dog Wrigley and started crying, it caused Nolan to cry, which caused Keaton to chime in. We couldn't help but laugh... they did it more than once. I called it "waterfall crying". I have noticed the same type of thing at Cradle Talk- when one kid gets fussy, more kids start crying, and they all seem to get hungry or tired around the same time... it's a little strange!
I really enjoy spending time with Kelley and Danielle- I feel like I've finally made good friends here- people I can really talk to and confide in. I think that's another reason why I don't feel as bad about quitting my job- I don't need to go to work to fulfill the need to say something other than 'goo goo gah gah' all day. It really does help to be around moms who are going through the same things I am. I had a blast with them when we went out for our Moms Night Out a week ago... it was great to go out and relax. I look forward to doing it again soon! Maybe with a few less ounces of adult beverage this time, though... yikes. ;)
We ended up meeting up again on Friday and went to downtown Naperville to walk around with the boys. I guess we were quite a sight around there- three moms with three strollers and three boys... we got asked quite a few times if the Labor Day parade had started early. Haha.
Yesterday, Case and I took Keaton to downtown Naperville to the Last Fling event they were having for families. Keaton got to go to the petting zoo and saw his first farm animals up close and personal. He really seemed to like it, and was enthralled by the calf and the chickens most of all. I took a bunch of pictures of Casey and Keaton with the animals... I'll post them on the Flickr site soon. I also got what seems to be some nice shots of the boys together by the riverwalk, and Casey took one of Keaton and I that will probably be one of my favorites... at least it looked good in the viewfinder of the camera. :)
In other news, I had an embarrassing thing happen earlier in the week. One of the ladies on my street thought Keaton's name was 'Keegan', and instead of swallowing my pride and correcting her, I made the mistake of talking about it to two of the other neighbors. I think it was because I don't like 'confrontation' (I hate calling it that, because it wasn't a negative thing... just embarrassing). Anyway, one of the neighbors e-mailed her about it, and she drove up shortly afterward while we were sitting outside and was completely embarrassed. To make matters worse, her 4 year old daughter yelled from the car, "I want to see baby Keaton" to which one of the neighbors yelled out, "See, even your 4 year old knows his name!". Then the ladies started talking about how I should have just told the woman she had his name wrong, and how it's similar to having food stuck in your teeth but no one telling you it's there. Soooo... lesson learned. Next time I'll woman up and say something. Blah. I have never been good at that and often find myself avoiding a situation so the other person isn't embarrassed... turns out it's like ripping off a bandaid. Just freaking do it and get it over with. (Sigh).
Well, I'm about to go Office Space on one of the printers here who will not make up its mind and keeps trying to print from the wrong tray, no matter what I do. Where's a baseball bat when I need one?? Ahhh! Right now it's nice to know that the only printers I will have to abuse soon are the ones in my own house. That's about all from me for one day!
-Ash
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Little Big Man
Hellooooo September!! There is so much to do this month!! I can't believe it will be Fall soon and the leaves will start changing... time to start stocking up on bigger, warmer clothes for Mr. K. He has almost totally outgrown all of his 3-6 month stuff now and even fits into his 9 month PJs already. Yikes! I think I've said this at least once a month, but where is the time going?! He'll be 7 months old in less than 2 weeks!
Casey and I took Keaton on a walk last night to the park close to our house. We blew bubbles, and Keaton got to sit in the baby swing for the first time by himself. He loved it! He giggled a lot and enjoyed the breeze on his face. He also enjoyed watching the older kids playing basketball and riding bikes and skateboards. He's continuously amazed by older kids and likes to observe them whenever he can. Especially the girls, of course.
I took him in to work today so I could pick up my paycheck and give my 4 week notice. I just can't do it anymore. I want to spend time with my boys and find myself thinking about them all the time I'm at work. Even if it was only 2 days a month, it was a good run, and I'm happy for the opportunity they gave me to come back. There are a lot of good people there and I will miss them, but I know I'll see them again. And with that, a big weight is lifted off my shoulders.
Time to go play with Keat, who just woke up from a nice nap in his crib for the second time this week. :)
-Ash
Casey and I took Keaton on a walk last night to the park close to our house. We blew bubbles, and Keaton got to sit in the baby swing for the first time by himself. He loved it! He giggled a lot and enjoyed the breeze on his face. He also enjoyed watching the older kids playing basketball and riding bikes and skateboards. He's continuously amazed by older kids and likes to observe them whenever he can. Especially the girls, of course.
I took him in to work today so I could pick up my paycheck and give my 4 week notice. I just can't do it anymore. I want to spend time with my boys and find myself thinking about them all the time I'm at work. Even if it was only 2 days a month, it was a good run, and I'm happy for the opportunity they gave me to come back. There are a lot of good people there and I will miss them, but I know I'll see them again. And with that, a big weight is lifted off my shoulders.
Time to go play with Keat, who just woke up from a nice nap in his crib for the second time this week. :)
-Ash
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