Lesson Learned

Last Friday I was so caught up on watching reports on Ike (my family survived the storm fine, but still no electricity) that I didn't pay attention to the NY weather. I signed Christopher up for a free class at the Gymboree and we headed out that morning. It looked a little gloomy when we left, but I had my umbrella, so I figured we'd be fine. I didn't realize that by the time I walked  across the entire width of the island to get to the class it would be pouring on me. Christopher didn't get a drop on him because he was covered up in the stroller. I was another story. It was a good lesson to always check the weather reports here- I can't just jump in a car like I'm used to. Gymboree was fun. Little guy was upset at first- it was a lot of stimulation, but he started smiling more as the class went on. You could tell the it was very well thought out for mental development- there was singing, parachute time, bubbles, rhymes- an overall good time for mom and baby. We're not going to sign up for it because it's too far away and after we took the free class they told it would be $160 a month- ha ha- not an option. It was a good way to get some new ideas about how to entertain him at home though. 

With all of the craziness with the market, Conan thought he might get called in to work on Saturday, so we stayed home. It was okay, because Christopher entertained us all day and we had some fun family time. This week we've been doing our usual routine, except we added in a stroller group. When we went I thought it was going to be a nice walk around the neighborhood to meet other moms. Nope. It was probably the hardest workout I've done in a year. The leader had us running with the strollers, stepping up and down on park benches, lunges around the sidewalks. Luckily little guy slept through the whole thing, so he didn't have to see his poor mom suffer through the workout : ). I'm still sore! 

We celebrated Christopher's three month birthday on Tuesday. The picture is me posing with him and his birthday cupcakes (for mom and dad of course). He was sleeping peacefully in his bassinet and I decided we had to have a picture of him. He woke up to a camera flash from his dad and his mom holding a cupcake in his face. Poor kid- I can't imagine what he was thinking.

Christopher is doing great. We've started to notice that he's figuring out the things that he does to get a reaction from us. Like when he smiles or laughs or coos we do it back at him. He's also figuring out what he needs to do to get picked up. When I cook dinner I put him in the bouncy seat right outside of the kitchen so we can see each other. He now has this distinct cry he makes and when you pick him up he stops immediately- nothing is wrong, he just wants to be held. Normally this cry is right when the water is boiling over, something is burning in the oven and I'm holding raw meat. He also likes to do it right when we sit down to eat. We've gotten very good at holding him with one arm and eating with another. That's why the poor kid has food stains on his onsies even though he won't be eating for another three months. He's also started letting me read to him again. For a while he would get really restless about three pages in, but now we can get through a couple of books at a time. Our current favorites are Baby Corduroy and the Hug book. He's gotten really good at tummy time all of a sudden and actually smiles during it sometimes- that's a nice change. His hands are now in his mouth at all times. He sucks his thumb and keeps his other hand by his mouth like he's protecting it in case someone tries to take it out. We can see his personality come out more ever day- he's the best. 

Pictures

I meant to post these last week... The first picture is Christopher hitting the toy on his activity gym. He's definitely hitting with more purpose now, but he hasn't been able to grab on to the toy without my help yet. There's a musical sun that he makes go off sometimes, but I don't think he knows how it happens. It keeps him very entertained. The next is one of his baby outfits I tried to put on him the other day. I couldn't stop laughing at the poor guy when I realized the pajamas that used to be too big on him now come up to his knees. I have a whole bag of clothes that my baby has outgrown now! I can't believe how big he's gotten. The next pictures are just him being cute. The last one was one evening after Conan had worked a really long day. I had been making dinner in kitchen and walked out to find my two cuties passed out. I'll post what we've been up to these past couple of weeks later today. 

Trip to the Beach

Conan didn't have to work on Sunday because the stock market was closed on Labor Day, so we thought we'd take a little day trip. It seemed like a great day for the beach. Since you aren't supposed to put sunscreen on babies less than 6 months, we got a baby tent that was supposed to have UV protection and a sun proof hat for the little guy. After our hour long train ride and a diaper change in the grass outside of Burger King (I can't believe how few public places have changing stations!) we got to the beach. We walked onto the sand and set up the tent. After a brief inspection by the paranoid first time parents, we realized we didn't trust it to protect our baby at all. We got a quick picture of him on his first beach trip and then we left immediately. We were literally on the beach for less than 5 minutes. There was a couple who were expecting beside us and I think they got a good laugh (their time is coming :-) ). It wasn't a total loss- the train ride was pretty fun and now we know how to get there for next summer. I just wish we hadn't wasted money on that dumb tent.

Conan's brother, Dax started in his first Wyoming football game on Saturday. After much exploration of the bars in our neighborhood last week (I'm sure I was quite the sight with the little guy), I found a place that would play the game for us. We went to the Blind Pig and had a great time. Hopefully people understood why we had a baby in a bar after we told them all that Dax was the quarterback. We had the whole place cheering for him. They won 21-20, we were so excited! Christopher slept through most of it- I think we'll probably withhold the details of that little trip to him until he's much older : ). 

Little guy has gotten so much bigger in the past couple of weeks! I put an outfit on him that was huge when he was first born and the pants came up to his knees. All of the onsies I had been putting him in look like muscle shirts. On Monday we were walking back from the store and I peeked in the stroller and he was sleeping with his thumb in his mouth, it was so cute! And... last night he laughed for the first time! It was the best thing ever. I had him propped up on my legs and he started doing a big grin. I laughed and then he started making a cute little happy sound. When I laughed more he did it again- it took me a little while to realize that was his adorable laugh. Dad made him laugh a lot more when he got home. He's so entertaining now!  

Week with the Crums

We had a great time with Conan's dad and Chevon last week. We got to doall sorts of things in NY that we hadn't done before. Chevy's birthday was on Sunday, so we all ate a yummy Italian restaurant. Christopher got a little antsy before dinner came and I could tell we were getting a few looks. When I left to take him on a walk an older guy said, oh he's probably teething. It was funny to tell him that he's only 2 months- oh how I love the parenting advice of strangers. 

Conan had to work on Monday, so Christopher and I hung out with his fam. They were staying at the Palace hotel, so we got to have a nice lunch there. It was entirely too fancy for a baby, but there weren't many people in the restaurant so it was okay. It's fun going places with Conan's dad. He had so many kids that he had babies for 8 years of his life, so he'll take them anywhere. That's how 

we ended up at the Dinosaur Imax at the Natural history museum on Tuesday (picture huge dinosaurs making loud roars in surround sound with a 2 month old). Christopher did surprisingly well- probably because

 I fed him during the whole thing :-).   The

 history museum is amazing, we got to

 see crazy dinosaur bones, animals from all over the world and tons

 of cool Indian artifacts. That afternoon we went to Mickey Mantel's restaurant for lunch. Christopher even had his 

Yankee's onsie on- it was adorable. After that we all got in a cab to go to battery park, but little guy remembered he's terrified of cabs and started screaming. He and I got out and did the normal routine- a change and feed in the middle of Central Park. We still took a cab home, but he only screamed through about half of it- I think we're improving. 

To avoid the cab problem, Christopher and I walked to their hotel and back

 (30 blocks each way- totally worth it to avoid a crying baby) on Wednesday. We had a great lunch at the Fig and Olive. Best salad I've ever had and the place was so cute. It had little baby Olive trees all over and lots of wicker- I loved it. We got to meet up with Conan for a little bit after lunch since we works so close to where they were staying- it was a great surprise. 

It's amazing how much the little guy changes. I took him back to story time on Friday and it was so different. Last time I just held him. This time he sat in my lap and smiled

during some of the songs. I had so much fun with him. I think he liked being around all of the little kids. I felt like he was just staring, taking it all in. It was adorable. The picture of him with the toy in his hand was on his 2 month birthday. There are all of these developmental milestones that you start to obsess over once you become a mom. Well I read that he should be grasping a toy- so we tried it and he held it right away- and then flung it across the room. He just makes me laugh out loud all of the time now. He does this things where he's sitting in your lap and all of the sudden he starts fussing and the only thing that will make him stop is if you

 put him on his feet so he can "stand" (with us holding on to him for dear life). He gets this look in his eyes and I think he's concentrating so hard that he forgets that he was upset earlier. I can't help but laugh. He also imitates our faces now. If you do a coo face he'll pucker his lips and he'll stick out his tongue a little when you do it at him- and of course the smile is still the best

 thing in the whole world. 

We had a great weekend with him. Conan got to hang out with him the whole day on Saturday. That night we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was perfect weather and the view is amazing- you can see

 the whole city. There are these man made water falls that are out right now, so we got to see all of them. We tried to eat at Grimaldi's pizza because one of Conan's coworkers recommended it to him. When we finally found it there was a line all the way across the block, so there was no way we could wait  

 in it with a baby. We ate at a little Asian restaurant near by (hence the sad face in the picture- we were so excited about pizza). We got some Mr. Softee at the end of the bridge, so that made up for it. 

Conan had to work on Sunday, so Christopher and I went to infant CPR at the YMCA. I had meant to take it before he was born, but things got busy. Every time he does a big cough when he's eating I say to myself I need to take CPR, so I finally signed up. I'm so glad I did, I learned a lot- even though it was terrifying practicing on a dummy that was the size of my baby. Our instructor was awesome, he was great at explaining things. I think this must have been a side job from acting- he was very dramatic- I felt like it was the Broadway version of CPR class. Oh NYC...

What a Week!

Conan's wonderful sister, Chevon and Dad are coming in to town next week. Since my mom was just in town last week, I thought little Christopher and I would just have a quiet few days to catch up on some housework for me, and maybe a little eating, napping... and more eating for him. Boy was I wrong!

 

We started the week out with some postnatal yoga. Christopher and I tried it when he was 4 weeks old, and he hated it. After the first five minutes of him crying and ruining everyone else's yoga experience we left. I thought that maybe he just wasn't a yoga baby, but we decided to give it one more shot. He was so good!! I couldn't believe it, but I think he actually enjoyed it. The teacher was so nice, and actually from Austin. It was great to talk about Austin-y things again, and she told me about a place here whose pancakes beat Kerbey Lane's (we'll see). Little guy was so cute in yoga. We put the babies right underneath us for some of the poses and on our bellies for others. He looked very Zen (or just super confused). We're going to try it again next week, because Mom loved being able to do yoga again.

 

On Wednesday he had his 8 week pediatrician visit. He gained a little more than 1#, so now he's 12# and 13 oz. This time I was closer. I guessed he would be 13# and Dad guessed 15# (we didn't know what to expect after that last visit!). He's just above the 75% for weight and she measured him at 22 1/2". Christopher loves to curl up into a little ball when they try to do height, so Conan and I measured him at home and got him to do straight legs. We measured him at 23 and 3/4", which I think might be a little more accurate (that's just a little bit more than how long Conan was when he was born!). Christopher had to get his first big round of shots at this visit. Luckily, they combined three of the vaccines in one, so it was just two pokes and an oral vaccine for the rotavirus. Dr. Julie did amazing with the oral one. She actually got him to swallow the whole thing, unlike Mom's attempts at the vitamins she's supposed to give him everyday. He cried a little after both of the shots, not as much as I thought he would, though. The worst part was the rest of the day afterwards. The vaccines made him feel so bad that he just cried any time he wasn't sleeping. He wouldn't sleep unless he was being held, so we had a lot of Mom and Chris time that day- I just felt so bad for him. But, after a very long night he felt great the next day. 

Yesterday it was supposed to rain, so Chris and I were going to just go across the street to the market to get a few things for dinner and come home. Once we got outside it was gorgeous, so I thought we'd go a little farther to the Walgreens so we could get a little exercise. Once we got there and still no rain, I thought we'd go check out the Trader Joe's. Needless to say, we kept going and got all the way down to the Baby's R Us at Union Square. It's so nice, because they have a room where mom's can go and nurse and clean changing stations. I'm a big fan. I also picked up a new toy- the carrier in one of the pictures. I love it! I can carry him around while I'm doing everything. I think he's starting to get used to the constant Mom time, we'll see. There are a couple of drawbacks. One is that when he is that close to me he wants to eat, even if he just got done. Along with that, I now have a drool mark right where is face is at all times. Oh the joys of being a mom : ). I think those things will get better when he's big enough to face the outside. The Trader Joe's was awesome! The produce was great and the prices were way better than the smelly grocery stores over by me. It was a little too crowded for my massive stroller, but we will for sure be visiting it again. 

This has been such a great week. The best part has been that we can now make our little guy smile. When you make silly sounds or talk in a tone he likes he gives a big grin. It has been so fun to see those happy faces. It's my new favorite part of being a mom (and the 6 hours straight of sleep I got last night was nice too!). 

Big Adventures with Grammie

My mom was in town last week and we had a great time learning about our new city. We were busy, busy all week. On Monday we went over to Union Square. I was happy to find out it was walkable and they have "normal" stores. We went to the Baby's R Us and got pictures of Christopher taken. He was so cute. The lady taking the pictures made every sound you can imagine- kisses, clicks, taps- and somehow made him look like he was enjoying sitting in a baby wicker chair or propped on a carpet block with a teddy bear in his hand. Union Square also has a huge Farmer's Market that will be fun to go get produce from. We ate at Whole Foods, so it kind of felt Austin-y for a little bit. 

Tuesday we went  shopping again. I finally got shower rings, so I was thrilled (we've been using shoe laces since the move). It was supposed to rain on Wednesday, so we stayed close to home and ate

brunch at Petite Albeibe- a cute little Belgian restaurant. 

Thursday we decided to go on an adventure to Midtown. We took a cab down there and went to the Today show. All of the big hosts were in China for the Olympics, but

 one of the other hosts who is pregnant oogled over Christopher. It was so neat to see the taping. After that we head over to Central Park so I could feed Christopher (that's why Conan made me take the picture 

next 

to the half topless statue- it's how I look half the time in this city with my little guy who needs to eat every 2 hours :)  ). We ate hot dogs in the park, and then Christopher decided we were done, so he and I took a cab home. It was officially our last cab ride for a very long time. I've never heard him 

scream so loud. I think the cab driver thought he'd get a little extra money out of us by driving down the traffic in Times Square- boy did we show him. I hope we didn't totally blow out his ear drums. 

Friday we walked over to see Sarah. We got to see the East and West village. Sarah's about to leave for Africa,  so I was glad to get to see her before her trip. Conan didn't have to work on Saturday, so we had a fun trip downtown. Since we're not doing cabs anymore we decided to try the subway one more time. It wasn't as bad as the last 

subway trip. Conan's

 tall enough that he threw the stroller over the turnstile this time- I'm sure we were quite the sight. Once w

e got downtown we saw Trinity church- which was amazing, W

all Street, and the World Trade Center site. We were walking in battery park and saw the ocean, and then... the statue of liberty out ther

e! I wasn't expecting it, so it was a very nice surprise.

I'm such the tourist right now. That night we ate at Papaya dog. It was on Throw Down with

 Bobby Flay and so go

od. We had a great week and I'm feeling more like a New Yorker every day.

First Trip to the library

We went to the library on Friday for story time. I'm sure Christopher didn't get a lot out of it, but it was  a good excuse to get out for a while. For some reason I was picturing story time Pearland library style. Not so much. When we got out of the elevator there were at least 30 strollers lined up. I could not believe how many kiddos were there. I thought it would be a good way to meet other moms, but half of the kids were there with their nannies.But it was fun- they had lots of songs and cute books. Christopher was the youngest, but I think it'll be lots of fun when he gets older. 

That night we went out for our first real dinner. Sarah just finished the bar exam, so we all went out to an Italian restaurant with her friend, Purvi. It was fun, just a little stressful. We ate out in the garden, so a screaming baby didn't bother anybody too much (I hope). He was good most of the time, he just cried anytime mom tried to eat or drink anything (I guess that was kind of the whole point of going out to eat). It was a fun night out.

So the pictures: The first is Christopher at the library. The next is him looking at the black and white picture I made him. His pediatrician said we should try to have him look at black and white images while he does tummy time since that's what he sees best.  The 3rd is Chris sitting like a big guy on the couch with Dad. Then, that's me & the little dude in front of the mirror (he likes looking in it now).  The last is him smiling- I think it was a real smile. We get the best smiles when he's bouncing in his chair.