Christmas Recovery

Well, we made it! Christmas has come and gone, and we're all still here, in relatively good shape. I say relatively because William caught a pretty wicked cold, which I think he has now shared with me. He started wheezing again on Friday, so I nebulized him Friday and Saturday, and by Saturday evening, the wheezing was gone, but his nose got good and goopy and he has a pretty productive cough. His nose is still super goopy, but otherwise, he's doing pretty well. (Besides having an intense case of clingyness. I could hardly be three steps away from him throughout this holiday without him pitching a fit.) He's back on the Singulair, now, since that seemed to really make a difference before. He'll stay on it until at least May.

So now that we got that out of the way (I keep track of all William's illnesses with this blog!), I can report on Christmas. William had three days packed full of family and festivities and getting thrown off-schedule, but he was quite the trooper. On Christmas Eve, we went to Ed's aunt and uncle's house for their traditional party, and William enjoyed going up and down the various steps in the house. Their living room and family room are one step down, and then the sun room is another step down. They also have a back staircase and a front staircase. So after he practiced going up and down the one-step levels without holding onto anything, he worked on climbing up one staircase, and then climbing down the other. Needless to say, I got quite a workout myself.

We didn't leave the party until 9:30, so William was completely off schedule that night, and combined with his cold and general clingyness, he had a pretty bad night, which means I got hardly any sleep at all, which means that by the time Christmas morning rolled around, and the daunting task of doing the final preparations for entertaining 21 people at our house finally hit me, I was a bit of a basket case. I won't go into it, but suffice it to say there was crying going on, and it wasn't all William! Despite this little, tiny setback, though, it was wonderful to see William play with the toys that Santa left for him. The first thing he saw was wooden train set--a figure eight with a four-car train. He could have played with it all morning, but we finally convinced him to also check out the shopping cart and pretend food that Santa gave him. This was a big hit, too, and after opening a few more wrapped gifts, he was clearly done with presents and just wanted to play. He got tired around mid-morning, but rallied when his cousins came over and gave him a Hess truck with two motorcycles in the back. They also got him a ride-on truck, and both gifts were huge hits. After his cousins left, he napped until Ed's whole family came over in the late-afternoon. He spent the evening alternating between clinging to me, and playing with toys and showing off for everyone. We finally got him down for the night at 8:30. I was exhausted, but Ed and I started watching Transformers and as stupid as the movie is, I had to watch the whole thing. So needless to say, I'm beat!

We really had a great Christmas, though, and were spoiled by all the gifts we received. Today was rainy and gross outside, so this afternoon, we headed over to Barnes and Noble to put a dent in a gift card we received. William had a great time playing with the train table and Ed and I took turns browsing the store and picking out books. It was the first time in three days that I had more than 20 minutes to myself, without being clung to or dragged around by William. Ahhhh--sweetness. I know it's a phase, and I do try to treasure his neediness while it lasts, but good Lord--talk about testing someone's patience! At any rate, hopefully, our somewhat normal schedule today helped settle him down a bit. I go back to work tomorrow, and we'll see whether or not he'll go to daycare. He might end up staying home with Ed. Is it terrible to admit I'm almost looking forward to the "me" time I'll get at work tomorrow?

Unfortunately, I was too overwhelmed with the business of entertaining to take pictures yesterday. We got video of William in the morning playing with his Santa toys, but that's about it. Today, however, I got some good pictures of William playing with this all-time classic toy--an empty box.


So that's our Christmas recap. I'm kind of looking forward to the new year. I'm feeling the urge to buckle down and get organized. And of course, looking forward to bringing baby #2 into the world. I'm also aiming to get more into the routine of blogging again. We'll see if I can follow through! Hope every had a wonderful holiday, too, and that you all feel as blessed as I do!

Much Too Busy to Post

Things are going well, but I'm just too busy for a proper post. Ed has had a lot of holiday parties for work, plus some errand-running after work, which means I've been doing evenings solo quite a bit. It always makes me appreciate him when we're together. Although he might argue that I don't seem appreciative. But I am! At any rate, I'm picking up holiday cards tonight (finally!) and mailing them tomorrow. I've been emailing pictures to Ed's sister for their grandfather's birthday gift--a digital picture frame. Which is also, incidentally, what we're getting Ed's parents for Christmas. I ordered stamps with William and his cousins' picture on them for Ed's mom and grandfather's birthday. (Ed's mom's birthday is Dec. 24 and his grandfather is Dec. 26.) And now I've got to focus all of my attention on last-minute gift buying (stocking stuffers and odds and ends), and the fact that we're hosting Christmas dinner at our house for 23 people.

Yes--that's right--23 people. I wasn't feeling stressed about until I mentioned it on my mom's message board and everyone seems to be freaking out for me. When I started thinking about it, I started realizing that yes, 23 people in my house, for dinner, is quite an undertaking. Still, I'm determined not to stress about it. Or rather, to stress as little as possible. Ed's grandparents are bringing a ham. His aunt and sister will bring appetizers. My cousin will bring chairs and a salad. Ed's parents and cousin will bring dessert. Ed's aunt and uncle will bring leftovers from their Christmas Eve holiday spread. And I'll provide biscuits for the ham, baked ziti, garlic rolls, and salad. I might or might not make a holiday dessert that my mom always made. No problem, right? It will be crowded and chaotic, no doubt, but it will all work out.

Am I absolutely insane? Wait . . . don't answer that. At any rate, there are definitely things that I wanted to do that won't be getting done now. Like making Christmas cookies, for one thing. And there was a craft project I wanted to attempt that won't get done. And there were a few people I had wanted to get gifts for, but that won't happen now, either. But that's all okay. No one will really be the worse for wear--least of all me! I just need to stay really focused for the next couple of nights and this weekend, and then ENJOY Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our family. So that's my plan. Wish me luck!

Guess What We Did Today?

Yes--we braved the dreaded mall to get a picture of William with Santa. It was soooo worth it, though. I thought for sure that William would cry the minute we handed him off to Santa. But he was way too interested in the Barney and Elmo dolls that the photographer used to elicit smiles from the kids. They worked! The best part is this is the same Santa that William posed with last year. He's worked this specific mall for something like 17 years. So for comparison, here's last year's picture:


This year's picture is dark because it's actually a picture of a picture. We opted to not pay for the CD picture, and I can't get my scanner to work. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out.

And William even enjoyed the mall and all the people and decorations. He was so engrossed with everything that he didn't protest being in the stroller. Of course, Ed and I didn't ramble. We headed straight for our destination, got the picture taken, and then headed straight back the way we came. We did decide to eat at TGI Friday's before we left, though, but William was great there, too. So the whole afternoon was a success!

Speaking of successes--the cake balls were delicious. And the ones dipped in the semi-sweet chocolate chips with shortening set just fine, with no melting. Still think I'll try paraffin wax for the next ones, though.

Cake Balls

I'm in a giddy mood, so my title just sounds funny to me. Makes me giggle. ANYWAY . . .

I made cake balls tonight! (Giggle, giggle) For those of you who don't know what they are, the basic recipe is to bake one cake, any flavor (the box kind), let it cool a bit, then crumble it into a bowl and mix with one can of frosting, any flavor. Form this mixture into bite-size balls, dip in chocolate coating (or white chocolate), and voila! Cake Balls! (I actually formed the balls and then put them in a ziplock in the freezer and let them come to room temp. before dipping them.)

I've been wanting to try these for a while, but I was a little intimidated by the chocolate coating part. Some people use almond bark or confectioners chocolate. Others use chocolate chips mixed with shortening or paraffin wax. Some people dip the balls with a spoon. Others use toothpicks.

I found chocolate and vanilla almond bark at Walmart and tried the chocolate with the ones I made tonight. It didn't really work out very well, so halfway through, I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 tbsp. shortening, and that worked a lot better. The almond bark was too thick and it wasn't coating the cake balls very well. However, it did harden nicely at room temperature, whereas the chocolate-chip coating didn't "set" very well. I put those in the refrigerator, but I'm not sure how they'll travel tomorrow. I'm afraid they'll melt and get all stuck together in transit. Oh well. It was my first attempt so we'll see what happens. For the cake balls, I used a devil's food chocolate cake mixed with chocolate icing. And I topped half of the dipped cake balls with colored sprinkles, and the other half with crushed candy canes. I also have a spice cake mix that I plan to mix with cream cheese frosting, and dip in the vanilla almond bark. I need to come up with some way to thin out the almond bark, though.

So that's why I'm too tired for a decent post tonight. Not much new to talk about in William's world. He's been really into the Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever. He mostly likes the pages with the construction trucks, regular trucks, fire trucks, and trains, but he also likes the page in the kitchen. And if I point things out, he'll sit through almost all the pages. Santa Claus definitely needs to bring him Cars and Trucks and Things that Go.

In my world, I'm 20 weeks pregnant today! Halfway there--woo-hoo! We had the sonogram yesterday and everything looks good. Maybe I'll have Ed take a 20-week shot of my belly. They estimated that the baby weighs 13 ounces now. They said that's a "good size" for this age, so I think I need to look that up. Maybe it's time to stop noshing on so many sweets! So anyway, that's all for tonight. I've been working on a William-to-English dictionary for one of my future posts, so stay tuned!

William's Really Big Day

Today was an exciting day for William. We went for a train ride on the local commuter train and got to see Santa Claus, and then tonight after dinner, the local fire station gave Santa and Mrs. Claus a ride around our neighborhood on their shiny red fire truck. Santa Claus, mind you, was incidental to the real thrill, which was riding on a train and hearing the whistle and seeing a fire truck with the lights flashing and hearing the siren and the horn honk. For the rest of the night, right up until I turned off his light and put him in his crib, William babbled incessantly about fire trucks and choo-choos. What a day! I wonder if he'll remember tomorrow?

Either the train ride and fire truck excitement completely wore him out, or he's getting sick, or having a growth spurt, but he took a three-hour nap this afternoon and was asleep tonight by 7:30 p.m. It's probably some combination of the three, but I'll take it. He did wake up at 5:30 this morning, so I imagine he was pretty wiped out by the time we got home from the train ride. I'm thinking he might be getting sick, though, because his eye is starting to look a little red and goopy, and his nose is runny. Not to mention the fact that he was super-clingy all afternoon and evening. We might be staying home on Monday if his eye seems to get worse, and it's only one eye. Still, I managed to get a lot done today, and for that I'm grateful. Tomorrow I get to spend the afternoon shopping with my girlfriend, so I'm grateful for that, too! This is definitely shaping up to be a fantastic holiday season. I'm sure as Christmas approaches, I will start feeling the stress, but so far, so good. And to top things off, on Tuesday, I"ll be 20 weeks pregnant--halfway there! Woo-hoo! Life is definitely good right now.

Dare I Say It OUT LOUD?

I'm a little hesitant to say this OUT LOUD, but we have had quite a breakthrough this week with the separation anxiety. William has cried when I leave him at daycare almost every single day for, hmmm, about 10 months now. But this week, he has not cried once. NOT ONCE!!! He gives me a kiss and a hug and then says "Bye" and goes off to play with his friends or toys or to dance, or to do whatever it is that 18-month-old kids do in daycare. I had resigned myself to this day never coming. I was pretty sure that I had somehow created an insecure, clingy mama's boy. And I've read the child development studies that say that children who have a very strong attachment to one or both of their parents are in the long run more secure and confident. But it's hard to believe that when your child freaks out every time you leave him at daycare. So this week has been very gratifying.

I know this does not mean that we won't have days when he won't want me to leave. That there won't be days when I end up spending 10 or 20 extra minutes in the room with him, helping him to get acclimated. And he still protests when I leave him with Daddy while I take a shower. (Something about me getting into that bathtub and closing the curtain with the water running just freaks him out! I have to close the bathroom door entirely and leave him on the other side.) But I think we've definitely gotten through this phase--at least for this week! Who knows what next week will bring?

Random Thoughts

I'm going to keep my blogger window open today and just post random thoughts as I think them. Starting with,

• I forgot to put on my rings today. I don't usually take them off, but I don't like wearing them when I put on lotion. And I finally bought the Palmer's Cocoa Butter lotion (except I got the kind that says for stretch marks, instead of the original, and I really don't like the way it smells, and it's not as rich as the original kind, although it says it has added ingredients specifically for stretch marks, but I'm not buying it, so it's back to the original for me), which I used during my last pregnancy and managed to not get any stretch marks, so even though I know it's more hereditary than anything, I don't want to push my luck and thought I'd better maintain the same routine. So anyway, when I put on lotion, I take my rings off. But this morning I forgot to put them back on, so now I feel naked.

• William doesn't eat many things that require a spoon. At daycare, I know he eats cereal with milk, but I can't get him to eat that at home. He doesn't really like one-pot meals, either, like stew or rice dishes. I'm thinking of this because I was thinking about making shepherd's pie for dinner with ground beef, but it's not something that William will eat. At least not yet. Maybe I just need to keep putting dishes like these in front of him. He eats that stuff at daycare.

• I'm really annoyed with my boss right now. He starts new projects and then they inevitably change course halfway through, but he neglects to tell anyone that we're changing directions or that it's no longer a priority, or that we just want to focus on one specific part. Overall, he's a really good boss--not demanding, not a micro-manager, not confrontational (which can be a bad thing, but not when you don't want to be confronted!)--so I shouldn't complain. But out of nowhere he'll just come up with some idea that we never talked about before, and he looks at me like I have two heads because I'm not on the same page as him. Ugh.
  

• Sometimes I think I'm eating really well, but then I'll come home and eat 4 chocolate chip cookies (okay--5!) and pick off of William's chicken nugget leftovers and then eat my own dinner and have a chocolate donut for dessert, and then I think, hmmmm, I might want to watch out for gestational diabetes. Better luck tomorrow, huh

• I really love The Biggest Loser. I have never been able to truly change my lifestyle, so I really admire those people who succeed.

• Rachel Ray sucks. Not only is she annoying, but has anyone ever actually succeeded in making her 30-minute meals in 30 minutes? It only works if everything is totally prepped ahead of time, and if you are an expert chopper. I'd like to take a knife skills class at Sur La Table.

• I have the cutest boy in the whole entire world. Seriously--I'm in love with my kid. What more can I say?
  

So there you have it--random thoughts for a day.

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!"

I know--such a cheesy title, but I couldn't help it. We had the best weekend and it put me in such a great mood. Tired--but great. We had a play date with William's two best buddies, we made sugar cookies, got the Christmas tree, got the Christmas decorations out and decorated, and spent lots of quality family time together. So far, my plan of a stress-free Christmas, to be enjoyed and celebrated, is going swimmingly!

William hasn't been eating a whole lot lately, but I'm attributing it to his teething, and just trying to make sure he has some balance of protein, whole carbs, calcium, vitamins C, D, and A, and iron.In William's world, it seems he's learning new words and phrases every day. His bottom two canines have cut through, and his top ones or working their way in. He's been a fruit fiend of late--especially grapefruit and tangerines. Today I bought a box of clementines at the grocery store and he ate two for his afternoon snack. He also loves blueberries, bananas, grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, and strawberries. I think it's pretty obvious that he has a pretty strong sweet tooth. He'll hardly touch milk in a sippy unless it's chocolate, he only drinks water if he has to (preferring juice), and he'd be perfectly happy eating fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He I'm sure he'll get what he needs as long as I offer him the right choices.

So, without further ado, it's picture and video time! First, the tree
With the flash:


Without the flash, so you can see the lights (it's blurry, but much prettier this way):


And next, the mantel:


And now, the piece de la resistance:

And finally, some video. William helped me roll out the cookie dough and cut out shapes. Well, more like, he insisted on doing it himself, so I gave him some scrap dough and let him have at it. He was so entertained! He discovered that he could eat the cookie dough and enjoyed it quite a bit.



And just for good measure, I came across this video of William exactly one year ago today. Quite a contrast, huh?



So that's our news. It's nice to have energy again. I think I'm finally in the second trimester, feeling-pretty-good phase. Our 20-week sonogram is on Dec. 10, but I'm pretty sure we're going to opt not to find out the sex of the baby. I have been feeling him or her move, though! It's just been the last few days, but it's still pretty exciting. Maybe I'll post belly pics in my next entry. So stay tuned!

Trying Not to Over-do It

At this time of the year, I always get some grand ideas about what all I'm going to accomplish, from gift shopping to home decorating to baking to crafts. Just before Thanksgiving, I start thinking that if I start now, I'll have five full weekends to do everything that I want--who needs more time than that? And yet somehow, those weekends quickly get accounted for, and shopping happens on-line, if at all, and the homemade plates of cookies and treats that I was going to make for neighbors and everyone in the office turns into one platter of homemade cookies to take to the office (forget the neighbors!), and then to store-bought cookies in a box. The gifts that I had planned to "make" for people never get made. And my home-decorating ends up being a hodge-podge of Christmas crap and ideas that stay mostly in my head.

This year will likely be no different. Except for the fact that now that I have a kid and one on the way, I want to make sure that no matter what I accomplish or don't accomplish, that we actually enjoy the holidays and have fun doing whatever it is that we decide to do, whether that's making cookies, or decorating the house, or making homemade ornaments, or just simply spending time with family and friends, or lazing about the house getting absolutely nothing done. I think we've clearly established that I'm not the most organized, efficient, "get things done" kind of person. So I'm aiming low this year and will do what I can. And who cares about the rest.

So with that said, I'm going downstairs to make the dough for sugar cookies, which I may or may not roll out into cookies this weekend. If not this weekend, maybe next weekend. And I may or may not look for the garland to hang up on the fireplace mantel. And I may or may not try to add lights to that garland. Either way, I'll be happy with what I can accomplish. I just need to keep reminding myself of that each time I try to go over the long list in my head of what I "need" to get done this weekend or the following weekend, or the weekend after that. So that's my goal. Wish me luck!

Blogging Sabbatical

I've taken an unintended blogging sabbatical, and the longer I'm away, the harder it is to get back into the "habit" of blogging. With Mom visiting, and the holidays approaching, I've been busy, to say the least. I've been spending my computer time uploading holiday CDs onto my iPod, uploading pictures and trying to create holiday gifts, and of course, Internet shopping. Add visiting with my mom, real-world shopping, and gardening to all of that, and I've been left with little time or energy to blog. Mom left today, though, the flower beds have been planted and mulched, holiday CDs are on the iPod, and I've made progress with shopping and pictures, so it's time for an update on the Hahn Household.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and counted so many blessings. William enjoyed all of the attention and managed to entertain a houseful of guests, despite his recent bout of "Mommy-itis" (where it's terribly painful to be any further than two steps away from Mommy's side, and preferably in Mommy's arms). On Friday, we went Bowling with Ed's cousins on his dad's side, and all of their kids. There were nine second cousins in all, and William had a blast! He loved bowling, and after the game, we went back to one of the cousin's house where William got to play with a ton of new and interesting toys. He was way more laid back and easy-going than his 20-month old cousin, which made Ed and me look like great parents. (Well, not really. It just made William look like an easy kid! But this is my blog, so I can interpret it however I want!) Here's an action shot of him in his bowling shoes.

And here's a shot of all the cousins. This was a tough picture to get!


The rest of the weekend was filled with shopping, gardening, putting together William's new tricycle from Baba, and keeping William out of trouble. Baba bought William lots of new toys. So far his favorites are the Hot Wheels trucks and helicopter. And he's still enjoying those potatoes. His latest game is throwing them up onto the counter. Here's a video:



In other exciting William news, he's starting to string words together into phrases. He'll say, "water all gone," for example, or "Daddy outside." If he wants me to do something, he'll grab my hand and say, "walk." He talks A LOT, but I still only understand about 10 percent of what he says. He says "I love you" when I say it to him, which melts my heart. In really big news, two nights ago, he went to sleep without his before-bed bottle, and slept all night! I've been reluctant to try to take away the bottle because, A) I was worried he'd wake up hungry during the night, and B) I was worried he wouldn't drink enough milk without the bottle. B may still be an issue, but he didn't even miss it before bed and didn't wake up hungry. Tonight he didn't have it either, so we'll see if he wakes up. Last night could have been a fluke. At any rate, he hasn't been eating much lately, so I don't want to try to take away the morning bottle yet. But give us another month, and we may be bottle-free for a few short months!

As for my pregnancy, things are going well. I'm definitely feeling better and not so exhausted. I've gained 10 pounds so far, so obviously no problems in the eating department! I'm 18 weeks this week, so time is really flying. It's funny how you're so focused on your pregnancy and your body with your first baby, but you don't give it much thought when it's your second (or third or fourth or fifth). Not that I don't give the baby much thought--but it's the pregnancy itself that just doesn't consume you like the first one does. As for the baby, I think about him or her all the time and imagine what she/he will be like. I think of how I want this baby to be different from William (I hope he or she SLEEPS!!!!), and I how I hope he or she is the same. Will the infant stage be just as hard? Will I be a better mom this time around? Will William become a monster when we bring the baby home? Or will I be pleasantly surprised like I usually am when it comes to William? Time will tell, I guess.

I guess that's enough for one night. If I plan to get back into the habit of blogging, I better ease myself in. Good think I opted out of participating in NaBloPoMo! Maybe next year!

Holy Appetite!

William ate TWO entire hot dogs for dinner and a whole string cheese serving, and that was after eating half an apple on the way home, and half a grapefruit when we got home. (Guess he has a bit of Florida in him after all! The boy loves grapefruit!) Too bad I didn't make something a little more healthy. Of course, that may be the point. Maybe he's just not into healthy these days.

Last night, William discovered that the gate lying flat on the floor is a lot of fun. First he walked over it several times. Then he got some trucks and rolled the trucks over the gate. Then he got his ride-on car and his push walker toy and ran those over the gate. Apparently, it's very entertaining, because he did it all again tonight. Last night he also discovered the bag of potatoes that I keep in one of the cabinets. He proceeded to take all the potatoes out of the bag and carry them to the fireplace hearth, one by one. That was pretty fun, but then he decided to see what would happen if he started throwing the potatoes. Mom quickly put all the potatoes away, so I guess that answered that question. Tonight he decided it was hysterical to spit drool wads onto the sofa and carpet, and then spread them around. Actually, the hysterical part was when Mom said, "William! Don't do that!" Funny stuff, I tell you. At least he's easily entertained!

So there's a glimpse into our evening activities. Always something new and fun going on in the Hahn household. Stay tuned for more!

Happy 18-month Birthday!

Dear William,

Today, you turned 18 months old. You're one and a half! Almost old enough to stop counting your age in months. Wow--where has the time gone? You are such an amazing little boy and you bring your dad and me such joy. You are learning new things by leaps and bounds these days, and I love to watch the wheels spin in that precious little head of yours. You are so observant, always paying attention to the world around you. You are a little cautious by nature, preferring to watch from the sidelines before jumping in with both feet. Once you're comfortable, though, look out! You love to make people laugh, and to laugh yourself. And you're so tough! You hardly ever cry when you hurt yourself, and if you do, it's only for a minute.

You love trucks and buses and motorcycles and trains and helicopters and airplanes. You point them out when we're driving, or playing outside. And you even point them out when we're inside and you hear them. You love books and listen to the stories very intently. Some things scare you at first, like the dinosaur that roars in "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" and the wild things in "Where the Wild Things Are." But after we've read them a few times, you like them and eagerly anticipate their arrival in the pages. You are often content to sit and read books by yourself, too. You love to push your trucks and ride-on toy around the kitchen, family room, and breakfast room. You sometimes go so fast that you crash into the wall, which you think is funny, but it always scares me. You also love to draw with pencils and pens and will do so happily for quite some time. You're pretty content to amuse yourself, as long as I'm close by. And you often stop for a hug, or to check out what I'm doing.

I love it when you wake up in the morning because believe or it not--I actually miss you while you're sleeping. I love your hugs, and the way you sometimes hold my cheeks and smush your face into mine. I feel your love so fiercely in those moments, and want to hold onto that forever. And even though you are a mama's boy through and through, no one makes you laugh like your daddy. In the mornings when I bring you to our bed, the first thing you do is lie on top of daddy and make sure he's awake. And when he comes home from work, it sends you into a fit of giggles and silliness. There's nothing better than seeing you give Daddy a hug. Or listening to you and Daddy play together. Or watching you help Daddy in the back yard.

You definitely assert your independence from time to time, and you clearly let us know when you're not happy. But so far, you get over things very quickly and you seem to be okay with the fact that your Dad and me are in charge. We are thankful for this, although we know it might change any day. We are excited for you to become a big brother, and although your world will change more than your could probably imagine, I think you will take it in stride, and will love having a friend and playmate eventually. It will be hard to share mommy at first, but like always, you will adapt quickly.

We hope that we are giving you everything you need to be a happy, confident, thoughtful, and industrious little boy. We know that we have made mistakes along the way, and probably will in the future, too, but we are so lucky that you are so easygoing and forgiving. We can't wait to see what the next 18 months, and 18 years and more, will bring. And in the meantime, we will treasure every moment that we get to spend with you.

Here are some pictures to remind us of your journey.

On the day you were born:


Six months old:


One year old:


18 months old:


We love you William. And we're so proud of you.

P.S. At your 18-month checkup, you weighed 22.5 lbs, measured 31 inches tall, and your head is 18 and 3/4 inches around. You're still a little guy, but growing just fine!

"Help, Please"

It's a great moment when something you've been "teaching" your child sinks in. I've been telling William to say, "Help, please" when he wants something he can't reach, or to open something, or anytime he's getting frustrated. I'm so tired of all the grunting/pointing/whining. So Saturday morning, he wanted to open the locked kitchen cabinet and he magically said, "Help, please!" I nearly fell off my chair! And he said it again later when he wanted to get in the chair to bang on the computer keys. And now he's either saying or signing "please" without me prompting it. Amazing! It seems like he's been learning and absorbing by leaps and bounds in the last week. Lots of new words and comprehension. I really really love this age. I love watching him play and interact with people. And he's still listening to me and hasn't started throwing monster fits yet. So all is fantastic in the Hahn household right now.

This weekend we went to a wedding in Delaware. Actually, Ed and I were in the wedding (his cousin's wedding), so William got shuffled around to lots of different caregivers. And he was wonderful! On the 2-hour drive to Delaware, he slept for most of the way. He was great at the hotel, and then ate dinner with Ed's parents and sister while we went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. They put him to sleep in his pack-n-play and said he went right to sleep. And then he didn't wake up until 5:00 a.m., and then got in bed with us and slept until 7:00 a.m. And then on Sunday, he was with Ed in the morning while I got my makeup done, and then he hung out with his grandfather while Ed and I had to do pictures, and then he had a babysitter who he had never met before during the wedding, and she said he was great. What a trooper! The wedding was over by 7:00, so we got him in his jammies, visited with family for a little while, and then hit the road around 8:30 p.m. for the trip back to Virginia. He fell asleep at 9:00 in the car, and then went right back to sleep in his crib when we got home at 10:30, and slept until 6:00 a.m. this morning. He was pretty tired from everything, though, because today, he took his nap at 10:30 a.m. and slept for 3 hours. (I did, too!) He was such a trooper, though, and it made everything so easy. I was feeling pretty anxious about how everything would go, but I needn't have worried. Here's a picture of Ed and me at the reception. We didn't bring our camera, but someone else sent us a few pictures:

So that was our weekend. It was nice to hang out at home today. And it will be nice to have a short week. I can't believe Thanksgiving is already the week after this. My mom is coming to visit this weekend and will stay through Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to her and William spending time together. And the fact that she'll be making my yard look great is an added bonus.( Right now we're going for the Goth look with the dead inpatients still in the pots out front. ) It will be a little stressful on Ed to have her here for that long, but she hasn't seen William in so long. And we won't see her at Christmas, either. So he'll just have to live with it. Besides, an extra set of hands might be a welcome relief for all of us.

Friday Guest Blog

Wow--I've gone a whole week without posting. I guess I've gotten out of the habit of sitting down to my computer after William's gone to bed and we've cleaned up from dinner and the day. That's okay, though. There's really not all that much I have to say these days, and I can only oooh and aahh over William so much. I never get tired of him, which amazes me. (Not saying that I won't ever get tired of him--just hasn't happened yet!) He is cutting his canines, however, so I should mention that. His bottom right one poked through, and he hasn't even been very fussy. Maybe the night waking last week was because of his teeth, though? Anyway, he's also saying "motorcycle" now, except it sounds like he's saying, "marker."

Anyway, on to the guest blog. Leslie Morgan Steiner has a daily column/blog in the on-line Washington Post called On Balance, which focuses on how people balance work/family/personal life stuff. Much of the time, it ends up being about parenting and today's topic is especially relevant, so I thought I'd share. I especially liked one of Leslie's follow-up comments.

Marathon Moms

by Leslie Morgan Steiner

Okay, I'm flabbergasted: The winner of this past Sunday's New York City marathon had a baby in January? I'm particularly impressed because I could not possibly have run a marathon 10 months after having a baby. Okay, I couldn't have run one at any point in my life before I had a baby, either. And Katie Holmes ran it, too, less than two years after having Suri and after training a mere three months? Whatever...

But wait, wait -- there are a few things I've done since having a baby that have surprised me. I wrote a book between the hours of 9 p.m. to midnight every night, after working a full day at my job and wrangling my three young kids through dinner, baths, stories and into bed. I have put in a day's work and taken care of my kids -- good care -- after getting less than an hour's sleep at night. And I took up a grueling new exercise, power vinyasa yoga, which I practice three to four times a week for 90 minutes in a room heated to 93 degrees. None of my prized accomplishments are as hard as running, much less winning, a marathon. But they aren't things I thought I could do before I had kids.

What about you? Motherhood is heroic enough by itself, in my opinion. But have you done something post-parenthood that you never thought you'd be able to accomplish? What about your abilities, once you had children, has surprised and/or impressed you? Has parenthood inspired you to reach new or different personal or professional goals?

A lot of people posted comments that since the woman is a professional runner, and since Katie Holmes had both the time and the means to train in such a short period of time, it really wasn't such a huge accomplishment. So Leslie followed up with this comment:

"I don't care that Paula Radcliffe is a professional, and totally amazing, runner. Or that Katie Holmes is a rich actress. I am STILL incredibly impressed that they ran (and that Paula won) the marathon so soon after having kids. I think they -- and the other mom runners -- deserve a completely free-and-clear no caveats CONGRATULATIONS.

I feel exactly the same way for all moms who return to their jobs. And for all moms who don't return to their jobs, and tackle the new job of being a stay-at-home mom. Bravo, bravo, bravo.

We don't congratulate moms enough in this country. We act like, well, it's natural to be a mom, so who needs a medal for it? But it's big stuff, motherhood. And we're all better off recognizing how big it is."

The last paragraph is the best. Motherhood is definitely "big stuff." We give ourselves completely to these little beings, and yet we still manage to perform as wives, employees, friends, daughters, sisters, and volunteers. Most of us manage to not go absolutely insane (which is a big accomplishment in and of itself!). As for the question, "Have you done something post-parenthood that you never thought you'd be able to accomplish?" I would have to say not yet, but I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm proud of myself anyway. I'm proud of my ability to function on so little sleep. I'm proud that I've made new friends and even maintained those friendships. I'm proud of this blog. And for now, I just want to get through baby number 2 without losing my mind, and I'll be proud of that, too. Then I can tackle professional goals, house redecorating, craft projects, being more thoughtful (more on this later), and other such aspirations. In the meantime, how would you answer Leslie's questions? In thinking of many of you, I could list a lot of your accomplishments that I am amazed by and proud of for you. But I'd rather read your own list!

So kudos to all of you moms (and dads!). We do amazing work, even if it's just the everyday stuff like getting dinner on the table, getting the house cleaned before going to bed, reading 5 books to your child before bed because you love it that he loves to read, and you're happy spending the extra 10 minutes with him, staying up late to spend quality time with your husband, putting in a full day at work and feeling like you were actually productive. All of this stuff counts, so pat yourselves on the back!

15 Weeks

I think I can finally say that I'm feeling much much better these days. I'm still pretty tired, but that complete exhaustion seems to have abated somewhat. Thank goodness! I actually ironed yesterday, which is the first time since I got pregnant! Of course, it helped that Ed took William to his sister's house so I could have some uninterrupted time to get things done.

Anyway, I'm 15 weeks pregnant now, and definitely starting to show (and getting bigger just about everywhere). Here's a crappy picture. Ed's downstairs and I'm too lazy to go get him to take a decent one.


Even my boobs are getting bigger (yay!). My friend MJ sent me some AWESOME maternity clothes, although I'm bummed that a lot of them will likely end up not fitting. She is much smaller than me (everywhere EXCEPT the boobs), and I know (based on past experience) that my butt will end up expanding quite a bit over the next 6 months. However, she sent me a LOT of stuff, and there are a few items that I'm already in love with. In fact, over the weekend, I wore her olive green khaki Gap pants. They just fit me now (as do the Old Navy paisley topped khakis), and I bet in another 2-3 weeks, they'll be too small. (And I'm pretty sure the awesome Gap black full panel flare pants will be too small, too.) At any rate, I'll be keeping her apprised of what I'm wearing (and loving) as I go along. I am sooooo lucky to have such generous friends. During my last pregnancy, it was my friends Mistie and Stacey who lent me maternity clothes. I wore lots of Mistie's stuff (Stacey is tall and thin, so most of her stuff didn't fit me either) and would have been lost without it.

In other news, William seems to be picking up new words every day. He says milk now, and water (wa-wa), and this morning he said airplane. He climbed up onto one of our kitchen chairs today all by himself and proceeded to flip through the newspaper on the kitchen table. He's also very much into writing with pens or pencils. I let him have a mechanical pencil with no lead, and he "writes" on pieces of paper and envelopes and whatnot. He seems to be doing well on the Singulair, so knock on wood that it will keep him well. We both finally seem to be over the colds we've been enjoying for over 2 weeks now. Thank goodness!

On Saturday night, Ed's sister and brother-in-law babysat for William so Ed and I could go to a wedding reception. They had to do the whole dinner-bath-bedtime routine, and apparently, William did great. He ate for them, had fun in the bath, drank his bottle, read books, and went right to sleep when they put him in his crib. It's always a relief to hear that things go well when you're not there!

So that's about it. Life is good. William makes me laugh and feel proud every single day, and I'm getting excited about the prospect of another one. I'm getting excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas, too. I'm thinking of having Ed's family to our house on Christmas Day for Christmas dinner. Am I crazy? I just don't want to have to go anywhere on Christmas Day. I want to be able to lounge around in our pajamas and enjoy the gifts and Christmas carols and playing with toys. Ed's aunt usually has everyone over for Christmas Eve anyway. (And did I mention that Ed's family is Jewish, btw? Yeah--don't even ask.) Just a thought. I don't even think it would be that many people. Maybe just Ed's parents, his sister and BIL, and maybe his grandparents. Maybe his other aunt. Well, now I'm just thinking out loud. I"ll close by adding this video using Blogger's video feature, which I haven't tried before. It's kind of long, so I hope it works and that it doesn't stall your PC! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of William from his Halloween party at daycare. Hopefully I'll get more tonight of him trick-or-treating. (BTW--I'm still taking crappy pictures. Grrrrrr. These, however, were taken by another mom, fortunately! Tonight I'll have Ed do the picture-taking.)

William is the firefighter, btw.


Edited to add pictures from tonight! I took the pictures, however, so I only have one good shot:



And here he is in action:


He enjoyed trick-or-treating and got good at holding his pumpkin out for candy. When he came home, he helped pass candy out to other kids and got to eat a tootsie roll and suck on a tootsie roll lollipop. Fortunately for us, he went right to sleep, and only about 45 minutes past his regular bedtime. We'll see if I pay for it tonight, though!

Fashionista? How About Fashion Disaster?

Let me start by saying that I truly, deeply, earnestly want to be a stylish person. I want to wear trendy yet classic clothes (is there such a thing?). I want to have a fabulous hairstyle and matching accessories and makeup that is understated, yet flattering. But alas, that is not me. And it never has been me. I'm the type of person who warms up to a new and trendy style just as it's going out of style. I could get the perfect haircut, but I'd never be able to style my hair myself. (And I DO NOT have the kind of hair that you can just wash and let it air dry. Trust me--it doesn't work. I also do not have the kind of hair that I can put in a pony tail or pull back in a hair clip. It sucks, but that's my hair.) I have some jewelry, but forget to wear it about 90% of the time. And when it comes down to it, I never have enough money to spend on fun stuff like funky jewelry or shoes. I hardly ever wear lipstick because even if I put it on in the morning, it's gone an hour later. And I never remember to reapply. And Ed hates lipstick anyway. I do manage to put on powder, blush, eyeliner, and mascara in the morning. But it doesn't really seem to do much good. I never look like I'm wearing makeup. But I hate the way I look when I get "made up," so it's kind of a "lose-lose" situation.

So anyway, what made me think of this today is that I'm wearing 12-year-old pleated pants today that have a pin-size hole in the front, and the lining is basically shredded around the crotch and seat area. Pants are the single-most difficult clothing item for me to find. I have a very odd shape and going shopping for pants seriously depresses me. And so I don't. (Not to mention the fact that I have NO MONEY to shop for anything right now.) The current flat-front and low-ride styles look horrible on me. I have very wide hips and medium-to-larger size thighs and butt, but a flat stomach (although that is quickly changing) and small waist. I am also somewhere in between petite and regular, which makes it even more challenging. Anyway, that's why I'm wearing 12-year-old pleated pants. I don't have anything else that works right now. And of course, now is not the time to be buying new clothes anyway, what with the pregnancy and all.

The most scary part of all of this, though, is that I'm beginning to remind myself of my mom. With five kids, my mom NEVER shopped for herself and she was still wearing her polyester '70s outfits well into the '80s and probably even early '90s. (She thought--and still thinks--that polyester was the greatest invention ever. It could be washed and dried at home and didn't need ironing. What could be better than that? She has a point!) She also stopped getting her hair styled at some point and started wearing scarves on her head when she had to go out and was too lazy to take a shower and wash and dry her hair. (I don't think she ever owned a hair dryer.) And she never wore makeup. I used to wish she would be more stylish, like my friends' parents. (Don't get me wrong--my mom was a fabulous mom in all the ways that count. Her style was just a little, um, embarrassing.) I also bought her Oil of Olay face lotion one year (or maybe a couple of years) in the hopes that it would help her look younger! (Most of my friends' moms were several years younger than mine.) At any rate, I'M BECOMING MY MOM!!!

So I'm pledging right now, this minute, that I will never wear a scarf on my head (unless I get cancer and have to have chemo and go bald), and I will make every effort to not be completely, hopelessly, shamefully out of style. I can't promise trendy and hip, but I think I'll officially retire the pleated pants with the pinhole and shredded lining. That's a good first step, right?

Weekend Report

Monday already? How did that happen? And how on Earth is October almost over? Yikes.

We had a pretty good weekend, although I'll play the broken record again and say that I didn't accomplish all my "goals" for the weekend. But such is life. The best part of the weekend (besides getting to spend lots of time William!) was that Ed fixed my computer! Yay! It just needed a new power supply unit, and Ed replaced it himself. Needless to say, I was thrilled that there wasn't anything wrong with the hard drive. I did not, however, make the time to download pictures yet, or to backup all our pictures like I know I need to. But I will--eventually.

William and I are both still suffering from colds--lots of nasal congestion and still some lingering coughing. William goes for his follow-up doctor's appointment this afternoon, so we'll see what kind of daily regimen they'll put him on to prevent the wheezing. I'm thinking I might have a sinus infection, but I'm waffling about going to the doctor myself. It will probably go away on its own, and I need to save all the sick leave I have because I'm blowing through it at an alarming rate. At any rate, hopefully we are both on the tail end of sickness--at least for now.

William has picked up lots of new words and has started repeating things that I say. It's pretty cute. There are a lot of words that he's been saying for a while, but I forget to write them down. He can say cheese, cracker, keys, cookie, bird, paci, bottle (ba-ba), cup, shoes, truck, clock, Clark, bus, helicopter (which comes out "helicop"), balloon, more, ball, bubble, no, lawn mower (which comes out "da-doo"), and I'm sure lots more that I'm forgetting. He can make sounds for dog, cat, cow, sheep, monkey, fire truck, duck, and pig. He signs "please" now, when I remind him, although his version of the sign is to rub his hand or hands on his stomach. Works for me!

Pregnancy-wise, things are going okay. I'm definitely getting bigger around the waist, and hating this stage when your regular pants are too small but maternity clothes are still way too big. My wardrobe is God-awful, but I just can't care about that at the moment. I'm not as sick, fortunately, and my doctor prescribed heartburn drugs, which makes a big difference. If I could just shake this cold and get my energy back, I'd be in great shape! I've made it to 14 weeks, so that's progress!

So that's it for this installment of the Weekend Report. My goal tonight is to download pictures, so wish me luck (and energy!).

Life is Overwhelming Me at the Moment

Every day that passes and I don't blog just means more and more stuff I want to blog about. Not to mention all of the pictures I still haven't downloaded from my camera because we still haven't even tried to get my computer fixed. But lately, getting William fed, bathed, and in bed, and then feeding myself, is about all that I can handle. And Ed usually takes care of half of those things, so there you have it. Every night, I try to choose one thing that needs to be done that I will do, and about half the time, whatever it is doesn't happen. Nothing has gotten ironed in months, there's stuff growing in the toilet in William's bathroom and the downstairs bathroom, the tumbleweeds of dust and cat hair on the stairs are threatening to eat William, and the load of William's clothes in the dryer (at least they got washed and then dried) has been in the dryer since Sunday, and I keep running downstairs to grab pairs of pajamas and socks out of the dryer.

Before you ask, Ed has been doing more than his fair share. Not only does he maintain the outside of the house entirely on his own, he also takes out the trash, vacuums (at least once a week), cleans up the kitchen (he almost always wipes down the kitchen counters and has this knack for putting everything away), cleans up William's toys, pays all of our bills, maintains our cars, grills, gives William a bath about 3/4ths of the time, and takes care of dinner if I don't. And I'm sure there are lots of things I'm forgetting. He doesn't complain that I haven't ironed in ages, and he'll do the laundry if I ask or if he has nothing clean left to wear.

Anyway, this is not what I wanted to blog about. What I should be blogging about is our weekend, which William spent at his grandparents with his 2 cousins (well, not the whole weekend--just Saturday night and Sunday morning), and about William's new tooth (his upper left molar), and his new words (na-nee, for banana, and ba-ba, for bottle, which he should have said a long time ago, and yes--he still gets a bottle before bed and when he wakes up and I'm not that worried about it or in a hurry to end the habit, although we'll probably start working on it in the not-too-distant future), and the fact that he caught yet another cold and had yet another wheezing episode and had his first ER visit yesterday.

So where should I start--weekend? Words? Teeth? Oh--maybe you're most curious about the ER. Well, Ed stayed home with him and took him to the doctor, where they gave him a nebulizer treatment, but he didn't respond well enough to it, and the doctor wanted to rule out pneumonia, so they sent him to the ER. So poor Ed got to spend most of the day with William in the ER. Ed said he was pretty good throughout the visit, but he got really upset when they connected the little sticker monitor to his toe. Apparently, he didn't like the wire. And then he cried during the nebulizer treatment. He was fine during the chest x-ray, though, and then fell asleep for a while, and then they finally got to leave in the afternoon. Poor guy! He's better now, but it looks like he will have to go on a daily preventative treatment--either Pulmicort or Singulair. We go back to the doctor on Monday for follow-up, so we'll learn more then.

I also haven't been blogging because I've had a really bad head cold (which I passed on to William, which led to his wheezing, unfortunately) and maybe that's why I've been so overwhelmed by life. Add a head cold to a pregnant 35 year old with a toddler, and you're bound to get disaster. Isn't it amazing, though, that even in the depths of sickness, exhaustion, irritability, and inactivity, one little smile, one funny expression, one sweet hug, one new word, can make you forget all about what ails you. Listening to Ed give William his bath, hearing their giggles and William's squeals of delight, watching William hug Ed goodnight--these are the moments that make me so happy, and make me look forward to adding another bundle of craziness to the mix. My ironing may never get done, but we'll be just fine!

Good Excuse?

Some of you already know this (all five of my readers), but part of the reason why I haven't been blogging so much is that I'm sooooo stinkin' tired all the time and have no energy. Why, you may ask? Because we're expecting! (A baby, if you didn't figure that out.) I made it to 12 weeks, so we're officially sharing the news. Did I mention how tired I've been?

Because I'm "advanced maternal age" (at the ripe old age of 35), I opted to have a sonogram at 12 weeks to check for Downs Syndrome and several other chromosomal abnormalities (like trisomy 18 and 13). The sonogram was soooo cool. The baby was moving around so much, stretching its legs and crossing them, and raising its arms up. The technician got a great 3-D picture of the baby with its arms up.


Yes--it looks like a freaky alien, but that's our freaky little alien. The 3-D images were so cool. I didn't have that with William, so it was pretty neat. I will have another sonogram at 20 weeks for anatomy, but I think Ed and I have opted not to find out the sex. So we will have another little surprise!

So that's our news. Due date is April 27. That will make William and the new baby right at 2 years apart. I'm fully prepared for it to suck at first--and to be wonderful--as all of you parents can understand and appreciate. I imagine William will have a rough time at first, but I also think he will adjust pretty quickly. He is such a mama's boy, so sharing me will be hard. But I can't wait to watch them grow together and play together. We have a 3-year-old next door neighbor who William adores. He follows Matt around like a puppy dog and tries to imitate everything Matt does and laughs and laughs. It's so cute, and I imagine the new baby will follow William around in the same way. I guess the best part about this pregnancy (because so far, the physical part of this pregnancy has sucked!) is all the speculation. We have a ways to go, though.

Hopefully, now that I'm coming out of the first trimester, I will get some energy back, and will be up to posting more. In the meantime, stay tuned for the exploits of William!

Weekend Report (Belated)

We had a great weekend and it was over way too quickly. William loved the pumpkin patch--especially the hay. I got some good pictures, but haven't been able to upload them yet. (We still haven't taken my computer to get it fixed.) He loved the hay ride and jumping off of bales of hay into piles of hay. He also loved going down the big slides with Daddy, and seeing all of the animals. And at the end of the day, we got free apples as we left, and William ate an entire apple by himself. He just grabbed it and bit into it and kept on munching! It was pretty cute.

Prior to our pumpkin patch outing, however, William fell on the bed and hit his forehead on the window sill. He got a little cut that was deep enough to warrant missing music class and going to the doctor's office instead. The doctor cleaned it up and put stereostrips on it. It didn't bleed too much, and he didn't even cry too much, so we were lucky.

We spent Sunday at home, doing laundry, cleaning, and playing. It's nice to have a day free of obligations and plans, to just get things done at home. Of course, there's never time to do all the things that need doing, but we did enough.

William's sleeping has not improved, so we have moved forward with CIO. On Sunday night, it was pretty rough. He cried for 10 minutes, I went in and returned his pacifier and blankets (which he throws out of the crib) and left, then he cried for about 13 minutes, and I went in and returned the pacifier and blankets and left again, and then he cried for a few more minutes, threw out the blankets, but then put the pacifier in his mouth and went to sleep. But then he woke up again an hour later. That time, though, I only had to go in once. And last night, he woke up at midnight and cried for 10 minutes and went back to sleep (without his blankets but with his pacifier), and then woke up at 3-something and I went in and returned the blankets and pacifier and left and he started to cry but then went to sleep. So I'm hoping tonight will be even better.

He also did well in the toddler room yesterday--his first full day. He cried when I left him there, but that's par for the course with him. The teachers said he did well throughout the day and napped just fine. He's also been much better in the car this week, both on the way to work and on the way home. It's so hard to remember when you're in the thick of tough phase that it truly is JUST A PHASE.

One . . . Two . . . Three! (Or Just "Two . . . Three!")

Wow--not having my computer has really turned me into a slacker when it comes to blogging. I could have sworn I posted somewhere between Monday and today.

Anyway, we've had an okay week. William spent a lot of time with the toddlers this week, and Monday is his first full day there. He's doing pretty well, but they definitely wear him out. He comes home cranky now, which is definitely not fun. His new favorite activity is to play in the parked car. Yes--I'm THAT MOM who lets her child play in the car. No--I don't give him the keys. Yes--I'm in the car with him. It brings him such pleasure after a long day, and it's all he wants to do. So I indulge him. So sue me.

He's also counting "one . . . two . . . three!" Except he skips the "one" and goes straight to "two . . . three!" It's really cute. And he does it at random times, so it always catches me off guard. He must have gotten it from the playground at school. He loves to go down the slide now by himself, and they must count down or something.

In other William news, his top right molar has completely come in, so now he has 3 molars and all 8 incisors. The top molar didn't seem to bother him too much, fortunately. Hoping the same will go for the top left one. His sleeping habits are not so great again. It's been taking him a lot longer to fall asleep, so for a few days, he cried and cried when we put him down to sleep. He also woke up a lot and cried and cried then, too. Last night he went to sleep with no problems, but he woke up at 3:00 and couldn't seem to get back to sleep. I finally gave in and slept on the guest room bed with him. I'm hoping that a full week in the toddler room will wear him out enough that he'll go back to sleeping all night. Otherwise, we'll have to go back to letting him cry, which is so completely emotionally exhausting to me.

Our weather has finally turned cool and fall-like, and William looks adorable in jeans and fleece and long-sleeve shirts. We're going to a big pumpkin patch/fall festival tomorrow and I'm so excited. I'm hoping that William will really enjoy it. There are slides and a petting zoo with all kinds of animals and hayrides. And of course, pumpkins! I can't post pictures because I can't download them to my computer at home, but instead, I'll include a picture of William at last year's pumpkin patch.


That bald little head just cracks me up! Hopefully we'll get some great pictures at this year's festival. And maybe we'll even get my computer fixed so I can post them!

Weekend Report

William had a good time with his grandparents, and Grandma said he was very good, but when I went to pick him up on Sunday, he had a stuffy nose and was coughing. By Sunday afternoon, he was wheezing. Last night, he threw up several times (which is a common side effect from wheezing--the diaphragm pushes down on the stomach) and was up and down all night, which means I only got a few hours of sleep--and none of it consolidated. Fortunately, we had today off, so we went to the doctor this morning and got a prescription for a steroid. That combined with nebulizer treatments seemed to help a lot. He slept from around 11:00 a.m. until about 2:45, and by this evening, he was hardly wheezing at all. He ate a little bit for dinner (after eating nothing all day) and went down at his usual time. Fingers crossed that he'll sleep all night and we can go to work/daycare tomorrow. The biggest disappointment was that we couldn't get together with our friends who were in town from Utah. Such timing, I tell you.

So, this cold/flu season is not off to a good start at all. His wheezing seems to be coming on super quick--almost as soon as he gets cold symptoms. We go back to the doctor on Wednesday for follow up, so I'll be asking lots of questions about how, if possible, to prevent it from happening all the time. I hope the answer isn't daily nebulizing with pulmacort. I've known several people who've gone through that. What a pain!

So that's it for our weekend. Ed and I had a good time at the wedding. I slept in until 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Yes--that was the best I could do. But since I went to sleep at 10:30 p.m. the night before, I can't complain. Sorry for the boring post, but it helps to keep a record of how often William is sick. (Which is waaayy too often!)

Driving Me Crazy

William is doing this whiny, pointing thing in the car that is driving me crazy. I have a center console between the driver and front passenger seats where I keep books, toys, a sippy cup with water, and various other odds and ends. William has started pointing to things on the console and then saying, "Uh-uh-uh," as if he wants something from the console. But whatever I pick up to try to give him, he then shakes his head and says "no," and gets all upset. He's just yanking my chain! I've been telling him to use his words, because mommy doesn't understand. I've been trying to hand him everything under the sun. (Well, at least within arms reach in the minivan.) And I've been ignoring him, too. And yet, it continues. What the heck does he want???? (Other than to get out of the carseat.) It seriously makes me mad. I want to turn around and yell, "Cut it out!!!" But I can't really do that with the slugs in the car. The slugs also try desperately to appease him, bless their hearts, by handing him all sorts of objects, which he usually rejects, and by reading to him, which he usually ignores. The whole, "Uh-uh-uh" thing is not going to cut it. He better get some words fast! Lol.

Speaking of William (ha ha), he's having a sleepover at his grandparents on Saturday night. Ed and I have a wedding to go to, so we're taking advantage of the opportunity and will get to sleep in on Sunday morning. Can't wait! Although as usual, I will miss him, and hate having that much less time with him over the weekend. But we have Monday off, too, and it's good for him to spend one-on-one time with his grandparents. So it's a win-win for everyone.

Hopefully, we'll also take the computer in this weekend to get fixed so I can blog from home again!

Uh-oh! Don't Panic.

My home computer will not turn on. At all. And I'm trying not to panic. Because I haven't backed up my digital pictures in months and months. Or my Quicken bank account info. Or anything on my computer, for that matter. And yes--it's on my list of 100 things to do in 100 days that I HAVEN'T BEEN DOING!!!! Is this karma? My brother thinks that it's probably just a power supply issue, and the mother board could possibly be shot, but that the hard drive is probably fine. The worst case scenario might be that we have to get a new computer (if the mother board is shot) but I'd still be able to get the info from my hard drive. Gee-darn. Let's just hope he is right. And yes--when I get it back, the first thing I'll be doing is BACKING UP MY PHOTOS!!!! (Sorry for abusing the capital letters.)

So, because I have no computer at home, no blogging at home. This might be the start of yet another bad habit--blogging at work. Like I don't do enough goofing off at work already. Yikes.

Not much else to report. William is "talking" up a storm these days, babbling incessantly. He's learning new words every day, and is so earnest when he "talks," it's hard not to laugh. He's doing great in the sleep department--although there are still days he wakes at 4:30 a.m., but I can usually get him right back to sleep. More and more often, he's sleeping until 5:30 or 6:00 or even 6:30. He's eating pretty well, too. He's really into throwing things these days, and he loves to throw things over the gate in front of the basement stairs. He laughs hysterically as objects bounce down the stairs and hit the walls. A few days ago, it was all the tupperware. Yesterday it was potatoes. I drew the line of the 5 qt. saucepan, however.

Our third music class went well over the weekend. William warmed up much quicker and seemed to enjoy it. He still wanted me to hold him during the songs when we all got up and danced. But for the most part, he was engaged in what everyone was doing. He also sat in the car at the front of the grocery cart during our weekend shopping trip and enjoyed that until the end, when he started to get antsy.

So that's our update. William will start transitioning to the toddler room at his daycare next week. It will be great for him to be with older kids again, and to have new toys and more outside time. And even better, it's about $150 less a month! Hopefully, he'll transition well.

Fall TV is Sucking Me In!

I'd like to say that I have some really great reason for not posting much this week. Like, I've been super productive, plowing through ironing, organizing the digital pictures, planning menus and cooking in advance. Or, I've been going to sleep at 8:00 every night and getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night. But no--I've just been watching TV. I've been watching the Ken Burns documentary on WWII, and The Biggest Loser, and Private Practice, and shows whose titles I don't even know. I've been watching so much TV that I've been getting TV headaches. And we're only halfway through the week people. The GOOD shows haven't even started, like Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Desperate Housewives. Man--I have to say I'm a little ashamed. But I'll cut myself some slack. After another week or two, I'll miss and episode of something for some reason, and then I won't bother anymore. I'll probably still watch Desperate Housewives, but I may even get tired of that. And even if I wasn't watching TV, we all know that I probably wouldn't be all that productive anyway.

I will say that having become a mom, I cry at the drop of a hat when watching anything on TV that has anything to do with mothers and children. I bawled during the Biggest Loser when the challenge winners got to call home and talk to their kids. And I bawled during the WWII Documentary when a woman was reading the last letter she had written to her brother before he died. And I absolutely sobbed last night during Private Practice when the psychiatrist and pediatrician were talking to the woman about her son who had fatal brain cancer. Oh my goodness--is this how I'll be for the rest of my life now? Maybe I've been getting headaches from crying so much, as opposed to too much TV.

Okay, gotta run. My Name is Earl is on soon!

Weekend Report

It's time for the weekend report. Things are much improved since my last post. William is better--no more wheezing--and despite his cold, he's still been sleeping pretty well. He's now stuck with nasty boogers oozing out of his nose, but he takes the nose-wiping very well, considering.

Yesterday we attended our second music class. He spent the first half of the class clinging to me and pointing to the door, hoping we would leave. But then the teacher got out the bin of musical instruments, and that got William very interested. He actually walked over to the pile and picked up a few instruments and even danced a little and laughed and smiled. I was very relieved. I was worried that the $200 we spent on the class would end up a big waste of money, but hopefully, he'll warm up to it more and more. He's definitely a cautious child by nature. And he doesn't particularly like loud noises (unless he's making them), so sometimes, I think he gets overwhelmed.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was uneventful but fun. This morning at the grocery store, William discovered the shopping carts with the cars on the front of them. I've never used one for him before, but as we were returning our cart after unloading the groceries, he saw one and wanted to get in it. I let him, and then he didn't want to get out. I had no idea he would love it so much. Later in the day, Ed and I went to Giant to get some batteries, and we pushed William around in the car cart. He loved it. So next Sunday, we'll be getting the car cart for sure. I remember when I first started bringing William to the grocery store, and thinking that it would be so long before he was big enough to ride in those shopping carts. And here we are.

It's amazing to think about how much he can do now and how much he knows. He can climb up and down the stairs now without help. He likes to be a daredevil and stand up on his ride-on scooter. He "talks" to us all the time, and quite earnestly. He uses intonations and looks at our faces expectantly. He follows commands. He uses a spoon and fork (about half the time). He loves books (especially books about trucks) and loves to read. Basically, all the things that 16-month-old is supposed to do. Every day he just gets cuter and cuter. It's challenging for sure, but what a joy!

Feeling Down

I had to leave work early today because William's daycare called to tell me they thought he was wheezing. I took him to the doctor and they confirmed it. So now he has to have a nebulizer treatment every 3-4 hours, and the doctor also prescribed a steroid. This just sucks. To make things worse, he also threw up 4 times today, although I think it was because of all the mucous--his gag reflex, rather than a virus. But needless to say, we'll be staying home tomorrow. Unfortunately, he did not react well to the nebulizer this go around. In the past, he's been great about it, just sitting quietly and breathing in the medicine. This time, he wanted nothing to do with it and kept pushing it away and crying. I might have to break out the Baby Einstein dvd tomorrow to see if that will help. It might be a rough day.

I'm feeling down because I'm worried that this is the beginning of a long winter for us, and that he'll end up being diagnosed with asthma. And I'm feeling guilty because he's a daycare baby, and I'm thinking that he'd be better off if I stayed home. And in general, it just sucks to see your child sick, so I'm sad. Let's just hope that he gets over this quickly. I guess now we have a good reason for missing the family dinner on Yom Kippur.

Matzah Ball Soup

Although Ed is Jewish, he has no interest in practicing Judaism, or passing along Jewish traditions to our children. (I am not religious, either, so this works well for us.) William's exposure to his Jewish heritage will come from Ed's family, and the family gatherings that occur loosely based on Jewish holidays, such as Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, which include some of the traditional Jewish meals that are served on said holidays, such as brisket, kugel, and matzah ball soup. (I say loosely because these gatherings may or may not occur on the actual holidays.) At any rate, I don't think we have to worry about William completely losing touch with his Jewish heritage. It turns out that William loves matzah ball soup!

He's eaten it three nights in a row now. And he also ate the carrots and chicken included in the soup. (Not just the matzah balls!) I have new hope for chicken and dumplings and chicken noodle soup, now! And this also means that I must learn to make matzah balls!

In other news, William had a runny nose today, so I guess that means he's caught a cold. Darn it. I was hoping we could go two months in a row without being sick. (He did develop a bit of a cough several weeks ago, but I'm not sure if that was a virus or allergies.) I hope it's a mild one. It's depressing to think that the cold and flu season is quickly approaching. I'm also hoping it doesn't sabotage his good sleeping habits of late. Knock on wood!

Disappointment and the Weekend Report

Ed and I finally ordered a new rug for our family room, which arrived today. And I don't like it. We ordered it from Overstock.com, so we were taking a chance by not seeing it in person. What a bummer. I don't know how much it will cost to ship it back, but now we have to figure out if it will be worth it. We should have known better than to order a rug with monkeys on it. Yep--monkeys. We thought it would be whimsical. Instead, it's just borderline ridiculous. Actually, what I don't like about it is the color. It's a pale yellow, and I thought it was more of a beigeish yellow. Oh well. Ed said we should live with it for a few days before making a decision. In the meantime, I'll be checking with UPS to check their shipping rates.

In other news, we had a great weekend with William. My friend from New York brought her 3-year-old son Jack to visit on Thursday night, so we took Friday off and hung out with them all day. We didn't do much of anything except play outside. When school got out, we went to the playground and it was packed with older kids. William had a great time. He went down the slide a bunch and enjoyed it. In the past, he's always been a bit hesitant about the slide. But this time, he grinned ear to ear. He also loved seeing all the big kids. I met a few moms that live nearby, too, so that was nice. They said that our street gets tons of trick-or-treaters, so that's something to look forward to! William also loved Jack and enjoyed being around a big kid for a few days.

On Saturday, William and I went to our first music class. He did pretty well, although he mostly wanted me to hold him. There were times when he seemed to enjoy it. Hopefully he'll get used to it and get really into it. He's definitely cautious when it comes to new situations and new people. But he's also curious, which is good.

In other news, William has been sleeping through the night, until past 6:00 a.m.! This is very exciting, although now that I've actually written it out loud, I'm sure I've doomed myself to weeks of sleepless nights. He's also saying "helicopter" now, although it comes out as "helicop." I thought this was a relatively new thing, but Ed informed me tonight that he taught William to say helicopter when he stayed with William for the week in August. Go figure.

So that's about it. I went to the dermatologist today and luckily, I seem to be skin cancer free. That was a relief. It's good to get stuff like that out of the way.

And finally, I do have a menu plan for this week. So here it is:

Monday: Chicken foil packets on the grill
These were really good, and I totally made them up! I cut up chicken breast and sprinkled the pieces with lemon pepper seasoning. Then I added asparagus, zucchini, and squash, some crushed garlic, Italian seasonings, and some Kosher salt. I wrapped them up in aluminum foil and Ed cooked them on the grill. They were fantastic!

Tuesday: Ed has a gig, so it's just William and me. I might eat beans and rice, or something else that Ed won't eat.

Wednesday: Chicken soft tacos
This is something we used to make all the time when I lived in a group house of 5 girls--when I first moved to DC. We cut up chicken and cook it in taco seasoning. Meanwhile, make Spanish rice. Then you can choose whatever taco toppings you want. Spread some rice and chicken in a soft taco tortilla, and add toppings. We'll have lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream. We also like avocados, green onions, and refried beans sometimes.

Thursday: Lasagna
My lasagna is a little different than most recipes because I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. For the sauce, I just doctor up jar sauce. Nothing too fancy.

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Yom Kippur--Ed is breaking fast with his family and it looks like I'll be home with William because we can't find a babysitter. I'm not too disappointed, truth be told!

In the Hot Seat

My friend Laura--the one with twin boys the same age as William, God bless her!--put herself in the hot seat a few weeks back, inviting her readers to ask her any questions they wanted. Well, now she has a few questions for me.

1. How did you meet Ed?
We met in the fall of 2001 when we were both working at Barnes and Noble. I was working there part time, and he had decided not to go to law school but wasn't quite sure what he was going to do, yet. He worked in the music section, and one evening when we were closing, and all the employees were standing around waiting for the manager, Ed and I started talking. He said he was a jazz musician, which immediately piqued my interest. And he also told me he had gone to Chapel Hill, so I assumed he was pretty smart. For the next several weeks, I would go flirt with him in the music department whenever we worked the same shifts. And then we went on our first date in December. And I guess the rest is history!

2. How will you feel if people start calling William, "Billy"?
Yeah--hopefully that won't happen. Although I could live with Bill. And I guess "Billy" is preferable to "Willie." But maybe not. I think if he ends up with a nick name, it will most likely be Will. So to answer your question, I think I will cringe if people call him "Billy"!

3. Do you get to meet a lot of senators in your job or are you more behind the scenes?
I, personally, don't get to meet lots of senators, but my boss does. Most of them know him by name, and they request personal meetings with him and sometimes even tours, so that they can get "up to speed" with the history of the Senate. I have probably spoken to more former senators than current. But I often pass senators in the hallways or on the subway to the Capitol. It's not all that glamorous, though. I'm mostly behind-the-scenes.

4. What is the #1 thing you would do the same if you had another child?
This is a really tough question! I can think of lots and lots of things I want to do differently, but what would I do the same? I guess the #1 thing is that I will definitely breastfeed again. But coming in at #2 will be keeping an open mind when it comes to things like pacifiers, co-sleeping, nursing, etc.

[ETA--2 more questions from Laura!]

5. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
I love answering this one, because it's sort of different from what people normally do. Ed and I went to a dude ranch in Colorado for our honeymoon! It was great. We had our own cabin, and went horseback riding every day, and did some fishing, and Ed got to shoot skeet and pistols and do archery. (I would have but I had injured my hand the day before, so I couldn't hold the gun.) And we herded cattle and Ed even got to castrate a few calves. He was a real cowboy! At any rate, we had a really good time and it's definitely something we want to do again as a family when the kid/s get older.

6. Are you happy with the move to Burke and the new house?
This one is easy--YES! I love our house and our yard and our neighborhood. Even though we have a longer commute now, it has been worth it. I think it will be a great area for William to grow up in, and it is wonderful having a house! The only tough part has been trying to get settled. There's so much we want to do, and most of that involves buying stuff, and we just don't have the expendable cash right now. But we'll get there eventually!

So if anyone else has any questions, ask them in my comments section! And thanks for showing some interest, Laura!