Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home. In our case - Home Sweet Townhome.

Never has this sentiment had more meaning to me. After back-to-back trips to LA, a nasty stomach bug, an emergency trip to Ikea for a crib since the little man outgrew the portable play yard my parents bought him, nursing after nursing in the middle of the night, and a huge setback in his napping and sleeping schedule, it was great to be back home.

The house was as I left it. Clean towels covering the furniture just in case of more intestinal distress.

I knew it would take Nicholas some time to readjust to life back on the ranch. But he just won't. Lots of nursing. Waking up two or three times in the middle of the night. Growth spurt. Big time.

My infant sleep research tells me that two weeks before and two weeks after his nine month birthday will be particularly tough on his sleep. My research also recommends that we plan trips around this schedule. Well… that's out of our hands.

So I'm looking at a little over three weeks left in this nine month milestone/sleep disruption process. Then I'm in the clear.

But what will happen after three weeks? I'll let you know.

The Facts of Life

Nicholas and I flew back to California less than a week after our return.

My grandmother spent her last days with her family around her. She passed away in the comfort of her son and daughter-in-law's home.

It was peaceful.

Sqeaky Clean

Recently our household was sick. The kind of sick that requires a special trip to the grocery store for sick people staples and a big thank you to the laundry gods for having included an in-home washer and dryer in our rental townhouse.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I decided to edit our AM routine and take my son and I to my favorite pancake restaurant for breakfast. I would nosh on tasty delights while I fed him sweet potatoes (the yellow kind). This would be different from most Saturday mornings, but my husband was at a work event and I was really looking forward to being back in Seattle after a week long visit with my parents.

Best laid plan put together, I was ready to nurse my son and then head out the door. Problem was, a bug in his tummy had a different idea.

That day my son had three baths. That day I wore three different outfits. One of which was an outfit repeat that went through the wash and then had to go through the wash again. After having to take both of our slip covers off the sofa, we decided just to lay big towels on the thing. It was a day that involved more hand washing and hand sanitizer than when my son was born. My husband and I were desperately trying to keep contamination at bay.

Unfortunately, we caught it, in case you're wondering. In this process, I learned a little about disinfecting nonporous toys. Washing alone or wiping alone with a bleach wipe isn't enough to clean that super cute giraffe or plastic car keys.

Thanks to the Metro King County website, I now know that you need to do both. Because while those plastic toys may reside in the living room play area and not get a whiff of dirt or grime on them, they are certainly covered with dried on saliva and bleach won't do its job unless the surface is clean, clean, clean.

So here are the words we lived by when we were clean those toys - first scrub, then sanitize.

M-I-C… See you real soon!

Nicholas and I took a trip to Southern California to visit with my parents. It was our first airplane trip on our own. It was his first trip to meet Grandma and Grandpa. It was going to be our first taste of summer weather for 2008.

The only things on our agenda were 1) to visit with his maternal Great Grandmother, 2) to introduce him to a swimming pool and 3) to have him meet Goofy and his Pals.

Bubba met his great grandmother. Though he won't remember their introduction, I will and I'll remind him all about it. He flashed her his million dollar smile. He patted her hand. He sang to her. All while she was lying asleep in her hospital bed. It was a bittersweet visit.

The swimming pool thing never happened. I'm still not sure how we didn't fit it in but we didn't.

My parents live in the OC. On my sister's suggestion we had a weekend brunch at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. There's a lot of things I can say about this experience but the only one I'll write about is Bubba's delight with meeting the Disney characters. Before our party was seated, we took a picture with Goofy all done up in a chef's outfit in front of a cartoon kitchen backdrop. The baby was fascinated with Goofy's whiskers. It was cute and I was grateful that he wasn't trying to put the whiskers in his mouth. While we were seated at our table, various characters came around with a special greeting for him and there was dancing with the characters at the buffet area.

With validated parking, it was the perfect amount of Disney-to-cost ratio for a person who naps every three hours. I guess that song was right because we'll be back.

Hot Child, Summer in the City

Finally! It's hot. Damn hot! For those of you reading who aren't from Seattle, cut me some slack. I will gladly take 80 degrees in May.

I'm a nursing Mom and though I am comfortable with the idea of having a moderate amount of coffee blended blah blah or a sweet sexy saucy cocktail, that's not what I'm in the mood for. Those things keep me feeling icky and sticky on days like today. I'm also the type that prefers ice cream in the winter. For me it's ice water and a homemade smoothie.

There are lots of smoothie recipes available but I want to share my tried and true recipe from my days working at a café and book store in Southern California (which has since gone out of business for reasons unrelated to the quality of their smoothies).

Make-It-Yourself Smoothie:
1 Cup liquid (i.e. juice, watered down juice, lemonade, or milk)

¼ Cup to ½ Cup protein (i.e. plain yogurt, vanilla yogurt, Greek yogurt or peanut butter) – OR –
1 serving of your favorite protein powder

1 – 2 Servings of fresh of frozen fruit

½ Cup of ice if you want that extra crunch

Here are my favorite combinations:
· Lactose Free Milk – Peanut Butter – Banana
· Pear Juice – Greek Yogurt – Frozen Mangos
· Pomegranate Juice –Protein Powder – Frozen Berries – Ice
· Lemonade – Protein Powder –Strawberries – Ice

Do you make and freeze your baby's food? You can also try using some of his fruit.

Bottoms up, you Hottie!

Whose Bag Is It Anyway?

My memory is hit-or-miss. When it comes to remembering what I learned in high school Chemistry, it's a miss. But when it comes to almost anything shopping related, it's a hit. A big hit.

I remember shopping for our smart diaper bag which we bought after the baby was born. I reviewed my options with my husband in mind. What would he want to carry? What is the most practical bag? We settled on a black nylon messenger bag with a really cool convertible strap system. The most important part about this statement is the word "We." We purchased this bag.

Flash forward in time several months. My husband, baby and I were invited to a baby shower in honor of great friends who were expecting baby number two. All three of us were over-stimulated by the two-year old kids running around, playing with toys, and talking VERY LOUDLY. At some point during the party I went to grab something from my diaper bag. Hmm… that's funny. I have the same bag as someone else. Wait… that's not it! On my third attempt, I identified the correct bag.

Flash forward in time several more months. As we were leaving the pediatrician's office I was telling my husband about how I felt like a Mom through-and-through at that moment. The description was something like this – "I'm sleepy. I'm wearing what could be considered by some to be pajamas. My hair's out of control and my purse is busting at the seams." My dear sweet husband shared a laugh with me and pointed out, "It's not a purse. It's a diaper bag."

Flash back one day, one week, one month… you get the picture. "We" don't use the diaper bag. I use the diaper bag and my husband holds it if I ask him to.

My husband's words were like bad song lyrics I couldn't get out of my head.

Well, I have finally decided to change the station, and guess what? I love this new song! ... Figuratively, of course.

Armed with a gift card I received as a Christmas gift, I have now purchased what should only be described as a purse. A roomy purse with a beautiful canvas body and leather trim. This bag is for me. It holds my things (although it still has room for the baby's things). This bag is to be worn by me, not my stroller. Yippee!

So now the baby is sleeping through the night, I am wearing super cute dark denim shorts instead of workout capris, I style my hair every other day and now I have a purse not a diaper bag. Progress, hah cha!!

Wading Around

I have an interesting relationship with the weather. For as long as I can remember, talking about it hasn’t been small talk for me. My grade school journals often included entries that read, “It feels warm, like 75 degrees. The sky is bright blue and the clouds are high and fluffy.”

I’m often asked how I deal with Seattle Weather since I grew up a California Girl. The answer is that I am patient. Yes, the winter days are short. Tiny. Miniature. I wait for the summer days which are simply divine.

I am patient. I’ve been patient. Very patient… Where is the warm weather already?

In anticipation of my baby’s first summer, I’ve stocked up on gear. He has infant friendly sunscreen, a super floppy lightweight hat and the cutest darn swim trunks with a built in swim diaper.

Now I’m waiting. I wait to wade. While I wait, I have learned that Seattle Parks and Recreation boasts a whopping thirty wading pools!

From mid-May through late August, these water wonders will be open when the temperature is forecasted to be 70 degrees or warmer. The advantage to these community pools is that high public use consumes a substantially lesser amount of water versus neighbors filling commercially purchased pools or running the sprinklers in their own yards.