Uh Oh Spaghetti O

We introduced Benjamin to spaghetti at the pre half marathon carbs and Run Fat Boy Run party the other night. (I think this will be an annual event from now on. You too could be invited, if you want to run the half marathon next year. Even if you just promised to come out and cheer, you could probably get an invite. It turns out its not actually that exclusive of a party). He liked it pretty well, but the funniest pictures are from when he was very definitely done with being in his high chair. He went directly from chair to bath as soon as these photos were taken.

Dog walking

Yesterday morning when we took the hound for her walk, it really felt like fall. We had to bundle up in jeans and jacket and SHOES (say good bye, lovely summer sandals). Benjamin was all snuggled into his blanket, and immediately fell asleep. Not that you can blame him, it is very snuggly. Quite the change from Saturday, when I went running (yes thats right, I said running) in capri pants and a tank top, and it seemed like maybe we would have summer for another month. This was my first foray into running with the jogging stroller. On the plus side, my knee felt pretty good, and I feel like I might be able to start actually running again (91 days until the Seattle half marathon! Time to get to work!) . On the minus side, running neighborhood streets with no curb cuts with a stroller is a pain. I think future runs will involve a warm up/cool down walk to and from the lake so as to avoid trying to run through the sidewalk to street changes.

Yoga master baby

Benjamin was showing off his yoga for me on the changing table tonight. Maybe he realized I was about to leave for yoga, and wanted to show me that I could do it at home? Or maybe he just wanted to remind me how much more flexible he is than me. Anyway, he has added a new trick to his repetoire, which I find to be hilarious and adorable. He eats his feet. Well, foot. And in one case, foot and thumb simultaneously. I think that even if I could get my toes into my mouth, they would not be pleasant to eat. His are so tiny and soft and cute though, that I can totally see why he wants to eat them. I want to eat them myself, actually. Note that here he has changed his yoga practice location from dog bed to changing table. Smartypants can do yoga wherever he happens to be. The reason that I got the camera out to begin with is that I love his little grey truck pajamas. Thank you Henry! (and Old Navy). He is just so darn cute and cuddly in them.

Baby Yoga

Benjamin has decided to start practicing yoga. I'm not sure where he got the idea, since I never do it at home (the dog and the cat get in the way). Anyway, he has developed his own routine, and it appears to be very successful, as not only is he extremely bendy, but also has a very stress free zen attitude. Here are a few shots of one of his favorite yoga poses. And yes, he uses the dog bed instead of a more traditional mat.

College Fund

We started the grand old college fund yesterday. There are all these scary websites out there, that calculate how much money you need to save starting today, in order to pay for college in 18 years. Its unbelievable. I mean, its not as much as the nanny, but still. It turns out Jammy's piggy bank is likely not going to be enough. But I am feeling pretty accomplished for having done anything about it at all. Its pretty amazing to think that this little guy, who is years from putting his own socks on, will be in physics and economics someday. Or art history and literature, you know, whatever. As a back up plan, he is enrolled in daily guitar lessons, and we have high hopes that he will be supporting us as a rock star before he ever gets to college.

Two other big things yesterday: 1. I ran Greenlake IN THE SLUSHY SNOW, and 2. I got into the Thursday night Yoga Mamma class! I am very excited about this, as the class had been full and I was on a waiting list.

As you all know, since I am totally fixated, it is my 30th birthday on Sunday. I have big plans to go out to a nice dinner with my husband, having eschewed all party plans. Any great restaurant suggestions? I am stumped at the moment.

PS Check the Aunt Cookie link for a hilarious Benjamin Bunny photo today. Hee hee.

Easter

Today was Jammy's first Easter, and much fun was had by all. Benjamin was very dapper in khakis, a plaid dress shirt, and a white sweater vest. I wanted him to have a wooden tennis racket too, or maybe play some croquet. It was that kind of outfit. We had brunch at Matt and Cathy's, complete with blueberry cream cheese french toast casserole (um, can you say tasty?) and the afternoon at Pat and Lee's with a plethora of family, even more pastel candy, and a chocolate birthday cake (30 is looming, in just 7 days. Yikes!) Sadly there is no traditional bunny ears photo of the young laddy's first Easter. Someone (not naming any names, but it rhymes with "plant wookie"), forgot them at home. However, its not like there aren't 7,000 other pictures of him, so I'm sure he will survive. We did get several other nice family photos, of all the grandparents, and Great Grandma Louise.
It finally stopped raining and the sun came out, so to round out the afternoon, Maisy and I ran Greenlake (poor neglected dogger so needs the exercise), which actually went really well. And, in a supreme fitness triumph, I managed one

complete sit up! I know that seems super lame and wimpy, but it turns out that 9 months of no stomach muscles at all takes a terrible toll on your abs. Who knew? All I have been able to manage thus far have been crunches. Anyway, it felt like a major accomplishment to me, as did the running. There may be some hope for Bloomsday after all.

Bad Blog Mom!

Well, if I am not the laziest blogger ever, I don't know who is... (Yes I do, its Miss Doxie, who we haven't heard from since 12/4. grrr.) But I did go all week with nary a post, which is sad. Soooo, let me think here, and try to do a quick recap of the week.

1. Peps on Monday night. The highlight here was definitely Luca. Benjamin and Luca were engaged in a staring contest for much of the night. They were fascinated with each other. It was very funny. I haven't seem him notice another baby quite like that before. Highly entertaining. Also, girl scout cookies and wine were my dinner that night, so that was good too.

2. I don't think I mentioned at all that Hillary was in town last weekend. Obviously it was much fun. She was here for a convention, so she didn't stay with us, but I got to meet up with her for brunch on Sunday morning. Eggs Benedict at Maxmillian's at the market - yum! I also got to play a little bit of tour guide for Jen and her mom Pam who had never been to Seattle which was cool too. In some supremely poor planning, I tried to shop all day, only going home once to feed the boy. I was in the Gap downtown with Hillary and Maija, boobs killing me, t-shirt soaked trying to decide what to do. I ended up coming home a little earlier than planned. Sigh. But it was great to have some girl time and help the two preggos look for maternity wear.

3. Big week at work with Matt trying to buy the Sonics. He was all over the news, and I have been overhearing lots of conversations with important people. I am really hoping he can pull it off. The Oklahoma City Super Sonics is too depressing to contemplate.

4. Went to REAP on Friday night. This is the second time I have gone since the boy's arrival. I have to say the first time was more fun. After the snacks and the wine, when we actually got around to talking about stocks, I was struggling to stay awake. Yawn. Not that it was boring, I was just a tired girl.

5. Had lunch with Felicity on Friday afternoon. She is coming back to work at Pine Street in a month! Yay! I am so excited to have her back. It will be much fun around the office. She also gave me a manicure gift cert, and a hilarious card with an angry baby on the front.

6. Saturday morning Benjamin rolled over from his back to his front. Sort of. In a cheating kind of way. Loren woke up and brought him in to bed with us when he wanted to eat first thing in the morning. So he was laying between us on his back, and he rolled over to his front, toward Loren. The thing is, with our old and crappy mattress, Loren creates a good downhill slope in his direction, so gravity actually did most of the work. He is very close though, and any day should do it on his own.

7. Went for a run with Auntie Cookie Saturday morning. Well, more of a walk with intermittent runinng interspersed throughout. It was harder than I thought, in more ways than I expected. First off, I ended up wearing two sports bras, as I have not had time to purchase a more heavy duty variety one, since the arrival of my new ginormous chest. Well that worked out ok, except that it was so tight around my rib cage that it was hard to breathe. My knee also started to hurt pretty badly about halfway around the lake. Apparently hefting around a bunch of extra weight for 9 or so months may not have been the greatest on my joints. And then of course there was the general out of shapeishness. Also I felt like I might wet my pants at any moment, but fortunately my bladder control reigns supreme. And Judith was a really good sport and let me walk all I wanted, and we went out for breakfast afterwards. We have many grand half marathon plans for this summer, so I have to get my act together.

8. Scott and Josie came over for dinner on Saturday night with a suitcase full of clothes for Benjamin. He is going to be one well dressed little guy. His dresser is literally breaking with the weight of all this new loot. Expect many new fashion platey photos coming up.

9. Today Loren worked on reseeding the grass and doing general yardwork, and Benjamin and I worked on a lot of nice long napping. It was excellent. And then Grandma Pat and Grandpa Lee had us over for dinner, which was good too.

Baby Yum Yum or the Great Girl Scout Cookie Debacle

Last year we had a heckuva a time finding girl scout cookies. I did several missions driving to various Wedgwood grocery stores, where girl scouts have been known to push their wares in the past, to no avail. This went on for quite a while actually. I was finally able to buy a couple boxes from a cookie dealer on a corner downtown, flinging cash at her as I was diving for my carpool. Not this year! I had a plan of attack. It turns out one of Auntie Cookie’s neighbors conveniently has girl scouts, who were willing to sell me cookies on a pre-order. My strategy was to order 12 boxes, freeze them, and have one box a month. Good plan, yes? And then when my order was done, I remembered I like the shortbread kind too, so I added 2 boxes of those. Up to 14 boxes. So, I am all happy and excited. Next day rolls around, and the phone is ringing. I answer, and it is my little niece Maria, pushing, guess what, girl scout cookies! Why had no one told me she was selling them this year? Of course I had to buy a 6 more boxes from her, because that is what you do when children who are related to you are fund raising. So I am up to count them, 20 boxes, or $80 worth, of cookies. What else to do but pile them all on the couch and stick the baby in the pile? So here he is, cute and drooly as ever.
This will not be good for my stomach toning efforts. Still no further running, St. Patty's day 5k looming, along with a Palm Springs vacation. Sigh.

Sleeping Beauty? I think not.

The last two nights the little trickster has woken up in the middle of the night again, ending his streak of, I don't know, weeks of sleeping through the night. I think he is just trying to keep me on my toes. Surely tonight he will revert back to his sleepier self. He actually laughed in his sleep as he was drifting off last night though, which was so darn cute that I forgave him for waking up the night before.

Then today, he did another new trick which just about did me in with its supreme cuteness. He was giving me the fake desparately hungry cry. Its not seriously desparately hungry, but more like the moaning the Harry does in when Harry met Sally when he is feeling sorry for himself. Only a little louder. So anyway, I start to feed him, and with his mouth totally full, he gives me two little "mmmmm"s. It was a little bit like in a coke commercial, when someone takes a drink and then goes "aaaah", or maybe the dinner scene in What About Bob. He has never actually talked to me while eating before, and he just seemed so satisfied with the whole thing. It was hilarious.

In a totally unrelated topic, I forgot, for the third Saturday in a row, to go to the "belly after baby" class. At this rate I will always have the post baby belly. But several fun things did happen today instead. Loren went snow shoeing all day (I didn't say I got to do all the fun things). Benito and the hound and I walked Greenlake with Wenmei and Cowboy and Zachary. Cowboy likes to show Maisy up by walking politely on a leash. We love her anyway. Wenmei gets a Starbucks discount, which has to be one of the best job perks ever. Its not free airline tickets, but its up there. We bumped into Shana at Starbucks, one of the many reasons I love my neighborhood. She is one of only a handful of the Beermonsters that has met Benjamin, so that was fun. Then Aunt Cookie and Annie and Madelyn came over. Cookie took some fantastic pictures of the boy (Check out Smiley boy on her blog: http://www.fernstromphotography.typepad.com/) and we went on another walk. Maisy was in heaven getting 2 walks in one day, but poor Annie scraped her knee in the second block, and couldn't stop crying the whole way. At one point she actually started wailing "boo hoo, boo hoo". It was so funny and cute, I couldn't stop myself from giggling. It seems impossible that my baby will ever get that big.

Date night(s)

This was a good weekend for getting out of the house. I got to see count them, not one, but TWO movies in the theater. On Friday, Grandma Pat watched the papoose while Loren and I went to Il Fornaio and saw Juno. Ok, I know I have already seen it, but it was the only thing playing that I wanted to watch. Then on Saturday Judith and I went to Thai Ginger and 27 Dresses. Love a chick flick about bridesmaid's dresses. I mean, it wasn't a film by any stretch of the imagination, but it was mildly entertaining. It was the longest I think I have been away from the young laddie, and when I got home my shirt was soaked and my boobs were killing me. I was even happier to see Jammy than ususal.

Both movies showed previews for a documentary about the Chicago marathon that is only playing for one day, 2/21. I'm all inspired to go, in hopes that it will get me back out running. A girl can dream, right?

Then today, my mom and I went and got manis and pedis, so I'm all glamorous for going back to work tomorrow. I'm going to wear a suit and everything. Its very exiting. Or scary. However you want to look at it.

Laugh In

Yesterday was a big day around here! Many accomplishments to be had by all. First and most exiting, Benjamin laughed for the first time. Talk about sappy gooey melty mom moment. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm the mom in this story. Ok, anyway. He was on his changing table, which is inexplicably his most favorite happiest place to be. I had changed his diaper and was being goofy with belly zerberts and loud cheek/neck/shoulder kisses and he started laughing at me. Later he did it again for my mom, and then at the Matlick's for Andrea, Pat and Loren. So talented and advanced this one. It was completely adorable. We were at the in-laws for Grandma Pat's birthday, and her present was a big hit. We gave her a copy of the beautiful photo album book that Judith put together for us for Christmas. She and Uncle Morrie (now that there are two, Great Uncle Morrie, or GUM) and Marnie could not stop exclaiming about it. Marnie and Pat both want Judith to donate photo sittings to their various auctions. I think it would be great advertising. Everyone was very excited and admiring of the boy as well. Great Aunt Donna (GAD just doesn't work as well, does it?) is going to come by on Sunday and meet him, since she missed the birthday.

The other funny thing from yesterday was not a big accomplishment. I was on the phone with Auntie Weewee, holding Benjamin, who was in a fuzzy footed sleeper. I absentmindedly wrapped my hand around his little foot, and it felt wet, which I was not expecting. On closer inspection, it was poop that had somehow escaped his diaper, and made it all the way down his leg into his foot. Ewww! Much shrieking ensued, to Hillary's amusement, and I ran upstairs to change him. My mom was on her way over to go to Issaquah with us, and she arrived in the middle of this procedure. I would have just given him a bath, but we were suppoesd to be leaving, so I didn't have time. Instead I was trying to hose him down with diaper wipes. I had to clean between each of his little toes with the wipes. It was ridiculous, like flossing toes. He just happily smiled away, totally oblivious to how gross he was. What a boy. He has slept through 4 of the past 5 nights though (enter victory music a la theme from Rocky or Eye of the Tiger), so I will forgive him the extreme poopiness.

My big accomplishment was that I got back in the saddle, so to speak, and ran 2 miles. Woo-hoo! I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but given that the last time I ran was a disasterous pregnant Bloomsday in May, I thought it was pretty good. It was bitter cold and icy, so I ran on Auntie Cookie's treadmill, with her fun shuffle mix on. I so want a treadmill, I am totally jealous. Maisy stood behind it and paced and sniffed confusedly. She could not figure out what was going on. And as soon as I was done, Annie announced that I needed to take a shower. Its great when 4 year olds think you smell, from across the room.

Sadly, I lost yet another earring in the process. Before Christmas sometime, I lost one of the diamondish studs that Loren had given me several years ago, that I wear every day. I replaced them in the beginning of January, at the sale at Macy's, with another pair that was as close as I could find to the original ones. So, now I have to see if I still have the remaining one from the first pair, because maybe it will match the one that is left of the second pair. And I need to look into some kind of more secure earring backs, clearly.