Not Me Monday: Date Night edition
Yesterday afternoon, Darling Husband and I went on a Date Night. Well, a Date Afternoon/Prevening.
Because that’s what you do when you have a cranky teething/sick 11-month-old and you feel too guilty between away from him at bedtime (and fear no one will want to babysit again if they are subjected to putting a cranky teething/sick baby to bed without the comfort of his Maamaaaaaaa).
Behold:
- I did not mostly agree to see “Fast Five: The IMAX Experience” because I wanted to feel like a cool wife.
- We did not show up for the 3:40 show at 2:20. No, we would never be that lame.
- I did not balk when our total for two movie tickets, and one large popcorn combo was $58. For two tickets and ONE popcorn combo! That’s a steal of a deal, isn’t it?
- After the ticket-taker told us to go down the hall and line up in the IMAX line, I did not seek out an employee and politely (but insistently) ask where the line was. I would never be SO CONCERNED about being the FIRST in line that I panicked at the idea of losing our key spot as “first-arrived patrons.”
- After seeing someone set up the IMAX line, I did not make a beeline for it to secure my spot at the front of the line. No, I just casually meandered over, not caring if other people make it there first.
- When Darling Husband saw people walking straight into the theatre, I get not get all uppity and insist he “go check” to be sure they were actually getting in, before giving up my sacred first-in-line spot.
- When he confirmed that yes, we could just go straight in, I did not think ill thoughts of the employee who took advantage of my rule-following nature and told me to line up.
- I didn’t care that lining-up-when-there-was-no-need had made me lose my coveted Ideal Movie Theatre Spot (dead centre, 3/4 of the way back). I didn’t mind that I had to settle for not-quite-dead-centre. Because, you know, I’m flexible.
- I was cool and collected when a dude and his four friends SAT RIGHT NEXT TO ME, even though the theatre was mostly empty. I calmly reasoned that of course they should want to sit close to the Ideal Movie Theatre spot. Who cared that there were now people directly in front of me, behind me, and next to me? Not me!
- When the dude hogged the entire armrest a minute later, I just chuckled lightly. I certainly did not shoot dagger eyes at Darling Husband, mouth “WHO DOES THAT???” and “I FEEL CLAUSTROPHOBIC!” and insist he trade seats with me.
- Once happily settled in Darling Husband’s seat, I did not spread out my coat and purse on the empty seat next to me and prepare to shoot death stares at anyone who tried to sit directly next to me again. Nah, the more, the merrier!
Oh, right … then there was a movie or something.
My Husband Rocks Friday Saturday
Dear Darling Husband,
I miss you. You are working a lot.
And I also miss watching Sheldon with you.
Just our Rummy obsession, The Big Bang Theory has become our new regular activity after Baby Boy is in bed, on the nights you are not working. It’s nice that we found a show we both like, isn’t it? Besides Dexter and CSI.
It’s fun to watch it with you and quote episodes (“Bazinga!”). It’s “our” show, so that means I don’t watch it without you.
Thank you for (sometimes) indulging me in my love of the theme song, and (occasionally) NOT fast-forwarding through it so I can sing along. I have all the words memorized now. See?
Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started.
Wait … The Earth began to cool,
The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall! We built the pyramids!
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang!
BANG!
We are lame, and I love it.
Love, your wife
xoxo
Our baby in review: His Eleventh Month
Baby Boy turned 11 months on May 6, 2011, and that means we are mere WEEKS from the big one. Number one. ONE YEAR OLD. I can’t possibly be the mother of an almost-one-year-old. I’m still figuring crap out!
Vital stats: Baby Boy was last weighed and measured at nine months, and he was 21 lbs and 28 inches long (50% percentile for both). We can only assume he’s bigger and taller now, but who knows? We don’t own a scale, and I’m far too lazy to set up the Wii Fit balance board. Let’s just say he’s 23-ish pounds, OK?
Milestones: Running! Baby Boy really mastered walking early in his tenth month, and now his new trick is to run like the wind, Bullseye. He really motors around. When you live in a 1,200-ft one-level condo, that means he is in and out of every single room about 4,297 times per day — with me running after him. We even bought one of those baby-leashes (OK, fine, “harnesses”) to keep him at bay in the mall, because he kept struggling to get out of his stroller and tear across centre court.
Teeth: Two! After cutting the first on April Fool’s Day, he cut the second on April 13 — one week after he turned 10 months old. No sign of any other teeth, but that’s fine with me. Now that he at least has TWO teeth, the “Geez, any teeth yet?” inquires have stopped, and it’s all good. He still has never done the whole drooly routine, but I keep expecting it.
Speech: He started saying “Da da da da” last month, and said it all the time, but it’s been less lately. HOWEVER, he has been saying “Mum-mum-mum-ma” for a few weeks now. At least, I think he is. Everyone else is all, “Heather, he’s just saying jibberish!” and “Heather, he’s not saying ‘Mama,'” and “Heather, you’re crazy! He’s not saying it!” But he is. Honest. You would think people would be a little kinder. I spend 99% of my life with him — why wouldn’t he say ‘Mama,’ damnit?
Baby-proofing: Darling Husband has abandoned his barricade of kitchen chairs, and I hardly ever put him in the Playard anymore. Now that he’s ALWAYS walking and running around, it’s just … not good … when you try to stop him. He still plays with the computer at every chance and bangs on the toilet seat lid and yanks the toilet paper if he thinks you’re not watching, but he is getting better at listening to “No.” Sort of. The good thing is that he’s a creature of habit, and always goes for the same things. Our baby-proofing of late has been occasionally closing the doors to the bathrooms, and putting the drip-tray of the water cooler out of reach. Not much else.
What he’s been eating: Three meals a day. We’ve completely ditched the cereal at bedtime — it never worked, he stopped liking it and would just scream, and I got way too tired for that. New foods this month were tri-colour alfredo noodles (loved ’em, but then he loves all pasta), cows’ milk (lovvvvves it, but it does constipate him if we give him too much), and strawberries (I finally decided it would be safe, and he was fine). That doesn’t seem like a lot of new foods, but that’s all I have written down … Hmm … Oh, and I finally let him eat WHOLE Ritz crackers. Yup, you read that right — I did not break them into 27 tiny pieces. He gets a huge grin, holds it in his hand, and either takes a bite with his teeny (two) teeth … or smashes the whole thing in his fist. Depends on his mood, I guess.
How we’ve been sleeping: This was a weird month, sleep-wise. He has some really good nights (like one when he slept for a 6.5 hour stretch), and some really, really terribly shitty nights (like MANY where he was up five or six times). It was pretty consistently two feedings, though, plus often a quick 10:30 p.m. wakeup where Darling Husband would “re-soother him” and he’d go back to sleep.
Diapering: We’re still using disposable diapers at night only, and using cloth during the days. I finally got around to putting a bit of bleach in with the cloth diapers, and it did seem to take away any stink-age. It’s been a bitch to diaper Baby Boy lately, though. He wriggles and turns and tries to stand up and walk around on the changing table. Frustrating! On the bright side, though, he often takes his daily poo in the disposable diaper, before I get him up for the day, so I’ve had very few poo cloth diapers to, ahem, “deal with.”
Breastfeeding: Operation WEBBOY (WEan Baby Boy at One Year) is going strong. And by that, I mean … I suppose I’m doing it subliminally? OK, fine. I’m not doing much at all. He gets formula in a sippy-cup sometimes when we go out — because I’m not pumping anymore — and he drinks the odd sip here and there. I was sort of trying to cut back nursing sessions, but didn’t really make a lot of progress. Stay tuned for this month’s update, though, because *drumroll, please* I’m actually doing stuff lately. Actual weaning stuff! Promise!
Playing: He hasn’t played as much with the battery-operated stuff in “Toy Corner” this month. He’s been really into his board books, especially the one about Noah and the flood, and his all-time favourite, Baby Boo — the other day he picked it up, brought it to me, and then sat down expectantly as I started to read. He also loves going into his room, yanking books down off his shelves, and flipping through them like he’s pretending to read — it’s so freaking cute because they are usually chapter books like Beezus and Ramona.
Things that surprised me: How much he is like me — specifically that he is incredibly stubborn. I think because he looks so much like Darling Husband, sometimes I assume he’s like him on the inside, too. But he absolutely has my stubborn/determined streak. Example? He is obsessed with the dresser drawers in our room, because they glide and he’s able to pull them open and closed (unlike his own stiffer drawers). He runs into our room 324,084 times a day and yanks open my tank top drawer. He fishes out tank tops and runs around with them. If I stop him and close the drawer, he will go straight for the nightstand drawer, where he digs around until he finds (adult content ahead!) the Astroglide. It’s a tall drawer, and he’s a short baby. No matter how deep I bury it in the drawer, he will stand on his tippy-toes and basically hang off the end of the drawer, struggling to grope around for it. Sure, I could just put it somewhere else (or put it in a container), but it’s kind of awe-inspiring to see him work so hard to get something. Just wish it wasn’t, um, adult stuff!
Things that have made me melt: When I got a beautiful handmade card on my very first Mother’s Day, and even breakfast in bed — I felt like such a grown-up, and it just hit me (like it did when I stuffed his stocking and hid his Easter eggs) that I’m really a mom. When I clean up after lunch and Baby Boy “helps” me push his highchair back into its spot — he does it with such a serious “helping Mommy” expression. When he grins at me from across the room and runs straight for me. When he laughs and I can see his two shiny white (crooked) bottom teeth. When his face lights up as we “follow along” to the jumping-around antics on his favourite show, FourSquare. When he wakes up happy from a nap, and over the monitor I hear “Mum-mum-um-ma-mum!” He is the absolute best.
How to health-ify (is that a word?) chicken and rice soup for your baby
Weirdest post title I have ever written? Probably. But I invented a way to make canned Campbell’s Chicken and Rice soup an even more AWESOME food for Baby Boy, and damnit, you’re going to hear about it!
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| 1. Simmer soup. Ooh, ground-breaking, I know! |
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| 2. Here comes the trickery! I thawed some frozen chicken discs and some frozen carrot cubes. |
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| 3. I added the extra chicken to the soup for extra protein-y goodness. |
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| 4. I divided the carrot puree between two bowls. |
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| 5. I strained the soup-juice (er, broth) into another pot … |
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| … so that it was easier to just get the “guts” (er, ingredients) into bowls. |
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| 6. See? Soup guts in bowls! |
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| Here’s how it looks stirred with the carrot puree. |
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| 7. Add some broth back in, and HOLLA — done! |
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| It makes the soup orange-y instead of yellow-y. I was possibly on crack when I decided this would be an interesting post. I’m sorry. |
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| Oh! And see?! I froze the leftover soup for Baby Boy. Yes, that’s something valuable. Again … sorry. |
Not Me Monday: Mother’s Day edition
- I did not eat bacon THREE TIMES on Mother’s Day
- For breakfast on an English muffin with cheese (lovingly prepared by Darling Husband)
- For lunch on a Teen burger (my absolute fave)
- For supper with an omelet and toast (made with Little Sis for our dear mama)
- I did not beg for Darling Husband’s noise cancellation headphones so I could sleep in while he took care of Baby Boy … and then get annoyed because he wouldn’t let me roll over in them because I might break them. I’m not a high-maintenance sleeper-inner.
- I did not sit across from Darling Husband at lunch and say, “OK, tell me all of the reasons that I’m a great mother … Go ahead!” I am nothing if not modest.
- I did not pass off Baby Boy (and his stinky poo diaper) to Darling Husband and announce, “It’s Mother’s Day. Here you go!”
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Heather's Handmade Life 