The Great Pickle Debate (Photo Blog)

To like them or not, for that is the question!







Hmmm, and what might you be?






Uuhh, Mom? What IS this?






... Ok pickle, your alright.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day Light Savings

I don't normally panic when it comes to Day Light Savings, but I am now a mother of an eight month old.

I did absolutely no preparation for this night! I've been browsing some websites and each of then suggest slowly keeping your infant up later by making their bedtime 15 minutes later each day. Sounds completely logical, so why didn't I think of preparation sooner?

The last two nights at our house have been pretty hairy anyways! Right now I'm chalking it up to a calorie-catch-up wake up call. Lately Monster has been less and less interested with his bottles and more interested in eating solids.

Ultimately I am OK with a slow self weening process, however I am not OK with a midnight bottle wake up call. I give virtual high fives to each and every mother who has to deal with this on a regular basis, and yes I realize how terribly spoiled I sound by even complaining about it! I'm sorry!

After the last two nights why not add on another couple of days of strange sleep patterns on top?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Eighth Month Check List

A few months ago I was inspired by one of my mommy friends Enyo (please click here for her Facebook Blog Fan Page and become a FAN) to post a checklist of how Monster is measuring up against other babies his age.

I've been using the checklist from my What To Expect in the First Year book. In the book they section the month off into categories, here they are!

By the end of this month, your baby...
...should be able to:

• bear some weight on legs when held upright - Check, for a LONG time.
• feed self a cracker - Check, again, for a long time.
• pass a small object from one hand to the next - Check, long time!
• rake a small object and pick it up into a fist - Check. I replaced the word raisin with small object because he eats puffs and cheerios, however I think raisins are a little far off of his feeding scale.
• Turn in the direction of a voice - Check, for a long time!
• Look for a dropped object - Check. Monster's favorite thing to do is feed our pug LOLA his Gerber Puffs. Lola doesn't mind one bit.

...will probably be able to:

• stand holding onto someone or something - Check. We've been "walking" for a couple months now. 
• object if you try to take a toy away - Check. This one is new from the last couple of weeks. He didn't mind before. That was until he started to grab at things he couldn't have like a PS3 controller...
• work to get a toy out of reach - Check... Toy, dog food dish, microphone cord, curtains, etc.
• play peekaboo - He does something that resembles peekaboo, but I've heard (Thanks Mama to Triple H) that I'll *know* when it's peekaboo. We just don't play it that much...
• get into a sitting position from stomach - He has only done it once, so I'm chalking that up to fluke. He mostly "airplanes" until we pick him up.

...may possibly be able to:

• pull up to a standing position from sitting - Not with everything, just our hands. So I don't feel right saying yes.
• pick up a tiny object with any part of thumb and finger - Check! For about a week and a half! YAY!
• say "mama" and "dada" indiscriminately - No. But he can say "Hi", "Hey", and something that sounds like "Cat" 

...may even be able to:

• play patty cake or wave bye-bye - Check! We have had the waving thing down for almost a month, but the clapping thing just ends up being "Monster BANG" (both hands down).
• walk holding onto furniture - We're starting. He shuffles in his playpen while standing.
• stand alone momentarily - Definitely not.
• understand the word "No", but not always obey it - No, I don't think so. 

Well, there you have it folks! That is a checklist this mama can be proud of!   

Dear Dog Food Companies...

Dear Dog Food Companies,

There seems to be an issue with your food. It is more appealing to my infant then it is my pug. However, my pug would like to request that you look into partnering up with Gerber Baby Food. She really enjoys the banana flavored Gerber Puffs for babies.

Thanks.

(Note: I do not encourage this as a tasty baby snack alternative. I'm just getting used to a scooting/semi-crawling Monster and had to take a picture of him with his paws in the "cookie" jar.)

Life in Crazy Town!

For the last month (wait, perhaps longer..) Hubbs has been on compressed shift at work. Essentially he's off Monday to Friday, but then works three 10.5 hour shifts over a 48 hour period.

Thankfully after four weeks on that god forsaken shift and two weeks holidays we're soon returning to our routine. Normally Hubbs works the graveyard shift, comes home, hangs out with the Monster and I until about 4 in the afternoon and then heads to bed for a sleep before his shift rolls around at 1am. We got on a fairly good routine, and I'd often get to skip out on making dinner because I could just head to my moms.

After the month we just had, with a sick and teething infant, plus Hubbs crazy work schedule I am SO looking forward to some normalcy. Just in time for Christmas preparation! I will have my normal evening-mommy-quiet time after Monster goes to bed, and before I go to bed to get things in order. I swear my house stays cleaner when I have alone time to do it the cleaning in!

Of course, this normalcy can only really last two and a half months longer because soon I'll be returning to work. Eek! That is a whole new ballgame, a whole new set of routines and I don't even want to think about that! Lets get Christmas over with first... ;)

Healthiest Babies Possible

On Tuesdays at our Family Resource Center there is a mommy group called 'Healthiest Babies Possible' which I try to attend as often as I can.

So far the draw has mostly been seeing Monster interact with other babies his age or a bit older. I love it! The first time I went he learned how to start scooting and moving (as apposed to just sitting in one spot) from the little ones he was playing with.

I actually know quite a few people in the area who had babies around the same time as me, but it's not always easy to find times that work good for both families to get together. This group is easy, is only two hours a week and is educational as well fun for the Monster.

This week was by far my favorite, even though I didn't get to see Monster interacting with other babes. We had a guided tour of Save-on Foods with a dietitian. That doesn't sound like a screaming good time to most, but it's something I'm interested in, therefore it was fun for me! Since I've had a history of battling my weight, and now issues with my gallbladder reading a nutrition guide is not a foreign concept to me like it is to a lot of people.

You know, those people who are blessed with a metabolism that allows them to eat anything and everything? It was interesting to hear her discuss the over-sugared breakfast cereals (and how many grams of sugar should be in a serving) as well as fiber in breads and other grains. Even though I'm aware of most things regarding what is good for you, and what isn't I did learn something today! Milk Fat. That is not a term I'd ever heard of! It came up when we were discussing cheese and yogurt.

I swear I could have picked her brain for an hour if we had the chance! In the end we got to take home a handy booklet that is just an amazing reference when it comes to knowing how much of everything we need, and don't need! Something that will be a useful tool as Monster gets older, and gains his own preferences towards foods. Please don't let him be a picky eater! :)
 

Anticipating the 8th Month!

I am by no means anxious for my Monster to grow up, because I know just from the last year that time flies turbo style once you're a grown up!

Having said that I am SO ready to welcome the 8th Month of Monster's life with open and happy arms! The 7th month has been trying and slightly frustrating with our first infant cold, terrible infant teething, sleep regression due to a sick infant, and our first infant ear infection! All that, plus stuff going on with people around us has made October/the 7th month leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I am not one for wallowing though, and I am optimistically looking forward to November (and then CHRISTMAS-MONTH! No, it doesn't even get it's officially name) and all the new infant milestones Monster will reach and surpass! Hopefully the last couple of days has been a preview of the month to come, Monster has spent the majority of his days laughing at everyone and everything. We walked around a couple show homes today, just the three of us, and he could not contain his gleeful giggles!

Not to mention, aside from Christmas preparation November is generally a more quiet month of the year for us anyways.

Cheers to a great tomorrow!

Photo Blog - Halloween Wrap Up

As promised here are some photos from our Halloween-Extravaganza-Weekend! 

Monster and I as Cruella De'Vil and a Dalmatian!

Acting like a Puppy... Minus the barking

Trying SO hard to crawl... But mostly "superman-ing".

At the mall ready to trick or treat!

Chillin' with his first piece of LOOT!

Daddy helping Monster get some candy! Yum!

Halloween Wrap Up

Well, there you have it. We've spent a month preparing for our favorite holiday... and it's officially over.

At the beginning of October I was so excited about my favorite holiday that I started shopping for some new decorations, and searching high and low for an infant dalmatian costume. Mid October we finally got all the decorations up inside the house, and outside on our porch and purchased the best pumpkins we could find from DeMille's Farm.

Once we found Monster's costume, and received the finishing touches of Hubbs Silent Bob costume in the mail, I couldn't help but be ecstatic thinking about Halloween! This year the usual one day event lasted all weekend. A weekend of Halloween BLISS! Friday we all dressed up and went trick-or-treating at one of our local malls, and the down town center. Monster spent much of the day chillin' in his stroller playing with a large bag of cotton candy he received from a local shop that makes it. We trick-or-treated with his cousins, a couple family friends and his little girlfriend Buneez (She was an adorable pumpkin). I chose not to wear a white fur coat for my Cruella DeVil costume because I knew realistically that I wouldn't wear it long indoors so I'm sad to report not many people know who I was!

Friday night was also the day of our families yearly Halloween Party. Many games, laughs and good times were had by all. Saturday night, the Halloween festivities were more for the adults. Monster spent the night with his grandma and grandpa while Hubbs and I celebrated at a couple local bars with our closest friends (and family). Jay (Uncle Slim) and Silent Bob (Hubbs) won best costume at both places!

Which brings us to today. We hadn't planned on doing any real trick or treating because, lets face it... Monster can't walk, can't talk, and most importantly can't EAT any of the candy. Honestly, I'd feel a little ridiculous going door to door with an almost 8 month old. We did, however, take him to his each of his grandparents houses, and a couple of his aunties houses to show off his adorable costume. He obviously didn't really know what was going on, but going through the motions was still a good time.

Photos coming soon!