lazy day

When I woke up this morning I wasn't feeling 100%, and this dark, cloudy weather is making it hard to keep my eyes open! I thought this was the perfect day to stay in our jammies and laze out around the house until I have to go to work at 5. The only thing on our agenda was 1 quick work call, which happened to fall during Kyle's afternoon nap (yes!).

Aside from our normal, daily activities - playing with toys in Kyle's room, playing with toys in the living room, taking Penny on walks through the park, playing with toys in his pack 'n play - we added in lots of sing-a-longs, a new Baby Einstein video, busted out some new toys (the classic alligator keyboard and a big bouncy ball) and a good 45 minutes of playtime with kitchen stuff - on the kitchen floor of course!

It was pretty fun spending the whole day at home with my baby, with hardly a to-do list. I think he liked it too - he barely fussed all day, and took 2 rock star naps in his crib, which allowed me some time to order my new iPhone and his Halloween costume online. Successful Friday over here :)

Have a great weekend everyone! We're eating a green veggie tomorrow for the first time... headed to Sprouts to check out the green beans and peas and decide which one to go with. Can't wait to see his reaction. We'll also be taking Kyle's 7 month pics with Penny; yes I just said 7 MONTHS! What?!

Kyle's room

Some day soon I'll take pictures of Kyle's room and do a post about how amazingly awesome it is. But my favorite part is that he loves to play in it! We'll play with toys, "read," roll around. He loves his room and it makes me so happy! Here's some pictures of us just chillin in the coolest room in our house.

working with baby

I feel so fortunate that I'm only away from Kyle for 21 hours/week for work. I'm home Tuesday-Thursday and most of Friday, and still can't believe that I don't have to wake up at 6 am on those days and head to the office - something I'd grown accustomed to doing for the past 8 years.

It's relatively easy to head to the restaurant for my bartending shifts; I miss my baby, but I know he's in good hands (with my hub or mother in law) and that I'll be home soon to spend lots of time with him. I can go to work, make some cash and come home to a happy, fed, well-rested (or sleeping) baby. 

But I recently added to my schedule some working from home for my former company - which is proving to be a whole new challenge. When I have conference calls, do I need a babysitter or hope Kyle will be in a good mood for those 30 minutes? Do I push his nap up (or back) 30 minutes so he'll be asleep by the time my call starts? Do I try and take the call while driving so he's content back there... but then how will I take notes? Do I turn on a Baby Einstein video and do the call down the hallway? What happens when it's over? What if he starts crying?!

That's been my typical train of thought for the past 2 weeks. I've done 5 calls, with varying results:

• Call #1: I had my mother in law come over and watch him - easy. But she's not available every day! 
• Call #2 was scheduled during Kyle's typical naptime, except on that particular day he decided that instead of going right to sleep like he usually does, he'd rather cry his eyes out for 20 minutes (while I try and concentrate on the call and watch him on the monitor in agony) and fall asleep exactly 2 minutes before my call was over. 
• Call #3: I asked my friend Heather to come over and watch him, and the call lasted 9 minutes. Poor Heather drove all the way over with her daughter for a 9-minute babysitting session. (Bonus: it left us time to get lunch together)
• Call #4: I asked my sister to come over, and then the call was canceled at the last second. She was happy to have some time with her nephew, but I felt terrible she came out of her way for nothing. 
• Call #5: Today, my call was rescheduled for 2:30 instead of 3 - Kyle's usual naptime. Amazingly, the stars aligned and he laid quietly in his crib at 2:25 and then fell right asleep at 2:31 and is still sleeping an hour later. If only every call went as perfectly as today's!

After these initial calls are over (I have 2 more), I'll be able to make my own schedule and write whenever Kyle is asleep... but this has been a good lesson on how challenging it can be to work at home with a baby. No more lounging in bed in PJs with a laptop and cup of coffee, perusing the internet until it's time to call in :)

zoom zoom

This weekend I let Kyle's cousin Harlow take him on his first "ride" at Babies R Us. Maybe not my most responsible mommy move, but it made Harlow feel super grown up and got Kyle out of his car seat for a few minutes to stretch his legs. His expression in this picture cracks me up.

i hate you, teeth

My hatred for teeth started when I was 5 years old and chipped my 2 front shiny new permanent teeth in half. Then, I chipped them in half again when I slipped in the bathtub around age 8, and again at age 12 diving into the shallow end of my neighbor's pool (long story). As an adult, I've had to have teeth pulled, root canals, multiple fillings, you name it. The worst!

I think teeth are terrible, and now even more so because my poor baby is cutting his first tooth. I can feel a little nub coming through his bottom gums, and he is drooling like nobody's business. He wakes up in a puddle almost as big as his head.

Yesterday, he woke up from his nap and would not nurse. He just laid there in my lap and looked up at me crying and acting like he didn't know what to do (this is very unlike him). And this morning, he couldn't fall asleep even though he was so. tired. and clearly needed a nap. He would just lay there, fall asleep for 1-2 minutes, and then wake himself up fussing. I tried to help him get some rest, but it was obvious that he was in pain. This cycle went on for almost an hour until it finally got the best of him and he was able to zonk out for a while.

I've heard terrible, horrible, no-good stories about teething and was hoping & praying that Kyle would have it easy, but it looks as though he's not off the hook. Teething is most definitely a bitch and our journey is just beginning.