Dinner with Chester

Dinner is fun here - Boy Friday would like to sit (he's not using that bouncy seat properly...), and Chester would like to eat my food. Unfortunately, Chester cannot be deterred.

Baby's First Christmas

I don't think Baby Friday is *quite* ready for opening gifts yet. I had to help, and it appears that he was a wee bit startled by the noise of the paper (it was tissue paper - who knows what happened to our wrapping paper in the move? did we bring it? maybe?). 

The little guy got lots of clothes, and a few toys. He would've gotten more if we'd remembered the stuff that his grandmother sent that wasn't wrapped! Oops. I just remembered today that he had a sock monkey, and where was it? Oh, still in the mailing box! It was like Christmas all over again. Well, I finally got around to taking the Leapfrog Musical Table out of the box today - and I think Santa did well. Looks like I'll enjoy it, even if Friday doesn't!  

I guess opening presents was a little too tiring for the little guy!

He kept falling asleep in my arms the next day, too. I guess Christmas dinner in a strange house was rather exciting and exhausting! Boy Friday did really well (much better than on Thanksgiving) - he slept through dinner (!) and didn't even cry when he woke up. Despite the presence of tall, loud strangers.

In weather news - we are all happy that most of the snow has melted. The streets were an absolute MESS a few days ago. When we got back on Christmas night we had to park down the street and around the corner, then walk the baby home on icy sidewalks. Would you believe it was in the 60's today? Just the other day there was a high of 4 degrees!

And some more photos..

Winter and Christmas Preparations...

We've been getting ready for Christmas, winter, and babies being more mobile. So, let's see... we got a tree, a tree stand, a tree skirt, and some more lights...and even hung some fancy ornaments we'd collected and never used. I'm not even sure where we got all of them! Boy Friday decided he wanted to stay up and see the tree all put together before going to bed (after midnight). I think it wore him out, though, because he's been in bed before 9 every night after that!  Christmas-in-a-box arrived the other day, as well (from Arizona - although there was no warm weather included).

Winter came early this year. Although the solstice was today (ok, yesterday), we've been having snow for nearly a month already. Today - ridiculously low temperatures. It was five below when I woke up this morning, but the wind chill was -31 degrees F! No, I did NOT take the baby out in it. We stayed in and watched people try to get their cars out of snow-piled spots on the street (really not sure why they didn't just get out and shovel a bit. probably would've been faster).

Baby Friday is continuing to practice his moves. He's not super mobile yet, but he's working on it. As you can see below... (the toys in his hands impede his progress a bit here, but he refuses to let go of them):

I should probably work on keeping the floors cleaner...

I know, I know - it's lots of video. And most of the second one is Boy Friday trying to figure out what he's just done, and really what he should do about it. The first video is a lot of squirming and kicking about - I was hoping he'd tire himself out as it was getting close to 10 pm.

We had a rather rough day here - lots of complaining on Boy Friday's part, which led to some complaining from me. But, we did get out to run a couple of errands in the rather chilly 19 degrees F. You know it's cold if your fingers are frozen before you get to the car. The other evening when we went to get the stroller out of the trunk, we discovered the trunk was frozen shut. I'm not sure yet whether this is better than living in an oven for half of the year. Oven or freezer? Hmmm...

Have a good weekend! Hopefully we'll get some decorations up before too long.

Watching Lots of TV here.

Yes, we're watching lots of TV. Specifically - Baby Einstein videos. So mom can shower. Or check email. Or just not have to carry the little guy around the house.  He seems to really enjoy the videos (he always smiles when he sees the caterpillar in the beginning). 

Ok, I haven't actually seen any of the videos start-to-finish yet. When I get a chance, I've been watching Ugly Betty. It's nice to find another tv series to watch finally - I've tried out quite a few only to find that I'm just not that into them (Burn Notice, Weeds, Lost, the Office - I know, I'm crazy, huh? SO wish I found that one funny). Anyway...

Boy Friday has begun taking notice of the cats (and they seem more interested in him all of a sudden, too). I'll have to see if I can get them checking each other out on video - the little guy was laughing today because his hand was being rubbed by the Tyger. I need to be careful, though, because Friday really likes to grab anything that gets close to his hand (hair, fur, icky stuff on the ground).

In other notes... Anya just ate some ribbon off a present. I didn't realize until today, actually. Just what I need - a repeat of the Easter grass incident.

Freezing Weather Today!

Here we are taking a stroll through Jefferson Park. There were even a few flurries! The walk did not, however, result in a sleeping baby when I got home. Oh well. He did rest a bit while I roamed through the library looking for something interesting to read (no, I didn't find anything worth checking out - do I really have time to read a book in two weeks?).

It's COLD here.

The guy on TV tells me our normal temperature at this time is about 39 degrees F. So, apparently, we're looking at temperatures nearly 20 degrees less than normal for this time of year. Thank goodness, because I think this is quite chilly.  My weather page is telling me that it's 14 degrees outside right now. I don't think I'll be going out to see for myself. 

Scraping off the car was an adventure a couple of days ago. Although we only had about 2 inches of snow, there were more than six inches on my windshield. My fingers were all red and frozen by the time I'd gotten most of the snow and ice off the car.

Well... today we mostly stayed inside and played:

Boy Friday slept pretty well last night - although he was rather shrieky yesterday. My ears have been aching a bit from all the shrieks. 

December Snow...

That was the view this morning when I got up. A few inches of snow (and quite a bit of wind)! The snow didn't continue all day, luckily, since I'm not quite ready for more than a couple inches. 

And yesterday morning, this is how I found Boy Friday:

He'd worked his way out of the swaddling AND his sock AND a leg of his outfit! I always thought those snaps were too far apart. He was quite proud of himself. Sneaky little guy.

Baby's First Thanksgiving!

Well, I don't have too much to say about our Thanksgiving, except that Baby Friday was not impressed with the event.  He must've thought the house we were at was a bit too noisy, so he'd go ahead and join in and make his own noise. Yep. Although others assured us that he wasn't bothering them... well, he was bothering ME. I can't eat with a small, squirmy, and noisy creature sitting (squirming) in my lap. Hopefully he'll do better at our next event (whatever that might be).  The little guy proceeded to take a nap on the way home which made him nice and chipper for the rest of the evening (until oh... 1 am?). 

Although Baby Friday is usually terrible at taking daytime naps - he's usually ok sleeping through the night. Usually. If I can get him to nap during the day, it leads to him finally settling down for the night later than I'd planned (11 pm - 1 am or so). Here's a video of morning baby (note that he is no longer wrapped - he NEVER stays wrapped):

The weather channel tells me there is a 90-100% chance of snow tomorrow. Perhaps even 4-6 inches! Um. We don't have snow boots yet.

Thinking About Rolling Over.

I put the little guy down on his tummy earlier today (ok, yesterday, as of a few minutes ago) and it really looked like he was trying to roll over. I guess he's been getting practice strengthening his back when I carry him (he always looks like he's arching away from me - apparently it's to a purpose?). 

Tomorrow (or later today): updated length and weight after Boy Friday's four month check up! I just noticed that he's wearing the same clothes we had him in two months ago when Mom visited. I don't think he's actually gained much in length since then... I did try to measure him and I think he's not quite 25 inches. We'll see in about 12 hours!

New Toy

I picked up an exersaucer for Boy Friday today. Here's what he did when he first got to sit in it:

I really must remember to turn off the TV before taking videos.

A Message From Boy Friday...

Rainforest Booster Seat

We got this little booster seat thinking that it would help Boy Friday sit upright and he'd be happier... unfortunately he doesn't last too long in it just yet! Since he continues to slump to the side in it no matter how much stuff I shove in the side to prop him up, it just frustrates him. Of course, this video is from about 7 pm last night - and he's getting rather tired.

The Little Screamer

Well, here he is. The little screamer.

A Comment on Gay Marriage...

I found this comment by Keith Olbermann on the gay marriage issue.... It's depressing to me to think it's necessary to ban gay marriage.  What is it to you? How does it hurt you? And why should you even have the right to say someone else cannot love like you do? I know, I know - this isn't a baby video. I'm working on that. I couldn't upload this morning, so you get this instead!

Friday's Dinner in the City

It felt like a rather long day - we didn't get into the city until oh, 4 pm or so, then we walked a few miles while down there. I think the little guy did quite well!

Weekend with Aunt Emily!

Well, that about sums it up! Ok, maybe not. We did get downtown a couple of times over the weekend - we walked down the Magnificent Mile (although did not do any shopping), and we went to the Shedd Aquarium.  It was rather chilly all weekend, too. It occurs to me that Boy Friday is going to need some more stuff to bundle up in. And at some point he'll also need a slightly more portable stroller. With 2+ people, the stroller/carseat combo that we have is fine, however many El stations are NOT handicapped accessible, and thus, also not stroller accessible. And others were temporarily not accessible due to elevator failure, etc. I am glad that I didn't have to carry him the whole time we were out - that would've been exhausting. Although, probably warmer.

Aunt Emily got to see what a little screamer Boy Friday can be (and I don't mean the other day when he actually had a crying fit, which is rare for him). He doesn't USUALLY cry a lot - mainly he screams. Perhaps he's just talking... but it can be earsplitting! A couple of those nights he demonstrated how late he can stay up, also. Since she's left, though, he's been going to bed BEFORE 10 pm. Even before 9! I guess his aunt wore him out?

Wow! He's so Alert!

Friday, Halloween. We didn't do a costume this year. Probably a good thing as the little man would likely have soaked it in drool (or had some other accident to cause staining) in no time. It's been extremely warm here lately and Friday enjoyed his photo shoot on the porch. Unfortunately (for the photos), he's quite an active baby and most of these are a wee bit blurry!

Why are some babies his age so....drowsy looking? We met up with some Chicago mamas and their little ones today down in Logan Square, and this guy thought it was all pretty fun. He laughed and took it all in. The five-month-old baby nearby was cranky and drowsy - and looked smaller than Friday. Indeed, Friday looked about the size of Ellis (8 months) and Juda (7 months). Not complaining... although it's a LONG way down to pick him up out of the pack n'play now that I've had to remove the top basinet. And no, I'm not kidding - we did meet a little girl named Juda today. 

Tomorrow: I guess it's time to VOTE. I'm staying away from downtown (I hear they're expecting at least a million people at the Obama rally). And they aren't allowing strollers.

Toys are Becoming More Interesting...

He's actually managing to grasp things other than our fingers - and here he is trying to chew on the star toy. 

Anya, the demon cat is waiting to pounce

on my desk. Earlier she pulled out all of the papers in the cubby holes and knocked them on the floor. Along with some unpaid bills, my netflix DVDs, and my planner. And the article Jamiss sent (thank you! haven't finished reading it yet). Unfortunately it's hard to remove a demon cat from the desk while feeding a baby. It can be done, however, the demon cat is quite persistent. Occasionally I call her Anyanka, which I think is quite appropriate to her nature (well, Anyanka is a vengeance demon - I think Anya just likes to get into trouble). During the day Anya prefers to sleep on some of the still-packed boxes, perhaps dreaming about what she is going to get into next.

Tyger, on the other hand, has spent the last week sleeping on our couch. It is rare to see him elsewhere. In fact, I've had trouble when I sit down with the baby - Tyger will try to sit on both of us. Rather uncomfortable for all.

So, Boy Friday and I get to sit (or lay, in his case) on the floor. I don't think he minds much. We had a good Wednesday - there was no screaming in the car at all! So I managed to run a couple of errands, make dinner, do some laundry, AND even took a shower. Now, he also took an afternoon nap, which caused him to not want to sleep until at least 11:30pm. But, I figured that was a small price to pay for a relatively happy baby all evening.

Of course, it also led to an early rise of oh... 5am, then 6:30, then 7:30 (when he insisted he was hungry). Bummer. And today - not so into getting in the car again (how dare you strap me into this evil carseat!). So, we went for a walk instead. Not what I'd planned - but really, my plans are only suggestions these days. We never managed to get a pumpkin - maybe tomorrow? Who knows? At least I have some mums to make the house feel more autumnal...

Chewing on Toys...

Boy Friday has been sucking on his hands quite a bit lately. Sunday was a rough day for us - he was rather cranky for most of the afternoon and evening, and I had some trouble getting him to sleep soundly. Perhaps he's teething already?! He's beginning to be able to hold things, too - although it takes some persuading. I've also noticed Friday moving around quite a bit more than he was only a week or two ago. He'll often get himself into a position at least 90 degrees from where I put him down - but I don't have any video of that (he seems to do this when I walk away). Here's a playful baby, Sunday morning:

Three Months Old Already!

Boy Friday is actually 3 months old! And he's already getting close to doubling his weight. He smiles, makes all sorts of fun noises, and is doing a great job holding his head up. It looks like he's about 14.6 lbs now (according to my scale - yes, that's with diaper and all). As you can see, he's been enjoying sitting on the couch.

Although he had trouble with all the driving on Wednesday and Thursday (he decided he needed to scream all the way home during rush hour traffic. awesome), he did just fine Saturday when we took a little jaunt down Milwaukee Avenue to the Wicker Park neighborhood. It's been very chilly here - and it's supposed to freeze Monday morning - so we had Friday all bundled up.

Well, I'm off to sleep now - it's late and Friday's been asleep for three hours already...

So Halloween is Coming...

And there are some amazing decorations out there... I think someone actually spray painted a high chair in that last photo. Some serious thought and effort has gone into this!

And the weekend has come to an end...

It's been a rather long week. Ok, I guess it just feels long, since I'm sure it's the same length as all weeks. Boy Friday, despite having several days in a row of sleeping 7-9 hours a night, decided he was finished with that, thank you very much, and he'd much prefer to wake up every hour or two again. You know, like old times (a couple of months ago...). Well, mommy isn't super excited about that turn of events. Several days were spent in a bit of a stupor. So, sorry for the lack of photos this past week. You know, there are only so many poses I can get on the little guy before he moves around on his own! Friday really doesn't like to smile for the camera, either. It concerns him to have the weird device aimed at his face - especially when the flash is on (as it always is indoors).

I am fairly certain that Friday wants to sit on his own. He gets quite frustrated on his belly, and is not interested much in rolling over or pushing his head up. Mostly, he just drools and sticks his hands in his mouth. In fact, you can see some drool on that photo of him sitting! He's become quite the little slobber-fountain. I wonder how long we've got until teeth start appearing?

Baby Friday is looking at his daddy in this photo - otherwise he'd just be giving me that concerned look. See? He does actually smile!

To the Loop and Back

That's our train station - and the train we got on this morning to go visit Mu and Papa at Union Station. We used our new carrier which worked out ok. It's still a bit difficult when you have nowhere to put the baby down. Since its rather warm today, we both got rather sweaty, too!

Mu spent a long time holding Boy Friday and trying to convince him to holler. But for the most part he just wanted to chat. Which is fine by me, really, because I prefer a happy baby. The one thing he really didn't like was the crazy Dyson hand drier in the bathroom. Looks cool, but its way too LOUD. 

We made it home just fine and now we're relaxing and slobbering on our fingers. Oh ok, that's just the baby. You know, I really think he'd love it if he could sit upright already. 

On Saturday, we relax..

Ok, the park photo is from yesterday - but we did go there today also. This afternoon we drove around Mayfair, Albany Park, Bucktown, and Lincoln Square neighborhoods - just to see what's over there. We also checked out the Chicago Public Library - didn't check anything out this time, but at least I know it's there!

Yesterday's Mail...

From Boy Friday's Great Aunt Chris - a stuffed sheep rattle. He's quite cute and cuddly.  There was also a crocheted hat and jacket (not yet photographed...).

Cranky Day

Yep. Friday was cranky today. Still is, in fact. Not sure what his deal is, but he also woke up several times last night. And he wasn't quite as smiley as usual this morning. Who knows? He seems a bit tired, actually.

After changing him (in an attempt to see if a wet diaper was the problem...), I noticed... 

a cat's tail! Anya has discovered a new sleeping spot underneath the changing table of the Pack N' Play. Hopefully she will tire of this spot quickly, since I'm not sure there is any way to keep her out.

This morning, in Chicago

A baby slept almost eight hours for the third night in a row! Ok, yesterday he slept for almost nine hours - which had me a bit worried (and, in theory, fairly well rested).  We had a bit of an adventure yesterday when we went to Ikea by ourselves to pick up a bookshelf. Easier said than done - especially with baby. Of course, I couldn't manage to bring the camera (and I forgot the Hooter-Hider...).  Made it home with the bookshelf (still in the car), as well as a few items that weren't on my list.