5.26.2010

two months.

dear mr. oliver fox,

well last month, i asked for more personality and i sure got it. you have gone from the newborn who couldn't be bothered to stay awake during a feeding to a bright eyed, smiling, laughing baby seemingly overnight! you love watching faces, making eye contact, cracking yourself up, "talking" in your own language, and "standing up" on our laps while we hold your fingers and have recently started grabbing at things (albeit indiscriminently) and trying to scoot around on your belly. you are making it very hard to not be one of those braggy moms always talking about how advanced her baby is developmentally!
you and i are pretty inseparable, for better or worse. your grandparents say, "put him down for a second!" your daddy says, "let me see the baby!" and i just keep lugging you around from room to room in your car seat, in my arms, or strapped to my body with the sling or the bjorn. what can i say? i am thoroughly obsessed with you, little boy! you still sleep in our room (through the night no less!) though sooner or later we are going to get you in the forest themed nursery you've only seen when we change your diaper. all that coddling is not hurting your social side though. you are passed around between family and friends without a complaint or hint of fear, and you smile at strangers commenting on your friendliness or cuteness.
at your two month well-baby visit, you were 24" long and 12 lb 5 oz! i could have told you as much. it is crazy how much bigger and older you look each day! you are probably going to be out of your size one diapers soon enough, and are already wearing some 3-6 month clothes. even last month, you were long and spindly, but this month you have really filled out with chubby baby cheeks and chunky baby legs. (you also got your shots at this visit, which meant getting poked 3 times! awful for me and awful for you. later that night you screamed for hours until your little throat was raspy.)
it is such a wonder and a blessing to watch you grow every day. i never fully grasped what it was like to love someone this much, and it seems to amplify everyday. its crazy to think that at this time last year, we had no idea you would be coming into our lives. so much can change in an instant and i hardly recognize myself a few years back. you absolutely have changed who i am for the better and later on, i hope i can return the favor.

i love you,
your mama

5.14.2010

seven weeks old!



sixty to zero in thirty seconds flat.






[this happens at least a zillion times a day.
perfectly content, then wailing, then laughing it up,
all before we can even figure out what may have been the matter.]

[p.s. please excuse the angle of the photos. quite unflattering on my part.]

proof.


and mommy loves you!

new addiction.


olly was really into his binky for about two weeks.

he has since taken to sucking on his fist.
not his thumb,
not his fingers,
his entire fist.
the whole side of it.
noisy, and sloppy, and frantic.

what a little freakazoid.

arm & a leg.


like i said, olly is in my arms 90% of the day,
so i am often tethered to the living room furniture 90% of the day.

i'll occasionally check out craigslist's free section for goodies.
last week i found a girl who was getting rid of a baby bjorn!
these things allow you to wear the baby in a front-papoose-type contraption.
tom has really wanted one and refuses to wear the baby sling [too girly].
i have refused as they are $80.


olly loves peeking out over the top,
and it gives him an assist with the neck support.



makes it much easier to get stuff done around the house,
and we saved almost a hundred bucks!

5.09.2010

happy mother's day!

this pretty much sums things up:


in the past six weeks, i have embodied every emotion shown in the above photo.
[sometimes simultaneously.]
excited, nervous, frazzled, exhausted, double-chinned, and so in love.

happy mother's day, indeed.

5.06.2010

updates!

oliver was born with dark blue eyes.
he still has them so far.
[my little brother's changed from blue to hazel, so who knows?]

a week or two after he was born, he got this awful acne rash,
which THANKFULLY is going away.
he must have inherited his mama's skin.

he is thisclose to holding his head up on his own.
he loves stretching.
when he sleeps, he'll shoot one of his arms straight out, and it just hangs there.

when he was born, he had a little white bubble on his gums.
the nurse said this could either dissolve, or reveal a tooth.
it's still there, but no tooth either.

he started smiling and laughing on his own lately,
mostly at funny noises, and when staring at our bookshelf.
i have yet to capture it on film, always on a delay,
but it cracks me up and chokes me up every time.

for now, a few recent photos:

spoiled rotten.

when i am not holding the baby and staring at him,
we are cuddling somewhere,
and one or both of us may be sleeping,
as evidenced below:





he is never going to sleep in his crib,
is he?
we are going to end up being one of those creepy family-bed families,
aren't we?

my favorite little monkey.

mondays in cleveland are free zoo days.

it was a beautiful day,
so we packed up and headed out.

[we've been trying to get olly out of the house for little trips,
more for the grown-ups to have a change of scenery,
than for him to actually enjoy.]

there were koalas with tiny babies,


and spider monkeys,
[which were my favorite when i was little]


and giant gorillas.

olly could have cared less about the whole thing.

[look at how bored he looks!]

i can't wait for stuff like this when he is old enough to know what is going on!

does every parent think they are going to:
do the MOST educational activities,
and make the MOST nutritious food,
and monitor ALL television programs,
and teach their child to read around the age of two?

because that is how ambitious i feel now!

ch-ch-changes.

around the six week mark, olly and i started to hit our stride.
we figured out each other's schedules and likes/dislikes.
then finances dictated that i look into going back to work.
tom would be staying at home with oliver, which had me a little concerned,
only because i had been hogging the baby the past month,
and tom is a great dad, but he is not his mama.

things can quickly go from this:


and this:


to this:


luckily/unluckily,
we don't actually have to confront this problem.

as i have lost my job.

i literally cried one single tear, due to the poor timing of it all,
but in many ways feel relieved.
so for now,
i am celebrating being a stay-at-home mom,
who is lucky to receive a generous severance,
as well as unemployment,
while i contemplate my next move,
and continue to strive to make the best life
for my baby,
and myself,
and my family.