Made in Richmond

So this was The Weekend. The much anticipate/dreaded weekend trip to Iowa. I say “anticipated” because JR and I were finally getting a chance to meet a good portion of my mother-in-law’s family. I say “dreaded” because this was our first overnight trip with the baby anywhere – and one the involved a plane ride, a time change, and general upheaval of our much-loved and finely tuned schedule.

Before I begin, let me talk about the schedule for a second. JR’s schedule is a thing of magic. While I know it’s not the case for every child, I’m convinced that this schedule is the reason why JR sleeps as well as he does (two 2-hour naps and 12 hours of sleep at night HELLO!). But we’ve never really had to deviate from this schedule, and I was mildly terrified of what the circumstances of this weekend would do to it.

Guys. He was awesome.

Save one minor, 5-minute meltdown (that took place in the privacy of our hotel room after a day of all travel and virtually no naps) he was a happy, babbling, charming little man the entire weekend. A weekend that consisted of early wake-up times, late bedtimes, hours of plane and car rides, and encounters with strangers who wanted to cuddling and squeeze him nonstop. Seriously, barely a beep for 72 hours.

Win. Child jackpot win.

This evening we were in the thick of the unholy hour between the baby’s dinner and bedtime while trying to coordinate who was going to do what in preparation for our dinner and getting the kid off to sleep. Trying to process that along with all of the work and tasks that need to be completed between now and when we board a plane for Iowa at 7am on Friday morning caused me to stop in my tracks and take a deep breath.

Ross stopped, looked at me, and said, “What can I do to help you?”

It’s so rare that we hear *exactly* what we need to hear, but this was one of those moments.

Husbands (particularly mine) are good things.

Today was the day poor JR had to get a tube stuck in his pee hole (which is more more fun to say than “catheter”) and, overall, things went great. Well, I guess, as well as they could have when someone sticks a tube in your baby’s pee hole and then holds him down while they take a picture.

I must say, the little man was a champ. He managed to remember he had a thumb early on in the process and just let out a few whimpers when they stuck the tube in. He was none too happy during the imaging process because we had to hold down his arms and legs because he wanted so badly to kick and grab at the machine. But a few rounds of moo-ing like a cow in his face calmed him down.

Everything looks just fine. All fluids flowed where they were supposed to (and didn’t flow where they weren’t supposed to). I did however get quite the third degree (with lots of tsking and huffing) as to why he’s not circumcised. To which I finally replied “Because he just isn’t.” Note to nurse responsible for sticking tubes in the pee holes of the baby boys: as you are sticking said tube in said hole, it’s probably best to not grill mother of said baby boy about a parenting decision that is none of your business.

Perhaps JR knew I was frustrated because when they took the catheter out, he peed and quite a bit of it got on her. And then he smiled.

Anyway, hopefully at his urology appointment in July, they’ll send us on our way and we won’t have to think about kidneys and catheters and judgmental pee hole nurses anymore.

Friday: Up to feed the baby and do some last minute tasks before leaving for the weekend. Handed the baby over to his grandmother for our first whole weekend away from each other. Some tears. Ate lunch. Hopped in the car and headed to Fredericksburg. Checked into our hotel. Got dressed and went to the wedding rehearsal. Rehearsed. Went to the rehearsal dinner. Had some wine. Good food and good time with friends. Back to the hotel. To bed.

Saturday: Up at 7:30 to pump. Tried to go back to sleep because I was not, at that moment, responsible for the care and feeding of another person. Couldn’t get back to sleep. Back up to take a shower. Went to breakfast with groom and company. Headed over to salon to meet up with the bride. Got my hair did. Didn’t have to pay. Went over to the ceremony site. Various bridesmaid’s activities. Walked down the aisle. Cried. Walked back up the aisle. Posed for pictures. Off to the reception. Ate some food. Drank some drinks. Cried some more. Did some dancing. Back to the hotel. Brief hang out before going to bed way too late.

Sunday: Up at 7:30 to pump. Managed to go back to sleep for a little while. Up to shower and head to post-wedding brunch. Stayed for a bit. Headed back to Richmond to see MAH BAYBEE. Was greeted with much smiling, giggling, and reaching out of pudgy arms for my face. Gave Ross his Father’s Day presents. Took a nap while the baby took his. Cuddled and played with the baby. Put him down after feeding him. Had to do much cuddling off and on for an hour because baby was either off because of his weird weekend or just needed to make up for lost time. Watched The Wire while eating 3 Monkeys takeout. Bed soon.

Have a great week!

JR,

Here’s the text message exchange your father and I had today…

Me: He’s 7 months today!
Him: Holy shit
Me: I know!!!! Where did our baby go?

I’m asking myself that question a lot these days. While you are definitely still a baby, you’re gradually leaning more towards “little boy” than “infant,” a thought that is both exciting and a little sad. I’m struck by it at odd moments: carrying you to your changing table from the bathtub (you used to tuck neatly into my arms; now you’re this big, wiggling thing throwing your arms everywhere as you try to touch everything we pass), sitting with you in a restaurant (you used to snooze away in your carseat; now you sit in a high chair, gumming on whatever I give you… or accidentally leave within your reach), listening to you through the baby monitor (you used to bleat like a little goat; now you’re practicing your “mama’s” and “dada’s” and “blub blubs” like a champ). But it makes me proud to see you growing up, I must say.

You’ve mastered sitting up, and you’re starting to scoot yourself around on your bottom a bit. Nothing like crawling, but it lets you get whatever toy is out of reach. And when I go in to get you up in the morning, you’re usually facing the opposite direction of where I put you down to sleep the night before.

Speaking of sleep, can we talk about how you are still the best sleeper ever. You take two two-hour naps every day, and sometimes a 30 to 45 minute nap in the afternoon (as needed). AND, you got to bed at 7:30pm and wake up at 7:30am. Well, sometimes you wake up earlier than that, but you’re perfectly content to babble in your crib and look at your books I’ve tucked in there until we come and get you. I don’t know how we got so lucky in that department, but it’s incredible. I know we would be lousy parents if we didn’t get sleep, so we thank you.

No teeth yet. And thank goodness because nursing is going exceptionally well and I’m a bit terrified of how you getting little chompers in there will affect things. I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Along with the whole nursing thing, I had made it a goal to go until you were 6 months old and then take it week by week after that. At this point, I don’t see us stopping any time soon. Maybe we’ll make it to your year birthday. I would be very proud of us both if we do. But if not, hey, we’ve stuck it out for a good, long while.

You’re still a great eater. The only things you really aren’t into are turnips and spinach. Applesauce with blackberries seem to be your favorite. You’re also a big fan of crusts of bread. We’re also working on you using a sippy cup from time to time. You do well when someone is helping you, but you don’t seem to quite get that you have to tip it up. But there’s no rush on that. It’s just something that’s fun to watch you do.

This Sunday we’ll celebrate your dad’s first Father’s Day. And what a great father he is. It’s so sweet to see you two falling a little bit more in love every day. While he’s always loved you, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do for you when you were teeny tiny. But now that you’re bigger, he can help with feeding you and you guys can play more. While you’re still a mama’s boy for sure, I don’t doubt for a second that by the time you hit two years old, you’ll be all about the daddy.

Thanks for being great, bud. We love you so much.

Love,
Mama

Rompers
If you need to see cuteness, find an infant and put him in one of these. And since it’s basically a T-shirt with snaps at the crotch, diaper changes are infinitely easier than having to deal with shorts or pants.

Aquaphor
I wash my hands all the effing time now. Having to be in close proximity to someone else’s poop will do that to you. I have crappy cuticles (not literally, gross) anyway, so the constant washing was getting to be bad news. But, holy lord, slather this stuff on and you are good to go, my friends. Like a baby’s bottom your hands will be!

Momversation
While I have some lovely lady friends, most of them are not mothers. These let me feel like I’m taking part in the gabfests going on in the world of child-rearing.

My So-Called Life on Netflix
Oh the angst! The overuse of “like.” Jordan Catalono’s perfect face. There is no better way to spend a Friday night. Or Saturday night. Or Tuesday afternoon. Ahem.

Method Cucumber Hand Soap
This could be entirely responsible for my dependence on Aquaphor. I want to EAT it.

Send & Archive button on Gmail
This is the sole reason that my inbox no longer makes me want to cry.

How ’bout you? What are you loving on right now?

So we went to the urologist today. It turned out to basically be an appointment to talk about what would happen at the next appointment, a fact I would have appreciated knowing ahead of time because I would have preferred Ross skipped this one so he would be available for the one when I have to hold JR down as they stick a TUBE into his various PARTS.

Yup. In a couple weeks, JR and I will be heading back to Henrico Doctors hospital so they can stick a catheter in him, shoot him up with dye, and see where it all goes. The whole procedure is suppose to take a couple hours and falls right during his afternoon naptime. Hooray! Fortunately, however, my mother has offered to accompany us on the appointment since Ross can’t be there. Good thing because I don’t see how I’m going to entertain this kid for two hours on my own in a doctors office. I can’t even keep *myself* entertained that long, and I have a relatively good attention span.

Anyway, the urologist said that what’s going on is one of his kidneys is showing a dilation (just like it was when he was in my belly and in the ultrasound they did on him after he was born), caused either by a tube that’s too narrow or a tube that’s connecting things at an abnormal place. The tests should reveal which one it is and also determine if there’s also any kind of blockage going on. But, given his excellent health and growth to date, chances are it’s something that will resolve itself. And should it require any intervention, it shouldn’t be anything too invasive.

So that’s where we are with that. He was a little champ today, smiling and flirting through what should have been his morning nap. But this appointment just involved some minor poking. We’ll see how he does when more “sensitive” areas are involved. And we’ll see how I do, too.

A friend sent me her first “official” belly picture the other. My first reaction was “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE HORAY YAY BABIES!” And I must admit, I had a slight longing for going through that again.

Slight. Very slight. So very slight. And then I got distracted by something else, and it was gone.

As JR is closer to one (OH MY LORD MY BAYBEE) than he is a newborn, we are starting to get the ocassional inquiry as to when we will be having a second kid.

And to those inquiries I say, “Ha. Ha ha. Hahahahahahahahaaaaa. Whoo.”

We are not ready to even to begin talking about thinking about the notion of bringing another kid into this mix. Not even close.

In fact, we’re not sure that we ever will.

Funnily, if you had asked me a year ago how many kids Ross and I were planning on having, I probably would have immediately said, “At least two. We want this one to have at least one sibling.” And I believe that a few minutes after JR was removed from my person, I said, “I would do this again in a second.” Hormones are funny things.

It’s not that we don’t love JR. We do. Every last nommable, chunky, squidgy bit of him. And to think that we’d be able to love someone else as much as we love him is pretty incredible and tempting.

But, I can honestly say right now, I would be fine stopping here. In my life, the only thing I knew for sure that I wanted was to be a mother (not the only thing, just the most certain thing). I’ve done that now. I’m doing it. And I don’t think I necessarily have to do it multiple times over to fulfill that.*

Plus, can you imagine how big the next one would be? Holy canoli!

*Please not that this is not 100% definite and no drastic steps have been taken. We have just mutually (and quite enthusiastically) agree to table the discussion for a couple years.

Friday: Up to feed the baby. Dropped Ross off at work. Home to shower and do some work. Fed the baby again. Headed out to have lunch with friends. Home to get the baby down for a nap and do more work. Fed the baby again. Out to do more errands. Picked Ross up from work. Home. Dinner. TV watching. Bed.

Saturday: Up to feed the baby. Got everyone ready and headed out to the Farmer’s Market. Got flowers there for our anniversary. Home to put the baby down for his nap. Watched a movie. Fed the baby again. Walked over to get milkshakes and a brownie. Home for the baby’s second nap. Took a nap myself. Up to feed the baby again. Playtime. Baby’s dinner and bedtime. Ate our dinner. Watched The Wire. Read a little. Bed.

Sunday: Up to feed the baby. Breakfast and playtime. Put the baby down for his nap. Did some work. Ate some lunch. Did some more work. Headed out to church. Left church early to be home in time to greet our babysitter for the evening. Went to Can Can for dinner. Got appetizers, drinks, dinner, AND dessert. Home to a happy baby. Watched an episode of the The Wire. Did some work. Going to bed soon.

Have a great week!