A little update and whatnot

Did I ever mention how much I adore my Wednesdays off? Sigh. They are the best. Time for things like laundry...








running with, then taking a walk with, then cuddling the heck out of this adorable little man with a new hat from Great Aunt Dana...
(pet peeve that it doesn't match his outfit, but Daddy insisted we take pics anyway)









dressing him up in a vintage outfit from 1981. Yes, this is one of Nate's baby outfits and I can't get over how sentimental that makes me feel when I see Nate's son in one of his outfits. And of course, there's no denying that Truman is Nate's son when you look at these pictures. Isn't vintage Pooh Bear too much to handle? And can you believe how good this outfit looks for being so old? It's super soft and T loves it.




except this is a total mommy face, no doubt

and this is all T-man:)



Plus, Wednesdays are my time to catch up on uploading photos and videos. It has been our life's mission to catch Truman's laugh on video and today, my friends, he finally opened up for all the world to hear his chuckle. FINALLY! I can't handle the cuteness.

Best sound ever:


And I have to post this one because the first little clip is hilarious and heartbreaking all at once. It's amazing how a giggle can morph into a cry within one second!


I have about 10 other videos on Flickr of various Truman-isms, but this is the only one I'll make you watch here on the blog. Truman, tweaking out over his canvas. I love when he goes crazy like this:)



So yeah, life is good in our world right now. Other happenings?

-I think we have finally found a church that we love! We are planning on officially joining as members and are meeting with one of the pastors to discuss baptizing Truman, too. I could go on about this subject forever but I know religion is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. I'll just say that Nate was raised in the Catholic church, I was raised going to a Baptist church and a Lutheran grade school (mom's side is Baptist, dad's is Lutheran), and we've wanted to find our niche in the various Christian denominations out there for awhile. I think that Lutheranism is a nice compromise between Catholicism and Southern Baptist, if there is such a thing between these two:) Lutherans baptize babies and since our new-found church is Lutheran, and we want to embrace the denomination as a whole, we feel like baptizing Truman is the right thing to do. This would coincide with the Catholic faith but Baptists don't baptize babies at all and I myself was baptized when I was old enough to ask Jesus into my heart. I still hope that Truman will someday decide for himself to be a Christian once he's old enough to understand, but for now I'm planning on this infant baptism while embracing Lutheranism.

So that's enough rambling about religion and baptism for now, but I'm really excited for this whole process. I have no idea where I'll find a baptism outfit for mister man that isn't too girlie, so any recommendations are much appreciated!

-Also, in other news, as of August 1 Grandpa Tony won't be able to watch Truman on Tuesdays and Thursdays anymore. Boo! Basically, one of his co-workers is having major health issues and they asked him to come back full time and help out the clinic while she is away. He pretty much has to retire completely or accept their offer of full time again and because he isn't really ready to retire and happens to be an extremely caring person, he obviously said he would come back to help them. He's really sad to leave his nanny days behind and is totally bummed about it--especially since Truman is getting to be SO much fun. But I know this is the right decision for him and we are incredibly appreciative of the two months he was able to help us out in the daycare front. For the month of August, Lois--my mother-in-law, has offered to take off Tuesdays and so we will be doing daycare on Thursdays and Fridays now. Then Nate has a 3 week break between his clinicals when he gets to watch Truman full time and we can pull him from daycare that whole time. I know---our place is awesome. After that little daddy-stint, we are planning on Truman going to daycare all four days that I work which is obviously totally stressing me out. Not because I don't like our place or don't trust them (because I do, and I'm over the whole 'letting him be with strangers' idea since the teachers there aren't strangers anymore) but because I will have to be on top of my game four evenings and mornings instead of just Thursday night/Friday morning. It's so much harder to pack Truman up with me and drop him off outside of the home instead of just leaving him here for Tony or Nate. But oh well, I'm sure I can handle it.

So it was great while it lasted and we are incredibly blessed that Truman won't have to be full-time (well, four days a week) in daycare until the middle of September, when he is 6.5 months. A little older, a little more interactive, and hopefully a little stronger immune system to boot!

That's that: pictures, videos, updates. Whew!

Twilight zone?

Weirdest daycare-related story ever:

Friday is our daycare day and it also just happens to be the busiest day at work for me, so pretty much Fridays are total chaos. Well this past Friday was the most chaotic, weirdest, most stressful one I've had in a long time. Please read on if you care to laugh and be confused simultaneously.

When I dropped Truman off at daycare in the morning, he was asleep in his car seat. I always carry him in to the center in his seat, then take him out and hand him over, then take the car seat back with me so it doesn't clutter up their room. Well 'Miss Linda' saw that T was sleeping soundly and suggested that I just leave him in the seat and they'd put it in back for the day. I thought that was a fab idea since you really don't want to mess with fate and wake a sleeping baby. Ha. Fate had other plans this day anyway.

So I left him, had the world's most stressful day at work, and was the last one in my whole department left a little after 5:00. I was rushing around to get the heck out of there, get Truman, drive home, feed him, and then meet some friends for a pizza date. When I arrived at daycare little T was snoozing in a swing and 'Miss Margaret'--one of my fave teachers---was just chilling with Truman and one other baby. I was gathering up our things and searched around for the car seat but couldn't find it. 'I left Truman in his car seat this morning when I dropped him off, but now I don't see it,' is what I said to Miss Margaret. The look on her face immediately told me we were headed for disaster, then she said, 'Oh no, is it red? I think I sent one of the new babies home in it today with his grandma! I thought it was his....oh no.....' and so on.

No big deal, we could just call the baby's grandma and have her drop it back off to me, right? Well, they didn't have the number for the grandma since she doesn't always pick up the baby and the mom was up at the hospital working as a nurse, and was in surgery with a doc at the moment. Fabulous. How in the heck was I supposed to drive my baby home for the 30 minute commute we had ahead of us? Where was my car seat? And how did this actually happen?

Then my saving grace, aka a mom named Angela, was there picking up her son Noah and she pitied me enough to offer up her car seat to my poor soul. She said she lived 3 miles from the daycare and once she dropped off Noah I could have her car seat to use for the night. I was sort of in shock but this sounded like the best option at the time. It was either that or just camp out at daycare until the nurse-mom called and we figured out where the missing seat was located. So I left Truman at daycare with Miss Margaret, who felt awful by now, but I tried to tell her it was no big deal while I acted totally cool and calm and hip. I hopped in my car and followed Angela home while dialing Nate to inform him that the world was basically ending and our night was totally ruined and OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE THEY SENT A CHILD HOME WITH OUR CAR SEAT?

As I was explaining the situation to Nate, I realized that this was truly hilarious and of course it would happen to me....on the one evening we had plans....after the worst day in history of work. Nate was pretty hot about the whole thing and I found myself a lot more calm by the minute. Thank GOD for Angela. Seriously. We pulled up to her house and she had me hold Noah while she got the seat for me. Luckily it was a Graco and it actually fit in my car seat base! I thanked her profusely and apologized and got all of her info so I could call and drop it back off in the near future. She told me that one year old Noah also has a two year old sister and thus, her life is always this chaotic and it was the opposite of a big deal to be without a car seat all night. Dude. Kids 12 months apart would be like ground hog day, repeating the level of chaos I had on Friday over and over again. No thanks!

So I returned to daycare with the loaner seat and took Truman home after consoling Miss Margaret some more. We made it home in one piece with the strange seat and Truman even discovered Noah's gigantic hanging toy on the handle of the seat and fell in love. Hmmm. I hope the other kid loves our hanging toys as much!

The nurse-mom did call me back when she got out of surgery and was somewhat apologetic but somewhat flustered. She said she never leaves her baby, Collin, in the seat but when her mom picked Collin up, she would have had no way of knowing that wasn't their seat. Which made semi-amounts of sense to me at the time but the more I think about it....where in the heck was THEIR car seat? I mean, when she picked Collin up she had to have a seat in the car waiting for him, right? So when she carried him out to the car in our seat, did she just push the other one aside and figure they must be giving out new seats at daycare or something? And as far as his safety goes, I know she didn't have a base and totally picture her just setting the seat down in the car without any sort of buckle and going home. Yikes dude.

We survived, went to an awesome pizza dinner and then I promptly passed out at 9:15 from sheer exhaustion. On Saturday morning I asked Tony to watch Truman to avoid the musical chair situation with a baby who needs a seat, then I drove back out to Angela's house and dropped off her car seat on the back porch with a thank you note. Girl deserves more than that but it's all I could do at the time. Then I drove back to the hospital and met Collin's mom while she was working to retrieve our seat. She was nice to me and did apologize, but not after saying, 'Yeah, my mom was like "I hope I have the right kid!" when she picked him up.' Um, that is so not cool. It seemed like she was a little annoyed with her mom about the whole thing and for her to even question if Collin was the right baby frightens me. It could have been so much worse, you guys. What if old girl took my babe instead of my car seat? Not okay.

So yes, I spent an hour of my Saturday morning exchanging car seats and had a little bit of a stressful evening. But at least we have a good story out of the deal and you better believe I will label our car seat with the most obnoxious tag ever. I thought of labeling bottles, outfits, and bags but never considered the dang car seat. Lesson learned, my friends. And now I am a more experienced daycare mommy.

long time no blog

Lots to catch up on since I last posted. Let's see if I can write a whole post in my one day off!

1. Truman had his 4 month doctor's appointment on Monday evening and Nate got to come with us this time, too. The Pediatrician and his nurses could not get over how much Truman has changed in the past two months and as Nate held Truman on his lap, the all commented on Nate's 'Mini-Me'. Still no signs of mommy in this boy apparently!

So he had his 4 month shots and although the doctor said the two month round is usually the hardest, I completely disagree. This time around was much harder. Truman screamed bloody murder when they stuck him and was totally ticked off that night afterward, too. We gave him Tylenol and that seemed to help a bit because the night was fairly uneventful. But during the day on Tuesday, Tony said Truman was all out of sorts and was pretty hot and needed extra cuddling to stay calm (and was basically half naked all day in just a diaper to stay cool--I love that visual, don't you?). My poor happy baby wasn't happy that day! Tony was great with Truman though and I'm so glad it was a 'grandpa day' instead of a daycare day when T needed extra loving. I took his temperature when I got home and it was 99.7, so just a low-grade fever like they say will happen, and he ate just fine all day and slept and had dirty/wet diapers. But I just HATED to see my baby in pain. He was a total crankster that night, even 24 hours after the shots, so we did another round of Tylenol and it seemed to help Truman a bit and even allowed a few smiles out of him. Of course, that second night after the shots lead to MANY wake up times, the first one only 3 hours after he went down to sleep. Luckily today is my day off so we could sleep in a bit since the night was so broken up and so far I think he's a lot more comfortable today and the fever is completely gone. I must say that I hate shots, I hate that they make my babe upset, and I know it's all apart of motherhood but watching your child be in pain is the worst. I totally get it now when my mom says she'd do anything to protect her kids from pain. I know vaccinations are a necessary evil and I'd much rather have him be cranky for a day than get a serious disease but I'm so not looking forward to the 6 month go round. I'm thinking the Tylenol will be administered BEFORE the shots next time.

See the two little puncture wounds on my baby's fatty thigh? Makes me sad. :(



2. But the fun news from the doctor's appointment is always his stats. :)

His head is still in the 75th percentile for his age. Big brains, that one.

His weight is up to 17 pounds, 3 ounces which is 83rd percentile for his age. Big baby boy!

And his height? Ah, there's a story with this one. Earlier in the day on Monday we had Truman measured by a detail-oriented researcher (more on that in a bit) and she swears her measuring table is much more accurate than the doctor's office version. I totally believe her since she is a scientific researcher, and she measured him at 26 and 7/8ths inches (see, I told you she was specific!). That would put Truman in the 93rd percentile for his age.

HOWEVER, at the doctor's office, where we have a different nurse every time who measures Truman in their own ways, they claimed he was only 24.75 inches. Say what? Um, they said he was 24.5 inches at two months and I'm pretty sure he didn't only grow 0.25 inches in two months. I mean, he was wearing 3 month Carter's footed pajamas at 2 months and now he's in their 9 month size because the legs were too short. Nevermind the fact that Nate and I are both giants and out of any of their measurements, I'd expect his length to be the largest. So whatever. Their 24.75 inch measurement dropped him into the 35th percentile and even the doctor said they don't believe the nurse's stat on that one. So basically, I'm going to say he's almost 27 inches because that is what the accurate researcher says and I'll just ignore the questionable doctor's version. Don't they know that a Type A first time mom is all about numbers and records them all into the baby book? 27 inches it is...

(and although we are not in the middle of football season, I have a feeling T will outgrow his Packers outfit long before then. So today I had to bust it out just to get one wearing in before it's retired.)








I present to you the newest Green Bay Packer, Truman Anthony! He's a linebacker for sure.


3. Then there is the great solids debate. At 4 months, a lot of doctors, including ours, recommend starting the baby on rice cereal. I've researched the hell out of it (of course!) and I really feel like Truman isn't ready for solids and he's still totally satisfied with his breastmilk-only diet. I mean, partially it's because I'm being lazy and don't feel like dealing with one more thing by mixing rice cereal and cleaning it up afterwards but also there are some good research studies out there showing that breastfed babies should wait until 6 months to start solids. Breastmilk has everything he needs right now, and even though the doc claimed that by 4 months breastmilk is lacking iron, I found a lot of articles that say otherwise. I could go on about this but basically, I'm going to wait until T is 5 months (just 3 more weeks) and then reassess his readiness for cereal. I'm such a rebel, I know.

But Truman IS starting to get more interested in our big-people food and hates to be on the ground during our mealtime now. So we decided to bust out the booster seat to see if he likes sitting at the table like a big boy. Sure enough...he was enthralled and so stinking cute! Doesn't he look like a mature old man here? The polo shirt makes him seem older too, I think.




So for now he'll sit at his seat and watch us eat food while he chews on his hands some more. We'll see if that changes in a few more weeks.

4. The researcher mentioned above is one of Nate's PT school professors. She is conducting an official study to be published focusing on infant stepping patterns. For us PT nerd parents, it's pretty freaking interesting, actually. Truman is one of her subjects and we'll go in at 4, 6, 8, and 10 months then one year and once more when he is walking independently. She puts a bunch of reflective markers on his chunky thighs and then holds him over the top of a teeny treadmill where they video tape and analyze his stepping reflex. Even though Truman is far from walking he does have the instincts to take steps and it's super cute to watch his little feet stomp along the treadmill.

The researcher warned us that at the 4 month mark the babies usually get pretty mad because they don't want to exercise and don't like the feeling of the ground moving underneath them. We sort of laughed when she said that and assumed T would be all about it since his parents are sort of psychos about running and he was in such a great mood when we got there. Well, as soon as the treadmill started to move he began to tweak out . Apparently he does NOT appreciate a good exercise session just yet! He'd stop crying when she took him off the treadmill and was totally fine afterward but I think he just didn't feel like working out that day. He promptly passed out asleep on the way home from his 3 full minutes of walking and then we pumped protein shakes into him for recovery (I kid, I kid....not yet at least) :) I brought my camera and the video camera but didn't have the heart to record his freak out session. Maybe next time because it's really too cute and either way, they do give us a DVD at the very end of the sessions to see how much he's changed with his stepping. Baby boy had such a busy day on Monday with this appointment and the doctors, but we were so proud of him at both!

(sticking with the sports theme in his attired, here's 'Mommy's All Star'. Love)


Note the 'shoes'.








If he isn't playing the air guitar here then I must be crazy. Jamming out!






5. And then a little bit about Truman's mommy: I officially signed up for a half marathon this fall! Nate will do it with me and Truman will watch from the sidelines with grandma and grandpa. I am totally freaking out over finding the time to train but I'm really excited too. Maybe just a bit crazy for doing this but whatever. I start training next month so we shall see! I hope my milk supply doesn't drop and I don't have to resort to running before work or we're looking at a 4 am wake time. Not cool. But I'm committed and pumped about it.

Nate and I ran 6 miles on Sunday to test the distance waters and I felt surprisingly awesome. I've only done 4.5 miles as my max since Truman so this was a jump and I'm proud that my body was able to run for an hour. Nate pushed Truman in the BOB which slowed him down to my pace, since T is such a hefty package to push. :) But here's to some longer distances in my future as a mommy runner. Whoo hoo!





I think that's it for now. And this post only took me 6 hours to write. Not bad!

basically just a photo dump

And now comes the post when I dump a bunch of photos from our awesome weekend. Hope you don't mind.

Last Thursday night my parents arrived in Milwaukee after driving all day long. Of course, they immediately went to Truman and ooh'd and aahh'd over his cuteness all evening long. Both Nate and I had to work on Friday and so my parents offered to watch Truman that day instead of taking him to daycare. I was a little nervous that Truman would be fussy, or they wouldn't feel comfortable setting up the stroller, or he wouldn't take a bottle for them but wouldn't you know....he did fantastic for them and they handled babysitting their only grandson like pros.









(His eyes are changing color but we can't tell if they will be mommy's brown or daddy's hazel. Any guesses?)




In fact, my CPA father held true to form and recorded every single detail of their day together down to the minute. I am not joking. I had a nice little spreadsheet waiting for me when I got home indicating exactly when his diapers were changed, how long each nap was, and what they did during each 'playtime'. Gotta love an accountant's attention to details! They really did have a blast with T-man that day and I was so glad he broke them in gently. :)







Friday night all of us (including my in-laws) went to dinner at a nearby pizza parlor and ate outside on their patio. Truman was a total flirt when he saw some grade-school aged girls nearby and couldn't stop staring at them. In return, the little girls declared that Truman was 'The funniest baby I've ever seen in my whole life' and began to make googly eyes at him, laughing their heads off at his expressions. It lasted for a bit, they had their moment together, and then Truman couldn't take the stimulation anymore so he had a nice little meltdown. Poor baby! The live music, loud girls, and funny faces they made at him were just too much to handle so close to bedtime so we decided to leave (but not before getting custard, first!) and call it a night. It's so much fun to watch Truman interact with older kids and if I must look at the bright side of daycare, it's definitely going to help socialize him and get him accustomed to playing with kids of all ages. I really do like that aspect of daycare.

(Truman is really starting to notice Henry now and he is totally obsessed with his big brother. It's too cute)








Saturday the boys golfed while mom and I ran errands, including a Babies-R-Us trip that resulted in entirely too many treats for Truman. I also tried on my bridesmaid dress for Keri's wedding and realized that my giant knockers are a total pest because I had to order up THREE WHOLE SIZES from my norm just to get the zipper to fit my chest. And now, my dress is huge everywhere by my boobs which will result in a hellified alterations bill, I'm sure. Whatever, I've come to terms with it but I still don't like seeing that big number in the back of the dress even if it swims on my waist because I am a girl and we tend to get a little fixated on our dress sizes, don't we? Ugh. But the dress is really cute and I can't wait for Keri's big day!! (Also, as a side note, her bachelorette party will be in St. Louis on August 7 and I'm flying in for just 24 hours to celebrate. It will be my first night away from Truman and I'm totally frazzled already---but I think Nate is even more nervous about me being gone for a night. No boob to soothe him to sleep = potential disaster. We shall see)








So anyway, Saturday night we had a yummy homemade meal with all of the grandparents outside and then I put Truman down for the night. Lois, Nate, my mom and dad and I all went downtown for the fireworks while Tony stayed behind in case T-man woke up. I was not that excited about making the trek downtown but I'm so glad we went because the 'works were amazing and Truman slept the entire time like a champ. Why do I even bother worrying about my baby? Oh that's right, because I'm neurotic.




Sunday the boys golfed again and mom and I hung out with Truman, took a walk, made a trip to the grocery store, and just enjoyed our time together. We ate outside again that night for the Fourth and then right before his bedtime Truman gave my mom the best gift ever: while he was on his changing table, Mom tickled his belly and Truman strung together numerous giggles to make an actual laughing fit. He's chuckled here and there before, but never a true laughing fit and let me just tell you---it was quite possibly the cutest thing in the entire world. We've tried to capture it on camera a few times since but it's never consistent but when we are finally successful in getting it on video I will post it immediately. There's just something about hearing my boy laugh uncontrollably that makes my heart melt. I have a baby that laughs, you guys! How big is he right now?




My parents left Monday morning after a yummy waffle breakfast and then our little family had time together to catch up on chores and Truman-time. Oh, and before my parents left we had to take pictures of Truman's new sunglasses, which he somehow loves, and they are freaking hilarious.






All in all, a fabulous visit with my parents. It's always sad to see them go but it helps to know that they will be back next month, with my brother this time!, for another visit. Nothing like having a grandchild in a different state to force many miles on your car, right dad?

And I'll end with my new favorite picture of me and baby boy-lounging on the couch together, ready to take a snooze.