Buddies

Kolton has a favorite family member and it isn't Mike or me.  These two become more and more inseparable everyday.  Kolton looks for Sophie, especially when eating and it's incredibly distracting.  Sophie stays in his room during nap times or perches at the top of the stairs where she can keep any eye on the whole house.  They already have a bond and it warms my heart.

The reality of being a suburban stay at home mom is starting to settle in.  My days seem both wide open with endless opportunities and somewhat restricted at the same time.  I think developing a routine will help me get a handle on this lifestyle a little bit better.  We joined a gym this weekend so I hope to make going to a class a daily occurrence.  It'll be good for me and fun for Kolton to get out of the house and play in a different surrounding.  It was complete chaos in the kid zone this morning.  I looked around and saw the other parents either dropping off or picking up their kids and you know what I thought?  Am I really this old?  I know it sounds terrible but living in Baltimore city extended my youth.  Our old gym had an outdoor pool area with a bar!  It was the kind of place that was some what see and be seen.  Although I will say that Canton had more of that sense than our little Fort Ave. but still...  As I looked around today I didn't see head to toe Under Armour and some how felt out of place.  Granted it was 10:00 in the morning!  As my friends just please please please be honest with me if I ever start wearing mom jeans.

Clones and Calamity

When I was pregnant I pictured that my son would have dark eyes, dark hair, and olive skin.  Basically a male mini-me.  Even in those first few months many people said that Kolton undeniably looked like me.  Now he is morphing into a mini-Mike!  We joke all the time that if we had known this is what he was going to look like we should have just gone with Mike Jr.

After the great poop incident the other day I have been puked on twice (it just has that lovely smell) and spilled almost a whole tub of baby food (carrots) down the front of me.  Meanwhile navigating the baby toy mine field that our family room has become.  You know, I always thought the movies exaggerated the calamity of having a baby.  Nope, they are pretty much right on.  But I'm having a blast!  And doing a lot of laundry:)

28 Weeks!

Right after this picture was snapped this morning I put Kolton in the Jumparoo while I went to grab a cup of coffee from my awesome new Keurig coffee maker that I got for my birthday.  Upon my return I thought I smelled something pretty offensive.  I wasn't sure if it was him or Sophie who was nearby as usual.  (For those of you who have had the pleasure of experiencing Sophie farts you know why it was questionable.)  I sat down on the floor to encourage the jumping process.  Then Kolton made a concentrated grunt face.  If I had only known...

First, I saw poo running down his leg as it hung from the Jumparoo.  Oh No!  How the hell was I going to deal with this?!?  I'm not sure how it happened but when I looked down I already had poo on my shirt.  Thankfully Mike was home to lend a hand but he was already dressed in a suit for work.  He lifted Kolton out of the Jumparoo while I tried to catch remnants from reaching the carpet; I missed a couple drips!  At the changing table Mike backed away as quickly as possible.  I had a small hope that maybe this was just a case of a lose diaper.  I was so, so, so, very wrong!

There was poo EVERYWHERE!  To make matters worse Kolton was crying.  Either from me having to hold his legs up as I went through wipe after wipe after wipe (gagging), me screaming at Mike to get a plastic bag, or perhaps just the sheer volume of poo that was produced!  The amount that landed on the changing pad from his back was enough to fill a diaper alone.  OK, bath time!  I got him cleaned, changed, and in the crib.  Then I went out to deal with the drips on the carpet ASAP.  Well Sophie, being the good big sister that she is, was already trying to cover Kolton's tracks.  I don't know why but she was licking up the poo spots! This was both disgusting and endearing to me at the same time. It actually helped quite a bit so all I had to do was spray carpet cleaner.  I sat there marveling at her animal instincts when I saw this...

Oh, yeah; that's Kolton's poo all over Sophie's head!  As he was dangling in the Jumparoo she must have got up and under him to investigate.  At this point Mike is bolting out the door!  I couldn't help but just laugh.  OK, bath time for Sophie too!  I hate to admit it but I haven't given Sophie a bath in years, I usually take her to the groomers so I wasn't sure how it would go.

Kolton has been napping since the incident.  I think it really took it all out of him!

Feet Up

At Kolton's 6 month check up the pediatrician observed that he doesn't put weight on his legs and feet like he should.  What's funny is he has always been very active with his feet.  Even in the womb he kicked up a storm.  He loves to have his feet up in the air!  My friend Megan generously lent us her Jumparoo.  I don't think he gets it...

27 Weeks!

This week was a big week.  Kolton handled the move so well.  He transitioned to his new room smoothly. Although he has been waking up and making a bunch of racket a bit more than usual.  So maybe he is very aware that this is a new place even though he has his crib and his buddies from the mobile.  BTW, I love this mobile and would totally recommend it to any new mom.  There are three different sounds to choose from; music, nature, heartbeat, and it lasts a really long time.  Kolton isn't sitting up on his own yet so I still have the canopy on.  But even when we have to take it off I'm sure he'll continue to love the projector feature.

The other thing that's causing the night time outbursts is he gets his arm stuck through the slats of his crib.  This is why they invented bumpers.  I know it's recommended that no bumper be used at all but whatever, I use a breathable one.  I haven't unpacked Kolton's room yet so the bumper is MIA.
Or, maybe he realizes the color of the walls is different?  Don't get me wrong he's still sleeping through the night like a champ.  Just making a bunch of noise is all.

The other thing he started doing this week is playing with his hair during bottles.  So sometimes it's still hands over the eyes and sometimes he's pulling his hair...hilarious!

So while Kolton is doing relatively well my other baby isn't doing too hot.  We ended up taking Sophie to the vet yesterday because she started throwing up all over the kitchen floor.  She hasn't really had much of an appetite since the diarrhea episode the other day so we thought we better take her in just to be safe. Mostly we were worried that she got into something in the yard.  Even though I've been watching her to make sure that doesn't happen!  Well $170 later; yeah you read that right $170!!!!  they told us to feed her chicken and rice.  Well, duh; I know.  However, she puked again after we got home so I'm glad to know she's physically OK; this is all related to stress from the move.

In other news, I turn 33 today!  I'm going to spend the day avoiding boxes and taking care of my two babies:)

Settling In

Things in Richmond are going pretty well so far.  I'm actually loving the convenience to all my favorites: Starbucks, Panera, KFC, McDonlad's, Chipotle, etc. All within a few miles!  Maybe I'll end up liking the suburbs after all!  The house is still a mess.  OMG, who knew we had so much crap?!?!  And I haven't even started on the bedrooms yet.  The kitchen is taking FOREVER and it ain't pretty.  I'm excited to pull it all together.  Of course I haven't been completely devoted to the house when I have such a cute little guy to play with.

(please excuse the mess!)

The Friday we left Kolton had his 6 month well baby check up.  He weighs 16 lbs and is 27 inches long.  I really didn't think things through because he received some shots at the check up.  As we were trying to get  everything out of the townhouse he started to get really fussy.  I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to leave!  But I figured once we got in the car he would knock out and I was right, once again he slept the whole way.  I'm a little worried because since then he has been sleeping a lot.  Sunday night he fell asleep in our bed at around 5:00.  I tried waking him up at one point but he wasn't interested and I didn't have the heart to force it.  So, I just carried him up to his crib where he slept until almost 7 am the next day.  He's been taking long naps too.  Yesterday I woke him up from both the morning and afternoon once he exceeded 1.5 hours.  Then today he slept in until 8:30!  But when he is awake he is playful and bright eyed.  I don't know what to think!

Sophie is actually having a little bit of a hard time adjusting.  In the townhouse we had carpet in the great room and she could jump up on the couches just fine.  In this house there is more hardwood and that confuses her.  She whines to get picked up and I always find her lounging on the rug in the foyer; the only piece of carpet downstairs outside of our bedroom.  Then last night she got diarrhea.  I just dealt with this with her after we picked her up from the kennel we had her in while we were in Ocean City.  I was up a lot last night with her, even taking her out at 2:30am.  This morning she left me a wonderful surprise (on the hardwood thank God).  I have been watching her in the back yard and I haven't seen her eat anything so I'm starting to think her problem may be emotional.

I'll post pics of the new digs once everything is in order!

So Hard To Say Goodbye

How do you say goodbye?  We say it by drinking wine from coffee mugs!  The movers were here yesterday to pack up our stuff.  I was afraid to take of my sandals because surely they would have ended up in a box somewhere.  The funny part about having someone else do the packing is that they have no idea what is junk and what isn't.  Or what doesn't belong in one room and should go in another.  They just start packing.  Believe me, it is the best way to move!  But we didn't really think things through when we invited a couple friends over last night.  We ordered Chinese but neglected to request silverware.  It just so happened that the movers missed my good set that is stored above the kitchen cabinets.  So we ate Chinese takeout with shiny forks and drank wine from the random glasses that were in the sink from earlier that day.

I'm a pretty sentimental person and this move has been pretty hard.  We've had the time of our lives living in Baltimore the past 5 years!  Its crazy how much I've grown to love this town.  It all hasn't quite set in yet.  But I guess this is what life is all about.  Things happen and life changes, moving you forward to the next phase.