Halloween Parade at Daycare

Dear Adrian, you were such a good sport during your first Halloween parade. You actually looked really proud sporting your shark costume. Mom and dad felt overwhelmingly with pride when we saw you sitting nicely in your buggy today. We love you so much!

Mom and Dad

Here is a really short video of the parade but you get the idea. Camera was accidentally set on video mode.

Happy Halloween

TA DA! Yes, Adrian is a shark for Halloween! a fat potbelly shark. Unfortunately Mr. Otto Jr. doesn't seem to like the costume (hence the picture of him rolling on the ground trying to get it off...hmmm! he reminded me of Miko when I used to dress her up for Halloween-the struggle to get the suit off). I guess I wouldn't like having my head engulfed in rows of fabric teeth either.

This afternoon Adrian will be participanting in his daycare's Halloween parade. I can't wait to see all his little friends dressed up too. I can just eat them up.

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all have a super fun and safe Halloween. Remember! don't eat the pirate coin chocolates wrapped in gold foil. Rumor has it that they contain Melamine, the ingredient in milk products that has caused many infant deaths in China. Better safe than sorry.

More Toofs (aka..little baby teeth)

Adrian is back in the teething stage again. He’s waking up multiple times during the night utterly inconsolable. Mild fever and Motrin are waging a war of attrition and he’s just not himself, not the easygoing kid we know. He can be distracted but not during the night. We have a baby vampire on hand....we're all so tired. His naps are all jacked up. He’s also not eating much. He's drooling so much that you would think we acquired a new bull dog puppy. Poor kid, he's clearly miserable (it's no party for us either, frankly.). Let's hope this one produces at least two teeth...14 more to go!

The Hunt for The Perfect Daycare Provider

Let me begin to say that there ISN'T a perfect daycare. Adrian's perfect daycare provider would be me, but unfortunately I cannot be mommy full time. Well, I can but we would live in a cardboard box.

After taking Adrian to his current daycare provider for 3 months I began to see the turnover rate there is very high. This raised a red flag. If the employees aren't happy where they work then their unhappiness will spill over to their job. Adrian is at a stage where consistency is key. We need to count on his daycare provider being the same person every week. It's very important that the parents and the child build a good rapport with the daycare provider. How can the daycare provider learn to care for a child well if s/he has only been there a few weeks. Not only will the daycare provider not learn the nature of the child but s/he couldn't possibly love a child they barely know. There are also many other signs that Adrian may not be receiving adequate care at his current daycare provider.

For the past week I've been monitoring Craigslist and interviewing other daycare providers. This time I thought perhaps I would seek for in home daycare as opposed to daycare centers. In home daycare seems to have less kids and they offer more intimate and personalized care. I give most of the places I interviewed two thumbs down. Actually, I'm being too harsh! these place are just fine, they all have state license. At the end of last week I stumbled upon a listing for the Plato Daycare Center, in writing they sounded perfect. The daycare provider's name is Fary, an Iranian grandmother to be (she is expecting her first grand baby next March). I was immediately drawn to the pictures of her home she had posted on the website. I thought the space was charming and warm. The colors on the walls were neutral but the bright colored toys and educational posters really jazzed up the space. Adjacent to the space where the children played and dined is a small bedroom with cribs for naps. Fary has a modest fenced in backyard with a gym and other outdoor toys and swings. After speaking with her on the phone for 30 minutes we seemed to be on the same page-parenting related. Fary had great credentials. She has many years of child caring experiences. She worked in daycare centers and raised her two kids. We paid Fary a visit this past weekend and her house was immaculate. She opened the door to the nursery and I was taken back how clean the space was. No joke I would actually eat off the floor. You know me, I'm a total germaphobe and will not eat anything if it didn't land in my own plate. I felt I was going to leave a stain on her light carpet when I stepped in her home. Initially I thought she may have cleaned up for our visit but after speaking to her references they confirmed her house is always squeaky clean. I brought a list of questions I was prepared to ask Fary but after talking with her for some time I didn't even feel the need to go by the list. She is a seasoned day care provider with a long history of child care. Continuing to ask her questions from my list would be an insult to her knowledge of childcare.

So as of Nov 10th Adrian will be moving on. In short, I'm concerned about putting Adrian through this change but in the long run this is a better arrangement for our little man. Hopefully very soon he'll have a bond with Mrs. Fary. I feel relieved and look forward to working and building a new relationship with my new daycare provider. Cross your fingers she works out!

In retrospect, the handful of complaints I have with Adrian's current daycare provider is that I made a lot of assumptions. Lesson learned: Every child care provider has his or her own "style," as does every parent. Some providers are more willing than others to adjust their "style" to fit a parent's. Now I know to ask providers about their style, and to sniff out how willing a provider is to change their style to suit mine.

Will You pass the Cherrios?

My two favorite men having breakfast while discussing world news.

Persistent Little Rooster

When it comes to waking up I wait until the very possible moment. Now that you are sleeping down the hall from our bedroom you whine in the morning to wake me up...early morning...EARLY, like 5:30am early. I feed you and some days you'll fall asleep for another hour or so. Enough time for me to quickly have my shower and look half presentable for work. I feel pampered if I get to shave my legs, put on deodorant and have my clothes right side out. On the weekends you try to wake me up every hour starting at 5:30am.

You little persistent rooster...

I can't wait until the day when I get to wake you up, revenge will be sweet!

Toasty Footies

Thanks to Mommy's boss, Mrs. Susan for these really cute racoon slippers. Tonight they kept your tiny footsies toasty.

A Visit From Cousin Angela

This was the weekend of visitors. AC, you're so lucky that everyone loves you and wants to see you. Here is Angela and her very own Adrian, the baby Orangutan. AC, you climb anyone who tries to hold you.

PS

Dear Little Man,

I totally forgot to tell you: YOU PANTSED ME. I was standing in the kitchen talking to daddy and you snuck up on me and grabbed hold of my pants, asking me to pick you up but instead… you pantsed me.

So, um, loose-fitting lounge pants around you might be a bad idea for a while.

Love you,
Mommy

Play date

AC, the stud playing with all those chicas. Little man had a nice play date with Naomi, Lisa and Natalie on Saturday.

Baby Jail

What a clown! AC, you always think if you put up a show and act cute you'll get to come out of your baby jail. That Boynton bunny book was given to you from your cousin Johanna before you were born. You are just realizing the cloth chocolate chip cookie that dangles out of the bunny book. Wait until you taste a real chocolate chip cookie! it'll rock your world!

The Things You Do!

Dear Little Ham,

You bought home something fierce from daycare (aka... the germ pit)so now your poor daddy caught your cold and can't seem to shake it off either. I guess you're both losing. you poor thing! on top of that you still are not sleeping through the night. Mommy and daddy swear we have tried everything there is in this world to help you get a better night of rest. I'm coming to the conclusion that you are just not a sleeper. This runs in your daddy's family, your daddy and Grandma Ruth don't require sleep either.

So what you do these days hasn't been your best. As soon as diaper comes off your hands go down south. I would think this would be painful, son! after I tell you nice little boys don't do such things You then proceed to flip over mid diaper change and crawl away. This isn't unusual for male babies, I suppose. You don't like to sit still for diaper changes and I refuse to let your little junk hang out. Once in a while getting some air circulation is necessary but I can't trust you to not have a little accident on the carpet. Having one little doggie who tinkles in the house is ENOUGH! The worst is when when you try to pull the same stunt during a poopy diaper change. Of course, that makes a nasty mess. Daddy and I are each other's back up now during poopy diaper changes, you are one strong infant but we are equipped!

Daddy and mommy still can't figure out how you function on lack of sleep. You're not much of a napper either. Sometimes you can barely keep your eyes open on our laps but as soon as we put you in your crib, you raise holy hell. You scream, thrash, kick and reach to stand up. I really do not appreciate when you pull on mommy's clothes and hair. This is all very frustrating! I would stay, rub your back, sing to you and do everything I'm supposed to but you have the tendency to head in the wrong direction — more awake instead of more sleepy. One time I was so frustrated I found myself mutter some ugly and unmotherly things under my breath. Something on the lines of "Dammit Adrian, if you tuck on something you're not suppose to again I will pop that hand off and make you grow another one." I know! wow! not mommy's proudest moment......you won!

I always draw a blank when I'm asked to write down a helpful advice for a new mommy at her baby shower. The next advice I give is-don't bother to purchase a nice crib. The baby will chew on it and beat it to hell with whatever they have in their hands. In Adrian's case his weapon is his binky. It's amazing how much damage a piece of plastic can do to dark cherry wood.

Your favorite meal is rice cereal and applesauce. Your new thing is to spit out anything you don't like. I may say you get very good range too. I think carrots aren't your favorite. Daddy can always tell where Tornado Adrian has swept through. After you're done with a meal, anywhere near your vicinity would be covered with what you just ate. Lucky Miko, she gets quite a treat these days. Her favorite time is when she sees you in your highchair.

Before I go, though, I want to you to know why I’m writing this. I’m not really complaining (even though I know there’s something of that), I’m not mad and I hope I haven’t embarrassed you. I’m writing so that one day when you’re grown, have kids of your own, you’ll be able to flip to this page in your blog and know that you’re part of a long tradition. You’ll be reminded that these things pass and that you are very, very loved.

And maybe you’ll laugh. I hope you laugh.

Love you dearly,
Daddy and Mommy

AC Sporting His New Monster and Dinosaur Pajamas

Today Adrian told me he misses Grandma Ruth already. He hopes to see her very soon. XOXO to Grandma Ruth!

Just One of The Lessons In Life

Hello Little Man,

You will inherit a lot from us. Your brown peach fuzz on your head will eventually turn dark and your head will feel very hot during daylight of summer. We will have to watch your teeth likes hawks and swoop in as soon as something looks crooked in there. We think your eyes are doomed, both mommy and daddy are blind. Hopefully, you will not turn out to be the nerdy toddler wearing the coke bottle glasses.

Worst of all, you'll inherit your daddy's fiendish loyalty to The Minnesota Vikings, a football team that has lost more times than win this 2008 season. Your daddy will be mad that I wrote this and yes, Mommy's VA Tech Hokies aren't doing too well either. The point is losing is sad, horrible, infuriating, awful and god it sucks but it's okay. We shake it off and that's that. Sports is one of those things that lends itself to metaphors and symbolism so forgive me and indulge me in drawing comparisons between life and sports, I know it's cliche! In life...you’re gonna lose. If you’re like most of us you’re gonna lose a lot more than you win. Not much will be handed to you, although daddy and I will do our best to equip you for everything you’ll encounter. You’ll get knocked down again and again, in spite of all your best intentions and planning. It sucks and it’s awful, and no, it’s not fair. There are always gonna be guys (read: “other teams”) with more money than you, with more talent than you, that stay healthier than you, and that they're just plain luckier than you. They’ll seem to skate to victory without breaking a sweat. They’ll seem to simply show up and walk to wherever it is you want to go and can’t quite get to no matter how hard you try. What’s important isn’t the winning. What’s important is the trying. That you get up and try again. Being a sports fan kinda prepares you for that. It teaches you patience, forgiveness, and loyalty. Vikings is your daddy's team and it will be yours little man and we’ll stick with ‘em. Otherwise, what are you worth to your friends when things get bad? What kind of man bails out on his team? Oh! don't ever boo your own team. Get sad, get mad, get angry, get purple– there’s a reason why our guys wear that deep Vikings purple, son– but don’t boo our guys.

Life is not all bummers, when you win it'll be magical. You'll be on top of the world. Most important of all you’ll learn that winning might make you feel good but it doesn’t necessarily make you great, don't get too cocky! Getting knocked down isn’t a measure of who you are. It’s that you get up again. And the people in life worth surrounding yourself with will be the ones cheering you on.

We love you dearly,

Mom and dad

Day at The Great Country Farm

AC went to pick out his very own pumpkin today at the Great Country Farm located outside of Bluemont. We met all sorts of cute and clean farm animals. As Zac calls the farm a hobby farm and not a working farm because all animals there are raised for fun and not for its intended purpose...just how mommy likes it. It's great to know our hard earned money went towards keeping these adorable animals fed and cared for. AC rode tractor bike and checked out farm animals with daddy. We all took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and found our perfect first little pumpkins for AC. Along the way mommy went wild on the giant jumping pillow. Mommy can't remember the last time she did something this silly, it was a blast! uh, almost forget to mention the cute swine races. Are you sure we can't bring a piglet home? Miko could sure use an ally in the house. Check out our day at the farm...

http://tinyurl.com/44oebw

Adrian at 30 weeks (7 months)

We all "Cried it out"!

During Adrian's 6 months physical the pediatrician suggested the only way Adrian will sleep through the night is for us to let him cry it out when he wakes up at night. The professional mentioned infants over 6 months of age produce sugar from their kidneys which means their body doesn't need feedings overnight, assuming they have met the minimal intake for their age during the day. Zac and I are taking baby steps and decided we still should feed Adrian but put him in his crib right after feeding and let him bellow it out-all that pent up frustration. Our little man was utterly inconsliable for 3 hours the first night. tough love is very stressful and sad for mommy and daddy. I too cried it out outside his door. We used the Ferber method (going into his room and pat/comfort him in our predetermined period of time). The second night we gave Adrian a lovey, the small flannel blanket with a floppy ear dog head sewn to it (see picture. Zac pointed out to me that mutant lovey only has one eye). It was very sweet to watch him find comfort in his lovey. By the second night I think he knew we weren't giving in and picking him up. He fussed a bit and then hung out with his lovey for an hour and a half (not bad, time cut in half compared to first night). He then dozed off by himself. Last night, third night was wonderful. He woke up, we fed him, back in the crib, showed him his lovey and not a peep he fell back asleep by himself. This is all working!!!!! I'm so glad this method is helping Adrian function better during the day. We all know we're in better moods after a restful night of sleep. I can clearly see that he's a happier child in the morning when he's had a good night of Zzzzzzs.