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Yay, our first trip to the Zoo!

This afternoon (which was so beautiful, and I figure we can’t have many more of these left) we struck out for the St. Louis Zoo (free!). That is, us and all of the other stroller-wielding mommies in the bistate area. The crowd was really small, actually, which made my stroller-wielding much easier. This is a good thing, because I’ve been toting him around in the sling so much that we haven’t even used the stroller since he was about six weeks old.

He did great, riding around with his sunglasses on, enjoying the view and the nice weather. We watched them feed the sea lions, saw the big cats napping and watched the antics of the flamingos. I’m not sure how much August could actually see, but I had a good time, anyway. I’ll get Tim to post the couple of pictures I took soon.

It was so warm, I even broke a sweat pushing the stroller up and down the hills.

So still no laughing, but he is totally reaching for things now and rolling over lots (whenever he gets the chance). We’ve really been working on the napping during the day thing, because even though it’s really great that he sleeps so much at night, I still need to get stuff done during the day! Right now, he’s napping maybe two hours during the day. This makes it very challenging for me to get any work done. And I even have work to do! Work that pays money! We’re getting by right now by working during the evenings and weekends while Tim watches him, but I want to see Tim during those times too, and he has stuff that he wants to do, so we’re kind of in a bind.

But mostly, I’m enjoying how well he sleeps at night. I mean, how many mommies get to sleep in till 8 or 9 every morning?

He has officially rolled over, ladies and gentlemen!

I put him on his tummy in his crib for a while this afternoon. I stood there, shaking his teddy bear, trying to keep him entertained and working on lifting his head and chest up, when all of a sudden he got his arm under him and rolled on to his side! Then, it took a couple of tries of swinging his leg and me encouraging him and BOOM! He’s on his back in his crib!

Now, you know I’m not one to brag, but is my baby the BIGGEST GENIUS EVER or what? I mean, I bet Mozart didn’t roll over when he was 12 weeks old!

At our Moms Group today, August was one of the oldest babies there! It was crazy, seeing all these little tiny babies. Now that he’s 12 pounds 14 ounces (!) he just seems so much bigger. I thought I’d remember what he looked like that little, but all I have to say is thank goodness we took a lot of pictures. Nutty.

We’re up late again tonight, waiting for the World Series game to end. Waiting for the Yankees to pull off another “miracle.” Please, don’t get me started on how every major sporting event is totally fixed to allow for maximum profitability. I keep waiting for them to make the Final Four a best of seven event…

Hardly any trick-or-treaters last night, which leaves way too much chocolate laying around. I was a little sad about Halloween this year. It’s been years since I’ve actually worn a costume and since August is too little to be excited, it was a total let-down. I remember when Halloween was the highlight of fall. Sigh. Just feeling old, I guess. Now that it’s officially November and I’m staring down the barrel of my 27th birthday.

One thing that’s for sure this year: my mom is getting flowers on my birthday. Thanks, Mom! Now I know what you went through to get me here! You should call your mom and thank her too.

Wow, what a morning. Coco was whining every time she moved last night, so I had to take her to the vet this morning to check out her paw. The doc said to give her baby aspirin to see if that helped. of course, it was also getting time for her vaccinations, so I just had them do that too while we were there. Let’s just say that Coco isn’t speaking to me right now (not that she does ever, really).

This all comes on the dreaded Day After the First Night Out, which actually went really well. At least for us, anyway. Tim and I left at about 8 last night, heading down to Laclede’s Landing to Mississippi Nights for the Stephen Malkmus show. Our friend Bob from Louisville is SM’s tour manager, so he put us on the list. We ran into old college friends Jonathan, Holly and Jim (Ouzle, for those of you that speak their little language) at the bar. Then we hung out with Bob for the show. It was really great to catch up with him, as he always has the most interesting stories about horse racing and rock and roll adventures. We love Bob!

I even drank two whole beers! The show itself was pretty good. I was especially impressed that the bass player girl was the inspiration for the Elliot Smith song “Miss Misery.” I mean, what must it be like to know that an Oscar-nominated song is about you? Unreal.

So when we got home about midnight, Tim’s sainted parents were cool as cucumbers. This in spite of the fact that August had been a royal terror all night. Here I thought he would just go to sleep for them very easily, but apparently he just cried and cried. He wouldn’t take his bottle, nothing. Poor guys! He was fine once we were home, though. Smiling and calm and sleepy! We all fell into bed about 1.

So now I’m beat. August seems no worse for wear. Bring on the trick-or-treaters!

So I was a little mental last week… I think the little guy is actually starting to fall into a schedule (geez, I hope I don’t jinx myself here). I say “fall into” because it sure as heck isn’t because of anything I’ve done. I mean, I try to do pretty much the same types of things at the same times each day, since all of the stuff I’ve read talks about how much babies want routine and predictability.

Here’s a typical day for August:

Get up about 8:30, 9-ish, hang out in bouncy seat while mom eats breakfast and skims paper (focusing mostly on the horoscope and “Get Fuzzy” comics).

Get really ticked off after about two minutes of tummy time. Fuss loud enough to let mom know that whatever she’s doing (usually laundry) is way less important than getting me off of my face!

Around 10-ish, eat a mid-morning snack. Get sleepy.

Get stashed in the sling for a brisk morning walk with mom and the dogs. Fall asleep approx. 15 steps out the door.

Wake up in my crib after mom has snuck me in following the walk. Fuss until she finishes the email she’s writing and comes and rescues me from baby jail.

Installed in bouncy seat in bathroom while mom showers and sings various Beatles hits. (My favorites: Hey Jude, Norwegian Wood and She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, except I’m pretty sure those aren’t the original lyrics.) Then mom fills up the bath and shocks the heck out of me by bringing me in there with her! Fun!

Cold, cold! Try not to shiver as mom dresses me as quickly as possible.

Back to the bouncy seat to watch with fascination as mom eats lunch (usually leftovers).

My turn for lunch!

Play in the living room for a while, working on my hand-eye coordination by trying to grab the dang rattle mom is holding. Eventually get frustrated that I cannot fit said rattle into my mouth and stop paying attention to mom, staring instead at the Kleenex box.

Act hungry so I can fall asleep in the middle of nursing.

Wake up in crib again. Where the heck am I? What’s going on in my shorts?

Coo at hilarious antics of elephant mobile over changing table.

More tummy time, this time on mom and dad’s bed, with mom acting like a nut trying to keep me happy. Work on developing my neck and arm muscles by holding my head and chest up. (Chicks dig the muscular physique.)

Various other playtime activities to keep me occupied until dad gets home.

Dad comes home and takes over entertainment duties. (This is when I sometimes get cranky.)

Head downstairs, where Dad dances me around to Guided By Voices while Mom makes supper.

Hit the swing and try not to fall asleep while Mom and Dad eat supper.

Get really fussy, giving mom and dad the definitive sign that I am very sleepy.

Fall asleep, get put in crib.

(Of course, I wake up about 1 a.m., get brought into cozy mom and dad bed for midnight snack, then sleep with them for the rest of the night.)

So, that’s pretty much how it goes around here. It just didn’t really seem like he had any kind of nap schedule until here recently. Who knew? Of course, the above omits the many, many diaper changes throughout the day, as well as several eating sessions. Those are still somewhat unpredictable!

Eek! He keeps sleeping and sleeping! I’m freaking out!

Is this a last push to get over the icky cold?

He fell asleep at around 7 last night, got up this morning at 8, fell asleep again at 10 and remains asleep now at noon! What the heck’s going on??

Of course, I should be totally loving this, right? I mean, since I’ve got about a dozen articles to write for clients before Monday and all… But I’m too busy being freaked out!

Doubly of course, he’s now awake and cooing in his crib. Better go before he gets ticked.

BTW, he’s now 12 pounds, 3 ounces!

Update on the cold situation: August is still coughing rather pitifully, but steamy baths are definitely helping the situation. Sneezing is also on a downward trend as well. Hopefully, we are licking this thing! Do you think if I increase my intake of orange juice, then he’ll get more vitamin C too? Must checking nursing books ASAP…

I also scheduled our first family photo session today. Unfortunately, I was big ole distracted Mommy and forgot that November 10 was also the day of August’s baptism. D’oh! I’m trying to reschedule to a time when life will be less hectic and religion-oriented. (Although I’m sure there will be much praying to God during the actual photo session.)

I’ve decided that I really miss all of my friends. Visiting with Kim and Chris and Kevin a couple of weeks ago made me appreciate just how far away all of my old college buddies are. And for all of you in NYC and Chicago, I miss you to pieces! It’s not like Tim and I could be party animals are anything just now, but I’d still love to introduce August to all of his honorary aunts and uncles. Sniff.

Speaking of partying, however, I’m pleased to announce that Tim and I have made plans for our first official outing without the baby. Next Tuesday, our friend Bob has put us on the list for the Stephen Malkmus show at Mississippi Nights. Now, as much as I cringe at Mississippi Nights being the site of our first outing, I’m still looking forward to a few hours of fun. Not that August isn’t fun, but… You know what I mean.

Well, better check on the boy. He’s napping a little too well…

August has his first cold.

It’s so pitiful! He has this scary-sounding (to me) chesty cough, but at least his nose hasn’t been too stuffy. I’ve only had to wield the nasal aspirator/snot sucker twice, and his temperature has only been as high as 99.4 degrees.

I still called the on-call pediatrician.

Can we give him drugs? He said to hold off until his fever was over 100.5. We can put some saline spray up his nose, though, should he get stuffy. So far, so good. It’s really strange, because he hasn’t been in a particularly bad mood, as you would expect from a baby with his first cough. He hasn’t been particularly happy either– just this wierd kind of far-off looking quietness. We went down to my mom’s today for a visit and everyone commented on what a good baby he was.

It’s not like he’s not a good baby. (Yes, I realize that was a double negative. So shoot me, I like double negatives.) Is there such a thing as a bad baby anyway?

It’s just that he has his moments, like every other baby, where he’s not so fun. Today, he reminded me of the Simpson’s episode where Lisa comments, ‘We’re the MTV generation. We feel neither highs nor lows.’ ‘How does that make you feel?’ ‘Eh.’

That’s what August was like today.

Hooray for Tim! What a madman he was to get up all of those pictures in one day!

As for me, I must admit that if what August has is indeed a cold, I had it first. I’ve been sniffling and sneezing since early on Friday. Oh, the guilt! I thought that breastfeeding was supposed to protect August from my germs! Actually, my hunch is that our problems stem from this typical Missouri weather pattern that brings cool, dry weather one day, and warm, moist conditions the next. Yee-haw, Missouri!

August is getting baptized on November 10. The interesting thing is that Tim and I have to be remarried before the baptism. You see, when we tied the knot nearly four years ago in lovely Gatlinburg, we did not get married in The Church, so we have to have our marriage validated. Ostensibly, this will ensure that August is raised in the Catholic faith. At any rate, it’s kind of neat that Tim and I get to renew our vows in front of our family again. And then August gets baptized, and we all go back to our house and eat ham! Sweet!

I promise that I’m going to try to blog more often. Keep checking back and feel free to harass me if I flake again!

Oh yeah, there are some new pics of August added too, from the days just before we left for California. They’re in the August–>10-2001 category.

OK, so beth jumped the gun a bit, but indeed I did get the pictures posted today. Beware though, some of ’em are pretty big. I’ve got them all from start to finish in the Trips–>Yosemite subcategory, but I did also create a new category for those who might just want to see the pictures of the wedding itself, which would be all the people at the wedding I told to come to this site to check out.

Thanks everybody who made our little vacation such a wonderful time, especially you three in San Fran, who went well out of your way to make us feel so comfortable during our too short visit.

We’re back and better than ever!

Just wanted to get things started on a high note, not that it’s not true.

August had his two-month checkup last Tuesday. Two months! Somebody pinch me, because it seems like only yesterday that I was still preggo. And yet, I can barely remember what life was like before August (the baby–and the month too, I guess). Anyway, he weighed 10 pounds, 9 ounces, which means he has gained exactly four pounds since he was born. Wow. This mama is proud. Nothing else very eventful about the visit, which is a good thing. Except he got four shots, which he hated but soon recovered from.

Also, I can officially declare victory in the Great Breastfeeding Trials of 2001! August hasn’t had a bottle since October 3rd! Once we stretched out the time between his feedings, he was able to get full enough that I didn’t feel like I needed to give him a bottle to “top him off.” Yippee! Of course, this made things 100% easier for the trip to California.

As for the trip, we had a really great time. August was great on the flight out to San Francisco, and then was pretty wonderful on the subsequent long car ride into Yosemite. Check out the pictures section for the over 100 photos we took out there. Sure, a large portion of them are extraneous shots of August smiling in the car, but there are some amazing shots of the park too.

After we arrived on Wednesday, we met up with our friend Kevin (the groom) at the Curry Village Pizza Deck for his bachelor party. August and I tried to fade into the background as much as possible, but it’s not like things were that wild and crazy anyway. Since we were making the leap from Central time to Pacific, I think August and I were in bed by about 8 or so. Very tiring, all that traveling.

On Thursday, we met up with Chris (the groom’s brother and honorary Uncle) and saw a little bit of the Valley Village shops. We bought a T-shirt and sent postcards, which made me feel very efficient. Later that day, we went over to Kevin and Michele’s (the bride) place and enjoyed a neato dinner with lots of friends and family.

By Friday, we were ready to get out and do some hiking. So we drove up to Tuolomne Grove to check out some of the park’s giant sequoias. Wow. The hike was one mile down a six percent grade to the trees, then back up the same damn hill. Ouch. But the trees were really big. Really. August slept the entire time.

We had to hustle back to our cabin to get ready for the wedding in time. Then it was a one-hour drive up to Glacier Point for the ceremony. By this time, August is far from enamored with his car seat. In fact, he screams every time he comes near it. No fun. Also, just as the ceremony is starting, he decides he is hungry. So we get to go sit on a rock behind the crowd and watch from afar as he nurses. You must see the photos of the wedding, because the view is just unreal. The reception was at the lovely Auwahni Hotel in the Valley. I even splurged and drank a glass of wine! Scandalous!

Saturday morning, we met up with our friend Julie to hike up to Vernal Falls, one of the most popular trails in the park. For the life of me, though, I don’t know why it is so popular. It was freakin hard, my friends! We’re talking a steep, steep climb, with all of these bleeding stairs at the end! My butt was kicked. We didn’t even make it to the top of the falls, but at least the base was pretty. August slept the entire way. Julie was hoping to run into her husband Scott, who was running the trail to Half Dome and back that morning. Yep, Scott is my new personal hero, because he ran up those stairs, and then managed to continue on. Scott rules!

We took it easy that afternoon, with August and I napping away most of it back in the cabin.

Sunday, we got up early, managed to get everything packed up again, and headed for San Francisco. August was in rare form in the car, sleeping for maybe half an hour. Not fun. We finally made it to our hotel (a brand new Radisson just south of the city) and called up my old roomie Kim, who had promised to show up around the city. We then sped up to Chris (another old roomie) and Shelley’s new place, where they were winding down what looked like a pretty rollicking brunch/house warming party. Their apartment is totally amazing — only three blocks from Golden Gate Park!

Speaking of the Park, we walked down and took a stroll through the Botanical Gardens (free), then took the train down over to the beach where Tim and I (and August) got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time (also free), and then went back to their neighborhood for dinner at a great Thai place. All in all, we had a really nice time. It was great catching up with old friends. It made me realize how far we’ve all come in the four and half years since graduation, yet it seemed like not much time at all had passed since we all lived together. Our other old roomie, Korry, was sorely missed.

Then, on Monday, we came home.

I love coming home.

One last note: August has a blocked tear duct, which isn’t uncommon in babies, but it means that his tears don’t drain correctly and instead turn into green goo that crusts up his eye. Yucky. Anyway, things seemed to get worse in CA, so I called and made an appointment at his doc’s for this morning. Long story short: the tear duct will clear on its own eventually — but he now weighs 11 pounds, 5 ounces!!! Woohoo! I’m not starving him!

Aren’t I pitiful?