Silly baby

The Booger is really figuring out how to play. I had a headache this afternoon, and was cuddling with him while he played with toys. Somehow he wiggled his little baby self from sitting up next to me to laying down on his belly. Which was pretty impressive in itself- I was wishing I had to camera, his arm got stuck, and he was busy swinging the other arm around to get momentum, and then it all came together.

Then I was rubbing his soft skin and fuzzy little head, and he popped his head up and gave me a big ol' smile. I just laughed at him and he dropped his head down again. Then a minute or two later, he did it again, waited for me to say hi, and then smiled at me. Then again...and again.... After a few times I realized he was playing with me, and he started it! He always likes being tickled or kissed or played with, but we have always initiated it.

He is getting such a personality, and it is super sweet, loving, and funny. I was so excited to meet him before he was born and spent a lot of time wondering what he would be like. Now I can really start to see the little kid he is going to turn into in his adorable little face and how he interacts with us and the world around him. And it just makes me even more excited to see what else is in store.

Mommy Brain

The Booger's newly mastered talent and favorite mode of entertainment and transportation is rolling over. It is the first thing he does when he wakes up- rolls right over and hangs out and plays until we come get him. Then he rewards us with this wonderful look...

He had a crib, then it got recalled... and now we're waiting...

All of us luckily made it through being put to sleep on our bellies, but the Back to Sleep Campaign has promoted research that putting babies on their backs greatly reduces the risks of SIDS. Since the Booger was born, we did just as we were told, kept bumpers, soft toys, and blankets out of his crib, and put him on his back to sleep.

Now, though, he is in the habit of playing on his belly and then falling asleep ***gasp*** on his belly! I made fun of my husband the first time he discovered the baby on his belly in his crib and turned him over. Then the other day I went to check on him and my crazy little mommy heart started beating like a drum. I rushed over and stared and stared at him until I felt completely and totally satisfied that he was indeed still breathing. Then I flipped him over.

Many rational articles explain why it is a risk for young babies to sleep on their bellies and also explain why it is okay for older babies who can roll to assume whatever position they like. However- I am a mom. I am not rational.

Thus, I have spent the evening checking on my peacefully sleeping son because within 45 seconds of my putting his on his back to sleep, he was on his belly. My rational, educated side keeps telling my irrational, mom side that he is okay. And each time I fight the urge to flip him over. I am slowly coming to the realization that this is the first, but by far, not the last time my irrational mom brain will keep tabs on my baby while he does things his own way instead of mine.

Mom brain has had its other affects as well- somehow I went to the store for a few things yesterday, namely toilet paper and stamps. What did I leave the store without? You guessed it.

In such a short time

Now that we celebrated 6 months, we had to commemorate it... with shots! He only had two, and took them like a champ- with only some of the most pitiful crying and biggest tears ever. Then was back to his flirtatious self with the nurses within minutes.


He's growing like a weed, nearly tripled his birth weight. He was 7 pounds 14 oz and 21 3/4 inches when he was born. He is now 20 pounds (90th percentile), and 28 3/4 inches (95th percentile). Everything else looked great and he is progressing just like he should.

Just a few hours old!

It still amazes my when I think about how quickly he has learned so much. I don't think there is ever a time where we learn as much as we do in the first two or three years of our lives. I remember when he was a few weeks old and one of my friend came to visit with her 18 month old. I was astonished how something a tiny and helpless as him could change into something as full of spit and vinegar and smarts as Addison, in just a year and a half!

He is now able to sit up on his own- rarely falling over unless he tries to look too far or gets excited. He is starting to roll around like a champ- who knew rolling was a method of transportation! Just an hour ago he rolled from my side, across the bed, and up to the pillows all in search for the remote. (What a man!) He has been holding onto toys and transferring them from one hand to the other for months. He grabs and reaches for things that interest him, and talks, laughs, and interacts with other people all the time. He also eats wonderfully, and just tried a cup for the first time this evening. He sleeps through the night and can put himself to sleep without too much trouble.

And we've changed a lot over the past six months too. I don't think either one of us realized how much you could love a person so tiny, or how happy/proud/scared/excited/grossed out/nervous/thrilled/ surprised or how much fun we could have every day. We both know we're very lucky to have such a wonderful baby, and such a great family to share him with. I would never change how our lives have played out, even though they haven't gone quite as we planned, just because he makes it so wonderfully worth it.

We love you Booger!






OK- I'm done being sappy!

Two for Tuesday (too)

My wonderful sister keeps finding fun things to play along with. Now, Deanna at Eight is Great is ready for pictures of twos... Since I only have one, it was a bit of a search, but then I found this...

I have a wonderful friend who watches the Booger for us while we're at work. They have a Doberman, a Chihuahua and the cutey pie (Hannah) above. All three dogs love him- the little ones even try to hog him, and keep the Doberman away from him! Hannah joined their family just after the Booger joined us, though as you can see, he's got a few pounds on her already. He loves to play with them, and is starting to really want to get up and chase after them. They are blissfully unaware of what's in store once their 'toy' starts moving and grooving!

Excited to see what other twos are coming!

Peek a boo...

Remember those obnoxious emails that you had to scroll down to see the answer to some silly riddle. And you always found yourself doing it, even while you were thinking- 'my what a waste of time'


Here's another one... only cuter and much more fun!

I SEE YOU!!!

Now send this on to 5 people and your wish will come true...

Not really, but feel free to try anyway.

Time flies

Today we celebrated (sort of) the Booger's 6 month birthday by heading to Lansing to (really) celebrate his cousins 8th birthday with his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

I can not believe how amazingly quickly half a year has flown by. Everyone tells you, but you don't really believe it until you see it (like a lot of things, of course). I was incredibly sad to realize the other day that I will soon be in a classroom 5 days a week all day, and not be able to look forward to seeing him on my lunch break. We will cross that bridge before we come to it, somehow.

We love being parents and truly have the best baby ever. He is almost always happy, loves to play, smile, and laugh. He learns and does new things every day, and is just all around amazing. I just looked over at him, and he's cuddled up with his daddy, snoring away. So sweet.

The other day, I found the hat he wore in the hospital-

it doesn't quite fit any more...

Yumminess

We're still trying new foods and discovered he LOVES prunes- not my top choice, but he gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow! However, he took some time getting used to peas.

Grandma's right- mushy peas are ucky!

He gets so excited while he eats, he jumps and reaches and sings. Even for peas, now that he has gotten used to them. He is very demanding, though. I have to get his food ready in the other room or he gets mad seeing it and not being able to have it- he yells at me and just looks sooo desperate. As though we are starving him (he has to be nearing 20 pounds).



Stay tuned for more new foods and other fun tomorrow. We have another important day- any guesses?

Big boy!

Some milestones we've covered lately... a little lesser celebrated by others, but milestones none- the- less...

Lesser known milestone # 1

Resturaunt high chairs

(ewwww- I forgot to bring the cool cover Lisa and her mom gave us)

and

Lesser known milestone # 2

shopping carts

(ewww again!)

Despite the slobber and who knows what else that was on these wonderfully public items, the Booger loved sitting up and being able to check things out without the blinders of his carseat. He was super excited to be able to look around and watch people walk by him at Fazoli's and flirted with anyone who looked his way, then showed off his rasberry blowing skills in attempts to impress them even more! (I believe it worked- one of these days he's gonna catch himself a baby girlfriend with his slick moves). He liked rolling by things in the shopping cart to- almost like the car, but even better because he could see everything, and even tried to reach out and grab things as we went by.

What are some the milestones you and yours have celebrated? Any traditions you celebrate just in your family?

Dress up isn't just for girls!

The Booger has been super funny lately, with lots of laughs, smiles, and giggles. Yesterday afternoon from the time he woke up from his nap until he went to bed all he did was talk, talk, talk. Then he'd laugh and blow rasberries, and talk, talk, talk some more. Even while he ate dinner. Such a silly boy!

He and Daddy love to play, and they decided to play dress up today while Daddy was getting ready for work. He wouldn't barely stop looking at and talking to Daddy so Mommy could take pictures.

Let's start potty training- I look good in boxers!

Blanket? Nope- Daddy's polo!

Where'd he go?

There he is!

Awwwkward!

Recap of the story behind the story: The Booger made appearance in the world a year or two before we thought he would- the best surprise ever! But, Mommy was not quite finished with school. We found out about his pending arrival during my last summer semester of actual classes on campus. Then I started my first internship right about the time I was starting to show (I have to do two, one in a general education, one in a special education setting) and finished waddling around like a duck. Since he was due about two weeks after the start of the next semester, we decided it would be better to take the spring semester off instead of juggling sleep deprivation, newborn, and a classroom of kids with special needs as a first time mom. A decision I will never regret, despite delaying my graduation and the income teaching will bring.

The Story: I guess since I was not on campus much while I was pregnant, because I never really felt like a pregnant college student- two complicated things to juggle. Today, however, I felt a bit out of place. I took the Booger with me to campus to turn in some paperwork for financial aid. I loaded him up in his stroller and started the trek to the building (that was of course quite a distance from where I had to park). As I walked, I passed lots of people going on their merry way, most of whom slowed down a bit and did a double-take at me and my gorgeous boy. Now- we all know he's cute and we're used to flirting with the people we meet out and about. But I realized that wasn't exactly why people were checking us out. We were a wee bit out of place with a diaper bag and a stroller heading towards the store o' text books.

Many, many moms have returned to school after years of being gone, several of whom I have had classes with and love and admire dearly. I think today I got a teeny, tiny little taste of how they feel taking time out of their family to join the crazy that a college campus is. I've barely been 'gone' and can't imagine getting into the swing of lugging myself back to class with a bunch of people whose lives are not only on a different page, but out of a completely different book. More power to all the moms who join or rejoin the scholary or the work world after taking time to raise and enjoy their families. You go girls!

Kissing Cuties

Thanks to my sister, I have discovered (and lurked) many blogs by mother of multiples, and while I don't envy any of these super moms, I love reading about their lives and their sweet little ones. Barb joined in on Debi 's Sunday picture fun, and I thought I would too. The Booger LOVES getting kissed or anything to do with it. We make smooch noises and he just smiles and laughs and reaches out for more. Whenever we kiss him now, he wraps his little arms around our face and opens wide to slobber, I mean, to kiss us back. I tell him that when he has a girlfriend he will be very embarrased if she knows he frenched his mom first!

Here is one of my favorites.. we all know I have an exorbitant amount to pick from!

Hurdles

We are getting ready to face the big, hard parent hurdle of choosing someone other than close friends or family to look after the Booger this fall. We decided we would prefer to have someone come to our house and decided that since we live close to a university, we would aim for a student, someone who won't mind a part time schedule and doesn't need to make millions. We only need someone for about half a day between when my husband goes to work and I can get home from my internship. If things go well, it would be nice to keep that up when I start teaching to cut down on day care costs by not sending him to a center until he's a toddler.

So we posted the job opening last night and I've already got a couple responses. Now comes the task of picking someone. I made sure to make it clear we wanted to meet them first and make sure it's a good fit before we commit. Does anyone have any other suggestions, tips, or tricks for choosing and 'hiring' someone? Any problems you've encountered or had friends encounter? We'd appreciate any guidance!

Just in case you were missing the cutest baby ever (in my opinion at least!)

The Diaper Diaries

I think every parent will agree that if they stop to think about the conversations with the other people who care for their child, they will agree that the content has changed drastically since their son or daughter was born. Especially if they've known that person pre-baby. No longer are chats about catching up on people at work or other day to day happenings...

Number one topic: Diaper tracking and analysis!

Who would have thought that once you become a parent, one of the most frequent thoughts you'd have about your bouncing bundle of joy would be about diapers- and not whether you have enough- but what's in them?

I'm sure that all the super helpful, informative parent books and magazines are partly to blame. How many times have you read something about the number of dirty and/or wet diapers your baby should have at this age and that age? How many times have you felt bad because you didn't count how many he or she had, and then spent the next day obsessing to make sure they are 'functioning' properly?

With an almost 6 month old who is eating solid food (or what passes for solid food at this age), one of the staple questions after the usual "How was your day?" and "What's for dinner?", has now become "Did the Booger poop today?" This is followed by a description of whatever the lucky parent recieved as a gift that day. We have split baby duty pretty fairly, and the Booger's daddy has always done diaper duty with me, but recently we've both tried to pass at least one diaper change a day to the other parent for one reason and one reason only- stink.

I have heard people in awe over how so much of something so ucky could come out of something so little and so cute. I've now officially joined that club because the Booger has another talent- filling his diaper so full it comes out the top in the front and the back. Never thought I'd have to clean anything but fuzz out of his belly button...

Anybody have their own Olympic diaper stories? I'm sure we'd all enjoy a good laugh at the expense of someone else's washing machine! Tell your friends- maybe if we get some good ones, we could vote on the top three for some diaper coupons.

Splish Splash

We recently moved the Booger's baby bathtub into the big tub because he discovered the joy of splashing. After one bath that bathed the whole bathroom, the Booger, and Mommy, we thought it best to provide some damage control.



His second bath in the big tub was even better the first! He splashed and laughed and smiled and wiggled all over. Then I gave him a mohawk with the little bit of fuzz he has, which he thought was quite funny. Next, I think we're ready for water toys, I am very excited about the light up duckies we got at his first baby shower! Thanks Aunt Barb!

Geez, Mom, how embarrasing!

Fishy Fun

The Booger loves the snap in toys on his highchair. I often have to take off at least one of them when he eats because he is so enthralled with them. Last week he discovered he could pound on his tray with his hands. He even tried pounding on my chest while he was eating- I wasn't quite as fun, but it was worth a try.



Now, he discovered, he can combine his beloved toys and the fun noise pounding makes. Oh, the simple joys!

Be sure to watch his face...he keeps surprising himself!

Applesauce

The Booger's sweet potatoes have been gobbled up without hesitation, so we decided it was time for applesauce. It was lip smacking good!

Thanks to my sister, we had a good idea where to start and how to introduce new things, she even sent my a chart they used to keep track of what we tried and when. I tweaked it a little, and this is what I came up with. Check it out and feel free to pass it on or tweak it for yourself.

Heartbreaking!

The Booger has almost mastered sitting up on his own... almost. He loves sitting up and looks like a little caveman with his fists on the floor in front of him. He sways and swoons side to side and front to back while he plays with his toys, and I usually put a leg out to support him and he can bounce back up when he leans to far one way or the other.

Mom! How' do I do this?!?

Whenever he gets excited though he always throws his arms out, and it got the best of him today. He was sitting up across from me, and looked up and gave me the sweetest smile, threw out his arms, then... he toppled backwards!

Mind you, like every baby he has fallen over before or bummed his head and had other little baby accidents, and even though I expect him to cry he never has.

Until today.

Oh my, right away he started bawling- huge crocodile tears, and howling with a horrible, hoarse cry. Then he paused, and let out an even bigger wail! I scooped him up and cuddled him and kissed his sweet little fuzzy head until he calmed down and looked up and gave me the sweet smile that started it all!

Rasberries

The Booger figured out how to blow rasberries a while ago, but gave it up when he discovered he could put his feet in his mouth. Pretty impressive skills...

This weekend he rediscovered his rasberry blowing abilities. He has since logged hours of rasberry blowing fun. He is figuring out how to take turns with us, and if one of us waits too long to blow one at him, he reaches out and grabs our mouths or chins to make us do it again.

He puts his whole baby self into this terrific fun- he jumps up and down, opens his mouth reeallly wide, sticks out his tongue and blows all the air his little lungs can hold (along with all the drool in his mouth) at us.

We spent at least half an hour playing last night when we woke him up for his last feeding, and when he ate this morning, he tried to get me to play again, even after I put him back down and left the room. When I wouldn't play, he blew rasberries at the ceiling until he tired himself out enough to fall asleep again. Silly boy!

No luck catching it on video yet, but stay posted- I'll keep trying!

The next big thing

We have quickly learned that the Booger loves him some food! He took to rice cereal like a shot about a month and a half ago. And despite his mommy being supremely confused about how to start solids (who would've thought it was so confusing to feed another human!?!?), he has given us pretty good cues about what he needs and wants.

A couple weeks ago, he was eating one serving of cereal a day, and started throwing a little baby temper tantrum whenever it was gone, so we added another feeding. Now, even with two servings plus nursing like usual, he is either still fussy after he finishes or hungry much earlier than we expected. So...onto the next big thing. Sweet potatoes.

MMMMMMM

He even wanted more after we finished the first bit, and ended up eating almost half the container!

No worrries though, there's lots more where that came from- I just stocked up on lots of delicious (yes, we try it all) baby foods. Thanks to BRU, Meijer, and Gerber coupons. Meijer has a baby sale this week- lots of deals, and with coupons I got 10 packages of 2nd foods for 8 dollars. BRU had 4 for 5, so I got 8 for 8 with the coupons-Mom's best friend!

Photo shoot

Even though the Booger is 5 months old, we've never taken him to get his picture taken anywhere. I have 500+ pictures that we've taken... rough estimate. I think I send out anywhere between 75 and 125 a month. Granted I'm sure they get a little monotonous for everyone else, but he's cute, I can't help it!

So, a few weekends ago, Grandma decided she was going to take us to have them taken. Here's how it went:

*Pick out outfits. Pack the diaper bag. Include favorite toys, hoping to elicit a smile on demand. Feed the Booger, hoping his full belly that will last through pictures.

*Load the Booger, Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma in the care. Drive across town to the mall.

*Unload at the mall. Catch the Booger's hat that goes flying off in the wind.

*Go to Sears. Wait patiently for 3 other people at the desk. Talk to the nice lady at the desk. Quickly discover the nice lady is crazy to think we are going to pay that kind of money for a baby who is unable to perform any sort of miracles, magic tricks, or gymnastic feats to capture on film.

*Have a conversation with the nice, crazy lady about the very small package we would like. Listen in confusion as she explains the wonderful benefits of the Smile Saver Card. Discover there are no appointment times today, and discuss payment options.

*Look at Grandma and kindly tell her I think she's crazy if we're going to let her spend that much for pictures of a very cute, but altogether not yet gifted baby.

*Decide to make an appointment, but go check at JCPenneys. Proceed across the mall. With Booger and Daddy in tow.

*Discover the nice ladies at Penneys must be as crazy as the nice lady at Sears. But, lucky us, they do have an appointment today...in an hour. Consider nap time and the last time the Booger ate and think of a package of red faced, screaming baby pictures. Decide that is not a good idea.

*Tell Grandma that I can take better pictures at home. Then everyone can pick whatever they want from Snapfish for .15. Figure Grandma would never be able to spend that amount of money even if she ordered every single picture I took.

*Head back across the mall. Load the Booger, Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma back into the car. Drive back home. Continue to marvel at the expense of having a baby's picture taken.


Several days after that excursion, the Booger and I had our own impromptu photo shoot. I think we did pretty well. I plan on taking it outside one of these days, but here are some of my favorites so far.

This was one of our first (and best) shots before I realized I should change him into something a little more 'formal'...hehe

Do you have somewhere you take your kids that has been terrific and worth the small fortune? How do your kids do with the event that getting pictures taken is?

Back to life...back to reality

We are lucky enough to have some wonderful friends, Emily and Andrew, who invited us to their family cottage on Big Lake for the holiday. We left Saturday at nap time and came back Sunday at bed time. The time in between was wonderfully relaxing and fun!

The Booger's daddy was very happy to be out on the water, and the Booger and I enjoyed soaking up the sun and sitting next to the lake. I even attempted to conquer my fear of jet ski's- not so successfully, but it was an honest effort! And best of all, we spent time with lots of fun people, eating, drinking, and relaxing. That's what vacation is for after all.

So don't be disappointed in me- not too disappointed at least. I have blown my daily committment- but not all of it was my fault. We've had some internet troubles, and life was suddenly very busy after we came back to it.

Check out the fun!

Uhh.. Mom, what am I wearing?

Hanging on for dear life

The Booger on a jet ski for the first time...starting him young!

Mommy on the water... only minutes before she ended up in the water

Double fistin' it next to the lake... does it get any better?

What did you do for the holiday? Hope it was as fun and relaxing as ours!

Amazing

I loved being pregnant. I’m not just saying that, or trying to rub it in for the poor women who were sick and uncomfortable for 9 months. I just plain loved it. It was all amazing to me- I was growing a baby! I looked forward to bedtime everyday, not just because I was exhausted, but because my husband and I would lay and watch my son roll around and poke his arms and legs out. Then I’d lie on my side and hold my belly and tell my baby everything I wanted him to know.

I had a hard time thinking about not being pregnant anymore, so much so that I remember crying about it. One, I hadn’t ever felt better about myself. I carried the baby out in front like a basketball, and was lucky that pregnancy agreed with me. People would tell me how cute my belly was. I never got compliments like that before. Why mess with a good thing? Two, I was scared to death of taking care of a brand new baby. Three, I was more than scared to death of actually, ahem… having, a baby. It had to hurt, and everyone has their horror stories and simply couldn’t resist telling a poor, innocent soon-to-be mom every one of them.

During my last trimester, everyone was asking if I was ready. And I kept saying “Not a bit!” Then they’d tell me, “You will be, just wait.” I didn’t believe them. Then I started getting stretch marks, I stopped not having indigestion, and the baby wouldn’t keep his heels out of my ribs. They were so right.

Now, I spend hours staring at my baby, marveling that I made him. That this beautiful, perfect boy lived in my belly for ten months. Yes, ten months. People like to pretend it’s only nine, but any full term mom knows better!

Barely an hour old. That hat can't even pretend to fit him anymore!

Shaken, not stirred

The Booger loves to move. We lay him down and two minutes later he's wiggled two feet away from where he started. He jumps like a kangaroo in his jumperooo, I'm amazed he hasn't given himself whiplash. He's a dancing machine, kicks his legs like a maniac, and when he is tired or just waking up he wiggles himself into your shoulder like he has always belonged there.



Recently, we discovered he loves to be shaken! He just laughs and smiles and squeals. It is the sweetest thing ever. But he always stops the minute I pick up the camera. We were playing last night, and I was finally able to catch him- until he realized he was being filmed and was suddenly camera shy, but was living it up until then. Just watch the video and try not to smile! (Ignore my creepy laugh in the background...)

Welcome to parenthood!

I always knew I’d be a working mom. I just didn’t know I would have to be a working mom so soon after my son was born. The problem was, my darling boy wanted to join our family a couple years before we planned. I was still in school, about to start one of two internships. Baby’s appearance meant that I was going to need to take a semester off, and delay my second internship- thus delaying a teaching job. Long story short- I couldn’t work nearly as much as usual and our savings dwindled fast. Meaning I would need to return to work as soon as I could convince the doctor to clear me.

I am a very busy, ambitious person and have always been on the go. I knew I wanted to be a mom and love my son more than I ever imagined. After the first few weeks, I was really not sure if I could go back to work. However, after being in the house for weeks I needed to be out in the world with adults, tackling something concrete. My son was born in January, and we live in Michigan, so even when he was old enough to be out and about, I had to hope the weather would cooperate. Stay at home moms are amazing, wonderful women who don’t get the credit they deserve.

Truthfully, I didn’t like doubting myself as a new mom, where I questioned everything. Did he have enough to eat? Was he too cold? Too hot? Was he sleeping too much? Was THAT normal? I knew I was competent at work and that it would be good for me and my family to be more self-assured again.

I am lucky enough to have a job that was flexible, not my dream job, but doable. My original plans to return to work from home fell through. At first, I was secretly happy because it meant more time with my wonderful baby. But then reality (and bills) hit home and I knew I couldn’t really enjoy it for much longer. I now work part time with a flexible schedule. I work two full days while my mother in law stayed with my son. The other three days, I leave work before my husband has to be to work, and we have a friend to help us out in a pinch. Thanks to this schedule and knowing that I get to come home on my lunch break to feed him, returning to work wasn’t as hard as it could have been. I never have to go more than a few hours without being with him.


Being home for most of the day several days a week gives me plenty of time to do laundry, cook, do other wifely things around the house, and spend time with my wonderful baby. What will I do when I have to really join the world of working moms?!?

The Booger (2.5 mo's old) ready to get out of the house!

Meet the Booger

Now- why did I choose such a title for my attempt at doing something I can stick with?

Reader's Digest Version-
The other day I read a magazine article...who isn't obsessed, ahem interested, with parenting magazines or books or anything else that slightly resembled a how to manual for the first year? The article was about baby milestones and how different babies met them at different ages, yada, yada. One of the milestones was recognizing their own name...

Enter my realization- we rarely call our son by his name. Since his first month, his dad has been calling him Booger. Don't ask where it came from- we don't know. He's the one and only Booger and he's ours. And he's the cutest Booger ever! So, I guess we'll stick with it. (Check back with me when someone asks his name and he says "Booger"...) hehe

Welcome to the the Daily Booger. Maybe.

I have had the best of intentions about starting traditions and doing things weekly or monthly since he was born. I tried taking pictures with his age on a little sign. I tried making onesies with his height, weight, and age. I have things to make a scrapbook. I occasionally remember to write his 'firsts' on a calendar.

Results: pictures of a one week old Booger, a onesie for 2 months old, and a box of pictures, hospital bracelets, and other momentos. And a baby named Booger.

The one thing I've accomplished consistently is posting pictures in multiple places and emailing my mom and sister. So now the plan is to multitask and keep up with how amazingly quickly he grows, and maybe actually end up with a traditionish type something! We'll see!