Elephant Bar

Yes, that's right. We took our baby to a bar. No, not an actual bar, that's just the name of the restaurant. It's actually the restaurant I had lunch at the day I went into labor. We went with Christopher and his Grandma and Grandpa to have lunch there on this snowy Kansas day. Like a big boy, CJ got to sit in a high chair. In true big boy fashion, he reached for everything on the table (except the toys we brought for him to play with!) and eventually spilled my water everywhere. Finally, Grandma gave him a wrapper from her sandwich and Chris spent the rest of our lunch munching on that. It certainly kept him occupied! He had an okay time but would have been happier if we ordered a burger (medium well) for him. He especially enjoyed the red hat ladies at the table behind us because they reminded him of his Grammy and plus they were giving him big smiles, something he can never turn down!

Attention for me...

I'm not sure what that crazy baby is talking about. He thinks he's so smart, writing poetry and what not. I know the real reason all these people come to visit us is because of me. I mean, look at how cute I am! That crazy baby can't make funny faces like this, can he? I know that when we have visitors it equals hugs, kisses and extra treats for me. And just so I am not outdone by a 7 month old, here is a little poetry slam... Kasey style:
Yo yo yo, what do you know
The name's K-dawg, I told you so.
The cutest dog in the midwest
Better than the baby, I'm the best!
Give me love and pet my tummy
Give me treats that are so yummy.
Gram and Gramps are here for me
They love me best, you wait and see.
--K. Moe

More Company!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!
I'm jumping up and down with joy!
Gram and Gramps are on their way
They're coming to my house today.
I saw my Grammy just last week
And now more peeps? I just can't speak
Because I'm psyched! I do not jest--
All my grandparents are the best!!!

--CJ Wogs

What's so funny?

As you know, our little man is really starting to move all over the place. He's not quite crawling forward yet but he constantly goes from sitting to all fours to sitting again, and recently, he's been scooting around in a circle on his bottom. Yesterday, he started pulling up on me (as I was sitting) onto his knees. This morning, he also did this on his bouncy seat (yes, the original bouncy seat) so he could get a closer look at his second favorite doggie. Well today a funny thing happened. Christopher was sitting next to me and I was lying on the floor on my side. He kept reaching up to grab my hip and pull himself up on his knees. After several times of doing this, CJ picked his left leg up, put his foot down and pulled himself up to standing! I started cracking up and making a huge deal and he had this shocked look on his face that said, "Woah, was just happened?" And then he started laughing too. He plopped himself down and we both just kept laughing. Kasey must have been wondering what her two crazy humans were doing!

The Sunshine State

Before I begin the heart of this post, let me make a comment for the "Christopher of Christmas Future." When our little boy is about 21 years old, away at college and looking back at this blog to recount his infancy, I would like him to wonder why he would struggle so before taking a nap. Little boy, why do you fight sleep? I guarantee you will have many days in college when you just wish you could take a two hour afternoon nap but can't because of class or studying or practice... Anyway, it is a gorgeous day here in Kansas and I am changing the state nickname from the "Sunflower" to the "Sunshine" state. After CJ's morning nap, we took a stroll over to Scooter's for Mommy to get some coffee and biscotti. Christopher was quite content playing with his keys on the floor and watching the repairmen using manly tools like hammers and drills to fix the door near where we were sitting. We visited with our barista, Helen (one of the folks who was there the day we got stuck inside Scooter's due to the manhunt going on). Chris was all smiles for her. On our way back we dropped by to pick up Daddy's dry cleaning and visited with the lady who works there too who always oogles over CJ. You will also notice from our picture that we tried out a new seated position in our everyday stroller and Chris was quite comfortable. Since I didn't believe any running was going to break out on our trip, we left the jogger at home. This stroller was fine, but I have to say, its shock system is basically non-existent, especially compared to the jogger! Anyway, Chris has been a teething maniac for the past three days and it has been quite challenging at times. This is really the worst I've seen it so I don't know if there is a new tooth breaking through or if the top ones are just making their way throughj even more. Jaime mentioned that if you peel a full-size carrot and give it to him cold to chew on, it helps to ease the pain. We tried that today and I have to say it was quite helpful! Definitely more fun than the Elmo teething blanket we spent $5 for at Babies R Us. Maybe I'll start a garden in the back and grow carrots to help CJ with his teeth and attract bunnies for Kasey. Hmmmmmm...

8 Ounce Man

No, that's certainly not how much our boy weighs. It's more like what he eats every three to four hours. And just when Mommy tried to get away with a little less, Christopher let his opinion be known. That's right, five times a day, Christopher eats eight ounces of milk. (Can you see why nursing didn't last longer than 5 months???) Well, I tried cutting his second feeding of the day down to 6 ounces because that is the meal we usually feed him half a jar of a veggie or a fruit. Yesterday was the day I decided to do this and it looks like yesterday will be the only day I do this. After he finished the 6 ounces, Christopher flipped out and cried real tears of hunger. Are you serious boy? So I quickly made a smaller bottle with four more ounces of which he ate two. Then, and only then, did he decide that the milk portion of his tummy was full. However, the solid food part was ready to go and he finished his bowl of apple sauce... Today we visited Daddy at his office (can't believe I forgot to bring the camera!). CJ met all of the guys on Daddy's team as well as some other nice American Century folks. Then our boy sat at Daddy's desk and examined a report on Campbell's with his mouth. (He's very thorough!) We all had a lovely visit and Daddy had some nice drool stains on his shirt to remind him of his boy for the rest of the day.

Bottoms up!

Just a funny thing about little CJ that I thought might crack you guys up. Well, at least I hope you find it as funny as we did... Sometimes it takes Christopher a while to fall asleep, especially during nap times. He moves around a bunch in order to find the perfect sleeping position. (This must have worked last night because we didn't have to go in to check on him at all from 6:30PM to 6:30AM!) Anyway, after we put him down last night, he did his normal moving around bit until he found the most comfortable position for sleeping. This just happened to be with his knees tucked in under his body and his bottom up in the air! Picture child's pose if you are into yoga. It's really funny to see! Daddy thought this was a bit odd and couldn't possibly be comfy. I happen to remember having several preschoolers over the years who slept like this during nap time so it can't be too abnormal. I guess that's why they call it child's pose in yoga anyway.

Where ya been?

I know, I know. It's been several days since our last post. Part of it is me being a slacker. The other part of it is Grammy being in town and Mommy actually getting stuff done while I have a free babysitter! I'm not saying the blog isn't important. It's just nice to have toilet paper from Costco when you need it... We had a great time while Grammy was visiting, as evidenced from the picture above. Christopher got to play with her a lot and he now knows that the voice he hears from Lil' Kasey Moe is actually attached to his grandmother and not a stuffed canine. During the week, Grammy got to see CJ in action at Kindermusik, on walks with Kasey, at the grocery store, and with his friend Olivia. We have excellent video of little man laughing hysterically at his favorite dog as she attacks his Cabela's bird collection. As soon as Mommy figures out how to download video (or at least finds the correct cord) you will all be able to join in the fun. Christopher also turned seven months old on Wednesday, a feat I still cannot get over. (What happens when they turn 1 or 5 or, heaven forbid, 30???) And with his seven month birthday, he decided he had better act like a seven month old and sleep tremendously better (ah, jinxed it!) and move around like a maniac. Seriously, this kid is rolling everywhere, getting up on all fours and rocking (thank you Grammy) and going from sitting to all fours to sitting again. Because of all this progress, we are making a family trip to Babies R Us today to get a gate and multiple outlet plugs. Christopher is also going through major "Mommy attachment" right now. I tried to tell him that I'm really not that cool (Daddy agreed, followed by a dirty look from Mommy) but he is not getting the hint... We also used the baby food maker for the first time this week. First meal: pea puree! Very exciting. All I will say about it is, they must have a lot of fiber in them. Draw your own conclusions. Here are a few more recent pictures:

Backpacking

So I have gone back to wearing Christopher in our mei tai carrier recently because I love having him snuggle up close to me and it's a whole lot easier than carrying him on my hip. The mei tai (sorry Mary, it's not the drink) is pretty versatile and can be worn on your back as well as your front. It's a bit tricky to get little CJ on my back alone so my mom was very helpful. (Dropping CJ would not be good for his pitching prospects). As we were tying him in, Christopher was cracking up a ton! I took all precautions with my hair and tied it up as far away from grabbing distance as possible and we were off to walk around the house. I think little man liked this new perspective tremendously... We have been having a good time with Grammy. Below you will see a picture of her giving Christopher a bottle. Brian and I have always joked that we wonder what we did with ourselves before Chris entered our lives. As Grammy was giving him his bottle, I was actually standing still and wondering what to do with my two available hands. It was great! Grammy also accompanied us to Kindermusik and I think she enjoyed seeing all the babies dance and sing.

On your mark...get set...

...go!!! There is nothing that makes you think of love and running like a 14 degree wind chill. Mommy and Daddy bundled up today and set off for the downtown airport to run in Mommy's first post-pregnancy race. Grammy is in town visiting us so she hung out with Kasey and Christopher while we went off to run our race. (Notice the hopeful puppy giving us the stare down in the picture to the left!). Yes, Kasey was very disappointed that we were going running without her. Our child, on the other hand, was busy playing with Grammy and probably could have cared less that we were leaving. It seems like we are still at the point with Christopher where we can leave without him throwing a fit. Kasey, on the other hand, makes our hearts break when we go. In fact, as we pulled out the driveway, we could see her staring out of the windows by the front door, wondering when we were going to turn the car around and say "Oh, we just have to bring our cute doggie with us." Anyway, the race was very cold but flat and it only took us three miles or so to feel our hands again. There were two crazy guys dressed as Cupid with no shirts on but other than that, everyone was bundled to the max. Mommy and Daddy ran together today and did 4 miles in 34 minutes. As much as I love running with Kasey and Christopher, it was fabulous to not have to push a 20 pound kid in a 15 pound stroller. I think that I might write a book on stroller training. Even if you don't have a kid, you can put a 20 pound weight in a stroller and run up hills. It will get you in shape in no time! Anyway, CJ's parents get to go out on a Valentine's Day date tonight since we have a visiting babysitter and we are looking forward to our evening. Here are some more pics from our day...

Playdate!

Today we went over to Randa and Maddy's house for a playdate. As you can see, Christopher was showing off how he can eat the big blue ring while I was taking this picture. And Maddy is just looking as cute as ever! She is just over 6 months old and it has been since before Christmas that she and Christopher hung out. They had a great time staring at each other and CJ got to play with some fun new toys while Randa and Mommy wondered who it was that recorded their voice on some of these annoying baby toys! The mommies also got lunch from Jersey Mike's which is the only place out here (aside from d'Bronx) with a "Jersey" name that actually has good subs/pizza. (Jersey Shore Bagels=yuk!). I had a cheesesteak that was quite admirable... We were later joined by Kristen and her son Braydon, who had also attended the Olathe breastfeeding group (which is how we all met). It was a fun afternoon and Christopher was exhausted and feel asleep on the way home. Of course, I thought he was exhausted enough to take a nap longer than 45 minutes, but that's another story... Maybe he's just so excited because Grammy is coming tomorrow!

Valentines: Baby Style

Remember those days in grade school when you used to decorate a shoebox with stickers and heart shaped doilies and then all your friends would make valentines and put them in your little valentine mailbox? These days, valentine giving is getting a bit more sophisticated. Last year, my kindergarten class went crazy with the elaborately assembled (yet very cute) candy concoctions that left the decorated mailboxes simply overflowing. So that was the vision dancing through my head when Christopher's Kindermusik teacher announced last week that everyone was to bring in a Valentine's Day treat for the other babies in the class. I was wondering how the babies were going to digest all that chocolate and then it hit me... the mommies were going to be in charge of "disposing" of the yummy treats. "Yay!" I thought. I even ran three miles before class to create a deficit. But to my surprise today, we only ended up receiving one chocolate treat. The mommies actually got creative and made or purchased fun toys for the babies to play with. In the picture to the left, Chris is holding up an egg shaker that one mommy made. I got as creative as making a trip to Target yesterday to buy a little chocolate treat. I'm losing my teacher touch! Anyway, our little guy enjoyed his first Valentine's Day party with all his Kindermusik friends and is looking forward to the day when he can actually eat chocolate rather than green beans.

Playtime fun...

Christopher and Mommy and Daddy have been busy bees over the past couple of days. As I mentioned in our previous post, we were heading over to Jaime and Olivia's house for a playdate. The two kiddos had so much fun together! Usually, Jaime and I walk together and the babies are in their strollers so they usually don't get to check each other out. This time, however, they got plenty of time to stare at each other. Olivia has a very fun bouncy horse that Christopher enjoyed. Of course, if he wasn't so hungry, he would have stayed in it longer but he had fun just the same. Here are some pictures from our day...

And who said Kasey is the only one who can look so comfortable? This is one of Jaime's cats, Mel:

Yesterday, we went over to Tristan's house to celebrate Tristan's second birthday. Happy birthday to Christopher's big buddy! We had a great time hanging out with all the babies as well as the parents and puppies. Christopher got to watch a little bit of Madagascar 2 and sort of enjoyed going down Tristan's new slide. Kasey, of course, had a blast playing with Oliver and Coco again who were on their home turf. Kasey was at a major disadvantage as there is more furniture there for Oliver to hide behind and he knows the ins and outs of his own home very well. A great time was had by all! We then relaxed in the back yard for the rest of the afternoon and Christopher wore himself out giggling at Kasey who zoomed around the backyard with cheetah-like speed, enthused by the 70 degree February weather.

Let's Play Two

The title of this blog is something my dad always used to say when there was beautiful weather and we were supposed to play a softball game. I think he was paraphrasing some famous baseball player that I should probably remember, and many of you true fans of the game will probably know who it is but I am drawing a blank. Christopher requested that he wear his Yankee shirt today because he thinks it should be baseball season, given the unseasonably nice Kansas weather. All he needs is a glove and some cleats and he'll be ready to play! Actually, we will be playing outside later and Jaime and Olivia's house. We are going over for a playdate and the mommies are going to enjoy a picnic Chinese food lunch. Little CJ fueled up already with his first serving of peas which he seemed to enjoy tremendously. The first spoonful, however, earned me an intense look of suspicion. I laughed so hard at this look that he cracked up as well and spit half the peas on his tray. That's what sponges are for... Here are some more Yankee shirt pics:




PS--Recently, Christopher has been resembling Grandpa Sain in many of the pictures I've taken of him. But in the very first picture of this entry, I think he looks a lot like Pop-Pop (my dad's dad). For those of you who knew him, any thoughts?

Great day...

Today was one of those days as a parent/human being (yes there are times when the two feel different) that was just great. To start off, it was over 60 degrees today (sorry NJ/NY residents) and we spent much of the afternoon outdoors. Part of it was just chilling in the backyard with Kasey and the other time it was going for a great run on the trail, minus the all-weather shield. Christopher enjoyed the run so much that he didn't even fall asleep! We also went to the Parkside Cafe today to meet up with Mommy's friend Danna and her son Liam. While the Mommies enjoyed great adult conversation, CJ was on the floor trying so hard to get involved with the other kiddos. Since he is not able to crawl to them yet, he tried scooting on his bottom and when that only yielded 5 inches or so, he just shouted over to them. He says a lot of "Aaaaahs" when he wants someone's attention, and even said something that resembled "Hey" to me. It's been really fun having extensive conversations with little man and he was all talk today. I have no idea what the conversations are about but I'm sure he knows what every word means!

Solids?

People!

Help me! They said they were going to start me on solids, but this was not quite what I had in mind. Mommy says it'll toughen me up. I'm beginning to doubt her intelligence. Please send peas!

Love,
CJ

Flirting... again...

He's at it again. This boy is trying to pick up as many girlfriends as he can by the time he turns one! At yoga today, Christopher began his flirt-a-thon with our teacher, Ashley. Then he set his sights on a little lady just a few weeks younger than he is, Evvy. Now she is definitely a cutie and our man knows it. During the class, she became a little fussy and Ashley was holding Chris for me so she brought him over to Evvy and the two of them gazed at each other with equal fascination. It was cute to see! He was also talking to the ceiling fans that are in our class, but that's another story. As you can see in the picture to the left, Christopher is becoming a walking advertisement for Kit and Lili, this great children's clothing company that has their office in the same building as Aunt Dabney. Every time I dress him in something from them, people ask where I got his clothes. Chris sounds so hip when I say that these outfits are from a store in Brooklyn. But we also give out their info so little man is expecting some kind of referral fee if these people buy stuff from Kit and Lili... Anyway, Kasey is spending her birthday at Pawz at Play with her friends. Oh and you all don't have to send gifts for her even though she requested some. I still have plenty of magazines for her to chew... Here is a picture of CJ watching his "Bee" video and smiling at his favorite little puppet in the world.

An open letter from K-dawg

Dear Loyal Readers,

I am pleased to inform you that tomorrow is my 4th (or 28th, depending on which species you ask) birthday. That's right, four years ago on February 4th (by all estimates) the greatest dog in the world was born, to paraphrase the "greatest person in the world." I will happily accept all gifts and request they be sent via UPS so I can finally get that UPS guy! I particularly enjoy chicken, liver, and venison products, but I would also like a subscription to a periodical ("Hounds and Hunting" perhaps?) so I can tear apart my own magazine without Mom getting mad at me. I will also accept any blog comments stating how good I look for my age or how my owners should give me fresh cooked ground beef with dinner every night. Thank you and I look forward to my gifts.

Love,
Kasey

Super Bowl, The Fuss Bus, and Other Things...

I know that there was a lack of posts this weekend but things were a bit busy out here in Kansas. Yesterday evening, we had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl with us. Christopher, who normally enjoys a good game of football, was busy flirting with his friend Olivia, as seen in the picture above, so he missed the first half of the game. As usual, our man flirts by blowing raspberries and drooling bubbles which form on his chin and make it look like he has a bubble gotee. Mommy also missed the first half which wasn't too big of a deal since we really had no personal interest in who was playing. And the commercials have been lacking for the last few years so we didn't really miss those either--and that is what hulu.com is for! Kasey had her friends Oliver and Coco over and they had a blast and wore each other out. Here are some other pictures from our party:


It's really amazing that Christopher was as content as he was at our Super Bowl gathering last night because he had been on board what we like to call "The Fuss Bus" since 4 AM. Yes, that is when he decided to wake up and stay up. That early rising was then followed by two, count them, two half hour naps the entire day. And the boy couldn't figure out why he was so cranky all day. Then when we put him to bed he was so exhausted that he couldn't go to sleep. Three hours and many tears later, Daddy was finally able to get him to sleep. I don't know if it's the teething thing or the "Mommy and Daddy don't leave me" thing but he's definitely going through some sort of phase... Knowing that the fussiness usually happens in the evening before bed, we warned the babysitter we had on Saturday night that bedtime might be challenging. When we got home, she said it took her four minutes and then he was out. Figures! Well, we enjoyed our date night just the same and went down to Jardines to have dinner and catch some quality jazz... An update on our excitement from Friday: there apparently was a robbery at the tanning salon where all the police were. That is all I know right now. I can't help thinking though, who robs a tanning salon? Anyway, how could this face ever be fussy?