Friends, New and "Old"

On Thursday, my son and I took our first "big" road trip together, just the two of us, to visit my friend Colleen, her husband Eric, and their new baby Tobin. I'll admit, I was a little nervous to be driving alone for such a long distance (1 hour and 15 minutes) ... I have had trouble in the past staying awake at the wheel and I am a little more sleep-deprived now than I was previously, so I think my anxiety was warranted. In any case, the drive went fine; we arrived early no less and got to spend even more time with the Smiths!

Years ago, when we were college seniors, I doubt Colleen and I could have imagined this picture, visiting with each other - our beautiful sons in tow.

Little B had so many new things to explore! And so much crawling around can really make a boy hungry, so we got out his Cheerios for a little snack ... and he dumped them everywhere! Even after I picked them up, he still wanted them scattered across the carpet, so he picked up his snack ball and did it again. Oh boy.

He thought Tobin's baby swing was fascinating (he had nearly the same one when he was a newborn) and was pretty geeked when I took the little sun off of it for him to play with - in hopes that he wouldn't break the entire swing. Then he tried to put the sun in the toilet ... thank goodness the lid was closed!

Tobin was a sleepy little buddy while we were visiting, just as he should be ... he's only three weeks old! It was too cute, though, when his binky slipped out of his mouth and stayed delicately perched near his lips.

My sister knitted Tobin a hat and they decided to put it on him ... a little big now, but it should be perfect by winter!

We had such a fun time visiting with our friends, new and "old"! Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon; I know the little guys will have tons of fun playing together once they are a little older.

Movie Trailers: Another Addiction?

Have I mentioned that I LOVE movie trailers? I have? Oh, well there ya go. No need to explain.

Here are a couple movies I would love to see whenever they come out:

Couples Retreat

All About Steve


Have you seen any trailers for movies that you're dying to see?

Hippo Chair Fun!

After we got done babyproofing and reorganizing the living room, Little B and I headed into the kitchen to work on dinner. Since he as been less-than-fond of his high chair lately, I decided to try putting him in his travel hippo chair for a little change of pace. He seemed to like it, though it was much easier for him to throw stuff on the floor this way. After a while, I finally got him to stop throwing all his books on the floor long enough for me to get dinner ready ... and take some pictures.

I love it how he always seems surprised to find the happy baby at the end of his Farm Peekaboo book.


Pouring over his Baby Says Peekaboo book ... he loves the little guy hidden under the washcloth! Though I think it might have something to do with the rubber duckies on the opposing page.


Possibly the cutest picture ever! He was so tired after all the fun in the living room that he just had to put his head down while he read.

Yeah, he was tired alright. He tossed his books on the ground after a while and just started rubbing his eyes.

He also tugs on his hair a bit when he's tired.

"Mommy, put down the camera, finish breading the chicken, and get me out of this hippo thing, please!"

Oh, and if any of you are concerned, he did not sink his teeth into a water buffalo ... he just refuses to wear a bib so his drool soaks his t-shirt by the end of the day. It does not seem to bother him, and I don't want to continue to annoy him by putting on bibs that he hates wearing.

Baby Proofing the Library

Once my little man started getting more mobile, I began to realize that the bookcase we put in the living room is not safe for him. He could very easily pull it on top of himself, the shelves slide out really easily and could smack him in the head, and it was cheap so I don't want to go to the trouble of fastening it to the wall. What to do? What to do?

I found this little tub at Target in their $1 bins! How great is that?!

The offending bookcase. It served its purpose, but it just isn't safe enough.

Several days ago I recalled that we had some fancy milk crates in the basement that could easily be fashioned into bookcases, so I went down and got those to give them a shot. Plus, they are an awesome Spartan green! Can't get much better than that!

After taking out all the books, removing the tippy bookcase (which admittedly is still in our living room laying on its side), putting the crates in their places, and reorganizing all the books, this is what I came up with.

Paper-paged books to the right of the fireplace. Bookended by a dragon.

Board books to the left of the fireplace. With a $1 tub, filled with his bowling set, on top!

I'm hoping that he won't get into the paper-paged books as much now because they aren't the only books low to the ground ... and there is a dragon to distract him. He seemed to like the new setup ...

... a LOT. (sigh) I thought it would look nice a little longer than it did.

But I want him to have free access to his books, so he can read with George the Giraffe and stuff, and he's just a baby so it's all good.

Nonetheless, I still wanted a picture of the fireplace area looking nice, so I reorganized everything and snapped this photo.

And distracted him with his ball-bellied dinosaur to do so.

Another babyproofing success!

Little B and the Ladies

My little man spends a lot of time with the ladies, and today was no exception. We first went to visit our friends the O'Neills who have two lovely daughters, the elder - Anna - is two and a half and the younger - Jessica - is a month old. Needless to say, he spent most of his time hanging out with Anna.

And staring at her.




Getting into trouble with her.

Even putting the moves on her! (I swear, this is not staged! He totally did this on his own ... what a little Casanova!)

Jessica did the newborn thing and slept the morning away. Isn't she precious?

Little B eventually took a little break from lady chasing to indulge in a truly male art form ... sandwich making. Sadly, his sandwich was made of wood and was held together with velcro, so it wasn't going to satisfy his appetite.

Then, after a couple good naps, we went over to my mom's house to spend some time with her and my sister. The little man had a good time typing on his aunt's laptop, much to her delight! What a trusting soul she is!

After an hour or so there, we went home and had dinner. It was Little B's first time having spaghetti, and much to my chagrin he did not seem to care for it.

He did get a kick out of the blueberries, pineapple, and cherries we shared with him, though.

Unfortunately, the cherries and blueberries in particular were pretty slippery for him and he got them all over his adorable outfit. Since those are some intensely staining fruits, I stripped him down and got pretreater on his shirt and shorts, leaving him au naturel.

Since we were meeting up with the O'Neills again for some cheap ice cream (Baskin Robbins dollar scoop night, baby!) and given his antics from earlier in the day, I thought this outfit would be appropriate.

Anna was very happy to see him and even gave him some hugs throughout our little visit. When I asked her to get close to him for a picture, though, he pushed her away ...

... and wanted nothing to do with her. What a little tease he is!

Well, we'll have to work on his skills with the ladies. All he has to do now is bat his beautiful baby blues and they flock to him, but that won't necessarily keep 'em around, you know?

Fun day. Great times. Lucky momma.

The Book Worm Recommends

My son, the book worm, would like to share with you his current reading recommendations.

First up is a newer book, On the farm. It features five animals (ducklings, sheep, horse, cow, and piglet) and each one has a touch and feel feature (faux fur or the like). It is a petite book, great for the diaper bag, and aside from him liking to pull out the ducks' fur it is a really great little book with some catchy rhymes.

Next up, his peekaboo books. (sigh) He loves his peekaboo books, by DK, and so do I. The flaps are made of thick cardboard, so they don't get ruined like other flap books so often do. At our house he has Farm, Bathtime, and Baby Says Peekaboo, and at my mom's house he has Dress Up instead of Baby Says. They also have a touch and feel feature on every page, though I think the ones in the Farm book are the best. Though they are tough to find (try Amazon.com first before traipsing to all of the bookstores in your town), they are worth the effort!

Third, we have a book he got this past Christmas from his Uncle Gil and Aunt Sarah: Mirror Me, by Baby Einstein. It is a wonderful little book full of baby-safe mirrors for him to peer into. He oohs a lot at this book and loves it when I puff air into his face when we get to the page with Baby MacDonald! This one is much easier to find and has me interested in the other baby books by Baby Einstein ... any recommendations?

Finally, we have his Baby Faces book. I don't know what it is about babies looking at other babies, but he just loves seeing all of the different kids in this book! The first page, happy, is probably his favorite and is what he is looking at in the picture below. It always elicits a little smile. Even if you can't find this particular book, I think it's nice to have a baby faces book of some sort around to help demonstrate emotions. You could even make one out of family photos! Hm ... project idea?

There you are! My son's favorite interactive books as of late. All of them would make great gifts for new babies or toddlers in your life! Hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Coolest Thing I've Seen in a While!

Apparently, this is our new ice cream man! JB's Tasty Trottin' Treats! How awesome is that?! Oh, and it played "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" all throughout the neighborhood. Sweet!

A Day at Home with My Bubba

Yesterday, my son and I spent an entire day at home, just relaxing and having fun. He was having a rough day with his teeth, even though his seventh tooth broke through the other day; I think he might be getting an incisor or molar next, but he won't let me take a good look into his mouth to check. Unfortunately, he bit me probably four or five times, and by the end of the day I was quite nervous to even give him a hug.

We spent the majority of our time in the living room, exploring, playing, and dancing.

Might have to find a new place for the laptop soon.


Crouching for no apparent reason ... but it sure was cute!

There was a piece of Elmo's fur in the box of his Leap Frog table ... he spent a good portion of the day just trying to get that out.

He just loves the mirror book Uncle Gil and Aunt Sarah got him for Christmas!

To demonstrate the volatility of his moods, I give you one minute ...

... and the next.

Then Daddy came home and dove right in on the fun! Poor tired Daddy!


He eventually perked up and indulged in a little Farm Peekaboo.

Which my son thought was pretty funny.

Another minute, another book.

Then it was time for a little dancing with Hokey Pokey Elmo!

Big B showing Little B how to do the hokey pokey properly.

I told you this would happen!

We had a lovely day at home, just enjoying each other's company. I could practically feel him growing up before my eyes, hence all the pictures - and this is just a fraction of what I actually took. I will always cherish these times I have had with him ... kiddo makes my heart sing.