babies who lunch

In case I haven't mentioned it, Having A Baby really does change everything. If there's anything the past few months have taught me, it's that having a child is like any other responsibility, you have to respect the limits that it imposes. Take eating out, for example. We’ve been taking Kaellyn to restaurants with us since she was two weeks old without any problems, but suddenly around four months she became a different baby in public. Instead of sleeping or quietly observing her surroundings, she now wants to interact with the world around her. She wants to sit at the table and eat WITH us and will no longer sleep or calmly watch while we devour the daily specials in front of her - the nerve! This makes me nervous and anxious.

Cobb-envy at Screwtop

Dining out is my favorite activity, and while it is still a option and certainly something we want to take advantage of while Kaellyn is still somewhat immobile, it truly has become an EVENT. Such an event that must be planned carefully and cautiously.  First, we must go out during off-peak, or blue-hair, hours. Not only do we want to avoid being two slices into a pizza when The Baby decides it's bedtime and demands a bottle, but it is also important to avoid peak lunch and dinner hours if we want to comfortably frequent an establishment that is not typically over-run with children... like my favorite wine and cheese bistro, Screwtop (who's restroom, by the way, boasts the best baby-changing station I have seen in all of Arlington!). Dining during off-peak hours will also lessen the number of patrons to potentially annoy if things go south. Let's face it, if folks wanted to dine with screaming babies or children underfoot, Chucky Cheese would be one hot happy hour spot.

Not only is it important to be cautious of The Baby's behavior, but let's not forget about our own! While Allen and I can now matter-of-factly discuss Kaellyn's bowel movements while dining on a succulent mahi mahi, I've unfortunately learned the hard way that this is not something fellow dinner patrons enjoy accidentally overhearing. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that lingering over a bottle of wine or ordering one appetizer at a time to savor the dining experience are no longer options. 

mommy's friends are so mature!

I'm really quite fortunate to have several close girlfriends who do not have babies, yet their places in life currently allow them the luxury of lunching with me and Kaellyn on a regular basis, often during our coveted blue hair hours! Perhaps we are the reason they drink wine, but if any of these lovely ladies seem to mind the presence of A Baby, they are masters at hiding it. It's amazing how quickly you learn to appreciate what used to be taken for granted. For me, spending time with other mothers and babies is sort of a lifeline, but there is nothing quite like a little old-fashioned validation from those friends who knew me pre-motherhood, back when the thought of muttering nursery rhymes over a moderately chilled Pino Grigio horrified me. These are the type of friends that, no matter how different our lives have become, can listen and share without judgement, reminding me of who I am... until death do us part. Or at least until the first major table-side meltdown, or God forbid, blowout.

Here are some recent pictures of Kaellyn at the park. Now that she is semi-mobile, I can fulfill my pregnant dreams of lounging at the park in a cute stylish mom outfit, sipping a latte and catching up on my reading while The Baby plays and emits sounds of laughter and happiness. Ok, so the weather is in the 90's again, none of my cute outfits fit, and it is impossible to order, purchase, carry and drink a latte while transporting a baby, but you get the picture.

Wearing purple:

don't call me m'am!

wait, these aren't Cabbage Patch Kids!

Last month, I had the opportunity to spend time with my bff from elementary school while she was vacationing in the DC area with her family. Vicki has a beautiful family and is as gorgeous as I remember... and tiny! I felt like an amazon next to her. After 20 or so odd years, I was still struck by her calm, caring manner, not to mention her ability to coordinate and accessorize the perfect outfit, a talent I was always so jealous of back in the day of parachute pants and neon rubber bracelets. It's funny what, as adults, we chose to remember, and what we choose to forget (i.e. my mullet, as seen in photo album ever so inappropriately entitled "1985: Pretty Young Things").

My time with Vicki, albeit short, triggered fond memories of my first true, deep friendship, one that taught me to open up and trust.  It also triggered insecurities of a fragile time in life, including the subsequent loss of the friendship and all that it entailed. A therapist would tell me that this experience shaped who I am now, as an adult. Wait... adult? You know, despite my blue hair tendencies to go to bed at 9 and passion for early bird specials, I still constantly manage to forget that I'm an adult. If "you are only as old as you feel" is true, while I feel tired and often quite crotchety, I most certainly don't feel old. Frankly, I feel like I've been masquerading as a grown-up for the past fifteen years or so.

Nowadays whenever I go somewhere or am referred to as Kaellyn's "mother" I feel like I'm masquerading as a parent.  I don't know what I'm doing half of the time and on the rare occasion I manage to pretend to pull it off, all those insecurities of years past come to the surface. I wonder if anyone else feels this way or if this is a personal psychological reaction to Becoming a Mother. So if I'm just pretending to be a grown-up, how can I possibly be in charge of another person's life all day, every day? How can I, fake grown-up and fake parent, attend to this living being's every need, day in and day out, teach her confidence, values, and life skills, and still manage to take care of myself and my own needs? Hold on, aren't these old peoples' thoughts? Surely I am not old!  Hmmmm... maybe I really am an adult after all!

Boo!

But enough about me! Kalleyn has been super busy lately. Not only is she on the verge of crawling, but after much crankiness and many sleepless nights, her first tooth has surfaced (on the bottom). She enjoyed her first NFL Sunday and discovered the computer. Halloween, Allen's favorite holiday thus a special, incredibly festive time in our household, has come early this year.  Because Kaellyn has already outgrown a lot of her size 6-month outfits, an underlying fear exists that she will also outgrow the long-awaited for Halloween pajamas before October arrives. Must... ensure... adequate... outfit rotation. Although I'm sure it is only a matter of time before new Halloween attire magically appears in her drawers, just as the tombstones, fog machines, fire-breathing cat and cauldron also manage to slowly but surely make their way out of storage to adorn the Shack and front yard. Yes, we are "that house". I just hope the Weens are spared this year. I shudder to think of the Pumpkin Incident of 2008, after which Flash cannot look at a pet outfit without falling to the floor and pretending he's dead.

the Pumpkin Incident

ready for some football!

watching the Pack

very busy & important

um, privacy please!!

fashionably tall

you mean these are not meant to be shorts?

Today was Kaellyn's 6-month pediatrician appointment and she has been determined thriving and healthy. And apparently very long. At 6 months she weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz. (70th percentile) and is 27 3/4 inches long (98th percentile). Good to know that all baby pants aren't really meant to be capris after all. You know, I wasn't aware that vaccinations were given again at 6-months (I must have skipped this chapter in "the book"). Consequently, I wasn't prepared for today's crankiness. Teething and shots do not a happy baby make. The doctor also determined that Kaellyn may or may not start crawling soon, may or may not break her first tooth soon, and may or may not develop "stranger anxiety" soon. Who needs a silly book?!

socks do NOT go with capris!

Have I mentioned that I'm really excited about Fall for the first time ever? Not only does the passing of the seasons indicate that we are getting closer to moving into our new house and the return of yummy stoups, but fall also means football! This means Kaellyn can alternate between her Green Bay Packer and Redskins outfits! She can also wear the 238 pairs of baby socks we received as gifts and hand-me-downs. Baby socks come in all colors and patterns and are so darn cute. But like me, my Baby just doesn't seem to like having her feet confined and she constantly kicks them off. Maybe if her feet truly are a little cold she will be more inclined to keep socks on.

Oh, and speaking of fashion, and fall, I came across this gorgeous 1 Madison Rouched Down jacket on Amazon.com, marked down to $29.50 from $250.00! With my Amazon Prime membership, I was entitled to free shipping and it was further discounted to $23.00. Unbelievable! So of course I couldn't pass it up. I ordered it in black because I already have a similar, but longer, style coat in brown. It arrived today and I must say, the picture does it absolutely no justice - it is shiny, lined with soft faux fur, and even more beautiful in person!

when charming loses it's charm

Renting a small house in Arlington while waiting to move into our new house in the 'burbs has been a challenging and frustrating experience. Our current rental home, a "charming" 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom Cape Cod could be sweet love-nest - for a childless couple or one who travels a lot. A couple who prefers take-out over cooking, has minimal furniture, and sleeps in a double-bed. A cute, tiny couple with no pets, or maybe just a small, independent cat to take care of the mice.

grilling in 24 feet of snow

Not long after we moved into the cozy litte home that we chose because of it's cute screened-in porch, vast yard, and expansive deck, we got buried under about 24 feet of snow.  When the snow finally melted, those desirable outdoor amenities turned into a swampy mud-pit that the dogs tracked in all over the carpet. A few short weeks later, the temperature and humidity reached record highs and swarms of mosquitoes took over the yard and deck. So much for sacrificing indoor space for outdoor amenities.

The "quaint" upstairs master bedroom that we managed to cram our huge bedroom set into became unlivable once summer arrived because, get this, the upstairs does not have air conditioning! Who knew?! So, while I waddled up and down those steep stairs several times a night while pregnant, as soon as the temperature rose, we moved our bed to the tiny downstairs bedroom, which is also next to the nursery, bathroom and the room in which we spend most of our time - the living room.

snoozing in the swing

After The Baby was born, the living room began to feel like a room in a house of horrors where the walls close in on you. Baby accoutrement is not designed for charming houses built in the early 1900's. The baby swing, which served as Kaellyn's bed for 3 months, took up most of the space. So where was I supposed to put the Jumperoo? And the highchair? I often wonder if having 2 cats and 2 dogs in such a small space is considered animal hoarding. And what do I do with The Baby when I go into the tiny 6x6 kitchen to cook? Ok, never mind - the "stove", which leaves a lot to be desired in the first place, seems to be directly wired to the smoke alarms. A year of take-out it shall be.

Sharing space

We can rarely have people over because of the lack of space. There is no where to store Costco appetizers or serve dinner. No one can stay with us during the summer, because there is nowhere to sleep except the couch. And then where would we eat dinner, feed The Baby, work on the computer, watch endless hours of mindless tv? Besides, no one wants to sleep on a couch once they're over the age of 25.

I won’t lie.  Our future neighborhood and modern new home would've made me shudder in my 20's.  Our home has more than one bathroom, and our master bathroom has a huge bathtub (oh how I miss my baths!) and even features 2 sinks! Extravagant! I know! I will have room to blow-dry my hair and shave my legs without knocking over the dormitory-style shower caddy. My new kitchen features a digital (!) dishwasher and those pretty granite counter tops they always install on HGTV.

There were several factors that drove us to the suburbs and a leading one is the cost of real estate.  Homes near the city cost a LOT.  And the homes that we can afford in Arlington were not going to get us what we wanted - space. Things that weren't important before, like decent schools, community amenities, closet space and shopping with parking lots, are necessities now. We also wanted modern amenities, and those aren’t in high supply in our price range, either. We are, however, giving up outdoor space. The new house has a teeny, tiny yard. But, if the weather of the future is anything like the past year, it won't matter a bit.

While I will feature photos of our new home in a future post, here are just a few of the changes that I used to take for granted and am now looking forward to:

My Current Closet:

New closet:

walk-in closet

My current dishwasher:

oh hello, Self!

My new dishwasher:

modern dish-washing machine!

Current pantry:

dark, sketchy make-shift storage

New pantry:

a closet for food & such, imagine that!

becoming dogs

Nightstand water bowl

Not only is March 2 KK's birthday, it is also the day our dogs became, well, dogs. Like many childless dog owners, The Weens were the focus of our lives. We were basically Dog People, spending Saturday mornings at the dog park, swimming in the creek and taking them on long walks through the neighborhood. They spooned in our bed and shared my pillows. When we went out of town, I worried about them and hoped they weren't sad.

And then I got pregnant. While hard-pressed to remember something I didn't worry about, I most certainly recall spending a lot of time worrying about The Weens and how their lives would change. I also worried that I couldn't love The Baby as much as I loved my dogs. Yes, really! A friend laughed and assured me that my feelings would change as soon as the baby arrived, but I wasn't convinced.  

I spent the last few weeks of my pregnancy stranded in the Shack in 24 feet of snow, the Weens by my side. When I went into labor, the Weens, still by my side and oblivious of my screaming and yelling, offered licks of encouragement. When we finally left for the hospital, I thought about how sad and lost they would be the next time I saw them - when their lives would forever be changed.

When I got home, The Baby in tow, I stood outside with them, tears running down my face, hoping for something that might assuage the guilt that I felt. However, they greeted me with enthusiasm and joy. In my absence, Allen had given them several new blankets to burrow under, blankets that belonged to, and contained the scent of, The Baby! Brilliant!

Flash on vacation in the country

I won't lie - it wasn't quick or easy, and the challenge of a new baby in a small space would have been a lot easier without the addition of two spoiled, demanding dogs; but over time, their positions have stabilized. While they still take over my bed and steal my pillows, they no longer take over my mind. When we go out of town, instead of obsessing about them missing us, I enjoy my break from their constant neediness.  Ok, so maybe they enjoy their time away and probably always have. My parents enjoy being Temporary Dog People, and shower them with the constant attention they no longer get from me. In the end, That day turned out ok for all of us.


Oh, wait. The cats? What cats?

Here are some recent events for Dog People sponsored by the Washington Humane Society that we've attended with the weens:

Bark Ball, June 5, 2010

Jazz & I at Pups in the Park, August 29, 2010

Flash watching the Nationals/Cardinals game

Yes, KK got to go too!

happy 6-month birthday, KK!

hello, tongue!

Not only is today homage to one of the best shows ever, but it is my baby's 6-month birthday! I can hardly believe that 1/2 a year ago today, I was in the hospital giving birth. Here is what KK is up to these days:

She is "babbling" - having conversations, laughing, and squealing - basically forming new sounds and testing them out. This, I reckon, is baby talk, and it's delicious! I could literally listen to her for days - it is the most addictive sound ever. Yesterday, I heard her say what sounded like "Dada". However, I decided that I was probably just hearing things and made a conscious decision keep this little tidbit to myself. But The Baby is not a moron. It came out again while Allen was playing with her! When I was a sleep-deprived, emotion-filled brand new mom and couldn't see a light at the end of the Eat, Sleep, Poop tunnel, a friend shared her theory that babies learn to form the sounds Dada before Mama simply because Dada is a lot easier to say! At the time, I couldn't fathom any sound besides a cry or a fart coming from the creature in my arms, but those words resonated with me. Just some food for thought.

Kaellyn has discovered her tongue. She has also become mobile. She has begun to scoot herself across the floor and can elevate herself to all fours. She has also mastered a move similar to the Plank, a rather difficult yoga position!

Today is monumental because I made my first baby food! Ok, so I mashed up an avocado, because I have not found avocado baby food in jars. I wonder if this is because avocado immediately begins to turn brown after it is removed from the pit? Just FYI, according to my good friend Christina, this can be prevented in avocado-based dishes by placing an avocado pit at the bottom of the dish. Good to know!

Finding activites to do with A Baby is typically not an easy task for rookie moms. My summer has been especially challenging because I have been placed on a budget, and it is too hot to be outside with A Baby. Those two factors combined eliminate most new-mom and baby activities. For the first time I can remember, I am actually looking forward to Fall. Kaellyn recently graduated to a forward-facing stroller, and she can't get enough of riding around, taking in her surroundings. Today, I took her to Ikea for a 50 cent steamed hot dog (for me) and a tour through the light department (for her).  Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the most fabulous play mat! It is quite unfortunate, however, that I had to break the budget. But really, what is $29.99 compared to hours of entertainment and sweet, addictive baby laughter? And who can argue with "stimulating all senses of the baby, the development of fine motor skills and the desire to explore"? The Leka play mat is bright, soft, thick and has a textured bottom that adheres to hard-wood floors. It has a built-in mirror, different textured fabrics and adorable little bugs and animals for The Baby to grab and explore.

Here is Kaellyn exploring the Leka, which due to space limitations, I attached to the Ocean play mat to create one giant play area. Following is a picture of her in Plank position.