Happy Halloween!

The big day is here. Today Jack officially became a Jack-o'-lantern! Check him out! He participated in the costume parade today at the Y. Linda (his teacher) said he wasn't that thrilled to put on the costume. But I made her promise not to tell Stephen that... knowing how much he detests dressing up for Halloween.

We probably got about 40 trick or treaters. My favorite was the princess who refused to wear her costume so her mother was forced to yell, "she was supposed to be a princess" to all the people handing out candy.
Our one neighbor was handing out those airplane bottles of liquor (not to the kids, but to the parents). I wanted to run over and get some Bailey's for my coffee.

Jack also took another trip to the ol' pediatrician today. We were concerned because he was refusing to eat. What! My child refusing to eat? Impossible but true. Over the last two days he probably had 25 ounces where he would normally have about 65. Every time you put the bottle in his mouth he would just let it sit there. Finally this afternoon I got myself worked up enough that I got him a quick appointment. So Stephen and I pick up the Jack-meister early, head over to the doctor's office, sit and wait, and wait and wait. When the doctor examined him all was well. The diagnosis - teething! Yet again I take my son in, fork over the co-pay, only to find out he's getting teeth. So I brought him home, gave him some Tylenol and within an hour he was happily sucking away on his bottle.

The Trophy

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Originally uploaded by DEM photography

Sorry Dad, here's the trophy.

Red Sox Parade

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Originally uploaded by DEM photography

Jack was waiting his whole life to see the Red Sox win a World Series and it finally happened! Today was the big Rolling Rally through the city. I went on behalf of Jack (he wasn't allowed to skip school). It was actually pretty easy since the parade went right past my office around 12:30. It was a lot of fun to be part of it all. It figures when Big Papi's duck boat went by he was on the other side. Otherwise I got a pretty good look at everyone. Here in the picture is Jonathan Papelbon, the crazy, Irish-dancing closer. Just as he passed us he stopped and did his much anticipated jig at Copley.

Revving Up

Jack now gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth...
We're in trouble now.

A Fall Day

A great Fall day here today in Foxboro. Stephen spent a fair amount of time outside raking leaves while I ran out to the outlets to get Jack his winter coat. I just couldn't resist putting him in a pile of leaves... check it out:

Halloween is Coming...

And Jack is getting ready. Right now he chews on his pumpkin costume every chance he can get. And every chance I get, I put at least one part of the costume on him, whether it's the little stemmed hat, the plump body or the bright orange slippers. Stephen is just mortified by the whole ordeal. He obviously had some "issues" with Halloween in his childhood.
On Wednesday, at school, they are going to have the Halloween parade. I'm hoping it's early enough that Stephen and I can figure out how to be there, I know it's important to Jack :) Actually I really just want to get a picture of the kiddie parade so I can post it here on the blog.
I bought about six bags of candy today. Hopefully there will be some left on Wednesday. I plan on answering the door with my little Jack 'O Lantern on my hip.

Good Morning!

Got Baby Man all dressed in his fleece today... chilly here in Foxboro. Notice he's sitting with no hands! Very talented..
I've got a lot on my plate today, hopefully he will cooperate. I think he's still feeling the effects of the flu shot.

Success!

Yes, it's true. Baby Man slept through the night without so much as a whimper! I of course got up a handful of times to make sure he was okay. Ever since he had his flu shot the other day, he'd been acting funny. He was fussy, not very hungry and just downright different. Plus he had a bit of a temperature. Now he's back to normal. Phew!
This morning was a bit rough. I had to be on a conference call at 8:30 am so Stephen and I were going to bring Jack to "school" after that. Well the call went a bit longer than expected and then when we got there, I realized I left his food in the fridge at home! So we quickly went to the CVS in town, I bought more food and then did the drop off. But of course on the way to the drugstore we were held up by a wide load trying to make a sharp turn. I normally don't mind waiting for construction vehicles to do their thing. But when you're in a rush, with a million and one things on your desk waiting to be done, it's exasperating! So then I get to the train station and miss the train by about 30 seconds. The next train? Yeah, not for a half hour. It felt like the never-ending trip into work today.
We've completed our remodel of the downstairs bathroom. Between Stephen and myself I think we did a pretty fine job. Stephen did all the hard work, I provided all the color commentary (not all of it was appreciated). Here are some pictures:

Now Stephen is down in NJ for the night, he'll be back tomorrow, so I'm on my own with Baby Man 'til then. I just hope he'll sleep through the night again... and I hope the Red Sox win again tonight!!!

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, Stephen and I signed our name a million times. Yes, you know what that means. On October 21st last year we closed on our house. I came to this realization this afternoon and it turned in the favorite part of my day. I love my house.
We've just started doing the home improvements we thought we'd get to as soon as we moved in. Little did we know how time would fly and then how whatever time we did have... would be completely sucked up by none other than Baby Man.
First on our list was the downstairs half bathroom. That's just about done and looks great. Next we're ripping out the the guest bathroom. And we may just end up with some professional help. A Boston-area cable tv station has asked for people to submit their requests for one day of help from an expert as part of one of their programs. The producer called me back to ask some questions, so Stephen and I are really hoping they send an expert down here to help us out. I'm hoping we just assist in the re-tiling of the bathroom. It looks easy, but I'm sure it's harderthan it looks. I'll let you know...
Tomorrow Jack is having his 6 month check-up. That means more shots. I hate when he gets shots, but I know they are for the best. I just hate to see him cry. I think he might also get the flu shot. He should be a real peach to deal with tomorrow.

My Little Pumpkin

I couldn't wait any longer, I just HAD to put Jack's Halloween costume on him.
Take a look:Now doesn't he look thrilled!
By the way I saved Chatiemac's life tonight. He started choking on piece of his food during dinner. So I reached down his throat, couldn't fix it... so I started to give him the Heimlich (sort of), that sort of worked, but what finally fixed him was me reaching back down his throat and dislodging the stuck food. He owes me.

The Working Mother

I'm a working mom. Three days a week I take the commuter rail into Boston and head to my office and enjoy a nice trip to Starbucks and adult conversation and uninterrupted conference calls. Two days a week I work from home, while my six month old son Jack watches my every move. I worry that Jack is going to cry during a conference call, I don't go to Starbucks and I sometimes don't even get dressed.
I do this for two reasons. One: I don't want my son in daycare five days a week, I just don't want to be away from him for that long. Two: it saves me enough money in commuting and daycare costs that I don't have to feel guilty about going to Starbucks and getting a mani/pedi at lunchtime.
There are positives and negatives to my situation and right now I'm trying to put into words the inner conflict I have with my current situation. In fact, I'm not really ready to talk about what they are right now, but I will as this blog goes on...

Bath Time

I gave Jack a bath tonight. But instead of leaning over the tub and washing his little buddha belly, I decided to make it a two-fer. I got in with him. At first I considered putting on a bathing suit, but then I thought, "heck I gave birth to this kid, he's only 6 months old, he won't remember seeing his fat mom nude in the tub with him." Or will he? Have I forever scarred my young fella?
Regardless we had a good time. I floated him on his back and he really liked it. I think he thought it was like being back in the womb.
The toughest part was getting out of the tub with the slippery little man and not falling! But we had success... he's clean, he's happy, he's fed... and he's now sleeping. Let's just hope he stays that way for at least a few hours...