My life - a work in progress: January 2010

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Dexter's big day

Yesterday Dexter 3 months old and had his first modeling job! It was actually his first acting job too because he played a girl. The job was for Personal Creations catalog & he had to lay on a pink personalized quilt on a bed & smile & look cute. (The link to the quilt is on the right under "Dexter's modeling jobs".) He did a fabulous job & Cooper came along & was an angel; I couldn't have asked for better behavior from either of them.

You would think that would be a full enough day, but no. Before bath time, Dexter was laying the bed on his back & he leaned... leaned... leaned... and rolled over onto his belly. (Side note: John witnessed it & I missed it. Again. I'm with my babies 24 hours a day 7 days a week & both of them have rolled over for the first time when John was watching & I wasn't. I'm not really complaining - I love that John gets to witness these firsts.) As John & I talked about how surprised we were, Dexter pushed with his feet, stuck his butt in the air, leaned... and rolled over onto his back. Woo hoo Dexter! Of course, now mommy can't leave him alone for a second on the couch & we're discontinuing his swaddle. I can't believe he's such a big boy already!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Dexter's big mouth (or, the post that will drive John crazy)

You may have noticed that Dexter is very well endowed when it comes to facial features, particularly his mouth. This has led to a few comparisons, so I just wanted your opinion:

Does he look more like JJ Walker,

or Steven Tyler??

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My weird kids

Dexter the gangster
(This was not a well-timed photo catching Dexter moving his arms around - they were frozen like this for at least 10 minutes while he slept.)

Dexter's crooked smile is the funniest thing. I think he looks middle aged in this picture.

Mr. Houdini escaping his swaddle

Dexter modeling some of mommy's baby leg warmers

I love this picture. Dexter & Cooper are both wearing baby leg warmers (Cooper insisted) & Cooper is also wearing an orange dyed play silk as a cape (he has an actual cape, but prefers this one sometimes). For some strange reason the theme song from "Fame" runs through my head every time I see this picture... hmmm...

New Year

We sent Cooper to bed at his normal time on New Year's Eve, but woke him at 11:50. He was a little tired (so tired that he stumbled around like he was drunk).

Dexter did not go to bed. Mommy was even less happy about this than Dexter looks.

Don't worry - it's sparkling grape juice. Cooper loved the bubbles, but thought it burned.

Our only New Year's tradition - pigs in blankets

Cooper wasn't interested in banging on pots & pans or drums until we told him it was time to go back to bed. "No! I have to bang on pots & pans!"

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dora

It was July when we learned Dora had Lymphoma. (See July post here.) We expected to only have a couple months with her, but we got five. The last month Dora's been slowing down a lot & tumors have been growing. The past week it's been worse & she's started having more trouble getting up and down and eating, so we knew it was time to make a difficult decision.
We've struggled a lot with how to explain things to Cooper. In July Cooper was still learning the dogs' names and we thought he might mention her name a few times after she was gone & it would be hard on us but that he wouldn't notice much. But so much time has gone by now & he's grown so much & understands so much more that we have to explain it to him. We decided we did not want to mention the doctor or "sleep" because we didn't want either of those things to be scary to him. Instead, we've been telling him for a while that she's sick and doesn't feel well. Today we explained to him that Dora was so sick that she would have to leave to go someplace where she will be all better, and that we're sad because we'll never see her again, but happy because she will feel better and be happy.
Cooper & I said our goodbyes to Dora at home and John took her to the vet. They were very understanding and made a clay paw print for us to keep.
Rest in peace Dora. We miss you already.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Congratulations!

John's sister Anna has been dating her boyfriend Pat on & off for about 4 years. Pat's in two bands (The Wanderers and Backyard Cohort) & both had a gig at the House of Blues the day after Christmas.
Since playing the House of Blues is a really big deal I really wanted to go and it was an all-ages show so I told John that I was gonna go, baby & toddler in tow. I mean, I'm one of those cool moms that takes their kids fun places like concerts & stuff. And if the House of Blues had a problem with that then too bad! I'm a nursing mother; my baby needs to be with me to breastfeed! (You're probably saying that I could just pump & go one my own, which is true, but I HATE pumping & pretty much refuse to do it & I'm sort of notorious for being unable to be without my baby.) Anyway, I was ready to do battle with John or the House of Blues or anyone who tried to tell me I couldn't go with my kids until John pointed out that I'd probably be damaging their eardrums. He had a point. So I stayed home with the kids & John went to the show. (Probably for the best we decided that because there was a blizzard & the roads were awful that night.)
ANYWAY, what I missed that night, besides Pat's bands who I heard were awesome, was Anna getting called onstage & Pat dropping down on one knee & proposing!! Anna said yes (of course). Congratulations to Anna & Pat! :)
(P.S. Don't you love the way I managed to talk about myself for more than half of the post that's supposed to be about Anna & Pat getting engaged?? I'm horrible.)

Christmas

We had a crazy-busy Christmas (does anyone have a relaxing Christmas? I don't think so). Christmas Eve started with a quick stop at Uncle Michael's house for the extended family, then we were off to see Granny Smith & Papa Fred & John's family.

Dexter got to chill with Auntie Anna. (Anna didn't even know what was coming! But more on that in another post...)

Cooper loved his new guitar from Auntie Anna & "Uncle" Pat. (It just made everyone else in the room feel old because the toy guitar plays instrumental versions of Wild Thing by the Troggs, Message in a Bottle by the Police, Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen, Love Shack by the B52's and All Star by Smashmouth.)

Christmas morning was spent at home. Even though we left out cookies & egg nog for Santa & talked about him all day Christmas Eve, Cooper still wasn't expecting him. He slept 'til 8:30 & didn't really get what was going on at first.

Cooper was very excited about his stocking.

And judging by this picture, Cooper would have been happy if Santa stopped at just the stocking. (But what fun is that?)

Dexter, as you can see, was equally thrilled with his stocking loot.

Hmm.. I bet you're wonder what this is...

Dexter is intrigued too... but you'll have to wait for another post.

Cooper and his Thomas train, the one thing he asked for from Santa.

Dexter was tuckered out from all the excitement.

Then it was on to Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Things were mostly a little crazy. Not surprising considering there were 5 kids 3 years & under and (only) 6 adults. Why do we still feel outnumbered? (Gift opening was particularly crazy, which is why I don't really have any pictures of that.)

But there were a few calm, relaxing moments.

Dexter & Lynzee checking each other out.

Since Adam couldn't be with us for Christmas, we tried to get a good picture of all 5 kids together.

We quickly decided it didn't have to be "good", they just all had to be in it, even if they all look like deer in headlights. (I swear, no children were drugged in the taking of this picture.)