Tale from the Playroom - Part 2

Hi again! My last post about some of Gav's tales and travels with his dad was inspired by Dropcam - check it out here. It is a great baby monitor option that can definitely help "catch" the boy (in my case, BOYS) in action! Gavin has a few new tricks up his sleeve that I would love to be able to watch from wherever I am... stay tuned, because I'm sure some super exciting posts on crawling are coming soon! The life of a mommy... watching a child squirm like a little worm on the ground totally consumed my whole evening. Don't fret, though; while he wasn't looking, I made sure to check out today's Chanel runway show from Paris Fashion Week. So. Amazing. (Have you ever seen a fashion show with a grocery store set? That's what I thought. Go here now to see for yourself - I wish my Safeway looked like Look 47!)

Back to Dropcam - they are looking for great baby stories, and I'm sure they would love to hear from you too! Email Broke-O or leave a comment to get more details.

Tale from the Playroom... or wherever...

Some of you faithful readers may remember when we affectionately referred to Gavin as “MiniMarshall” or just “Mini” for short before he arrived. We waited 40 weeks (exactly!) for him, but we kept his name top secret. We decided on Gavin Patrick around week 25, but no one knew until his grand (very punctual) arrival. While he arrived ON his due date (unlike most babies) and he came out with big, dark eyes and lots of dark hair, we knew he was mine. Clearly already demonstrating OCD tendencies, and a full head of hair – definitely my child - but that is where the similarities pretty much ended. He looked exactly like the husband. Soon, we would learn, his personality was right in line with his too. 

So, I know now that the term “Mini” was foreshadowing that this little boy of ours would actually be a Mini-Me for the HUSBAND. I should have known. I lug him around for 9 months and then I end up with ANOTHER version of Andy. Lucky me! Seriously though, I these two crazy boys do make me feel pretty lucky. Some of the trouble they have already been into has… concerned me… but their similarities also… well, let’s use the word concerned again. Poor Gav already has a lot to “look forward to” being our son, especially the son of class clown/king goofball/rusty the dawg fan.

Recently these two musketeers outsmarted me again at a friend's engagement party. Gavin of course wore a onesie featuring a bowtie and suspenders, because he knew it was appropriate for such an occasion. (This where I still claim him as mine.) His father wore his signature quarter-zip sweatshirt, because he apparently thinks he’s athletic or something. Anyways, back to the party. The husband had Gavin while I socialized and talked all things wedding with the bride (I will never turn down a conversation about venues, lace and flowers - as long as I live! I can't help it.) 

About a week later, I get a text from friend saying she loved the pictures of Gavin in the laundry basket. What? I know he’s been in the laundry basket, but I try not to photograph that in fears that CPS will judge. She tells me that the husband had been sending photos on Saturday night and really, I need to send them in to whoever makes those towels! Again – what? Now he is in a towel advertisement? I’ve got to get to the bottom of this. Obviously nervous, but curious, I ask the husband if he had Gavin in a basket of towels? To which he nonchalantly replies, “Oh yeah. I had to pee so I took him in the bathroom at Matt and Sarah’s and that looked like a good place to put him.” Seriously? The impromptu photo shoot took place next, and I have to agree, this would be a very sweet in the Pottery Barn catalog we all know and love perusing each month.

just another day at the office with the wood samples
and sophie the giraffe.

a boy and his boat. 

This rivals the time he took him to work for the day and I asked where he was planning on having Gavin sleep. “Do you want to bring the pack-n-play?” Silly question. Why would you bring a bed for your baby when you can just lay him on the floor under a desk?

Or, how about the guys day at the Seattle boat show? Yep, there's Gavin with the Cris Craft he is putting on his wish list for Santa this year.

The best part of these daddy-grams is that Gavin never seems phased… Pottery Barn hamper with soft, new towels in the newlyweds’ bathroom? Sure! Why wouldn’t I just perch in there and giggle? Nap on my blanket on hard carpet in some empty office while my dad works down the hall? No problem! Just come check on me eventually, ok? I actually like to sleep face down.

What’s next, Dad?

Love,

YOUR mini

where you lead, i will follow... literally.

Firsts and '14

I last wrote to you one month ago – oops! I’ve had lots of ideas brewing since then, but I’m sure it has been a busy month for you too. Gavin turned 3 months then and, yes, you can do the math, he is 4 months today! We have had a lot of “firsts” in this last month alone, and many, many since September. As we turn the page into the new year, I thought I’d pick a few of my favorites to share with you. May your 2014 be full of equally funny memories!

• first birthday as a parent: To me, this was obviously an opportunity to receive another gift. I figured Gavin for sure wanted to celebrate Mommy’s birthday in a big way! So, when I asked the husband what Gavin got me, he replied (dumbfounded): “Oh, that’s a thing?” Yes, that would be a “thing.” Of course the child buys the mom a gift, and of course when he is 3 months old he needs his dad’s help! Fortunately, Gavin busted open his piggy bank and got dear dad to take him to the mall. It took him about a week (I guess he was figuring out what he wanted to get me), but he did deliver a very sweet and thoughtful gift, wrapped and all! I’m sure next year he will do more advanced planning.

• first Christmas as a parent: We were really excited about this one. We wanted to make all these traditions with Gavin – Christmas jammies (favorite baby pajamas for year-round are Hanna Andersson - check out their sale here), a Christmas book, a special “first” gift (click here to see what Santa brought - he shops at Pottery Barn Kids!), handprint ornaments, the works! I know everyone says the first Christmas doesn’t really matter, but it mattered to me, and I was going to make it great. I give myself an A+ for planning all of the above, but the execution was a bit rough. After I threw up my Christmas dinner, I proceeded to throw up a few more times throughout the night. There was no special storytime or sipping yummy wine while watching the Christmas tree twinkle (ok that second one is a mommy and daddy tradition, obviously no wine for baby). The worst part of all is that I am literally the WORST at puking. I do it about once every 5 years on average and so my experience is limited. I keep my eyes closed and I cry. This makes for poor aim and a lot of emotion. I won’t go into any more detail, but not even keeping your eyes closed can protect you from asparagus between your toes. The perk of the whole day was that Gavin – like mother, like son – LOVED opening his presents, well he loved watching me open his presents. I have to admit, getting to open twice the gifts was pretty sweet for me. I can’t help it! I love prezzies. Another perk was that he remembered to get me a Christmas gift – I think he felt bad about forgetting my birthday, so he really made up for it and got me a night at Salish Lodge. What a doll!

• first time baby rolled over: This was another one I was waiting for. All Gavin’s facebook friends have been doing it, so this mama’s competitive gene was brewing tough… (sad but totally true). He flopped over a few times but totally accidentally, so I didn’t really count those. He doesn’t really seem to have any interest in this trick, which shocked me because 1) like stated above, we are a very competitive family (well at least him and I are… husband also doesn’t seem to care about this trick) and 2) he is always twisting and turning to see what’s going on, so I thought he would just do that with his whole body and roll over. Not so much. I realized that he is really twisting and turning so he can see the tv, an ipad, computer or phone. Have screen – he will follow! (I need to figure out how to use that as a training technique!) Then one night, he got really angry in his crib and BOOM! Flipped over like a fish! I couldn’t believe it. I was so shocked, in fact, that my precarious balance of the baby monitor (need one? i recommend this Motorola or this one is its sister and great too) and the soup-bowl sized mug of hot chocolate became… unbalanced. All of the sudden, the monitor was submerged in the cocoa. Gavin was flipped over upstairs, the monitor was taking a bath in the hot chocolate, and I was screaming. Fortunately the husband came to his senses quickly and removed the monitor (we left the flipped fish for a few minutes while we problem solved this pricey piece of technology). To say the least, all 3 of us had a terrible night’s sleep! The monitor had to sleep in rice, so I was a puddle of worries until (smarty pants) husband set up his phone with some (smarty pants) app so I could watch Gavin sleep from my phone. While this sounds cool and high tech, it kept breaking and had no sound capabilities, so my little ears were straining all night. Rough. I don’t even want to know what people did before monitors, iphones and Ziploc bags full of rice to fix all of the above. The worst part is, I don’t even really like hot chocolate! I was drinking it because I didn’t have any wine open and felt like a lush opening a bottle for myself. You know the feeling – everyone gets it (sometimes). So I thought to myself, “Have some hot cocoa. It’s winter and you have a fabulous mug to put it in.” I also had a delicious salted caramel hot chocolate mix – which I do like. Well I did, until we got in that fight. The moral of the story is I never would have balanced my wine with the monitor (not even the cheerleader in me can tackle such a feat), so therefore, back to the vino for the night cap.

• first time baby laughed: he had mastered the squeals, but we kept trying to get a real laugh out of him. The husband (he thinks he’s funnier, so this just added to that silly lie he tells himself) finally got him to do it! Even though he was the first one to make it happen (and clearly my competitive issues were all fired up), it was a very sweet moment. The best part is Gavin’s laugh is a low chuckle and he is very stingy with it… we probably work for at LEAST an hour a day to get just a snippet of his giggle. Hopefully, he will feel more generous soon.

•  first time got pooped on by a bird: this is just in general – this had NEVER happened to me – Praise God – but when Gavin was just a few weeks old, it did! We were on one of our delightful fall walks when we literally got SHOWERED in bird poop. Fortunately, the faithful Bugaboo was there to protect Gavin. Had he not been snuggled in that Cadillac of a stroller with the basinet “hood” up, he would been attacked by bird poop in the face! Gross! Also fortunate was that my favorite color is black and therefore the black stroller came clean and hid any remnants. WHEW. The bird totally aimed for him and missed me, but he did manage to hit my pregnant friend on her coat. I felt that was especially rude, since she is pregnant and the scent of bird feces is just extremely obnoxious, especially in the first trimester. But we all survived.

I sure hope 2014 is treating you well so far. It’s going to be hard to beat last year… having a baby kinda tops my charts for favorite year award. But as this little person grows and grows, it really does just keep getting better, so I predict that we have a lot to look forward to… and I look forward to sharing it with you! Xoxo and happy, happy New Year!

practicing his horseback riding skills

awkward christmas eve pj selfie!

checking out his new toys - see - not interested in rolling

Baby, it's cold outside!

The temps are low around here and that means it’s time for us mild-winter-weather Washingtonians to bundle up! Personally, I love the drastic change of seasons. This is real WINTER, people! None of that “oh I’ll just run out in my sweater” weather. No – you need a REAL coat. Right now! Do you have one? Maybe. Do you need another one? Probably. Who wants to wear the same coat from now until March? I can’t do it. Plus, you know where we live. Next week it could be 55 degrees. But I still don’t want you running out in your sweater. You have other options! Let’s see what we’ve got.  (Keep in mind I have been all 3 of the friends below, so I do not make this stuff up!)

Exhibit A: the stylish mommy (meaning you run around all day and though you’re super buff from carrying that carseat, you still get out of breath and hot easily): This coat could potentially work for all 3 situations we’re discussing today. It is basically a year-round option at an affordable price with several important features: a HOOD (who has time for an umbrella? Also I don’t like how much space they waste in my nice handbags), a removable lining (hello spring and summer! Take that bad boy out and you are good for the warmer months and pack well for travel), a belt (yes please to make the look more polished) annnnnnd it comes in regular and petites. (I have pretended that coats I fell in love with fit, when really they were too long with droopy sleeves – ick! So, either alter or embrace a specialty size as needed.) My friend who looks like brunette barbie has the regular in black and I have the petite in khaki. Both of us have been pleased as punch and for less than $200, I am considering buying it in the other color! (shhhh I know I know Christmas is about GIVING not receiving. I’m all about giving but I have to be honest that I usually exchange a lot of what I receive… why can’t the husband ASK me what I want?! We have a horrible problem with this. The other day he suggested I get some slippers… so I did. How was I supposed to know that was a cryptic Christmas “hint?” And then I came home and showed them my steal of a deal on black sequin moccasins. Apparently this was a bad idea. He had ordered me an even cuter (can you believe it?) pair online for Christmas! What can I say. Sometimes my over-achiever-ness ruins surprises.)

Exhibit B: the public transit (but stylish) commuter (meaning you might wait for your unpredictable bus for longer than the “one bus away” app says you will): Two of my very beautiful friends have this coat. They are both the type that would look cute in a paper sack, but really trust me this coat is super cute. I love that is extra warm (read: tailgating appropriate), again has a hood, and my other fave feature – a belt! This is especially great for the puffy/down coats. Sometimes they can get a big sausage-ish (sorry) and the belt really breaks that up. It’s also 30% off right now! So go here and get shopping. This coat can easily be worn for 6 months in Washington, and when it warms up, go back to exhibit A. 

Exhibit C: the door-to-door diva (meaning your only time outside is from the door to the car, possibly across the street for coffee, then back from the car to the door): This girl should still be warm, but does not necessarily need to be practical. Thus, let me introduce my friends known as cashmere and faux fur. While they aren’t pals with mother nature, they are besties with the warmth of a car service and parking garage. This diva probably doesn’t even leave her desk for lunch, and if she needs to, she has Jimmy John’s on speed dial to deliver. (Can you tell who I most identify with?!) Anyways, for this friend, I recommend a bit more luxury. One of my favorite places to shop right now is Topshop for Nordstrom. It is affordable and super trendy, yet still high quality. I have loved seeing this collaboration grow, and I encourage you to check it out! Both of these coats are fun and fabulous. They don’t break the bank, which is good, since they aren’t Miss Responsibility, but they are still useful and versatile. You can wear this one casual or dressy with skinnies (love that it’s a little longer), and this one is super yummy to wear for holiday parties, or outerwear with dresses or pants.

Put on your last year’s coat and get shopping! Or, if you’re too cold, just cozy up on the couch and click one of the best phrases ever invented, “add to bag.”

PS - Gavin likes having a coat collection too. Write a comment or email me if you need shopping tips for where to buy for baby! :)