3! Months! And Counting!

Do you believe it? The Bean is 3 months today! Yay Bean!

You rock on with your crazy growing self!

To celebrate N. and I bought cupcakes. Mmmmm...mom loves cupcakes. I told The Bean she'd get actual cake in 9 months.

To celebrate her 3 monthness The Bean spent last night in her crib. NOT in her bassinet. She was a big fish in a little bed in the bassinet, but she's totally minnowed in the crib. She was having issues staying put. N. and I found her in a variety of crazy positions including a total 180! Hopefully, this will improve. But if she wants to be the kind of kid who sleeps with her feet on the pillow we're not going to knock it.

Also, to celebrate her first trimester out of the womb, I heard but didn't witness, The Bean flipped over from her tummy to her back this morning. N. says it was accidental, but still it counts as something.

What else, you ask.

The Bean is "talking." She says hi and variety of other things including "geek" when she looked at N. the other day. She's no dummy our little Bean.

Have I mentioned that The Bean is HUGE! She eats other babies her age for breakfast! But she is generally sleeping in longer stretches and becoming more efficient at eating.

Now that she's so old, for the first time, she's going to go for 1 hour (hopefully) of babysitting at the daycare at Mom's gym on Monday. And on Tuesday, she's going to vote for Obama. She thinks you you should too! Especially if you're at least 17 years and 9 months older. The Bean thinks it will be a great 3 month bday present if Obama wins on Tuesday. How can you let her down? She's just a baby!

Friday Books

Just kidding. You think I'm reading books? That was a lifetime ago. Remember the book I took out of the library back in early September? It's a total no-brainer and yet I've had to renew it twice! And I think I still have 200 pages to go. I'm not sure because I haven't looked at it in a week.

Actually, I just remembered I did read a book. It's probably one of the best YA books out there. Mom, The Wolfman and Me by Norma Klein is just so well done. I've read it at least 10 times and more than a few times as an adult. I recommend it. It's quirky without being cute and the narrator sounds so honest. It's very short too, which is how I managed to read it while The Bean took her 10-15 minute naps. The next too easy read while The Bean naps is going to be Superfudge by Judy Blume, which I read so much as a kid that I knew the entire first chapter, word for word, by heart. Really. Ask my mom if you don't believe me.

Other than the YAs I read this excellent piece by Larry David. And this this interesting piece about David Foster Wallace

On a more uplifting note than suicide, the scariness of the election, and having a mushy brain because I no longer read or have regular adult conversations, I did have an excellent (i.e. STRONG) margarita last night! Hopefully there's another one in my future real soon.

Happy weekend!

ANGEL VOMIT! BABY BARF!

A few days ago I asked N. for a post topic since my brain has been quite mushy as of late. N. suggested spit up. I agreed and then promptly went to bed since it was already 8:45 and my bed time is, um, 8:30.

But better late than never.

The Bean in the undisputed spit up champion here at 93 ------- Street. It's copious. It's everywhere. Really. Couch. Clothes. Floor. Hair. And you know what? It stinks something awful. Like regurgitated cheese, which makes sense since it's basically curdled milk.

The other day I felt like everything in the whole house smelled like spit up. It was depressing. Then I went swimming at the pool and even though I knew it was impossible I swear I smelled spit up through the gallons of chlorine.

I have nightmare sometimes that instead of taking this house, we took the one WITHOUT THE WASHER/DRYER! Do you know how miserable I would be? I probably would have left the state. Hands down, the washer/dryer trumps the dishwasher every day of the week.

Now, go smell your shirt sleeve and feel lucky it doesn't reek.

You Know Why It's Called Fall?

Cuz the leaves fall off like rain here in New Hampshire. I have to say I've never seen a fall like this. The foliage is/was stupendous but this morning (and several mornings and afternoons last week) I would sit in the rocker in the Bean's room and watch the leaves just fall and fall and fall. It's beautiful, but scary. Soon the trees will be more naked than the Bean in her bath.

But let's not dwell on the impending doom and gloom of our first winter when we've been having so much fun.

Two weekends ago we went to visit the country grandparents in the Adirondacks. En route the Bean got a new and improved stroller and a very hip pair of shoes. And a giraffe! An excellent time was had by all in the Adks: the Bean was a star and her parents went on a date!

Then, on Wednesday the city grandparents came up to the country. The Bean spent three days completely out her swing since there were so many eager hands to hold and cuddle her. We went to visit the great aunties in Vermont where Grandpa Muel was bullied into his first diaper change in what? 30 years? We also went apple picking. Do you believe that I actually made apple sauce! I even froze some for the Bean when she can eat such deliciousness in about 3.5 months. I know I'm getting so country it's a little scary.

Even scarier is that this weekend we're heading off to Binghamton for my 10 year college reunion. I want to say I was smoking crack when I thought this would be a good idea but since I was seven months pregnant at the time you probably wouldn't believe me.

TWO MONTHS! And Counting!

The Bean is two months old today! To celebrate she got grape Children's Tylenol (YUM!) and 5! immunization shots (OUCH!) But she was a brave little Bean and didn't scream/cry for too long. The Bean is now 12 pounds and 14 ounces and 23 inches long. To celebrate her two monthness and all-around cuteness, I'm going to post this on the same day I wrote it. And put up another picture of her up cuz it's been a while and I know you're all dying for another peek. This picture is from a few weeks ago. The Bean is trying to look interested in a lecture her dad is giving in his classroom at his new school.




Try harder, Bean, try harder!

Mice VS Moose!

I hate mice. Specifically, I hate mice in my home. Outside little country mice that I don't see are perfectly fine. (Unlike squirrels which I absolutely hate inside or out, but that's because I'm scared of them because I'm convinced that they're all sociopaths. Yes, squirrels are sociopaths.) We haven't (knock on wood) had any mice issues here in NH. But I'm kind of living in fear of the moose. No, I don't think I'll see a moose scurrying across the kitchen counter at 2 AM. I'm afraid one will decide to cross the street. In front of my moving car.

There are all these moose crossing signs around here and everyone time I drive past one I kind of freak out. You really don't want to hit a moose. Not only will it wreck your brand new car, it can also wreck you. And your little baby. It's no joke. The other morning on the NPR affilate it was announced in the local news section that a couple had a moose accident and were air lifted to a fancy hospital. A doctor I met said all the ER accidents up here are related to hunting and moose. Back in Brooklyn it was guns and knives but here it's the big beasts!

Interestingly enough despite all the road kill around here, you don't actually see any of it. Know why? Apparently, there's a "road kill" list. When your name comes up, you get the call at 3 AM that there's a downed moose on 89 South so you get in your truck and go get it. Weird, huh?

So keep your fingers crossed that no moose cross our paths and that N. doesn't put us on the "road kill list" because we have no idea how to dress a moose, Sarah Palin, and we like it like that!

Milestones of the Month

What do you know, kids? We've been we've been livng free or dying for a whole month now. Some NH milestones are:

1 I joined the gym.
2. AND I went swimming. And it wasn't in a maternity suit! And I got to use the hot tub and sauna without fear of over heating a fetus!

3. I went to to the library and took out a book! The book wasn't about kids or parenting at all. It's fiction and I've read about 70 pages! I might even finish it before 2009.

4. I drank a drink made with liquor.

5. I stayed awake for a whole episode of "Mad Men".

6. I registered my car and myself (to vote) in the state of New Hampshire.

7. I volunteered for Barack Obama. You should too.

8. We went to a party. At nightish. Given by someone I met who might become a friend.

9. I cooked five course meal in which everything---from pasta to pie crust---was made from scratch using only organic, locally grown products.

Okay, the last one is just keeping you on your toes. But all the rest, cross my heart, are true.

All About N.

The Bean and I think N. was a little hurt that he wasn't included in the last "what's going on" post. I mean we even mentioned the wonderful post office! Again! So this post is dedicated to N. We're also curious as to when he discovers this dedication as he's sometimes neglectful of his favorite Brooklyn blog.

N. has been working really hard. The days when he used to sit on the couch and stare lovingly at his iPhone are long gone. His new school is very awesome so he has to be awesome while there, which means going to work on Saturdays and Mondays when doesn't even have to. N. wakes up very early in the morning while the Bean and I snooze till about 8:00 or 9:00. (I should say this is the only snoozing we do all day and I'm like way more tired than N. so don't feel too bad for him). After N. has driven into the sun to teach his awesome students at his awesome school he has to deal with making the program better which involves a lot of meetings and various other things that apparently quite involved. Then he has to go to this really huge (for us, apparently for locals it's the small one) Hannafords to pick up the various things I've texted him to buy which always seems to include: diapers, turkey, and batteries. Then he has to drive home into the sun and come home to a very messy house, a very tired wife, and a very cute, overtired baby who needs a bath and be put to bed.

Once he came home to a wok that was on fire but that's probably best for a post that's more removed from the actual incident.

After N. has bathed the cute baby and put her to bed, he eats a dinner that consists of frozen things that are partially reheated because his wife likes to cut corners when it comes to meals these days.

After the wife has collapsed in her semi-frozen soup, N. must deal with the dishes from the entire day and put together whatever terrible plastic baby sleep-aid/toy his wife has gotten that day even though the directions are often only in Chinese.

Weekends require N. to spend loads of time putting big wooden things together or hanging cumbersome clocks and 80 pound mirrors. For fun, wife and baby have N. take 8,000 pounds of garbage and recycling to the dump before going to mobbed box stores to buy more things they would like him to put together.

So while you might feel a bit sorry for N. and his two full-time jobs, don't feel too bad. He, unlike, some people can still have a stiff drink at the end of the day and not be concerned as to what it might do to the cute baby's development when ingested by the cute baby from her mother's milk.

Say, Momma, What's Going On?

Baby: not a whole lot of sleeping that's for sure. Bean is still excellent, but not an excellent sleeper. She doesn't like to nap, which means she gets overtired, which means it takes her parents an extremely tiring amount of time to get her to sleep at night and because she's growing like a weed she wakes every two hours to eat which means mom is pretty sleep deprived and thinks a really long sentence will get the point across. Whew. Today I had what would be a degrading situation if it had been someone other than an almost 6-week year old in the room. I was on my hands and knees rocking the bassinet. Why was I on my hands and knees? I was hiding from the baby. When she sees me, her eyes fly open. Really. She's kind of a genius like that. This morning when N. was trying to give her a bottle she refused to take it so he put her back to bed. It wasn't until his milk was poured in his coffee and he was about to take a bite of cereal that Bean decides she'll take the bottle.

Car: still cute even in the driveway.

NH: I'm sick of the two main restaurants in town, that's for sure. But there are some things NH does better than Bklyn. Like the food co-op. The Bklyn co-op was so small that you'd never consider going there on a Sunday at 5:00 unless you're some kind of masochist. The one here? Totally empty. And huge. And there's never a line at the bank. Or, as you remember, the post office.

Another thing I like about NH: kids playing on the streets. Not babies being wheeled around in gourmet strollers in gourmet playgrounds by their parents but real kids ages like 8-11 riding bikes and playing ball on their own.

Another plus about NH: Did I mention there's no sales tax? Regardless, I spend like no money here. Back in Bklyn, I spent money just breathing. Of course I did spend like a kagillion dollars at the Coop on Sunday but we do need to eat.

Baby Crap: just keeps coming into our house. Tonight poor N. has to put together the Graco Swing. I considered putting it together but keeping Bean together is job enough. Besides, I'm really bad at putting stuff together. Especially if there's 40 steps and 80 pieces. And screws are involved.

Other people commenting on the dearth of blog updates: shouldn't really talk now, should they?

Knitting: I'm considering learning how to do it. Bean nurses a lot, it's gonna be cold a lot soon. Shouldn't these two things come together? Any knitters out there? Do you think someone who's bad at putting things together and not really sewy can learn to make knots?

The New York Times: why do I keep buying it when I don't ever read it? It's a good thing they don't deliver to this zip code.

Brooklyn: I'm too consumed with general day to day living to miss it but say hi if you see her.

Bigger Than A Baby and A Bread Box

What's bigger than a baby and bread box, you ask? My new super cute Subaru Imprezia Sport. Yeah, Sport, cuz it's a hatchback and very styling because even though I'm a mom who has barely has time to look in the mirror I still need some cool wheels.

I love my new car. It's been ten years since I've had my own car and I forgot how fun it is to drive not in a city. City driving sucks. Country driving while listening to loud rock music that you listened to in high school (no, the baby isn't in the car, mom, I know loud music is not good for little ears) is fun. It's freedom and man does it feel good.

Driving with the Bean isn't as scary as I thought it would be. It's miserable to drive while she cries but today she stopped as soon as I turned on Lucinda Williams. Driving in the winter is going to be a whole another deal but like I said, here's to a balmy NH winter.

Today the Bean is one month old! Nice job, Bean. She spit-up like someone's skinny cat all day to celebrate. There's nothing like baby spit-up all over your clothes, couch, and car to really welcome in September. Here's hoping that month #2 will be excellent and possibly provide a few more sleep opportunities for good old mom and dad as we've had about 23 this month combined.