100 Reasons to have a kid. 4 million not to.

100 Reasons to have a kid. 4 million not to.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hot Dog!!!

We survived our first trick or treat adventure in the View By the Bay (otherwise known as Bay View). It was crazy!!! About an hour into it we ran out of candy (I had bought 5 of those really huge bags of candy - you know, the ones that cost $8!!!) Jimmy had to make an emergency run to Walgreens where the pickings were slim. Of course, I got my revenge on the teenagers who didn't even bother to dress up. They got ONE jolly rancher. I snickered each time they walked away. You know, I'm amazed my house hasn't gotten egged yet...Of course, the trick is to just put the candy directly into their bag so they don't know what you gave. All total I think we got over 300 trick or treaters. I know this because our neighbors put together 300 little goody bags and they ran out at about 6:30-7:00. Even though we did run out of candy (and Jimmy bought 8 more bags!!!) it was a ton of fun. We had spooky sounds playing and I got dressed up as a biker chick. I got many compliments on my tattoo sleeves. And we got Buster dressed up!! Guess what he was...a Hot Dog (thanks Becky and Adam!!) He was the hit of the night of course :)
So far he seems unamused...he was definitely not happy at having to wear the costume...I think we enjoyed the costume more than he did

But then things seemed alright after he saw his reflection in the mirror. He got a kick out of the goofy baby wearing a hot dog costume.

Happy Halloween every one!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

We love him again!!

Rather than just telling you the negative sides we are learning about parenthood, it's time for good news! The growth spurt is over! (knock on lots and lots of wood.) We have our beautiful baby boy again! No more crying for no reason (there are still cries, but at least we have a sense of what's wrong.) I am happy to report that we've had just about nothing but smiles and laughs since Monday! I wish I had a sound clip for you guys to hear Buster's laugh, but oh boy is it amazing! He gets himself so excited he actually squeals. And he'll laugh at the smallest thing - for example, he loves when I wag my tongue at him. Loves it. Let me repeat - LOVES IT. To him, this is the most funny thing he could ever see. It makes me giggle just thinking about it :).

We watched football on Monday (Go Peyton!) It was so funny because it almost seemed like Buster knew what was going on (let me aside here and refer you to the previous blog http://lifewithbuster.blogspot.com/2007/10/exception.html where I mention I was a better parent before I had kids - yes, we watch TV with our 4 month old.) Everytime a big play happened, he would squeal and bounce up and down and kick his little legs. Believe me when I tell you that he loves watching football with his dad.

Pictures forthcoming!

Monday, October 22, 2007

The exception

A dear and wise friend of mine often jokingly (or not so jokingly) says "I'm surprised that child abuse is the exception and not the norm." When I was a DINK (dual-income, no kids) I laughed along although I had no idea what he actually meant. Now I know. Oh boy, do I know. I think Buster cried for about 18 hours yesterday on and off. We tried everything. We fed him. We changed him. We took him out. Nothing helped. It was hellish to say the least. When I went in at 8:30 to put him to bed (again) Jimmy had to gently remind me "it's not his fault. be nice." This is just to give you an example of both of our mental state.
Which leads me to the next wise thing said by a dear friend - "I was a better parent before I had kids." Never were words spoken that are more true. Jimmy and I always said "we won't give our kid Tylenol to get him to sleep. That would be unethical and selfish!" Well...last night he got the Tylenol. It was hard for me not to give him double the dosage, actually. All we wanted was an hour of blissful silence. Of course, we didn't get it anyway. So then Jimmy decided just to lock Buster in his room in the hopes that he would cry himself to sleep. He didn't. Let's just say I've never been more glad to be at work!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Sleep Part II...Or why I hate growth spurts

Well sleep, we had a good run of it. We were both enjoying our 8 hours of uninterrupted bliss. Then a tornado hit. A tornado called "the dreaded three month growth spurt." No longer is Buster content to sleep through the night - not when there is eating to be done! So, we're on a pretty consistent 6 oz every 4 hours schedule. He lives his life one bottle at a time. During the evenings we feed him at 7:00pm, 11:00pm, 2:00am, and 6:00am.

What else is bad about the growth spurt? Oh my is he crabby! He's so tired (again, because he's growing and humans do all of their growing while they sleep) but he fights sleep at every turn. I think he's convinced that if he sleeps he's going to miss out on THE most exciting thing he will ever see in his life. I don't think he quite realizes he has decades of life to live so he can sleep and should sleep. Often!

So, my deepest and most sincere apologies to all who have and will experience Buster's latest reign of terror. It can't last forever, right? RIGHT?!?!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Pajama Time!







Buster decided to help put on his pajamas today.
"Okay, I've got it, now what do I do Mama?"











"Maybe if I try to put my hands here? No wait...that doesn't seem to be working..."








"How do I get it over my head like Mama does?"
















"A little help here please?"





"Hooray! I (we) did it!"

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Toys!

Have you ever been to a rummage sale or flea market and you see a toy that you used to have as a kid? Do you ever feel a wave of nostalgia run over you and you think "I remember that! I loved that toy as a kid!" Well, reason number 52 to have a kid - now you get to actually buy those toys and relive your own childhood! Huzzah! We went antiquing with Grandma and Grandpa Neumann today when I saw three of my favorite toys from when I was a kid. So naturally, I had to buy two of them (the third was missing most of the pieces - what's the point?!) So, even though it'll be a while until Buster plays with them - I'm most happy with my finds.


The first is a playdesk with a chalkboard and magnetic letters. You put stencils of words down (like dog) and fill it in either with the chalk or with the letters. Amazing! i didn't even realize I was learning with this toy when I was a kid...but when I saw it, I knew Buster had to have it:

The second toy I found is the coolest record player ever known to man. Both Jimmy and I had it. It comes with 5 multicolored records. You wind up the record player and presto! Instant music!


I'm so excited, I can't wait until Buster can play with these toys! And best of all - they don't require batteries! Now, how many toys can you say that about these days??



Thursday, October 11, 2007

Pictures!!

Just taken today!!!! We're very happy campers!

Look at that smile! What a goof!

Okay, maybe I'm bragging a little bit, but I think we have a future in baby modeling!!


Yes, his hair naturally does this.

This is the look we perpetually see on Buster. We can't quite figure out what he's thinking, but it looks pretty intense.

Sleep and Poop

Any new parent can tell you a strange thing happens when you have a baby. Your life seems to revolve around two main things - sleep and poop. Ask me on any given day how the baby is doing and I'll likely respond with "Well, last night he slept X amount of hours, but the night before it was only X amount." The reason for this one is simple - the more he sleeps, the more I get to sleep. But it's strange nonetheless. Even stranger is my newfound fascination with poop. I'm not kidding when I tell you that Jim and I have had 15 minute long conversations about our son's poop (I'll save you the details, but let's just say it was a truly awesome and physically impossible poop.) The first question I ask when I pick him from the babysitter "Did he poop? What did it look like? Did he sleep at all???" This fascination with sleep and poop is probably one of the stranger things that have happened to me since having a baby.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A kind of baby book

Taking the idea of the baby book one step further, I have created this blog for Buster. I figure it's got to be fun for him to look back when he's older and read all about his adventures in babyhood. It'll also be fun for us. From what every other parent has told me - "enjoy it now because it goes by so fast you'll forget." Well, this is my way of making sure we don't forget. And I can post pictures (which I will as soon as I figure out how ;))

At the current time Buster is nearly three months old (will be tomorrow!) and weighs about 12.5 pounds, which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight. He's about 24 inches long, which puts him in the 95th percentile for height. Who does he take after? Hint...I'm 5'6" with heels and Jimmy is 6'0".

So...hold on to your seats as you enjoy Life with Buster with us!