We are back from Oregon, and no worse for the wear! In fact, we had quite a good time, although it wasn’t without its challenges. On the whole, though, much more relaxing/successful than our travels to Texas a few months back, thanks largely to the fact that we can now pretty much keep Theo fed without issue.

 

Our flight up to Portland was uneventful. Theo was such a good little boy that the people behind us commented, “You have such a good baby!” We laughed and thanked them, admitting, “We don’t get to hear that too often!!”

 

We arrived in Portland in the morning on Thursday, so we took a leisurely afternoon drive (in our rented Mazda 6…much more to our liking than the minivan we had in Texas—this car didn’t have warning lights coming on while we drove it!) along the Columbia River Gorge (east of Portland). There are several beautiful waterfalls along the way. We stopped at two for pictures and to walk around a bit: Horsetail Falls and its far more famous counterpart, Multnomah Falls. Theo seemed to enjoy the feeling of the waterfall spray on his face—he was giggling a bit. That night, he surprised us by scooting across the hotel bed, army-crawl style. He has yet to replicate the feat frontwards, but he is now scooting backwards with some regularity. I suspect full-blown scooting in both directions and then crawling can’t be too far behind.

 

Friday we were in a bit of a stupor, as Theo had kept us up quite a bit the night before, so we were glad to have a relaxing day with not much on the agenda. Our only goal was to make it to the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the Spruce Goose and their SR-71, and we accomplished that. What a neat museum! If anyone is interested in planes or the space program and you happen to be in the Portland area, I highly recommend a trip out to Evergreen. As an added bonus, they had a really great playground where Theo got to ride his first teeter-totter, go on his first slide (both of these accompanied by Mom and Dad, of course!), and ride on the swings. As usual, the swings were a highlight for him. So much so that when we got to the car, we discovered that he had enjoyed the swings so much that he pooped his pants in glee. Ah, the life of a little one!

 

We also had to stop at Target to buy a replacement stroller. Our lovely umbrella stroller had seen better days, and I don’t think the flight up did it any favors. It was rather like piloting a shopping cart with a very messed-up wheel. It would stick in one direction, making us walk in lovely little circles to “unstick” it. So, we replaced it with another small umbrella-type stroller, which Theo actually seems to prefer…probably because it only has a lap belt and no shoulder harness, allowing him much wiggle room! He has also figured out how to open and close the canopy himself, which seems to give him much amusement.

 

We had dinner with my Aunt Sally and Uncle David on Friday. Delicious Mediterranean food, although Theo was not pleased. To be honest, he was rather beastly for most of the meal. Overtired, teething…who knows? Chris and I took turns walking with him when he’d get fussy, and eventually we made it through the meal. Theo even got a bit of lemon sorbet for dessert!

 

We spent pretty much all of Saturday with my aunt and uncle, too. Saturday morning was our Epicurean Excursion…a tour of local Portland restaurants, complete with tastings. My favorite was the bakery tasting because we got to have some lovely chocolate bread (yes, I cheated a tiny bit!). That was Chris’s least favorite, though, because he stepped outside to check Theo’s diaper and got a verbal tongue-lashing from a nasty woman about changing a baby in public near a restaurant. I’m not sure where she thought he ought to change him—Theo was in his stroller, and Chris had stepped over to a discreet side of the building, so he wasn’t standing right in front of the windows or something. Most men’s rooms don’t have baby-changing stations, and Theo can’t stand up on his own, so I’m not sure what she would have him do—lay Theo on the floor of a public restroom? Anyway, I chalk it up to bitter nastiness. Chris was checking Theo discreetly in his stroller outside…what more could he do?! You’d think the woman would’ve thought, “Oh, a man doing diaper duty instead of a woman…what a good guy he is!” At least, that’s what I would’ve thought.

 

Anyway, Chris’s favorite tasting was the pizza. That would normally be mine, too, but cheeseless pizza just isn’t quite as exciting as one would hope. (The tour guide arranged for a vegan slice for me, since I can’t eat dairy.) We also got to taste some local Portland beers, some regional wine, some exotic mustards, some teas, some breads, some locally made soups, and some gelato (sorbet for me and Theo). Yum…it was a foodie’s dream!

 

Saturday afternoon we went to the International Rose Test Garden, which was lovely despite it being September (and generally past the best rose season). I would’ve loved to explore it more, but there were a lot of stairs that were tough to navigate with a stroller, so we moved on. We tried to go to the Japanese Garden, but it, too, was not terribly stroller-friendly, so we gave up on that and went to dinner. After which, we bade my aunt and uncle goodnight and then wandered over to Powell’s, the largest used bookstore in the U.S. (It apparently used to be the largest in the world, but now there’s a bigger one in Beijing.) We found a couple of my books in there (that is, books I’ve edited—always neat to see my name in print, especially in someplace like Powell’s!), and we bought Theo a couple Dr. Seuss books. I read him One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish last night, and that seemed to be a hit.

 

Sunday morning Theo and I walked to Voodoo Donuts, known far and wide as being one of the best donut shops in the U.S. I love a good donut, and thus I had vowed to come to Voodoo the next time I was in Portland. And they even make vegan donuts, so I could stay dairy-free! Well, Theo and I walked the half-mile over there while Chris got ready, with the idea that we’d get a half-dozen donuts and just sample them. Voodoo makes all sorts of crazy flavors, so we wanted to try bites of several. And indeed, the donuts were quite good. The vegan one was just as good as the regular ones, amazingly enough! But wow…I felt a wee bit out of place in Voodoo. First of all, it’s in a rather seedy part of town, nestled among strip clubs and questionable bars, with a fair number of people sleeping on the street. To be perfectly honest, if it had been nighttime, I probably would’ve turned around and gone back to a safer part of town, since it was just Theo and me on our own. But it was a sunny Sunday morning, so I figured it was safe, albeit rather seamy. Second, Voodoo itself is a rather seedy little shop—dark and rather moldering, with blaring thrash-metal music and sullen, angry teens waiting on you. The girl who helped me was pleasant enough…in an angry, “I hate the world” kind of way. And, in fact, to go along with the strip-club atmosphere of the neighborhood, there were even X-rated donuts on display. (Thank goodness Theo isn’t old enough to ask questions yet!!) But, I had come this far, so I wasn’t about to leave without my donuts! So we got a half-dozen and walked quickly back to the hotel. And darn if they weren’t some really tasty donuts! I see why they earned their reputation for awesome donuts, and I realized I was not alone in my quest when I saw the 80-year-old woman in front of me in line buying donuts. She looked a bit bewildered by the thrash-metal music and the X-rated donuts, but she and her family forged on and bought their donuts, just like Theo and I did.

 

After the great donut excursion, Chris and I decided to drive out to the Oregon coast, so we headed for Cannon Beach. What a neat little seaside town! I would’ve liked to poke around more, but Theo was grumpy for most of Sunday (our good friend Leon made QUITE a few appearances!), so most of the time was spent dealing with a crabby baby. But, we did get a quick peek at the coast, and we had a nice picnic in the park and then played on the swings with Theo. As usual, he was all smiles for that! Then I suggested that we drive up the coast a bit to Astoria, thinking that maybe cranky boy would benefit from a nap in the car and Chris and I could enjoy the views of the coastline along the way. Well, he got a nap (and he did indeed benefit from it), but we soon discovered that the coastal highway doesn’t really run along the coast at that point. So, we just had a nice drive through the forest instead. I wish Chris had gotten to see more of the Oregon coast, which is really quite spectacular, but oh well. We’ll just have to make another trip up there sometime.

 

Theo also got to add Washington to his list of states visited, since our route back to Portland took us up into Washington for about 45 minutes before dropping back down into Oregon. He has now been to California (obviously!), Texas, Oregon, and Washington ex utero. If you count in utero, he has also been to Nevada, Florida, and British Columbia. Well-traveled little guy already!

 

Sunday night we ambled around Portland, enjoying the beautiful weather, and then went back to the same restaurant where we ate with my aunt and uncle on Friday night. I had an awesome seafood pasta, Chris had butternut squash ravioli, and Theo enjoyed sucking on a couple small pieces of honeydew melon. On our walk back to the hotel, we came across a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop, so we stopped for some sherbet. Sherbet does contain dairy, but the content is very, very low, so I decided to use it as an experiment, and I ordered a kiddie scoop of rainbow sherbet. We gave Theo a couple tiny, tiny tastes, which he loved. Only problem is, he loved them SO much that much screaming ensued when the sherbet was all gone! Good heavens, I didn’t think a six-month-old baby was old enough to throw a fit over sherbet being gone, but that seemed to be exactly what he was doing. My gosh, I think we’re going to have a headstrong little boy on our hands when he gets older!!

 

Speaking of which, one of these days I’ll have to do a soapbox post about my love/hate relationship with Dr. Sears. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Dr. Sears is sort of the Dr. Spock of this generation…the go-to source for issues about pregnancy, baby care, and childrearing. I finally broke down and bought his book The Fussy Baby, after Chris read a synopsis online and said, “This sounds just like Theo!” I had resisted buying this book, which discusses what Sears calls “the high-need child” in part because it seems to me that all babies are “high-need” at some level, but more because I really, really hate the label “high-need.” It sounds so negative to me, and I just refuse to think of Theo in a negative light. He is what he is, and the best thing we can do for him is love him exactly as he is, so I don’t want to stick what I see as a negative label on him. (In fairness to Dr. Sears, he sees “high-need” as a more positive label than “fussy,” which is why he has adopted the term.) Anyway, neither Chris nor I has finished the book, but we have a love/hate relationship with it so far. On the love side, it makes us feel better about the fact that we aren’t messing up here…we’re doing the best we can with a baby who can be quite challenging! On the hate side, we both dislike the term “high-need” because it sounds negative, and we aren’t in agreement with Dr. Sears about some of his suggestions. They might work great for a stay-at-home mom who is 100% devoted to raising her baby, but for a stay-at-home mom who is also juggling a full-time job, they just aren’t feasible in the manner in which Dr. Sears prescribes them. And when Dr. Sears describes his own “high-need” baby (the fourth of his eight children, I believe), neither of us really likes the person she turned into. Dr. Sears seems to see her as a great success story, but we both see her as a rather bossy, domineering tyrant. (She was graduating high school at the time of the writing of the edition of the book we’re reading. She’s probably in her early 20s now, I’d guess.) He speaks proudly of her browbeating the student council (of which she was president) into going along with her way of things, and Chris and I aren’t crazy about the idea of Theo growing up into some little dictator.

 

Anyway, I digress, but the point is that we are continuing to work our way through the book, since it does indeed seem to fit Theo quite well in its descriptions of such babies. But, we have adopted the far more positive-sounding term “spirited” to describe him. Chris found that term somewhere (I forget where), and it’s basically a description for the same type of child Dr. Sears mentions, but to me, it just sounds a lot more positive. Who wouldn’t want a “spirited” child?! Sounds like a fun little person, doesn’t it?! So anyway, if I mention our “spirited” child in some future post, you can translate that to mean fussy or high-need if you so desire.

 

But I’ll get off my soapbox for now (and perhaps return to it when I’ve finished the book) and just say that Portland was a lot of fun. Traveling with Theo was much easier this time around, despite several Leon moments. We’re looking forward to doing more of it in the future! And we both loved Portland. We have no desire to leave Sacramento, but if we ever did, Portland would be on the list of contenders. It’s beautiful and relaxed and just generally a very nice little city. And now, on to planning our next great adventure! We’re debating something around my birthday in January.... Last year we were in Florida for my birthday, so maybe someplace warm again. Or maybe back to the Pacific Northwest. Theo would look so cute in a little snowsuit! Oh, the possibilities are endless....

So Theo has been rather grumpy today (teething again, I think...he's running a slight fever, and I think that's making him feel poopy). I was trying to get some laundry folded, but he was having none of it. So I put him a sling to "wear" him while I folded. That was good for a couple minutes, but then he started fussing again. And then I hit upon a solution: singing! But not just any singing. He really didn't care for "Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)," and it was hit or miss when I tried to croon some George Strait tunes. However, he was a BIG Elvis fan! In particular, he seemed to very much enjoy "Suspicious Minds" and "Hound Dog." Good taste, little man!!

Well, it's official: Theo is a ladies man. I had my suspicions, as he always flirts with the women at the grocery store when we go in, and women pretty much everywhere we go. (He also flirts with a very old man we often see at the grocery store who likes him, so I guess he doesn't discriminate by gender...or age!) But last night, my theory was proven. We went out to our favorite Turkish restaurant Saturday night with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Tom, who were up visiting for the weekend. I was a little nervous because dinnertime is Theo's fussy time of the day, but we braved it. Sure enough, Theo started fussing shortly after we arrived...not terribly, but just kind of whiny and irritable, which did not bode particularly well for him making it through an entire sit-down meal. That is, until he laid eyes on the belly dancer who was performing in the restaurant. He was absolutely rapt as she danced by our table, clicking her finger cymbals. Then he started smiling and laughing and kicking his feet. At one point, he literally drooled—I kid you not! The belly dancer, Laura, seeing her biggest fan of the evening, then made it a point to keep coming by and dancing for Theo, and he ate it up! Every time he'd see her, he'd stare in awe at her bright, beautiful costume, and then begin laughing and smiling and bouncing. The people at the tables around us were laughing at how enthusiastic he was whenever his friend Laura would dance by!

 

As we finished dinner, Chris and I gave Theo some money to tip Laura (this sounds ridiculous, I know, but one of Theo's new things is that he likes to hold EVERYTHING—he's very proud when I let him hold my credit card at the grocery store, or when he gets to hold a light bag and carry it out to the car; he clings on for dear life!), and he proudly clutched his $5 bill. However, you're supposed to place the money in the dancer's waistband, which Theo obviously couldn't do, so Chris had to take over. And it was then that I realized I have no idea where our son got his prowess with the ladies! Poor Chris turned about five shades of red and fumbled his way nervously through sticking the money in Laura's waistband. Ha ha, I love my shy husband! I'll never have to worry about him frequenting exotic dancer places or anything like that...he's far to shy and embarrassed! Nope, my bigger worry is that I'll lose him to the lovely produce aisle at Nugget Market someday. He's far more comfortable among the peaches and strawberries than scantily clad women! Now Theo is apparently another story.... But, Laura told us Theo made her night with his enthusiasm, so all was well. And Theo fell asleep within two seconds of leaving the restaurant...I guess all that flirting really wears a boy out!

 

It was nice to get a good day on Saturday, because Friday was absolutely awful, for the most part...thus my venting blog post. Apologies for posting a non-happy post...but I needed to get it off my chest. Anyway, Saturday was actually a busy day for us. I had a photography workshop in the morning, and Chris and Theo came along to be my models. They were excellent models, and I think I got a few good shots. You can check 'em out in this week's album. After the photo shoot, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kathy came for a visit, and we walked Theo over to the park so he could play on the swings, which he loved. I took him on the swings for the first time on Friday (in an effort to get a break from his constant fussing!), and he was in seventh heaven! He giggled and smiled and kicked his legs enthusiastically...it was so neat! We went back later that night so Chris and my Mom could see him, and he was similarly excited. Lots of swinging pictures in this week's album—our boy’s a swinger! I knew he'd like the swings—he's a bit of a daredevil who loves the "airplane game" where I hold him above my head and exclaim, "Wow, look how high up you are!!" so I figured he'd dig the swings. And indeed he does.

 

One of his other favorite interests is his hands. Ever since he was a tiny baby, he has liked to stare in fascination at his hands, particularly while sitting in the car. Lately we notice him doing it more and more. You’ll see several pictures in this week’s album. He just stares at his hands as if to say, “What are these beautiful things? I’ve never seen anything so fascinating in my life!”

 

He also has a new interest in cantaloupe. My Mom and I went to lunch one day early in the week, and Theo was getting fussy, so I picked a piece of cantaloupe out of my fruit salad and let him suck on it while I held it. I quickly became a rather sticky mess, but he loved it! He sucked on the cantaloupe with such glee that the woman next to us was laughing! We’ve given it to him in a little mesh food bag designed for babies a few more times, and he seems to like it well enough. And, best of all, it doesn’t appear to cause him any grief. Though we can’t be sure yet because he’s having a really rough time with eczema this week...but we think that’s unrelated to the cantaloupe, as the timing doesn’t quite add up. (This might explain Super Fussy Friday, though. The eczema is usually just a little bit on his upper arms and legs that is pretty much always present. But on Friday night, it had crept pretty much all over his arms and legs, and he even had a few small patches on his back and tummy. So maybe he was uncomfortable, thus the grumpiness. Or, maybe the grumpiness made it break out more. Who knows....)

 

Saturday afternoon, Kathy, Theo, Luna, and I went to a pug meetup while Chris and Tom stayed home and hung out. I didn't get any pug pix this time, but the meetup was fun. Theo seemed to enjoy seeing all the pugs...he hung out in the Baby Bjorn and stared at all the pug chaos. Afterward we went home, and Luna crashed alongside Bits while we humans went to dinner and Theo met his lady love, Laura the belly dancer.

 

That was actually the second night in a row we went to the Turkish restaurant. My Mom's birthday was on Friday, so we went there with her for a birthday dinner. Theo was pretty good...a little fussy, but much more cheery than he had been all day. I admit that I was rather worried about how he'd be, since he was SO grumpy almost all day on Friday. But, he did okay. He was calm for a little while in the morning while we baked a cake for my Mom. And this time, "we" really did bake it. I normally put Theo in his high chair while I cook, and I talk to him and give him an incredibly boring running dialogue of what I'm doing as I cook. It usually keeps him relatively content, but not on Friday...he wailed and wailed, so I finally put him in a sling carrier and held him on my hip while I baked a cake from scratch one-handed. I'm rather proud of that accomplishment—it wasn't easy! Theo was entranced by my hand mixer, though. I thought the sound might startle him, but it didn't, and he was fascinated by watching it. The cake even turned out pretty good. It was ostensibly a mocha "cream cheese" cake, with the "cream cheese" being made of tofu cream cheese, soft tofu, and a couple other ingredients. It actually tasted more like a spice cake than a mocha cake, but it was pretty good for a dairy-free treat.

 

Other than those events, the week was mostly spent with me working a lot. My two weeks of calm suddenly came to an end, and I'm now entering into the end-of-the-year rush, which always happens. Yikes, I hope I get through this okay. I have 22 book projects currently in the works, which is a good deal more than I've ever handled at once. And this with an often-fussy baby! We'll muddle through, though I may be a bit of a basket case by the end of the year.  Luckily, many of the authors are ones I've worked with before, so that always makes it a bit easier. I have one monster book that may be the death of me, but that one should be happening more in January.

 

I did manage to get out to the mother of all consignment sales, though. As most of you know, I love, love, love a good bargain, and this sale was fantastic! The merchandise was pretty much all in really good condition, the prices were fantastic, and there was a TON to choose from! If I'd had about three more hands, I would've come home with even more. As it was, I got a much-needed backup Boppy (nursing pillow), a really cute walker for Theo, and some musical toys. Theo seems very attracted to two types of toys: those that make crinkly sounds and those that make music. So I picked out a few musical toys for him, and he seems to really enjoy them. This consignment sale comes around twice a year, and I will surely go again in the spring. They had a lot of good stuff for slightly older kids, but I ignored it since I only have so many hands and we have limited storage space....

 

Oh—anyone have an answer for this? Last night, I woke up at 3:30am for a bathroom trip. I checked Theo and went back to sleep; all was well, and nothing was amiss. Chris, Theo, and I are currently still camping out in the living room (long story, but it works for us), and Chris and I generally make a nest on the floor by the fireplace to sleep. So I woke up again at 6am when Theo fussed to get up...and the fireplace was blazing with a lovely fire right by our heads. Now, we have a gas fireplace that you have to turn on with a wall switch that is high on the wall, next to our mantle. To get to it, one would have to step over sleeping Chris’s and my heads, navigate around an end table and the knickknacks on the mantle, and hit the switch, then navigate back past us. There is absolutely no way we could’ve done it from our beds. So the best I can guess is that one of us slept-walked and turned it on, but being that we’re both quite clumsy, I’m wondering how the heck we did it without running into anything, knocking over the end table, or stepping on the other person’s head. Weird, weird, weird. Either that or we have a ghost living with us. It was kind of freaky. Anyone have any other ideas how our fire could’ve magically been turned on in that 2 1/2 hour span when we were supposedly both asleep?? And no, the postpartum depression hasn’t gotten the better of my addled brain. I actually woke Chris up and pointed to the fire and said, “Why is our fireplace on?” I knew he wouldn’t believe me if he didn’t see it with his own eyes.

 

I think the album is a little huge this week—my apologies! I've been practicing my portraiture for my photography class, and I guess I got a little overzealous! Next week's album will be similarly huge because it'll be full of pictures of our trip to Portland!! By the way, I generally update the blog every Sunday night, but next week will be a day or two late, as we're not getting back from Portland until Monday. Wish us luck that Theo enjoys the trip so that WE can enjoy the trip!  

 

Okay, I try to keep this blog very upbeat, but it's been a long day already (and it's already 10:15am!), and I need to vent. We have a fussy baby. There, I've said it. Theo is a fussy baby. He's not an easy child. And that doesn't mean I love him any less, but maybe it explains why I'm so darn exhausted all the time!

 

I think people think we're overreacting...we get a lot of, "Oh, all babies cry!" Which kind of makes me feel like a five-year-old. I know all babies cry! I know some babies cry a lot! And the truth is, ours falls into the latter category. And it doesn't help that he won't nap, so he's overtired much of the time, which only makes him fussier. And the truth is, when he's really fussy, we don't tend to take him around other people. So a lot of people who think we're overreacting haven't seen him in true form.

 

The food problems seem to be sorted out--as long as I stay on my very restricted diet and primarily nurse Theo, he does fine. He gets a little bit of Baby's Only formula from time to time, but not very often. So on the food level, he's going great as long as we don't throw a wrench in it by trying something new that upsets his tummy. And so, I realize that he is just a fussy little guy. Much less fussy now that the food issue is sorted out, but still fussy.

 

And it's not his fault, so it breaks my heart when people seem frustrated by him. He's not crying for no reason...his bonehead mama just doesn't know why he's fussing.

 

My Mom gave me a very valuable piece of advice: You have to raise the baby in the way you're comfortable. So that's why we ignore the "cry it out" advice for the most part. I'm not opposed to letting Theo fuss for a few minutes as long as he knows we're in the near vicinity and that we haven't abandoned him. In fact, we do it frequently, because sometimes it's the only way I can brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, prepare dinner, or do any one of a hundred small tasks that take a few minutes. I put him somewhere near me and talk to him as I do whatever, so he knows his mama is there. I don't want him to feel abandoned or ignored. But at the same time, there are things I need to get done, and at six months old (almost), I think he's okay to fuss for a few minutes.

 

The problem is, fussing often turns into full-blown shrieking, complete with choking, gasping, spitting up, etc. And I'm not okay with that. Not at his age. So I try to calm him down, and once he has calmed down at least a bit, I pick him up to "reward" him for calming himself. This is maybe too much for a six-month-old to process, but I can't help but think that eventually he'll figure out, "Oh, if I try to calm down, I'll get what I want." Which I'd much prefer to "If I scream at the top of my lungs, I'll get what I want."

 

We're reading a book about "spirited" children, which seems to fit Theo fairly well in some respects. And it talks about how they have two volumes: calm and shrieking. That's Theo all right...there is very little "mild fussing" with this kid. We call it "Zero to sixty in two seconds."

 

So today's a grumpy day, and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I have a lot of work to do (that two weeks of calm is rearing its ugly head now!), and a cranky boy to boot. (I think he's probably teething...and overtired.) And so I post, just to clear my mind....

 

So I guess what I'm saying is, I know some people think we spoil Theo, or we cater to him, or we overreact to him being fussy. But the truth is, he is fussy, and we just do the best we can to make it through each day. I'm very, very proud to say that neither of us has ever lost our temper with him...which is good because there's no way that would ever help him. Instead, the frustration eats away at us until we're both exhausted. But that's better than taking it out on Theo, any day.

 

And as for Theo, I hope his fussiness will end because I want nothing more than for him to be a happy child. I'm biased, I know, but in my mind, he is a wonderful, sweet, intelligent, creative, amazing little boy. The fussiness is a layer on top of that...the first thing a lot of people see. If you look past that layer, you see the absolutely wonderful little boy within. And that is what keeps me going. I tell Theo "you're super--you're the best!" every day, and I mean it. I'm exhausted--yes. Fighting postpartum depression (some days more successfully than others)--yes. Crying a lot--yes. But above all, I'm a mom to the most incredible little boy in the world. I will make it through this, and someday Theo will be primarily the happy little boy that I know is in there.

 

Thanks for listening...I needed a good vent.

It has been a pretty quiet week around here, so I've been working extra hard to try to get Theo to nap. No dice. The kid will not nap! Well, that's not entirely true. He'll fall asleep while nursing or while taking a bottle, but then if I try to put him in his swing or his crib or his Pack and Play, he immediately wakes up and fusses. So, I sit trapped in my chair with a snoozing baby on my lap. Which is fine until I have to go to the bathroom or something.... And, he'll sometimes sleep in the car or in the stroller...but again, the minute you take him out, he wakes up. I have tried everything to get him to take a nap at home, and he won't do it. I even finally resorted to the "fuss it out" strategy one day when he looked absolutely exhausted so I knew he needed to sleep...and he won. After 20 minutes of fussing, my nerves couldn't take it anymore.

 

On the plus side, he still sleeps well at night, so no complaints. But the poor kid looks so tired most days because he needs a nap! His little eyes get all red-rimmed, but still he fights it. Stubborn little one! He gets that from Chris, surely not from me.

 

I've been playing with the camera a bit more, trying to work on portraits, so you'll see a fair number of attempts in this week's album. And I had my first photography workshop on Saturday, so you'll see my attempts at taking portraits of my friend, Kim. I think some of them turned out pretty decent, although I had trouble getting the lighting right. There's a lot of "math" stuff involved in photography, I'm finding...and I can't say math was ever my strongest point! So, it's a steep learning curve for me. But I sure am enjoying doing it! So much so that Chris said, "Why don't you take another photography workshop after this one?" And so I'm taking a second one with Kim...this one in October/November. This one will be a documentary photography one, and our field trip is to the Sikh Festival in Yuba City. Free yummy Indian food, I'm told! Not sure I'll be able to eat it, since Indian food is often made with yogurt and/or ghee (clarified butter), but maybe they'll have some nice boring chickpea stuff I can try.  And anyway, the photo ops should be good...I guess they've done this field trip for this workshop before, and it is supposedly a lot of fun.

 

Also featured this week are some pictures of Theo "eating" a peach. We have created a monster. We have a rule that he needs to sit in his chair with us while we eat dinner, so that we're able to eat together. Most nights he's pretty good, but one night he was being really fussy...just didn't want to sit there. Instead of giving in and picking him up, we decided to let him suck on a piece of peach. He was hooked!! Every time we'd pull it away from his mouth, he'd shriek at us. My, that boy has a temper! But he sure did like that peach....

 

Alas, the peach success led us to try a similar experiment the next night with a banana. Supposedly the first foods to try with a baby include bananas, sweet potatoes, and avocados, since most babies can tolerate those well. So, I chose bananas. Yikes. NOT my best idea. Theo liked the banana just fine (after making a horrible grimace at the first couple licks), and he looked adorable all covered in mashed banana as he ate it. (I had put a small piece in this tiny mesh "baby food" bag. You put a piece of soft food in the mesh bag, and then the baby can hold onto the bag's plastic handle and suck on the mesh, which makes little bits of the food squeeze out. This way, they don't get so much that they end up choking. They slowly eat the one piece of food.) However, the banana must not have settled well. We went to take an evening stroll around the mall after dinner, and after we gave him some milk, the carnage began. He spit up on me five times as we walked back to the car. And not small amounts either—large amounts. He was soaked and I was pretty wet and sticky by the time we got to the car. He then spit up two more times on the changing table as I stripped him down for a bath. His bath went fine, but then he spit up on his clean pajamas.

 

We finally got him down to bed, and he was a fussy Leon. He woke up after two hours and wanted to eat (very unusual for him—once he's down for the night, he rarely wakes to eat), so I nursed him and then put him back down. He woke up screaming two hours later, and I discovered that he had spit up all over the Pack and Play and had then rolled in it, so the poor guy was covered in it. Spitup in his hair, spitup in his ears, spitup in his nose...it was a mess.

 

So, I'm led to believe that he's not quite ready for bananas yet. I guess the only way to know for sure would be to try again, but I'm not really wanting to experience another evening like that again right away, so for now...no bananas for my little monkey!

 

But moving on from spitup stories.... We also got our new TV hooked up, and I'm very excited because now we get The Animal Planet. Woohoo—Meerkat Manor! I think Chris is more excited by the extra ESPN channel, but I think Animal Planet is much more fun.

 

We had a baby sitter again this week, too—Briagha came over and watched Theo, so Chris and I went out and had a nice dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. And then we bought Theo a Halloween costume, which is too cute for words on him, if I do say so myself. I'm a sucker for Halloween.... I will share that he is going to be a monkey for Halloween, but I'll save the pictures for the actual holiday. (I took a few when I tried the costume on him, but I had a lighting setting wrong on the camera, so they didn't turn out too great anyway.)

 

We also got to go out on Saturday night—after Kim's and my photography workshop, Dave, Chris, and Theo met us at a Japanese restaurant for dinner. Dinnertime with Theo can be a bit challenging, but all in all it went well. The only bummer about Saturday was that I had to miss a visit from Jason, Maria, and Kaitlyn (whose name I hope I haven't misspelled!). They arrived just as I was leaving for my photography workshop, so I didn't get to see them. But Chris had a great time visiting with them and Theo was a very good boy...though I'm told my son tried to pull up Kaitlyn's dress. Where he learned that naughty behavior, I'll never know!

 

Sunday we decided to take Theo to the Folsom Zoo and Animal Sanctuary. I think he's a little too young to really notice the animals yet, but Chris and I enjoyed it, and I think Theo liked being out and walking around. He did notice a few of the chickens running around the zoo and park, and he was smiling at those. (Perhaps he takes after his mama and likes chickens!) We'll definitely go back when he's a bit older, as the zoo is pretty neat. It's small and fairly quiet, so not much chaos. And the park surrounding it is nice and shady. There were a lot of toddlers there having fun chasing the chickens and peacocks that roam the park, so I think it might be a fun place for Theo to visit when he's a little older.

 

And so ends another week with our crazy boy. He is getting to be more fun every day, as he learns new things and explores. Every day is a new adventure for him, and it's neat to watch.

So Theo managed to amuse me twice in short order today...both for rather gross reasons. So if you don't get a chuckle out of baby bathroom humor, then don't read on....

 

First, the only problems we have with Luna with regard to Theo are that she wants to lick him all the time and that she wants to, er, "clean up" for us when he spits up on the carpet. Which he does on a daily basis, since he is the King of Spitup and thus he spits up at least five times a day, sometimes more like ten or fifteen. This attempt at pug cleanup really grosses me out. I realize she's a dog and they do gross things sometimes, but ewww! So today, I was holding Theo on my lap, and Luna was laying at my feet. Theo suddenly leaned over and spit up, managing to do so squarely on Luna's back! Luna heard the telltale sound of spitup and jumped up, looking everywhere for the mess to "clean up." Little did she know it was on her back. Ha!!

 

Second, I almost always get the poopy diapers. Sometimes I think Chris deliberately "forgets" them so I get them. Today, he came home from work and said, "I'll take the baby after I get out of the bathroom." Well, Theo hadn't pooped in about three days...but he just managed to do so right when Chris was about to come out of the bathroom. So for once, I got to pawn off the poopy diaper!! Nice timing, my son!!

 

Ahhh, it takes so little to make me happy these days.

It has come to our attention that Theo is quite the little mini-perfectionist. He spent the better part of this week getting furious that he can't crawl yet! For some odd reason, I haven't had much work to do this week (which does not bode well for next week, when I'll probably get slammed!), so I've been able to spend a lot of time playing with Theo. I put him on the floor and give him a toy, then put a couple other toys just out of reach. He immediately flips over onto his stomach and begins to try to make his way over to the just-out-of-reach toys. He'll try for a good five minutes, and then dissolve into angry, frustrated tears and wailing. He seems to be furious that he can't master crawling yet, even though he's only five months old! (In other news, he turned five months old on the 5th! Yay Theo!) So a lot of the pictures in this week's album are of Theo desperately trying to crawl. I should add that on Saturday night, he did accomplish two feats of strength: First, he managed to scoot on his belly to get a toy. It was only about 10 inches from him, and it was a long, laborious journey filled with much anguished wailing, but he managed it. Second, about half an hour later, I put him down on the floor while I moved the kitchen chairs to be able to vacuum under the table. Next thing I knew, he had rolled two full rolls to make it over to the vacuum cleaner, which he was happily playing with. We really need to think about doing some baby-proofing sooner rather than later, methinks.

 

Other than being crabby about his inability to crawl, Theo has been a pretty cheery little guy this week. Which is a good thing, since Chris had to spend a lot of time at the office, sitting in on interviews for a new editor. We did have one Leon day, though. And it was probably my fault, really. The pediatrician told me to periodically experiment with small amounts of dairy, because eventually Theo should be able to tolerate it, and the only way to find out when is to experiment a bit. So about a month ago, I had a cookie made with butter. And we had a bad Leon night. Blech. This week, I decided to try again, thinking, "Well, the small amount of butter in one cookie can't possibly upset him, can it?" Hmmm, I think maybe it can. Theo had been cheery for 3 1/2 days straight when I tried said cookie. I ate the cookie (which tasted fabulous, by the way!), nursed him a few hours later, and within a couple hours, he did a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde switch into a fussy, screaming little Leon. He was pretty awful for about three hours, and then calmed down and went to sleep. The next morning, he had a big patch of eczema on one shoulder that wasn't there before. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it seems to me that perhaps the butter was the culprit. (I should point out that this was a decent-sized meal-replacement oats-and-grains-and-fruits cookie...not a small modest cookie like one would make at home.) So, I am led to believe that it's probably best to continue my extremely rigid avoidance of dairy for the time being. We'll experiment again in a few more weeks, when I feel up to another Leon night!

 

We had a lot of fun this week, since I didn't have to work much. We went to see Great-Grandma Ruth one day. I think she was rather surprised and amused by Theo's temper when he finishes a bottle and his mean, mean mama takes it away. He screams like it's the end of the world for about a minute, and then realizes he is indeed full and settles down. Stubborn little poop, that boy of mine....

 

We also went to visit Auntie Lynnie and got to see cousin Stevie, too. Theo had a ball with my sister—she had him laughing up a storm as we ate lunch! He also found her dog, Roxie, quite amusing. Which is good since no one finds Roxie amusing.  Poor Roxie—she's a Chihuahua, and an extremely yappy one. So she drives everyone nuts with her barking. But Theo thought she was just the funniest little thing ever! So she has a friend in Theo. Theo is a lover of all dogs, I'm finding. Yesterday I was holding him while Luna raced around the house in circles, trying to get me to feed her, and I looked at Theo to find a HUGE smile on his face as he watched Luna's antics. He just loves those crazy dogs...he laughs and smiles at them a lot!

 

In non-Theo news, we got our new furniture delivered! The desk looks great and creates a lot more space in the den, which was our intent. And the TV cabinet fits perfectly and looks really nice, too. The TV will be hooked up this week, when we switch from Dish Network to cable, and I'll have to take a picture of the new setup after that.

 

And, the biggest non-Theo news is that I have FINALLY done something I've meant to do for years: I'm taking a photography class! It's just a short four-session seminar, but the first meeting was Friday night. I absolutely loved it! I learned a lot even on the first night. The seminar is on outdoor portraiture, so I'll spend three hours each of the next two Saturdays in field workshops, taking portraits at the college's nature center. Next Saturday we use each other as models, but the following Saturday we have to bring models...so I'll be bringing Chris and Theo to pose for me. Then we have an evaluation class in October where we frame/mat our four best portraits that we've taken during the class duration and present them for critique. Almost everyone in the class has far more experience than I do, so I don't expect to get great critiques, but I'm just having fun learning about photography, which I have long meant to do. And frankly, it was fun to do something that didn't revolve around baby poop or breast feeding!  I'm taking the class with my friend Kim, so that makes it all the more enjoyable. She's my go-to person for camera advice, so it'll be fun to do this together. Now I REALLY wish I could've gotten into the Fall Colors photography workshop that I was originally eyeing, but alas it is full...and the first day is while we're in Portland, so I can't even try to add it. Oh well, I'll just have to find another good workshop next semester and take that.

 

Saturday was an errands day and became a cleaning day when Theo took an unexpected two-hour nap. I seized the opportunity to clean the house. Which sounds utterly pathetic unless you realize that I’m somewhat of a neat freak who actually enjoys getting to clean up the house. Not that I so much enjoy the act of cleaning itself...I just like the end product, so doing it makes me happy.

 

But Sunday was really a fun day. Chris, Theo, and I headed up to Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley to try out my portraiture skills, and to just escape the heat and enjoy the park. (Grass Valley is in the Sierra foothills, so it was a mere 90 degrees; Sac was slated to be 100 degrees today. Ugh!) I’ve always wanted to go there, as I’ve heard it’s beautiful, but I just hadn’t ever made it up there. It is indeed beautiful and peaceful, and Theo was a little angel, so we had fun. I did discover that I’m horrible at taking direct-sunlight portraits, but I’ll ask the instructor of my class for some pointers next week and see whether I can figure out what I’m doing wrong. I did better with shade portraits this time, I think...Chris and Theo don’t look like Smurfs. So that’s a start. Anyway, day trips like that are something Chris and I used to do a lot, and I’ve really missed them since we had the baby. So it was a lot of fun to take a day and do that. You can see some pictures of the beautiful park in this week’s album.

 

Have a good week, everyone! Less than three weeks until we head to Portland—can’t wait!

 

Oh dear. Theo is the most interesting person I've had opportunity to meet in quite some time, but there are days when he is really the most interesting (or at least the most entertaining!) person on the planet to me. Today was one of those days....

 

Mr. Theo has been cheery for three straight days, which is wonderful!!! And each day he has learned something new. Yesterday was how to kick the back seat of the car while riding in his car seat. The day before was how to peel the fuzzy monkey sticker off his changing table, which gives him great glee. Today was how to grab his feet, which kept him busy for quite some time. But the real entertainment came when I got ready to bathe him tonight. Theo's greatest desire right now is to crawl, so if I put him on his back, he generally will immediately flip over, push himself up, and attempt to crawl. Only most of the time, he looks like he's doing the breast stroke or some kind of frog motion as he flails wildly on his belly. So tonight I laid him on the bathmat, buck naked, while I ran water into his tub. He flipped over and wiggled himself onto the linoleum. I told him that didn't look very comfortable on his...er, privates...but he paid me no mind. He began to kick wildly with a big grin on his face, doing his breast-stroke/frog imitation. I thought this was very cute and called Chris to come look. And then I noticed the giant puddle spreading beneath Theo. The boy was peeing all over the floor and "swimming" in his own pee...very happily, I might add. And thus, he has been swimming in raw sewage, and he loves it! (I believe that line came from one of the Naked Gun movies back in the '80s or early '90s, but don't quote me on that....)