"Uh-Oh!"

My SIL just sent me this video that she took of Audrey teaching Noah how to say "Uh-Oh!" (his first offical word) when we were visiting them.

Feel free to gush...



Now he's learned how to drop everything in sight and then say "Uh-Oh!" -- sheer entertainment for all parties involved.

*Blast off!

And I was in such a good mood this morning...

My shiny new elevator is already out of service -- that didn't take long!

Gotta love the NYC MTA.

I promise I didn't write "fix it + MTA you suck!" I'm pretty sure I thought it, though.

Feel free to call the above number and complain for me.

The countdown to May 4th begins...ugh!

*(that's my new expletive these days... it's a combination of "blast" and "buzz off" -- it just came out one day and I thought it was pretty funny.)

No more call!

Sunday night was Jon's last night of overnight medicine call for the rest of his career. He will have overnight call in psychiatry over the course of the next 3 years... but the worst is definitely behind us.

My friend Kendra called me to relay a conversation she had with her 3-year old daughter Lexi. She's going to have another baby in about a month and she was trying to explain what a hospital was to Lexi. The conversation went something like this:

Kendra: so when mommy has the new baby, I'm going to have to go to the hospital.
Lexi: what's a hospital?
Kendra: it's a place where doctor's work to help people.
Lexi: oh, you mean like where Jon lives?

such insight from such a young girl.
(go here for more Lexi-isms.)

thanks for the honesty, Lex!
Hopefully Jon can live at home now for a little while.

Sleeping in... together?

*

This past weekend our good friends Christina & Phil got married in Washington D.C. With some help from grandma and grandpa (gma babysat and gpa lent his car...) Jon and I were able to leave the baby and drive down to the wedding. It was a quick trip. We left late Friday afternoon, went to the wedding ceremony and part of the reception on Saturday afternoon and then drove home Saturday night. But we had such a great time together. We stayed at the Westin Grand hotel in D.C. and were able to actually sleep in together on Saturday morning. (there was no paper, rock, scissors game to see who would wake up with Noah... it was awesome!) We woke up around 11am and had brunch at a cute german cafe called Bread and Chocolate. The wedding was beautiful. They got married at the Georgetown Chapel on the campus of Georgetown University (apparently an East Coast tradition... who knew?) where they had originally met 9 years ago as freshman there.

Jon was able to catch up with some old med school buddies and swap internship stories -- my favorite was the one where they played a guessing game of how much weight they had all lost in the past year. Jon won hands down with a whopping 15 pounds... sad! (it was the only way he could have fit into that suit... it was the one he wore on our wedding day almost 6 years ago!)

Anyway, it was a great weekend and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for a wedding. 72 degrees and sunny.

Thanks again mom and dad for helping us out!

*(note the matchy-match tie... a BR bargain -- only $12.49)
I was so worried that someone else would have the same dress as me... luckily it didn't happen to me, but there were 2 other duplicate dresses there. oops!

A Successful Trip

So, we made it to Utah and back all in one piece! We had a great trip. I sufficiently obsessed about every little detail ad-nauseum (mental image: laminated schedule with details of every minute planned on departure day and more ziploc bags than anyone should ever use for one trip), but in the end I think it paid off. Noah was able to spend some quality time with his cousins and I had a blast hanging out with my SIL discusssing the minutia of motherhood -- everything from "the one-nap transition" to "how long is too long to let them sit in their crib after they wake up in the morning?" We left the kids with my brother (I'll call him super-dad/uncle) 3 different times so we could go to Art & Soup (a great SLC tradition), shop, and go out to dinner! It was so much fun. I was in heaven in their 4-bedroom home with a giant carpeted playroom packed with toys and their new mini-van. (ah, how your priorities in life change as you become a parent!) I also got to see some old friends and family that met Noah for the first time. It was so much fun to show him off. Noah did amazingly well on the trip.

Here are a few highlights from our travels:

1. my dad drove me brought us to the airport AND picked us up!!! (thanks dad!)
2. I couldn't seem to find the DVD player rental place at my terminal at the airport after I went through security, so after asking several people who said there wasn't one, I finally spoke with a man who told me there was one but that I needed to go back out of security and come through again if I wanted to get to it. So, I did! And soon realized he had no idea what he was talking about. I had to go through security again with Noah -- but this time I was in much more of a hurry! yikes. (I was able to rent a DVD player on the way home, which SAVED my life. Noah sat and watched baby einstein for a whole hour! It was awesome.)
3. on the way there we had our own row! (on the way home we were stuck in one of the only full rows, and then the guy in front of me busted his seat back! I almost had a meltdown. I really couldn't believe no one offered to switch their seat with me....arg! And our 3 hr. 45 min. flight turned into a 5 hour flight because of weather delays. Luckily, we had baby einstein to save the day.)
4. Noah became best friends with his cousin, Audrey (age 4). They played so well together and she taught him so many new tricks: like how to say "uh-oh", climb stairs, and how to play princess dress-up! It was really like having a babysitter because she was able to entertain him so well! (However, Noah and Andy (age 20 months) didn't seem to get along as well. Noah is practically double his size and found it amusing to head-butt and tackle him! I'm sure they'll get over their issues soon enough.)
5. We went to the Hogle Zoo. It was a fabulous day and the kids loved seeing all of the animals and riding on the safari train!
6. We went out to Macaroni Grill for my b-day. Gotta love those family-friendly food-chains. I had my favorite -- Pasta Milano, yum! And got the delicious complimentary chocolate b-day cake.
7. I enjoyed the perks of having a yard for a week. (It was funny because everytime we would go out to the yard, I kept thinking I had to pack the diaper bag and bring his jacket and hat just in case he needed it.)
8. I got to go to the mall... twice! Oh how I miss the mall. I definitely took advantage of it. From the carousel and the children's dino play-yard... to the fun little picture booth (we put all of the kids in and got some hilarious shots.)
9. tub-time with all 3 kids -- a mom's way of multi-tasking!
10. we had a chick-flick night and watched "The Holiday" which was actually much better the second time around. (who am I kidding? it was good both times... oh, Jude!)

11. 2 words... Cafe Rio.

we're on our way... no turning back!

cousin breakfast time

audrey babysitting... oh wait, that's baby einstein!

playing nice

gotta get me one of these things!

great gma A. and the boys

great gma B. and Noah meet @ South Town Mall

nothing like riding a rooster @ the mall carousel!

a visit with great gma & gpa S.

lunch @ Hogle Zoo

the giraffes!

mom and noah on my b-day

All in all, it was a successful trip. I had a little moment with myself as we landed back in NYC. (just a small tear shed...) I was grateful that we made it back in one piece (both physically and emotionally) and I think I just realized how much my confidence as a mom had grown by being adventurous and stepping outside of my comfort-zone to give Noah some new experiences. Good times.

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a Happy Easter! I hope you enjoyed your day as much as Noah enjoyed his! Wow! I didn't realize how much I torture this poor child... (whatever, he loves it!)

As you can see, we had a "dollar store" Easter. I bought Noah a little xylophone that I thought was really cute for just a buck. Then I got it home and was playing it with him and it's TOTALLY out of tune -- duh, what was I thinking? I had to throw it out because how will my child ever have perfect pitch if his first introduction to the C-Major scale is all jacked up? Oh, and the letters that I bought looked so great in the package. I was so excited to get them home and let him play with them on the fridge while I worked in the kitchen, but then I opened up the package and there were no magnets on the back of the letters... ghetto!) Silly me to assume that they actually had magnets on the back of them! I guess I need to read the fine print better next time... or just not be so cheap with his toys! Either way, he couldn't tell the difference and he was loving his new stash of toys. He also got a mini bowling set and a basketball hoop so he can practice his new throwing skills. (oh yes, he figured out how to throw... Grandma S. taught him while she was visiting the other day... now it's all over!)

Enjoy your day!

Travel Tips

In an attempt to avoid going stir-crazy this month and also avoid spending my b-day alone as Jon works ridiculous hours and I am trapped indoors because the weather has yet to convince me that it actually is Spring... I booked a flight to Utah. I am going to stay with my brother and sis-in-law and their 2 kids for a week. We have been wanting to get the cousins together for awhile now, so I thought that going out there in April was the best plan. (this picture was the last time they were together in July.) Noah will also get to meet his 2nd cousin and his great grandma that he's never met. And now that Noah is so interested in playing with other kids and he has a reasonably reliable schedule, I thought that this would be perfect timing. So, I'll be making the trip alone with Noah and praying that he behaves himself and I don't have a melt-down. I am also praying that I'll be able to juggle all of my stuff and the baby in the cab to the airport and through those lovely check-in/security lines.

I have obsessed to no end about what bags to bring, whether or not to bring my stroller, how I'll be able to entertain my somewhat hyper 10-month old on a 5-hour flight, and of course bringing the perfect wardrobe for me and Noah. (why is it that everytime I go away on a trip I feel like all of my current clothes aren't good enough?)

Anyway, I've already made lists of his favorite books, toys, and foods to bring on the plane and as of now, we have a row to ourselves on the way there. But even with all the planning/obsessing -- I am starting to freak out. (Which is actually really odd because I was shockingly surprised at how calm I felt when I initially purchased the ticket. I honestly thought I would have that sinking feeling as a I pressed the "confirmation" button and think, "Oh no! What have I done?" -- but I didn't!) Now I'm thinking, "What if he starts screaming and yelling (his new favorite thing to do) and I can't get him to calm down?" I've even tried practicing sitting with him on the couch for long periods of time just to see how he does. Let's just say it's not pretty. The longest I could entertain him for a stretch was 10 minutes. YIKES! This should definitely be interesting.

So, here's the list of random things that calm him down:

1. mini measuring tape that for some reason he loves to chew on
2. Jon's ipod headphones -- again, loves to eat them
3. pictures of babies --he starts laughing and smiling whenever he sees baby pictures
4. one of Jon's work IDs -- he loves to chew on the string and point to the picture of "da-da"
4. a straw -- he loves when I drop water in his mouth from a straw
5. shredded cheese -- I'm sure we'll make a HUGE mess, but it works!
6. our new favorite -- watered down apple juice!
7. portable DVD player with Baby Einstein videos
8. his baby toothbrush -- he can sit and chew on it for 30 minutes at a time while I read him stories.
9. endless peek-a-boo games (hopefully there will be a kind-hearted nearby passenger that will play with him too!)
10. and if all else fails, there's always a healthy dose of benadryl.

I think I've come full circle with the whole thing now, though. It's going to be an ADVENTURE. (That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.) And we'll survive... We may make a few enemies on the plane, but there are worse things that could happen. I'm so excited for Noah to hang with his cousins and for me to get out of the city for awhile.

Anyway, think happy thoughts for us on Tuesday, and if any of you seasoned-travelling moms out there have an travel tips for me, I'd greatly appreciate any advice!

PS -- It was 70 degrees in UT today... compared to the high of 45 degrees it was here. I'm so excited. Hopefully it will stay nice.