Cotton Candy Sunset

7 Months Old!

• Remy is a tall baby, in the 90th percentile for his age.
• He doesn't know how to crawl yet, but he loves to shoot out from a sitting position onto his belly. This is a good way to bonk your face on the floor, but he doesn't care.
  
• He still loves taking baths and has gotten really good at snatching up his rubber ducky as it floats by.
  
• He is eating solids now. Some days he is a champ at it, other days he spits every bite out.
  
• When he is feeling melancholy he cups the back of his head with his hand.
• He has giant feet and he rubs them together like a cricket when he is restless.
  
• He has started to get better at his vowel sounds, but hasn't started using any words yet.
  
• He is still sleeping in his pack 'n play in our bedroom (and, invariably, in our bed) but next month he moves to his own bedroom.
• He is good baby, but he is not a quite baby.
  
• The sight of his Daddy across a room sends him into paroxysms of joy. I am usually injured in some way when this happens.
  

What Season is This?

When the sun sets at 4:30pm there is no mistaking that it is winter, but it does get a little confusing (at least for a Midwesterner) when the temperature is in the 60s every day, and the leaves in the park across the street have just now changed colors.



I have the Christmas tree up and garland and lights festoon the balcony, but I feel like Christmas is still a long way off.

The one face he doesn't have...

is a poker face!

What a Year!

He Makes Every Day Special

Thanksgiving Week

The baby is napping and so I am going to try to do a quick update on Thanksgiving!

It was our first time taking Remy on a plane. They say it is good to fly while he would normally be sleeping so we took a non-stop, red eye to Chicago early, early Monday morning. It appears that "they" are right! At the airport he slept until we got to security and then fell asleep after take off as soon as the plane leveled off. The only rough patch was during the climb - even though I was feeding him a bottle he did seem to have problems with his ears. Same thing on the way home.

When we got into Chicago at 6am it was 61 degrees, about 20 degrees warmer than it had been in Las Vegas when we left! That didn't last long though and over the course of the week there were some truly frigid days. It was good though, it made saying goodbye to family and coming home a little easier.

We fit a lot of visiting in over the course of five days. Some of the highlights were seeing Mom and Dad's new apartment in Elgin (love all the windows!), playing Yahzee with Kristin and Mark (I can't remember the last time I got to play Yahzee!), Harry Potter with the Stangers, the big photo shoot with Sara, Crystal and Steph, a Thanksgiving feast at the Reardons, coffee with the girls, seafood with Jason, Dee, Mom and Joey, and a lovely coffee date with Dad.

Here are some pics from the week:

(((swoon)))

When Wonder-baby Remy and brilliant photographer Sara get together, this is the result! If you live in the Chicagoland you need to check out Autumn Fields Photography!

I have to say it again...

I love Flylady!

Yesterday morning, before Ross had even left for work, my friend Anita came by. A year ago, if someone had stopped by at that hour, I would have been mortified - but instead I was happy to invite her in. I was dressed, the baby was dressed, the bed was made, the dirty laundry was in the washer, the kitchen counters were empty, and there was one cereal bowl in the sink. The first thing she said was "Mmmm, smells good in here!" I have four cats and a garbage can full of diapers, so that was saying something!

I love that the habits I have picked up from Flylady free me up to concentrate on more important things, like being a mom, and that I don't have to feel embarrassed or overwhelmed by a place that should be a refuge for me and my family!

What's Up

• One more week until our trip to Illinois to see the family for Thanksgiving! We are going to be staying with Steph for optimal family time, we'll do Thanksgiving dinner at Jason and Dee's, and it sounds like friends will be coming over on Wednesday and Friday as well. Yay!
• Hoping to take a mini-vacay after that since Ross has some days to use up and no deadlines looming at work. Probably stay at Red Rock Resort & Casino because of the child care. (I may just be dreaming here, but I am pretty sure Ross is on board for this.)
  
• Have to go to the storage unit and get the Christmas decorations out. We just signed a new 10 month lease so there may be some other things I'll want to get out of storage as well...
  
• Planning to spend the last week of December in Raleigh with Ross's family. I love Raleigh, and I love the Cangelosis!
  
• Finally got some car repairs done this weekend so the world is my oyster. Maybe Remy and I will go to the park. :)
  
• Started on Gabapentin for my Fibromyalgia. So far, nada, but he has me on a ridiculously low dose so I still have hope for it.
• We ordered a Kinect sensor thingy for the XBox! I am so excited. My fantasy is that I will love it so much I will want to play every day and I will find myself effortlessly transformed into a trim and athletic person. (((happy sigh)))
• I suck. Remy's six month appointment was Friday and I totally forgot. So I will reschedule and hopefully have those much anticipated weight and height figures to post soon.
  

Six Months Old!

Friday was Remy's half birthday and out of the blue we got a wonderful package from his great-grandma Jeri, so we had a little impromptu birthday celebration! Thank you for making our little guy so happy, Jeri!!!

Eating Solids!

On November 9th, 2010 we put Remy in his highchair and fixed him a small bowl of baby oatmeal for his first meal! He had been watching us eat with intense interest for weeks, so when he saw that spoon coming he apparently knew exactly what to do! While I was feeding him, Ross was sitting behind me eating his dinner, and I think that made it even funner for Remy - to be eating with his daddy!

The plan is to do oatmeal for three days, then add veggies, and then in about a week start adding fruits (so that he doesn't decide early that he only wants sweet things!)

Afternoon Outing

It looks like this may be the last really warm weekend of 2010 so we decided to head down to the strip and make the most of it. I felt a little weird about taking a baby there, but Las Vegas is more family friendly than you would think. We saw lots of other parents pushing around strollers, and that made me feel better. Remy liked the autumn themed garden at the Bellagio, and he enjoyed the water show set to Elton John's "Your Song," but his favorite part of the outing was watching all the traffic on Las Vegas Blvd. I think somebody is going to be getting some toy cars for Christmas!

P.S. My favorite part was corn dogs and beer at the Serendipity sidewalk cafe outside Caesar's Palace.

Halloween

Here are pictures from Remy's first Halloween! We didn't do anything exciting, just baked a cake and sat at home waiting for the trick-or-treaters that never came, but just having a little guy to enjoy the day with made it special.

Unfortunately little guy is waiting until he is 6 months old to eat solids so no cake for him.

I think next year if we take him out to trick-or-treat we will do something less furry because he got hot pretty fast in this costume!

Walking Sights

What's Up

Hi all! Not a whole lot going on but I'll give an update anyway!

• Remy will be 6 months old in about 2 weeks. That means it is time to go through his closet and start switching out clothes. So thankful for gifts and hand-me-downs from neighbors, family, friends, and co-workers...we've barely had to buy any clothes for the little guy!
• It turns out we will be going to Raleigh for Christmas. I was kind of excited to have baby's first Christmas at home, but this is cool too. Ross's parents' home is a lovely and relaxing place to be for the holidays, and this way more people will get to meet little Remy!
• Fall has finally reached Las Vegas. Well, relatively speaking. Yesterday the weatherman said it would be a "cool 72." I don't think a Chicago weatherman would have put it that way.
  
• Now that the weather is not so stifling, I've decided to start walking. It's tricky, though, because sidewalks are not very reliable out here. You will set off along what looks like a perfectly legitimate sidewalk, go about half a block, and it will just disintegrate into dust and rocks. This is very inconvenient when pushing a stroller. Wandering around the apartment complex works though, and the views are surprisingly good.
  
• Remy is now going to the nursery during church services. For some reason that feels like a big deal to me. It has gone really well, if you don't count the "TERRIBLE gas" we were told he experienced last time. :P
  

Little Thumb Sucker

Spooky Books for Halloween

UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean. The author of this book, journalist Leslie Kean, makes such an enormous effort to avoid any type of sensationalism that I almost didn't make it past the first 20 pages. (To make UFOs mind-numbingly boring is quite a feat!) But when the first hand accounts from the "generals, pilots and government officials" began I could not put this book down. This book focuses on sightings by extremely credible witnesses over the last several decades, avoids (for the most part) undue speculation, and calls out the US government and media for their inadequate response.

Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact by Jacques Vallee. This trippy treatise on inexplicable encounters throughout history makes the convincing case that the UFOs sighted in recent decades are in no way of extraterrestrial origin. The fairytales alone will be enough to give you nightmares! (Did I just use "trippy" and "convincing" in the same sentence?)



A Flaw in the Blood by Stephanie Baron. I'm reading this one right now and so far, so good. It's a mystery novel set in Victorian England with a gothic feel and a disturbing re-imagining of the Queen herself. The ebook is on sale at Barnes & Noble for less than two bucks!





I'm Looking Through You: Growing up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan. This fascinating autobiography tells the story of a transgender young man (now a woman) growing up in a haunted house. In turns tender, spine tingling, and hilarious this book makes for a very enjoyable read.

Misty Morning

We had a genuine thunderstorm last night. We think maybe this is the third time it has rained since we moved here - crazy! This morning the world smells like a sauna - maybe that is what happens when Willow Acacia and Eucalyptus trees get steamy?

My Perch

When I lived in IL I liked to talk about moving somewhere warm and dry. In fact, I think I list it on my blog somewhere as one of my top ambitions in life. But when push came to shove, I really didn't want to leave home. It took a fairly desperate situation (15 months unemployed and a baby on the way with no insurance) to make us up-root and move to Nevada. But now that I am here, I am once again amazed by the goodness and wisdom of God.

I will go to my grave believing that the Fox River Valley is one of the prettiest places in the country, but every time I go out my door here I am amazed at what I see. I love the mountains, I love the valley, I love the twinkling of the strip at night, I love the palm trees and the tumbleweeds and the birds that won't shut up, even when the sun goes down. Most of all, I love that I get to call this place home.

Recent Reads

I basically have four things I can do while the baby is napping - cook, clean, surf the web, or read. When I have a really good book, cooking and cleaning slide a little ;) Here are the books that have recently caused the laundry to back up:


Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith. Philosopher Isabel Dalhousie navigates her day to day life in Scotland with charming thoughtfulness and a curious streak that often gets her into trouble.





The second in the 44 Scotland Street series, more of the musings and adventures of an odd selection of neighbors in Edinburgh. It's mostly light hearted but the stuff about Bertie, the gifted little boy with the fearsomely yuppy mother, made me cry.





The third in the 44 Scotland Street series. Focuses a little more on gentle, unassuming Matthew and Angus the portrait artist. The narcissist Bruce has moved on to London and oddly, I kind of missed him!



I read The Hunger Games and the other two books in the series, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, in a week. This series is irresistible. It reminded me of all the paranoid, cautionary fiction hoisted on us in school, but with more romance, more adventure, and more bizarre fashion. It gets progressively grimmer and grimmer but ends with a surprisingly satisfying finish. Loved it.


Currently reading The Demon King because some website said that "if you like Hunger Games you may like this". I was on the fence until I read one review in which the reader gushed that it was the best fantasy novel he'd ever read. I have since realized that this review was probably written by a very young person. I'm about half way through it and am enjoying it but probably won't continue with the series.

Five Months Old Today!

Wonderful Weekend

I am feeling totally spoiled after the weekend we just had. Between the sale of the house on Friday and Ross getting to come home early it felt like a holiday. We went on a date (with the baby), picked out some velvety blue curtains for the bedroom, stocked up on Turpenoid and a brush cleaning jar, visited the neighborhood library and got a library card, went to the pool twice, did a small painting of an egret, bought our tickets for the Thanksgiving trip to IL, and still managed to fit in 6 episodes of Psych. ***happy sigh***

Was jarred back into reality this morning when I had to get up an hour early to go to the doctor and then came home and spilled a full cup of coffee on the carpet.

In case you are curious, here is the egret. Ross (Senior Artist, BFA, Perfectionist) doesn't like it. Well, I'm sorry but it's an exercise from a book on painting in a bold, loose style and it was meant to look like that. Mostly. Sort of.