The Texas Rangers played the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. It's been a great year for Dallas teams! (Well, except the Cowboys...) I regretted not actually going to the Super Bowl when it was here so when the subject of going to a game came up, I was all for it.
The big dilemma was whether or not to take Max. I thought it would be cool for him to say he'd been to the World Series plus I didn't want to miss him when I was away from him. Peter however helped me see that it wouldn't be smart to bring him. Max does not enjoy being around big groups with all the energy and stimulation, he ends up just crying the whole time. It was the right decision. Thank goodness my friend Chad (who lives just 2 miles from the ball field) was willing to watch Max for us. That meant I didn't need to add the 1 1/2 round trip travel time to the amount of time Max would be away from us. Chad (who has demanded to be an uncle to my son and thus is "Uncle Chad" in our house) and his 8 yr old son had a great time with Max and said he was great for them - whew! I feel so lucky to have friends who love my son so much!
Anyway, back to the game! The weather was awesome. We brought jackets but didn't need them at all. October in Dallas is pretty great!
Inside the ball park
The flyover before the game
After the national anthem and first pitch by George W Bush (which I missed because I was walking up to our seats - I should have just turned around and waited, grrrrrrr)
Wooooooo We are at the World Series!
We are having a great time! Baseball is so much more fun in person.
2 Tickets to the World Series (including fees - 377.00)
Parking for the game - 35.00
Concessions - 27.50
Souvenier T-shirt for our son (holy cow we have to think about things like that now!) - 22.00
Watching the Rangers shut out the Cardinals 4-0? PRICELESS!!!!!
It was a fantastic, fun game! I am sooooo glad we went!
(The Rangers almost WON the World Series...but lost in the 7th game tonight. So close!!!)
I didn't realize this until my friend Chad pointed it out after watching Max during the World Series. Max loves to be naked. He gets instantly happy if he can just hang out in his diaper.
He is starting to suck on his hands
Movie - I know all of my movies aren't super exciting, in fact you may find them boring. But I don't want to just document the special moments, I want to document the normal moments and be able to remember what Max was like. Here's what he's like when he wakes up in a calm disposition.
This is a pose he does quite a bit. He likes holding one arm out.
We had an awesome treat last weekend. Clay and Leanne were in Austin visiting the Kenyons and they all came up to visit. I so appreciate that they were willing to make the drive in order to come see us. We spent Friday night visiting and hanging out at our place.
The Kenyons slept at our house - it sure is fun to stay up late chatting and then wake up and have them here still. I made breakfast (thanks to some urging by Richard). Kenna and Natalie were really interested in our pool so Michelle took them down. Of course it was pretty cool so the girls only played on the steps and put their legs in.
Later though, they were playing outside of the pool and Natalie pushed Kenna in. Poor Kenna, it was a shock - luckily she could swim but boy was it cold!
Once Clay and Leanne and Brittany and her boys arrived, we went downstairs and hung out in the community room at our apt complex.
Michelle and Kenna
Richard and Uncle Clay playing pool
We went to in-n-out for lunch - yummy!
Kenna, Hayden, Natalie, and Aunt Leanne
After lunch, we went to the park so the kids could run off some energy before it was time to get back in the car and drive home.
Michelle loved holding Max and I loved letting her - she was great with him and he was so good for her.
Max was such a lucky boy to get so much love and time from Michelle
It was a wonderful visit, I love the Ridings so much. I treasure my relationship with them and wish we would have had more time to visit. I am so glad that the Kenyons live within driving distance and look forward to our next visit. I hope the drive (that ended up being longer than they anticipated) didn't scare them off.
This past week (as I mentioned on the previous blog) , Peter and I had tickets to the last show of the season for musicals at the Fair Park. It was West Side Story and I was so excited to see it. I love West Side Story! Well, one of the benefits for seeing the musical that happens during the Texas State Fair is that you get admission to the fair with your ticket.
Peter and I aren't big on riding the rides or playing the games, so we spend our time walking around and eating the food. We only had a little more than a half hour until we wanted to head into our seats at the musical so we didn't spend much time walking around.
We tried the food that won the award for best taste - "Buffalo Chicken Wrapped in a Flapjack". It was a buffalo chicken strip, dipped in pancake batter, then rolled in jalapeno bread crumbs, deep fried, and served with a side of syrup. I know it sounds scary but I actually thought it might be good. It was not. We did get to see a little of the parade while we were eating though, so that was good.
Peter trying the chicken strip
After that we had some corn on the cob - it was okay but not as good as the corn on the cob at Lagoon in Pioneer Village by the Log Ride. That is my very favorite corn!
I forgot to take a picture of it, but I wanted something sweet so we tried "chocolate covered strawberry waffle balls". They were pretty good. But my standards were pretty low at this point. Peter wrapped up our time at the fair with an ice cream treat.
So I have decided (and hopefully will remember this next year) that going to the fair is really not worth our time and money. We don't do rides, we don't do the games, none of the car shows/ other displays interest me, and the food really is not worth it (the air just stinks of fried food). That doesn't leave much left.
This is how excited Peter was to see the musical. :)
I really enjoy West Side Story. It was one of the musicals that I participated in during high school. This was not the greatest version ever. It dragged, the Sharks spoke/sang in Spanish nearly the entire time so some of the really great lines were missed. "Maria" was a little weak, and I didn't like how they ended the show after Tony gets shot. In fact, after the show, Peter said that he would have rather have been home holding Max and I agreed.
Regardless, I must say "Thank You" to Peter for one of the best Christmas presents I can remember getting from him. I have loved having season tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals for 2011. He was really generous with this present and got us good seats. I know that musicals are more my thing than his thing so it's awesome that he gave me a present that meant he would have to sit through 5 musicals this year. They were great dates - Love you, Peter!
We sure do love this little guy. It's an awesome feeling to know that we created him and that he gets to be a part of our lives forever. Peter adores him and I miss him when he's sleeping. They say you can't "spoil" a baby up until 2 months old so hold them and cuddle them as much as possible. We have certainly done that. However, now that we are moving past that 2 month stage, it's going to be hard to pull back. I think we are going to have a spoiled son. :)
Here's some pics of Max that don't really fit into a specific blog...
I know he's unhappy but check out his socks - aren't they cute?! I have loved putting him in cute socks.
Those cheeks are starting to get out of control. :)
Notice the bear on his bum. Animal faces on the bum of baby's clothes are all the rage. I am not a fan but then you put the clothes on, and see him on the floor, and all of a sudden, it's cute.
He's doing great with lifting his head up when he's doing tummy time. He still doesn't like it though.
This is a funny face that Max pulls, typically when you are wanting him to look at you and he is doing anything but that.
Today Max is 2 months old! Time has both gone fast and slow. Fast during the day and slow during the night. :)
Max went to his doctor yesterday for his 2 month visit and got his shots. He was the calmest he's been yet at the doctor's. Dr. Gondol even got some coo's. Here are his stats at 2 months... Weight - 11 lbs 5 oz (41st percentile), Height - 21.5 inches (6th percentile), Head - 39 centimeters (28th percentile). I wondered if I should be concerned that his weight and height are so disproportionate but the doctor said that I shouldn't. He was probably eating more than normal in order to feel better from the acid reflux and that he has grown 2 inches which is fine. I sure hope this poor boy doesn't end up super short like his momma. (They did weigh him with a wet diaper on so I imagine he weighs a little less than that.)
This time we were under the sea at the doctor's
Then it came time for his shots. I really struggled with whether he should be immunized and then whether we should spread them out more or not. In the end, I decided that it was what was recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, so I was going to stay with the regular schedule of immunizations. He had one immunization that he took orally, and then 3 shots. 2 nurses each did one shot in separate legs at the same time, kind of like when you get both ears pierced at the same time, and then he got one more right after that. I felt so bad when he started screaming and then he took awhile to calm down. :(
Maxwell's pink band aids (It's what the nurse grabbed and I wasn't about to irritate the woman about to stab my son because I didn't want him to have a pink band aid.)
He was pretty fussy the rest of the day and had this really really sad cry. I couldn't take that cry so I held him much of the day. He was pretty sleepy though too so we got some nice cuddle time in too.
When Peter got home from work Max started feeling better and we got some awesome smiles out of him. He was so happy! He was sitting on Peter's lap just dishing out the smiles and showing off his dimples.
So ridiculously cute - watch this video! This was the first time he really reacted to Peter in this way with minutes of smiles and coos rather than just a random smile here and there. These moments are addicting - I want more!
I am so glad that Max was feeling better!!!
Back to today - his birthday! I figured I would document how we spend our day so that I can look back and remember what a "normal" day is and not just the experiences that I would deem blog-worthy.
Max ate at around 1 am this morning. Peter and I were still up so at least I didn't have to wake up to feed him. He then slept until 6 am. Peter got up and changed his diaper and burped him and then I fed him. Max was so tired after eating that he didn't even squirm when I was swaddling him back up. Usually we put Max back in the pack-n-play in our room to sleep. However, a few times over the last week, after that 5 am/6 am feeding, I have been putting him in the bed between Peter and I. I always said I wouldn't let my baby sleep in my bed, however, let me explain why I have caved in. I have found that when Max is sleeping next to me, he typically sleeps as long as I do. So what this means is, if I put him in with me after he eats at 6 am, he will sleep (like me) until like 10 am. If I don't do this, he's back up around 8 am. It's only 2 hours difference, why is that a big deal? Well, it makes a HUGE difference in how rested I feel. It means that I get two decent size sleeping sessions - around 5 hours after midnight and then 4 hours around dawn. I feel rested and refreshed. So, goodbye to "my baby isn't going to sleep in our bed" and hello to happy Kallie. The only problem is that this method means we get going really late in the morning which isn't going be feasible when I have to go back to work. But I will deal with that later and for now, enjoy some sleep! (I am sure I'll be kicking myself at some point for doing this but to a sleep deprived mommy, future consequences don't factor in.)
Here's a rough timeline of how our day went:
10:20 am
And just like I hoped, Max (and I) slept until around 10:20 am! Max typically wakes up grunting and so we don't pick him up immediately and instead give him some time to grunt and work on making his diaper dirty.
Max sleeping
video - max waking up
10:40 am
Once up, I changed Max's diaper and then fed him. He was really hungry after sleeping so long so he ate for 45 minutes. He acted pretty tired when I was burping him so I figured it was time for another nap. I bundled him up, turned on the white noise machine, laid him down and he just laid there awake. It was a calm, non-fussy awake so I took advantage and went and ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I came back to this:
Nope, I'm not sleeping mom
12:00 He started fussing so I held him, rocked him, and he quickly went to sleep. Silly little boy just wanted to be held in order to go to sleep. And now we have this:
12:45 Max woke up after a not long lap with lots more grunting. (Note how cute he is below with his tongue out because he was trying so hard.)
I figured he was needing some help dirtying his diaper so I put him in a bouncy seat that has produced a few quality blowouts in the past (gravity helps?) and jumped in the shower. This is a pretty awesome bouncy seat that vibrates and then plays music WITH lights. (I couldn't pick just one picture because I think my son is too cute to limit the pics.)
1:15 I'm done showering and getting ready (Max did great in the bouncy seat - we had successful grunting!) so I changed his diaper and got him dressed for the day. We frequently have great cooing that happens after I change Max's diaper (which he doesn't like typically). I figure it's because he's up closer to my face. When we were done playing, it was time for him to eat again.
Cooing on the changing table
I love his sweet lips after he's been nursing
2:00 - After he nursed (and burped) it was time for me to get some things done so Max had some alone time playing on his play mat.
2:30 - Time for another diaper change and then we headed out for a walk around the park next door (I figure there aren't many places a 2 month old wants to go for his "birthday" but he enjoys walks plus usually falls asleep and he hadn't slept very much so far today.)
Ready to go! This was the first day it was cold enough to wear some of the clothes he has for cooler weather. I was starting to worry that he might grow out of them before he got the chance.
Cute boy all bundled up.
Riding down the elevator
At the park
3:40 We got back from our walk and Max was hungry again so I fed him and then got him ready for his night at Aunt Brittany's.
4:44 We made it out the door! Peter and I had tickets to see West Side Story at the fairpark and were also going to go to the State Fair for a little bit before the show. Brittany was kind enough to babysit him while we were gone. This would be the first time Max was ever away from BOTH Peter and I.
Max in the car
Max at Brittany's
I thought it would be no big deal to leave Max however when the time came to leave, I was torn and dragged my feet. It was harder than I thought! I wanted to check in with Brittany every 5 minutes. But, he did a great job - Brittany sent me this picture of Landen and Max holding hands.
We got back to Brittany's around 11:30 pm. She said that he did pretty well. My 2 month old is getting so old! :)
Sleepin when we got home
11:55 - Max woke up and so we changed his PJ's since he had spit up on them, changed his diaper, and were able to get a little play time in with dad before his birthday was up.
There you go - 24 hours in the life of a 2 month old.
Wife, Mom, and Career Woman. Trying to succeed at all three. Enjoy cruising, time with friends and family, and sleeping. Busy life doesn't leave time for as much fun as in the past but that's okay, it's still a good life.
