Day drinking with Kathie Lee and Hoda

I owe stay-at-home moms a big apology. I used to think they had it good: strolling down the street sipping lattes, reading magazines while their babies slept, working out (I'm not sure how I thought that happened with babies), chillaxing in the park... . Back in my working outside the home days it all seemed pretty cush to me. I remember hearing about SAHM's who had cleaning people and I was incredulous. What did they do all day? Now I know. Most days are a mix of preparing Tate's meals, feeding Tate, doing laundry (I seriously do laundry every day now), changing a bazillion diapers, trying to keep the place picked up enough so DCFS doesn't come and take Tate away because we're living in squalor, and most importantly, trying to keep a very active 2-foot-tall person with absolutely no fear from killing himself. The last is a new development since Tate has gotten more mobile, and it's simultaneously exciting to see him exploring his world and exhausting keeping up with him.

So once he's down for his morning nap (assuming I can talk him into taking one these days) I take a quick break from from it all and sit down with some coffee or breakfast and watch 10 minutes of the fourth hour of The Today Show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. Before Tate the only reason I knew there was a fourth hour of The Today Show was because Joel McHale always makes fun of it on The Soup. Now I find myself tuning in daily. All of the girls in the dorm LOVED Kathie Lee when I was in school, but back then I just thought she was overly perky and irritating (this was before she got axed from her show with Regis for the younger, perkier Kelly Ripa). But aging Kathie Lee has an "oh eff it" attitude of resignation that is actually kind of amusing. And I like Hoda Kotb because every time I see her name on screen I spend a few seconds wondering why her last name doesn't have another vowel. Anyway, every day I tune in just to feel like I have some brief connection with the outside world and you know what those ladies are doing? Day drinking! Every single day. I'm sure some producer came up with the idea to make the show seem to viewers like a cozy hour-long chat with your girlfriends Hoda and Kathie Lee, and it's working. Although if I ever do crack open the tequila at 9 am on a weekday I hope someone does call DCFS. It's a slippery slope.

If you like pina coladas...

Ok, so I still haven't posted Tate's 9-month OR 10-month photos, but Brad and I are going on vacation! Or I should say, Brad, Tate and I are going on vacation. Brad and I haven't been on a real vacation since our impromptu Costa Rica trip in 2008, so we are definitely due. I was thumbing through a magazine at my hair salon and came across an article that included a spread on what to wear if you are going to Nantucket this summer (cute, preppy J. Crew-ey stuff) and got inspired. Well, turns out you AREN'T going to Nantucket if you are reading an article at your hair salon in June and expect to find a semi-affordable summer rental for a week there. But we did find a cottage on the beach in Cape Cod. And Brad referred another employee to his company so the referral bonus (provided the guy sticks it out for 90 days) helps with the semi-affordable part. We know next to nothing about the area, so we have some research to do in the next couple of weeks. Here's what we know about the Cape going in:

1. Kennedys, Kennedys, Kennedys
2. Cape Cod = Vodka, cranberry, lime
3. The people in The Pina Colada Song like hanky panky at midnight in the dunes there
4. It's a great place to break out the madras skirts and seersucker shorts

We're still trying to work out all of the traveling with Tate stuff, but we're excited for our first family vacation. Since Tate still takes 2 naps a day (and is kind of miserable if he misses one) there may be a lot of time spent sitting on the deck looking at the water while he naps. And that sounds A-Ok to me.

Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!

I gave Tater his second haircut the other day. It was much harder than the first since he's a lot more wiggly now. Brad had to attempt to hold his head while I did the cutting. I was so nervous about potentially poking an eye out or cutting off an ear that instead of using the proper haircutting technique my stylist showed me I just went in and lopped off a big chunk. And then tried to fix it. Brad says Tate looks like Thomas Dolby now. Since we didn't have MTV back in the day I had to Google Thomas Dolby to see what he looked like:

I don't think it's quite that bad. But I did notice that in current photos Thomas Dolby is sporting a completely shaved head. I hope Tater doesn't ever have to go that route since his flat spot on the right side of his head still hasn't rounded out.

And I always thought the lyrics in Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science" were "Good heavens, Miss America, you're beautiful!" Who is Miss Sakamoto? I'll have to ask Brad. He usually knows these things.

Every day's an endless stream...

...of something.

Tate has officially been sick this past month many more days than he has been well. I'll spare you the details, but we're off to the drugstore to pick up some probiotics to try to help fight the side-effects of his antibiotics and keep the little guy from getting dehydrated. Brad and I are slowly coming apart at the seams, but I'm sure we'll be doing better once Tate isn't up late pukeing and whatnot.

Aren't you glad there's no picture with this post?

Sleep!

The past three days I've woken to light streaming through the window. My first instinct has been to race to Tate's room to check on him, only to find him slumbering peacefully in his crib. Yes, our baby is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. Since this marks the first time I've gotten more than 3-4 hours of sleep in a row in 2011, it definitely calls for the use of all caps. I'd love to say it was the result of one of the sleep books I've been slowly ploughing my way through, but it's actually due to one that hasn't been written yet called "Hey Mom, Did You Ever Think Maybe I'm Just Hungry?" Seriously. I was in the middle of an internal struggle about whether to employ the popular (and apparently effective) cry-it-out method of sleep training when I came across a feeding chart my sister had given to me. Even accounting for the fact that Tate started solids a little later than some, he wasn't eating nearly what the chart indicated he should be for his age. So I doubled up the cereal at his next meals and added an additional cube of fruit and bingo, sleeping through the night! I've been reading a little more about attachment parenting (which surprisingly seems to be a philosophy that appeals to me), and one of the things that stood out was that crying is viewed as communication, not manipulation. In this case Tate was apparently trying to tell us that he needed more food!

Family photo day

So sometime right around 8 months I decided that if I couldn't make time stand still I could at least capture this stage of Tate's life by having some photos taken of him. We got a referral to a really great photographer named Jen Soares from someone in my new moms group. Jen was so awesome! You can see a preview of the photos she took on her blog. I love the shots of Tate, and it was so nice to get some pics of all three of us together. The photos also commemorated one of the few times the three of us were showered and wearing clean clothes at the same time. Even our house was clean. It was a good day.

8 Months!

Tate just keeps getting more and more fun--and more and more mobile! We put a quilt down over our living room rug and he loves to roll around on it. We can't turn away for a minute, because he's really fast at rolling under the couch now. He also loves to grab things. Anything within his reach is fair game. He especially loves things he's not supposed to have, such as the TV remote, cell phones, and Brad's computer. He also has a special fondness for zippers and tags. And Brad's baseball hats. He loves to chew on the brims of those. He also says da-da-da-da-da, especially when he first wakes up in the morning. A couple of times we've sworn he's said "hi" to Brad (ha da-da). We're torn between being excited to watch him grow and develop and wanting to hold onto each stage just a little longer.