close call.

I was about to insert my hand and necktie into the teeth of the shredder that we got for christmas- when I spied the warnings showing me not to. thank god.

blowing bubbles.

Henry even looks cute when he is blowing spit bubbles. He is learning new ways to amuse himself (and crack me up). H. has also really taken to that little chick I bought for him when I was pregnant. It is the little animal friend that rode around with him in his crib at the hospital. It is so soft and lovely. Comfort.

its the freakin' weekend...

...we're gonna have some fun. To quote the R-ah. Mike and I went to go see Borat this weekend- we have been trying forever to see it -Going out for a night on the town together requires alot of advance planning now; as we have to line up one of our moms to watch Henry, etc. It was worth the wait though. The movie was as hilarious as I expected it to be. A bit depressing though. I can't believe the display of ignorance I saw as shown by the americans being "interviewed." Unbelievable. I must be naive in thinking that racism and bigotry are quickly diminishing. I love that the stupid frat boys from South Carolina are trying to sue for defamation of character. Poor babies! I just found out that the rodeo depicted was filmed in Salem, Virginia. Yikes! I used to drive through Salem when I took 460 on my way to school. That hits a little too close to home. If you have seen the film, you know what I'm talking about. What are these people thinking? I guess they aren't. I don't know how Sascha B.C. keeps a straight face. Especially when the fat guy was messing with his a noose in the hotel room.
We finished our evening with dinner at the Boot. Yum. The food was delicious. My third visit, and I've been pleased every time. I had the lasagna bolognese, Mike had the orecchiette with italian sausage. They have a really good wine list and beer menu. I love that red cap Chimay!! Thanks Jules for turning me on to that one. It will be a great venue when they can start booking bands to play. It is just a really nice, low-key atmosphere wherein you can actually have a conversation. The bathroom is clean as well, which is important to me- I avoid the taphouse now because of the nastiness festering in the w.c. I have a good feeling about that place- worth a babysitter! Cheers to The Boot!

tree.

got the tree lit. That experiment should read "joy", but it looks more like "jog." Yeah, I need to jog... I threw in a picture of me and Hank for good measure.

"mommy blogs"

I can't believe it. Has this become a so-called "mommy blog"? I swear- I do have interests that extend beyond my child... but he is just so unbelievably incredible to look at-I can't stop taking pictures of him. I look at him all the time and think to myself: Mike and I created THAT? wow. It is amazing. And Henry is such a happy child. He wakes up smiling and laughing. I love that he is so happy and comfortable and safe. I love that I'm able to stay home with him. I do miss my job, and adult interaction, but that smile in the morning tells me it is all worth it.

And speaking of adult interaction- Julie, Beth, and Cassie- I had so much fun Saturday night. Thanks. Beth called me on Sunday, and laughingly said " how's it going, party girl?". Whatever that means. hmph.

christmas balls.

I think I've finally amassed enough ornaments- to um, decorate a whole forest of trees this year. What can I say? My mom instilled within me a true love of holiday decoration. There is nothing better than pulling all of those boxes down from the attic and rediscovering things from years past. Enjoying these treasures for only a short time each year means they stay special forever. My husband thinks its all a bit wierd and unnecessary- and I can see his point... we really don't NEED three live trees this year...Our house being so small and everything...

I spent two hours putting lights on the tree last night. Before I began I plugged in all the strands, and checked all of the little bulbs. As soon as I finished connecting everything and getting all of the branches lit just right, the lights flashed off, then back on, then off- never to flash back on again. f'in merde.

poulet? mais oui, garcon.

H. Cooper deciding he will probably not be a vegetarian.

whoozit.

Some strange spirit inhabits Henry's Whoozit toy. It turns him in to a little maniac. I make sure we never leave home without it, hehehe.

happy days.

some fleurs.

Above- arrangements I put together for the thanksgiving feast this year. They had ornamental kale at the wholesaler. Love it.
Last year Mike and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house for nine people, and it all seemed pretty ambitious. We had our next door neighbors over because their parents lived out of town, and they had a new baby and weren't up for travelling. I remember admiring their little family and relishing the idea of a son. Mike and I broke the wishbone of the turkey that day and both wished for the same thing. A couple of weeks later Henry was conceived! Hard to believe that was a year ago.
Needless to say, we did not host Thanksgiving here this year. I made a couple of arrangements and three pies. That was ambitious enough with a newborn. It was a wonderful day to give thanks.

giving thanks.

I am thankful for...
my boys.

grrr.

Mike and I were looking at these pictures last night and we laughed. Henry seems to be saying: take away the owl motif and I'll punch ya in the gut. grrr. It is funny- the owl theme is a bit serendipitous- Cassie created a reproduction of an owl-shaped clock that I really wanted. She then made him the owl pillow. Then Gymboree, where we love to shop, came out with its 'creatures' line of infant clothing, which included- you guessed it- owls. Finally- a few weeks after Henry was born I was up and feeding him in the late, late night. I heard a loud bird call- it was an owl!! We have all sorts of interesting birds around, because we live on the wetlands- Herons, egrets, hawks, woodpeckers, we have even seen a pair of bald eagles- but never an owl. We hear the owl periodically at night. I like to think of him as Henry's nighttime protector. And to think the bird theme began with twittering bird. It comes around full circle.

hoot.

Henry is nine weeks today. He had his two month check- up yesterday, which included a nasty round of immunizations. Four shots in the meatiest part of his legs. I felt awful. It reminded me of how helpless I felt when he was born and had to go in to the nicu. It also made me think of Ken and Colleen. After all, this was just four quick little shots, and look what Ellie just went through! Four little shots is a piece of cake, really. Henry did fine and was pretty calm for the rest of the day. And- hallelujah!!!!! He slept straight through from midnight until 5:20 am. Unbelievable. It is amazing how much sunnier ones outlook becomes when they have had some sleep. Above are some pictures of the little one hamming it up.

indian summer.

This weekend we met up with some relatives at nearby Knott's Island. We convened at a local winery for a little (or a LOT of!) wine tasting and catching up. It was the perfect day for a leisurely drive from the city out into the country. The blazing colors of the foliage mingling with the stunning beauty of our coastal waters edge was the perfect backdrop for our family outing. A few things celebrated yesterday included an engagement, a 50th wedding anniversary, a couple of birthdays, and our son meeting a lot of cousins for the first time. Also in attendance were a couple of relatives whom have recently beat cancer. It was the perfect day for celebration.
Mike and I took a walk with Henry through the vineyard and to the water. A local dog that had been running about followed us. When we got to the dock the dog jumped right into the sound. He was swimming around like he belonged there, happily lapping at the water. When we turned to leave however, we realized the dog couldn't figure out how to get out. The bulkhead was too steep. He looked at us like "what do I do?". Mike ended up having to pull him out of the water. It was pretty funny to watch them. It seems that Mike is always rescuing people and things, so this was fitting. The look of gratitude on the dog's face was priceless.
He followed us back to the lodge the whole way and we played a bit of fetch. It was a perfect walk on a beautiful day- I will remember it forever.

hold your head up.... high!

Henry is eight weeks old today! He has reached many of his milestones ahead of time... It is so amazing to watch him grow.

posy.

some flowers I've recently arranged.

psycho.

Cassie- you left before the best part of the film!

trick or treat.

We had more trick or treaters this year than ever. I'm so glad Cassie came over- before she got here I was a bit perplexed as to how I would pull it off- handing out candy, that is... home alone with Henry; Nico the chihuahua barking her head off at strangers coming to the door; Henry needing immediate diaper changes, immediate feeding... funny how the simplest things become suddenly- how should I put it-- challenging. Yes, challenging. At one point I put the basket of candy on the porch with a note that read "take one".
Alas, I was able to finish the pumpkins and I think the porch looked lovely and inviting. Cassie and I enjoyed talking through the entire movie we settled on watching. Good times, Cass. (For some reason the server isn't letting me upload photos at the moment- I'll try again later)

happy halloweeny.

I absolutely adore halloween, so I'm a bit bummed about not dressing up this year. So here are a couple of pictures from last year. Mike and I were the flesh-eating doctor/nurse duo. I love the zombie nurse idea, because if girls dress in medical gear, it is usually the ubiquitous 'sexy nurse.' I like to take the sexy out and replace it with horrifying gore. Every year I have to be a gory something... flight attendant post crash, a girl scout who went trick or treating at the wrong house... any excuse to pretend like I have massive head trauma and decorate my knees like the caps got blown out. Fun!!! I wonder what I'll do next year? I don't want to scare poor Henry.

I have to finish my jack o'lanterns now- if I don't dress up, I have to do something beautiful for the porch to make it festive for the neighborhood kids. I'll post more pics of that (hopefully) later.

ellie beth.

Please send your love out to beautiful little Ellie Beth Panko. She is a dear friend of ours who just underwent heart surgery. Also, keep Ken and Colleen in your thoughts and prayers. Email me if you'd like a link to their blog- they are updating her progress multiple times daily, and progress seems to be good. GO ELLIE!!!!

space oddity.

Don't let those adorable pictures of Henry smiling so innocently and calmly in the last post fool you. I wish he looked like that all of the time. But he doesn't. For the past two days he has taken to screaming his head off until I stick a boob in his mouth. He used to prefer the left boob, now he doesn't care. He's an equal opportunity purveyor of breast. Any side will do, as long as I get it in there pronto. He used to like his pacifier, but now he just spits it out onto the floor- not in a nonchalant way, but deliberately, as if to say "how DARE you stick that thing into my mouth!" Thank god Mike and I have a large yard surrounding our house, otherwise we'd be driving the neighbors crazy with the noise. When Henry starts screaming sometimes it helps to yell along with him, but in a funny joking way. Howling like a wolf works; periodically beeping loudly like a robot sometimes does the trick. Lately nothing is working. It was funny though- in a desperate moment I started singing Bowie's Space Oddity to him, substituting Major Henry for Major Tom. Totally random- I don't know why this song came to mind, but it worked. I incorporated some dancing- he likes to be swooped around like a bird- and it calmed him... for a moment or two. Long enough for him to wish his mommy had a better singing voice probably.
I went to the grocery store today and practically ran through the aisles hoping to make it out of there without him having a meltdown in public. At the deli the guy was taking his time on the thickness of the cuts. In slow motion he held up a piece of turkey for my approval. I just wanted to say 'look guy, I don't care if you wrap the turkey up still alive, I need to get this baby out of here!!!'. But then I stopped, took a deep breath and told him the thickness was perfect. I don't want to be one of those mean impatient people no matter how tired I am or how stressful things are. And I will continue to breastfeed no matter how exhausting it is, because I know it is the best thing for Henry. I just pray these cluster feedings taper off sooner rather than later.
I can't believe it- this has totally become a mommy blog. Arggh. Sorry folks!

meat on a stick.

Went to Stockley Gardens Art Festival this weekend. Henry enjoyed the art; but I think he enjoyed the thai chicken on a stick even more than the art. Mike is back to work this week- no more paternity leave. I'm sad, but Henry and I are holding down the fort.

biting my nails!!!!!!

It is the project runway finale and I am so excited I have tears in my eyes!!! Tim Gunn has tears in his eyes too!
I am blown away by Uli's collection- gorgeous! Who knew? I can't wait to see Laura's next. Jeffrey's left alot to be desired.

I am SO glad that they showed me once more how to get smoky eyes- after 14 weeks of the same info-bit I will be a smoky eye master!!

FUN!

Henry has become great fun lately- he now smiles and laughs and responds to various toys.
In the morning he will lay in his crib, gazing up at his mobile. Today he is exactly five weeks old!
Here are some pictures from the past couple of days.