Goodnight!

Roll Over!

We have a roll over, people. Yesterday, Allie successfully rolled over from tummy to back. And guess what? She thought it was hilarious. It is amazing how she is growing and developing now. Before we know it she'll be writing my blog entries.

Flying Allie! Part Two

Flying Allie!

Allie's new favorite game - Flying Allie!!!

Working Mom (Sort of)

Here's my second successful article with Alyson on my lap! Good thing she isn't old enough to know what I was writing about.

Should Birth Control be Free on College Campuses?

Onto the next!

Don't Call me Mommy

There's something about the word Mommy that bothers me. Maybe it is because I never remember calling my own mother mommy. Every time I hear the word Mommy I think of a whiny three year old who is trying to get their way. So when I got pregnant there was no question in my mind that I wanted Alyson to call me Mama. When I hear the word Mama I think of a wholesome family for some reason - a Mama who is cooking in the kitchen, a Mama who is comforting her kids, a Mama who is the best! I am not southern but for some reason it just feels more right to me. It's been a little tough falling out of the Mommy trap since everyone else refers to me as Mommy but we will get there. Alyson knows and that is all that matters. Whenever Bret or I say Mama she smiles real big. When someone says Mommy she looks puzzled. The kid knows what is up. So Mama and Daddy it is. Though I'll probably be wishing for Mommy when she gets older and starts calling me the dreaded... Mom....

Great NFL referee or GREATEST NFL referee?

Who needs a Dining Room?

When Bret and I bought this house I promised he could have the downstairs rec room as a music space. I claimed the third bedroom as my office so it only seemed fair that he should get a room. We knew it would only be for a few years until Alyson was older and then we would turn it into a playroom. After all, how many toys could a three month old really have? We should have known better. Already the house is being overrun with Allie toys and we are wondering where are we going to put them all?

Bret and I had this conversation last night while we were standing in our enormous empty dining room, which we don't have furniture for and would probably only use once or twice anyway. It's a big, bright sunny room right off the kitchen and right next to the living and family rooms. The entertainer in me who has always wanted a nice little dining rooms set with a nice chandelier says don't do it. But the practical side of me that says wouldn't it be a great fun space to fun around in says screw the dining room - who needs it. Let's make it a play room. Plus, it would give me an excuse to buy the Pottery Barn Kids kitchen set... What do you think? Send in your comments!!!

"Do the Dance"

I thought there was nothing better in the world than seeing my daughter smile, but laughing really takes the cake. Here's Allie "Doing the Dance." Something Daddie made up during a late night feeding session a month or so ago. She loves it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my turkey face.

Three Months Old

New pictures of Alyson!

I know, I know. I have been neglecting bear tracks. Turns out, moving with a two month old isn't advisable. And having a baby naming ceremony at your house three weeks later definitely isn't advisable. But now that we are settled in no more excuses. Here are some recent pictures of baby Alyson from her baby naming ceremony - sort of like a Jewish Christaining minus the water. It was an absolutely perfect day. Allie smiled at the Rabbi the entire time.

Happy Halloween!!!

Moved!

We moved into our new home on Monday and are quickly settling in! Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Two Months Old!

Farewell New York

We only have three more days left in the apartment. I felt a little guilty last night when I realized this blog has been an endless rant of how much I can't wait to leave the city. So I decided in all fairness -- being that I was trained to be a balanced journalist -- I needed to write a post about how wonderful this apartment has been too.

For four and a half years, since shortly before Bret and I were married, we have lived here and made so many wonderful memories. This apartment has been great to us despite its shortcomings in the dishwasher and laundry department. We love this place. It will always be the place where we truly become a family. For better or worse, here are some of my most memorable memories.

1) The Horny Pigeons. Not long after we moved in we discovered that pigeons would rest on the stoop outside our bedroom window. It didn't seem so bad until we realized that all they wanted to do was get it on 24-7. I didn't even realize that pigeons had sex, but let me tell you when pigeons get it on boy are they loud. This kept us up many a weekends when we were trying to sleep in and finally culminated in a trip to Home Depot where a very scared sales associate told me that no they do not sell pigeon spikes to mount outside apartment windows and that I should probably seek professional help.

2) Getting stuck in the elevator. Oh, the elevator! We have an old-fashion pre-war style elevator in our building that likes to run out of juice every so often. It also likes to take you to the wrong floor two our of three times you ride in it. One morning before work I got stuck in the elevator. Eventually it let me down to the basement where there are no stairs leading up to the first floor. Can you say fire code violation? Well, stairs do exist but they are locked. Long story... I had to go into the back ally behind our apartment, climb up the fire escape and climb in someone's bedroom window. Boy, was that awkward... Did I mention this was also the same morning I had a huge presentation at TIME Magazine for one of my stories?

3) Tin-foil parties. We have had a lot of parties here. Birthday parties. Housewarming parties. Just because we feel like it parties. But none tops Bret's first birthday party here when we all got so drunk that we made those tin-foil hats. This is why you don't play quarters after the age of 25...

4) Nestie. After returning from our Honeymoon in Hawaii in 2006 we found that a pigeon had laid a nest of eggs on the air conditioner outside our apartment. After a few months of listening to pigeons make out all the time I insisted that we knock it down because the last thing I wanted was baby pigeons chirping... That was until Bret decided to get all sentimental and name the pigeon Nestie and the two eggs -- Doctor Kenneth Noisewater and James Westfall. Anchorman, anyone?

5) The great printer incident. For Valentine's Day 2007, our first as a married couple Bret asked me what I wanted. I am not a jewelry person. I don't like having chocolate around because I will eat it all and I am sort of cheap so I told him what I could really use was a new printer and I figured he would get me something else small like flowers. Well, Bret took me a little too literally. He got the printer but that was all. No $5 bouquet of flowers to be romantic. No sweet little teddy bear saying how much he loved me. I wasn't looking for something big. I was just looking for something. The whole thing culminated in an argument until Bret went to the store and came back with a bouquet of beef jerky to show how he had acted. I started cracking up the moment he walked in. The beef jerky has been on top of our refrigerator even since and it always makes us smile. Ewww, I just realized how gross that probably is...

6) Rockband. When Rockband first came out Bret was obsessed. So were our friends. We played morning, noon and night. Until our downstairs neighbors got pissed off. I can't say I really blame them but it escalated into a full our war between the two apartments to see who could be the loudest. Such maturity. Wow, and we have a child now...

7) Thar she blows. Before I got pregnant with Alyson I liked to drink from time to time. Every six to eight months I would get together with my girlfriends and really have at the bottle. My stomach, however, does not like me to drink and every time would culminate in an all morning session with me wrapped around the toilet. An act Bret fondly dubbed "Thar she blows." Oh yes, the bathroom toilet and I have many fond memories together.

8) Settlers of Catan. Last year we were obsessed with Settlers of Catan. Bret and I are big board game lovers but none has captured our heart as much as Settlers. We spent many a nights up with friends playing on our living room coffee table -- something that is a little tougher to do now that Alyson is here. But we will get back there. I'll give you two sheep for one pacifer....

9) Nail polish stains. For some reason I can't seem to not spill nail polish remover. In fact, I think I have spilled nail polish remover on every piece of furniture in this apartment. When I walk around it makes me remember the loud curse words I yelled out every time it happens and Bret screaming from the other room -- What did you do? Are you doing your nails? Carolyn!

10) Bringing Alyson home. Nothing can top the August afternoon when we brought Alyson home and placed her in her crib for the first time. I guess you could say Bret and I grew up in this apartment. We became adults here and then we became a family. I'm glad Alyson will grow up in the suburbs but I am also glad she was born a New Yorker. After all, it's much cooler than saying you were born in New Jersey. That's just lame...

Goodbye New York!

Burp! Part Two.

Just so you can all visualize...

Macho Man

Yesterday, Bret and I had our first argument since Alyson was born. Considering the sleep deprivation, dramatic life changes and crashing hormones, I am told that is pretty darn good. Since we closed on our house over a month ago we have been able to do some home improvements. Last week we had brand new carpeting installed in the bedrooms and the den. The idea of picking out a color scheme at four weeks postpartum seemed completely overwhelming at the time. I remember breaking down in tears on the way back from Home Depot because I just couldn't put a coherent thought together to decide on a color. Grey Squirrel or Potter's Clay? Which one should we put in the master bedroom? And what if I choose the wrong one? Life will never be the same again. But now that the carpet is here I am so glad we did it. It really will be nice to start out fresh in the new house and I am glad Bret's parents convinced us it was worth while.

After the carpeting came the obvious next step: painting the baby's room. We had some painters some in to give estimates but after our first appointment Bret decided to get all "Dad" about it and firmly declared that he was painting his daughters room. He had this "under control."

Now, I understand the fatherly need to paint your kid's room before they are here -- when you are big and pregnant and there is nothing else to do but eat and look at ultrasound pictures. But here's my beef with it now: do you really need to paint your child's room when you have a seven week-old infant, you are moving in less than two weeks and you are both going bonkers from sleep deprivation? Apparently, yes, men do. So tomorrow Bret is making the trip out to Jersey to give his daughter's room a fresh coat of paint. Thankfully, Alyson's Godfather signed on to help. Really, Ryan (and Em!) are truly the best.

I am really proud of Bret for wanting to paint her room and I think it is adoringly sweet. Don't get me wrong, I am not overwhelmed by the idea. I am just overwhelmed by the idea of having one more thing to think about with one more sleepless night. At eight weeks postpartum I really thought I had it together. The crying episodes had stopped for weeks now and I am more even-tempered. But low and behold when I went to pick out the paint at Home Depot old waterworks started up again. I am told most women feel back to normal after six weeks but considering I am now in the process of moving as well I figure that buys me another four at least. Just don't ask me to pick out cabinets or I may lose it completely...

So here we are painting Alyson's room with one week until move day. Alyson thinks her Dad is pretty darn cool for wanting to make her room perfect. And I have to say, I agree. Mom, on the other hand, well ... she will get it together eventually. Probably just in time for Alyson to go to nursery school.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I grew up a die hard Yankees fan. Some of the best memories I have of my father involve us watching the games together. So when I married a Mets fan I knew it would cause problems. I just didn't realize how many until we had a baby. Alyson has both Yankees and Mets apparel hanging in her closet (OK, the hall closet... she doesn't have a closet yet) but neither of us have dared to try to put her in any of it for fear of setting the other one off.  Eventually, I'll probably concede and let Bret have his way. After all it is more important to him anyway and Citi Field is awfully nice...
In the meantime here's what we do know: Alyson is definitely a Jets fan. Mostly, because Mommy just could care less about football. Here she is watching the big game with Daddy.

Jinx

There is a reason why babies are adorable. If it weren't for their pudgy cheeks, round bellies and chunky thighs no one would sign up for the sleep deprivation. I knew I was jinxing myself when I wrote this blogpost last week. But what I didn't expect was for Alyson's sleep patterns to actually get worse. The past two nights the longest stretch of sleep she has had has been two hours, which means the longest stretch I have had has been about one and a half.

Bret and I have been trying to be patient - we know that she is far too young for sleep training and that her tiny little stomach can't hold very much food at once, but boy is it tough. We keep hearing stories about babies who sleep through the night at six weeks old or even four weeks old and it makes us want to jump out the window. Now that the first month adrenaline of being a new parent has worn off we are actually finding it harder to fight through the sleepless nights and exhausting days (which accounts for the many grammatical and spelling errors in this blog). And yes, before you ask. We are doing everything the books say. Put her down at the same time every night. Keep the lights off. Don't interact with her in the middle of the night. Put some gin in her bottle (OK, we didn't do that last one...)

I almost lost it last night at 4:15 when she woke up crying after only 45 minutes of sleep -- I swear she knows exactly when I doze off. But then I leaned over her crib to pick her up and she gave me the biggest smile and it made it all worth it. Let's just hope she stays cute...

So if your baby slept through the night write in and let us know your secret. Rice cereal in the bottle? Formula? Whiskey on the gums - I promise I won't tell! Just don't say when they started sleeping through the night or I may have to push you out the window with me. :-)

"Allie likes the bath"

Fun in NJ

Suburbanites

Two more weeks until we are officially Suburbanites. I am counting down the days from our crowded Manhattan apartment. This weekend we had the new carpet installed in the house so now we just need to paint Alyson's room and we will be all set to move in. We settled on a pale green for her new digs. Here's my top ten list of things I am most looking forward to about moving to our new home.

10. Having a deck with a porch swing to relax on
9. Having more than one bathroom
8. Having a car accessible at any given moment
7. SPACE, SPACE and more SPACE
6. Putting all my shoes in my very own walk-in closet rather than a box under my bed
5. Greenery. Trees, grass, weeds - all that good stuff - bring it on!
4. A dishwasher
3. Laundry!!
2. A room for Alyson

... and the top thing I am looking most forward to about moving to the suburbs is...


.... a drawer for silverware in my kitchen and oh pot holders and pens and scissors and all that good stuff! Yes, our current apartment does not have any drawers so we have to store our silverware in a cabinet. As you can tell its a pet peeve of mine,

Miss Adorable

Burp!

I suck at burping. I've read books. I've watched videos on the Internet. I've listened to the wisdom of other moms. But no matter what I do I just can't seem to garner the same loud "UTTTT" that Bret can when he burps Alyson. 

I've heard this from other moms too. That Dad is just better at burping than they are. I think maybe it has something to do with the fact that since Dad can't feed her burping is a skill he can perfect. I started wondering how I stack up in other areas so I asked Alyson for a progress report. She sat down with me this morning and here's how I measure up.

I told her anything under a B required a detailed explanation. Apparently, I also stink at changing diapers. Alyson loves to pee on the changing table when she is exposed and I still haven't learned that I need to hold a diaper over her EVERY time when she is in the buff. Good thing I will have my own washer and dryer soon. Last night, I got pooped on (twice!).

Playing -  A+ 
Burping - C-
Bathing - B+ 
Diapering - B-
Feeding - A
Swaddling - A-
Reading - A+

Six Weeks Old!

Sleepy Bear: Part Two

When I realized Alyson had slept for five straight hours in a row last night my first thought was: what is wrong with her? I jumped out of bed and ran over to her crib where she was sleeping soundly. I watched carefully to see if her chest was still rising and falling and then I realized the impossible had just happened: I had gotten five straight hours of sleep and Alyson was just fine!

Of course, I know there is no way Alyson is going to do the same thing tonight especially now that I am writing a blog entry about it. The past week she has been eating every three hours in the middle of the night still, which means it is tough for Mommie to get more than two in a row. But boy does it feel good to get some consistent sleep even just for one night. I almost feel lucid enough to write this blog post without any spelling or grammatical errors. Here are some pictures of our sleepy bear. I think I notice a pattern here...

First Fever

It is a little past midnight and I am hauled away in the bedroom watching Allie like a hawk. Our little one had her first fever today (or at least the first one we know of). :-( The doctor said not to worry unless it reaches 100.4 and we are only at 99.4 as of now. I know, I know, the book said not to worry too I really didn't need to call, but I did anyway. I rationalized that since it was only 10pm at night it wasn't that bad to call after hours. It's not like it was 3am - thought I probably would have called if it was 3am too! Anyway, new paranoid Mommie here is going to try to get some rest now that Allie finally seems a bit calmer. I promise more cute pictures tomorrow!

Sophia Makes Me Smile!

Halloween is a Comin'

I love Halloween. In fact, the only thing I love more than Halloween is pumpkins. Not carved pumpkins (that is just cruel), regular plump round orange pumpkins. I usually have at least ten in the apartment on any given year.

When I found out I was going to give birth in August one of the first things that ran though my head (other than, holy crap it is going to be hot) is, 'I will get at least two Halloweens to dress up my baby before he or she has an opinion on what they want to be!' Even before I was pregnant looking at infant Halloween costumes was a big hobby of mine (I know, most people take up yoga or knitting).

I was a little disappointed to find out that most of the infant Halloween costumes run in 0-6 month sizes so I am not sure if Little Alyson is going to fit in any of the outfits I had picked out. Our daughter is just so tiny still! I may have to run by Build a Bear and see how big their clothes are.

The good news is that we will be in our new house by Halloween, which means we can take Alyson trick or treating! I can't wait. Take the poll and tell us what you think Alyson should be for Halloween. Notice that elephant is NOT on the list. That would just be too obvious.

Good Morning!

One Month Old!

Alyson Maya is one month old today!

Happy Birthday Allie Bear!

Gone Banking

Allie and I ran our first solo errand today to the bank! It only took two tries. :-) Here's a picture of our little bear in her sun hat.

Sleepy Bear

Allie bear falls asleep in the funniest poses. Here are some of her greatest hits.

Lists and More Lists

I have always been a list person. I make lists for everything. List of things to do. Lists of things I have already done. Lists of things that I may do in the future.

Turns out, when you have an infant crossing things off your list is very difficult. And when you are moving into a new house in a month the list of things you need to do grows exponentially. As someone with an A-type personality this has been very difficult for me to deal with. Around 9 or 10 at night when Bret relieves me from Alyson duty and takes the early late night feeding shift I pass by my long list of things to do on the kitchen table before retreating to the bedroom for some shuteye and it drives me nuts.

Today my plan was to go to the bank and return two phone calls. I have a bunch of checks to cash and I wanted to start an account for Alyson with the gifts she has received so far. I also need a bunch of quarters to do laundry on Wednesday when my folks visit and I can actually leave the apartment for a few minutes. But Alyson had another plan. After sleeping from 8 - 11:15 she decided to spend the afternoon cluster feeding and I have been basically attached to her until now while she is happily playing on her activity mat with the hiccups. Adorable!

So far I have returned one phone call, done the dishes and written this blog post. I guess what I have finally realized is that I really need to chill out about my list. So Alyson's baby book isn't completely filled out yet or the pile of laundry in my bedroom is spilling into the bathroom. Instead, moving forward my new plan is to try to complete two tasks on my list everyday. (of course that doesn't include activities of daily living like eating or showering - these are musts!) If I can do that the day should be considered a success. Of course, that is coming from someone who hasn't yet showered today and is still wearing maternity clothes not because she doesn't fit into any of her regular clothes but because she doesn't have time to sort through what fits and what doesn't.

Making the Grade

Nothing drives a parent crazier than charts on developmental milestones. The What to Expect books are chock-full of charts saying what your child should be able to do, will probably be able to do and may even be able to do at all the different months of age. While information is good, this also causes parents to freak out when their children brings their hands together spontaneously at six weeks rather than four. It also causes them to declare their child a genius when she flips her head from side to side at five days old rather than three weeks (yes, that was Alyson!) And of course obsess over whether or not they have achieved something. Did she actually smile in response to my smile? I am not sure. Maybe it was just gas. It was probably gas.

At our last pediatrician appointment I asked the doctor what we should be looking for over the next month and he said, 'for her to act more like a person.' I thought that was the best answer. Screw the books I say. We just need to let little Alyson become Alyson.

Making Weight: Part 2

Alyson went to the pediatrician on Friday and I am happy to report she is now 7 lbs and 13 ounces! That means she still hasn't caught up to her Daddie's birth weight and by the time she is two months old she will barely have caught up to Mommie's birth weight. She is just a tiny little girl.

If only I had a nickle for every newborn outfit I put back on the shelf when I was shopping for baby clothes. Everyone told me not to buy any newborn clothes because she would grow out of them in a week or two at most. But as it turns out, our Allie Bear will be in newborn clothes for at least another two - three weeks. Thankfully, Aunt Casey, Nana and Grandma have been picking up extra outfits along the way.

Allie celebrated her first Yom Kippur yesterday with break fast at her Aunt Mindi's apartment. She met all sorts of relatives. It was a lot of fun! She was too little to take to temple, so instead she relaxed on the couch with Dad and watched episodes of The Daily Show. She just can't get enough of John Oliver.

BBQ!

We took Alyson on her first outing to get her Daddie's favorite food -- BBQ! She had so much fun. She only went through two hoodies!