Back up and running!

I hit the Apple store at the mall today for my appointment with a mac "genius." Not sure if he was a genius or not but he got my computer working again. Woo hoo. We had to reinstall the operating system on the computer. He made me hit the button to "continue" in order to make sure I understood I was responsible if the hard drive should perhaps, fail. Talk about pressure!

Here are some freshish photos for those of you who have been missing the boy.

1. A few shots of Julian's new obsession with Elwynn's anus.





2. No idea where we got this hat. I think my sister may have gotten it at the thrift shop in her neighborhood. No, he has no dreads under there.





3. Jon was trying to adjust the baby gate to keep the fat cat from getting downstairs where the little cat is now sleeping at night. Julian insisted on "helping." Anyone remember Free To Be You and Me?









4. The captain has taken to my Kate Spade bag. He hangs it around his neck and wears it about the house. Thinking about getting a beeper for it because already I can see that it could end up in a mystery location.



5. And finally, we can add eggplant to Julian's allergy list. We gave him some tonight and within 2 minutes he started rubbing his nose and his face and he broke out in a bright red rash. When we saw the hive starting on his lip we dosed him with some Benadryl. You can kind of see it here. Poor bunny was so uncomfortable.



Glad to be back!
-S

No photos...want to know why?

Well...my mac is, um, on a hiatus. I'll spare you the gory details but suffice it to say that the SOS-APPLE guys can't help. We have an in-store appt on Sunday. I know that we have backup of all of our photos and music, but it's been a while since I tested my backup so we're on pins and needles here waiting to find out if we have lost anything important. Until it's handled, no photos for all y'all. Sorry.

Then yesterday, using Jon's laptop at home the "y" key was jiggling and as I tried to fix it, it came flying off. Jon and I collectively spent over an hour trying to get the tiny tiny pieces to fit together. No go. So as I type every time there is a "y" I have to stop touch typing and line up the little rubber thingie on top of the key to get it to work. Still looking for someone willing to help us get the fricking thing back on.

OK...not so bad. This morning I went to work to find that the patient who I added onto my schedule NY eve, who took over an hour and a half instead of an hour, who spent the entire visit arguing with every suggestion I made, gave us a bad check. I was not happy.

Then this afternoon I went for a car seat safety check as we are switching baby cakes from back to front facing. The woman didn't have me on the schedule and I was told to wait and she'd be there in 10-15 minutes tops. After going up and down the stairs about 30 times and touching everything in their office, and playing on the couch, and 45 minutes went by, we finally left.

On the way home I decided to stop at the bank to deposit some checks from work. Loaded the baby up in my arms, balancing my purse and wallet and keys, I put the first envelope in and it SUCKED IN another envelope without any keyed info. I yelped and everyone in the bank turned around to look at me. I have no idea how many checks were in there or how much it was for, and it will land in the pile of envelopes inside the bank machine with no markings.

We'll assume someone will figure it out when they open it up and see checks written to me and stamped, but I had to spend 30 min at the bank making a game plan for the branch to handle it all. This included a diaper change on the bank manager's desk (he thought the floor would be "too dirty" and it didn't seem worth explaining that the child spends most of his time on the floor...)

To top it all off I spent the next hour and a half at home with Julian where I said no less than 50 times, "please don't touch the kitty's anus."

Jon thinks I'm getting all the minor difficulties of 2008 out of the way this week. I'll go with that...

Green Goddess Faery Fudge and Zoolander

Jon went to the farmer's market a few weeks ago and sampled some raw "Green Goddess Faery Fudge" and came home with the recipe. After Doug, Jon, and I had a long discussion of why they would choose that particular spelling of Faery (Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary says it is a viable variation) Jon started getting pretty excited about making said fudge. When pressed, he decreed that he was so excited "because is was really good, and you don't have to bake it so I can't f**k it up!" I didn't want to burst his bubble with a snarky comment, but I think holding it back may have backfired because I made him throw away the first batch since after smelling the 'dry' ingredients I had to tell him the coconut was rancid.

So, about that coconut...I am pretty sure it's been in the cupboard since before Jon moved in. Now for most of you I imagine that thought is pretty horrifying, but again, like many of my endearing traits, I'll say I come by it honestly. When I was visiting my mother last year I helped her clean out the kitchen storage and got permission to throw away anything more than a decade old or anything that had oil in it that was more than 5 years old. The puff pastry shells from, wait for it...1982, were among the first things to go. In my mom's defense, she is an amazing gourmet cook and she will get the freshest of ingredients for any recipe. The issue is that she (and now I) will get an extra for 'next time' but then don't check for it and voila, a cupboard full of specialty ingredients that could easily be sold on e-bay as vintage foodstuff.

Things around the house are busy as ever. Baby is starting to take a few more steps at a time, but still prefers to hold on to something. He is a tentative guy and we aren't anxious to overrule that instinct. Julian's first clear word has emerged..."uh oh." I guess, actually, that's 2 words. His first word is a phrase. That's my boy. Smart as a whip.


No new teeth on the horizon but J is doing a good job of putting the ones he has to use.


Thanks, btw, BB and BaBa for music class...we've got a budding rock star on our hands.


Having Doug here has been an absolute pleasure. Fun company and an extra set of hands and eyes.



These are photos of baby wrapping an electrical cord from a space heater around his neck and trying to plug it in. Also the difference between a mother and a father. A mother says "not for playing with" and a father gets the camera to take a photo.


Zoolander

Happy Holidays all around. xo.

Addendum: Jon has formally changed the name of the fudge to "Mean Green Cowboy Fudge."

I think it's LOVE.

When I found out about Julian's referral, my very very awesome girlfriend Kim had just given birth the prior week to a beautiful baby boy named Eli. We decided on the spot that Julian and Eli would not only be on the same soccer team, but they would be best friends. At this point I think that they may have more than that in mind...

Revamping

It's been over a week since my last post. Not that I'm not thinking about posting, I'm just thinking about posting all sorts of things that may or may not be related to my baby. So here is the deal: I will continue to diligently post photos of Julian, and I will consistently update on his antics and growth.

And (not but) I'm also going to start to write about other things...things I find interesting...things I find funny...things I find horrifying. If you don't find my posts interesting or funny or horrifying, no problem- you can simply scroll past the words and look at the adorable photos of my son (and husband.) You'll know the post has something about Julian in it if you see the word "Julian" while you're scrolling. Sorry if some of you may find this disappointing, but the time has come.

Also, I'd love to know who is out there reading, but it seems some of you don't know you can leave comments! So here's the deal. At the bottom of the post in tiny type it says "comments." All you have to do is click on this word and a box will open up with a spot for you to leave a note. You know, kind of like how you used to write on the stall of the bathroom in junior high, but you actually sign your name, and you don't leave other people's phone numbers (Art, you got that?)

OK, now for the post. I'll put photos up first, so those of you who don't want to read about the really gross thing that happened to me a few nights ago will be able to just skip it...


My Grandmother (may she rest in peace) would be thrilled to know that the step stool she used to reach her bed, when flipped over makes an excellent non motorized vehicle for Julian.


Jon's fraternity made t-shirts for their "house" parties. At the height of the 1980s they had the "Postman party" and they made this particular t-shirt. Jon commented as he laid it on the 't-shirts to become rags' pile that it was supposed to be artsy but looking back it just seems kind of misogynistic...hmmmm.


Julian is NOT a misogynist. He just likes art.


These are my favorite Jammies.

Now, down to business- please close the page if you don't want to read anything that isn't baby related. Thank you.

So, we're all coughing over here. Fevers, phlegm, hacking, you name it. Monday night I woke up and was coughing and couldn't stop. We have this great Chinese cough syrup, and I went into the bathroom to take some. It was dark, and when I reached for the spoon it was a little sticky. No problem, Jon had gotten up to take some too. I licked off the spoon and brought it into the bedroom. Opened the jar and poured myself a dose. Mind you I was a little feverish and very tired. When I started getting that weird feverish feeling like bugs were crawling on my skin I took a moment to marvel at how strong the power of the mind is. Then suddenly the feeling is spreading to my face, and wait, holy crap, it's ANTS. I flipped the light on and they were teeming all over the bottle, my hand, THE SPOON, my pillow. I still hold that I don't know that I actually ate any ants. Let's leave it at that, ok?

My new best friend.

6 months ago today.

I was about to write that I can't believe it's been 6 months since JLEB came home, but actually, I can. We have a whole new life, and some days, truthfully, it is still surreal. Is this adoption, or do all moms feel that way?

Here are some photos of our trip home back in May.







Julian is doing just great. He is babbling a lot, and he is picking up new signs all the time. He knows: more, kitty, banana, all done, and water. Additional ones will come quickly now, as his comprehension is accelerating rapidly. He clearly understands when we tell him NOT to do things, and then, big surprise, he does them anyway.

The nanny is working out very well. She is sweet and gentle, and very laid back. The other morning she was in the bathroom flushing a diaper (yes, this was the correct thing to do, we use diapers that have a cloth outer and flushable inner) and called for Jon, "hey, can you please help me out for a sec?" The toilet was overflowing and both kids were feet away. What I would have done was screamed at the top of my lungs for help. Jules is very lucky to have a nanny and a daddy that will teach him that life isn't so stressful.

We finally got the stroller my parents bought for Julian for his birthday. It comes with an integral sleeping bag. Sooo cute. We love it. Thank you BB and BaBa!



The cute hat below is from a local store. My sister and hubby bought it for Julian back in June. Too cute.



One more piece of news...
We've got W A L K I N G!
Ok, not exactly walking, more like standing and propelling forward with steps, but we're well on the way. Congrats baby Julian, you're (almost) bipedal!

Snapshots by Aileah

Life when mom and dad are at work.