Lil' Monkey's first big trip

The day after Christmas, we travelled to my MIL's house which is about 5 hours away (that's with one bathroom break and no traffic). Prior to this trip, I have been making a conscious effort to put Monkey in the car everyday for a ride (or two) since he HATES being confined in the car seat. Sometimes he'll cry the whole way to the store, to the mall, to my office, etc. So DH and I were prepared for the most miserable ride of our lives to DH mother's house.

We devised a plan to leave at his bedtime -- equiped with new diaper and warm sleeper and after pumping him full of milk. But as anyone knows, even the perfect plan sometimes strays when executed. And for anyone who knows DH and I, they know we ALWAYS leave late. So the 6:30 departure turned into a 7:15 departure and for the first 15 minutes, Monkey was very fussy. However, he suddenly just fell asleep and stayed asleep for 2 hours! And for each stop we made (2 each on the way down and the way back), he would wake up, get a new diaper and pretty much go back to sleep within a half hour! And during that half hour of wakefulness, he would just sit in his car seat making cute little noises! Such a GOOD BOY!

Pictured to the right is a photo of him getting an impromptu bath in Grandmom's kitchen sink. We had a little difficulty getting him to sleep in the playpen while at Grandmom's house, however, he did well considering. I'm just so proud of him and majorly relieved that this trip wasn't the complete nightmare I expected.

Apple Customer Service -- FANTASTIC!

Just before the Holidays, I had the unfortunate incident of my trackpad acting up and the button locking on my MacBook Pro. After some personal investigation of the computer and finding a post about battery "swelling" causing odd issues on MacBooks, I realized that I too had an ailing Mac suffering from just this problem (my battery pictured below ... sorry photo is a little blurry).

I performed a search within the support section of Apple's web site and found a knowledge base record with the suggestion to make a reservation at an Apple Store "Genius Bar". There were plenty of reservation spots and I made the reservation for the next afternoon.

So the next day, Mom and I packed up Monkey and headed to the Apple Store (which is in a very popular mall near here, so I prepared mentally for the crowded stores and general stress-making nature of this adventure). We went into the store and as I approached the Genius Bar, I noticed that it truly was a "bar", complete with stools for customers to sit on while waiting. When I got there, all of the stools were taken but within 3 minutes, a person's iPod issue was resolved and I had a stool!

At the Genius Bar, they place the first name and last initial of each person with a reservation onto a screen behind the bar showing who is next. When I arrived, I was third in line with a Tony S. behind me. Okay here the story goes into a tangent ... the Tony S. was Tony Snow! When I first came up to the bar, I saw him and said to myself, "Is that ...?" but after reading the screen I realized I was correct! Now the folks at the Genius Bar DID take Tony S. prior to me but I figured that's okay, since he's a bit of celebrity for those who have ever paid attention to White House press conferences.

Anyway, back to the real story ... shortly after they had worked on Tony S.'s laptop, they called my name. The lady who helped me (I wish I remembered her name) was very nice, knowledgeable and didn't give me any sales pitch or anything! She simply tried out the laptop for herself, immediately recognized the issue, found a new battery in their stock supply and popped it in (that took approximately 4 minutes total)! No fooling around! She even tested the new battery to make sure that it was indeed charging correctly. All of this wonderfull service and the new battery was free! Nevermind that the battery should have been free since this was a known issue. I've just had such BAD customer service elsewhere recently that I figured this might go horribly as well. However, I'm so happy with the experience that 9 days later I just had to post about it!

How Christmas went ... Update to Baby's First Christmas

It was fun and lil' Monkey was very tired after Granny, Pop and Great-Grandmom left. He was so wound up because of all of the festivities. Opening gifts, sitting at the dining room table in his high chair for the first time, plenty of people to hold him and play with him. How can a baby be expected to nap with such interesting things going on?! (Fingers crossed he'll stick to his bedtime routine since his afternoon nap was about 2 hours late.)

It was definitely a little odd to be the one opening all of the gifts I had wrapped for him only a few days earlier. He did get to pull stuff out of one gift bag which was a new and exciting experience for him. I'm sure next year he'll have the hang of ripping the paper off of the gifts. This year he was interested in eating it mostly. :)

Per the images in this post, Monkey did pretty well this year in the gift department. And we haven't even been to Grandmom K's house yet!

Trogg's Nog -- Egg Nog gets a makeover!

We did not have a Christmas party this year and will probably not have another one until lil' Monkey is a bit older. We had ONE party two years ago and I had wanted it to be a tradition. But being in my first trimester last year, I just didn't have the energy. This year we have Monkey which makes partying a bit hard so I think we'll hold off on continuing that tradition for a few years. Er, STARTING that tradition really.

However, there's one item we served at the party which I believe will become a tradition in the meantime: Trogg's nog. (I don't think the drink was named after Trogdor but the image fits IMO.)

I might just have one this Christmas Eve after Monkey goes to bed. If anyone is interested, here's the recipe (from Drink Swap):

Ice cubes
1 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. Creme de Cacao
Fill to top with Egg Nog

Enjoy!

Baby's First Christmas -- thoughts or stories?

Ever since I found out I was pregnant with lil' Monkey, I have wondered what his first Christmas would be like. I really like Christmas. Not so much for the gifts and definitely not the shopping for the gifts (I used to like these things but now they're just not that important anymore), but rather for the festive lights, food and seeing people you generally don't see that often. And even though I have tried to dream about what his first Christmas would be like, I am having a hard time thinking of how it's supposed to go.

He loves our tree (shown to the right) in all it's bright blue glory (he's at that age where blue is a big hit)! And for family and friends on our mailing list, you'll be receiving a photo card of him in front of it (might still be in the mail -- as usual I procrastinated). So that's one part of the dream that I expected to come true and it has.

However, he's just a little guy and isn't really at an age where he can open or even appreciate the gifts given to him. But you've got to have the obligatory photo ops, right? Afterall, it's "Baby's First Christmas"!

So I wanted to ask the seasoned parents reading this post, to tell us your suggestions and/or stories about your baby's first Christmas.

Blogs as Journals and Litmus Tests

I used to think blogging was for megalomaniacs who think the world is interested in what they have to say (please, read the rest and save the hate mail), but now I realize that it's a journal for most people and way of creating a community of people with common interests. It can also be a cathartic means of dealing with today's rat race and bouncing your thoughts around as a litmus test for sanity. Or at least it will be for me.

According to Merriam-Webster, journal is defined as:

Main Entry: jour·nal Pronunciation: 'j&r-n&l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, service book containing the day hours, from Anglo-French jurnal,jurnal, adjective, daily, from Latin diurnalis, from diurnus of the day, from dies day -- more at DEITY
1 a : a record of current transactions; especially : a book of original entry in double-entry bookkeeping b : an account of day-to-day events c : a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use d : a record of transactions kept by a deliberative or legislative body e : LOG 3 f : LOG 4
2 a : a daily newspaper b : a periodical dealing especially with matters of current interest
3 : the part of a rotating shaft, axle, roll, or spindle that turns in a bearing

So although a personal journal is private (see dictionary entry "1c" above), written on paper, perhaps in a book-like format, a blog is none of these. And since this blog will be primarily used to keep family and friends updated on our lil' monkey and mommy's sanity pH levels, we'll say this blog fits definition 2b ("of current interest" to myself and perhaps those wanting to know those little baby details). I hate actually writing with pen and paper now (my handwriting has deteriorated since college into scrawl) and I can attach pictures to this thing to illustrate points (something I can't say I'd do in a written journal). So why keep a traditional journal? This will hopefully be much more fun.

Okay enough self-reflection for the day. Take care everyone.

Reality checks, tidbits and observations

I've come to realize there are just little things that you will not know as a non-parent until you actually have children.  I was sitting in bed this morning at 4:45, trying desperately to go back to sleep and began to make a mental list.  This list is comprised of reality checks, tidbits and general observations.  Some list items people probably didn't want to tell you because you would have thought them crazy.  Some are so interwoven into the minutia of everyday parent life that you probably don't really stop to think about them.  Some are really just a "DUH".  It's sort of a "You know you're a parent if ... " type of list.

• The "schedule" you so methodically planned prior to baby's arrival is sure to fail ("l'll feed him at 6 and be to yoga by 8 and then ... ")


• A little pee in your face, on your shirt or down your pajama pants isn't the end of the world


• Getting a little poop on your hand isn't so gross


• Going to the store with a little spit-up residue on your shoulder is OK


• No doubt that when you start breastfeeding you will suddenly develop an itch where you cannot reach


• Always take off baby's socks prior to feeding him/her baby food (green bean toes!)


• If pretending to feed Mr. Octopus makes the food disappear, then Mr. Octopus gets "fed"


• The trick or game that worked this morning or five minutes ago, might not be the fun-filled activity of the moment


• The song stuck in your head is probably from one of baby's toys now (not from the radio)


• Just because you are a parent, doesn't mean you will automatically bond with other parents, in fact, it might be a point of tension


• Some things are just not so important anymore, like showering everyday


• You have no concept of what the word SACRIFICE means until you are a parent

I know I had more of these earlier this morning.  I will probably update this post again in the future.  But in the meantime, feel free to comment!  I know there's probably a lot more of these tidbits and reality checks that I have yet to experience!

Good night!