Wednesday Funday
Wednesday night I enjoyed a rare, baby-free night out with my girlfriends from college.
I headed to Davis Square right after I got out of work and since I was the first to arrive, I got to walk around ALL BY MYSELF for a little bit. I browsed the racks of “Found” an upscale consignment store in Davis Square, which had some great shoes and some hilarious staff members (one in particular who tried to convince me that I was cool enough to pull off a “formal romper”) and checked out some local boutiques while I waited for my friends to arrive.
About an hour later, everyone arrived and we met in Posto, an adorable Italian restaurant in Davis with delish pizza, where we were seated at a table in the back room (they must have known how loud we were.) We spent the rest of the night sharing fig and prosciutto pizzas and sipping Peronis while catching up on each others’ busy lives.
Reese didn’t want to miss out though, so while I was getting dinner with the girls, she was hitting up the Boston bar scene with her Daddy. For real.
A few weeks ago, I asked Andrew if he could watch Reese on Wednesday night while I went out with friends. He agreed, but then forgot and said he would go to a friend’s going away party at a bar in Boston. When we realized we had double booked, he asked me if he could take Reese. In true Mom fashion I asked him to use his best judgement about the place he wanted to take her (I know. I’m annoying)
His best judgement told him to take Reese to the bar.
So we all got our night out yet still managed to be in bed by 10 (and Reese by 8.) We don’t hang like we used to.
Oh My God, No One Told Us That!
Over the past 9 months Andrew and I have had many “Oh my god, no one told us that!” moments.
For one, we realized the other day that we have never brushed Reese’s teeth. By “teeth” I mean her two and only bottom teeth. Do people brush teeth when there are only two? Who the hell knows. But someone should tell us.
I thought I would begin documenting these moments ( for entertainment purposes only, not for educational purposes, since I am no authority on babies or teeth) in the hopes of finding out that we are not alone here; and that others share in these moments as well.
French People Are Hilarious
Yesterday I spent part of the day making Reese’s baby food for the week. While the sweet potatoes were steaming, I looked over the cook book that came with my baby food maker.
I have the Beaba Babycook and I love it and use it all the time (thanks Sus!) It’s a French product and apparently French parents are the bomb, so this could explain some of the recipes in this book.
The recipe below falls under the “First Meals for Little Ones” category.
Really?
Seeing that my husband and I eat Trader Joe’s frozen pizza most nights for dinner I don’t think I’ll be whipping up Watercress Velouté for Reese anytime soon. Aside from the fact that the instructions include more than 2 steps, there is also a note at the bottom which tells the reader that only watercress that is grown in a certified watercress bed and watered with spring water should be used.
Reese was a little mad at first when I told her she couldn’t have Watercress Velouté because our bed wasn’t certified……
But she got over it, and for now, she’s pretty happy with her pears and sweet potatoes.
Little Red Shoes
Reese has her first pair of red shoes. Patent leather red penny loafers to be exact; and I cannot wait until they fit her.
I always thought by this point in her life I would have collected an adorable little vintagey, retroish wardrobe for Reese. Surprisingly, I have probably only bought a few pieces of clothing for her myself. We were lucky enough to get tons of hand me downs from my niece Mira and countless gifts from family and friends. I am definitely not complaining. We have saved loads of money, and Reese has been growing out of (and puking on) things so fast that is has seemed pointless to spend lots of money on clothing.
Now, at almost a year, I feel like she is going to start staying in her clothes a little longer. Word on the street is that babies last longest in their 18 month clothes, so I have decided it is the perfect time to start updating her closet.
I LOVE old school baby clothes (corduroy jumpers, peter pan collars, overalls (yea I said it), pinafores, smocked dresses) and I wish so much that I had asked my mom to save all of ours. Below are a few of my favorites from Etsy; the only place I have found so far with some pieces I just love.
How cute are these?!
Late Weekend Nights and Monday Night Bluesies
Monday nights are rough ones for us.
Reese usually has a little bit of trouble getting back into her weekday routine after getting to spend all weekend with mom and dad. And I of course, miss her even more during the day after being with her Fri-Sun.
She was especially thrown off this weekend because Gammy and Grandpa babysat on Saturday evening while Andrew and I went to a Bruce Springsteen concert with my sister and brother-in-law. To say we had the best time is an understatement. Even the rain that fell during our tailgate and our nosebleed seats in Gillette stadium could not ruin our time. We were pumped to be out on a Saturday night and The Boss did not disappoint.
When we got home we tried to sneak up to bed but Reese woke up the minute we laid down and then continued to wake every 2 hours until 6 AM. I can’t say I wasn’t a little excited that I didn’t have to wait until morning to see her; but Sunday was a brutal reminder of why we do not stay out past 10 PM anymore.
I was lucky enough to catch a nap while Reese slept on Sunday afternoon; but come Monday morning neither Andrew nor I felt totally caught up on our sleep. We are such oldies. Bruce was totally worth it though.
Hey Big Stander!
Well, time has officially flown by.
Sunday morning as I was rinsing Reese’s diaper out in the bathroom, I walked back into the nursery and found her standing up holding onto the side of her crib. She has been standing up like that for a while but this was the first time she had actually pulled herself up from the sitting position all by herself. Aside from making me a little nervous, I was proud of my girl. Go Reesie! I only wish I had been able to see how she did it.
Andrew then lowered her crib all the way down to the lowest setting. I guess it is only a matter of time before she is trying to hurl herself out of the crib (as I have heard some babies do, and as I had seen my little sister do.) Tear. She is so not a baby anymore!
“They grow up so fast” is no longer just one of those things all parents say. I totally get it now.
Travels with Baby Part 2
Well we made it to the Vineyard and back with no major catastrophes (not counting a VERY tired baby who refused to nap) and only minor back aches from the loads of crap we had to cart to and from the ferry.
We like to think we vacationed as the locals (or “islanders” as they are called in MV) would; lazy, rainy mornings in the living room, drinking coffee and eating dough boys, meandering walks through the cottages and shops in Oak Bluffs, pizza and cold coffees at the artisan fair in West Tisbury, and long, hot days at Long Point beach followed by cold beers, shish kabobs and s’mores in the backyard. My cousin’s two little ones, Cole (6 years old) and Gus (almost 3) absolutely adored Reese and it was so sweet to see them cuddle and kiss her all day long. Seeing them together brought on a full-fledged case of baby fever and I’m so looking forward to the day when Andrew and I will sit on lawn chairs in our backyard on a hot August day, watching Reese and her siblings snoozing on a quilt, exhausted after a long day at the beach.
We were so sad when Sunday evening rolled around and we had to head back to life on the mainland. I was hoping Reese would catch a nap on the ferry ride home ( she had been on a nap strike the entire weekend) but no such luck. I consider myself pretty laid back when it comes to Reese’s schedule, but it made me a little anxious that she wasn’t sleeping at all during the days. I think there was just too much going on and she didn’t want to miss anything. I don’t blame her, we’re pretty fun people. Ever the happy baby, she never got cranky so I guess I shouldn’t have worried.
That is, until we got home Sunday night. That was a battle. She fought us until about 10:30 PM when Andrew finally cranked up the air conditioning, spread a blanket on the living room floor and laid next to her until they both fell asleep, exhausted from their weekend on the island.
Travels with Baby
This weekend our travels will take us to the lovely Martha’s Vineyard, or “The Vinyid” as peeps around here call it. My cousin Erin, her husband Jeff, and their two boys, Cole and Gus are MV locals and have been nice enough to let us stay with them for the weekend.
Despite having lived in Massachusetts my entire life, I have never really been to the Vineyard, so I’m looking forward to feeling fancy and popping my collar while strolling around Vineyard Haven in my pink whale shorts.
While making our packing list this morning I realized something. When I made our travel arrangements I seemed to forget one thing. We have a baby now. We don’t travel like we used to.
When I logged on to the steamship authority webpage to make our ferry reservations I realized that if you want to take your car over to the island, you have to book WAY in advance. Like, more than 4 days in advance. I was a little annoyed that we couldn’t take our car but I didn’t think it was a huge deal because Erin had offered to pick us up from the port in MV and to drive us around for the weekend.
In some ways, traveling with an 8 month old is a lot easier than traveling with a newborn (See our story here, about the first time we ever left the house with Reese), but she still requires a TON of stuff (diapers, wipes, food, spoons,cups, etc.) , and not having a car to hold it all is going to be interesting and probably hilarious. Poor Andrew.
We even have to bring our entire car seat with us on the ferry. How do people with kids who live in the cities and take cabs do it?? I always wondered about this. Do some cabs have car seats already in them? I cringe at this thought. I am not a total germaphobe, but putting Reese in a public car seat in a cab sounds like the equivalent of letting her suck on the handrails on the Orange Line.
So off we go. Fingers crossed that we make it to the island without forgetting anything major, like our baby. I’m sure we’ll have some stories when we get back.
86 Days ago…
Eight-six days ago, Ms. Reese came into our lives and we are forever changed.
We now drive slow. We go to bed early and we wake up even earlier. We talk in high-pitched tones. All the time. We get excited over the Babies R Us coupons that come in the mail. We get even more excited when we go to Babies R Us. We never leave the house without a binky. If we do, we turn around and go home. Every time we go somewhere, we secure everything in our car down with bungy cords, lest it become a projectile. Instead of having nightmares about missing a test in high school, we have nightmares that we are somewhere without a binky. We watch our mouths. We say things like, “are they crazy?!” when we get invited to go on someone’s boat, or to a dinner party that starts at 7:30. We curse people who drive too fast when we are on walks with the baby. We say things like “Yep, she’s into her 6 month clothes now!” and “growin’ like a weed.” We document the color and consistency of poop. We run by those baby modeling agency booths in the mall because we are sure they are going to ask us about Reese and we just don’t have time to talk to them. We easily take 30 pictures a day. We plan in advance now (or try to.) We never go to the after party.
Letters To Reesie 