Sucker

Naptime!

Ok, I know. I have spoiled my child. But with a face as cute as his, it is totally impossible not to. Chuckaroo is used to being held. Marmee has a term for his problem and it is called "lap colic". If he is not being held, he is not happy.

He has no problem sleeping, however, if he is sleeping it will most likely be on you! So thanks to grandparents, Chuckers is sleeping in his crib at night. He hates laying flat so he is in his nap nanny but nonetheless, he is in his crib. Just pimping out in there a little bit more than other babies I guess. Wonderful, he is in his crib and not on my chest!

So now I move to naps. He will fall asleep in the car ( if it is going 30 mph or faster). He will sleep in his swing ( again, if it is moving swiftly). But he will not nap anywhere for an extended amount of time. So our 3 hour naps are in ten minute increments. He naps from about 9:30 to 11:30 and then again around 3:00 to 5:30. I have been trying to figure out where I could put him or how I could get him there and actually have him sleep.

Then the pack and play comes out! Dom, our roommate from NYC, an his sweet family and fiance, sent us the play yard we registered for. It has been folded up behind the crib because we aren't traveling, right? Wrong. I attempted to put it together the other day and finally after a few hours, got it up. I put Chuck in it. He hates it. He screams. He doesn't appreciate the hard work mom put into it. I try again. He likes it a little bit more because I attached the play gym onto it that comes with it. He starts to like it.

Here is what is cool about it. It has a thing that you attach to the corner of the play yard. This thing has a light on it, music, and it vibrates. AWESOME. Chuck loves constant movement and is overly obsessed with music. Perfect for the little lad. So today, Chuck falls asleep, on me of course, for his nap. I am determined for him to nap and me to get things done. So I slowly walk to the play yard and lower him down into the vibrating world of naps. He goes down. He stays! He has been down for 22 minutes. Now mind you, he is on his tummy, but the child will not lay on his back. I am watching him y'all.

I am going to do laundry. Pray for good nap karma. If all goes well, and continues to go well over the next few days with the nap, we have achieved nothing short of awesomeness. Uh oh, there was just a little stirring but he just turned his head to the other side. Phew. Got to take advantage of this!!

My first real nap without someone's chest to lay on. Look at that little butt in the air!

Did I mention the play yard has a remote control. I can turn on the vibration or music from down the hall. Booyah!

Odds and Ends

Just some random pictures for you.

Chuck laying out at the pool! He was so calm.

Chuck hearing the piano for the first time!

Wearing his "tennis shoes" when we go mall walking! Think the walking will help those fat rolls?

Crock Potting It

Since Chuckster has been around, it is somewhat hard to cook an actual meal ( not to mention getting to the store!) I have taken my New York approach. Just buy what you need for that night. He will last in the store in his car seat ( because it is not going 30 mph) only about 10 minutes. Enough for me to get necessities for that day. So I have taken to the crock pot. I have decided that there is nothing you can't cook in the crock pot. And what is easier than just dumping stuff in! I thought I would share recipes that we like. I don't know anything about fat content, sodium content, or anything like that. I just know if I like something or I don't. So, here is an EASY recipe I tried the other day that is just delish I think).

In the crock pot you put.....

2 pork tenderloins

1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom

1 can Campbell's french onion soup

1 can Campbell's golden mushroom soup

Cook for 3-4 hour on high. (Pork will just fall apart when you stick a fork in it.... mmmm)

( This recipe calls for two pork tenderloins so it is great if you want to take someone dinner or if you are having several people over.....I just put one pork tenderloin with the soups.)

This is terrific with rice because you can pour some of the gravy over it, yum!

Hope you enjoy my obsession for this week! Tonight we are having Chicken Cacciatore, will let you know how it turns out!

Thumbs up!

Well, Little Man has weaned himself from the pacifier. Wants nothing to do with it. That is fine with his mama. I don't have to worry about weaning later and he doesn't really need it anymore. It did him a lot of good for the first couple of months while he got used to this crazy world! Since he no longer takes a paci, he has taken up "thumb sucking" it started several days ago but just got serious in the past two days. "Serious" meaning we spend most of our awake time trying to insert the thumb into his mouth. Last night when he woke up at midnight for a feeding, I didn't hear whining at first, all I heard was some serious sucking. When I finally went in to pick him up, he had wiped slobber all over his face and his little hand was cold from being wet and then the AC blowing on it. Here are some pics of the psuedo thumb sucking. I tried to get a video but ran out of batteries. Don't worry it will happen again!

Chuckman sitting in mama's lap trying to suck his thumb.

Chuckers trying to suck his thumb while mama cooks. (This highchair is wonderful. He just kick backs in it while I spend time in the kitchen. Never really gets tired of it. I know he is not strapped in but the foot board is up so he can't slide out!)

Mall Walking

Well, we are officially mall walkers! It is just not reasonable to think that I am going to stay in the house 24/7 with this little sweet pea. I can't go anywhere with him because he does not like his car seat unless it is moving at 30 mph or faster. He can't hold his head up good enough to be held or strapped into a cart. So we are pretty much homebound. Then it gets hot. Too hot. Like 97 degrees hot with tons of humidity. Forecasts for the past two weeks have been "muggy". So, we can't walk in the mornings now, or in the evenings, or at midnight. I told my next door neighbor, Ginger, I was considering walking the mall. She went by the mall and found out what time it opened for the walkers. On Thursday and Friday we went to the mall with Ginger at 7 in the morning ( because we get up at 6:00, nice). We walked 2 miles each day. We were going to take the weekend off since Dr. was home from work. It turns out that he had lots of stuff to do up at school so really wasn't off. So, Chuck and I went to walk this morning at 9 and walked 4 miles!

Thursday, Chuck got fussy the last lap ( each lap is a half mile) so I carried him the rest of the way while Ginger pushed the stroller. On Friday, he got fussy half way through and I brought the baby book bag just in case. I stashed the stroller somewhere in a corner and strapped him on the front of me and he was fine. Today, I decided to try his stroller without the car seat. ( I can't do this on my walks through the neighborhood because it is too bumpy and I need something for his head.) I just put foot board up so he couldn't scoot out the bottom and laid his seat down most of the way and he went to sleep. After mile 2, he got fussy so I sat him up a little more so he felt like a big boy and he was happy the rest of the walk!

On the way home from the mall both days with Ginger, he screamed the whole way. I think he was just tired of being in his car seat. Today, since he didn't walk in his car seat, he was quiet the whole way home.

Chuck sporting his brownie goose* while mall walking. Look at him sitting in his stroller like a big boy, no car seat!

*Brownie-goose is a business run by another resident's wife here in Jackson. She sews funky children's clothes, made to order. She shows you the fabrics and the patterns - you pick what you want. You aren't the baby of a resident until you are wearing Brownie-Goose. Her fall line (fabrics and patterns) will be out soon!