5 things

I was tagged by lawmummy to write five things that you don't know about me. So here it goes.
1. My parents are step brother and sister making their divorce and my father's remarriage that much more difficult.
2. I have a severe phobia of throwing up.
3. I dated a guy who was 10 years older than me in high school and college (yes, it's the same guy who ran against my mother for a House seat in VT).
4. I hated living in Charlotte, NC where I went to college my freshman and sophomore years -- though I didn't hate the university (UNCC).
5. I wear a watch and earrings every day -- well almost every day, I didn't wear either today or yesterday as I am still recovering from the stomach flu. And I rarely wear my engagement ring. It's just too beautiful to me to be exposed to my every day goings on -- changing diapers, washing dishes, taking out the trash etc. . .

still tired

I was supposed to get a good night of sleep last night. Our entertaining is over and my mother has left. We were going to be getting back into our routine with baby Doodle. Except that baby Doodle has a cold and is teething (upper teeth this time) and I woke up at 11:30 p.m. with a stomach virus. I was up all night. Baby Doodle slept quite well in his own room. I am still in my pajamas and it's 12:36 p.m.

no sleep

I'm not sure if baby Doodle is teething again, has a chest cold or is just hitting the nine-month slump but he is not sleeping day or night. His naps if he gets to sleep at all last a half hour at most. He is falling asleep at night just fine, but he's waking five and six times a night. Mr. Doodlebug and I are quite tired. We're trying to not have him sleep in our bed every night which means we have to go downstairs and either play Baby Beluga or rock him back to sleep before we can get some rest. Last night he slept with us starting at 3:30 a.m. The night before last he didn't get into our bed until 5:00 a.m., which I consider morning, which means he really didn't sleep with us even though we all went back to sleep for a few more hours.

I'm so tired. We're heading out to Babies R Us to buy gates. Baby Doodle still isn't crawling but he's getting closer and closer, and we're hosting my mom's group tomorrow and most of the other babies can crawl/cruise. The changes just keep coming.

Baby Doodle's first Christmas

We had a low key Christmas this year. My mother came down from Vermont and my in-laws were here both on Christmas Eve and Day. We went to 4:00 mass on Christmas Eve where the kids put on a play of sorts demonstrating the story of Mary and Joseph. It was cute. Baby Doodle liked seeing the big kids in costume. Though when the regular part of mass got underway he wasn't so content to just sit and be quiet. I spent much of the time in the back swaying him while he stared at the candles and the other babies who were being swayed.
My in-laws arrived early Christmas morning with baked french toast and hot chocolate and coffee from Dunkin Donuts. We ate and drank and were all sugared up for our present opening. Baby Doodle got many wonderful toys and books. His biggest gift was from his grandparents who gave him a Radio Flyer wagon built for two with seat belts and everything. He rode around the house in it having a ball.
I really love Sandra Boynton's books. They're so cute and clever. Baby Doodle got "Hey Wake Up," "Hippos Go Berserk," and "Barnyard Dance." "Hey Wake Up" is definitely my favorite.

I made our Christmas meal which consisted of turkey (actually my mother made the turkey), corn, green beans (using girlfiend's recipe), yams, cranberry sauce and gravy. I also made apple and pumpkin pies and ginger cookies. All were delicious. I really loved my apple pie this time. I used a mix of cortland, staymen and macintosh apples and the recipe from "How to Cook Everything."

My mother is still here today. She's leaving tomorrow. It's been a tough Christmas for her and our family. It's the first Christmas without both of my grandparents. My grandmother died new year's eve last year and my grandfather on Dec. 1st of this year. Death makes me think about the circle of life and how baby Doodle arrived shortly after my grandmother died signifying the next generation's existence, at least in our family.

Baby Doodle in his new wagon wearing the sweater I knitted for him for Christmas.

Our Third Night without Baby Doodle

Last night was Mr. Doodlebug's office's holiday party. It was like an extravagant wedding. I wore a strapless black dress that I had worn years before I ever had a baby (and fit into it quite well I must say). Mr. D wore a navy blue pinstripe suit. He looked dashingly handsome. My father and his wife are in town from Senegal (they arrived last week for my grandfather's burial), and they watched baby Doodle. He was a well-behaved little prince for them. The holiday party was at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue in Center City. We valet parked, checked our coats and headed to the full open bar. There were hors d'ouevres brought around by tuxedo-clad waiters and our plates were whisked away as soon as we were finished eating from them. There was a fondue buffet with four different cheese fondues (brie, fontina, gruyere and blue), apples, breads and pears. It was delicious. There was also a chef making different pastas including gnocchi. I didn't partake in the pasta anticipating the big meal we were about to enjoy. We went downstairs to the ballroom for dinner. A ten-piece band played nice jazzy music and some classical wedding songs (like At Last and What a Wonderful World). We sat at a table with three pregnant women and their husbands and another couple who were childless. We were served more wine. Then they came around with large bowls with a small scoop of what looked like brown sugar -- which turned out to be a pecan-cinnamon mold -- over which butternut squash soup was poured. The soup was incredibly tasty. Then came the salad course. It was good, not fantastic, but good. The main course came next. I had the vegetarian option and Mr. D had the beef. Both were excellent. People danced, mingled, ate. We mingled and ate. I wanted to dance when the band played At Last pretty early in the evening, but Mr. D said not enough people were dancing at that point to get out there and be stared at. So we mingled. I got to meet lots of Mr. D's colleagues and friends. It was nice. It was really nice to have a night out without baby Doodle.

We left about 11:20 p.m. and decided to take I-76 home given the lateness of the hour. We got onto I-676 to get to I-76. We're driving along 676 and pass an exit then we see a sign that says "Ramp Closed." What ramp? We assume it's not the ramp to get onto 76 because that is such a big entrance -- the two left lanes -- and because we would have been sufficiently warned as we got onto 676 that we would not be able to get onto the biggest road in Philadelphia. Ah, how wrong we were. The "ramp" they were referring to was in fact the left two lanes of the highway. So we had to take 76 East (the opposite direction than what we wanted). We got off at the first exit (30th Street Station). We drove around the station and waited in a tremendously long line of cars to get onto 76 West. I was anxious to get home and find out how baby Doodle was, if he was still up, if he had cried himself to sleep etc... I really hate stupid useless signs like "ramp closed" after you're already on the road and there is more than one ramp!

We eventually got home. Baby Doodle was fast asleep and had been since 8:30 p.m. I went into his room to turn on the monitor. He was peacefully sleeping in his yellow bear pajamas and blue fleece sack. He's such a good baby. It was quite pleasant to spend an evening out eating good food and drinking fine wine.

Saying goodbye

Mr. Doodlebug, baby Doodle and I went to New York for my grandfather's burial. He was cremated and buried with his first wife (my grandmother who died when my mother was only 16). It was a simple, beautiful and meaninful ceremony.

Two military personnel held an American flag above the gravesite while a third person played Taps on a bugle a short distance away. It was very moving. My mother said a few words on behalf of her five sisters, four step siblings, thirteen grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and herself. Though she was teary she spoke eloquently about how loving my grandpa was. We said the Lord's Prayer and placed roses on the ground above the ashes.

We returned to my grandfather's house. We ate a lot of good food and drank. It was nice to be around so much family at one time. It happens so infrequently. I think of it as a gift from the deceased that so many people who love each other gather to celebrate the life of one person.

Grandpa

My grandpa died yesterday. He was a good man. He died less than a year after my grandmother died. He was deeply in love with her, still is I imagine.

He was very good with his hands and had an incredibly logical, engineer-like mind. He built many things that scatter his house and basement. He made me a doll house when I was a little girl. My mother still has it in her basement. If I ever have a daughter I want her to have it – or baby Doodle if he’s interested.

He had all of his faculties when he died. His mind was still sharp and he could mostly take care of himself. We saw him over Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m so glad we went up for it. He got to spend some time with his only great grandson. Baby Doodle was fascinated by him. Grandpa was really good with BD. He kept him smiling and entertained while BD sat on his lap. I’m sorry baby Doodle won’t get to really know his great grandpa.

I’m going to miss him.

I know you can't believe it's been 8 months

Yes, baby Doodle is eight months old today. I love that he was born on the first. It’s so orderly.
We have begun a very nice sleeping routine with baby Doodle. He goes to sleep a little after 8:00 at night and stays asleep until 3:00am when he wakes up to eat. I feed him and put him back in his crib (not the cosleeper anymore) where he sleeps until 7:00am. He eats again and plays while I run on the trampoline, eat breakfast and take a shower. Then around 9:00am he takes a nap in the guest room. I lie down with him and feed him and cuddle him to sleep. He naps for anywhere from an hour to two and a half hours. Then he’s up and refreshed and we begin our day.

I know this new routine won’t last because they never do, but I’m enjoying it now. I love how reliable he is now. When he was a newborn he was very unpredictable. I never knew when he’d fall asleep or for how long. He constantly wanted to eat or be held or be burped. I love how he’s matured into this big eight-month old. But I am sad that his first birthday is lurking around the corner. I don’t want a toddler, I want my baby to stay a baby forever. I know I’ll feel differently when BD is actually a toddler, but I’m enjoying his baby months so much that I don’t want him to get any older.

Yesterday he went without nursing for eight hours! I fed him at 8:00pm and he went another seven hours without eating while he slept. I started to worry that my milk production would slow down. I don’t know if it has, but he’s eaten twice already this morning and seems to have gotten some milk.

In case you were wondering he still doesn’t crawl. I’m starting to get used to the idea. I know my friends and family are tired of hearing me say “he’s not crawling yet.” I’ll try to calm down about that. He still has time. And it’s okay if he never crawls.