Saturday, December 31, 2011

God Bless Texas

Things I love about Texas:
  • Walking barefoot on carpet
  • Chick-fil-a
  • That my mom left all the decorations up so there is a little bit of Christmas in every corner of the house
 
Things Declan loves about Texas:
Puppies! Just kidding Declan could care less about his Aunt Alex and Uncle Theo.

 

Friday, December 30, 2011

Conversation Overheard

The other day I overheard Big D chatting with Little D while he was changing his diaper. Here's how the conversation went...

Big D: Wow, your legs are chunkier than Mom's
Little D: silence (he's smart enough to not respond)

from the other room...
Medium J: Excuse me?!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Boys and Planes

The three of us survived Declan's first plane ride. I almost cried a couple of times because of
  • the pouring rain that soaked everything including Declan
  • the cabbie who concocted some story about why he couldn't take us to the airport
  • the hour and a half ride cab ride where Declan cried and the only thing that soothed him was singing Silent Night
Once we finally arrived at Newark we started to have more fun. We had a great dinner as a family in the waiting area. Then we were the very last people to board the plane and we sat in the very last row so we got to tote our cute baby through the aisle while our fellow passengers and flight attendents ooohhed and awwed (and probably also dreaded his crying). Then since the flight was empty we were able to use Declan's car seat and he slept during the entire 4+ hour flight. 
We love him for being such a good traveler. Guess he loves travel just as much as his mama! (see Happy Traveling)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas Tricks

During his first nap on Christmas morning this little guy decided to roll over from his back to front. Here's a picture of right before he rolled over.

And he is naked under his Halo sack because he decided to pee on his Santa outfit before his nap.

Monday, December 26, 2011

First Christmas

Two of my favorite memories from this Christmas are:

1) Driving around with Danny late at night (9:30pm) on Christmas Eve and critiquing neighborhood Christmas lights after we put Declan to bed

2) Waking up early (7am) on Christmas morning and hanging out in bed as a family

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas

All we want for Christmas are no more hospital bills. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Close To You

Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you

Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you

On the day that you were born the angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair
Of golden starlight in your eyes of blue

That is why all the girls in town
Follow you
All around
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you

Friday, December 23, 2011

Taking Turns


When Danny gets home from work we switch off taking pictures with Declan. We should take more pictures of the three of us.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Double Chin

Someone might be getting a double chin.
 His dad told him to stop at two.




Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Tummy Time Rebel

Took Declan a couple of days to reproduce the trick but I finally got it on camera. 

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Holiday Tour Tradition

Danny and I have an annual tradition to go on what we term the Holiday Tour. During this evening out we see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, department store holiday windows, and eat Nuts for Nuts. We have done this tour for five years now. It was fun to take Declan for his first time and our sixth time. Like so many family adventures, Declan was sleeping but he was awake before we left the apartment.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

New Tricks This Week

Declan taught himself some new tricks this week. My favorites are:

1) Waking up only once from 8:00pm(ish) to 5:00am(ish). Thanks to this trick Danny and I were able to have a couple of dates this week - watching Home Alone with only the Christmas Tree lights on and dinner at the Hard Rock cafe with a bill of only $8.

2) The second is video worthy and I haven't been able to record it yet. So stay tuned.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Naughty or Nice

I don't think Santa visits little boys who don't take naps.

What?
That's right and Mom is giving a full report so rethink your decisions.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Nanny

We got a nanny for when I need to take a shower, fix food, sit alone on the couch...
He takes some serious abuse.

You're Home

They say that newborns have three stages - about to cry, crying and just cried. During his first weeks of life I remember when Declan would cry Danny would whisper to him, "You're home."

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Scales Don't Lie

Declan weighed in at 10 pounds and 1 ounce at his last doctor appointment.
He's in the 10th percentile. What a tiny peanut.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Last Week Wrap-up

Here are some things Declan and I did last week:

We made baby bottle soup
Declan did some baby exercises
Mom ate chocolate when Declan cried. Yeah I have little self control and apparently Christmas was last week. (Sorry Dad)
We're excited to have more adventures together in the coming week.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Cone of Silence

As noted in previous posts, our home is small. When we first brought Declan home we had his bassinet about 6 feet from our bed. After a week we ended up moving the bassinet to the other side of the wall and it has made a huge difference. When Declan is crying because he doesn't want to go down for nap time that extra 2 inches of wood is the difference between hopelessness and sanity.

Now that we've taken Declan to other people's apartments, I've become amazed that you can be in a different room or even 10 feet away and you can't hear him. I'm not used to this so of course it makes me uneasy because I think what if he's crying and I can't
hear him.

Now this brings me to the cone of silence. When we are out on a walk and Mr. Declan gets fussy it's amazing that you can barely hear him under his plastic rain shield. Hence the Cone of Silence.No babies were harmed in the taking of this photo. Baby was promptly soothed after this photo was snapped.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Heart on your Tee

Declan wore this onesie during a sleepless night. Made the hours from 2am-5am more delightful.

Right back at ya kiddo.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Middle of the Night Discoveries

(Unrelated to the picture above) Since Declan's birth I've discovered that our building doesn't have hot water during the middle of the night. Had I not had the opportunity to stay up with him I would have never known.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Spoiled Rotten

We spoil our child. Hence he has his own bedroom.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Weekend Update

Brunch at Fred's

Origami Tree at the Natural History Museum

Fun times with this cutie

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Nicknames

Since Declan's arrival, nicknames have naturally started to develop. Mostly we just call him Declan but below are some common nicknames for our little man.

Both: Crazy mashugana

Danny: Bubsy, Buddy, Babaloo. He tends to hover around endearing names/made up words that begin with the letter 'B'.

Jennifer: Stinky, Booger-nose, Drooly. All of course said in a high-pitched loving tone.

Can you guess who takes care of more hygiene situations in our home?

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Nighttime

I have always cherished my sleep. Ever since Danny and I got married bed time has been the only constant source of contention. I like to go to sleep and Danny likes to stay up. Since we live in a studio and the bed is right next to the TV it's difficult to have a win-win situation.

Now that Declan is here I'm coming to realize that all the men in my family are night owls and fight nighttime sleep. Since Danny is working, I've taken 100% night duty (we will have to adjust this arrangement when I go back to work if Declan isn't consistently sleeping through the night). Night duty is really hard for me because I would rather be asleep of course! But I have found something that works to get me through the night. Right before I start my sleep (which is undoubtedly interrupted) I queue up a Christmas movie. Then when Declan wakes up I start my movie. I'll keep it on until he goes back to sleep. Sometimes this takes a long time.
Danny can gauge how good the night was by how much of the movie I have left in the morning. He knows it took Declan a good amount of crying to go back to sleep if I report that I finished the movie.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Deck the Halls

Keeping with tradition, we decked the halls with Declan on Black Friday.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Bed Time for Baby

Last week we started implementing a bedtime routine. Declan's bedtime routine goes like this:

He eats, hangs out on his activity mat and then has a bath. Usually his bath is less than a minute long. This is the amount of time it takes before he gets unhappy so Mom and Dad have to be super fast with the washcloth and soap. Then we move our wet baby to the bed and pray he doesn't pee. He gets dried down and lotioned up. Then we put on a clean outfit. Lastly he is rocked and sung to and then put in his bassinet around 10:30pm.

Sometimes we have success other times we put him down and he cries until it's time to eat again. We know that this routine will eventually pay off but in the meantime we will just savor the chaotic sweetness.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Road Rage

Danny has some severe road rage. Since we don't own a car this is exhibited on the sidewalk - call it sidewalk rage. Usually it is caused by slow walkers, people who stop in the middle of the path or anyone looking like a tourist. Sometimes although I hate to admit it he is known to throw some elbows without remorse.

The past few weeks, Danny has added the stroller to his arsenal. I keep having to remind Danny that our son is not to be used as a weapon.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Unsupervised Day with Declan

Danny had to go back to work on Monday so Declan and I spent our first unsupervised day together. We not only survived but we also went grocery shopping. It was Declan's first grocery trip and it had been a while for me since Danny was in charge of food the past few months.

Since I don't have a phone that takes good pictures and Danny's iPhone is on the fritz, here are some pictures from Thursday. These pictures are of about a 2 minute span of drowsy time.