Day 5...

Dear I,

Day 5 since Daddy is gone to Colorado and we are definitely missing him something fierce! Kudos to all the single Mamas/Papas out there! I do not know how you do it! Sir I You are a lucky little man to have such an awesome Daddy! I know he misses you as much as we miss him! Good Luck on your First day of work Daddy! I hope you LOVE it.....YOU BETTER!!! :)
So Little man, I am finding that wearing you out is definitely the way to go with you! The past 3 nights you have slept like a champ!! Only waking long enough to jump into bed with me!  (I know, I know, I am working on that....but baby steps! I will take him sleeping ANYWHERE first!) Bedtime has gone from 7:30 to the 9-930 range. Pretty much whenever you start dozing off is bedtime. Although I can guarantee you my bedtime comes A LOT sooner! I just have not figured out why you are  not sleeping later now! You have to be tired but you stil bounce up at 5 AM ready to roll!

Lot of Pool time this weekend and a pool birthday party for our friend Isaac! All the other kids were swimming and playing and there was my little monster eating rocks and diggin up plants! I do not know what your fascination with rocks is, but I hope this phase fades before you break those cute little toofers!
"Gua"  is the catch phrase of the week. You wake up saying it. You yell it at the dogs. You scream it running in your walker. I have no idea what "Gua" means, but I am sure it is very important! maybe just as important as ""dah".

Today, as predicted, we lost the dog's bowl. Zorro's food bowl finally met its untimely fate when it went smashing into a zillion pieces :(  We all saw that one coming - but the clean up was FANTASTIC! I have never seen glass shatter so far!
I cannot get over how active you are these days! The steps, the fireplace, the back patio, the bathrooms, the modems, the closets - nothing and no where is safe from you! Poor Zorro barricades himself in Uncle Ronnie's closet hiding from you! But not even there is safe from the tiny terror you are!
This afternoon you woke up, emptied the bathroom garbage, unraveled a toll of toilet paper and managed to flip over a laundry basket of folded clothes in under 5 minutes. I do not know how you move so quick! Mommy doesnt move that quick!  I have to pawn you off on Uncle Ronnie when I need a break and I do not know who is worse sometimes! Uncle Ronnie just has to learn bedtime does not mean playtime!
Well kiddo, Mommy is going to take advantage of this impromptu naptime and catch up on her zzz's too!
I LOve you Little Monster!
Love, Mommy

On the Move...

Dear I,
What a hectic two weeks we have had! First, my first Mommy Birthday last week was GREAT!!! I do not mean GREAT just because I got a "shake-weight" from Uncle Ronnie, but because I got to spend the whole day with you, Daddy, and Uncle Ronnie! We had a blast, Indian food, Ice cream, shopping, and topped off with a good bedtime for you and shots of Bailey's for us! NOt to mention a fabulous Wustoff Knife set from daddy...Nothing better than kitchen gadgets to put a smile on my face!
After that we had a great visit from Gramma! She was surely impressed by how big & strong - and of curse CUTE you are now! We loved having her here! I loved having so much free time! It was like a mini vacation for me! I got so much done....and you (and Daddy) got some major Gramma spoiling!
OF course the weeks have also been filled with moving talk - and actions! Like I said before, kiddo, this move decision has been weighing so heavily on me. Honestly I do not think it is a good idea to let Mommies  make huge decisions within the first year of having a baby...we (ok, me) are just way to emotional for that! But anyway Daddy took the job in Colorado last week and since then we have been on a whirl wind ride of moving mayhem!
Fortunately house hunting in Denver means a trip to a Aunt Sue's house in Boulder! You have so much fun with your Aunt Sue and love to terrorize little Bogey as much as you can. Although you weren't too sure of the horses. Those were some BIG doggies!! You were overwhelmed at all the new things to put in your mouth! How exciting! It was a mad dash chasing you around as your explored her house eating plants, dog toys, nick nacks - and my personal favorite jamming up the toilet bowel with magazines! I had not even thought of that one. You and your daddy had a great First Father's day  getting all dirty in the mud and  playing in the grass. Alas did I fail to mention you SLEEPING THRU THE NIGHT!!??!! We may have to move in with Aunt Sue for that reason alone! I think letting you exhaust yourself throughout the day is going to be the way we have to go with you. Heck with scheduled bedtimes! We just let you tire yourself out and then BAM...out like a light you are!

The good news of the weekend was we found a cute little house in a seemingly great area (think Newburyport West!) the downfall was we looked at that  house first, and then wasted the following day looking at houses that were not nearly as nice. Did I mention how much you HATE to be in the car seat?   SO that part was a bit challenging...to say the least! There will definitely NOT be any road trips in your near future...but you were great on the plane this time, so we will have to cut our losses.
As I started this blog wednesday night it had not sunken in how real this move is becoming. But now, Thursday morning it has begun to sink in. We just waved good bye to Daddy in the driveway as he took off for the Rockies in his loaded down Forerunner. It is a bittersweet day indeed. Happy a new chapter will be starting but sad one is ending. I dont know if I will ever learn you cant make everyone happy. I am slowly realizing that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to that. What I am also slowly starting to realize is that You, Daddy & I have to be Priority Number 1 right now and no matter where we are our families will always be there with us. Boy kiddo, I really hope you do not inherit Mommy's sense of guilt...( Hmm...I ownder where I got mine...thanks Mom)

Well that is all for now. God willing our next post we will be happy to report Daddy's safe arrival in Colorado! As for you and I, let's just hope we dont drive each other crazy ( or Uncle ROnnie!) We are off to visit Noni and Nono next week for the 4th of July. I am sure everyone will be vying for some Monster time in NEPA...I can almost feel my long hot shower and nap already!!! Lock up the cabinets!! The Scrunchy-face-Toofer- Monster will be there soon enough!
Until then...As Always, Mommy loves you Monster Sir I!
love Mommy

The Big Picture

Dear I,

Whatta week! I can't say I am sad to see this one come to an end. It's too hot, it's too hectic, and I am sorry to say your Mommy gets too emotional! Last weekend we saw temperatures jump up to 110 and it has been hovering around there ever since! Ugh. You are not a fan of the heat either!  If I thought you were miserable in the car before, just try hot and miserable! Luckily we had lots of pool time to cool off. Shhh! Don't tell, but you are one happy skinny dipper! Like I have said a thousand times before - Who needs those stinkin bathing suits anyway! You and Prada  have a blast splashing around. Somehow you get more dog hair on you in the pool than crawling under the table! From the pool to the showers - You love every second of water time!

Monday Daddy flew out to Denver for a job interview. It was a success  - and he starts at the end of the month! I wish I could tell you how excited I am about moving to Colorado kiddo, but honestly I am not sure. Hence, Mommy has been an emotional basket case lately. Honestly I do not know how your daddy puts up with me some times! It is such a hard decision to make. On one hand I really do not want you growing up in Vegas, but on the other hand we are in a  great situation here where I can be home with you and not have to work. We also have Uncle Ronnie and Prada here. We do not know a soul in Denver!  I do understand that Colorado living is Daddy's dream. I guess this is part of the "give and take" of a relationship I need to work on. You know what monster, sometimes relationships suck - no matter what you give or take! I love your Daddy with all my heart  but sometimes I  feel like we are not only on different pages, but different books all together!
Fortunately our move will not be as sudden as Daddy.  You and I are staying in Vegas until the end of the summer. Daddy and Doc are going first to get things set up and settled in. It will be hard with him so far away most of the time but I think this is the best way to go about it. I am just not ready to pack up shop and move in 2 weeks. I guess I am not the spontaneous risk taker I used to be. Maybe your Noni is right, I need to just relax and go with it....(I do not know what your Noni is on, but I want some!)
Other than moving Drama/trauma it was Wheel tryouts week. Stupid show! WHo really watches  it anyway? OK, I was pretty disappointed I did not make it. The test was way harder than I expected. Sorry Monster, no millions just yet! I just do not think I am good with rejection! Thank goodness I never tried out for AMerican Idol!
Well I may not have made WHeel, but I did get a huge consolation prize - My Baby's first TOOFER broke through! I noticed it in the car on the way home! Finally! A tooth! I thought you would be a gummy bear forever! NOw let's see if all your fussiness disappears as your teeth come in...I will not be holding my breath!

Hopefully next week is better than this week. I am sure it will be plenty busy though - between you getting into EVERYTHING, Packing up Daddy, looking for houses, finding Prada a new playmate - we definitely wont be bored! Maybe I will tire myself out enough to actually get some sleep(as I write this at 2:30 AM!)! I hate stress! I sleep worse than you do now! Who knows, maybe the change will do us good.  I guess we will never know unless we try. I do know in some time this decision will probably be as insignificant as not making Wheel of Fortune. It just seems like a big deal now - you will probably never even know it happened! The Big Picture kiddo, that's what I am looking toward - and we all have to be (happily) in it. If this move gets us from here to there, then so be it....Right???
At least your daddy and I agree on one thing: You are the most important factor here! You are a very lucky little monster to have 2 parents that love you so much! Now I just hope we do not screw that up! :)
As always I love you Monster!
Love, Mommy

Summer Time!

Dear I,

Whatta Weekend we had! Memorial Day was here and gone, and thus the (un)official start of summer is here! Hello June! What a busy month! Here comes the heat! Although Daddy did not officially have the day off, he did not get called in to work, so we DID have a great extra long weekend together.

It all started with Daddy OFFERING to take you all night and let mommy "sleep" all night - peacefully - and ALONE!!! Well that lasted about 15 minutes...about 13.5 minutes longer than I expected. It was a very nice gesture though. I guess there is something about kicking and pinching me all night that just is not the same with daddy. Oh well, lucky me! And what a terrible night it was! I spent the whole night thinking of how I needed to video tape this to send into a sleep clinic or Dr. Sears!! I just kept thinking I must be doing something wrong - How can each night get worse than better??? I don't know kiddo! My only solace is thinking of your teenage years when I will wake you up every morning at 4 am!!! Ahh....sweet revenge!

Saturday we took a CRAZY ride into the mountains with dogs. Your daddy loves his mountain excursions! We loaded up the dogs, you and some picnic goodies and off we go! The only problem was we were not alone! We pulled off road and let all the mutts out of the car to run around, only to find a herd of wild horses within feet of us! The horses were not interested in us, but Zorro was definitely out for blood! I don't how or why that little mutt got so mean, but he just does not like other living creatures! What a bully! Lucky he is the cutest dog in the world!

Next came Daddy's four-wheeling ride. Sorry boys, but ugh, I just do not see the fun in that! I am sure you will love it once you are older, and once again mommy will be out numbered, but something about being thrown all over the car on a dusty dirt road is not appealing to me. You slept through the whole thing somehow. At least I know you can sleep through a hurricane or earthquake! Your Aunt Leslee was right, I should strap your carseat to a mechanical bull at night! You might just sleep the whole night through!

Sunday was a lazy day of home and pool - and of course WATERMELON!!! It is just not the summer with out it! Mommy got to go grocery shopping solo - only to come home to daddy feeding  you...I think! Or you were both playing finger paint with the carrots and pasta! What a mess!! Silly boys!
Monday was pretty much the same thing. We went for lunch, you attacked my hummus plate and made one heck of a mess! It was funny though, and the waitress got one heck of a tip for that clean up! Uncle ROnnie and Daddy had to make a pit stop at the Harley Davidson store on the way home. It is like testosterone heaven in there! Don't get any ideas of a Harley just yet little man - you or daddy - or Uncle Ronnie!!

While they window shopped in Manly man Grr Store, we were off to the baby store next door. (I do think it is a bit weird to have a baby store next to the mega Harley store???) Anyway, I couldn't help but laugh as I strolled through the amazingly overpriced baby things. I saw glowing prego women filling out registries and looking at $50 baby clothes and I just wanted to shake them and say "Look at this (albeit beautiful) baby covered in hummus!!! DO NOT waste your money on $49.99 onesies!!! It just amazes me what people will spend on baby gear! Hopefully it is just a new mom thing and you do not fall for that twice. I Won't! If I ever had to do it all over again I would NOT buy anything new! I think I would sooner buy a Harley! At least that has some chance of staying clean!! Take note my prego friends, "Do not believe the hype! Expensive is not better!!
We posted some new videos of you getting around! I cannot believe how fast you move! This week you had so many discoveries! First the stairs, then the doggie door. One second you are under the kitchen table the next you are across the room in the dog's water bowl! I definitely have my work cut out for me in keeping up with you! I think the key to you sleeping is to completely wear you out all day! The only problem is I wear out MUCH quicker than you do!
Well baby Monster, hopefully this week brings us just as much fun and excitement as the past week! Thank you again to all our military men and women who allowed us to have such a great carefree weekend! Honestly, we cannot thank you enough for all you do.
I love you My little Monster Monkey!
love, mommy