Musical Selections....

This morning's journey to work:
(Thanks M'witty!)

Very good. It's the soundtrack to the Curious George movie.
George & I go waaaaaaay back.

Today's musical selections:

Fergie's album, "The Duchess."
"...that grey goose got your girl feeling loose..."


"When You Were Young"...a song by The Killers. Great song. Love it.
"...he doesn't look a thing like Jesus..."


And, K T Tunstall...
There's a song called, "Suddenly I See".
I like that song...

:)

Eczema...it's baaaack.

Gage's eczema is back.

Did I post about this before?
Gage gets eczema outbreaks.

He had one spot on his arm before. So gross that I'm about to post this...but here we go. Doctor said at that time that it was either ringworm or eczema. If it responded to the medicine we put on it, then it was eczema. If it didn't---then it was ringworm.

It responded. It's eczema. And, now it's back.

Where is it now?
There was a patch on his face.
The backs of both legs.
Both elbows.

He's 16 months old, and this is only outbreak #2. Maybe he'll grow out of it.

Been reading up on it...
We're going to be making some changes at the Casa de Lainey-Paney.
Things that we can do to hopefully alleviate the symptoms or future outbreaks...
These are things that we will now be doing in addition to the frequent applications of Hydrocortisone cream....
~Wash his clothes separate from ours in fragrance-free, gentler detergent
~Bathe him only every other day, as daily bathing strips essential moisturizing oils from his skin
~Hydrate with water (less juice, more water) to keep skin moist (working from the inside out...)
~Fragrance free, milder soap for bathing him [I'm on a mission: looking for some super-gentle, fragrance-free, tear-free soap for my baby....Where to look? Where to look?]
~Loose clothing, preferably cotton
~No fabric softeners, no dryer sheets on his bedding or clothes
~No rubbing him dry after a bath...only pat his skin, let air dry briefly, then apply lotion (not just any lotion now...and not Baby Lotion in those eczema-prone spots)
...now, I'm going to have a very hard time not lathering my child in baby lotion b/c it just smells so sweet. And that scent of J&J Baby Lotion...that's just how my child is supposed to smell!
So...I'll still probably put the regular baby lotion on his back, and feet, and tummy....

Okay. That's it for now.

Then, & Now...

One year ago...

My child was mesmerized by "Shark Tale."


And now, he sings & dances to "The Wiggles."


One year ago...

My child sat in his highchair for the VERY 1st time!


Now, my child is learning to use the spoon!


One year ago...

My child was just sitting on up on his own...for a split-second!


And now, my child crawls, walks, runs, & dances!


Back then...
My little man had NO TEETH...he had the sweetest gummy-grin.


Now...he's got quite a few teeth!


They grow so fast. And it's fun to look back at when he was soooooo little!
:)

Northpark.

Sunday.
Went to Northpark.

Quote of the day: "Don't give him that sippy! Someone could have put CRACK in there!"

(Oh, of course, a story will be coming.....)

For those who don't live around here...Northpark is a mall. And, I love it.
It's my favorite mall. I go there quite a bit.

And...So...we set out. Left the house...apple in progress, while riding to the mall.

(why, yes. I do drive & photograph my child at the same time! Let's all be glad I wasn't also changing lanes & picking a CD too!)

They have an indoor pond-like area with ducks & turtles.
Gage wanted to get in so badly!


In this next one, you can just see how he's kind of given up...
"It's hopeless!"


And yet, another futile attempt at reaching the ducks!



Sippy Story:
Okay...so we're at Northpark.
We are upstairs at Paciugo's to get some very overpriced but super tastey gelato. ($3 for a scoop of ice cream? Come on! Just my opinion....)
Anyway...we're at Paciugo's to get some gelato. It's very a super-tastey treat, and not something we eat every day.
The line...crazy long.
So, we get in line.
me: "Where's his sippy cup?"
husband: "I don't know."
...we look all over for it. We must have lost it. Okay. No big deal. It was like $2 at WalMart. No biggie.
We go through the line, and after we pay, we are walking away...I see the sippy on it's side next to the wall. He must have dropped it...it rolled over there...it was about 10 feet away from us a the most.
And yet, when I handed it to my husband, and he motioned to put it in the basket under the stroller, I panicked---thinking he was about to give the sippy cup to my son. So, out of my mouth comes the following: "DON'T GIVE HIM THAT SIPPY! Someone could have put CRACK in there!!!"
To which my husband responded, "I wasn't. I was putting it in the basket."
And then he proceeded to make fun of the fact that my brain instantly went to "someone putting crack in the sippy cup".

Mocking......"why, here I am....a crackhead...just looking for a place to put my crack. Oh, I know...I'll put it right here in this sippy cup on the floor!"

Hey...I'm just saying...you never know what wack-jobs out there will do to hurt kids.

Crack is Wack.

Saturday...

I was so ready for Saturday to just hang out with Baby Gage.

I really had a great weekend just playing with him & he was soooo snuggly this weekend! Spent a LOT of time in Mommy's lap.
Loved it!

Now please disregard his outfit for Saturday morning....
When diapers leak at 5 in the morning, you really just reach for DRY pants. They don't have to match...


"JUICE!"


On his firetruck...


Playing with a Hummer & Mommy's old cell phone...


Sweet story about Saturday...
So, Gage is sitting in my lap.
I'm sitting Indian-style on the floor. His right cheek is pressed up against my left cheek. We're swaying back & forth, singing a song about apples. (My child LOVES apples.) Anywho....we're singing & swaying...and being all snuggly. When the song was over, I asked Gage, "Is your Mommy SOOOO much fun?" He pulled his little face away from mine & looked at me. I looked at him & he was just nodding that little head up & down.
HE THINKS I'M SO MUCH FUN!
(If he understood the question...but, he said yes. That's all that really matters to me right now.)

Happy 60th!

So, I have a friend who is 60 years old.
Sixty.
6-0.
10X6=Her age. Sixty.

She was 32 when I was born.

...Anyway. Her actual birthday is not today, but her party took place a little before her ACTUAL birthday.

So, we went, and had a BLAST!



This is Vicki when she was a little girl...


And here's me. I SWEAR I'm not drunk. I swear. But, apparently when I laugh, I throw my head back...and so, there you have it. The makings of a hideous photo.

In the above picture...I was speaking at Vicki's party & laughing. I was one of the people asked to speak about her, about turning 60, etc. I was very honored to be chosen! Anyway...I was funny. (I think I was anyway....people were laughing... So that's good!)

Vicki's birthday cake...




Opening the gift I gave her...

Okay...here's the story: for her birthday, she requested that people bring old photos for her to put together in a scrapbook. So, I made a scrapbook page from our family, and got her some scrapbooking supplies at WalMart.
I had a ton of fun shopping for the stuff & making our page. So cute!

Amy & me...


Me & Damon...
"Hey, um...do you want some more red wine?"
(Inside joke...most of you won't get it b/c you had to be there...let's just say that THROUGH NO FAULT OF MY OWN, by the end of the night---I was scrubbing red wine out of some light blue carpet, and singing 'Cinderella do the dishes. Cinderella mop the floors...'")

Lola & Maggie...

Meet Lola...


Meet Maggie...


Okay...I just think they are beautiful!

Friday...

Oh Thank Goodness it's Friday.
Thursday totally sucked at work, & it just really kicked my butt.

I'm so glad that I don't have to work AT ALL this weekend.

I can't wait to hang out with Baby Gage tonight...and tomorrow...and the next day!

LMAO!

Okay....so, working on bringing this vision of my grand master bath to light...
Looking for a toilet.
Wasn't really impressed when the selection at Home Depot.
Did find it humorous that they are all UP on a shelf at an angle for display.

"Um, yes, Mr.Home Depot Man...can you get me one of those. I just need to sit on one to make sure it feels right."
I guess that's why they are UP there. Otherwise...people would be sitting on them all the time, and the random prankster would inevitably sh*t in one.

Moving on...
So, I'm looking online for toilets.
Looking for something that is a 1 piece model b/c I saw one once on HGTV, and quite honestly I have no idea why that would be better than a 2 piece model...so I thought I'd check it out.

With regard to 1 piece toilets: remember that toilet in my parents house. How you push in to flush & how low to the ground it was. I'm short. I loved that toilet.
(there's a bit of randomness from my past.......)

Anyway...so I'm looking online for toilets.
Here's what I found:

Um. It's way expensive.
So, if $$$$$ is no object, but space is, then this little contraption is for you.
You can brush your teeth while your partner takes a poo.
And seriously...if $$$ is really not an option---buy some space.
This is like recreating the ambiance of an airplane bathroom.
Thanks, but I'll pass.
This piece cost $5,887.00
(which, I guess really is cheaper than a complete bathroom renovation....)

AAAAND...just in case there is someone in your home who is worthy of a throne...
"A throne of their own" if you will....
Well, for the bargain price of about $12,000.00, this toilet could be yours!

(This product will be installed by the official knights of the round table).
(Castle Not Included)

And alas, the modern, toilet-seat-sold-separately wall mounted toilet & bidet combo.
For my mother's safety & sanity, we will not be installing a bidet. (Inside joke...most readers will not get that....but she will.)

I'd be so afraid that 1) Most people would not FIT on that teeny-weeny-toity, and 2) it would somehow dismount from the wall & I'd bust my hiney wide open on ceramic slivers as the toilet & I went crashing to the floor.
me:"Um...yes, I'd like to check into the emergency room b/c I've got potty in my ass."
RN: "You put pot in your ass?"
me: "Um...no, my toilet broke & it's in my ass."
That's a future conversation I'd rather not have.

My advice: steer clear of designerplumbing.com
(and really, I've brought you the highlights...so it's hardly worth checking out now anyway...)

Money Well Spent...

Here are some examples of money well spent at our household...

From IKEA...

Now, granted we've broken this toy, but for $5.99, it really did make up in the price in the amount of play-time that was used.
The center pole is a plastic/foamy thing for the rings to go on.
My son was able to break this. Which sucked.
But, he broke it by falling on it, and it was better that it was a little flexible & broke instead of impaling him through the chest.
All in all, money well spent in my opinion.
and, if the IKEA store weren't so freaking far away, I'd run out & get him a new set b/c he likes the colors, rolling the rings, the stacking, etc.

The Kolcraft Tot Rider 2
It's $19.87 at Walmart (the demon retailer...)

Endless hours of fun.
So fun in fact, that he had one at home, and one at the mother-in-law's house.
Twenty bucks has really never gone so far....
Definitely worth every penny!

Bright Starts Bounce Bounce Baby Activity Zone

I think we actually purchased this at Target......oh, no, wait. Santa brought this toy to our home...but now they are selling them at Target & Walmart. Walmart's price: $39.87.
Again, a worthy investment.
Tons of fun for our little one......and, it still sits motionless on our back porch until we need to do something in the backyard...take the dog out, whatever. It's a safe place to secure Baby Gage so we can have our hands free.
Now that he's a little bigger--he's not super excited about it anymore, so it buys you VERY little time these days....but oh, it used to rock. He'd play in there for...well, it seemed liked a long time.

Baby Einstein Discovering Water Play Gym

So much fun. So much fun for Gage to look up & see the stuff.
So much fun for me to watch him lay there & look at all of the stuff!
...gosh, he was soooooo little then. 8 weeks....10 weeks....so little.

...and now he's so big & runs all over, and climbs all over, and opens doors, and pulls groceries out of the pantry, and runs away when you even mention a diaper change...oh my. time just flies.

I've gotten off subject......

Back to $$ well spent.

The baby swing.

Now, this is not the EXACT model that I had, but similar. Same bears, same fabric, etc.
The baby swing. So great. So so so great.
But, I wanted one that would blend with the color scheme of my house...not stand out & be all bright colors. So, what happened? I ended up hanging bright colored Link-a-doos on my child's swing b/c he preferred bright colored objects at that time, and he found the bears a bit boring.
So, forget the color scheme of your living room, or whatever room. Your house will soon be covered in bright toys everywhere anyway.

Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium

$23.77 at WalMart.
I always thought, "no crib toys. I want him to associate sleep with his crib"...etc.
Well....then I picked this up. It's great. It has soothing music that we play at night before we go to sleep. It's not up-beat & fun to hang out & dance in the crib. The lights are slow & soothing. But, it does have some little toy features that keep Gage entertained for about 10-15 minutes on weekend mornings if he wakes up before we do. Now, you can forget him staying in there until 9am or anything...(not on a usual morning...)

The Baby Papasan...

This was a gift, but it was great. We could set this up in the living room, bathroom, everywhere. So portable. Clearly, I look for that in great baby gear.

Swaddle Me Fleece Wraps.

This was awesome. So awesome.
They're $9.99 each at Babies-R-Us.

Loved these sleep sacks when Gage was really little. Now that he's bigger, I don't use these anymore. It just seems kind of weird to use it when he can stand up & walk around in his crib...but when he was little, I loved this!

They are $13.99 @ Babies-R-Us.



And of course, there's a whole segment of things that are worth every penny but not mentioned here: soothie pacifiers, the boppy, dependable carseats, a stroller, etc...

***********New Category*****************
Things that I see now, that look totally awesome, but I've never actually tried.

At Walmart, for about $50, they have this foldable, portable swing frame that fits with any SnugRide or Infant SafeSeat.
My favorite thing: the portability of it!
Our swing---hell, we'd have to take it completely apart just to put it in the attic. Forget taking it on a trip to visit someone...although that would be sooooooo convenient.
This thing looks like it would rock!



This has been fun. I may be doing more of this over time...

Twins & More Twins...

Okay...so, yesterday, I knew exactly 2 people who were expecting twins.
Jolene, and Joel (well, his wife Melissa...)

Jolene had her babies yesterday.
Joel & Melissa had their babies yesterday too.
Neither of them were due yesterday.
Both of the mommies had blood pressure issues.
Baby #1 for Jolene was born 13 minutes before Baby #1 for Joel & Melissa.
Both Baby #1s have names that start with "L" (Lola & Landon)

So...anyway. It's just sooooooooo bizarro.The two families that I know to be expecting twins were in labor at the same time---having their babies at the same time...oh, it's 7 degrees of separation/kevin bacon type stuff. Weird.


So, welcome to the world Landon & Addison.
The little boy, Landon was born first at 1:08.
The little girl, Addison, was right behind him at 1:09.
They were born at 33 weeks, so they are in the NICU right now. Proud Papa says that mom is doing well. They babies are not on vents, but they are on bipap (helps them breathe...) They've been given surfactant, and are very, very, very active. They both have dark hair (from what I saw in the pictures...)
Landon is 5 pounds & 17 inches long.
Addison is 4 pounds 3 ounces & 16 inches long.

Anyway....lots & lots of babies being born!

:)

Baby A, Baby B

Baby A & B are here!
A: Lola
B: Maggie

Woohoo!
Jolene's husband just called, and he was in TOOOOOOOO big of a hurry & TOOOOOO excited to mention weight & length, or time of birth...

So, those details will be obtained later.
:)

"....her name was Lola..."
(is there a song for Maggie??)

1.23.7.......they say it's your birthday!

This is Jolene.
She's my friend.

She's pregnant with twin girls.
...but, not for long!
They are scheduled for arrival at 12:30 today. (c-section...that's how we know the date & approximate time....)

Jolene carried them to 35w4d. Woohoo!
They estimate the weight of both girls at over 5 pounds, and Jolene should be able to take them home from the hospital, provided everything goes as planned.

And...the release of the names will take place this afternoon in the delivery room.
Those who know the names have been SWORN to SECRECY!
I can neither confirm nor deny that I know the names.
I can say this: throughout MOST of this pregnancy, I have referred to the babies as "Shasta" & "Fanta". Apparently, those are NOT the names.
(picture the disappointment on my face...)

And, everyone will be happy to know that the OB who circumcised my son will be delivering the girls.
How's that for random information that you probably didn't want to know????

Biopsy Results...

Look, it's a cervix!

OB just called.
No cancer at this time. Wooohoooo!
So, we go for another Pap in June.
OB says that if things were to develop into cancer, it's a very slow progression.
Says that there is no need at this time for any surgical removal of any of my cervix.
Woohooo.

:)

Sippy Central...

So, not this weekend that we just had, but the weekend before...
I packed up all of the bottles & bottle nipples.

We are strictly on Sippy-nipples.
And, Nuby has some sippy cup tops that are like straws. Gage is fine with those too.

These have been AWESOME helping in the transition off the nipple:

These bottles have handles for Gage to use.
They have a nipple, or a sippy-nipple.
So, we were able to use the regular nipples for a while, and then just switched them out, and Gage's doing pretty well without the nipple!

Gage also does well with these:

they have soft silicone sippy-nipples, like the ones above.

Now...I've been a huge fan of Nuby stuff. Huge.
But...this one cup....it SUCKS. I keep it in the back of the cabinet, and even if we're totally out of clean sippies...I don't reach for this one. I'd rather wash a dirty cup & spout before using this.

It reads, "no spill". Um, sure, the liquid does not spill out. IT POURS OUT!
anyway...maybe the ONE we got is defective.
I still won't give up on Nuby products. for the most part, they've rocked!

And in OTHER EATING NEWS...
1) My child does not like Fruit Loops.
What kiddo doesn't like Fruit Loops??? It's bizarre, but true.
I gave him some Fruit Loops & boysenberry yogurt for breakfast the other day. He loved the yogurt & just ended up throwing the Fruit Loops one by one off the tray.
2) Gage is getting much better with the spoon!



But...old habits are hard to break...