three month break ... whoops! what's happened in the interim, since september? a lot!
on the matson front:
- he started eating solids
- he started crawling
- he started standing up
- he started taking steps (only while holding onto something, so far)
- he started seperation anxiety (yaay)
- he started jabbering a lot more and saying "dada" constantly (pretty sure he doesn't know what it means yet)
- he discovered his love for christmas lights
- he started taking showers with daddy instead of baths, which is basically as great as a water park when you're 8 months old
on the me and scott front:
- scott finished his first semester of his mba - hooray! he just finished last night and doesn't have his final grades back yet, but i'll be pretty shocked if he didn't get straight a's. so proud!
- scott went to men's retreat for church, which meant he was gone for a whole weekend. which means that i survived a whole weekend with mats on my own!
- we got our first artificial christmas tree. the weather was too bad to go cut a tree the weekend we had set aside to do so, and i decided i was tired of paying for an overpriced lot tree on the years we couldn't go to the forest, so we found a nice fake tree on craigslist.
- i finished my first "semester" at mops and women's bible study and am loving both so far.
- i made myself take a break from saver's - it's just too easy to find so many things to buy there! for the time being, i can only go when i have something concrete i need to look for (personal favorite: picture frames).
and what's happening with us now?
- scott just finished his semester last night at about 10:30pm (online test), so we celebrate! we're going to look at christmas lights with goo and her boyfriend, grant, tonight. scott is very excited to have a poker night tomorrow. christmas party at a friend from nourish's on saturday. and $5 movie and a fancy dinner out (via a giftcard that scott's first boss left in his desk when he left the company, which a coworker found when cleaning out the desk, and then gave to scott because we live way closer to the restaurant than do she and her husband - very generous!) on sunday evening while mats hangs out with the macauleys.
- finishing up christmas shopping and wrapping so that i can get gifts shipped out asap.
- flying out to illinois to see my parents for christmas.
- re-doing our kitchen! scott said that we can look at updating our kitchen as our christmas present to ourselves (which we've been wanting to do since we moved in), so just yesterday i started looking at all of that. the cabinets themselves are still nice, but i want new cabinet doors. i'm debating painting the cabinets vs leaving them wood, and looking at all kinds of counter options - mostly corian vs laminate at this point. (granite's out because it's so non-renewable and it makes me sad when we're out hiking over granite boulders to think of people stripping those away from the ground.)
and more immediately:
- i need to paint a bunch of picture frames. i'm bummed that i slacked on this last month when it was still nice out, because it's chilly enough outside now that i have to clear out my laundry room, lay out tarps, and spray paint inside rather than in my back yard.
- i finally bought myself a sander and need to start using it! first on the list: refinishing our chipped up cheapo coffee and end tables. next up: refinish a cool old dresser that i got on craigslist and put wheels on it - sideboard for the dining room that can easily be wheeled 10 feet over into the kitchen as a moveable island when needed!
- finish washing matson's diapers.
- go grocery shopping. i resolved to not buy meat the month of december so that we can start using up some of the 1/4 cow of grass fed beef that we have in the basement freezer, and the pounds upon pounds of chicken breast that i've been stocking up on all fall since it's been so cheap - $1.67/lb some weeks! i bought chicken wings last weekend per scott's request because we had a friend over to watch football, but other than that, so far so good!
- figure out why the little man is squeaking rather than sleeping.
two quick notes
first, another matson funny:
last week, scott was laying on the floor playing with matsy (he had mats laying on his tummy) while i made dinner. suddenly, i heard a squealch, a laugh, and scott spluttering. (sounds promising, right?) i come into the room to see what's going on, expecting that mats will have wiggled down onto scott's neck and have tried latching on or something - it really tickles. no no. apparently, mats did his usual wiggling trick, but this time ended up with his mouth completely covering scott's nose ... at which point, he stuck his tongue up scott's nostril! if an adult found himself with his tongue in someone's nose, either by dare or accident, his reaction would be to say, "eww!" and remove it as quickly as possible while trying to suppress a gag. our little dino, on the other hand, was fascinated by the new textures and tastes and tried to wiggle his little tongue up as far as it would go!
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in other news, i have found a new blog with which i am 100% smitten: young house love. i happened upon it while looking for design ideas for our living room - actually saw a picture from the blog on another site and loved the picture, but then days later found the blog and realized that the picture i loved so much had originated from them! it's a young married couple with a baby who are total diy-ers and spend their days frugally updating and redesigning their house. according to the about me, both of their full time jobs are the blog, which i find both crazy and awesome at the same time. anyway, i've been through quite a few design blogs in the past few weeks and might find an idea that i love, but then realize that the blog's overall style is just totally not me. this one, on the other hand, i have already wasted innumerable hours perusing and loving and totally connecting with. they almost have me convinced to paint all of my lovely black picture frames white!
last week, scott was laying on the floor playing with matsy (he had mats laying on his tummy) while i made dinner. suddenly, i heard a squealch, a laugh, and scott spluttering. (sounds promising, right?) i come into the room to see what's going on, expecting that mats will have wiggled down onto scott's neck and have tried latching on or something - it really tickles. no no. apparently, mats did his usual wiggling trick, but this time ended up with his mouth completely covering scott's nose ... at which point, he stuck his tongue up scott's nostril! if an adult found himself with his tongue in someone's nose, either by dare or accident, his reaction would be to say, "eww!" and remove it as quickly as possible while trying to suppress a gag. our little dino, on the other hand, was fascinated by the new textures and tastes and tried to wiggle his little tongue up as far as it would go!
________
in other news, i have found a new blog with which i am 100% smitten: young house love. i happened upon it while looking for design ideas for our living room - actually saw a picture from the blog on another site and loved the picture, but then days later found the blog and realized that the picture i loved so much had originated from them! it's a young married couple with a baby who are total diy-ers and spend their days frugally updating and redesigning their house. according to the about me, both of their full time jobs are the blog, which i find both crazy and awesome at the same time. anyway, i've been through quite a few design blogs in the past few weeks and might find an idea that i love, but then realize that the blog's overall style is just totally not me. this one, on the other hand, i have already wasted innumerable hours perusing and loving and totally connecting with. they almost have me convinced to paint all of my lovely black picture frames white!
funny moment
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labels:
baby
i heard scott laughing from down the hall while changing matson's diaper the other night. i asked for the story afterward: apparently mats had a really poopy diaper and while scott was wiping the poo off of matson's crotch, mats just starting laughing hysterically - to which scott responded, "dino, this is inappropriate!!" oh my, two days later and it still makes me laugh!
which is good because dino was a first class crankball today. or at least this afternoon. he didn't want to nap, didn't want to eat, didn't want to play - he just wanted to whine! thankfully scott is supportive and whisked mats off when he got home (after 6:30pm, boo) so i could have a bit of peace. i feel fully recovered now that it's almost bedtime and i've had some popcorn and chocolate milk (glorious combo, i must recommend it). hopefully mats will be happier tomorrow while it's just the two of us from 7:30am til 10pm. i think i might plan our ikea trip for tomorrow afternoon.
which is good because dino was a first class crankball today. or at least this afternoon. he didn't want to nap, didn't want to eat, didn't want to play - he just wanted to whine! thankfully scott is supportive and whisked mats off when he got home (after 6:30pm, boo) so i could have a bit of peace. i feel fully recovered now that it's almost bedtime and i've had some popcorn and chocolate milk (glorious combo, i must recommend it). hopefully mats will be happier tomorrow while it's just the two of us from 7:30am til 10pm. i think i might plan our ikea trip for tomorrow afternoon.
savers
one thing that the frugal girl is always talking about is the great deals she finds at goodwill. we don't have a goodwill super close, but we do have a savers! i'd been meaning to go there for a while to check out the baby clothes (i've gone once or twice before, but always only to get things like tacky christmas sweaters), and finally found my impetus in needing a fleece sleeper for mats before our camping trip last weekend. i found the sleeper i needed and was super impressed with the deals to be had - and, even better, i saw a sign for 50% off everything in the store on labor day! without further ado, my haul of 12 month sized goodies that i hope will fit mats for this winter:
7 - t-shirts/onesies
2 - long sleeve t-shirts
1 - monkey shorts outfit that will likely be seasonally inappropriate but that i just couldn't resist
4 - sweatshirts/sweaters/track jacket
5 - pair of pants (including 2 pair of jeans!)
2 - pair swim trunks (one for this winter, one for next summer - at $.50 each, why not?)
grand total: $20!
i'll have a few more things to pick up as we approach winter (like more long sleeve shirts, some sleepers, and probably a real winter coat), but i think i'm a committed savers shopper for the foreseeable future. maura said that the kids clothes weren't in nearly as good of shape as the baby clothes (makes sense, since babies are substantially less active than kids), but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
7 - t-shirts/onesies
2 - long sleeve t-shirts
1 - monkey shorts outfit that will likely be seasonally inappropriate but that i just couldn't resist
4 - sweatshirts/sweaters/track jacket
5 - pair of pants (including 2 pair of jeans!)
2 - pair swim trunks (one for this winter, one for next summer - at $.50 each, why not?)
grand total: $20!
i'll have a few more things to pick up as we approach winter (like more long sleeve shirts, some sleepers, and probably a real winter coat), but i think i'm a committed savers shopper for the foreseeable future. maura said that the kids clothes weren't in nearly as good of shape as the baby clothes (makes sense, since babies are substantially less active than kids), but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
on maslow and babies
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labels:
baby
i met a friend for lunch today (her little boy is about a week older than mats!) and was telling her how i've been trying to process through things like how much musical enrichment* i should be giving mats and how i should accomplish that, and how much sensory play** we should be doing, and story time***, etc etc. she paused, looked at me, and said, "you know, i don't think i worry too much about those things - i'm more concerned with just trying to get sleep for all of us!"
and it occurred to me that maslow's hierarchy of needs very much applies to babies and motherhood. you really need to get the eating and sleeping thing down before you can add in the fun extras - and once you've got those two down, you should really just celebrate that you're in a great place with your baby! so yay, mats and i are in a really great place!
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* - the place that i go to a breastfeeding support group at is hosting a kindermusik class for 0-12 month olds coming up. fun, right? yeah, $160 for 8 weeks! haha! i love my 5 month old, but i think i love him too much to pay that much for 8 hours of musical fun. this friend i had lunch with today is a music teacher and used to teach a kindermusik-like class, so i was also getting her input on what to do with a baby for music stuff, and she said mostly just listening to music, singing, and letting them play with instrument toys. i can do that! she's also thinking about starting a music baby class for maybe $5/session. way more reasonable.
** - take a look at the play at home mom. so fun, but holy cow! also, this post on the importance of sensory play with little kids. while i want mats to have fun, i think i want to make sure that i do that in a non-stressful-for-me way. fun = finger painting, taking walks, playing in a sandbox, dancing to music, encouraging his imagination. stressful = creating a light box and setting up "play invitations" with gathered materials. maybe i'll think differently when we get to preschoolerhood, but for now i think i'd rather have "sensory play" in daily life - life is full of senses! i don't know that you need to do special things to make it work.
*** - we went to our very first reading time at the library on monday! it was a little awkward in that it's for 0-24 month olds, but the other kids were probably 18-24mo. and, none of the moms talked to me or to one another. in play time at the end, everyone just headed to different corners. what's that about?? we'll go back, though. i love reading and grew up loving library storytime and i'm pretty determined that mats will love it too!
and it occurred to me that maslow's hierarchy of needs very much applies to babies and motherhood. you really need to get the eating and sleeping thing down before you can add in the fun extras - and once you've got those two down, you should really just celebrate that you're in a great place with your baby! so yay, mats and i are in a really great place!
________
* - the place that i go to a breastfeeding support group at is hosting a kindermusik class for 0-12 month olds coming up. fun, right? yeah, $160 for 8 weeks! haha! i love my 5 month old, but i think i love him too much to pay that much for 8 hours of musical fun. this friend i had lunch with today is a music teacher and used to teach a kindermusik-like class, so i was also getting her input on what to do with a baby for music stuff, and she said mostly just listening to music, singing, and letting them play with instrument toys. i can do that! she's also thinking about starting a music baby class for maybe $5/session. way more reasonable.
** - take a look at the play at home mom. so fun, but holy cow! also, this post on the importance of sensory play with little kids. while i want mats to have fun, i think i want to make sure that i do that in a non-stressful-for-me way. fun = finger painting, taking walks, playing in a sandbox, dancing to music, encouraging his imagination. stressful = creating a light box and setting up "play invitations" with gathered materials. maybe i'll think differently when we get to preschoolerhood, but for now i think i'd rather have "sensory play" in daily life - life is full of senses! i don't know that you need to do special things to make it work.
*** - we went to our very first reading time at the library on monday! it was a little awkward in that it's for 0-24 month olds, but the other kids were probably 18-24mo. and, none of the moms talked to me or to one another. in play time at the end, everyone just headed to different corners. what's that about?? we'll go back, though. i love reading and grew up loving library storytime and i'm pretty determined that mats will love it too!
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