good luck, kate!

good luck, kate!, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

our friend kate is having surgery tomorrow, and hank wanted to wish her luck. after all, she is his future mother in law!

Hoppy Easter!

30 days -- 27, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

For a family that doesn't 'do' easter, we had a pretty easter-iffic weekend! Saturday was our friends' Ken and Holly's annual Egg Party. Many eggs were dyed and chocolate bunnies were consumed. Sunday we took a long, hot hike and tucked into a sprial cut ham with my parents. Hank was still working the sugar rush off today in the jumperoo.... (just kidding about the sugar rush!)

Poor Bunny!

Poor Hank had his first truly terrified moment today... I sat him down at my feet in the bouncy and then set about to do some sewing. We do this a lot, the two of us. But today the poor little guy flipped out every time the sewing machine started to run. Screaming, crying, hollering, totally 100% scared of the sewing machine! I felt horrible!

In better news he actually ate his cereal today. He actually 'got' it -- I'd bring the spoon up to his mouth, and he'd open wide, push the cereal around a little bit, but pushed very little of it out of his mouth. Then he'd whimper for another spoonful! We repeated this over and over withhis teeney weeney spoon until he'd eaten all I had prepared -- probably four tablespoons worth.

What exactly do you want me to do with this??

Hank had his first solid food this morning -- that is if you can call watery rice cereal 'solid'! As expected, he wasn't sure what to do with it, and I don't think any actually got ingested, but it was fun and I'm looking forward to trying it again tomorrow.

jumperoo + hank = true love

jumperoo + hank = true love, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

Well it has been a while (do all my posts start off that way these days?)... inthe alst couple of weeks Hank has been whale watching in Mendocino, to several playdates, gone to the doctor, had an ultrasound (everything is A-OK, thank goodness!!), been babysat by Grammy and Grandpa, turned four months old officially, and gotten a new jumperoo!!

I really had every intention of not allowing our home to be overrun by enormous hunks of plastic that chirp, whir, light up, and play horrid music, but man he loves this thing. We've noticed in the last couple of weeks that he really wants to test his legs and jump. Plus, he's on the verge of outgrowing his Beloved Bouncy Seat (boo hoo!) (he does this thing when he's excited where he straightens out like a plank and pushes on the bottom of the seat and nearly launches himself out the back, so it si on the verge of dangerous). We've also got a little red bumbo seat which we use to help him learn how to sit. But man, he just wants to dangle and bounce, and the jumperoo was the only way to go. We tried a doorway jumper, but I was scared he was going to swing and smash into the doorway, so that was a no-go. I guess if the jumperoo becomes hella annoying I can always take the batteries out!

So Hank's 4 month check up went pretty well -- he is growing really well (16 lbs 1 oz now, and 26 inches long!). He's meeting all his developmental milestones, and generally the doctor was really pleased with how he's coming along. The doctor did order an ultrasound of hank's spine, though, to rule out a problem with the cord. This kind of freaked us out as you can imagine -- fortunately the ultrasound showed no problems whatsoever, so we don't have to worry about it any further. Had there been a problem, we would have been talking surgery to fix the problem and prevent any developmental issues. This was all brought on my a furry patch of hair right above Hank's butt, that the doctor said could indicate a problem in the spine. Fortunately all it indicates for Hank is that he has a hairy behind. Our Mister Fuzzy Butt...

An exciting thing, the doctor said we can start giving Hank solid foods! So exciting! We haven't done it yet, this week has been pretty busy, but in the next couple of days we'll all sit down and have solids together. How fun! I bought a box of rice cereal, so we'll start with that, and then try sweet potatoes.

Tonight Henry and I are going to a workshop on how to choose child care. It is time. I can't hide my head in the sand any longer. I'm going back to work on April 28, and there's no denying it. I think in the long run it will be the best thing for all of us, but I'm feeling a bit blue about it. It is a big transition, and I'm not looking forward to it. I'm just glad I can have a part time schedule and that my parents have offered to take Hank for the three days I'm at work for the first few weeks to ease the transition. Once we find good child care for Hank, he'll be with my parents one day a week and in day care the other two. The rest of the week he'll be with Mama!!

Uh oh... someone is not enjoying the jumperoo any longer! Must go rescue Hank from the Enormous Hulking Toy...

An Open Letter to Hank

Hank at mommy group, originally uploaded by allthingssara.

Dear Hank --

One year ago today we found out you would be joining our family. I had no idea pregnancy would be so hard to endure or that I would, at times, wish desperately that it would be over. But it was worth it, every minute of it. Since you were born I've experienced a whole new kind of love, a love I think is reserved only for a mommy to share with her babies. You delight me every day, and I can't imagine there is anything I wouldn't do for you, if my help were needed.

Loving you to pieces,
Mommy

hee hee... cats!

Hank has been hanging out with me in the bedroom in the mornings as I get dressed. I've finally stopped stressing over the cats being in close proximity to him. They all notice each other, but no-one seems that interested in the other, so all is well in that department. I like this picture -- all our pets are in one place, and they all look happy :)

So what has been going on this week? I can barely remember... Today was Hank's 16th Week-Iversary, so nearly four months old! We celebrated with an outing to Tumble and Tea, a great play-cafe where kids can run wild and mamas can kick back with coffee or even a real meal. We also got to see Melissa and go for a little stroll and some lunch together. It was great to be able to send her off with some of Hank's outgrown clothes, too, for her to hold on to for her twins. I'm going to make some blankets for them -- just need to get some batting and I can get them put together.

I've been enjoying sewing. I conquered my fear of sewing stretchy fabrics, and made him some hats. I want to make him some bibs (he is like a faucet of drool these days), the blankies for the twins, a storage bag for one of my baby carriers, and I had a couple of other things in mind as well, but I can't remember what right now. I should make a crazy quilt, just to blow through some of my stash of fat quarters!

Oh, something fun we did over the weekend -- we went house hunting! We actually zeroed in on a neighborhood and visited several open houses. Luckily we didn't walk away from anything thinking "we MUST make an offer this second!!!", but we also luckily walked away thinking "we are going to be able to find a house that will work for us!" It was actually really fun, and we are now looking forward to working with an actual realtor who can actually get us in to a house.

Anyhoo, I am so tired. Hank sleeps really well, but he still generally has one wakeup a night, and I'm now going on four months of broken sleep. I'm worried that it is starting to frazzle me, and I'm really wishing I could just knock myself out with an ambien and call it a night. No such luck... I'm going to try to stay up though -- the Project Runway finale is tonight. Just sixteen weeks ago I had just given birth to Hank and we were all curled up in our hospital room, delighted to discover that the hospital room got Bravo so we wouldn't miss the season premiere... I remember even sending the audiologist away when she came to give Hank a hearing test right before the show started. I actually said to her, "we're about to watch Project Runway, could you come back later?" She looked at us like we were nuts....