The little love bugs

My two little love bugs are getting along really well - this morning Lady was helping teach Brody how to crawl. He is so interested in her bone, and everytime she chews on it he gets tickled. The two of them were so cute playing together this morning.

Pool shark

Here's some cute pictures of Duane teaching Brody how to play pool:

"Daaaadddd, I KNOW how to do it!"

"HOAH! I win!"
"You wanna go again, big boy?"

Trying to get some free stuff

Since a big part of my job consists of searching the Internet for deals and shopping in brick and mortar stores, I've become somewhat of a shopaholic. One site that I go to virtually every day is Hey! It's Free. Everything I've seen on that site has been a valid freebie, and there's some great stuff out there. I sent away for a religion book, got a Betty Crocker calendar and learned that Krispy Kreme was giving away free doughnuts on Election Day - that one was yummy.

So if you have some time, check out that freebie site, and see if there's anything you can use. But, remember, I check the site often, so I'll know if you get me a freebie present ;)

Thanks for all of the comments!

Duane and I LOVE the comments! Thanks for posting, and please continue - we check them every day when we can. :)

Short update: Brody tried sweet potatoes for dinner tonight. His new taste dance was livelier than ever. (He shuts his eyes and shudders whenever he tastes something new)

Brody goes to work

Brody is a star now that he appears in the newspaper every other Sunday (in my First-time Mom column). So, the editors thought it would be a good idea to have a mom-son photo shoot and include our picture with the column (I'll post that picture, soon!).

What I didn't expect is that Brody would get more work done than I do at my desk. :)

It's a typical day in the neighborhood

Here's a pretty typical Paitsel evening: Dad and Mom get home in the evening and spend time eating dinner, winding down and playing with little B-man. Last night, Duane got in a game of pool, and Brody learned a few tricks from the master.

Meanwhile, Lady checks to see if we've left any dinner crumbs on the table.

Now, it's Ariel's turn at the pool table. Brody watches in interest.

Brody takes a bath - this time he didn't mind his hair being washed! (I guess that whale tasted so good, he didn't care about the water being dumped on his head).

Brody's journey into the world of food

We've been pretty busy this weekend, with Aunt M (Amanda) visiting Friday-today and Nanny (Becky) visiting Monday-today, and we've had a great time (all except a brief situation with dog poop).

Brody also had a big weekend, as he was introduced to solid foods for the first time. Here's my most recent Daily Press article about it.

"It was weeks before I would talk about it. I kept hanging on to this superstitious feeling that as soon as I told someone, he would quit doing it. And he did.

It took my 7-month-old son 189 days (six-and-a-half months) to sleep through the night. As a working mom, I was pleading with him to get a good night’s sleep, so I could too.

Browsing mommy forums gave me some comfort, since many moms were begging the online community for help lulling their 9-month-olds into a deep sleep. Mine was only 6-months-old, so I figured we were doing OK.

And then magic happened.

He slept through the night once, and my husband, Duane, and I woke up grinning.

He slept through the night twice, and we rewarded him with kisses until he pushed away.

He slept through the night three times, and we raised our eyebrows wondering what it meant.

This continued for two weeks, and we began to proudly announce that our baby was a "good baby."

And then he ate an apple.

At our last pediatrician appointment, the doctor armed me with information about how to introduce solid food, and the strong encouragement that home-cooked foods are better than pre-made baby foods.

Since I’m a "super mom," I immediately put jarred baby foods on my list of Things That Lazy Moms Use, and decided that fresh fruits and veggies were the only option.

I had to rush back to work after the appointment, so the only fruit I had in stock that evening were apples. Being a smart super mom, I cut the apple into small pieces and blended it into healthy, non-jarred applesauce.

The doctor’s directions never suggested that fruits would need to be cooked before blending, and I forgot to peel the only apple I had. Oh well, peels have fiber, I thought.

That ended our affair with uninterrupted nights.

Apparently, apples should be boiled and peeled for first-time eaters, or they cause tummy aches. Big, bad tummy aches.

One point subtracted from super mom.

Of course, the next day I consulted the Internet for directions on how to cook baby food, and I found the quick-and-easy banana. Yep, that would be our next stop.

Bananas were easier on the stomach, but we still spent a restless night, and I finally allowed him to cuddle in bed with us at 3:30 a.m.

I also crossed jarred baby foods off of my "lazy" list and promptly bought peaches, applesauce and pears.

Still, it’s been some time now, and we’re back to the old newborn routine.

I’ve realized that how I regulate his naps and bedtime, or whether he gets an evening bath, or if he goes to grandma’s house has no bearing on whether he’ll sleep through the night. You can’t predict it, and if you try, it will drive you crazy.

But I can’t shake the feeling that this is tied to his journey into the world of food. And in my sleep-deprived state, I’ve considered keeping him on a milk-only diet. So if you see a 20-year-old walking around with a baba in a few decades, say hello — his name is Brody."

Extra note about this column - Brody has been doing better with sleeping, since his first apple-ache episode, and it's likely that by the time this runs in the newspaper, he'll have regained his "good baby" status.

Cute baby contest

I've been waiting for this moment since last January when I was about 5 months pregnant. Yes, that's right - it's time for the Regis and Kelly cute baby contest! This year the winner gets $125,000 towards a college fund and their picture on the cover of Parenting magazine. Runners up get money towards college and a year's worth of Gerber baby food (also an AMAZING prize). And, seriously, look at this picture. Brody's got this.

DJ is in heaven

DJ had a MERRY Christmas this year - wife, momma and mom-in-law contributed to a gaming computer fund, and he has happily spent the past few weeks researching and purchasing parts for this AWESOME computer.

(Note: Here's the conversation between Duane and Shawn about Duane's new computer:
Shawn: "Sweet! I've never played a game on max settings before!"
Duane: "Me either!" )

Just this past weekend, Duane got all of the parts to his computer and spent many hours putting it together (and running in to give me reports on the computer's "overclocking status," whatever the heck that means).

Here he is in heaven:

And here Brody is helping Daddy:

Our lives are being shared in more ways than one

This Sunday my first parenting column will be published in the Daily Press. I'm sharing the column with my colleague Mark Erickson, and we'll each write two columns a month. Here's a peek at the first:

"A family friend stayed with us over the holidays, and she said something that keeps replaying in my mind.

"Boy, that sure isn’t the Duane I grew up with."

This was after watching Duane, my husband, chase me and our 6-month-old son Brody around the living room while acting like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

This is our favorite game, because no matter what mood our hard-to-please Brody is in, the shortened arms, clawed hands and whooshing growl of a Daddy T-Rex always makes him laugh. Heck, it makes me laugh.

So, I asked her what she meant, because Daddy T-Rex is the Duane that I know.

"Oh, he’s just never been the type to really play with little ones like that."

I paused. Had we already become unrecognizable to our child-free friends?

For a pair in our mid-twenties, Duane and I have always been on the tame side. I like to go out more than he does, but a night out with a group of his buddies usually satisfies our bar hopping needs for a few months. We spend a lot of time with the large extended family that lives in town and watching a movie on our home big-screen is much better than the sticky seats at the theater.

In that sense, our lives haven’t changed much. But we definitely exhibit the tell-tale signs of first-time parents.

This season, Duane watched his beloved Dallas Cowboys (before they hosed up their playoff chances) standing up with the little guy strapped to him in a BabyBjornÖ . He spends many weekends and evenings as a single parent while I work odd reporting hours. And he shoves down his frozen dinner as quickly as possible so he can take over while my meal is still lukewarm.

As for movies, we haven’t watched one all the way through in months. And while Brody gets more hugs and kisses than a reunited Italian family, hugs between mommy and daddy are more rare.

Church is a weekly trade-off, because Brody would be the only baby in the volunteer nursery, and I don’t want him to interrupt the service. Same goes for eating at restaurants, although we haven’t stopped supporting the fast food industry.

And the "What to Expect" books never predicted that I would no longer watch my favorite TV show, "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," because it brings on the panicked worry that someone terrible may target my baby.

Watching that family friend also reminded me of spontaneous schedules, free time and a pre-baby body.

But there are vestiges of the old Nicole still there. Like the times Brody isn’t in the car with me and I crank up Kanye West’s latest single, or when I hang out in the bathroom for just a few extra minutes so I can read my book.

So, yeah, I felt sorry for myself for a few minutes. Things have changed more than I expected.
Then Brody did his newest trick. He stretched his arms out and reached for me. His mom. I’m the one who gets to see his smiles everyday, and the one who’s coaching him through tummy time. I make sure he’s being read to before bed, and that his bottles are sterilized properly. If I’m going to be completely honest, I haven’t loved every minute, but I’ve loved most of them.

And although my conversations with friends have changed from gossip about reality shows to the fact that Brody has been having problems with constipation, they should still recognize me. I just have a new name — Mommy T-Rex."

(Thanks Sarah for the material) ;)

Happy New Year!

We had an unusual New Year's Eve and Day because I (Nicole) came down with a nasty stomach bug on Tuesday night. I stayed in bed all day while Becky and Duane watched Brody for me. Thankfully the bug only stayed around for about 24 hours, and I was back to my old self on Thursday.

The Paitsels were quarantined from the Stanleys, however, because Shawn is getting ready to sign up for the National Guard in West Virginia this Thursday and we didn't want him (or Mom and Dad who also have to travel) to come down with it on their trip. We think we're in the safe zone now (no one else has gotten sick, thankfully), and we're having a good luck dinner with Shawn tomorrow night. We'll all miss him so MUCH!