sunrays

liam.  being awesome. and having gained >2 lbs in the last 2 month, he has returned to the 10th percentile in weight. yay! this has been a lesson in being proactive in keeping his reflux under control. we are currently switching meds as his current meds have stopped being effective. and this is a lesson in infant reflux not just resulting in a fussy baby, but also being bad for weight gain.

though it has not affected him developmentally as he is walking while hanging on to things (such as hands, tables, etc).  i’m not thinking he is going to be mobile anytime soon. i remember that aiden started this stuff “early” but did not walk until the normal time of 1 year.

i really like this interactive graphic from the times about obama’s budget.

though i think a lot of people need a little civic lesson and with a dash of history. the budget is passed by congress, not handed down from mt. old executive office building.  who knows what the budget ultimately is going to look like. if there is a budget. for at least one year during the bush administration there was not a budget and everything ran on continuing resolutions.

though i think this year more then other years the final budget may resemble the presidents.

of course, i am happy to see money for science in my own self interest; however, i have questions about the efficiency of just throwing money at science. (see future research statement)

story of woman who almost died from swine flu b/c she “decided the swine-flu vaccine was too risky for her family”

on saturday i went out on a first date.

ok not really.

though it felt like it.

i actually went out with the wife of our friends we have play dates with. it was really nice to be out with another adult sans kids and talk about all sorts of things.  though it kinda felt like a first date b/c we were all trying to be agreeable. and we had a far amount of get to know you small talk. but it was hard because the restaurant we went to had the LOUDEST music and it is hard to carry on the natural flow of conversation when you are having to spend a bit more time processing to try to figure what the heck was said b/c of the music. yes. i am 65. i had the same issue with the pre-movie entertainment. so loud. anyways. it was fun. though it made me miss my established friendships. and she might move. and so might i. and, well, i’m reminded that i have three boys as constants in my life. i do hope someday to be more permanent and have more permanent friendships.

anyways.

here’s so pics:

my spice drawer:

here’s aiden at the new table:

here’s liam with a chair: 7 months! standing! taking steps while hanging on to things! having a budda belly!

and here’s a pic aiden took of liam and i today:

wishing i was back here.

i don’t understand anti-obesity initiatives. who doesn’t know that the government doesn’t want you to be fat.

i have some sort of bump type cyst thing on the inside of my left wrist.  it doesn’t hurt. though i suspect i should take it to the doctor.

hahahaha i just had ben look at it and he says it is my wrist bone.

maybe i should be eating more so that my wrist bone isn’t jutting out and freaking me out.

though i suspect that the bursa on the end of my wrist bone is inflamed due to my increase use of it during my strength training dvds.

i am tired.

also.

i say that i don’t miss ice cream, but that is a lie.

day 2 of elimination diet has gone better then day 1.  the only thing today was couton on my salad that i did not even thing about.

thank goodness dark chocolate is allowed. i’ve eaten a lot of an ikea dark chocolate bar b/c the ingredients don’t include milk and just have a small soy thing.

good thing i like to cook things with few ingredients and have been on an oatmeal breakfast kick, so the only thing i’m missing is cookies. i had steak and sweet potatoes last night. so freaking good. i had leftovers for lunch. with peas. tonight we had stuffed peppers – peppers with grd beef, tom sauce, onions, rice (aiden’s and ben’s had parm cheese). so yummy.

i think that liam has been more calm lately since i stopped having the soy, but sleep is not better. so we’ll see. off to eat more chocolate and walnuts or maybe an orange.

so. you might know that liam does not sleep for long periods of time, ie, the night. he sleep from 7-11 (or 12) and then is up every couple of hours. it doesn’t really bother me most days. it is what it is. it is hard work growing. plus having reflux. he wakes up due to that pain, though he is on medicine. but recently i was talking with my friend how also has a baby.  he is also sensitive to dairy like liam. and he is also senstive to soy. when she eats those things he does not sleep well at night. when she doesn’t eat them, he sleep well!

now i already avoid dairy. and i did not think that i ate much soy, but it turns out many many many things have soy, especially if you like to get high protein versions of things like english muffins. that you have every morning. and the coffeemate has soybean oil.

so i’ve decided to do the elimination diet where i eliminate all eggs, milk, wheat, and soy and see what happens. if things get better i would add them each back in one by one until things are not better.  today was the day i was to start; however, it was not a good day as we ended up taking a little trip to ikea which resulted in us eating lunch out which resulted in me eating a muffin.

so ikea.

you may know that i am going through organization phase. and i decided that my spices were a mess! and i really wanted a spice drawer. and after much interneting, i decided on these jars from ikea:

simple. and i would combine them with a drawer thingy from the container store.  well, ben has the day off, so it was a family trip to ikea. (it is ~ 30 mins from our house.) i was planning on just getting these. and i did. they are awesome. a little more round then expected.  i was unsure if they would fit in the drawer thingy. so i skipped the draw thingy. and just put my spices in these jars and put them in the drawer and they look awesome. the lid’s lip gives them a little tilt and really, in the draw you don’t need much tilt. it is amazing to see all my spices at once!

so that was my plan for ikea. but b/c i had lot of helpers we also ended up with this:

and three of these:

we got the black, blue and white one.  these are child size. and now aiden and liam have a cute little children’s table set.  i had been wanting to get them a table and chairs, but was planning on doing it via craigslist. but alas, this opportunity presented itself. and it is a really cute set. and aiden was really excited.

Flash back to winter 2003

maybe it was the show we watched on Discovery Health on Hoarders

or

maybe it is the tendency of both our fathers to keep everything

or

maybe it is the new year

or

maybe it is because liam has become a lot less needy with the advent of sitting and i have more time on my hands

or maybe i just want to control something when my days are filled with children

whatever the reason the fact is that i have become a organizing freak

i’ve organized most of the house in the past week or two

which is why is it SUPER SUPER annoying that i cannot find my ipod nano, which i have not used since my run in arkansas. i remember taking it out of the bag, but cannot remember or find where i put it! despite the organizing. if i had not done so much orgainzing i would just think, oh, it is somewhere.

i was trying to find it this morning b/c it has gotten warm enough here that the snow is melting off the sidewalk. i found out when i walked outside that, yes, the snow has melted off the sidewalks, but in the early morning it had been replaced by a thin layer of invisible ice. i ran/tiptoed across ice for 5 mins before i gave up and turned around to come home and get on the elliptical. oh well.

january tv/internet sucks due to the saturation of diet focused ads.

have i posted the condo listing for your entertainment or for your buying pleasure? (note i do not live there anymore so don’t come try to kill me there) http://www.rubloff.com/property/chicago/07407944.cfm

cleaning up

warm coffee makes 6 am so much more bearable.  i did not drink coffee when aiden was small, but i feel sorry for me then.

it is suppose to get ABOVE freezing today. i do not expect above freezing temp in january, so i am happy.

my sister rachel got ben wii resort for christmas. it is so fun.  i am enthralled with the frisbee games and the sky driving game. oh and sword “fighting”.  Last night ben and i played against each other -sword flighting and frisbee golf.  i’ve gotten good at frisbee throwing; however, i suspect that this skill will not transfer into real life.  sword fighting is a bit of an aerobic workout i must admit.

yes. this is what we do when sporting event season is in a lull- play the wii.

The president tends to soak up the sports programming, and typically tunes the channel to ESPN’s SportsCenter in the mornings when he and Mrs. Obama work out together.

“I tend to be much more informed about sports than I’d like,” Mrs. Obama says, laughing. “No, that’s not true,” the president says. “Michelle actually knows her sports, which is important in our marriage.”

i am very engrossed in the girl with the dragon tattoo book.  the kindle makes it sooooo easy to read on the elliptical. and i NEVER LOSE MY PLACE.

my poor little running girl. i fear that she is going to get very sad over the next 2 month when my running routes are covered with ice and snow (the snow removal on sidewalks up here is not good).

liam is in the 5:30 wake up phase. i remember when aiden went through this phase; however, it was much better b/c i think it was the summer and ben was more help. and i did not have a toddler.

liam is also anti-sleeping in his crib during the night.  i also remember this phase with aiden.

as i’ve said, one of the best things about a second child is knowing that things pass. and liam will sleep for 12 hours/night in his crib at some point.

also. i must admit that i like having my child near. he is cute. and feeling his little hand wrapped around my finger as we drift to sleep is awesome.

there is a lot of snow outside.

i need wednesday’s paper; however, i think it is buried under 6+ inches of snow.

ben’s fam has made the plans for a return vacation to the outer banks this summer. ben and i got to pick out a couple houses to choose from. there are a million houses there. we were fairly picky and still there were a lot of choices. ben’s parents choose the final house. it is nice. it is going to be a very nice vacation. i dream of laying in the sun as i look out at the snow covering.  though what i really dream of is those two vacations pre-baby where all i really did was lay in the sun, read, and eat really good food. i did not know how good i had it. though that is always how it goes, huh.