the nursery

dan and i worked for months before donovan arrived to create a room for donovan. we set everything up just so. got his crib ready with a precious bumper, dust ruffle and sheets. we put an apple tree decal on the wall and put pictures of donovan's family on the wall. i got all his clothes ready and supplies put in all of his bins, and placed a lamp on the table next to our new glider for late night feedings. i did not take a picture of the room pre-donovan because i just thought it was silly since he was not even here yet, and i knew we would take plenty of pictures there.

just the other day i realized i had never taken a picture of the precious space we had created and it will never be the same. it is in constant shambles with clothes he has grown out of laying about. i got scared when he was not swaddled anymore and pulled his bumper out and when we lowered his crib out came the dust ruffle. the glider was moved into our bedroom within the first few days of being home from the hospital, and now it sits in our den. i have never used the table with the lamp because we are only in his room long enough to get him from his crib or to throw something in the floor. we have all the clothes that he can wear now in our bedroom since it is downstairs and easier to get to. the pack-and-play is still up in our bedroom just in case we need it, and our never ending diaper stash also takes up real estate in our bedroom.

for all of you sticklers out there judging my bedroom and nursery, no that picture is not to show the cord trailing across the floor of the nursery as a baby hazard, it is instead to show the quilt that donovan's gigi made him.

i remember having a vision of what life might be like and how things need to be organized....and man was i off. and so enjoy the pictures of our nursery.

man weekend

i was lucky enough to to be able to go to a girl's weekend this past weekend with my high school girl friends. we try to get together for a getaway about once a year. i have been away overnight a couple of times, but never for 2 nights so this was new terrain. dan of course rose to the occassion of single parenthood while i entered into a weekend long talk fest with the girls. thank you to dan for being such a fab husband and dad.

we are constantly trying to cage donovan up since all the new mobility. i came home to a brand new baby gate that is the length of the house that corrals donovan in the livingroom. then i found our diningroom chairs turned on their sides in front of cabinets we cannot keep closed. and my favorite part...we have a metal cat as decoration that stands a few inches tall, and when turned over makes a loud noise on the wood floors. both of our dogs have been afraid of the cat, and now donovan is. dan's first born is his tv and it is a big screen tv that is not a flat screen, and so donovan spends lots of his time touching the screen and pushing the buttons. over the weekend dan took the cat and placed it in front of the tv so donovan will stay away.....and the best part, it works!

on friday when i left town i took donovan to drop him off with dan so donovan could go to work with dad for a bit.

9 months

here are the stats....

-weighs: 20lbs. 10oz. = 50%
length: 28 in. = 50%
head 45 1/2 cm. = 50%

and so clearly we got diagnosed as perfect! ok ok just average but that is just fine with us. on the down side the growth has slowed down which means he may not fit in dan's hand downs by spring.

- learned to stand and sit on his own--which has created a very busy household.....and lots of creativity for making the house safe
- says dada and mama, and baba--not necessarily in context
- is working on popping out top front teeth
- in size 3 diapers--12-18 month clothes
- eats 6oz bottles at 9am, 12am, 6pm--and an 8 oz bottle at 3pm
- has moved into eating 3oz puree at breakfast with oatmeal, 3oz puree at lunch with grain cereal, and 3 oz puree at dinner......and supplements with finger foods of all sorts....we still have not found anything he will not eat including lemons.
- he sleeps from 8pm to 9am, and usually takes 2-3 naps during the day. i think this is his way of telling his mama that he loves her.

my baby IS growing hair

there has been some speculation as to if donovan will ever have hair or if he will be bald from infancy to adulthood. just the other day i noticed, in the sunlight, an increase of hair.

gift cards

we took donovan to target to use his gift card from my uncle and aunt scott and susan. he picked out some super cool cars and weebles that he was excited about in the store, and then.............well thank goodness for the weebles. just because i am laughing in the background does ot make me a bad parent......don't judge, he is going to end up loving my sense of humor.

on the move--part deux

christmas visit from pops and bammie

for the past several years pops and bammie have done their christmas rounds in the new york and boston area, depending on the year, and then come see us after christmas on the way to florida. we use this time to do a lot of eating, and watching football...well, they watch football and i nap.

this year, of course we had donovan hanging around which made my napping impossible. he used the down time to perfect his crawling and pulling-up on things. the day pops and bammie got here he pulled up and sat down on his own, and they were able to be a part of catching him standing in his crib for the first time. so first order of business was pops and dan installing a babygate.

we were able to use pops and bammie as sitters for an evening

out, sans donovan, which was lovely. and i was able to run some errands while dan, pops and bammie watched donovan...and football. and last but not least, on my last day with grandparents in town i snuck out to work early and had lunch in a sit down restaurant by myself, and spent the afternoon sipping coffee and messing around on my computer. and THEN i came home from work to dinner on the table....i love when pops and bammie come to town. i love them coming for the obvious reasons, and i love seeing them with donovan, and seeing donovan showing off in front of them, and seeing dan see them with donovan, and listening to stories about being parents and grandparents.

thank you pops and bammie for another great start to a new year!

happy new year!

happy new year everyone! this is a new year's eve picture ...and a new year's day picture.....YIKES!

oh yeah and thanks dick and tina for the gator loot...or is that what caused the tears???