This baby just gets better and better.

We have a water baby! Thank god. I know most babies love the pool, but there are those rare few that have distaste for it. Brock and I have been to the pool everyday for the last 3 days and he gets happier with each visit. He is also very dead set on crawling now, after seeing all the other little ones moving about. Any day now little buddy, any day.

And to make things even better, afterward, he takes a long, peaceful nap to wake up refreshed, rejuvenated and in a wonderful mood. Now, what to do about that white, Irish skin...

A Golden Shower...er, I mean Birthday.

Annora turned 29 on May 29th! So, to celebrate, we regressed and headed to Dave & Buster's for a night of drinking and arcade game playing. (Ok, so the drinking part is age appropriate.) As we sat to eat and drink, we witnessed a few kids come up to this game called "Jumping Jackpot" - similar to Dance Dance Revolution, only like a jump rope. Instantly, I knew this was to be my game for the night. Let me just say, way harder than it looks...don't worry, after a few tries (not mentioning how many) I won the jackpot. On another positive note, Sega has created a game where you can actually breed, feed, name, train and race a horse! I created a little black filly, Sebastian Steele. It printed out a card, so I can keep racing her if ever I go back. Brennan managed to create a horse that started winning all the races - so he camped out at the tracks most of the evening.
Lastly, Matt won a 410 ticket jackpot on this bouncy ball game. All in all, we made out with a substantial amount of candy and a mini-basketball for Brock. What a night! Who needs Vegas?

Whoa. A Half Year?

That went fast.

Specs:

Height - 27.85" (85%)

Weight- 17lbs 10ozs (50%)

Brock continues to be a tall, skinny baby. And I think the best way to describe his personality is a 12 year old trapped in an infant's body. He loves to drink water out of a glass. He thinks he can walk and marches forward when given the chance, only for Matt to catch him as he plunges head first toward the floor. He plays patty cake (erraticly). He continues to enjoy paper. He loves sweet potatoes and hates peaches (he literally gagged when I gave him some). And he loves his new stroller!

Aha! I get it now...

I thought I truly appreciated my mother on "Mother's Day". I tried to help her out around the house, bought her gifts, wrote her notes, made her breakfast, planned things for her with my siblings; now, I realize I was just going through the motions. In the back of my mind, I always felt this qualified as a "Hallmark holiday". Not anymore. After carrying my own child for 9 agonizing, uncomfortable months, sacrificing sleep, movies (at the theater), really, not having my own body for that last 14 months, (the list could go on) I realized this is a deserved and much needed holiday. I am not bitter about the things I have given up because I have gained infinitely more; I LOVE that child and I can see that he loves me. I would not have it any other way - as Matt put it: being a good mother is a choice.

That being said, I experienced an incredible 1st Mother's Day. Brock(Matt) got me a Trek running stroller. I call it "running" instead of a "jogging" stroller, as is customary, because you have to run to keep up with this thing! I swear, it is pulling me - I am not pushing it. I feel pressured to get back into shape so that I can match the standard that this stroller sets. I think I might roll up to Starbucks around 10am so all the suburban housewives can drool over my BMW of the stroller world (even though it is the '08 model & I don't really know anything about strollers, so I am just speculating...)

Other events of the day include a brunch at my mother's house, where we played Disney's Scene It for the 2nd time; boys verses girls, and the boys won every time!!! The girls have yet to win a single game, I think it is 6-0. I am sure my brothers are secretly watching Disney movies all day long, when they claim to be playing video games. Then we headed to the O'Laughlin's for dinner. We got Mimi a birdfeeder, as she had a nest of Finches in her mailbox. Personally, I didn't have much confidence in this gift (Matt's idea), but, alas, it was a hit. Mother's day was a success.

Best Phh-riends

Brock really loves his dogs. He does not leave them alone, obviously. I turned my back on Brock sitting by his Boppy only to turn back around and find him streched out over it petting Tater's stomach; Tater was in heaven.

Paper!

When Brock gets ahold of any stuffed animal-type toy, he goes straight for the tag.  When he's playing near anything with a tag, such as his boppy or play gym, he goes for that, as opposed to the other things that are supposed to get his attention.  He loves plastic grocery bags (got to be careful about that one...), really loves newspaper and really REALLY loves restaurant menus (First Watch is probably his fave).  In fact, it is customary at this point to say "and we'll keep one menu" after the completion of my order, so much so, that I almost said it the other night and we didn't even have Brock.  My mom can't remember which one, but either Leah or I had the same fascination as a baby - she suggested saltine cracker wrappers.

Of course, they always stop doing whatever it was that was really cute once the camera starts rolling, but here's a little sample (he's a bit lacking in energy at this point):

Idiots.

Yum Yum

We've been experimenting with rice cereal for the last few weeks. Brock seems to have a decent attention span until it comes to eating. Suddenly, he becomes 100% distractable: oh, the fan is moving; ooh, the dog; wait, I think I heard something behind me; the spoon, the spoon, hand me the spoon; there's the dog again!

He's been like this since birth. I wonder how many traits carry on forever? If it's a lot, looks like we are going to have a very skinny, very active, stubborn child with a staring problem, who loves paper.

So Eclectic

Monday Night: Pirates of Penzance

Highlights: During the audience participation act of singing "God save the queen", Leah and I decided to imitate true opera form (Leah being the louder) and belt out the song. After which, the nice 83 year old woman sitting next to Leah informed her, quite insistently, that she should be on stage. Little does she know, Leah has been center stage her entire life...

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Tuesday Night: Howie Day Concert

You can view our recording of one song here.

Highlights: After exactly one song with Howie's signature loop sound, all the power in Westport went out and Howie Day left the stage. Wait, back up one step. This concert was originally schedule over a month ago, back in March but got cancelled. So this week's was a make-up, rescheduled for 11pm on a Tuesday night. So, it has already become a slight hassle and inconvenient. Hence, the power outage, at first, was inraging. Then Howie came back out armed only with his lovely voice and guitar, illuminated by a flashlight anchored to the mic stand. The employees placed candles on every table in the Record Bar, turning the grungy dive feel into an intimate ambiance. All injuries forgiven.

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Wednesday Night: Relaxation.

Highlights: Watching TV and playing with Brock until he fell asleep on my chest.

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Thursday Night: Buca Di Beppo & Goodbye

Highlights: A huge free dinner, provided by the Pathology Club. As a 2nd year, I am leaving the school to go out in the world of medicine for clinical rotations. So, I must pass my duty as VP of Path club on to a 1st year, thus the "transitional dinner". The Goodbye part of my night, pertains to an evening of Gray's & Private Practice (niether of which do I watch regularly) with my KCUMB study group. One of our member's husband passed away last week, so she is taking her 2 girls and heading home where she can have the support and help of her immediate family. We will miss her.

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Friday Night: First Fridays

http://www.dominguesphotography.com/

Highlights: The photographer/neighbor Matt once stalked was showing his work. We were worried the art & nightlife down at the Crossroads would not be kid friendly. Turned out, on this particular evening, you would have been out of place without a child in tow. I enjoyed the event immensely, and plan to head back another time. (Though I discovered a furniture store that I MUST avoid, it is exactly my style, but absolutely not my price range.)

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Saturday Night: Couple's Baby Shower

Highlights: Stephanie, a classmate of mine, is due sometime in the next 2 months (twins make it really hard to pick a due date...) Matt got out of this shower due to his opportunity to shoot at a wedding with our photographers, so I went with Gretchen (another classmate) as my date. It's really fun to buy gifts for twins - as for having to raise them for the first few months...?

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Sunday Day: Vivian's 1st Birthday

Highlights: I really dis-like dolls, always have, never owned a Barbie, did have a Cabbage Patch Doll (CPD), but I am pretty sure Leah took over that one. The only thing I ever dressed up was my teddy bear with Annora's CPD's, Milly, clothing; and I am pretty sure that was just to piss her off - anatgonist from birth. Anywhoo, Vivian got this teeny baby doll for her birthday and she immediately grabbed it and hugged it to her chest for the rest of the gift opening process. So cute, a baby holding a baby.