Morning Walk

Hayden and I take a walk almost every day, but the weather hasn't allowed for walking lately. It has been raining and icky for about 4 days now, so today we were both happy to get outside. For a brief moment we had some sun and the world just looked a little different.

Boy Clothes

Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit


Hayden in his Thanksgiving jon-jon

I had been saving Hayden's Thanksgiving outfit since May when I bought it at a fantastic sample sale-a precious corduroy burnt orange jon-jon with a squirrel aplique on the front. I paired it with a white peter pan collar button down and brown lace up shoes. He looked like the perfect angel child that he is (except when tired, hungry, thirsty, cold, hot or bored) and when he looked at himself in the full length mirror, he pointed to the squirrel and flashed a huge, dimply smile. "Success!" I thought to myself. When I told him to go show DaDa how cute he was, he tore out of his room to find him. DaDa took one look at him and said, "what is he wearing?" It was at this point that I realized that fathers don't understand jon-jons.

If you don't know what a jon-jon is, you are probably a) not from the South and/or b) not a mother of a boy. Imagine a one piece jumper either short or long, depending on the season, made of some type of adorable fabric, with precious little buttons at the straps. They usually have a matching shirt of some sort with piping or small details on the collar. Rarely, the collar may have some kind of lace or scalloping, but honestly, I think that's taking it a little far. When my dad used to see a little boy in a jon-jon, he would refer to him as "little Lord Fauntleroy" (see above) which is a bit of a stretch considering the Little Lord wore some sort of knickers, but this was my first introduction to men not understanding that moms of little boys need jon-jons.

For the record, I don't dress Hayden in a jon-jon for school or trips to the grocery store or otherwise mundane outings. Jon-jons are reserved for special occasions AND playdates with my friends who have little girls who always show up in precious little dresses with matching bloomers or tights and mary-janes adorned with a little flower. Sadly, jon-jons are the mother of a boys lame attempt to compete with tiny girls in dresses.

The lure of the jon-jon begins when the soon-to-be mother of a little boy goes on her first shopping excursion to find that perfect outfit. She finds herself in a section of the baby clothing store that is 1/100th the size of the little girls clothing section sifting through a bunch of striped oufits that look OK until you flip them over and see the words "mommy's little monkey" or " gone truckin'" or "junior firefighter". As the boys get a little bigger, the clothing manufacturers move past stripes and start using things like a skull and crossbones, reptiles, trucks, firetrucks, cars, bulldozers, footballs, etc. Hayden has all of these things in his closet, mostly because I have bought them out of frustration that this is it-this is what there is for little boys to wear. For Holidays, it's Argyle sweaters or sweaters with dogs on the front; maybe some plaid to spice it up. Meanwhile, over in the girls section, there are tufts of pink toile, polka dots, florals, velvet, glitter and everything I always wanted when I was little (but it was the 70s, so I mostly wore hand-me-down polyester jumpsuits). The jon-jon becomes the middle ground, the not-quite-dressing-your-little-boy-in-a-dress option.

The other thing about jon-jons is that their presence in a boys life is short-lived. I am hoping I can push it until Hayden is 2 because I have some really precious hand-me-downs from my nephew, Pierce. But I fear, as most mothers of little boys do, that as soon as Hayden can make his own decisions about what he'd like to wear, he'll opt for the skull and crossbones, or worse, the I heart NY t-shirt. Since Hayden has recently been classified by his pediatrician as a "strong-willed child", we may not make it until 2. But to me, when the jon-jon goes, my little baby is also gone. He will be a little boy, and I am not quite ready for that.

Take Two

When I received a call from my sister, Kim, this afternoon asking if I was OK, I immediately realized that my previous post had been sent to most of your emails-unfinished. I know this little mistake sounded pretty desperate, but I promise, I had a (self-proclaimed) fantastic idea for that post. It went a little something like this...

My failure to get a job, despite all of the letters after my name has inspired me to really focus on being a great mom and wife.

{Sidebar-please refrain from sending me emails or comments stating the following or some modification of the following, "Amy, you have the most important job in the world." I already know this and as I watch with amazement as Hayden grows and changes by the day, I am so incredibly grateful to be unemployed. The problem is, I would like to have a PAYING job. A job that allows me to do what I have been studying to do for the past 10 years. So please, Save it!}

As most of you know, the duties of the mom and wife are often mundane and typically go unnoticed by the rest of the family. Although they would notice if you didn't do the dishes for 24 hours, no one really compliments you on what a great job of dishwashing you did (but Matt often thanks me for doing them, which I really appreciate). No one really cares when you clean out the closets or organize the tupperware cabinet or make up the bed every day. These types of tasks don't make you a more interesting person or make you feel rewarded at the end of the day, but they are necessary to make the household run properly. Besides, when Matt comes home at the end of the day and asks me, "what did you do today?" I can't just run through what happened on the Today show, The View, Oprah, Ellen and Animal Cops Houston (please don't ask about my love of animal cops). Instead, I can proudly reply, "I cleaned out Hayden's closet" or "I organized my office" or "I went to Anthropologie"-oops, that one slipped out by mistake.

One of my newfound wifely obsessions is saving money. This was inspired by last month's horrifying $1000.00 grocery bill, which I was determined to decrease significantly. Another inspiration was the depressing amount of food I was throwing away each week. So I started doing a few things like planning the weekly meals on Sunday, clipping coupons and shopping sales. I have to say that saving $40.00 a week on groceries might seem like nothing to some people, but it equates to $160.00 a month or $1920.00 per year! Giving up the Starbucks habit, probably another $50.00 a month ($600.00 a year); Changing my gym membership from family to single (no one else in the family uses it) saves us $360.00 a year. Although this is exhilarating for me, I think I am secretly driving Matt a little crazy. At first, the prospect of saving all of this money was exciting to him, but now I think he'd rather listen to Hayden cry than me saying. "today I found a coupon for $1.25 off a 12 pack of LaCroix" or "If you mix water with this remnant dishsoap, I think we can get another week out of it", or the worst of the worst, "I am re-instating meatless mondays".

The truth is, everyone needs a job. That's why retired people volunteer, kids sell lemonade and mow lawns and moms cut coupons and work to save money-it gives you purpose, it makes you feel like you contribute and it gives you something (really boring) to talk about besides your children. So for now, my job is supermom and superwife. I will quietly go about my organizing, cleaning and clipping coupons while Hayden sleeps and give him my undivided attention when he is awake. And even though I don't get paycheck or a raise or a Christmas bonus (but let's face it, no one gets Christmas bonuses anymore), I know that I am doing my job.

mulligan

I started posting a blog about swim class today, but it was terrible, so I am taking a mulligan.
I will try again later.
Until then, here are some cute videos of Hayden.

When I am done with boards

A friend of mine who is also taking boards in september recently sent an email to friends and family letting them know that he will be out of touch for the next nine weeks as he braces for the final stretch of studying. This email (and a recent conversation with my sister, Jen) has prompted me to write the following:
When I am done with boards, I will get back to the gym
I will excercise and eat less carbs and and run at 5 am
my house will be spotless and decorated in style
my office will be organized (which it hasn't been in a while)
Emily, my hairdresser, will know me by first name
She'll get my grays under control and keep my tresses tame
Yoga three times a week will keep my body toned
Friends and family that I've missed will finally be phoned
Letters will be written soon and emails sent at last
Phone calls will be returned and presents mailed real fast
I will finish all my manuscripts and submit them for review
Perhaps they'll be accepted and if rejected, well Boo-hoo
I will meditate and contemplate and find my missing chi
I will think using my right brain and dream up some poetry
My garden will grow vegetables and bright flowers galore
I will composte and recycle and knit scarves some more
I will start my own business or find myself a job
With boards under my belt, I don't have to be a slob
At night I will once again be peaceful in my bed
without dreams of cytology rushing through my head
I will have a conversation with a person i've just met
without having to explain how I am a studying vet
Hemoglobin and bilirubin will vanish from my thought
Erythrocyte metabolism wont leave me so distraught
My eyes wont ache, my head wont hurt, my back wont be so sore
from hunching at the microscope and thinking 'bout my score
I will be a better wife and a better mama, too
a better sister, friend and colleage just to name a few
Oh, the things that I will do when i finish this test
Take it easy ACVP, I need to get some rest
And when I'm done I hope that I will do all on my que
But honestly, I may just sit on the couch and watch The View
Or read some smutty magazines like people or life and style
My brain might turn to mush but it will all be so worth while
I know it all sounds crazy and I hope you all will see
that my life gets much better when I'm ACVP

Love to you all-
Amy

BTW-hayden is walking-videos to come, but I can't find the battery charger to the camera tonight!

Adaptations

I know, I know-it has been a long time since my last entry. I apologize, but suddenly we have a very active baby to tend to which is taking much of my time and energy. In between crawling, pulling up, falling down, cruising, chasing the cat and dog and screaming, there isn't much time for blogging. But, no excuses, I will try to do a better job.
My very wise sister, Kim, told me right after Hayden was born these words that I will never forget, "as soon as you think you have a baby figured out, they change and you have to totally rethink how you were doing things and adapt." Kim probably said it a lot more eloquently, but the idea is the same. So now we are living it. We had a few months of bliss where Hayden was sleeping from 7pm-7am or sometimes even 7:30am. Now he has been waking up sometime between 5:00 and 6:30. Sometimes he chats in his crib for an hour and sometimes he screams. The other morning he was screaming at 4:30am. I went in and he was standing up in the crib, howling. After a song and a lot of rocking, we were able to get him back to sleep for a few hours, but suddenly it feels like we have an infant again!
If that is the only negative, then I am fine with it. I could sit there and watch Hayden talk to his cheerios all day long. I could chase him all day long as he investigates "new" things and tests out his new strength. I could watch him learn and grow and succeed and fail until we are both exhausted. And I will cherish that last minute of the day before I put him to bed while he lets me cuddle him while he coos and rubs my arm. Yes, I know, all of this will pass and we will adapt and move on to the next phase. But for now, things are just about perfect.

What a difference a day makes!

Yay! Hayden did it-he FINALLY crawled for the first time yesterday. Some of you may have already seen it on Facebook, since matt has an iphone and in one click he was able to upload a video. Me, on the other hand, still iphone-less and uploading videos old-school (with a camera and the computer), spent most of the morning working on these videos.

Yesterday he took a few forward crawling steps intermixed with the usual "slither", but this morning he was off. You can see the difference 1 day made in the videos below!

Wish us luck...