I love my zoo!!

My grandma and I took Bret to The Toledo Zoo today. Sadly, it was my first time there, too. The weather was gorgeous and it was so much fun. Obviously we didn't stay too long since Bret's attention span is about 2 or 3 hours. I took him on the carousel and he wasn't sure what to do. I could tell that he wanted to cry but tried not to because he kept looking at me then grabbing my shirt. As the carousel was slowing down, he cried. It was cute though. He absolutely LOVED the aviary and aquarium. We watched the monkeys and I was sort of surprised at how attentive Bret was when they were swinging around. Maybe next summer we'll be able to stay longer because it was fun!!

Jason gets back on Saturday around 3pm and I can't wait! I'm excited and exhausted at the same time.

Here are some pics I took today:

After a yummy bowl of cereal - mommy couldn't get Bret's attention away from grandma!!

This was BEFORE the ride started! LOL

comedy & tragedy

I took Bret to the park for the first time today. I put him in one of those baby swings and he loved it! It was very cute. No pictures though....Didn't think about it until I was already there. We spent most of the day outside and tomorrow is pretty much going to be the same. My grandma is coming down on Wednesday to stay with us until Friday so we're not lonely. Thanks GG (for Great-grandma but Jason says Gangster Grandma because she's wacky).

These pics are for Jason :) Enjoy






We miss daddy!!!






He'll be back in four days!!

No fortune cookies in China?! What kind of Chinese food is that?

Weekend was cut short with Jason leaving for China today. It's just way too quiet in the house when he's gone. He'll be back next Saturday, which seems like an eternity away.



In other news, Jeff (Jason's brother) came into town for the weekend. He had to travel to Detroit for work and decided to spend the weekend here.



Bret is loving the nice weather. We have been taking walks everyday. He especially likes listening to the birds. For some reason he has a fascination with the cat. He has been eye-balling Caicos for the past week or two. I feel sorry for the cat when Bret decides to start crawling. He has been trying to roll over to his right but for some reason can't make it over. He has totally mastered his left side (from back to stomach). I just have no idea why he won't roll from stomach to back. Part of the reason why, I think, is because he won't put his arms in front of himself. He likes them to the side. Whenever I put his arms in front of him, he moves them back out to his side. Strange. He was a champ with his shots. He only cried when he was poked. AWESOME!! He has started saying his first "word". Da-da, of course. A-hole. Maybe Jason should stay home with him and then he'll say ma-ma! LOL



Not much else. I'm sure I'll have lots to say while Jason is gone!

Weekend recap

Have you ever come home from a weekend away feeling like you need a vacation?! Our trip to Traverse City was fun. The weather left something to be desired.

Friday: Jason took a 1/2 day and we were on the road by 12:15pm. It took us about 4 hours to get there. The ride was pretty good; four hours is about Bret's limit at this point. Didn't do too much except check in and eat dinner at the sports bar in the hotel. I was super proud of Bret for eating his cereal while sitting in his stroller. Our room had a king-sized bed; sort of a bummer because I requested to doubles (one for us and one for Bret's infant bed). Instead, his bed was put onto the couch. We put him to bed at 8pm; he woke up at 9:30pm and had peed all over himself. Round one - change clothes, diaper and bedding. He woke up at 12:30am and had peed all over himself. Round two. My first thought - shit, he only has two more clean outfits left and zero clean pyjamas. Thank God I brought some long-sleeved onesies and running/jogging pants. After the poor guy wakes up a third time, Jason (the smart one between the two of us) says that he's probably cold and that's why he keeps peeing. Well, he did have a point because the couch was right under a window that may have had a draft. So at 3:30am, I put Bret into bed with us; a big NO-NO at our house. He slept plastered to me for the rest of the night. I wanted to cuddle him, but he's too little still to know what cuddling is :(

Saturday: Started off typical. I had my massage and pedicure appointments starting at 10am. It was pure bliss. The massage was well worth the $99 and I'd pay someone to paint my toenails anyday!! However, I really hate it when salons tack on the gratuity. This place charged the standard 18%. Sucks for the people who worked on me because I would've given them more than 18%. Saved us some money. Thanks. Bret was good for daddy and took his mid-AM nap. The rest of the day was spent walking around the resort, driving into town and having lunch at the Mackinaw Brewing Company. YUM. It was cold and rainy/snowy so we couldn't walk around town, which was a bummer. We wanted to go to the casino, but Bret wasn't allowed on the 'gaming floor'. Probably for the best, he's a pretty good card counter and we'd take the house for a ride. Idiots. After we put Bret to bed we were going to watch an On Demand movie but, holy shit they're expensive!! $11.99?! Are you shitting me?! I told Jason I was too much of a cheap skate to pay that much to watch a movie once. He agreed and we channel-flipped. Ah, the joys of being parents!! LOL

Sunday: The day started off really early. I heard Bret 'talking' to himself at 3:30am. There was no way I was going to get out of bed unless he started crying, which he did an hour later. I went through the routine of changing his diaper and feeding him. I put him back in his bed and he was having nothing to do with it. He was up. I didn't turn any lights on, figuring if I play with him for a little bit he'd get tired and fall asleep. Yeah right. He was still up at 5:30am so I told Jason that we might as well pack up and get on the road. I swear I think that Jason would kill me if he didn't love me. He gave me this defeated look and agreed. We were on the road by 6:15am and home by 11am.

It was fun! Now it's back to the daily grind......

Baptism

Bret and Daddy (Double click on the photos to enlarge them)


Bret with his Godparents, Ben and Bree.



Bret with Ben, Bree, Fr. Dan and my grandpa in the background. LOL





Bret with his parents (of course), Fr. Dan and my grandpa in the background. LOL

Bret did really well at the baptism! I actually expected him to freak out and cry, but he didn't. He didn't even make a peep when the water was poured over his head. I was a proud mama :) I almost cried!! Poor guy, he even took the tons of pictures in stride and the lunch afterwards. Overall, he was really a happy baby.

If I didn't mention it, his outfit was sewn out of my wedding dress. Jason's aunt's boss makes her own clothes and she offered to do it. The outfit turned out awesome - she put some blue onto the cuffs of the sleeves, pant legs and collar. Jason said it looks like a mini Elvis costume. Judge for yourself!!

Yesterday was a great day and the weather made it even better. Hooray for sunny days. Not much else going on....We're off to Traverse City for the weekend - I'm cashing in my Christmas present. We're going to the Traverse Bay Resort and I'm penciled in for a massage and pedicure. ohh la la.

Watch CNN tomorrow, 4/2/08

All day on Wednesday, CNN is airing stories and information on autism. I plan on watching all day and hope that it's informative.

I have to admit, I'm sort of concerned. I keep hearing that autism may have a genetic link to mothers having an autoimmune disorder. The only bad part about it is that doctors supposedly don't know what the "trigger" is that determines a child to develop autism or not.

Be informed. Watch CNN.

5 Months!

I'm 5 months old today! I am doing so good - I've learned to blow bubbles while eating cereal and try to sit up while nursing. I'm not Mommy's little blob anymore! Active is more like it. All I do is roll over and kick my feet when I'm on the floor with my toys, put everything in my mouth that I can get my hands on and want to be held. The latter part is getting kind of taxing on Mommy's back but I don't care!

From Mommy:
We're still working on the sitting up part. He'll sit up for a few seconds then catches a glimpse of his feet and leans forward to grab them. I'm sure he'll be sitting up on his own by next month. The only thing he hasn't done is roll from tummy to back and I don't know why. I keep reading online and in articles that that's the easiest for babies. He seems to have no interest in doing it but gets mad when he is on his stomach for too long. Another odd thing is he will only roll over on his left side. He has NEVER rolled on his right side. Hmmmm. He'll lay on his right side then go back onto his back. Whenever he gets REALLY excited, he'll put his hands into his mouth and laugh.

He's starting to sleep a lot better. For the past few nights he's gone to bed at his regular time (8pm) and didn't wake up until 3:30 - 4am. AWESOME!!! It's amazing how little things like that excite me. LOL

I want to start him on veggies soon - like within the next week or two, but I don't know how to approach it. Should I give them to him after cereal or before? AM or PM? Which veggie is the easiest to start with? I'm assuming sweet potatoes?! Let me know what has worked for you!!

He's scheduled to get his DTaP and pneumoccocal shots on the 15th. The DTaP isn't the one I want him to get but I'm not going to argue with the nurse again. However, I am going to bring it up to his pediatrician when he has his 6-month wellness appointment in May. I miss his pediatrician, we haven't seen her in a while!! Jason leaves for China on the 19th. Thankfully, my grandma is coming down to stay a few days with me! Hooray.

Bret is getting baptized on Sunday, so I'll post new pics then.