Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Happy Brenden


Happy Brenden
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Here's yet another pic of B that just cracks me up. He looks so relaxed! No, I did not put any Crown Royal in his Enfamil.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Wow, I actually have a moment to blog again. First off, I'm not experiencing depression any more. How do I know? Jon said something that upset me the other day but instead of brooding on it until I burst into tears, I felt aggravated for about 2 minutes until something distracted me. It must have been a good six hours later before I remembered the incident. Surprised at my reaction (or lack thereof), I tried to force myself to dwell on the incident to see what would happen. What happened was I felt a gigantic wave of apathy for the whole thing and a strong desire to go play Sid Meier's Pirates.

So I'm really happy about that. Yes, I'm still on Zoloft. At the end of this month I'm going to see my psychiatrist and talk to her about weaning myself off of this stuff.

Jon had his first day of taking care of Brenden without any help. He tried to take B to a meeting at the airport, where B a) started howling and b)took a big dump. Jon managed to slide his finger into B's poop when checking the diaper, and also accidentally knocked over a bottle of formula while trying to change him. Then he tried to calm B down by feeding him with a new bottle but B was having none of that. Needless to say Jon had a rough time at the meeting. When I got home from work Jon had to take some serious medication, several beers, and a Butterfinger Blizzard to calm down. I realize that on the days where I take care of him myself, I'm not trying to really do anything else. It's tougher trying to do your job and take care of an infant at the same time.

Over the weekend we had another pool party and the two skydivers who just had a baby (Emma Cate) brough her with them. She's a cute but fussy baby. I was very amused that when she would start fussing B would screw up his face and cry too. I had to take him into his room while feeding him and sing "You are my Sunshine" about 100 times to keep him from starting up. Speaking of songs, jeez I haven't posted a top 10 post in forever!

Top 10 Songs I Sing (badly) to my Son



10: The Spongebob Squarepants Theme Duh. Especially when the show is on and we're watching.

9: Bad Boys Especially when Cops is on and we're watching. Which is unfortunately quite often.

8: Mack the Knife Bobby Darin style, of course. With Steve Martin hand movements.

7: What's New, Pussycat? I totally admit to singing that song to him so that I could put it in this list.

6: You are my Sunshine My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray...

5: Old MacDonald's Hey you knew there had to be cliches classics in here somewhere. Usually accompanied by his myriad of stuffed animals. Even the dinosaur and Cthulhu.

4: Good morning to you Actually, this is sung to the tune of 'Happy Birthday to You'. My mom used to sing it to me when waking me up. "Good morning to you, good morning to you. Good morning good morning, good morning to you."

3: Bizarre Love Triangle The world's only dance song that sounds good a capella. Although not when I sing it. Every time I see you fall I get down on my knees and pray....

2: Rock n' Roll all Night and party every day! Sung often while I'm feeding him and (of course) rocking in the comfy chair.

1: Surrender Cheap trick! Mommy's all right, daddy's all right, they just seem a little wierd...

Tasty Arm


Tasty Arm
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Well I guess I should post a Brenden at 12 weeks pic. The only thing he likes about being on his stomach is he seems to find his arms and hands easier when he wants something to chew on.

Weight lifting


Weight lifting
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Pumpin' Iron! Actually pumpin' silver. That's a rattle David King gave us at the baby shower. Pay no attention to the booger in B's nose.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Brenden at the DZ


Brenden at the DZ
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Brenden at 11 weeks. I love that smile. We go out and visit the DZ on the weekends now. He's such a good kid; he'll let anyone hold him and talk to him. He never gets upset at strangers.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

B!


B!
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Click on this photo to get the full effect. Jon took this photo this morning; Brenden had just woken up. Even the most beautiful people in the world have their goofy moments.

Speaking of Jon, Happy Birthday, honey!!! >>SMOOCH!<<

Monday, August 15, 2005

Tigger, Cthulhu, and Brenden

Best Buds!

Brenden's Play Mat


Brenden's Play Mat
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Brenden at 10 weeks. As you can see, I am physically incapable of going shopping without buying him something.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

I took the Personality Defect Test and I scored:

Robot

You are 85% Rational, 0% Extroverted, 42% Brutal, and 42% Arrogant.

You are the Robot! You are characterized by your rationality. In fact, this is really ALL you are characterized by. Like a cold, heartless machine, you are so logical and unemotional that you scarcely seem human. For instance, you are very humble and don't bother thinking of your own interests, you are very gentle and lack emotion, and you are also very introverted and introspective. You may have noticed that these traits are just as applicable to your laptop as they are to a human being. In short, your personality defect is that you don't really HAVE a personality. You are one of those annoying, super-logical people that never gets upset or flustered. Unless, of course, you short circuit.


Why does this not surprise me?

Brenden chewing on his fist

Here is Brenden at 2 months/9 weeks. He's thinking about just how much of a slacker his mom is when it comes to blog updates.
Brenden had his 2 Month checkup Monday. He is now 13 pounds, 8 ounces and 24 inches tall. He also received his first immunization shots, which he did not like very much. He calmed down pretty fast though, and slept most of the day. He was somewhat cranky when he wasn't sleeping but no fever thank goodness. And now it's time for:

Letter to Brenden: Month 2

Time flew by during my maternity leave. I'm back at work and I'm missing you. You have grown fast and have all ready outgrown a huge selection of clothing. You don't much like being on your tummy which is a shame. I don't want you to miss the crawling stage. Having said that, I have noticed that you have more strength in your neck even though you tend to still slouch when you are put in your chair or the stroller.

I got to experience your first howl of pain (since being yanked from my uterus) when I tried to pick you out of your crib and you lurched forward and banged your head against the railing. Scared the shit out of me and I cried along with you. You weren't even bruised! Still, I'm sorry hon. I'll be more careful.

When I look at you, the way you move your mouth, your facial expression, and your hands seem to indicate you are on the verge of saying something. When you do say something it has a lot of vowels in it. You have started saying "Goo!" as well. I am seriously considering teaching you sign language. At first I heard that it would retard your ablility to speak but then I found out that was incorrect. From what I now gather it helps speed up speaking. It might be fun. I already know the signs for "eat", "milk", "more", and "poop", thanks to the movie Meet the Fokkers.

The new things you do this month is you will sometimes smile at me if I smile at you and say something. I love that. You will also wave your little arms and legs around more excitedly. It's odd, because you do the same thing when you are restless or tired, but there is a difference in the way you move. I can tell the difference between the "Whee, I'm having fun!" waving and the "This blows and I want sleep!" waving.

You can also pull up your legs and roll to one side real well. That scares me so now I am changing you on the carpet using the Irish philosophy of "you can't fall off the floor". I think the Irish were referring to drinking, but it applies. Besides, I feel comfortable walking off for a few seconds to retrieve something I forgot if you are on the floor. The only think I have to worry about is Pookie coming along and you grabbing her.

That's another thing: you are gripping things and it seems not so accidental. Like the cat (she really doesn't seem to mind), my hair (I don't mind either. Yet.), my shirt, or the blanket I lay you on. You also occasionally hook one of your toys and flail that around. But I really love the way that you will grab the tip of one of my fingers, and pull it towards your mouth and chew/lick/dribble on it. I just melt when you do that.

Anyway, you are still growing like a weed, eating like a pig, and doing a great imitation of David Byrne. I can't wait to see what month 3 brings.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Swimming with B


Swimming with B
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Dr. Evil and Mini-me went swimming last night. As you might be able to tell from B, it was a little cool. I am so going to get arrested for this photo, aren't I?

That red spot on his left arm is a birthmark.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Homies


Homies
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.
Brenden at 8 weeks.

Here he be chillin wit some of his homies. The rest of his posse is back at the crib.

Somebody shoot me for writing that.