11 months old

Wesley is 11 months old. Wow. 

The last month has been huge for us because Wesley started crawling right after he turned 10 months. I'm not concerned that he was a late crawler, but it made us spoiled to not have a mobile baby for so long that this month has been hard on us. Running after him as he approaches the stair (we still don't have a gate), as he crawls after the cats (they will nip him), and climbing up the dining room table (which is shorter than him so he bumps his head on the table).

This last month he also really started eating real food. He still likes purees, but everything says he needs to start eating textured foods. He'll eat almost anything, so I've given him pasta, fish, meatballs, mangos, refried beans, turkey, cheese ... so far so good.

His big thing now is to point and go, "Huh?" He loves pointing at the ceiling fan and lights. And he does it so often if you say, "Where's the FAN?" he'll point upwards.

And he loves to be read to; not that his attention span is long, but if you get a book and put him in your lap, he's really interested in the pages and tries to turn them. He likes "Pajama Time", "Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See" and I like reading "Potty" to him.

On the downside, his naps are almost non-existent these days unless you hold him or sleep next to him in our bed. We stopped the swaddle at nine months and since then he hasn't been able to get back to napping those 2-hour stretches unless held. Maybe 1/2 hour max in his crib, but he's still tired. It's been a battle and I have the bags under my eyes to prove it.

Dinner @ the Girl & the Goat

My birthday dinner was Thursday night, reservations were made 2 months in advance for a 5:15 p.m. dinner for 2 (which eventually was changed to a 5:45 p.m. reservation for 3).

This was our 3rd reservation at this "hot spot" - the other 2 made while I was on maternity leave and never materialized due to "baby pain" and "baby stress"  -- in that order. So Matt surprised me with another reservation I couldn't possibly make an excuse not to keep - my birthday.

My mom joined us and we were happy again to have her because we wouldn't have watched Top Chef if it wasn't for her nagging to us how great it was and telling us in detail about each episode that we decided, we better just watch it with her And we got hooked. And that's who owns this restaurant, the winner of the Season 3 Top Chef. Last year we went to Sprout (another Top Chef contestant's restaurant) and in 2009 we went to Topolobampo and Graham Eliot (Top Chef Masters). We want to keep on doing these dinners, the three of us, but we're running out of Top Cheffers. (Not to fear with the number of great restaurants and chefs in this city, but it was fun to do all the Top Chef people).

Dinner was fabulous, but as I said at one point, "I'm turning too suburban, this is a little adventurous for me." Beef Tongue, Pig Face, lamb tartare ... I'm not that crazy into weird meat cuts.

Matt with the softshell crab, tuna, and asparagus

 The menu was parceled out into 3 sections: Veg, Fish, Meat. And a separate daily special of Bread, Oyster, & Goat. All the dishes are small so they are to be shared. (Although the cost would lead you to believe they were very large dishes). So we decided to pick 3 Veg, 3 Fish, 2 meats, and 2 dessert for the 3 of us.

I didn't get pictures of everything, so here's a quick low-down (Go to the menu here)

Veg:  Asparagus with bleu cheese and radishes, Pan fried Shishito peppers with miso, parmesean and sesame seed, and chickpea fritters with alot of delicious stuff I can't remember but it was GOOD. (found the menu it says: chickpeas fritters . romesco . hazelnut hummus . sesame . goat feta)

Chickpea fritters

Peppers

Fish: Seared tuna with lamb sausage and blueberries, SoftShell crab with a sort of squash slaw, and salmon tartar with fried squash blossoms.

Salmon tartare

Meat: We went all GOAT and got goat loin with root veggies and confit of goat belly with lobster. Wow.

Goat loin

Dessert: A chocolate cake with caramel and shitake gelato, and pork fat fried ganache filled donuts with blackberries. Help me.

DESSERT!

The place was not what I thought - first off it was a large space and can fill a lot of people, so it was loud, almost too loud for conversation. It was also, at the same time, homey and down to earth which clashed with the crowd (the trying so hard to be urban hipster people I love to hate).  It was definitely the place to be and at 5:30 p.m. the place was hopping. The waitstaff was really helpful and we took her suggestions and they were on. The only thing was that she thought the peppers were not hot and I thought they were. Expect to pay a lot but it's the kind of food you won't get anywhere else (or else not prepared in this way). Great location too on Randolph. Bathrooms are all individual - very cool.

Is buying your own birthday cake sad?

This morning I went to the village bakery and ordered my birthday cake. I felt fine and confident as I wheeled the stroller in with one hand, hot coffee beverage in the other, the smell of danishes and donuts silently adding calories to my thighs through inhalation.

When the nice lady asked me what the cake should say, I replied, "Happy Birthday and my name is R---." 

"Oh it's for you? You're buying your own birthday cake." Understanding, gentle smile. Yes, I am buying my own birthday cake. I've been buying it for myself for a long while now... (Remember Birthday #33?)

Then I started thinking, if I don't buy my cake, who will?

My mom? Sure, add another task to her already long list of things to do in her lifetime. And besides, she used to make my cake when I was little, she'd probably say her obligation to the party was met when she wrote me out that check and put it in the card.

My husband? I don't think they make "cake genes" in male. I can just picture him saying, "What?" if I were to ask him to get me a cake. Plus there are too many decisions in cake ordering for men to go through (chocolate or white, buttercream of whipped cream, which of the 25 fillings will you like... that's greek to men)

The cats? The baby? I'm running out of potential cake buyers here ...

So that leaves just one person. Me.

I buy my cake, Matt's cake, the baby's cake... and any future inhabitants of our house can be assured that I will be at the bakery buying their cake well in advance of their birthday... because, well, because they make "cake genes" in female unfortunately.

Chasing Wes around the Ottoman

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful first-time dad, my husband.

When we were little, dads in general didn't change diapers, make bottles, rock to sleep, read stories, nurture. Dad is ever-evolving and in the last 30 years, I'm not sure there's been a role that has changed more. But when I see you with our baby, it makes me realize that to love, to nurture, to guide is natural, and I'm so lucky to have a man who is man enough to be all that and more.

Wesley will be proud to call you Dada forever.

Zoo, then & now

Last weekend we went to the Zoo for the first time with Wesley. We met our friends there on the most crowded, but least humid day of the summer. It couldn't have been a nicer day, which made the swarms of double strollers sort of blur into the background.

Me & Wesley

My mom & me 1976

Wesley didn't know what to make of it - he didn't really notice any of the animals and was more content hanging out on the grass or cruising around a bench as we ate lunch. It made me think of the first time my parents took me to the Zoo. My mom tells the story that my dad gave me an apple and I nursed it the whole time inciting my dad to say, "Why do we need to come to a Zoo? Just give her an apple and she's happy." He was always trying to make me into a cheap date.

Matt & Wes

My dad & me

First trip to the pool

I bought pool passes this summer despite the fact that Matt & I haven't been to one of the public pools since we moved to this town ... 8 years ago. That's how having this baby is changing us.

We have a north side & south side pool -- the south side is newer and 0-depth; we went there Wednesday night when the temps were in the high 90's all day. Matt agreed that this was a perfect way to spend an evening after work.

It feels like Summer

Summer has officially begun around here.

June 4th weekend was our town's yearly festival and in some ways Summer Kick-off. We're there every year and Matt runs the 5K (this year the 10K) almost every year! It was poignant for us because in 2008, we walked around the Fest saying, "We're ready to have a baby. Just think next year we'll have a baby here."  In 2009, I was pregnant but we left the Fest early because I didn't feel well and I miscarried later that evening. In 2010, we walked around the Fest for just a little bit because it was hot and I was 32 weeks pregnant. And in 2011, we finally got to bring Wesley - who looked a little less than thrilled about the whole thing and just wanted to sleep.

Congratulating Dad for finishing the 10K

Sleeping with Dad later that day

New Flooring in the Family Room

On the Sunday before we left for vacation, our contractor called and said he could install the new flooring in the family room on Tuesday. Before you could blink an eye, Matt and I flew to Home Depot to choose some in-stock engineered wood flooring.

 The family room is on a concrete slab so this meant we couldn't put in hardwood like the rest of the house. Engineered wood was our choice and going as nice, but as economical as possible, was our goal. We found some really nice "hand scraped" flooring at a local place, but even the contractor discount wouldn't make it as low as some flooring we found at Home Depot.

After we picked the flooring, my mom graciously came over and picked up the baby so Matt and I could rip out carpeting, padding, and the terrible linoleum underneath. Just seeing the dust and funk come off that carpeting, as we ripped it out, made us gag that we had it for so long (the carpeting is one of the last remnants of the old owners).

It feels great to get this new flooring in and put back all our furniture, residing in other parts of our house. The room will be split into 2 zones -- a TV/family area and a play area.

Next up ... our bedroom floors.

We have a crawler...

... and a cruiser!

I read somewhere that babies crawl anywhere between 6-10 months. When Wesley turned 10 months, I just figured he would skip the crawling and go right to the important part: walking (because he has a lot of interest in walking and standing).  But nope, on Memorial Day, 6 days after he turned 10 months, he just started to crawl.  We were in his bedroom playing on the floor and he wanted his shoe so he just got up on all fours and crawled. Just like that. Out of the blue.  Only a week before, I took a video of him on his stomach crying.

Now that he can crawl, he can get to the ottoman, pull himself up, and cruise all around. It was like the switch got flipped ON and he figured out that he can be a mobile baby, and that sitting staring at your out-of-reach toys was pretty sucky.

"Ottoman, I will use you to lean against while I put
this remote control in my mouth. Thank you"

In one weekend, my little baby has turned into a big little baby.