Growing!

It is truly AMAZING at how fast babies grow. Today Boy had his four month checkup. He is staying within his growth curve and is doing well! At birth, Boy was 6lbs 13oz and 19.25 inches long. Today he measured 24.5 inches and weighed in at 14lbs 5.7oz!

Milestones: He's now smiling all the time, laughing, cooing and 'talking'. He's able to grab and hold objects for a short period. He can stand if we help him and he has STRONG legs. He also has a grip that even his Pappa says can hurt. He's found his hand and tries to eat it constantly. He's also finally found his thumb and is sucking on it here and there.

Activities: He will lay on his back on his playmat and play with the objects that are dangling above his head. He'll play in his exersaucer, push buttons and slide the beads on the wire. In his high chair he spins his alphabet wheel.

I cannot believe that only four months ago this precious boy arrived and turned my world upside down!

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Sacrifices

I've always known that women make many sacrifices. Many many more than men do. But now that I've become a Mamma, I realize even MORE how much we do sacrifice and how much MORE we are unappreciated. Which makes me scratch my head and wonder for some women - Why in the hell would you settle for less than what you deserve and let yourself be unappreciated, disrespected and trampled on?

I am not intending this to be a feminist rant or even a man-bashing blog, but as I start typing, so much has been swirling in my head about relationships - of friends, family and even mine that I'm just tired of keeping it in.

I feel disgusted that women aren't smarter when it comes to relationships and doing what's best for them. It's in our nature to be nurturing and to take care of everyone but ourselves but why don't we change that? In this day where women are considered to be equals, why are we still shouldering the bulk of the responsibility for taking care of the family and the household in addition to working outside the home?

For myself, I feel so lucky and blessed to have a wonderful husband who does understand (or tries to) the sacrifices I've made in order to have this wonderful bundle of love in our life. He knows how hard it is to manage our son - the lack of sleep, the fussiness, the fighting of boob/bottle, the fighting of sleep, etc. - in addition to trying to keep up with laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc.

He also understands ME. For most of you ladies, you have to admit that this is a rare thing. He understands and knows me so well that he offers, without me having to push or ask, to take care of our son just to give me time to myself. Knowing that I need a break. A few hours to do whatever I choose. Whether it's to get a pedicure, shop for myself or just so I can get out of the house and drive around - it doesn't matter. The point is - he realizes that our son is a joint responsibility and it took two of us to bring him into this world, it will take two of us to raise and care for him.

So why is it that I have such a wonderful, loving, caring and understanding husband and most women do not? This is why I scratch my head. Are men like my husband that rare? Was he truly a treasure and I lucked out when I found him? Maybe. I would like to believe that. But in reality, it's because most women settle. Settle for what they think can work or what they can make work. But why? Why don't we see the writing on the wall like men do? Why is it that men can dump woman after woman when the relationship is so wrong for them without looking back and we can't? Why do we keep trying to make a relationship work when the signs are there flashing in bright neon colors in our face? What are we afraid of? Afraid of being alone? Afraid of being ourselves? Afraid of not finding someone who loves us for who we are? Do we really think less of ourselves that we don't deserve better? What?

I have no idea why this really gets under my skin about women but it really does. Maybe because I am one of those rare women who won't settle for less than what I deserve. I go for what I want and am able to walk away from something when I feel it's less than what I deserve. I think most women don't realize that they hold the power. That they have strength in the fact that they are a woman. If more women stood up for themselves, sacrificed less of who they are and took what they deserved, there would be better men in the world. Men would have to be better than who they are now to be with us.

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The Start of Laughter...

So E has been teaching our boy how to dance. Since our cub has such strong legs and tends to stand when supported - what better time to introduce him to groove to the tunes? Boy really likes it and just laughs and laughs with his Pappa so I've been trying to catch it on video for a few days and FINALLY I did! So here it is - a minute long video for your viewing and listening pleasure. By the way, have I said how cute I think our cub is??? :)

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The Opposite Disposition

So... E and I are night owls. We're the 'party 'til dawn' types. As much as we love to stay home, we probably love to go out and party it up with friends at the clubs/bars or wherever the 'party' is a little bit more. Or so we USED to. So the other night we head over to a friend's house to celebrate his birthday of course bringing our newest little partier, right? WRONG!

We thought we'd give him his shower early to put him at ease, get him in his jammies and then take him over there. Thinking he'd just chill and fall asleep when it was time. We thought it was going to work somewhat and then he started getting fussy. Like crying. We tried hard calming him down - bouncing him, taking him outside in the cool air, shoving the boob at him but none of it worked for a little bit and then he just decided he'd take the boob. He ate for a bit and then fell asleep. So I thought, ok - cool. Put him in his bouncer (which we brought) and he'll sleep for at least an hour, right? WRONG!!!!

He woke up SCREAMING like he was in pain and at that point there was NOTHING that would settle him down. So after being there for a little less than three hours, we bailed. Which sucked because I was about to show up the peeps on Wii Fit! What a downer for us, especially my hubby - since it was his friend's birthday celebration.

So here I am thinking about it and realizing that it's just our luck to have a child who is not only a morning person but prefers to have his evenings at home (at least for now)! WTF??? I know it really is too early to tell what his disposition will be but man, oh man! For now - this is what we have to deal with.

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... and her lives ran out...

When we started dating, my hubby has had this grey & white fluffy cat by the name of Tina. She used to be an indoor/outdoor cat (she used the dog door to come and go as she pleased) but once I moved in, she became an outdoor only cat. Now, obviously I gave her the boot but let me tell you she wasn't the friendliest kitty and she certainly wasn't giving up her spot as Queen without a fight.

We tried our best to 'train' her to stop camping out in places where she shouldn't be and eventually the constant vacuuming/cleaning up of her fluffy fur balls she was shedding in addition to the ones she was hacking up became too much for us to bear (hubby was doing a lot of daily cleaning). So, out she went!

We created a place for her on our front porch. We bought her a little 'cat house' so she had a place to sleep out of the elements and made sure she always had water and food when she came home to our porch. She actually became the neighborhood cat that everyone loved. Even as unfriendly as she was, she certainly had a certain charm and attractiveness to her that made everyone fond of her. I remember one day she came home with a flea collar on her and found out later that the neighbor across the street put it on her - she was spending so much time over there! But, she still came home at least once a day to eat, meowing at the door to let us know she was there and she needed to be fed! We often saw her strolling around the neighborhood daring anyone to mess with her and stood her ground in the middle of the street even when cars came by. We joked and swore she had a kajillion lives and we'd never be rid of her!

So today, two ladies from our neighborhood knocked at our door and asked if we owned the fluffy gray kitty. After I responded, they both told me with sadness in their voice that they found her and she was dead. She came to rest under some bushes in the neighbor's yard. I went over, called her name to make sure she wasn't just sleeping and reached out and touched her. There she was - cold and stiff. She was definitely gone...

I ran back into the house and into the bathroom where my husband was taking a shower and choked out the words... "Eric - Tina is dead." He immediately opened the shower door and looked at me stunned and said "What?" I then started crying. Which surprised me. There was no love lost between me and Tina but for some reason the thought of not seeing this tough little kitty stand her ground in the street, or coming to the porch and meowing for her food any longer just struck my nerve. She was still ours after all and I was fond of her even if she wasn't friendly to me. I like to think both of us 'agreed to disagree' about the living arrangements in the house when she was shown the door. We then both went on about our lives, respecting the new rules and giving each other ample space without intruding.

So, here's to Tina Weena (as I so fondly called her) - the devilishly, charming kitty who ruled the neighborhood. You will be missed...

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