10 Months (in List Form)

Somehow ten months have passed since August came into our lives, and the old cliche is true: the days are long, but the months are short.  It's kind of hard for me to remember what life was like before JP and I were parents; surely we had conversations that didn't involve poop, nap length, and babysitters, but I can't imagine they were interesting.

August's loves: hanging light fixtures and ceiling fans, baths (most of the time), pulling himself to stand against anything (walls, toilets, other moms in story time), books (!!), crawling really fast and everywhere, playgrounds, pretty much any food.

August's dislikes: naps, diaper and outfit changes, staying still.

Eating: breastfeeding is still going strong, though down to 3-4 'meals' a day.  Enjoys most of his meals, and he will try any food put in front of him.  Favorite snack by far is yogurt, and he likes getting a whole plum in his hand and just munching half of it.

Sleeping: naps are still a disaster and August and I both cried him to sleep for his afternoon nap a few days ago.  The upside is that the nighttime sleep has evened out and I feel confident calling him a good night sleeper.  He generally sleeps 8-6:30!

I wish I could fully convey how incredible it is to watch him develop into his own person: the cute way he squints his eyes while eating something tasty, his amazement when he looks up and sees a fan at his music class, his smile when JP or I walk into his room in the morning.  He's only my baby for two more months- time flies!

The Little Man's Latest Photoshoot

 A few weeks ago, the talented and patient Olga Diego visited our house to take some 9-month lifestyle photos of August.  I have to say, I think this is my favorite set of photos yet (as I've said at every photoshoot she's done for us)!  Is there anything sweeter than that little man reading to his panda?  He looks like a little doll!

 Olga is so great to work with, and I love her for focusing on the light and subject, rather than the perfect pose or outfit.  These are the small things I want to remember about August: how he loves to turn the pages of his board books by himself, his utter delight when he's next to Mia, these first hard-earned baby teeth.

There are some more cute photos over at her blog, and I can't recommend her enough if you're looking for an Atlanta photographer.  She's so lovely to work with!

The Luminaries

via

I wish I could sugarcoat this to make myself sound faster or smarter, but it's impossible: this book took me over two months to finish.  Granted, Eleanor Catton's novel is over 800 pages and there is a small child taking up a lot of my time, but that seems like a really long time to get through a novel.  

It should give you a taste of how much/little I enjoyed it. 

The short story is that The Luminaries is about Walter Moody, an Englishman who has sailed to New Zealand in the 1860s to partake in their gold rush.  On the night he arrives, he stumbles upon a gathering in the lobby of a hotel; twelve men are discussing their involvement in the disappearance of a young entrepreneur, the overdose of a prostitute, and the sudden discovery of a rather large fortune at the house of a dead alcoholic.  This sounds like an interesting read right off the bat. 

And I really wanted to enjoy this tome.  It's the most recent Man Booker Prize recipient, the author is a young woman (always exciting to see the award go to the unexpected!), and I truly think it is a well-written story.  It just wasn't interesting to me.  It took a few chapters to get into the language Catton uses, as it is (evidently) a parody of a 19th-century novel and the characters speak as such.  Even taking that into consideration, something about the convoluted story arc and main characters didn't do it for me.  

Does that happen to you?  I'm not sure if it was overrated or just not suited for me.  

The Overprotected Kid

I so enjoyed this article from The Atlantic.  Although I by no means was a crazy adventurous child growing up, my Sunday afternoons were often spent running around my grandparents' ranch with my cousins, unsupervised; both of my parents worked, so my sister and I were left to our own devices during the summer.  Those days were spent cultivating imagination (there was always a game of runaway princesses or long-lost sisters reunited going on), building forts in the yard, coming up with swim routines- and, yes, occasionally getting a skinned knee or lots of mosquito bites.  Looking back at it, I knew that my parents trusted me to take care and make good choices, even if they weren't standing two feet behind me.  What a wonderful gift to give a kid.
Although August is only 9 months old, I'm trying to not be helicopter parent.  I trust that he'll let me know if he needs something, but exploration is so important to his development, mobility, and curiosity right now.  My goal is to have a child who isn't afraid to take risks, who can entertain himself outside of the house, and feels comfortable without a set schedule and activities.  I have a feeling I'll be coming back to Rosin's points several times in the future!

Prosciutto and Pea Pizza

On Sunday night, JP made this amazing pizza from Shutterbean...with a few modifications.  He used prosciutto instead of bacon, used only 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese recommended in the recipe, and no cheddar.  It was so tasty!  The salty prosciutto and sweet peas go perfectly together; it was a great meal.
And, to top things off, the pizza is great with fried eggs the day after.  Just sayin'.

  

World's Toughest Job

Have y'all seen this video for the world's toughest job?
'If you have a life, we're going to ask you to give that up.'
'Oh, there's no time to sleep.'
Be nice to your mama!

He crawls!

August is 9.5 months old now, so we figured the whole crawling thing would happen soon.  Starting about 6 weeks ago, he would wake up in the middle of the night, rocking back and forth on his hands and knees in the crib.  Then, during the day, he would tentatively reach a hand out for a toy just out of reach...and settle back down onto his butt.  We had a lot of almosts that told us he was getting so, so close to becoming mobile.
One day, at play group, August took a couple of quick steps forward with his knees to get to a blanket; it was so close, though, it looked more like a fall that took a while and he caught himself before his face hit the ground.  Could that possibly make any sense?  Anyway, the next day, it happened.  The little man could crawl around the living room for a minute at a time, then a few minutes, and now it's as though this is his job.  He is getting so quick and confident!  He's been crawling steadily for about 3ish weeks now, and I cannot believe how quickly he seems to have mastered movement.  We're so proud!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Oh my goodness, do you like peanut butter, chocolate, and ice cream?  You've got to try this homemade dessert from Take a Megabite.  It does require an ice cream maker; if you don't have one, come on over and borrow mine.  There is such an intense, dark chocolate flavor from the malted milk powder, and I love the idea of soaking breakfast cereal in the milk before using it to make ice cream.  Totally genius!

Well, hey there!

I know it's been a while- almost two months since my last post.  There are a lot of reasons for that: August has become mobile and thus more hands-on, the grind of updating this is daunting at the end of a very long day, my little sister had a wonderful wedding (!!!), I got a nasty cold, blah blah blah.  The nice thing, though, is that I've had a (very) few people asking when I would start up again, meaning some people read these musings after all!  It warms my little southern heart.
So here we are, on the verge of springtime, and it seems like there is so much new to discuss.  Like, suddenly my little man is able to crawl, pull himself to standing with the help of our furniture, and babbling like it's his job.  And my best friend has become a wife, and I have added a brother-in-law to my list of people whose birthdays I should remember.  And my hair is blonde and there are thick, black glasses atop my nose.  And the stack of books on my bedside table is finally whittling down, so I have literary-ish things to say again.
August posts will be longer, and mama-centric posts will be more frequent.  Recipe posts will be markedly shorter.  I think we'll make it work.