Feasting

A little breakfast on Christmas Eve morning sans shirt...is there anything more enjoyable? Nope.

Melon Anyone?

The best part of holiday shopping? Lunch.

The Fog Is Lifting

Hello! I've been a little pre-occupied and unable to blog. I fought off this rather unpleasant breast infection (that's all I will share with you about that, don't worry) and needed to rest and get healthy. Then my in-laws came for a visit. And then on Saturday I did the unthinkable--

I traveled 2500 miles by air hauling two carry-ons, one huge infant car seat and one huge infant all by myself. That's right, LAX to ORD just me and The Boy who seriously is half my size. What can I say, I like to suffer! Of course the anxiety of conquering this feat set in minutes after purchasing my plane tickets. 4 hours on a plane with a highly active boy? Am I nutso? Well yes. But I really wanted to come home early and see my family. In today's age of flying it is impossible to do it without all these baby accessories unfortunately. One bag was filled with diapers, toys and food galore just for The Boy. Actually the other bag was filled with these necessities as well. For me? One magazine that I got to read for 30 minutes while he slept. And I did it and now never have to do it again I hope. And if I can do that then I can do all sorts of other things. I may go sign up to take the Bar exam without attending any law school whatsoever, that's how confident I now feel.

This Christmas is so different from last year. To be honest, I don't really remember last year's holiday, it's really odd and somewhat frightening. I was soooo pregnant and uncomfortable with my massive body and freezing apartment that I seem to have blocked a lot out. This, however, is a year I'm pretty sure I will never forget. The Boy's first Christmas! The Boy's first New Year's! The Boy, The Boy, The Boy! It feels good.

Self-

Hello! Becoming a mother has made me two things -- selfless and self-centered. Just writing that statement is an example of these extremes I now exhibit. Interactions with others cannot take place without me talking about my mommy trials, tribulations and triumphs. However, having such little free time to myself makes these interactions rare. Now that I think about it, I should adjust "self-centered" to "boy-centered." When asked what is going on in my life that's just for me, I typically cock my head back and forth like a dog attempting to understand human language. Huh? What? Me without The Boy? I'm not following this communication, woof woof.

Yes, yes, boy-centered is much more appropriate. When the garbage men are outside with their loud banging all I can think is, So help me if they wake The Boy up!!! These are the same men who haul all the dirty diapers away too, I really should cut them some slack. And when the dude next door is too loud while he watches any number of sporting events I begin to seethe with rage. He's going to wake The Boy up again over football!? Come on! I suppose now he'll be smoking a cigarette off his balcony and smoke will make it's way into our home and The Boy's lungs yet again! It's as if these people must cater to my mommy demands or there's hell to pay. God forbid a fire engine barrel down the street to help someone in distress, it might wake up The Boy!

Extreme, I know. Except for that smoking part-- I tire of having our windows closed when it's 70 degrees out in December but the alternative would be like living in a hookah bar with the amount that dude smokes. But enough about the neighbor, let's talk about me for a change. So I can't decide what to get The Boy for Christmas...

Apartment Hiking

The Boy cannot be trusted. It's a good thing really that he's so active, however, it makes frivolous tasks like cooking dinner, washing dishes and vacuuming virtually impossible. Put him down in the middle of an empire of toys, turn your back for half a second and he will already be crawling up the TV stand/pointy cornered desk/garbage can/etc. We've resorted to putting him in a backpack on Mr. Jarcy and it works out very well. (Well with the exception of Mr. Jarcy's aching back.) We also ordered a holding pen for him. It's a very nice and not so cheap but terribly tacky play yard and hopefully it will show up soon! I'd love to start the coffee in the morning without having to worry if he's headed toward the kitty litter while I grind the beans.

Moments Of Bliss

There are moments in your life you know you will cherish forever even when that moment is occurring. Those are so special, aren't they? One of mine is the night before I got married. I don't need a picture to recall that experience, it is perfectly clear in my memory...the clear and starry sky, the calm before the storm (literally and figuratively), the pier stretching out into the ocean...ah, it's like I'm there again and for just a moment in time all is perfect.

I had another perfect night only this time with another boy, as in The Boy. Do you know that famous painting by Gustav Klimt of a woman and child embracing, sleeping side by side? Well, I have always loved that painting. It's hung in my many apartments--a replica that is--long before I had a child. The other night The Boy could not fall asleep and we had our own Klimt moment in time.

He was tired (it's a given I was) and it was close to midnight. His ouchie teething made him extremely alert. After many failed attempts to calm and put him to sleep I laid down with him, stroked his hair (how he has so much already I have no clue) and held his head close to my heart. I massaged his little hands, his muscly arms, his big Buddha belly. I kissed his perfectly smooth forehead and rubbed his little chunky feet. As a result, he sunk right into my side and fell asleep. He even giggled about something which is how he laughed for the first time at just a couple of months old--asleep. It must have been so soothing to go back to hearing my heartbeat again. He spent all those months growing in me and being lulled by my goofy heartbeat from my deformed heart (it beats lub swoosh instead of lub dub). We were just like the Klimt painting (only I had a top on). A moment of bliss, mama and baby. I thanked the heavens above for him even more than normal and felt so profoundly lucky to have such a gift in my life.

Some day he'll be 15 and the words "Mom" and "cuddle" will have nothing to do with each other. That's when I'll have to resort back to cuddling with his father I imagine. And the following night he clubbed me in the eye with a plastic key toy so hard that it's still bruised. We may be closer to 15 than I realize. But no matter what I will forever have our Klimt night to hold onto. Pure bliss.

Bath Time!

"Why this woman bathes me in a giant, inflated duck is beyond me."

Not So Fast

The Boy falls asleep in this bouncy apparatus on a daily basis. It has become the tool we use to lull him to sleep for his morning nap. I have to usually leave the room in order for this to happen. He'll bounce for almost an hour when Mr. Jarcy is in charge. When I'm around it is a different story, he whines to get out after 30 seconds. Once he's asleep we transfer him to his crib and then he's down for an hour or so. Sometimes he wakes up immediately and refuses to sleep. Right now is one of those times. He's not going down without a fight! I like this quality in him, just not when it's tied to sleep. He's just in there doing raspberries with his mouth and all sorts of other funny sounds which at least keeps both of us amused.

Go Directly To Jail

Prisoners get more sleep than me.

This is a thought that keeps running through my mind. No, they don't get the freedoms I enjoy but they do get sleep. They can nap, get continuous hours of rest at night and guilt-free alone time. Lots and lots of alone time. They have structured activity and prepared meals. Nobody gives a crap what they look like. Ah, prison...

Of course this is an extreme thought and I don't really want to go to prison-- unless Johnny Depp is incarcerated in the same cell-- but I do experience twinges of jealousy and irritation to know murderers sleep while I get sporadic and inadequate amounts of rest. Not fair!

A Star Was Born

"These damn paparazzi are relentless."

Piece Of Cake

Babies are full of surprises.

Today we had to go get The Boy's blood drawn for his 9-month check-up. No parent wants to do this. Extract blood from an infant? My god, these days I can't even change his diapers or clothing without him pitching a fit. We've definitely hit this stage where he makes a stink when forced to do something he's not up for. He whines, cries and flails all over the place. We might have an easier time changing the cat, claws and all.

So today was not going to be fun. Mr. Jarcy went in with him while I stayed in the waiting room wishing I had a bottle of Vicodin. Only one parent--the "holder"--was allowed in while they drew his blood.

Well guess what... HE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE A PEEP! Not one sound emitted from that child, not a one. He seemed intrigued by the whole thing actually. What's in my arm, is that a needle? Hmmm, that's interesting. The lab technicians were just as thankful as we were I think.

Then we came home and he played too close to a stack of left over boxes that scared the shit out of him.

Abundance

LA has an abundance of the following--

Frame stores. Walking down Ventura Blvd today I passed a frame store. One block later on the same side of the street I walked by another. Hmmm, that seems very odd to me. I can't tell you where one frame store is in Chicago--a city I lived in for over 10 years--but I can easily direct you to three that are within one mile of my home here in Studio City and I've only been here for 2 months.

Helicopters. I hear them overhead constantly. A local morning show utilizes one which didn't seem that weird to me because Chicago has them to cover the traffic. This copter, however, is used for celebrity sightings. No joke, the helicopter hovered over a court house where Lindsay Lohan was just to get a glimpse of her. Yeah, that's odd too.

Sunny days. The average number of sunny days in Chicago a year? 84. The average number in L.A.? 329. Oddly enough, that's the same number of frame stores and helicopters.

Communist Car Seats

It's time to buy a convertible car seat. It's a seat that comes after the infant car seat. The infant car seat faces the rear as does the convertible until The Boy is a year old. But if he's of a certain size he can face forward. He also could go into a booster car seat if we'd like. But then let's not forget the car seat needs to be able to fly the friendly skies back to Chicago and, god willing, a vacation destination. So then it may not be wise to buy the Volvo-equivalent of convertible car seats because it is too big for the itty bitty plane seats. So that narrows the options down to no less than 432 car seats.

Now listen...

I'm looking for 3 simple choices in car seats. No, better yet, I'm looking for the ONE car seat that my son graduates into now that he's getting too big for this infant seat. I don't care about the color, I just want him safe in vehicles as well as planes. Period. Please, direct me to that one car seat and I can move on in my life. I do not enjoy spending free time researching which car seat suits him best and regardless of the cost I will panic that it won't be protection enough. This woman wants to move beyond reading the "Baby Bargains" and online reviews to something that involves less thought and way more entertainment (at this point a candy wrapper falls under this category).

Thank you.

Quack Quack

I'm convinced the neighbors think I'm torturing my kid. I'm not. He's overtired, cranky and not falling asleep. I've done all I can with my bag of tricks (I mean my boobs) and now he's just gotta cry a bit. And it is the worst thing ever. I never like to let him cry. It hurts worse than if someone amputated my arm. But I'm at home alone and I have to walk away for 5 minutes and collect myself. And, honestly, what makes it worse is that I live in an apartment building as opposed to a single family home where we would have more privacy. I would still feel horrible about letting him cry but I wouldn't worry about the police showing up at my door in a few moments to haul my little baby away from me.

And now two random L.A. sightings--

1. I know where "Duck" lives. He's a character on Mad Men and has been a bunch of other characters on other shows like Desperate Housewives and Castle. Well he lives down the street from the Pilates studio I go to. For some reason I'm very excited about this revelation. I like him.
2. A man was shopping in the grocery store today wearing his pajamas and a terry cloth robe. It was the most ridiculous thing ever. Of course, my first thought was, Can I do this too? If it is an accepted behavior here in L.A. then I will gladly follow suit. Judging the reactions he got from other shoppers though I think I'll have to keep putting day time clothes on. Booooo.

The Boy just went quiet. I'm always convinced it's for no more than 2 minutes so I better go pee and then prepare for my next plan of attack. Beyond glamorama here I know but I'm happy this is my life. He may not like to go to sleep but he's the best thing ever.

This Entry Is Called "Let Me Just..."

Let me just run to the bathroom...

Let me just grab a quick sandwich and then I'll...

Let me just take a shower before I start to...

I'm going to eradicate statements that begin with "Let me just..." I never said "let me just" before becoming someone's mommy. It's my teenage equivalent to overusing the word "like" and just as difficult to stop saying. Unfortunately, it's usually tied to doing things that one should never need permission to do. Let me just run to the bathroom??? What's that all about? 30 seconds ago I said, "Let me just dry my hair and then I'll watch The Boy." Mrs. Jarcy, come on! Dry your hair and do your thing! Mr. Jarcy rarely has to ask me for help. Why? Because I can anticipate his need for me before he even expresses it (or needs it for that matter).

Every time I start a statement with "Let me just..." I'm going to drop down and do 20 push ups.

I Can Do This.

Don't you hate those days when you just can't seem to wake up but have to get up and so you seek refuge in a Pilates class but that one super annoying chatty woman won't stop yapping and you can't hear the instructor and end up hurting your groin by doing the pose incorrectly so you head home even more worked up and in need of rest but the baby takes a nap for only 20 minutes and then is awake for 6 more and then you drop a huge tub of Balmex diaper rash cream on your knee which requires a couple of Advil and ice just so you can hoist your battered body up off the floor and haul around the sleepless baby and then you finally get the baby in bed but he's awoken 30 minutes later by screaming baseball fans that live in the same apartment building as you and then you're again trying to get him to sleep even though he doesn't want to but really does and all you can think is, hot damn I wish I hadn't had the Advil so I could drink a bottle of wine or possibly even gin?

Yeah, me too.

Listen Up You Faceless Other Mommies...

What does it take to get a moms' club to take me in?

You may recall my post months ago about how I unsuccessfully attended a moms' playgroup when The Boy was 3-4 months old. Well I was quite successful in attending, it was the other moms of the neighborhood who never showed. I had to move heaven and earth to get there with a newborn who's aversion to sleep was nothing less than sadistic. And then to be the only one there? I stuck around for a full hour, just me and The Boy, hoping just one other mommy would show up. But she didn't. And lemme tell you, that is not an easy pill to swallow when you are new at parenting and beyond desperate to connect with others like you while residing in miserable, wintery Chicago.

But other mom friends keep encouraging me to join these groups and so I tried again. I've got some friends out here to connect with but every kid's schedule is different and it doesn't hurt to have options. Besides, The Boy needs to expend energy so that he'll be ready to go to bed before 11pm (I start to disintegrate around 10:30pm after a full day of being "on"). I emailed the local moms club that I apparently must join as it is according to which zip code you reside in and guess what? No mommy has replied. It's been a week. I think I'm getting blown off for a second time by the faceless mommy.

This reminds me of my failed attempts at online dating years ago only much more painful.

Coffee Before 8:30AM

Morning!

There is a cafe right around the corner from our apartment which is lovely. I'm here right now drinking coffee, enjoying some solo time and attempting to write (anything creative will do really). It's perfect because every person here is doing something creative. What I don't understand, however, is what they do before 8:30am. This coffee shop doesn't open before then! Here I was trying to get an early start and then had to wait in my backyard by the pool for 10 minutes and then come back. I was afraid if I went back upstairs I'd get sucked in to laundry, the TV, The Boy...

Now, of course, I'm wondering what the hurry was all about considering I've spent at least 30 minutes mindlessly wandering Facebook and god knows what else. :-)

Upright Assisted Mobility

(The video is courtesy of Mrs. Jarcy's phone so she apologizes for it's less than stellar quality. Let's hope she's not kicked out of LA for posting subpar work.)

The Boy is moving like never before! Pretty soon our home will be fully adorned by safety gates, corner pads and electrical socket covers.

The Boy's parents learn the basics as well these days. There's that Tom Petty song, "Learning To Fly," but I think we're just learning to walk and drive again with the hopes of future flights. One of our cars broke down the other day for the second time...and it was just out of gas. The indicator lights are all off so we had no idea. Then today Mr. Jarcy nearly got taken out by a truck as he bolted across the street. It was completely his fault and I thought for sure I was to be a single, widowed parent. Fate stepped in and thankfully I'm not. Who would gas up these damn cars if he were gone? I need him! Either way, you have to hoof it across the streets if you dare walk somewhere. I feel as if these drivers are trying their best to hit me, stroller and all. They show no mercy.

Devil Baby

Happy Halloween, peeps! We were going to dress up and go out with some friends but Mama Jarcy is not feeling so hot. Also, Mr. Jarcy is stuck on the side of an LA freeway with our broken down car for the second time. This day is not turning out to be the best in terms of celebrating but luckily Devil Baby is really cute and keeping us afloat.

We'll try to dress up in our costumes tomorrow and pretend that it's really October 31.

Video Takeover?

Where did my video of Matzoball go? Adam Sandler's bulldog was my video and now it's some screaming metal band? I'm confused.

And now the dog is back. That was weird.

Curls, Curls, Curls

My hair seems to have taken a cue from the rest of my life and made some changes. It used to be pretty straight and now it is pretty curly. It's very odd. It started down this path before I had The Boy and now it has intensified. Wavy, curly combo and I'm at a loss as to what to do with it. I can't just wash it and expect it to style itself (well I can expect it but the hair isn't conforming to this desire). Unfortunately, I got it cut into a short bob as well so I'm looking like Shirley Temple. In my minimal experience, I can tell you that curly hair is not nearly as easy to style as straight. Those "beachy, natural waves" take a ridiculous amount of time to create but after buying all sorts of styling products I'm determined to make a go of it. Wish me luck.

How Many Gourds Can You Fit Into Your Escalade?

I need your help. Someone please find me the answer to the following...

Why are celebs so obsessed with taking their kids to pumpkin patches? I get that it is Halloween season but I do not recall ever being hauled off to a specific pumpkin selling vendor when I was a child. I've seen one of these patches in Sherman Oaks and have wondered if this is the one Christina Aguilera, Tobey Maguire and Jessica Alba tote their little kiddos off to in search of the perfect gourd. I'm not sure why this rubs me the wrong way but it does. Maybe because these are the same people who pay minions to pick up their groceries, dry cleaning and designer duds. So why does the pumpkin get so much face time? These patches are just in the middle of busy LA! It's not like we're taking an outing to the country here. Right behind Ralph's grocery store--where the minions can purchase pumpkins--is the temporary "patch" to buy the pumpkin. And the day after Halloween it will vanish with the LA morning fog.

 A few days after that a Christmas tree patch(?) will show up in it's place and the whole tradition will start over. I won't give them a hard time about the tree though, now that is something a child must take part in. 
:-)

Burnt To A Crisp

Not 2 seconds after I clicked "send" on my last post did The Boy wake up and cry from his teething. He's still up. It's 11:07 PM. And now his parents are toast. Maybe I'll eat some toast to keep my energy up! Ha.

Do You Think Perez Would Change A Diaper?

Hello! Happy Sunday night! It's 9:22pm and The Boy is in bed. I'm not going to hold my breath that he will stay there but it's always nice when this bedtime mumbo jumbo gets started before 10pm and Mommy and Daddy are toast. The last few weeks he's put us through the ringer with bedtime--or lack thereof--so we celebrate these moments.

A high school friend of mine lives out here and has been nice enough to share with me all of the mommy resources. I told her I was thinking about a play group or class for The Boy and I to join and she sent me 4 or 5 links. (I should be making her a casserole or something as a token of my gratitude.) I'm sure I'll check out all the groups she's sent my way, however, I can't help but wonder if Perez Hilton might join us for a play date too. I've been reading his celebrity gossip site since long before he moved to L.A. and in my head we are good friends. Of course, I'm the same person who mistook Dale, a contestant from the reality cooking show "Top Chef" as someone I knew when I saw him on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Oops, I don't know you! I only think I know you because I watched you prepare critiqued meals on TV! It was a bit awkward for us both.

I don't get this way with big stars. Throw Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise in front of my path and I'm sure to pretend I don't care in the least. And in many ways I don't. I don't need them thinking they're any more extraordinary than they already do. Perez Hilton though, hmm, I'd like to sit and chat with him. Or Joel McHale from The Soup. Kathy Griffin would be super fun too. Tom Bergeron the host on Dancing With The Stars and America's Funniest Videos... yes, I must have an affinity for the working class of celebrity comedians. Take out the word "celebrity" and I just described the majority of my friends out here.

Okay, 15 minutes until Mad Men and then I can sleep (please, Boy, please don't alter this plan). Maybe I'll email Perez and see if he's free to meet up later this week. I've got a Pilates class Wednesday and then I'm wide open...

6,877 Square Feet From America's Sweetheart Up For Grabs

A "Home" section comes in our Los Angeles Times paper every Saturday. There are beautiful estates featured which one would expect. What is not expected, however, is the celebrity home for sale feature.

Last week it was the cottage of an actress on "Dexter." The week before it was the renovated home of actor James DeFranco. Today's edition features Meg Ryan's Bel Air estate. It's priced at $14.2 million if any of you are in the market. Even more entertaining about this "Hot Property" section of news (are we calling it news?) is that it will list the home specs along with the celebrity's resume. "Meg Ryan, who will star opposite Timothy Hutton in the December comedy 'Serious Moonlight'," and "Ryan, 47, has been a leading lady in the films such as 'When Harry Met Sally (1989) and 'Sleepless in Seattle (1993)'." Did we really not know who she was?

On a similar note, Dancing With The Stars is usually the top story on the local network's nightly news. Heehee, I love L.A.-- Swine flu is a major epidemic out here, however, you won't get the update on that until after you find out how Kelly Osborne did with her Argentine Tango.

Sun and Surf? Uh, Where Again?

We made an impromptu visit to Santa Monica this morning. We had planned on going to this outdoor recreation area called Lake Balboa but The Boy fell asleep in the car on the way there so we decided to head in another direction to the beach. I've never seen the Pacific ocean and was sooo excited. Here's what I wasn't expecting:

1. Well, above was my first glance. The beach and Santa Monica Pier were covered in a haze, fog or god knows what. It eventually burned off and got sunny but I was still a little thrown.
2. There's a substantially large amount of homeless residing there.
3. The Pier is strewn with restaurants, an arcade, vendors selling tourist trinkets and even a trapeze school. Perhaps the oddest to me was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company establishment that was attracting visitors by the droves. Huh?

Not quite what I expected but then we drove up Pacific Coast Highway and things started to look more like what I had imagined.

Whatever Keeps You Motivated

Dearest Mrs. Jarcy,

I noticed how much you enjoy Pilates. Yeah! Please do it often and I will greatly appreciate it.

Love,

Your Body

Teach English As A Foreign Language Perhaps? Hmm...

Wow, I just noticed how lengthy my last post was. Eesh, that must be breaking some blog rule. I'll try to edit this one...

I've been perusing university websites, the Craigslist job section and random career related sites. I do this every six months or so. I searched constantly when I unhappily worked in social services. I was on a mission to find a more suitable career and spent many hours wandering aimlessly online for an answer. And for awhile I found it! I began to improvise and loved it! I wrote funny stuff and loved it! I performed and got paid and definitely loved it! It was goodness!

But life changes. The paid gig went away. I wrote less. I stopped performing almost entirely. And while I was sad about those things, I also got pregnant with The Most Amazing Boy To Ever Live! I devoted all my time and energy to that endeavor, partly because I was so darn thrilled to be a mommy and partly because being pregnant was not easy. (Why can't us women folk get paid to grow life for god's sake?)

Now I have The Boy. And we live in a new state. A state where my creative endeavors can flourish if I let them. You see, I know what I want to do. I always have. I just keep trying to find a way to make all those dreams come true while coloring within the lines, so to speak. How can I fulfill these creative tendencies while finding stable hours, health insurance and a 401K? I can't. I can check out all sorts of other careers that I'd be good at but I won't like them as much. So I gotta stop running to the computer in search of an answer and just run to the computer and create the answer. It is time.

Comfort Zone

Morning!

You'll notice my site has had a face lift. I've tried to change the design a handful of times over the years but I always go back to the dark hue and dots. Change is hard...even when it comes to switching up your blog's appearance. I'm the same woman who's had Justin Timerblake's "My Love" as her phone's ringtone ever since it came out. I've temporarily changed it but for some reason I can't fully commit to the change.

So I've been trying to switch things up a bit, shaking out of my comfort zone in small ways. I figure I've already done the big changes with having a baby and moving 2500 miles away from my place of origin so a few little ventures from Comfort Land won't kill me. Ha.

1. I'm cooking a lot more. Cooking is a word that often times could be replaced with "assembling Trader Joe's food packages" but it still is categorically cooking. I'm liking it too! Fridays have become pizza night and friends seem to show up whether we've planned for company or not. The Boy is eating tons of solid foods and I'm happy to say most do not come from a jar bought at the store but from the farmer's market and steamed to his liking. It's great, no negative effects from this daring feat.

2. I took a Spin/Yoga class. Spinning is when you sit on a stationary bike and when I say sit I mean you sit on an extremely uncomfortable seat for short amounts of time intermixed with hovering over an extremely uncomfortable seat for long periods of time. It was torture! I knew it would be because a) I had taken a long, steep hike up a neighborhood hill the night before, b) I have a heart condition and c) extreme cardio is not really my thing. But I've always been fearful of a class like that and now I can check it off my list of things I'm afraid to do but will never do. I did it. I still can barely walk but we won't go into that now.

3. Spending money. Ah, this one's a toughie. Mr. Jarcy and I are essentially out of work, however, moving across the street requires you spend a little cash let alone across the country. We've never done a lot of big ticket purchasing and so while the piggy bank will eventually have to be replenished (sooner rather than later I hope), it's been nice to get ourselves set up to our liking. Not always the most exciting purchases--new car battery, printer/scanner and water filters are in no way glamorous-- but essential nonetheless.

I'm sure there are more things I've done to bust out of comfort zone but I'm a blank right now. While I've tried new things, I haven't changed my ring tone from JT just yet. And I like the dots I used to have on the blog, it's very possible they'll return. But for now I like the switch. I feel like I'm becoming a better version of myself these days and making little strides here and there are the name of the game.

Just Breathe

The Boy is 8 1/2 months old now and I am still paranoid that he will stop breathing in his sleep.

For those of you who have had the privilege of meeting The Boy, you know how hearty he is. He's a bruiser. At 3 months of age one doctor referred to him as "that hunk" and he wasn't referring to his looks (although we all know he's the cutest thing to ever exist). So there is no basis for me to worry he will stop breathing while he slumbers. On the contrary, he thrashes around in his crib like it's a wrestling ring. But I worry nonetheless. I'm pretty sure my heart would shatter into a million pieces and never heal if anything were to happen to him.

So no pressure, Kid, but your mother's happiness depends solely on your ability to thrive. Please don't screw this up.

Need An Apartment In Studio City?

There are a number of available apartments in our building.  One of my favorite hobbies is exploring them.  They have "Open House" signs posted on them so I figure I'm allowed to enter at any time I choose.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when someone actually moves into them.  I'm starting to feel attached, as if they're mine.  This one in particular has a fantastic view of the hills and the pool.  There are days I'd like to pack up my belongings and move into it.  Couldn't I use it as an office or something?  

Today In (Un)Sunny L.A.

Usually you can see more of the hills from this view.  Today we're in Cloudsville.  Bring on the mudslides!

Nature

Before we left Chicagoland, we took a walk along a nature path.  The Boy really enjoyed it.  Today's weather in L.A. is nothing like this sunny shot.  It is raining and overcast!  Not what I had in mind when I moved here but lucky for us its still in the 60's and by the weekend will be back up to sun and 80.  Woo hoo!

Sunday

Friends loaned us this jumping vessel and thank god for it.  The Boy loves it.  He jumps and jumps and...jumps.  Twice he has fallen asleep in it.  And thankfully it is as tacky as all the other baby toys that now live throughout our home.  I've learned that the gaudier the baby toy the more entertaining it is to us all.

I Hate Teething

See this cute little boy?  He's gnawing on a frozen washcloth in an attempt to soothe his teething pain.  Sadly, it's not working.  Napping does not happen when teething takes over.  It's really not so fun.

ESP

One thing that I find quite interesting about L.A. is that there is a psychic on just about every corner.  In Chicago it's a Starbuck's.  Here it's a psychic.  I guess when work is so unpredictable and sporadic in the entertainment industry, a psychic is a buoy to grab onto.  I wonder how long until I venture into one of these places?

The Elevator

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we live in an elevator building.  It's the first time I've had an elevator since the dorms in college and I'm not really a fan of them.  I was stuck in one as a child for all of 2 minutes and it was enough to give me a phobia (I'm very impressionable if you haven't noticed).

While riding the 'vator on my own the other day I had a revelation.  If I got stuck in it by myself I could do two things I sorely miss and do not do enough now that I'm a mom...sleep and zone out.  

Wow, wouldn't it be amazing to get stuck in the elevator??!  This is my new thought.  And now each time I'm in there I think up other things I could do in there.  Yoga, push ups, write a novel, sleep some more, listen to silence...the possibilities are endless.  

Aging Greasily

This morning I put 3 different lotions on my body-- one self-tanner in an attempt to conceal bruised legs (The Boy is rough on me I guess), one in an attempt to eradicate stretch marks (The Boy was rough on me during pregnancy) and one with sunscreen (this California sun wants to be rough on me).  Three different lotions slathered on three different regions of my body.  Let's not even go into my face regimen.  I am officially old...

Wouldn't We All Enjoy Bathing In This? I Think So.

Mr. Jarcy and I have gone a little overboard with purchases for The Boy.  Things I never would have considered before having him are now "necessities."  This massively huge inflated duck tub being one of them.  God help me but I love it and I'm hoping he does too.

But What Are You Going To Do Out There?

Folks often ask me what I'm going to do while in Los Angeles.  Mr. Jarcy and I moved here without jobs lined up so I suppose this question is valid.  My response, however, is typically "I don't know."  And I don't!  With so many changes over this past year, it's been nice getting our new home established and then being open to what the future holds.  Here are some things I'd like to do while in L.A.

1. Cook--  I'm pretty darn good at assembling whatever Trader Joe's has to offer (mix this random sauce with this meat and serve over this rice dish followed by dessert) but I'd like to make more myself.  So far I've made pizzas, meatloaf and baby food.  Not bad I'd say!
   
2. Be a mommy-- So many women don't get this opportunity and I feel really lucky that I do.  Yes, I'll need to work at some point but The Boy is dreamy and I hope I don't have to slog through a full day of something that only leaves me missing him.
   
3. Finally read the "InStyle" magazine that I moved across the country-- The thing has Jennifer Garner on the front and is from 6 months ago.
   
4. Relax-- I think moving to the west coast as opposed to the east will help this along.
   
5. Work in a casting office-- While I wouldn't turn down an offer to be in a movie/tv show/commercial, I'm starting to think I'd rather be the one in charge of finding the talent.
   
6. Eat a lot of frozen yogurt--Menchie's fro yo is down the street and to die for.
   
7. Swim in my unheated pool-- Yes, I will be cold but it's a pool and calls out to me.
   
8. Troll garage sales-- Never did this before but this past weekend I scored two big toys and a ton of gates for The Boy. 
9. Encourage all friends and family to visit-- You know who you are, come on out here!
10. It's a mystery...
    

L.A. Times

So we get the newspaper every day.  We have for years.  In Chicago we got the Tribune delivered daily and we had to go outside to retrieve it.  We lived in two and three flat buildings so it's not like the delivery service could get it any closer than the foot of our stairs or over the fence.

Now we live in an elevator building with around 25 apartments.  We ordered the L.A. Times newspaper to show up daily.  We figured the newspaper would be all the way down at the front door to the building like I used to see at bigger places in Chicago.

Well not the case--the paper shows up at our front door inside the building.  It's like a hotel!  It saves us from a) getting the paper stolen by someone else, and b) trekking down 3 floors, and c) getting dressed.  We love it.  

A Tisket A Tasket

The Boy has a new game and it's really quite funny.  (Well, come on, what does he do that's not entertaining?  Heehee)  We sit him down in the Bumbo chair next to a basket of toys and, before you know it, he has emptied every toy out onto his lap.  Every single toy gets face time from the frog who sings the alphabet song to a pink stuffed elephant you'd never imagine he'd find interesting.  It's adorable.

Emmy's Central

For the first week of living here I didn't really feel like I was 2500 miles away from Chicago.  We have lots of friends here and I hadn't watched any local TV.  

Last night, however, I was watching the nightly news and found that the only story getting coverage was the Emmy's.  Wow, I thought, maybe a slow news night?  No, not at all.  This weekend was one of the deadliest in the area with police killing 3 individuals in 3 separate incidents.  And let's not forget the wildfires are still burning.  One news program was kind enough to run a news ticker on the bottom of the screen with the actual stories while they parked field reporters outside the Emmy's after parties.  Who knew Jon Cryer was that newsworthy?  

This morning was much of the same...lots and lots of talk about this year's fashion hits and misses.  I've always been a junkie for this sort of "news," but I guess only in moderation.   

Sunday Morning And Settling In

Tidbits I've learned so far about living in L.A.--

1. Everyone complains about the traffic, however, it doesn't seem any more extreme to me than Chicago.
   
2. That said, drivers are quite aggressive.  They like to use the horn an awful lot.  I walked across a busy intersection in my neighborhood and saw my life flash before my eyes.  Walking is not the preferred mode of transportation I guess.  
   
3. People seem happier.  Petco cashiers in Chicago would never be as friendly as here.  All the sunshine and driving must elevate one's mood.   

I think I'm gonna like it here.  

It's Friday!

Friday's To Do List:

1. Errands
   
2. More unpacking
   
3. First dip in pool

New Beginnings

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOY:  Hello!  I have a new place in Cali!  Things have been crazy busy but The Parents are slowly getting our new home in order.  And my pet, Creepy the Cat, showed up yesterday after a flight on Pet Airways!  Cool, huh?  Well, I gotta go get into mischief now--sitting still is not my forte.  Getting into everything is my specialty.  The parents are looking into buying me a big holding pen, heehee.  They're so silly.  Okay toodles!

7th Inning Stretch

I can't get enough of this picture.  I'd buy a billboard space and post it for the world to see if I could.  

Today this beautiful boy is 7 months old.  I cannot believe it.  In no time he'll be applying to college.  It really does feel that way.  

He's been sleeping a lot today.  Getting older is taking it's toll I guess!  

Stroller Days

A walk in a friend's stroller with The Boy's new friend, Blanket.  It's the first time he's taken a stroll in a front facing stroller as opposed to his car seat/stroller combo that positions him more on his back.  He really enjoyed it and so did I.  Our time in Chicago is drawing to a close and I'm trying to make the most of every moment.  The evening walk with the wind blowing and sun setting was perfect.  The Boy took a little snooze while I kept stopping every few blocks to admire him.  

The Boy Is Crawling!

We have left our apartment and have been homeless for the past week.  I shouldn't say homeless, that's not entirely accurate.  We've been staying with friends.  We also have an apartment in Studio City, CA waiting for us.  Most homeless folks probably have neither.

Anyway, we've been doing a ton with moving and wrapping up life in Chicago.  We're all worn out from it.  Today Mr. Jarcy came home from an audition with a smallish white bag and box.  I thought it might be a present for his exhausted wife.  Unfortunately, it was the cremains of our beloved pet who was put down a few weeks ago.  Oh god.  

Things are still crazy in our lives but it's nice to be able to put a few chaos producing issues behind us.  Right now Mr. Jarcy is doing his best Regin Philbin impression for The Boy and I know that we're on the right path.  

Moving To Limbo Land

Hello!

Tomorrow the Jarcy's are moving.  We are moving to...well, it's complicated.  We've worked out with our (drunken) landlords to break our lease a month early.  We've also decided to leave 3 weeks early and to be homeless during that time so that we can leave the (drunken) landlords.  Seriously, if you have (drunken) landlords, just make sure to put all communication in writing AND do NOT live in the same building.  You have been warned.  

We're going to live with some friends and parents over the next month.   

I've heard crashing and banging upstairs all night.  We're the ones frantically packing the night away and yet those two ladies upstairs are the ones making all the racket.  I can only assume they are celebrating our departure with some cocktails.  

Ta ta Roscoe Village!  We have loved you immensely but are ready to move on.  It's all very sad but also exciting. 

Sweet Relief

Ah, so we're moving.  We were going to move out of our apartment the end of this month, however, I'm no longer willing to live in this crazy building.  Just done.  No.  No more.  Dunzo.  Bye bye.

Oh yeah, and I have no hot water and would love a shower.  

So there you have it.  I don't even have ill will at this point, I just want a new environment and am willing to pay a bundle to find immediate relief.  Besides, I gotta take care of The Boy!  He's too adorable and lovable to live here.  

I feel good and it's about time.  It's like being released from prison.  (Or as close as I hope to ever get to knowing what that might be like).  

If you need any of the Jarcys, we'll be staying at a hotel somewhere in Chicago!  

We're Gonna Make It

New day, new day, new day!

The maintenance man was already here this morning to fix the water heater.  I'm convinced it's already turned itself off again but we'll see in an hour.

Whether I get to take a hot shower or not, life is short and I'm not going to let these cookoos take me to Crazy Town with them.  I have too much to be thankful for...like The Boy!  

Okay, Let Me Get This Straight

MONDAY

Put beloved cat to sleep.  Cry.  One hour later sign a lease and send money on an apartment 2500 miles away that you've never seen in a state you've never been.  Laugh.  Comfort teething infant.

TUESDAY

Find all belongings damaged at storage facility.  Laugh.  Question construction workers and on site staff but receive no information as to how this happened.  Cry.  Comfort teething infant.

WEDNESDAY

Overhear drunken landladies upstairs arguing about how drunk they are at 6:30 am. Laugh.  Return to storage unit and bring home 4 boxes of damp clothes to be washed and re-boxed.   Cry.  Comfort teething infant.

THURSDAY

Find there is no hot water available in current apartment.  Call landladies who live upstairs and discover that a) they are already drunk for the day, b) they want you to know they blame you for no hot water, c) they hate you and want you to leave, d) they feel bad for your infant son, e) you should get ready for court.  Cry, cry, cry.  Five minutes later, see drunk landladies outside your door who coo at your son and assure you that hot water is essential and they're working on it.  Take cold shower.  Make infant son laugh.  Laugh.  Get call from storage facility who is now blaming construction company and assures you they want to make things right.  Eat cupcakes.  Comfort teething infant.  

FRIDAY

Laugh.  Cry.  Comfort teething infant.  

At Capacity

As I posted last, we had to put our cat to sleep on Monday.  It was tough, I've never had to make a decision for a pet to die like that.  An hour later we had to sign a new lease on an apartment in L.A.  

Yesterday I met with a moving specialist who suggested I get over to my storage unit and assess how much stuff we have to send out west.  Good idea, I thought.  This was the storage unit we had to purchase to house some of our belongings because we lost the free storage we enjoyed when we had to vacate our water-logged apartment last October.  We've been piling up stuff in there as we've prepared for the move too.  I was feeling quite organized which is a good feeling to have.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  

We arrived at the unit yesterday only to discover that all of our belongings had been damaged from water and wet cement.  Initially, the storage facility wouldn't tell us when this happened or what had actually happened.  In fact, they went so far as to suggest it was our fault with paying them to store things that were valuable.  We finally found out that they had done some fireproofing and failed to notify anyone of this.  The lease we signed with them said we weren't covered for things like mold, mildew, natural disasters...basically everything.  HOWEVER, why did they have to purposely ruin my stuff?  They didn't even notify us or give us the option to move our belongings.  I could have covered my stuff in the alley with a tarp and it would have been better protected.  A lot cheaper too.   

You're not supposed to put valuables in a storage unit?  WTF?  

An antique Faberge egg I understand but we were housing clothes, my wedding attire, our queen sized bed that doesn't fit in our apartment, tons of books, pictures, pillows, blankets, etc.  And now they are all damp and coated in cement film.  They've been this way for 3 weeks apparently.  

I love how we got this unit to protect our belongings from water damage only to be damaged by water.  I'm really trying to figure out why all these hardships have been challenging us lately.  And I am just about at capacity.  A little more and I may have to take a mental vacation.  

Fatty Catty

We had to put our cat down to sleep today.  "Fatty" aka Lunes was old, ill and not in good condition.  I've never had to put a pet down, my parents always handled stuff like that.  But now I'm a parent and I have to do these adult activities I guess.  Of course I called my mommy throughout the day for support.

Goodbye, Fatty, we love you!  

Chompers

The Boy is teething.  There is a little bottom tooth popping up and out of that gum line and it is wreaking havoc on our lives.  That tooth is my new nemesis.  

I don't want to say that because little boys need their little teeth but it just bites (double meaning there) when you just get out of the colicky newborn phase, have a brief stay in sleepy town and then plow head first into teething.  

My mother gave us this adorable little silver rattle that was mine.  She said I loved teething on it and thought The Boy might enjoy it as well.  He did.  He enjoyed it so much that he made his gums bleed like crazy from ramming into his little mouth.  We put him in his crib with it for all of 2 minutes unattended and returned with him oozing bloody drool all over the mattress and himself.  Lemme tell ya, you haven't lived until you see your babies blood.  Talk about a heart stopper!  

Okay, he seems to be asleep for 30 seconds so I gotta make the most of this time and attempt sleep myself.  (Yes, we're still living that way.  He's asleep?  Quick!  Get down! Get down before he wakes up and sleep yourself!)  

Loud Fan Magic

The Boy took a solid 2.5 hour nap in his crib.  Not just the travel crib in our bedroom but the actual crib in his nursery.  !!!!!  

The only downside to this is that it was until 6:45pm.  

Needless to say, he's been up tonight late.  He slept in the crib again from 9-9:45pm but I'm pretty sure he thought that was just a nap.  Mr. Jarcy just lulled him back to sleep again with our stovetop fan and we're hoping he's down for the count now.  

I don't know what we're gonna do when we have to leave this jet engine like fan behind.  Have a screaming baby?  Well then put him in front of a loud fan and watch him settle!  We'll have to disassemble it with the attached microwave and take it with us I guess.  I have yet to find a fan that trumps it in loudness.  You need it to be loud.  

Change Is Now

Hello!  

Well, it has been an exciting few weeks.  It's also been a stressful few weeks.  Mr. Jarcy, Boy Jarcy and Mrs. Jarcy are relocating to L.A. the beginning of September.  We had been planning this move for months but after yet another ridiculously unhealthy exchange with our alcoholic landladies (they live in the building) we decided to speed things up.  [Note to self:  do NOT inquire about frivolous things like heat (specifically lack there of), water damage or air quality with new landlords.  Also note to self:  Do your best to weed out alcoholic landlords who live in the building.]

In the course of one day, we arranged to move 2500 miles away to an apartment we've never seen, learned one of our pets needs to be put down in the next month and cleaned up massive amounts of rice cereal The Boy puked up.  So yeah, it's been interesting.  

That said, we're hopeful.  Life will get more settled, life will get more settled...  

4 Years Going on 60

Mr. and Mrs. Jarcy have been married for 4 years today!  Sadly, neither one of them even remembered this momentous occasion until a few days ago.  The celebration will have to wait until later in the week when they can secure a babysitter for a few hours (day hours of course).  

The Boy gave his parents a present though.  It was a present more precious that gold--it was sleep.  Thank you, Boy, we love you too.  

He's Up

Oh hello.  So, I called a postpartum depression hotline tonight while scarfing down dinner.  What did you do? 

Oh brother. 

I wouldn't say I'm clinically depressed--in fact, I know I'm not-- but it helped to call a total stranger who's a licensed therapist that I don't have to pay.  And I don't know how one gets through these first months without some blue periods.  So it was helpful, I got to vent and get support, however, there was a moment during our conversation that's sticking with me.  About 3 minutes into our talk I heard a little kid's voice and she had to cut me off, call out to her husband and get the child tended to by him.  I knew from that moment she REALLY knew what I was going through.  I also knew that moment that this struggle for time to yourself is never ending.  

And now I hear The Boy has woken up yet again.  Our bedtime ritual takes hours.  HOURS.  He just doesn't want to miss a moment I guess.  

Pooped

I am exhausted.  I'm not sure if you're aware of this but having a baby is utterly draining.  It's also magical, wonderful, meaningful, blah blah blah.  A common theme to mommyhood, however, is the exhaustion.  

I also have a new theory--you can follow all the advice the "experts" dole out in their best-selling books, however, no change will ever truly take place until you've hit that exhaustion wall.  For example--

1.  I had heard about co-sleeping--sleeping with your baby--but didn't think this was something I'd ever do.  In my experience, babies slept in cribs.  But it wasn't until Baby refused to sleep anywhere else but on me that I caved and began the new sleeping arrangement.  We were both exhausted and this was the solution.

2.  Then we both started to outgrow the co-sleeping arrangement.  Baby flailed around wildly and nursed all night so neither one of us was sleeping.  Then he clobbered my eye so bad that I had those 3 lovely trips to the eye Dr.  We were both exhausted, I was severely wounded and the solution was back to separate sleeping vessels. 

3.  I've never given The Boy formula.  He has thrived (and I mean thrived because he's bigger than 95% of all other babies his age) solely on breast milk.  And I've taken joy in this.  It's like a success amongst constant failure in this new job.  To each his own, I don't care what you feed your child, however, once I put in all that agonizing work to use my boobs to feed him, I was hooked and not willing to give formula.  But now that "exhaustion" word is popping up again and I think soon he will have his first helping of formula.  It won't replace the nursing but it will allow me 2 hours out for a pilates class while he is taken care of by his father.  We're both exhausted, my sanity is teetering so a little fake boob juice can hopefully be the solution.   

Dear god, I hope there is another mommy out there reading this.  If it's just my friends who are living the good life on an 8 month cruise in Hawaii then this post will be terribly boring.  My apologies, I'll blame it on exhaustion.  

More Unpredictable Than The Chicago Weather

The Boy is asleep.  ??!?!!!  HE IS ASLEEP!

Now I know you must be saying to yourself, "Well, Mrs. Jarcy, it IS past 11pm so OF COURSE your baby is asleep."  

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Yeah, it doesn't work that way with him* (*= I can only vouch for my own child).  

Earlier today he screamed his lungs out for 10 minutes because he was overtired and nothing would lull him to sleep.   Then later on I let him nurse/sleep off me for close to 2 hours because I thought I might die of exhaustion.  Now I know you must be saying to yourself, "Well, Mrs. Jarcy, surely there are other ways to make your baby sleep."  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Yeah, it doesn't work that way with him. *.  And I don't know about you, but one must be really, really desperate for rest if they sign up for this activity.  It's not like he ate that whole time, that was just the way I could keep him mildly sedated/half asleep so I could be mildly sedated/half asleep.  And you are definitely tired if you can sleep through my little alligator nursing off you the entire time.    

Tonight he's been up for close to 3 hours (babies his age should be awake for 2 hours and that's about it) so I thought FOR SURE we'd have Meltdown City like earlier (well and last night if you want to count more than one day).  

But no!  He is asleep.  

He just flopped around in his pack and play for a little bit and then PUT HIMSELF TO SLEEP.  No cries, no carrying on, no marathon nursing session.  And for those of you who are saying to yourself, "Well, Mrs. Jarcy, I put myself to sleep all the time.  I don't see why you're making such a big deal about this."  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Yeah, it doesn't work that way with him*.  Let me tell you, my friend, getting my baby to sleep--especially when said baby is toasty tired--is like lulling a wired up heroin addict to sleep while they experience heavy withdrawal.  Actually, it's way tougher because you're not expected to breastfeed the heroin addict. 

I better shut my own wired up brain down now.  If I don't start getting myself some more rest soon I will be looking for something with more of an edge than caffeine.  Like heroin.    

  

It's A Mindf*%#.

Yesterday was one of the most amazing days ever.  EVER means in the last 5 months.  

The Boy took 2 solid naps nowhere near me.  He was in his crib.  And he made it so easy--he just settled into the bed and nodded off to dreamland on his own.  

I needed sleep but also needed to complete essential tasks like paint my toenails and drink coffee.

This morning I tried the same strategy and felt confident it would work.  It did not.  Now he's wide awake and I am deflated.  

Um, when does this sleep schedule work itself out again?  I'm thinking when he's in college and I no longer have to sleep in the same house as him for most of the year.    

Baby's First Swing Ride

The Boy is 5 months and now he's swinging at the local park.  I sent this to Mr. Jarcy's phone and at first he thought he was running.  I guess it does look like he's charging at you, huh?  He thoroughly enjoyed it and lasted about 45 minutes in this position and happy as a clam.  

Mom Cut

I cannot believe how much time I spend with The Boy strapped to the front of my body in some fashion.  He used to just be snuggled up facing my chest but now that he's bigger (17 lbs of hunky boy) he gets to face out and soak in the world around us.  

As a result, I'm getting in the best shape of my life.  It used to take a bad break-up and cessation of eating to lose weight.  I'm glad those days are over.  

I also cut my hair.  I call it my "mom cut."  All that means is that it's shorter so The Boy can't pull it out so easily.  I'm sure I've had this cut no less than 3 other times in life and I wasn't a mom then.  Nope, instead I was enduring those slimming break-ups.  

Progress

Things that must be easier than putting a baby down for bedtime:

• Landing a 747 jet
  
• Curing world hunger
  
• Mining another dozen Hope diamonds

That said, we've had a glorious day here in blazing hot Phoenix East (also known as Chicago).  The Boy took 2 naps by himself in his little pack and play crib.  That's 2!  I couldn't be more proud.  He just gets dreamier by the minute.  :0)  

Pink Eye Baby

Yesterday I got a massage.  It was divine.  After that and an energy healing session (yep, I'm totally into that stuff), I floated back out into the world, bought a small coffee and headed home.  I felt like a million bucks.  I was away from The Boy for 3 1/2 hours--the longest I've ever been away from him, ever.  I'm still learning of the benefits a new mommy can get when she takes breaks here and there from being new mommy.  We all need to recharge after all.

It's a good thing I had such a rejuvenating morning.

By the afternoon, The Boy's eye started getting all goopy.  And then red.  And then puffy and goopier.  By evening we headed to the Dr.'s office.  He has an eye infection.  We had to give him antibiotic drops every hour for 4 hours and then every 4 hours.  Needless to say, the night was quite the exciting time.  But he's looking much much better as a result and now his mommy and daddy can breathe again.  It's been terribly stressful to us and yet he's happy as a clam!  Thank god.  

For Jeff Griggs

I imagine The Boy will be looking quite similar when he is The Old Man.

This Blog Is Now Just About THE BOY

I'm getting nervous...

The Boy is huge.  HUGE!  He's 4 1/2 months old and easily nearing 20 lbs.  I could live in oblivion over this ("Aren't all babies this size?" I'd think), however, even people who don't have kids have been commenting on it.  Yesterday I took a walk with my dad and two gay men commented on how big he was.  I may be making an assumption here but I'm thinking they don't have children to compare him to.  And then more frightening is when my friends who do have kids comment on how big he is.  

I better have arms like Angela Bassett as Tina Turner by the year's end.  

Night Moves

The good news is that The Boy has begun to sleep longer stretches at night.  Hooray!  The bad news is that he is still a night owl at heart and, therefore, does not go to bed until around midnight.  We've read all kinds of books on infant sleep and they all say something different.  

At some point you just have to put the darn books down and wing it.  And realize that this baby is the most perfect baby for your family.  How perfectly matched are we that a night owl baby was born to two night owls?  Either that or we've created this night owl behavior!  Well either way, we're trying to figure out what works for us and some nights are more of a struggle than others.  

Right now the three of us are enjoying "Baby Einstein" and it's midnight.  We have a new version of night moves these days.  :+)  

Boxer Baby

See the cute little boy posted all over this blog?  Yes, well tread lightly!  That same boy clocked me one in the eye while nursing one morning and, wow, did it hurt.  Unfortunately, I did not notice until around noon that he REALLY clobbered me.  Mr. Jarcy insisted I go to the eye dr. and for good reason.

HE SCRATCHED AND BRUISED MY EYEBALL!  

Oh man, it just got worse over the day.  It's been a bloody mess since Friday.  Today I had to go to a follow-up visit and the Dr. said it's still pretty bad.  So I have ANOTHER follow-up visit scheduled for Thursday!  

SO WORD OF ADVICE TO NEW MOMS--WATCH THOSE LITTLE FISTS UNTIL BABY IS ABLE TO GAIN CONTROL!  I'm going to wear nursing goggles from now on.

On a positive note, the bruisin' was enough straw that broke the co-sleeping camel's back.  I am not into sleeping with a flailing infant if I can help it because I like my eyes and teeth way too much.  So fortunately Baby Jarcy has been doing really, really well sleeping solo all swaddled up again (think baby straight jacket) and laying in his pack and play crib.  (Knock on wood).  

Evening Festivities

The Boy and his father are in the above photo.  One is a night owl and one is a reformed night owl now that he's a parent and exhausted from his days.  Can you see the night owl's little peepers peering out from the blanket?  This was at 11pm and he was happy and ready for action.  As a last ditch effort we decided to drive up and down Lake Shore Drive for almost an hour in an attempt to lull the boy to sleep.  And it worked!!!  It worked so well that he slept for 4 hours after the ride still buckled into his car seat and placed next to our bed.  5 hours!  5 hours!  Mr. Jarcy and I slept for almost 4 hours continuously!  If we have to do that more often we may have to purchase a hybrid vehicle just to cut down on our carbon footprint.  

Now tonight I am completely perplexed--The Boy has been sleeping in his pack and play for almost an hour and a half.  I am not in there with them.  Instead I am out in the living room wondering what the heck I should do with myself while he sleeps.  So far I have done several things--tried on old clothes, organized my closet, stretched on the floor, etc--but of course all I can think about is my little friend.  I miss him!  Ridiculous.  I've been dying for some free time and now I'm lost without him.  

Up

See this joker?  He's a cutie, isn't he?  Yep, he is.  

Well it's 10:34pm and he's wide awake.  Almost 4 months old and wide, wide awake at night.  The books and his Dr. assure me that he should be asleep right now.  It's as if I'm doing something wrong because he's not.  That's how I feel anyway.  Well guess what?  We've tried to get him to bed at 7pm when he presents early tired signs.  And almost 4 hours later here we are with him cooing and chatting and smiling and playing.  

So enough, we've given up here.  He's not overtired like the "experts" tell me--he's simply a night owl like his mom and dad and is not tired.  

i can't stop

advanced

the boy rolled from his belly to his back today!  he's proud as are we. he's gonna be a pro athlete, a mother knows these things.  

Free Fleeting Moments

My little friend is conked out and he's not being held.  (Well he is in the picture below but that's just from the archives :-)).  This leaves me with free moments.  Hooray!  What should I do first?  Bathroom break?  Breakfast?  Pay bills?  Ah, I better just sit next to him and make sure he's breathing... and now he's up.  Moment is over-- those were some precious 4 minutes.

Baby Wearing

Don't even think about putting "The Boy" down...he will have none of it!  

So you just go with the flow!  

He's dreamypants.