Biting Baby

The above picture was taken during our family trip to the Stone Zoo. Oh my, and how true the sign in the picture is: both baby black bears and my baby boy bite (say that 5x fast). It's been months now that Griffin has been leaving his teeth marks on my nipples (did I share too much information?), and as of late, he as been leaving little love marks my poor left shoulder. On occasion he even brakes skin. It freaking hurts like a b#(*@! So my issue is (other than the fact that Griffin now has 8 sharp teeth) that he does it sporadically, so it never becomes a big enough deal that I want to quit breastfeeding and put my boobs away forever, but it happens just enough to be super annoying, especially because I can't fix it!

My instinctual response to the biting has been to consistently say "No, don't bite" in a firm tone and to immediately stop nursing. In recent days my scolding has become a louder, more frustrated yell. I try to be as pissed as I can to prove a point, but man it's tough not to feel bad as soon as I even slightly raise my voice at my precious 'sack of potatoes'. Last week when Griff again tested my patience, I vigorously stormed up the stairs with him in my arms and plopped him in his crib for a few minutes alone in the dark.

Bleh, it makes me feel like such an inadequate parent that I can't get him to stop it. If anything, I think he thinks the biting is somehow amusing, like a game. And I know he's only 10.5 months and barely at an age where he can understand the word "no", but my inability to change Griff's behavior feels pathetic, and it causes me (well 10% of me) to needlessly worry about what kinds of tricks Future Griffin will have up his sleeve... What if he never learns to listen to me and he becomes that annoying kid who can throw a tantrum to get whatever he wants... oh no! Maybe I should bite back? :)

Daycare Breakthrough

It's taken almost 4 weeks, but Griffin is finally adjusted to his daycare routine. Yesterday was the first day that he didn't cling on to me like a monkey and tightly wrap his legs around my waist the moment we crossed the threshold into the infant classroom. His tears and crying were replaced with giddy excitement as he realized he was in a fun place full of toys and other babies. I set him down in the pit, and immediately he grabbed two "bauuhhhhlls", and then crawled over to the baby girl to pat her on the head. I was able to put his sheets and lunch away, and I made it to my farewell "bye bye" before he got upset. Miss Rachel immediately swooped up Griffin (and his Lovie) into her arms and distracted him, which allowed me to escape. I walked (felt more like I was proudly strutting) out of his school with a huge smile on my face, as it was the first day I dropped Griffin off without that sad/guilty-I'm-abandoning-my-child feeling. Good stuff.

Thanksgiving!

"to post"

Another back-fill entry.  Tom Posted this on Jan 23.  We love you Griff!

We spent Griffin's first thanksgiving at Vicki's dad's house with Alex, Annie, and Victor.  We used a bernz-O-matic to torch the creme brulee.    Annie did most of the cooking, and it was funny to watch her and Alex.  Friday we took a walk with friends and went to Vicki's 10 year high school reunion.    

Mile 26: A Taste of Formula

Being a Mom is completely worth it despite the daily frustrations and sleepless nights. Most days are full of giggles and fun, but holy crap, last night completely sucked and today I reached a point where I felt defeated. Here's my blog vent for the day: The past few weeks have been tougher than usual in that Griffin's sleep and eating habits have all changed and I can't seem to get back the consistency I once had. I've lost count of the tough moments where I feel stumped and just don't know what to try next.

These days Griff turns his head in disgust when I try to spoon feed him the same pear and peas puree that he enthusiastically scarfed down the day before. He's become 20% picky about what he eats, a change that is hard for me to swallow (pun intended). It seems like every-other-night, he screams bloody murder when I put him to bed, and I can't even remember the last time he (and I) truly slept through the night. I'm tired. Every time something isn't perfect, I go through all of the reasoning and thoughts in my head: maybe he's teething, no, it's growth spurt, he's adjusting from starting daycare, it's because he now realizes he misses me at night, I should sleep train, let him cry it out, no, go to him because he's sick and his breathing is loud, take him into bed to settle him down, but that will establish a bad pattern, give him 15 more minutes, he's growing out of purees, no it's the combination I'm trying, he's getting too addicted to Cheerios, he's not nursing well, and he's biting me, he's hungry at night, and I'm not making enough milk, I should pump more, try other finger foods, go back to purees, maybe it's the temperature of the food... who knows!

So all of these frustrations led to today: A few hours ago, I buckled and gave Griffin his first few ounces of formula, ever. I've made it 10 and a half months of full time breastfeeding, and I feel disappointed for letting him taste something other than my own milk so late in the game. Granted, he didn't like it and only drank about an once, but it still felt like I'd run all the way to mile 26 of a marathon, and then had to walk instead of sprint the last .2 miles to the finish line. I know a ton of people who give their babies formula- it's no big deal, and I recognize that it's a huge accomplishment to have even nursed Griff so long. I think it comes down to the fact that I wasn't able to be the one to decide if or when Griffin had formula, like I was being forced to by circumstances, and I now realize that I may have to stop breastfeeding (or slow down) sooner than I wanted. I suck at admitting when I need help, or can't do something by myself, and this is totally one of those times.

Motorboating at the Y

Yes, it's no joke. My darling little baby Griffin did his first motorboat this morning during swim class at the Y. No, "motorboat" is not a technical term for some baby swim exercise. Griff literally put his face in the water/on my chest and motorboated me. I was trying to get him to blow bubbles, so I guess technically he did it. Hilarious.

2 Firsts: Griff's "OH NO" Face & Blowing Kisses

Ok, so we have no idea where Griff learned this, but when I exclaim "Oh no!", Griffin will put his hands on the sides of his head. It's hilarious, probably his best trick yet! As for blowing kisses, he has by no means mastered this one, (up until today, if you'd ask him to blow a kiss while demonstrating the motion, he would typically default to doing the Indian noises with his hand and mouth.) However, today we witnessed Griffin successfully blow his first kiss, and if my memory serves me, he blew it to Dan Baker

Griffin's Big Break!

I am shaking I'm so excited! Here's why:

On this big and wild Saturday night, Tom and I found ourselves with a sleeping baby upstairs, 2 cats lounging in their beds on the kitchen table, and a half baked episode of Cougar Town playing on our DVR, while we flipped through magazines together on the couch. Tom was enveloped in Motorcyclist while I caught up on my Hollywood gossip in People magazine. All of a sudden, I found myself screaming in disbelief (almost wetting myself) when I turned to page 32...
Griffin's photo shoot from a few weeks ago turned into a full page ad in the November 22, 2010 issue of People Magazine (pg.32). I can't believe it! He's also on the website at http://www.lovemyoreck.com/. Too crazy. Totally surreal. To think that 10 months ago, Griffin was hibernating in my uterus and now he is on a magazine... Wow.

You Know You're A Mom When...

I call the following my short list of "You-Know-You're-A-Mom-When-isms..."

- Occasionally I'll eat the little leftover/dropped pieces of Cheerios from the floor or the crummy crevices of Griff's highchair simply because it's just easier to do that rather than walk to the garbage and throw them out. This new efficient cleaning method totally backfires when the Cheerios are either really stale or mushy and moist with saliva..

- I publicly butt sniff. (my son's butt, not random strangers'..)

- I call my cats "Griffin" by mistake.

- When I kiss my husband, I verbalize and exaggerate the "mwwah" sound.

- It feels like a totally luxury to sleep until 8am.

- I'm comfortable whipping out my boobs pretty much anywhere.. except for around relatives.

- My pockets are full of half crusty/used snotty tissues.

- When I clap, I do it with my fingers spread out and I automatically say "yaaaaay".

Griffin Turns 10 Months Old!

Griffin at 10 months old:

- Height 28.5"/55%, weight: 23lbs/83%, weight for height 96%, head circumference 46.5cm/80% (taken at 9.3 months old!)
- Developmental Milestones: has been pulling himself up to his knees for a few weeks now, and in the last few days has pulled himself up to standing position
- Favorite word is "ball" or "ballllllllluhhhhluhhhh" as Griff pronounces it; can also say "mama", "dada", "dog", and "tat" (cat)
- Loves clapping, in fact, if he's standing and people around him say "Yaaaay", he will make it a point to sit back down and clap.
- Favorite Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It" (he will literally start clapping when he hears me sing the first 2 words "If You're.."). It's a great distraction for him while on the changing table.
- Gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.
- Can dance with some rhythm. Watching him dance is so entertaining. He bounces his shoulders to the song in the Apple iPad commercial and to other random music on his activity table.
- Just started pointing with his finger. Will touch his fingertip to mine (like in E.T.) and then laughs.
- Currently eating finger foods; likes his sippy cup, but has not yet fully mastered using it.
- Loves bath time, especially with Dad. Griff gets so excited when he hears the water filling the tub, he will stand up and try to lean into the tub.
- Takes 2 naps a day, around 10 and 2:30, had been waking up once a night recently whining a bit, so we are on night 3 of sleep training.
- Has 8 teeth! The 8th one just hit the surface of his gums.
- Has a busy weekly schedule, M: daycare, T: AM swimming, PM playdate, W: daycare, R: AM playdate, music class, F: errands with Mom
- Loves his Lovies- particularly the lightblue dog head blankets- thank goodness I bought 2 of them.
- Already lost his "K" card.
- Has seen the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and taken 4 round-trip flights, slept overnight in 8 states: MA, ME, NY, NV, MD, OH, CT, CA
- Has outgrown the "bucket" car seat and was upgraded to his MyRide65.

A First: Griffin Stands Up!

This activity table was Griffin's motivation to learn how to pull himself up to a standing position. Yesterday on 11/9/10 (age 9.9 months), over at the Rosenbaum's, I turned and saw Griffin standing. He sat back down, we all cheered & clapped (including Griff) and then a few moments later, I witnessed him pull himself back up to his feet. It was the first official time I saw him do it. Whoohoo!

JiJi & Griffin Sitting in a Tree...

"JiJi gave Griffin a kiss; I love you Griffin." - the words of JiJi Hale.

Yesterday during Griffin's usual Tuesday afternoon playdate with toddler friends JiJi and Lachlan, Griffin officially lost his "K" card. That's right, our little man likes older girls, as he and 2 year old JiJi, who apparently caught a case of yellow fever, shared an adorable little baby smooch. They both leaned in and kissed on the lips. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. JiJi robbed the cradle, literally.

Vomit Ick.

Last night I threw up from smelling Griffin's poop. (I blame the poop smell combined with the fact that I had just overeaten at my favorite restaurant Su Chang's.) P.S. Our changing table is way too tall, and I am way too short. Thank God Tom was in the bathroom filling up the tub for Griff's bath, as he came to my rescue so I could spew into the toilet instead of all over the nursery floor, or worse, the baby.

Back to Work, Take 2

Yesterday November 3rd, I officially became a working Mom (again). Griff was the new kid at daycare (again), and this time around things went well! Our minivan fund is officially growing (just kidding, kinda). Limited tears and traffic- a good day all in all. I decided to go back to work at Cintas as a part time Six Sigma Black Belt which will give Griff a break from me and will allow my brain to get some much needed exercise. I worked out a 2 day/20 hour gig where I'm able to work from home, and to my knowledge there hasn't ever been an employee in my entire division with an opportunity to work part time or given the 'on the record' ok to work from home for that matter! I feel cool, like I'm paving the way for future Cintas women to be able to work and raise a family.. unless of course I slack off too much and ruin it for everyone. :)

The 3 best parts of my day were 1) being able to blast the radio (and sing loudly along) in the car on my commute home. Matchbox 20, Blink 182, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift... 2) Despite the fact that I'm normally not a fan of wearing high heels (BTW I wore my pinstripe suit with bright green puma sneakers to Griff's daycare and Starbucks and then changed into my black peep toe heels in the Cintas parking lot), I found great satisfaction in the sound of my clicking Steve Maddens as I walked into the office. There is something about the "click click click" sound that makes me feel sophisticated and intelligent. Lastly, Griff didn't burst into tears when he saw me come pick him up after the day. He's had a tendency to cry hysterically upon seeing me after being in the gym babysitting for an hour, so I assumed he'd melt down after the whole day away, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Frock and Frock Jr.

For as long as I can remember, I've had a section of hair on the front left side of my head that's somehow remains short (1-3 inches) and sticks out sideways. Tom nicknamed that special section of my hairs " The Frock". Only on the fanciest of days will I bother to keep it in check by gelling it down. "The Frock" seems to have a mind of it's own. Check out these pics, my hair looks awesome...

Well, "Frock Jr." has been born. Let me explain:
So, one of the many fun consequences of having a baby is that in addition to your flabby stomach, saggy boobs, and total lack of memory, your hair falls out in clumps around the time the baby turns 4 months old. I remember talking to a few of my Mom friends back in May, and we all sighed with relief when we realized we weren't the only ones having unnervingly large clumps of hairs repeatedly clog our bathtub drains. Phew. On the up side, or down side (depending on how you look at it), the hairs do grow back. As I've now learned in my ninth month as a mother, this is the time it happens. Hence, "Frock Jr." I now have a bunch of short little hairs sticking off the right side of my head too. It's like I have a very thin and tamed lion's mane that's too short to hold down with a headband. Too sexy.

Griff Hugs

Griff can hug! I laughed to myself the other night when I was putting Griffin down for bed. After nursing him and reading a book, I picked him up and per the usual routine, gave him a kiss and a tight squeeze. This night, instead of wrapping my arms around his either stiff or sometimes very squirmy little body, he relaxed with his arms around my neck. He put his head on my shoulder and his body just kind of just perfectly conformed into mine. He was the perfect sweet little pea nuzzled in my Mommy pod. The icing on the cake was when he patted me on the back too. It was a great Mom moment.

Ready, Camera, Action, Meltdown!

It's official: Griffin is a star (in my eyes at least), and he was one of the breadwinners of the family today as he had his very first baby model job! He auditioned last week and landed the part of the "Asian Baby". So we went on an adventure this morning to Quixote Studios in Boston, where Griff was photographed for a national print ad for Oreck Vacuums. The part of Griff's Fake Asian Mom was played by the lovely Michelle, who ironically looked more like his Mom than me. Tara, the wardrobe lady dressed Griff in a striped blue long sleeve shirt and some blue PJ bottoms with stars. Griff was shot (eek, that sounds so violent.. restart: Griff was 'photographed'...) being held by his Fake Mom who was told to smile and act like she "loves her baby and her vacuum". Poor Michelle- I could only imagine the pain she must have felt in her arm, as she had to hold our 25 lb(?) sack of potatoes on her right side for about 10 minutes straight while they shot some pics (a vacuum would be pictured in her left hand). Once Griff started melting down, we took a break while Michaela, the backup Asian baby did shots as well. We played and did our thing until we were up again. It was then time to shoot some video, which by the way I was only told we were doing still photos, so this came as a surprise. Funny story.. P.S. Did I mention that Griffin is terrified of vacuums (when they're on)? So, the intended video was to consist of the Fake Asian Mom putting Griff into a high chair, where he'd get excited as he had 2 big bowls of Cheerios to play with/eat and spill everywhere; then the Mom would let him continue to snack while she happily vacuumed the floor. Remember I said Griff was scared of vacuums? Well, here's the video they actually got... (Ready, Camera, Action) Fake Asian Mom put Griff into the high chair, and instead of immediately digging into the majestic piles of free Cheerios in front of him, Griff gave the bowls his classic furrowed brow stare. Even the "baby wranglers" couldn't get him to smile. He eventually picked up a single Cheerio and put it into his mouth. The director then instructed the Mom to just spill the Cheerios onto the ground so they could continue on to shoot the vacuuming part. Disaster ensued! As soon as Griff heard the vacuum turn on, his lower lip trembled, he started miserably crying, and he just lost it. (End Scene) All in all, it was quite hilarious to watch, though I felt bad that Griff got scared, and the crew didn't get the shot they were going for (hopefully the backup baby nailed it). I'm not sure if advertising vacuums that frighten little babes would help the Oreck business prosper.

The day was long but it was good overall. We'll find out if the client chooses Griff or the backup baby's shots to end up in the ads (not feelin' too confident at this point:) ), but it was a fun experience, good to make a few bucks for Griff's college fund, and interesting getting a peek into the advertising/production world. This was definitely a first, for both of us!

Some Fun Firsts...

A few awesome firsts to document:

1. I discovered today that I can say "clap your hands" to Griffin, and he does it!

2. We had our first family pancake breakfast today, partly to celebrate Tom's upcoming 29th birthday.. Griffin got to eat a baby-sized pancake, sans coconut syrup.

3. Griffin successfully fed me a Cheerio (happened a few days ago), which made me gush with that wonderful proud Mom feeling. There have been several failed attempts where I'll open my mouth, Griff will hold a Cheerio right up to my lips and as I'm about to eat it, he tears his hand away, eats the Cheerio himself and laughs. :)

4. Griff ate meat! (organic chicken pureed with sweet potatoes) Yes, it does make the poop more stinky.

5. Griff pulled himself up onto his knees. (This happened while I was trying to undress him for his bath. He excitedly pulled himself up to watch the water fill the tub.)

6. Also, Griff recently started doing the funny Indian (feathers, not dots) pow wow sounds with his hands/mouth. "wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah". When Griff was younger and he'd cry, I would repeatedly tap his lips with my open hand and make the "wah wah wah wah" sound, which distracted him from his crying and made us both laugh. He then went through a phase where I'd start tapping his lips with my hands and then he'd make the sound, and this weekend he started doing it all on his own. He uses both hands closed together in a ball, and laughs while he does it.. what a funny guy.

See this video of Griff's latest bag of tricks:

Itsy Bitsy Spiders

To give you a sense of the pre-Mom/utterly-terrified-by-bugs Vicki, one of my favorite birthday gifts of all time from Tom was a bug vacuum that I proudly display in my kitchen. It has a 4 foot long hose that sucks up bugs and zaps them to ensure they're dead- perfect for when Tom's traveling. Ever since childhood, I've had to trap bugs with cups or tupperware and leave them for someone else to dispose of, and whenever I'd hear something buzzing near me, I'd immediately cover my ears and close my eyes until it went away. The icing on the cake was 6 years ago when I lived with my dear friend Matt in Somerville (wow, time flies), I had a terrifying experience in my bedroom with something that resembled a silverfish except with a ton of legs (I saw it crawl down from the ceiling to the floor while I lay in bed freaking out and then it disappeared). I had to pull all my furniture away from the walls and plug up holes in the floors. For weeks, Matt, my "Bug Hero", had to inspect my room with a flashlight before I felt safe enough to go to bed, and I remember having at least 2 nightmares from the grotesque sighting..

Now that I have Griffin, I seem to have acquired a new super human mom ability, where I can kill small (ok they're tiny), not too gross looking spiders (with non thick & non hairy legs) and other little critters without having a mini heart attack, screaming, crying, or feeling mentally damaged from the experience. The new and improved me can now somewhat stay in control at the sight of an unwanted pest. I find myself thinking that I have to protect Griffin from it, and I'm empowered to fix the situation rather than freak out about it. This is not to say that I am miraculously cured of my severe arachnophobia (I still use a wad of at least 8 tissues to snag a spider the size of my pinky nail), but it is still a change in me worth blogging about. :)

10 TEN 10, & Griff Turns 9 Months!

"to post..."

UPDATE:  April 23 2011:  Vicki left "to post" on the top of a few entries over these first 10 or so months of the blog.  I think blogs are supposed to be chronilogical and all, but these were great events in Griff's first 15 months, so I'm going back to fill them in.  Besides, we don't want any holes in history, if, say, this whole thing ends up bound and printed, sitting on a shelf 50 years from now...    We love you Griff!  -Dad

Oh yeah... 10-10-10 was Jacob and Youngna's wedding.  The pictures tell the whole thing.  Worth noting that Vicki carved the 10-Ten-10 pumpkin, that it was a gorgeously crisp fall weekend in the countryside, and Griffin had his first dance floor experience (in the baby bjorn, but, stilll....)

Dad's Favorite

I asked Tom if there was anything he wanted me to document in the blog for him. He wanted me to mention how he (Dad) loves it when he holds Griffin in his arms over his shoulder, and Griff starts bouncing up and down, bending at his knees and sticking his butt out. Tom's Mom used to call Tom "Tigger" when he was little. I feel like this crazy bouncing that Griffin does is very Tom/Tigger like. I love how Griffin is such a mini-Tom.

Applause for a Great Family Weekend

A new first: Tom, Griff and I were laying in bed yesterday morning, when Griffin clapped his hands! (10/3/10) It was so freaking adorable- a great new trick to add to his collection. We've been practicing clapping forever; his ability evolved from closed fists knocking together with full assistance from Mom and Dad, to one open hand and one closed one, and finally he got both hands open and clapped by himself. Also, a hysterical moment to remember was Saturday morning, I coughed and Griff fake coughed to imitate me and then he'd laugh. It became a game where I'd cough and laugh, and then he would. What a little joker!

We had the most beautiful fall family weekend. On Saturday we took Griffin to Connor's Farm in Danvers, where we walked through a corn maze and spent time at the farm taking pictures, checking out pumpkins, and just enjoying the beautiful October weather. This was the same farm that Tom and I bought our wedding pumpkins at- the ones we used to carve out "Tom & Vicki ", which coincidentally also spelled "Ick Vomit" and "Victim OK"...

On Sunday we used our Groupons and went to the Stone Zoo. Our favorite animals were the coatis, 2-toed sloth, baby goats, meerkats, and gibbons! We kept trying to point out the various animals to Griffin, hold him up so he could see, or position his stroller so he'd have a direct view, but I have no idea if he really saw all of them. I like to believe he did anyway.