Sittin' Up Man!

Brenden started sitting up on his own just in time for our playdate on Saturday. Tami and I went to Aparna's for a traditional Nepalese lunch (for the moms) and playtime for the babies. It was so cute watching the babies play together. The food was delicious, and Aparna's family is so sweet. Her parents moved from Nepal to move in with her and her husband when Ava was born. It's the tradition in their culture for the grandparents to move in to help with the baby. I was surprised that Aparna was excited about it back when we were both pregnant, but it doesn't sound so bad to me anymore, now that I know how difficult it is to raise a baby with no family around. The only complaint Aparna has is that her mom cooks so much delicious food it was hard for her to lose the baby weight.

This has been one of those week when living in Seattle loses its luster. This is a very cool city, but there are some downsides too. Like sloshing through the never-ending drizzle when you just want to have a nice family day out. Or seeing a homeless man take a leak on an office building. (Not my most pleasant walk from the bus stop to the office.)

We might be in for a rough night tonight. Our upstairs neighbor has friends over again, and they are so loud. We used to imagine the guy was a big beer-guzzling type, but Adam went up there to ask him to keep it down one night, and discovered it's a little Asian kid in his late teens. They love to play Wi until 5 am, and it doesn't sound like they're doing it sober. Brenden has already woken up once tonight, and it's only 8:30. It could be teething too. He has four teeth already and a couple more on the way. They have been popping out non-stop. I guess I'd rather get them all out now rather than drag out the process.

Time to stretch out with a book before Brenden wakes up again.

Just had to share this video. Brenden's latest craze is watching me put a toy in my mouth and growl like a dog. I'm detecting a trend here - anything that makes me look like an idiot is a hit.

I also snapped my favorite picture ever of Brenden. He is such a ham:

Sometimes he enjoys eating solids, and some days he's not interested. So far his favorites are peas, oatmeal, and bananas. We stocked up on jars of baby veggies, but Brenden hates the jarred fruit because they add absorbic acid to keep it from turning brown. So we bought a little hand grinder at Babies R Us, and it works great.

I'm becoming a poster child for adult ADD. I'm always thinking about 8 things at once, and I'm getting really forgetful. It's hard for me to connect the dots mentally. I keep to-do lists, but just trying to remember to write things down is a challenge. I'm always thinking, "Oh yeah, I need to email so and so, pick up such and such at the grocery store, etc etc." It makes me crazy sometimes.

And to add to the list of things swirling around in my head, for the first time since Brenden was born I've started paying attention to politics and social issues again. Over the weekend we watched Battle in Seattle. It was really interesting to see footage of the rioting that took place right outside my office. Here's a quick synopsis - back in 1999, the WTO (World Trade Organization) held its first major conference in Seattle. Bad idea. The WTO exploits a good part of the world, especially the poorest parts of it, no matter what the cost to the environment or people's quality of life. Seattleites love protesting and demonstrations (at least once a week there's a group of people getting riled up outside our office), so they went all out to shut the WTO's conference down.

I also started reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of American Empire. The US is responsible for some really horrible things in the past, and in the present. In school we read about the Native Americans being all but wiped out and the dropping of the atomic bombs in WWII, but I didn't really see the connection between those events and things going on today. Zinn starts back in the 1800's, detailing how the US has taken over multiple countries and repressed many groups of people, all for power and ultimately, for money. What really gets me going is that we're given so many excuses for invading other countries, and led to believe that we're doing it either to protect the people of that country, or ourselves. The common theme is that big business sees dollar signs on the map and thinks they're entitled to a piece of it. The war in Iraq is just another example. Please don't think I'm out there ripping "support our troops" bumper stickers off people's cars. I don't doubt the soldiers' bravery and I don't make light of their sacrifices, and the sacrifices of their families.

As long as I'm revealing my liberal leanings, I might as well mention how dumbfounded I am that we continue to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Why isn't the ban on gay marriage recongnized as discrimination, or the ban on gay couples adopting children in some states? Gay couples can legally adopt in Washington, and one of the principals at our firm and his partner have adopted three children. All three children have the same mother but different fathers. They adopted the first boy, then when the mother got pregnant twice more they decided to adopt those babies too. Their youngest is the same age as Brenden, so we get to compare notes. I've never met the children's birth mother, but it sounds like the children have a much more stable homelife with their adoptive fathers. I know some people are uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuality, but even if it's not your cup of tea, aren't there a lot more important battles to fight than keeping people from establishing a secure family life?

What a Week

I just wrote a long, whiney blog and decided to delete it all. We had a really crazy week, but it was just a bunch of small annoyances. It doesn't seem right to complain about not getting a raise (salary freeze due to the economy) or Brenden's constipation (it was a 5-day stand-off) when you read about all the suffering in Haiti. I read an article on cnn.com this morning about how people are wandering around at night with nowhere to sleep, no food or water, and stumbling over dead bodies because it's so dark at night with no lights. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be a mother there worrying about your kids having no water or catching a disease, or worse.

So I'll write about all the good things this week. On Saturday we took a stroll through downtown Edmonds, the little community where we used to live. I miss that area. It's so quaint with an awesome view of the water. We had coffee at a little coffee shop, looked around the local bookstore and toy store, and just enjoyed the dry day.

Brenden was his usual cute, fun self despite his discomfort from the constipation. One of the highlights of the week was when I took Brenden in the bathroom for his bath one night. I usually stop in front of the mirror so he can smile at himself while I tell him what a "handsome nakie baby" he is. That night we did our normal routine but he started laughing his head off when he realized he could see himself in the big mirror AND the medicine cabinet mirror on the side. We played a game where he would look in one mirror, and I would look all around the room like I couldn't find him. Then I would finally meet his eyes in the mirror and he would scream with excitement. So cute!

I tried out a new book club last night. It wasn't anything like the Orlando Book Club, which I loved. I met some really good friends through that book club, and every meeting was a blast. I think I'll go to this new book club again - I enjoyed it, but I don't think it will ever be quite as fun.

Now to spend some time relaxing! Tomorrow Adam is going to a movie and Brenden and I are going to chill out at home. This week was so busy that I didn't get to spend much time with Brenden, so I'm looking forward to lots of playtime.

Happy New Year!

First Family Christmas Photo

Brenden sporting a new outfit (12 month size!)

Hanging out with Uncle Alex and Aunt Katie (I can't believe they're both in college now!)

Brenden looking like a real Hoosier in his hunting cap

It's been a while since I posted a blog because it's been a very busy month! We spent a week and a half in Indiana visiting family. It was great to see everyone and Brenden had a blast. It was exhausting at times, like when Brenden got his first cold and was up half the night, but Brenden adapted very well to the big change in routine. He even did great on the flights there and back. We had flight delays both ways, but he was a trooper.

Brenden is 7 months old now and so much fun. I feel like we've made it through the hardest part and now we get to just have fun. He loves to wrestle and act silly, so it feels less like work now. Brenden's favorite thing at the moment is when I pretend I'm throwing up. Gross, I know, but he thinks it's hysterical. The more theatrical the fake heaving and sound effects, the louder he laughs and squeals.

Brenden is also on a trend towards sleeping better. This week there were a few nights he only woke up once!

Besides being great to see our family, getting away from the daily grind was really good for me. I was so caught up in trying to keep up that I didn't realize I was pushing myself too hard. I was trying to do too much and set my standards too high. Getting away helped me to think about where I want to invest my time and energy and what I can let go. I definitely need more "me" time. Of course I still have a full-time job and it's not like Brenden is going to learn to change his own diapers anytime soon. So I am carving out little bits of time for myself, like taking 5 minutes to have coffee and read a news article when I get to work. Brenden usually goes to bed at 7, so I'm trying to do stuff around the house from 7-8, then read or watch tv from 8-9. My rule is that unless it absolutely has to be done that night, I have to drop everything at 8. Otherwise I would end up in the same spot I was, working non-stop every second of the day.

My other New Years resolution is to eat healthier. Brenden's pediatrician talked to us about the importance of eating organic, minimally processed foods, so I want to start now so it will be a habit once Brenden is eating what we're eating. It's pretty gross when you start reading ingredient lists and realize how little real food we're eating. I've had a little set-back though. After work I stopped at the grocery store and bought a bunch of fresh fruit to make a fruit salad. I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com and decided to splurge on lots of organic fruit, most of it out-of-season. So after Brenden went to bed I peeled and chopped away for 20 minutes. Then he woke back up (probably because he fell asleep too fast the first time and didn't nurse well), so I had to nurse and rock him again. Back to the peeling and chooping for another few minutes, and then I mixed the vanilla yogurt sauce. I mixed it exactly as the recipe was written, even though mayo and salt seemed like odd choices. I naively figured those Food Network guys knew what they were doing, so even though it tasted really weird, I dumped the sauce all over the fruit. I figured the fruit and sauce combination would somehow magically work out. WRONG. I can still taste it and I might just throw up for real this time. I was almost in tears when Adam tasted it and had to run to the trash can to spit it out. Time and money are really short right now, and that fruit salad was a huge waste of both.

Speaking of money, I have my performance review next Thursday. Our company is feeling the effects of the bad economy more this year, and I've heard raises and bonuses are minimal. But hey, I'm still employed, and we're lucky the company is even considering raises and bonuses.