Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here in Chicago, people go pretty nuts about St. Patrick's Day. You know, dyeing the river green and whatnot.

Even though Ireland is one of my favorite countries, I've never been that into the holiday. We did, however, have a "First St. Patrick's Day" outfit for Baba G last year when he was less than two months old (before I started this blog). So here is a blast from the past to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Even got the green pacifier -- how ya like me now?

Shamrock Shake Shake Shake Your Booty!

For those of you who are going to be downing some green beer or green eggs and ham or whatever other weird things you eat and drink in honor of St. Pat, have fun and be safe!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Baba G wants to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

The ONE PICTURE out of about 200 where he sat still for 2 seconds

BG was only 3 weeks old the first time we celebrated this most Hallmark of holidays, and we've been trying to push the experience out of our minds ever since. It was the low point of our time as parents to date, as BG had mastitis (yes, the breast infection—I'll let you Google why it can happen to a baby boy) and spent a few nights in the hospital as a result. He had to have a spinal tap to ensure the infection hadn't spread (THE low point of the past year) and a ton of antibiotics over three days. They put a crazy cast on him to ensure he didn't pull any needles or drips out.

At least the nurses gave him this little pink heart for the occasion:

Brave boy.

Glad THAT's behind us and there's nothing but hugs and kisses on the horizon this time around.

Pucker up!

Wishing you chocolates and flowers and drama-free celebrations today and tonight!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody!

Last night my husband and I kept our nearly decade-long tradition of going to a great restaurant on our corner for an early dinner before settling in to count down the end of 2012 with my man Anderson Cooper (and Kathy Griffin) on CNN. This time, of course, Baba G was with us, and he impressed the other patrons with his snazzy outfit.

The other diners were less impressed with his table-banging whenever he got bored, but a steady supply of Puffs, an applesauce squeezy-packet thingy and some quiet toys kept him happy the majority of the time, and we were able to wolf down three courses and return home in an hour flat.

When we got back, BG made it clear he was not going to last until midnight.

But he did have one last second wind before bedtime.

What's crazy to me is that on New Year's Eve last year, I was (obviously) pregnant, and even though my due date wasn't until January 14, I was CONVINCED that I was going to go into labor while at the restaurant, and that then we were going to have the "B-team" of doctors and nurses who drew the short stick for the holiday shift at the hospital. (Though I'm sure whomever gets stuck working those nights is just as qualified and professional — but it really was a huge fear of mine.)

Little did I know that I still had over three weeks of waiting for Baba G to make his move, as he didn't arrive (and when he did, it was not even by his choice) until 10 days after my due date. I should've had an extra dessert that night, dammit.

I hope you all had a wonderful time over the holidays. Baba G got (too many) cool toys that I'm excited to tell you all about soon. But for now, I'm going to enjoy this one last day of avoiding the real world, work, and the cold weather outside.

Here's to a great 2013...

Baba G's First Santa Visit

Give me another Bad Mom demerit, because I had no desire to take Baba G to see Santa. But we ended up going to Macy's yesterday and waiting in line for two hours to see the old guy anyway. In retrospect I'm glad we did, as my parents are visiting and it did make for a pretty fun memory.

Even though he hadn't taken much of a nap in the morning and the wait for Santa cut into his second nap, Baba G was extremely patient. This picture, however, makes it look like he's Over It.

This better be worth it.

For most of the two hours, he was busy checking out other people or having fun toddling around the clothes aisles (yes, he's walking!). He even caught a 15-minute snooze on his dad's shoulder after we were inside the darker "Santaland" complex.

Once we made it to the end of the line, we were quickly whisked into Santa's private chambers. We were only allowed to take pictures from an area off to the side (as Macy's obviously wants you to purchase their official shots), so here's what happened after we all stepped away and left BG alone with Santa.

Then he was like: "Who IS this dude?"

Next he must have realized that the sooner he gave us a semi-decent shot, the sooner he'd be off that guy's lap.

And so begins a tradition of yearly Santa pictures. I think once BG begins to associate Santa with presents, he'll look forward to seeing him. Because he sure did like all of the presents he's gotten so far — many of which I'll be writing about in coming posts.

In the meantime, we're heading to Arizona tomorrow to visit my husband's side of the family, and we're certainly all ready for a break from the cold Midwest.

Happy holiday to you and yours!

Baba G's First Halloween

I've never been a fan of Halloween. I love seeing other people's costumes, but am just not motivated to put much effort into creating a unique one of my own. So I knew I was going to feel guilty when everyone started asking about what Baba G was going to be for his first Halloween.

"Um, we're just going to put him in a monkey outfit one of our friend's sons wore."

And that's what we did.

Fake monkey, real banana

What are you doing to me.

Yeah... I don't get what's going on

We had him in this costume for less than 10 minutes. We just wanted to get a few pictures to send to family members who expected us to do SOMETHING for his first Halloween. Thankfully, I didn't end up feeling guilty about our lack of Halloween activities or excitement. I mean, he can't even have candy yet. What's the point?

That same evening he also became a pirate. This was a lot easier because the "costume" was really just comfy PJs from Baby Gap (best part was a Captain Hook hook on the left wrist). Then we just tied a hat/patch thingy on him for a few minutes in order to snap some pictures. I originally attempted to tape the little parrot onto his shoulder, but that lasted for about .2 milliseconds. (His Great Aunt Sue sent the hat/patch and the bird, which was actually a teeny card.)

Did anyone really get into Halloween when their kid was just a baby? Am I a bad mom for not feelin' it? I think once he can trick or treat or is excited to pick out his own costume, that will be a different story. At that point I'm going to try and convince him to be THIS:

"Gnome on a mushroom" = Best kiddie costume.

If you love the above as much as I did, bookmark this site for costume ideas next year!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween — whether you dressed up or not.