Party On, Evan! (or, Laura attends her first birthday party)

Do not be confused by the title...of course Laura couldn't have her own first birthday yet! It was the first birthday party Laura was invited to! Her buddy Evan turned one a couple of days ago and had a big bash today to celebrate.

Evan is a pretty cool guy and smiles more than any kid we know. He has had quite an eventful first year and so his family has much to celebrate and be happy about! We watched him eat a cupcake (messy, of course) and open fun presents (lots of vehicles). Laura tried to be on her best behavior at the party but got a little overwhelmed by all the people and noise, so although she was awake for awhile to socialize, she ended up napping half the time in Evan's room.

We had a fun time, and Laura even left with a party favor! The big kids had treats in their bags, but Evan's mom made a bag for Laura with some baby stuff in it, which was super nice and amusing. Since Laura didn't have a chance to pose with Evan, I took a picture of her with her party bag. Thanks for inviting us! It made me excited for celebrating Laura's first birthday in the future.

P.S. I should probably mention Laura was also invited to cousin Lilly's first birthday, but since she was less than a week old, she had to decline! Not ready to be a party animal yet at that point.

Adorable

I feel pretty confident in saying this will be the cutest thing you've seen all day.

Laura Doesn't Like Dad

Pacifier or No Pacifier
Mom and I have been frustrated with Laura's constant desire for the nook...every minute of the day she needs it. I don't know how to ween her off the thing? I fear she has become accustomed to depending on us putting it in her mouth, only to have her spit it out two seconds later - all throughout the day.

The past few days, I took a stand and have been withholding giving her the pacifier when she cries. Each instance, I wait longer and longer before I give in. Let me tell you, this is not easy. Laura cries so hard her face turns bright red, her body shakes, and she sweats. She works herself in such a tizzy, it takes awhile for her to calm down.

Because of my actions of withholding the nook, the past two days she cries shortly after I begin to hold her. I have officially hit my first parenting discipline crossroads. Am I doing the right thing? Should I change my approach? I keep asking myself, "Is it possible she understands what I did and now is scared of me?" Laura isn't even two months, yet she doesn't cry when in Mom's arms.

Tonight, Mom and I tried to test my theory and prove that my suspicions were correct. Mom held Laura in her arms, then quietly handed her to me. I held Laura in the exact same position...she cried. Just before Laura went to bed, we tried the same thing. As soon as she looked up at me...she cried.

At this point in her life, I don't care if she is hooked on that pacifier. I will feed it to her the second she starts to fuss. All I want is the babe to smile at Dad again.

Memorial Day Weekend Recap!

The B family had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The weather was absolutely fantastic and we spent a good amount of time outdoors.

Friday
Mom, Laura and I went for a walk/run around Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. Laura, as usual, was peaceful in the stroller and just stared at Mom and Dad around the lake. For whatever the reason, I thought that lake was bigger than it is. I guessed maybe 4 miles around...nope, it was 2.7. I can't imagine running next year's Minnetonka Half Marathon when I can't gauge an accurate distance. I need to train to get a feel for distance! I am happy to report there were no back or foot issues.

After our jaunt around Nokomis, what better way to reward ourselves than to go to the 5-8 Club for the famous Juicy Lucy burger. All those lost calories and burned fat were QUICKLY replaced by new ones. Two quarter pound patties with cheese in the middle...yum! As delicious as it was, Laura didn't partake in the yumminess, she slept through the entire dinner.

Saturday
Dad golfed an awesome round in the morning at Creeks Bend. If it weren't for a few embarrassing chips and putts, I would have broken my personal best score.

In the evening, Dad and Laura sat on the deck and watched Mom plant flowers in pots. We started to see bees buzzing around, so our outside time was limited as we scurried back indoors.

We were supposed to end the day with a campfire at the Ginter's but miscommunication stranded us at home. Oh well.

Sunday
Around noon, all three of us went to Grandma and Grandpa M's house for Mother's Day part 2. This time all aunts and uncles were there. Laura soaked up all the attention and gave many smiles and coos to everyone. She went on a walk with Grandma and even watched a few of us play badminton. Unfortunately, Dad didn't fare so well in badminton as Steph quickly dashed any hopes for me having a comeback. There really was no clear-cut winner in the family badminton tourney, but Mom did leave us with a memorable fall in her game against Uncle Michael.

Monday
Dad spent 6 hours down in Cleveland putting the dock and the boat lift in the water with Uncle Scott and Grandpa. Hard work.

Early this Spring, there was word that Grandpa planted something special for his granddaughters. Grandpa pointed out to Dad the "Laura tree" he planted for her. I can't remember if it is an apple tree or something else? I will have to confirm this later. There is also a "Lilly tree" close by for cousin Lillian. We hope the trees grow strong and tall just like our girls!

That was our weekend in a nutshell. Good times with the fam! And of course, we didn't forget the true meaning of the weekend. Thank you to those who have served and/or are serving (Mr. Ellingson).

Miss Marvelous?

So much happens in a week or two with a baby! I'm a little behind in my blogging. What's new with Laura? As Father B hinted at in the last post, she is showing signs of maybe not being a perfect child. For her first month, she was so easy to take care of and figure out. In the last couple of weeks, things haven't been as easy. Feeding isn't going as smoothly, and she's been difficult after eating - screaming and kicking over her gassy tummy. We're back to using the gas drops after every feeding.

She LOVES her pacifier - but to the point where it makes things challenging. (All you pacifier haters out there are thinking, "Mmhmm, it's a mistake!") At night she really struggles to settle without the pacifier, but then she wakes from her sleep when it falls out. This is not a fun game at 3 a.m.

Today was a pretty good day, though, so I am hopeful that things are turning around. I'm so paranoid about doing things that are going to establish problems and bad habits for her down the road. Is this a teacher thing? After seeing so many types of kids and behaviors over the years, I really know how I DON'T want my kids to turn out, and I'm nervous about doing something that is going to turn her into some kind of problem child down the road.

On a positive note, she is becoming more and more fun the older she gets. We get so many smiles and coos from her now. This week we've been listening to a lot of Raffi songs, and she really likes music and singing. Another favorite is whistling! She grins like crazy when we whistle. Laura is also pretty strong, and likes to hold her head up (although not on the floor during tummy time). She's also rolled from her back to her side, but I think the full rollover won't happen for a while. Hopefully this catches you up a bit on what's up with us! We'll have another update after the

weekend.

Long Time, No Post

Boy o' Boy does life get busy with a baby! Hard to find free time anymore. It is all Laura, all the time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

What has happened since the last post...
This past Friday, Laura and I had a father, daughter bonding night. Mom left us for several hours and I suddenly encountered the opposite side of "lovable, quiet Laura." Deathly screams, volcano spit-ups, poopy diapers, and more deathly screams were too much for this first-time dad! I am guessing Laura had big bubbles in her tummy or she was just testing my patience. Once she settled down, life was oh so good!

On Saturday, Grandma B and Uncle M came over to watch Laura while Dad went to Eastview's lacrosse game (VERY COLD AND WINDY) and Mom went to Mary's Baby Shower. Later that day, Mom and Dad registered as parishioners at St. John Neumann and followed that by going to Mass. Busy day.

On Sunday, Dad went shopping for vegetables to plant in our pots. Grandma J and Grandpa G came over to say "hello" to Laura and bring fresh soil for our pots from Grandpa's garden in NP.

Finally, I decided to take a few minutes to make another video of Laura. This is a collection of videos we have taken through out her first month and a half of life. Warning...I just slapped this together - quite sloppy!

Mother's Day!

A very happy Mother's Day to all moms out there! Today was a nice day. In the wee hours of the morning after I finished making cinnamon rolls for brunch today, I crept upstairs to check on the little one and saw a mysterious vase of flowers sitting in her room in the dark.

In the light of day, it was a lovely vase of tulips! Good work, Laura and Dad!

We went to church in the morning and then to NP for brunch with Father B's family. Yum, I sure do love breakfast food! I ate like I was still pregnant, which I regretted when I saw some photos later on in the day. It was nice to hang out with his family; Laura got some snuggles in from everyone and we got to see cousin Lilly do a little walking.

By late afternoon we were back home for some eating and resting. Father B took some pictures of Laura and I. Strategically, I was holding her in front of my belly which is clearly how I should pose for all pictures from this point forward, and they turned out pretty cute. (*Note: Laura is not normally this unenthusiastic about being with mom. She does not like when it's bright out, hence the sour expression on her face.) Later on Grandma B and Grandpa G came over and we took some more pictures. This time Grandma had Laura in front of her - no shield for mom; the results will not be posted on this site and I will be thinking twice before scarfing down the treats. Yikes! I thought I was coming along good and then in these photos I pretty much look 8 months pregnant.

Because one Mexican dinner is not going to add THAT much fuel to the fire (right?), the five of us headed out to a B family favorite restaurant here in town for some Mexican food and margaritas! Yum! Again Laura was good although some other babies in there were not. At the end of dinner Grandma B and I were given lovely complimentary Mother's Day coffee mugs. We decided it would have been better had they also been filled with a complimentary margarita, but beggars can't be choosers. (Hasty self-portrait taken only to show complimentary mug.)

It was a good day. I believe at our 4 am feeding, I was thinking deep thoughts about what I've learned as a mother and that's what I was going to post today. But now it's 10 pm and I'm tired and I can't remember my deep thoughts anymore. Just know that I am very happy to be a mom and I love my daughter and husband.

Firsts

One of the best things about the last week or so is that Laura has really been starting to smile a lot - and not just the gassy/involuntary smiles that babies do at first. I can't think of anything that makes me happier than when she looks right at me and gives me one of those big toothless smiles. It's just the greatest feeling! Last week on Friday she was super smiley and I got a lot of great pictures of her.

Besides her first real smiles, Laura's had a lot of other "firsts" in the last week: her first errand with mom (post office), her first shopping trip (Babies 'R Us), her first bath in her bathtub, her first trip to Target (I really wanted that to be her first shopping trip but it didn't work out that way), and her first time going out to eat (lunch at Champps in Burnsville). She's not wildly excited about a lot of these "firsts" and mostly sleeps through them, as she tends to do when we're out and about. I was really excited about taking her to Target, and tried to explain my love for that store and how momentous the occasion was, as we headed in from the parking lot - she did not share my enthusiasm yet, but she will come to love Target!!!

There's one more first which I cannot talk about because the last time I bragged it jinxed us, but I will say it has to do with sleeping at night and her crib. She is a champ.

I took Laura to the doctor's office for a weight check today. This is a very quick process - a nurse just puts her on the scale and that's it. No other measurements or information, but she does weigh 9 pounds, 5 1/4 ounces.

Half Marathon Sunday

Congrats to All Runners
Well, yesterday was the day that my big-behind was supposed to be running the beautiful Minnetonka Half Marathon, but two scary back episodes sidelined me from the fun. Our company will be participating in this race again next year. Don't be surprised if you hear me recruiting for more friends and family!

Since I could not participate in this year's race, I had to show support for my fellow co-workers. Mom and I cheered them on (Laura sleeping in the stroller) at the finish line and I held up a big poster board sign to encourage my would-have-been running mates! Mom created the sign Saturday night and let's just say, it was a big hit!

The day was absolutely beautiful for runners and fans! The sun was shining, temp approaching 68 degrees with a slight breeze, and a ton of people lined up along the running path on both sides, cheering and encouraging all runners. Mom and I had a great time. Laura was being Laura, content in the stroller.

Afterwards, the entire group of runners and their family walked down to Maynard's on Lake Minnetonka to enjoy a few drinks on the deck. (I wished I had brought a fishing pole.)

Also, I would like to send a special congrats to Steph. She ran the Eau Claire Half Marathon in 1 hour and 57 mins. We are very proud of her. Great job, Steph!