Monday, May 24, 2010

Month 3

Eli is now one quarter old. He has learned how to smile. As it turns out he is much more fussy that we initially realized. He loves long walks with his puppies. He does not like to spend time with himself. He no longer fits in newborn clothes. Everyday brings something new.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Baby Junkie

I’m officially back at work full time. I’d say the major flaw with my workplace is that there are no babies in it. Namely, there are no Eli babies in it. I’ve found myself grasping for every Eli moment I can get outside of work. The moment 5:00 hits, I am out the door, walking quickly to the train, running to not miss a train, and then riding impatiently and counting down the stops. I get very angry if there is a train delay as it’s robbing me of baby minutes. When I get off the train I look from the platform to see if I can see Kenny, puppy and babies waiting. I speed walk to them and remove Eli from the Bjorn. He’s been falling asleep around 7:00, so I do not get much awake time with him. I’m pretty much glued to him until I wake up in the morning and talk myself into leaving him to go shower. I try to get ready as quickly as possible so that I can get him back before I leave. Then I carry him to the train and reluctantly hand him over to Kenny and the pups when we get to the station.

At work, I sit at a desk plastered in pictures of him. I wait impatiently for the Daily Eli and sometimes request additional pictures. I also call two to three times. I count down the days to the weekend. I am no help around the house. If I’m home, I want baby in my arms. I just can’t get enough.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Its like Calling the Hippie Green

So way back when we invited our friends Julie and Ben over for dinner and they informed us that they were expecting! We talked and talked about preparing for a baby and had a very nice evening. Eli was weeks from being born and we all were in various mental states of readiness.

One of the conversations we had was about cleaning products. Julie had strong feeling about the toxic nature of most main stream cleaning products and they had just decided to get rid of or use up what they had left. At the time I thought it was a bit overkill, but I chocked it up to personal choice and moved on.

Fast forward to last Friday. Emily asked me to pick up some cleaning supplies if I went to the store. I told her I have been watching  alot of Planet Green tv and I had been thinking about using homemade products. We decide that I was going to do some more research and then we would make a decision.

It was surprisingly easy to find lots of information about how clean with simple things that you can find around your house and in what proportions you need to mix them. I made a list of what we did not have and off to the store we went.


We now clean with borax, vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, and salt. I even made recycled dispensers out of old jars. 


On Sunday we put our new chemicals to work. Emily and I were both happy with the way that things worked out. Everything was just as clean as if when we used our old stuff. Back when Julie first just brought up this idea I thought that she was just being a hippie. Now look at us. Just a bunch of dam hippies.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Sleepy Afternoon

Eli and I have to fend for ourselves for around ten hours every weekday. To keep myself from feeling overwhelmed I break up the time in two hour blocks. Get through five blocks and Mommy comes home.

I start out my day running. A quick walk with all the boys while Emily showers. If I try to do other things first Leroy gets pissed. You don't want him to piss him off. He will find something to get into. Then Emily takes Eli off to eat while I make breakfast for the two of us and I pack both of our lunches. Yes, I pack myself a lunch. I never know when I will have time to eat, much less make something. Then we all walk Mommy to the train, and the rest of us get a nice long walk. Thus begins my time blocks.

Block 1: Nap time. Almost always a 90 minute nap followed by confused looking around time.
Block 2: Play time! Reading time! Lets Make a Deal time! Offer a bottle and change the boy. Do errands?
Block 3: Feed Daddy. (Most often with one hand). Fussy playing and crying. Walk dogs. Change the boy. Offer bottle.
Block 4: Long nap. More playing. Lots of eating.  Change the Boy. Do errands?
Block 5: Eli has lost most of his fight by now. Some playing. A lot of just laying around. Some crying. A lot of cuddling and multiple small naps. Walk the dogs. Go meet Mommy at the train!

After all this fun I make dinner and do things that take two hands. I find cooking relaxing so this is a good activity for me while Emily had some Eli time before he passes out for the night. 

Today we spent most of Block 4 on a long walk and playing at the dog park. Much fun was had by all. This also made the afternoon go by fast.


Sleep from Kenton Kodner on Vimeo.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Vices

We all have things that help us get through the day. Some of us like to start out the day with a bottle. Some need to end the day with one. I will let you all sort out the details.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

"The time has come...

the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."


Emily is going back to work full time as of this Thursday morning. I am now officially Mr. Mom. We are going to miss her, but I think that she is going to miss us more.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

My new holiday

Today is my first Mother's Day. Eli helped make me and his grandma eggs benedict for breakfast. I think his role was mostly supervisory. He also gave me some perfume which is quite thoughtful since because of him I lately mostly just smell like breastmilk and regurgitated breastmilk.

His father surprised me with the kind of surprise only I could really love. While I was at work last week he organized our linen closet--complete with labeled clear plastic bins. I went to find my hair dryer there the next day and found the loveliness accompanied with a sweet note. He once gave me a trash can for a birthday present. Many people tried to talk him out of that present, and I bet this present would sound similarly misguided to others. I couldn't have been more excited about the trash can and couldn't have been more excited about the closet though. He knows me so well.

If all of that wasn't enough, my dad also made a special lunch for me and the mother of his children (my mom). Today was just wonderful.

We came to Kansas City for the weekend mostly because I NEEDED to meet my friend Megan's little Milo and thought Eli should make his Kansas City rounds while he was still an itty bitty baby. Speaking of him being an itty bitty baby--he grew out of some of his 0-3 month clothes today. It's very upsetting for me seeing as how I'm still due two more weeks of him being 0-3 months old. I've decided to blame it on his big cloth diapers. During his Kansas City adventures he has proven once again that there is no scheduling this guy. He was completely content and happy when I though he'd be fussy and completely fussy when I thought he'd be happy. He likes to keep us on our toes. He's currently swaddled up and sleeping on the ottoman in front of me. He fell asleep all by himself for the second day in a row in that same location. This has not happened before and we are quite impressed with his brilliance. Also, we may need to steal this ottoman just in case the behavior is ottoman-specific.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Flip Flop


We are officially on flip watch. We have been having lots of belly time lately and Eli's neck is getting so strong. It is kinda scary. The thought of him moving. I too flip flop. I go from cheering him on to wishing he could just stay so small and sweet forever. He wants to move so bad. His eye get so wide and he gets so frustrated when he can't do it on his own. I will keep you all update when the flip happens. They grow up so fast.