Noah News Weeks 23 & 24

We're back! Let's jump right in...

Baby Boom - Anyone else love that movie with Diane Keaton where she moves to the sticks and makes her own baby food? Well, I started off strong on the baby food making train; avocado & sweet potato were easy! Then we went for pears. I bought them but threw in a jar just as back up. Guess what? The pears rotted and the jar got used. I am not sure I am cut out for stage 1 baby food making. The amount of time it takes to plan and make the food is just not quite working with my other SSAHM (that's super stay at home mom) jobs. I am hoping to do some baby led weaning so hopefully we won't be on purees for an extremely long time and I definitely intend to make him well balanced meals as he grows. I also might get a little more interested when we get to meats...something about canned, pureed, turkey dinner gives me the willies.

Noah investigating his apple wedge. It was a tasty little teething buddy for an afternoon.

1-2-3 strikes you're out - Yep, I was not at the ole ball game on Giants opening day this year. Since I have moved to SF, Scott has been kind enough to let me crash his opening day tradition with his friends. This year, I had to miss it. We tried to figure out how I could make it and came up with two options:

1. Bring along Noah - Pro: no need to find a babysitter and no need to pump (see #2). Con: I wouldn't be able to imbibe and I don't think Noah would find the opening day ruckus very fun.
2. Get a babysitter for Noah - Pro: I could go and have fun without concern for the well being of the littlest Retchless. Con: I would have to pump at least twice while there.

In the end I realized that pumping at a bar and baseball stadium were really not for me, and bringing Noah wasn't going to lead to anyone truly enjoying themselves (least of all the Peanut). SO, I sat on the bench. It was disappointing, but, as I told Scott, if there is a reason to miss out, Noah is a damn good one.

We played with our cousins Tanner and Kayla which was much more our speed!

It's a Date - Scott and I put a date on the calendar about a month ago to truly go out for a date night. This involved handing over bedtime routine, getting dressed up, and going to San Francisco for a nice, leisurely meal. 

Out in public without spit up on me (I have peas and spit on my back as I type this so it is kind of a big deal)!

Let's break it down:

• Getting ready when you have a puker means wearing a robe until you are one second from being out the door. Good news when you have a tendency to change 25 times as there is no time for that.
• The amount of time it takes to get back into "mom" mode when you return is about 1.1 seconds. I kicked off my heels, threw on my robe and had my boy in my arms in about 1 minute (more on why shortly).
• Actually looking at my husband was wonderful. Being on baby duty means we are often just passing off Noah or tasks without truly engaging. It was nice to sit across the table from one another and just talk and take each other in.
• Food is good. We both say the #1 thing we miss about living in SF is the food. We used to try a new restaurant every weekend and could pick up and head to our favorites without a second thought. Now it requires a lot  more planning but it was SO worth it. We went to Cotogna and enjoyed our food and wine without interruption (unless you count the guy sitting 6 inches away at the next table...I have no idea how the people dining with him didn't walk out).
• Pretty much nothing went as planned. And guess what, Noah was ok! I am a control freak. Like, it is a pretty big problem. I like to have things go smoothly, and my way, so leaving Noah's bedtime routine to someone else gave me heart palpitations. BUT, I know it is good for him, Scott AND me, so I left a lovely instruction manual and headed out the door. Well, the instructions got lost, Noah didn't take his bottle, he slept on top of his sleep sack, and so on and so forth. When we got home he was a pretty pissed off baby but no worse for wear. I gave him a bottle, got in a few wonderful snuggles, and took my drunk (seriously, when is my tolerance coming back?) self to bed. This was an important lesson for me. Things might not go as planned, but he is in wonderful hands and I know they would never let anything truly go wrong!
• Overall, it was a wonderful evening and as soon as we got up the highway a bit I was able to relax and not worry about Noah. We didn't even call to check in! I am already looking forward to our next one.

We selected the Titolo mainly for the description (the wine ended up being very tasty). I like that it was a "labor of love - the one and only wine that she makes" since Scott is my one and only!

Sit and Be Fit - Noah is making some serious sitting progress. His friend, Max, from our new parent group is an excellent sitter and one day I sat Noah down next to him and it was like he had been doing it forever. He definitely can't be left alone to sit yet, but he is getting stronger by the day!

Peek a Boo - I am not sure if I have blogged about Noah's obsession with playing peek-a-boo. He is the initiator and is the one covering his face (have I mentioned my child is a prodigy?). Noah loves to put every possible fabric item on his head (blankets, burp cloths, clothes). If he is playing, he will put it on his head, put his arms out to the side, and act like he can't get it off. Then when you pull it off he gives a huge smile and repeats. If you ignore him long enough he takes it off himself which is why I am so impressed at the little game he has created for himself.

Where's Noah?!

There he is!

Vacation - I am going to do a separate post on our vacation because this post is already really long and I have equally as much to say about our first family vacation.  Let's just say that it had the good, the bad, and the ugly all mixed in.

Playing at the airport before take off (his new favorite toy is my wallet).