It was a good day and a bad day

This morning Allison made a test batch of homemade buttermilk pancakes. They were really good. Not sure if they were that much better than the "just add water" box pancakes or if it was worth the trouble, but they were good.

We gave Ben some pancake. He liked it. He ate about a 1/4 pancake. I decided this was the day to let Ben eat off of his monkey plate.
He really didn't need it and he barely used it, but I enjoyed watching him play with it.

Now to the bad part of my day. I'll start with a little background. I used to work at Babies R Us. I worked in the Baby Gear department (car seats, high chairs, pack-n-plays) and I was employee of the month. I install my own car seats and have done it for family and friends.

This afternoon I tried to install a Graco My Ride 65 car seat in a Hyundai Tucson. It kicked my ass. I was out there for over 2.5 hours. I tried latch in the center seat. Seat belt in the center seat. Latch in the passenger seat, seat belt in the passenger seat. NOTHING WORKED. The seat moved all over the place (2 to 4 inches) and that's just not gonna work.

Graco - what's up with you? What is this piece? Why do I need to use this lock thing with the seat belt? Time to rework that idea.
I had to give up. Tomorrow is another day. At one point I threw my hat onto the ground. Later on I kicked it clear across the garage. When I was starting my father-in-law asked if I needed help. I said "I got this, thanks. But if I'm not inside in 20 minutes, start bringing me beers." I was only kidding, but I think beer could have helped. It definitely wouldn't have hurt.

I'm going to test it out in my car tomorrow. Maybe the combination of car seat and car I'm working with just isn't going to work. Stay tuned for tomorrow's update, I'll let you know how the install went.

It's a Nightmare!!!!

Last night just before 9:00 Ben started screaming bloody murder for no apparent reason. He was sound asleep then !BAM! screaming at the top of his lungs. He has never done this before so I bolted from the office into his room.

When I got there he was in serious crying position, on his back, fists clenched over his head. Tears were streaming down his face, but here's the odd part...his eyes were closed. I immediately tried to comfort him. I put my hand on his chest and gently rocked him while putting his pacifier back in his mouth. No dice.

I turned off the baby monitor and picked him up. He was still screaming. Allison had come upstairs to see what was going on. I handed him off, but still he wouldn't wake up and he wouldn't stop screaming. We though "maybe he's teething, give him some Baby Orajel." He woke up when we did that and stopped crying for the moment.

He was awake for about a minute. He was doing the breathing after crying thing...it's so cute. After we baby orajeled him, we tried to get him right back to sleep. Bad idea. He closed his eyes again and immediately he went right back to crying and screaming. Maybe it's not his teeth. Maybe like in Vanilla Sky...

It's a nightmare!!!!

We woke him up again and let him calm down. It took a good 5 - 10 minutes. Finally he regained his composure and fell asleep in my arms. I put him down and tip-toed out of the room. I was nervous for the next hour or so, wondering if it would happen again. He was good for the rest of the night. I fed him a late night bottle at 11:30. He was happy and took 4 ounces.

I guess he had night terrors or a nightmare. That sucks. Poor little guy. I felt so bad for him. I wanted to cry for him. It was so unsettling to see him that upset with nothing I could do to help him and not knowing what caused it.

I thought to myself, how can a baby have a nightmare? What could a baby see that could scare him? It's not like we let him watch Nightmare on Elm Street. You have to be at least 3 yrs old to watch that one. ;) The more I thought about it, the more I could see it. The more I think about the animals in his books and the characters on TV, it's a wonder he gets any sleep at all. Some of these characters are scary looking.

First up: I'll Eat you up!
The monsters in Where the Wild Things Are have faces only a mother could love. And they say "Don't go, I'll eat you up" Yes, they say it in a loving way, but it CAN be heard as "DON'T GO!!! I'll EAT YOU UP!!!! AAARRRRGGGG" And not that he's seen the movie yet, but one of the monsters is played by Tony Soprano. AHHHHH The horror.
Next up: Those damn dirty apes.
Ben's room is covered with monkeys and he has multiple stuffed animal monkeys. How would you like it if this is what was watching you sleep?
Exhibit C : I'm from the streets yo!
He did watch Sesame for the first time last week and suddenly this happens...hmmmm

Having a bad trip? Don't watch this show. Maybe Ben thinks he was going to be a guest for the party in Brobee's tummy. Look at the DJ...never trust someone that smiles that much!
Last up because I have to get back to work. I could honestly do this all day...and if I got into altering pix in Paint I could do this all week. But the last one is a fashion nightmare. What if Ben was dreaming about this! Sandals with socks! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Stop.....shower time

Allison's Baby Shower was on Saturday. She had a great time and got plenty of wonderful gifts. We'll be going through them for weeks...if we were normal people that is. However, since one of us is not normal, all the gifts will be put away before this weekend hits.

I would like to publicly thank people now. I hope none of you embarrass easily, tens of people read this blog weekly...so...well, I'm not sure how to finish that sentence...so on to the thank yous.
Aunt Kristin: You had already earned Aunt status with your bruschetta, queso and guac, but after the shower you just cemented it ;) Seriously, thanks for throwing Allison a great shower. She had a great time and at least 1 guest said it was the best baby shower she'd ever been to. If throwing the shower, making the diaper cake and the clothesline game wasn't enough, you gave us a gift too! You are going to spoil us. Thanks for everything.

Grandmas Ellen & Betty Lou: Kristin's little helpers. Thanks for helping Kristin, it was a big job and couldn't be done alone.

Great Grandma Millie, Kristin's mom Jane, Papa Tony: Thanks for helping set everything up.

Uncle Mark: Thanks for the beer and picking up chairs and balloons and all the other things Kristin asked you to do. I'm sure she drove you a little bit crazy, but Allison (and I) really appreciated it.

Dona & David: Thanks for Baby C's Mets gear and item for the time capsule. Fingers crossed David Price rookie card. We'll find out in 18 years.

Thank you to everyone else who brought juice, soda, cups, plates and anything else that was brought. Allison will send out proper thank you notes soon, but thanks to everyone who came or sent a gift to Allison or Baby C.

I wasn't allowed to stay at the shower, so I don't know what went on, but I have an idea from Victoria's excellent pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.

Good eats: Looks like salads, quiche, breads, fruit, shrimp cocktail...
Dessert table: 4 types of cake and a cookie tray...NICE
Allison says "HEY!!! I"m out of cake over here!!!" Just kidding. It's time for gifts.
This is a really cute bear outfit with ears on top. Also I think Allison looks beautiful in this picture.
Dona & David's New York Mets gear. Hopefully they will stop sucking soon so I'm not embarrassed to put Baby C in them.
Baby C's bedding. Pretty cute monkey right? There is a matching lamp in there too.
A quick break for an artistic shot. Another great photo from Victoria.
Kristin's clothesline gift. It went around the whole room, that's awesome...but I've been meaning to speak to her about the mini-m&ms. She KNOWS that I cannot have chocolate! Why do you tease me so?
This bear came from Edible Arrangements. Apparently there is quite the custody battle going on over him. Everyone thinks he's very cute.
Lastly, the party favors. They are notepads that say Allison's Baby Shower w/date and a cute baby in a tub. Hope you enjoyed this post, the shower and thanks again to all of you who helped, attended, sent a gift, send well wishes and anyone who reads my blog.

I hope this kid likes Monkeys

We had some Babies R Us coupons that we needed to use, so Allison and I went to the store Saturday and picked up some monkey decals & a hamper. 

We decorated the wall, but it was not without incident. No, it's not "the story of the changing table part 2," this incident was between Allison and I.

Here is a photo of the finished project.

Allison and I had creative differences. Allison wanted to decorate one way, I wanted another. Allison set her first monkey and I said "No, that's ugly" to which she replied "You're ugly." I set up one of my monkeys. Allison said "No, that looks horrible" to which I maturely replied "You look horrible" One of us said, "No, that's stupid" any guess on the reply? That's right..."you're stupid!" This continued for a good five minutes.

I tossed around the idea of each of us setting up the wall our own way, then posting pictures and taking a vote, but I'm glad we decided to work together and compromise 

It was fun setting them up, but seriously, I hope Baby C likes monkeys or animals. They are all over his room. This last monkey was my idea. It was non-negotiable. Yes, that's right, I used up a "non-negotiable" on a stick on monkey decal. This is why I don't have nice things. ;)