A day in life without photos

Most days, I am without a doubt glued to some kind of image-capturing device. Whether it's my smart phone, digital camera, or anything else we have in the house, I usually snap at least one photo of any of my favorite subjects (which my friends on twitter or instagram will attest that it's either food or my son, usually the latter). Today was not one of those day. Today, my camera was on my desk at home and my iPhone was tucked away in my purse while Daniel and I enjoyed the company of my mom's visit.

We enjoyed a much-welcome break in the heat wave we've been experiencing throughout Southern California and visited a local mall for lunch and some light shopping. She bought Daniel two adorable new outfits for when he fits 12 months and wanted to buy me an outfit too... I just couldn't bring myself to let her. Not that I didn't want the new clothes, because God KNOWS I do. I've just been feeling so blah about myself lately and I want to change that. Physically, I'm not where I want to be post-baby and I'm not ready to buy any new clothes for this body I'm not happy with. I did let her buy me a few things from a couple local Asian markets (food and such) and we ran into our old manager and assistant manager from the San Diego store she works for and I used to work for. Our old manager is now the DM for Los Angeles while the assistant manager is now the head honcho at the store we went to today. Manager met the baby a couple times since we've seen him around, but DM met him for the first time (and truthfully, I haven't seen him since I quit 7 years ago). As strange as it is knowing my mom is a grandmother, he said it's even weirder to know that I'm a mother now. Ha! He then proceeded to fill my son's precious ears with such blasphemous ideas, such as giving me attitude like I had when I was a 20 year old. Psh.

Hahaha. What an interesting day it turned out to be with that reunion.

When we got back to the humble abode, we just enjoyed watching Daniel have a happy day, smile and laugh and basically be the most adorable human being on the planet. I was supposed to go to San Diego with her tonight to spend some time with my family while Gary is away... until she found mold growing on the wall in the back of the cabinet next to the dishwasher this morning. Half of the kitchen is on the living room floor, where my brother would have slept while Daniel and I snoozed in the guest room he's currently occupying. Plus, a construction zone with potentially harmful mold spores floating around is no place for a 9 month old.

Photo courtesy of my brother's Facebook

I'm hoping that is fixed by next weekend, so we can visit them like I wanted to. I'm looking forward to my good friend Stacy's gender reveal baby shower, I'm rooting Team Blue hardcore but would welcome another future girlfriend for Daniel if that's the case! Haha! (just kidding, Stacy!!!) I have several things to share with her, including a modest stash of prefolds I'll be lending her until my next baby go-round, as well as a test drive of our small collection of baby carriers. It's always nice to be able to touch and feel and see a product before you actually purchase something. I think this is especially true for quality baby carriers, as they're usually an investment.

And with that, I turn off my music-fueled me time to join my sweet prince in our family bed.

Wednesday

He really does the most adorable, random things.

You know you're a mom when...

My heart.

With a side of crickets.

Holy cow! HELLO! What a jam-packed, completely crazy couple of months we've had! I didn't completely forget about this blog, believe me, but it seemed like every waking moment (both mine AND Daniel) was spent playing, eating, crying, and (primarily for me) job hunting. Still no go on the last little tidbit, but I fear not and enjoy the fact that I've spent 8 MONTHS at home with my little monkey.

Thanks right, folks! Daniel is now 8 months young and gosh, the things he does. In the last few months, he's accomplished so much growth! Let's see...

1. At his 6 month appointment, he was still at 20 lbs. (his dad and I believe he probably gained several pounds between 4 and 6 months, but once he started moving around the weight dropped down to 20) but measured in at a whopping 29 inches! Still a big boy, that one!

2. He's been crawling for a little over a month now, pulling up on anything he can get his hands on (which he actually learned to do way before mastering how to crawl) and as of about 2 weeks ago, started balancing on his two feet completely unassisted! Look ma, no hands!

3. For the sake of updating, because I sucked at blogging over the last 3 months, his two bottom teeth have completely come through and now we look forward to his top two teeth to start poking through. So far, no sign of them though. Speaking of teeth, he's a voracious eater now too! His favorite foods are avocado, sweet potato, and his morning pureed apple or pears mixed with rice cereal (I plan on upgrading him to oatmeal or something with more substance once this box is gone, though). He also loves little baby crackers and cookies, but if he's anything like me, we have to keep those at a minimum.

4. Still babywearing, still co-sleeping, still nursing...

5. Daniel used his passport for the first time when we went to Japan earlier this month! He was fantastic both to and from our destination; he met both sides of his Japanese family and received many gifts. So many, in fact, that we had to pack an extra bag on the way home. His other grandparents enjoyed him greatly! While in Japan, he went to the beach for the first time. Lots of firsts during this trip!

6. Mama. That will be his first word. He's said it on numerous occasions, but not AT me. At least, I don't think he has... until today. When he was whining, all of the sudden I hear him saying "ma ma, ma ma", not his usual "ma ma ma ma". It was very obviously, and I think very deliberate too. WOW! My baby's first word... I'm honored <3

On Either Side of the Dividing Line

Since my dear Daniel was born going on 5 months ago, it has been increasingly difficult for me to even remember (or want to, for that matter) what my life was like without him. He seems so much a part of me every day that life without him is truly inconceivable. With that said, as he gets older, there are things I miss about the days before he was born. The biggest of that (very) small list being: sleep.

Growing like a weed.

It's 11:30 at night and I am importing photos from my iPhone to my computer in hopes to clear up some much needed space on my portable lifeline. I haven't imported photos since the little guy was about a month old and well, he's 4 months+2 days now and yeah, I'm looking at over 1000 photos! I'm sure the actual damage could be much, much worse. It's fun though, as each photo pops up on the screen as it's saved to my hard drive; reliving each photo and seeing how much he's grown in the last few months is such a treat. Did I mention that a couple weeks ago, I had him weighed at the WIC office and he clocked in at a smooth 17 pounds (he wasn't even 4 months old yet!). It's hard to believe considering how I feel like he's been this way forever but yes, he really did gain 10 pounds since his birth and yes, he has changed tremendously!