Black Friday

This went better than I thought. I was at Target at 7am, hit Kohls and Walgreens then was home before 9:30! Elba was great! I couldn't justify waking him early so I figured whatever time he woke up we would go. I was hoping he would be up for his 3:30 feeding so I could get to the door busters. Missed those, but got a lot of great deals. I'm sure in other geographic areas it is worse, but I think that for the sale prices BF was totally worth it. I actually don't think it was much worse than a normal busy weekend of shopping. Traffic wasn't bad and people weren't acting crazy. Maybe being there for the door busters would make it worse too, but I'll try that next year maybe. :) Elba kind of nodded off a few times, but otherwise he was quiet, alert and not fussy at all. I think he actually enjoyed the change of scenery. Gosh, it sure is nice having the perfect baby! ;)

We didn't go to Chicago and I don't even want to talk about why, albeit to say that it wasn't what I wanted or planned. I really wanted to see my family. That sucked but maybe it was for the best; there was ice on the streets this morning and I would have been driving home tonight. I'm so scared of getting into an accident with Elba in the car. God help the person that ever hits me with child in tow. Do they grant you any kind of leniency if you lose it on someone when they have endangered the life of your infant?

Mitch and I put up the Christmas tree and decorations today. This is the last year for my miserable tree that has seen a few too many years. I've had the same tree since I was...18, maybe 19? It's time to get rid of some abused nick-knacks too. Really, I have stuff that my mom gave me when I left home. We agreed that after the holiday we are going to go clearance shopping for a new tree and new decorations. Mitch says that my stuff reminds him of chain saw massacre and it is scary. I don't know what he means really, but I'll agree it is old, outdated and desperately in need of replacement.

Big Boy!

I forgot to mention how at my Dad's I fell down the stairs with the baby. Sounds worse than it was. My feet just slipped as I was heading into the basement and I fell backwards, baby in my arms. He was fine, but without the support of my arms, oh man was my back and but sore!
Elba was a champ for his shots. They gave him two shots in the kiester and he sort of whined on the first one and then cried a little for the second, but it was no big deal. I'm fine too! :) Well, he was 26.5 inches, 15 3.5 lbs and 16.75 head circumference. That is in the 75-90th percentile for height. The doctor said he is as tall as a 6 month old! 25-50th percentile for weight and head.
Cereal feeding is going well. He is eating better and the consistency has been thickened to something between a paste and liquid.
Mitch and I heading to Chicago for Thanksgiving. It is crazy that just a year ago when we went I thought I'd miscarried and now this year, here we are in tow with our beautiful baby! I love him so much (both of them!) Mitch has to work Saturday morning so we can only stay for a short trip. I'm thinking about completely being insane and going early morning shopping on BF. There are a few bigger ticket items I'm looking for and Target seems to be my answer. 4am - oh gawd!

4 Months!

My Colorado trip was unlike any other I've taken before. Usually I get to relax the whole time and indulge in guilty pleasures; sleeping in, watching T.V., playing video games and hiking. This time there was no sleeping in, hiking or watching T.V. I played video games while Elba was down for his daytime naps. Otherwise, it was a stay-cation except I didn't have my usual means of entertainment and distraction for the baby and myself. Don't get me wrong; I had a good time. It was just different and I feel gypped! It was great to see Madison and she really enjoyed playing with the baby. I got to do two traditional things I would have otherwise missed this year; I carved a pumpkin (ghost in a window) and went trick or treating. Elba lasted the 4 or 5 houses in my Dad's circle before he puked all down the front of his costume and I took him back. I took the girls out later for a while. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. It is funny how it changes over the years. Trick or treating myself when I was a kid turned into driving down Cuba Rd. as a teenager with my friends, turned into costume clad drinking parties and gone full circle again to trick or treating. I like it! :)
Not much else to report Elba wise; he is rolling consistently from his front to back and occasionally back to front. Our next pediatrician appointment and booster shots are coming in two days. I'm curious to see how much bigger he's gotten. I have to go to the doctor this time. I'm scared I'll cry. I tried a little rice cereal last week but he kept pushing it out with his tongue. I'm gonna try once a week with this. We set up the jumparoo and he can sit in it, but his feet don't reach the bottom yet. I put my CD case underneath his feet, but I don't think he is quite ready for it yet.
Mitch and I have been fighting a lot over the allocation of housework and responsibility lately. I'm feeling like the majority shareholder here without the majority vote. Does that make sense? The thing that is worse is that I think he agrees but just doesn't want to do more. I feel like that is sort of the way it is and no amount of bitching and complaining is doing anything, despite that we are trying to talk about it, work it out and come up with a reasonable solution. I'm ready to threaten him with a chore chart and assigned days off for each of us!

Speaking of which, it is Sunday and Mitch is over at his Mom's picking Elba up (he spent the night with Grandma last night) and I need to hop to it and take advantage of the time to get stuff done quickly without distraction!