5 AM starts and feet eating - the journey of parenthood cranks up another notch...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  6 months and 18 days

Family,

Party Rock is in the house tonight...

And a good Sunday afternoon to you from the Queen City, where the Munchkin is PASSED OUT in the infant carrier on the couch as I type this.  Now into her third straight week with congestion, this weekend has seen the first appearance of yellow snot (yes, you're welcome for that visual) and more consistent use of the Nose Frida.  Granted, I still have a slight fear we're rattling her brain case with each usage, but the results (and the grossness factor of a A BILLION GILLION BASQUILLION) are undeniable, as she does breathe much easier (and sleep better) on the process completes.  The munch has also developed the CUTEST snore in the history of snores (I'm listening to it now - absolute music in my ears).  But I digress - let's recap the week, shall we?

An emotional start to every day - my 2 girls getting
their cuddles in before the work day kicks off.

And yes - that is my daughter ATTACHED
to my face.  VERY hygienic.

I come to you today as one TIRED individual.  Now first off, let's give Muffin Puffin all the credit in the world, as for the past 3 weeks she's woken up like a champ at 5 AM, pumped, gotten ready, and rolled out the door by 6:15 (after giving the munch a hug and kiss).  Sammy the Bull, however, has been quite content to lay in bed until 5:45, soaking up the sounds of silence and milking every last second of sleep before grabbing a quick shower and rousing K.  This week, however, the Bull decided to get up at 5 AM with JT, the idea being I could log a quick 2-2.5 miles in the morning before commencing the day.  Basically I was breaking my own rule - I'd told myself that, when Jenny went back to work, I would NOT try to run at 5 AM but instead would go for lunch time jogs.  However, as work has been (and I fear will consistently be) crazy and non-stop during the day lately, afternoon jogs were just not in the cards.  Consequently, I've been left with little choice but to get up early and pound the pavement for 20 minutes.  I'm only logging 2-2.1 miles in each clip, but no complaints from this guy - it's less wear & tear on my body, I am still getting some exercise, and it definitely gets the blood pumping in the morning!  In fact, the great part is that, by the time I fire up my laptop at 7:30, I've already had 2.5 hours of "me time" - the jog, getting ready, feeding the munchkin, and the drive to & from daycare.  Hard to complain about that!  Although I would be remiss if I didn't say that the new bedtime (9:15-10 PM) has been an adjustment.  I can't remember the last time I didn't see the end of a Sunday night or Monday night football game!  But hey - no complaints:  welcome to the new world order. :-)  Bring it on!

College photo #1:  GO KNIGHTS!  SO CLOSE to a victory of the Gamecocks this weekend.

Oh, and it should ALSO be noted that my wife continues to be more and more the beast of the East.  Now not only is she getting up at 5, pumping twice, working a full day, commuting uptown, and taking care of K in the evening, but she's also added a 30 minute workout to the daily routine!  That's right, sports fans - Jenny has now started the Jillian Michael's "Ripped in 30" program, which means that every night at 7:30 she can be seen running in place in the living room, throwing around weights and doing enough crunches on a nightly basis to put me in the hospital for a month.  She's doing this 4 nights a week AND then running on the weekends.  She's wasting away, I tell you!  I've told her that I'm going to mandate she eat 3 pizzas a week just to keep the calorie count even - talk about one hot mama (literally)!

Despite feeling a bit tired, the week has been absolutely FANTASTIC.  Munch Munch has had 2 BIG milestones this week.  First off - she's now finally eating her feet!  It was totally unexpected, but I had her on the changing table and suddenly WHA-BAM - the toes were being consumed voraciously. :-)  It should be noted that, despite her newfound love of eating her own feet, she does NOT like it when daddy stalks her with a camera to try and capture a photo.  In fact - quite the opposite.  The second she sees me walking her way with the iPhone, she instantly drops the foot and gives me the "not today, homey!" look.  Too cute.  But hey - eventually she does get distracted, as evidenced by the fact I do have a photo of the occasion. :-)

Also, we started veggies!  On Saturday we introduced the munch to peas, and can I just say WOW - that girl LOVES peas.  I mean, maybe she was a Brit in a past life, because she DEVOURED A QUARTER JAR like it was nothing.  I mean, seriously - WHO LIKES PEAS?  But as my mother said - if all you'd had was breast milk for the past 6+ months, you'd like peas as well.  Hard to argue with that logic...

College mascot #2 - GO VOLS.  But to quote one of my
buddies - "Dude, your man pajamas = epic fail."

The munch is actually doing much, MUCH better at eating her Oatmeal as well.  She had 4 tablespoons on Sunday, and she CRUSHED IT.  She now knows to open her mouth in advance of the spoon, and as long as the consistency is there, she will chew it before swallowing.  It has been really amazing to watch her learn this so quickly - such an adventure!

College #3:  GO HEELS!!!!  But seriously - 55-31 to ECU?

On item we are now having to monitor is that she very often has her head cocked to one side, regardless of whether she's in the bumbo, on the playmat, or (most noticeably) in the stroller.  Our daycare teacher says that she thinks she's got a sore muscle, so daddy's gonna have to start working overtime on that.  She's told us to keep all of her toys on one side so that she always has to reach for them, so we'll be implementing that practice ASAP.

As for the weekend itself, it was just perfect.  The weather was phenomenal, I got the chance to run, we watched some football, and we even FINALLY bought our dining room chairs (and bench!).  We had our first Hawthorne's pizza in quite a while, and we even made it out to Cracker Barrel on Sunday to meet my buddy Noel, his wife Erin, and their 6 month old son Walker.  It was great catching up with him, and the highlight was when K and Walker noticed each other and held hands!  Too bloody cute.

Nobody does it like mama does it!

K definitely woke up earlier than normal both days, so we've taken that as a sign that she's getting hungrier and consequently needs more solids.  We're ramping it up according to the instructions, and I do think it's helping.  She also slept basically ZERO this weekend (aside from the 11-12 hour sleeps during the night, of course), and I was shocked that she was even able to function.  Now that being said, she was definitely "Kicky Kickerson" by the end of the day.  But Jenny has this AMAZING ability to calm her instantly at night before bed.  Every time she puts her down, she instantly finds her thumb and then passes out - no drama.  No crying.  No fussing.  AWESOME.  

Jenny also has the ability to make her laugh like NO OTHER.  I actually hadn't heard her laugh until this week, but when Jenny starts tickling her and blowing on her belly, she just cackles.  Other people have tried this same routine, but she's not fooled - nobody does it like her mama. :-)

Stop lookin' at boys, K - we've talked about this...

Okay, this guy is gonna call it a wrap.  Chat with you next week, where I expect to have loads of stories about new foods and new discoveries!

Love,

Sam and Jenny