30 Minute Meals My A**

All I'll say is, even though she may be my girlfriend on TV, Rachel Ray is full of crap. In setting off on a delicious looking 30 minute meal (downloaded nicely from the food network web site), even having all the ingredients (well, all the ones I planned on using), and thinking "It'll be fun to see how long this takes, 30 minutes on TV is probably like 40 minutes max in real time..." I have now decided those food network PA assistant cooking types MUST do a huge amount of work.

In fairness to Elizabeth who made this 30 minute meal a couple of weeks ago in about 35 minutes, it can be done (though I've never seen such frantic washing, cutting, chopping, mashing, and creative time keeping from Elizabeth before or since).

And so, 30 minute Smoked Turkey Shepherd's Pie in exactly...

1 hour and 2 minutes.

30 minute meals my ass.

Some Anniversaries

Four years ago today... Thomas proposed at a Lyle Lovett/Bonnie Raitt show at Ravinia.

Three years ago today... We moved to a tiny married-student apartment in NYC with all our belongings (except those stored back in Chicago) packed inside our rental car.

One year ago today... Carter was conceived (that’s all the detail I’m providing on that one).

And... In ten days it will be five years since Thomas said he didn’t want to date me.
He keeps hoping I’ll forget this one, but aren't we glad he changed his mind?

More New Skills

This has been a big week for Carter's development. In addition to grabbing, he has started sucking on his pointer and middle fingers. We're so proud. He, however, refuses to be captured sucking his fingers on camera, so here's a pic of him holding on to his saw. He quite enjoyed holding and shaking his saw and tape measure this afternoon.
 

He Reaches...He Grabs!

After months of anticipation, weeks of watching him wildly flail his fisted-hands about, Carter finally put it all together - he looked, he reached and he grabbed! (Three times in a row, in fact.)
Yes, it is that exciting.

Baby Talk

Carter has been getting more and more vocal in the last several weeks, but we only just managed to catch him "talking" on video. Here's a short clip of his baby talk at three months.

Daddy Phil's Departure

My dad left today. It was really nice having him in town, and we hope to see him again very soon!

The overalls that Carter is wearing were his Uncle Patrick's back in the early 80's

 

Patrick's Babysitting, cont.

And another pic. Carter and Kirstin, hard at work!

Patrick's Babysitting

Here is a pic from the day that Patrick babysat Carter. Patrick took him to Kirstin's office. (Thanks for the pics, Kir!)

Back to the Grind

To help my transition back to work, I'm working 4 days a week initially. I'm planning to take Wednesdays as my day off most weeks so that I only have to work two days in a row (though the day will vary depending on what Carter needs and what I have going on at work) . Yesterday was my first Wednesday off. It was also Carter's first day at daycare. Since I was off, I just took him in for a few hours to get us acclimated. As the daycare director suggested, I kept myself busy and distracted while he was there. Dad and I ran some errands, took a nice bike ride up the Hudson and had lunch. Carter seemed to do just fine.

Today was my first real day back in the office. I was very busy, and I am glad to be back working, but it is actually so much harder to be a couple of miles away and not be with Carter than it was to be a couple thousand miles away earlier in the week.

Thomas and I took Carter to "school" before work this morning, but he didn't do a full day at daycare because his Daddy Phil picked him up early for some grandaddy-grandbaby time. Carter was all smiles when I got home from work.

School makes Carter very, very sleepy...

A Report on My Trip to Seattle

It felt good to be flying alone, wearing a suit, running a meeting, drinking a martini, eating fancy food and sleeping in a king size bed (alone). It seemed a little weird just how natural it felt being sans baby. And then I remembered that I had about 28 years of life before he was born, so of course it felt normal. But I still woke up on Carter's schedule - every 2-4 hours at night. It certainly helped knowing that Carter was well taken care of by Thomas and my dad. I got back from Seattle very late Tuesday night and was glad to get back to my house-o-men.

Here are a few things I learned on my trip:

• If you just think about it hard enough, a refrigerator will appear in your hotel room. Like magic.
• Regardless, hotels are happy to cool things for you. In fact, they have claim checks specifically for this purpose - the claim checks even have check boxes to indicate whether your item is in the refrigerator or freezer.
• It doesn't matter if they are women, or if their bathrooms have signs advertising a Mom's Room. It is too weird to ask your client if there is a room where you can lactate.
• It is counter-productive to manually pump your breasts in a tiny airplane lavatory while experiencing mild turbulence.
• If you don't really get to know your breast pump bag, you will mistakenly believe that you've lost your battery power source, resulting in said manual pumping and making a tough situation even more stressful. Not to mention encouraging your husband to make fun of you when you find your "lost" power was with you all along.

A Moment of Respect

I am a little sad right now as I think upon the future, and the fact that Carter no longer lives in a Solar System with nine planets. The loss of Pluto from the top tier pantheon list of official planets tugs at the heart strings and upsets the hand-me-down path of old books, stories, and posters. When Carter flips through dad's old space books and asks why they are all wrong, what can one say? He will observe, "Dad, why is Pluto listed as a planet in this book? Everyone knows it is just a trans-Neptunian spherical body orbiting the Sun without even sufficient mass to clear its own orbital path of celestial debris...."

So sad, so sad.

Tonight, I shall raise a glass in honor of our fallen planet brethren, Pluto. I urge you all to do the same.

A Study in Comparison

First, allow me to say that Carter has survived his first day sans mom. Grandpa Phil did an excellent job and Carter went to sleep just like normal and is still asleep 2 hours later.

Now, I'd like to offer a small observation and comparison of last night with mom, dad, grandpa, and baby, with tonight with only dad, grandpa, and baby (disclaimer: NO JUDGMENTS SHOULD BE IMPLIED OR ASSUMED, EITHER MORAL, CULINARY, OR OTHERWISE).

Last night dinner (with mom):
Sea Bass breaded in Japanese Bread Crumbs and Sesame Seeds
Sauteed Kale and Spinach
Cucumber Salad
and for Carter, farm fresh, piping hot (well, body temperature) milk of breast

Tonight's dinner (dad's in charge):
Steaks on the grill with veins of fat
Baked potatoes with butter (fat)
an encore performance of T setting food on fire (see video post earlier) - the food is a bacon, mushroom, peppercorn, brandy, and heavy cream sauce (for the potatoes with fat and the steak with fat)
and for Carter, frozen then thawed, lukewarm, 2 week old breast milk from a plastic container (contains fat).

If Elizabeth doesn't come home soon we'll all be dead from blocked arteries (though I think Carter will be fine).

No judgments, just information for those care. Kind of makes you want to say "hmmmmm."

Carter's Babysitter

My dad got to town late last night. He's going to be staying with Carter during the day while I am in Seattle on a business trip. Dad got to experience a full day with Thomas, Carter and me today, but starting tomorrow, he's on his own with Carter...

Wish Carter and his Daddy Phil luck in their days together! I think they'll be great together. I just hope that Carter does okay taking a bottle for two days. He's never had more than two bottles in a row. I'm off Monday afternoon and will return late Tuesday night.
 

Travelin' Baby

I found this fun site and thought it would be neat to track Carter's travels this way (my maps and pins still exist for those who remember them, but this is more appropriate for a 21st century baby). Eventually I'll figure out how to link to it from here and/or the web site, but for now, here it is. (Airports and airport connections not included....) I'm pretty excited he has visited California but has yet to visit New Jersey; we'll hold off as long as we can (no offense to the Kimbros intended). T



create your own visited states map

Carter Does Brooklyn (and Chinatown)

Last night, Carter had his first trip to Brooklyn when we went for a barbeque at my friend Kim's apartment. While he was surprised that we were voluntarily taking him to a borough, he did very well. After everyone had a chance to see him, he slept soundly on the kitchen floor.





Then this morning Patrick and Kirstin took us to dim sum in Chinatown as an anniversary treat. He really enjoyed the hustle and bustle.

End of Leave

Tomorrow is the last day of my maternity leave. I can't believe that it is over already. Monday I jump right back into work with a business trip to Seattle. I get back from Seattle late Tuesday, and I've got a fridge full of breastmilk to get Carter through the two days. It will be my first overnight away from Carter, but also possibly my first chance to sleep a full eight hours in a very long time! My dad is coming to NYC to stay with Carter while I am away, which will make me feel much more comfortable than if he had his first daycare experience while I am away. He will start daycare on Wednesday when I am back.

I'm feeling excited to get back to work but also quite sad that I won't be spending nearly as much time with Carter. I have arranged to go back to work part-time to ease the transition, so that should help. I'm going back four days a week, so Carter and I will still have one day to ourselves to go to our mom's meetings, or to our yoga class, or to do other fun mommy-baby things. I'm planning to take Wednesdays as my day "off" so that most weeks I will only have two days at work at a time. I'll keep you posted on how it is going - especially those of you who have specifically asked me to be your working-mom guinea pig!

Uncle Time

Today Patrick stayed with Carter for a few hours while I went into the office to prepare to go back to work. Both times I called to check in, Patrick had Carter napping - alone. This is much better than I do myself, so it seems that Patrick had the magic touch today!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our three year anniversary. To celebrate, we drank the last bottle of wine from our wedding. After three years, two moves and several instances of broken air conditioning, it wasn't terribly good, but it was still drinkable (more so the further we got into the bottle). We also had treats from Billy's Bakery and scheduled a couple's massage for this weekend. What we really need is a couple's nap, but money won't buy naps, so a massage seems like the next best thing!

Sniffing the cork...

More Weekend Pics

Even with all the travel and late nights, Carter slept really well (or, as good as usual, which is the best we can really hope for on the road). I attribute this partially to the fact that we take sleep wherever we can get it.








Despite the most raucous, recurring case of hiccups I have ever seen,







a slight sunburn,












and perhaps a bit of a hangover,











we had a good time!








I was particularly happy with the hot tub at the hotel. I hadn't been in one in over a year!

Wedding Pics

This weekend we went to the wedding of our friends Mikael and Sally in Santa Barbara.

The reception was held in Sally's parent's backyard. It was a beautiful wedding.

I've known Mikael since Jr. High, so there were lots of familiar faces at the wedding - high school friends, college friends and NYC friends. It was a bit mind blowing to have acquaintances from so many parts of my life all gathered in one place and it was a great opportunity for lots of people to meet Carter. (Plus, we stopped in LA on the way home so that Carter could meet friend Mike Kass.)

Carter was terrific. It was a bit touch-and-go during the ceremony, but he was quiet through the important parts, and he slept in his wrap for most of the reception - even while we were dancing!

But he was much more lively at the post-wedding brunch, where he was passed around quite a bit. Carter loved playing with Aarti's curls and was quite the flirt with her!

We're Home!

We got home from our trip about 2am last night. It was over a 12 hour travel day, so we are quite tired today - especially poor Thomas who had to get up and go to work this morning.

The wedding was lovely, the weather was beautiful and the travel wasn't as bad as it could have been. Unlike the poor Kimbros who were flying (internationally) on the day of the increased security, we had a full 24 hours to prepare (mentally and in our packing). Security flying out of JFK took an hour - much better than we expected, and LAX took no time at all yesterday. The worst part was not being able to take water on the plane. Breastfeeding makes me so thirsty and those tiny cups of water don't do the trick on a five and a half hour flight. I was parched. The other thing I was desparate for on the way out was chapstick, but by the time we flew back on Monday they were allowing chapstick, lipstick and solid deoderant again.

I'll post pics of the trip tonight once we get Carter to bed.

Headed West

We're off to Santa Barbara in the morning for the wedding of friends Mikael and Sally, so we'll be offline until Tuesday. Wish us luck in the security lines!

Baby Wrap

As Carter gets heavier (and less happy with strolling), I've been trying to find a way of wearing him that doesn't wreak havoc on my back or shoulders. I've met a lot of city moms that rave about the wrap style carrier, so we got some fabric and I found some instructions online. I carried Carter in the wrap for several hours today and he was quite happy in it - and my back felt great.

I highly recommend this method of baby wearing. So, if you happen to be in need of a way to wear a baby (or know someone who does), let me know. We somehow ended up with enough fabric to make 4 wraps!

The Name Game

Carter and I were at our mom's group today and were sitting next to another woman and baby. I'd seen the woman there the first time we went when Carter was 2 weeks old, and I remembered her because her son's name is also Carter. We got to talking about how we named our babies, and I mentioned that Carter is named after his grandfather. She said that her son's middle name was also after his grandfather - Philip. So there we were. Two moms and our Carter Phil(l)ps. We both agreed that it just has a nice ring to it.

But our last name really completes it more beautifully! ; )

Night Out

Last night Thomas and I went to see Mother Courage in Central Park. The show was a good hour too long and renewed Thomas' bewilderment at the theatre community's fascination with Brecht, but it was cool to see Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline perform live.

Between finding someone to watch Carter (thanks, Joo!), rushing to get him to bed, fretting that he would wake up, dashing to the park just in time for the show and dashing home again as soon as it was over, going out sure isn't what it used to be!

New Pajamas!

Here are some pics of Carter in his new pajamas. We actually received these as a gift a while ago, but they are 3-6 month size, which Carter has just started wearing. He's still squeezing in to some of his 0-3 month size clothes, but they won't fit for long! He grew 3 inches in his first four weeks of life, but his second month he slowed down and only grew an additional 3/4 of an inch. Even so, (not surprisingly) he's still in the 99th percentile in length (almost 25 inches) and in the 75th percentile in weight (about 13 pounds).

Yes, the green bottoms are baby boxers. So cute.

Lazy Weekend

This was one of our precious few obligation-free weekends of the summer. We did little other than cooking, napping and taking walks. I fail to understand why people won't move out of the way when they hear a stroller with a crying baby coming up behind them. Then again, I fail to understand why most people walk so slowly to begin with...



Here's a pic of Thomas and Carter that I took this morning. Carter is wearing a onesie that Thomas bought for him in DC on his first business trip after Carter was born. Thomas has been taking more business trips lately, but they have only been day trips so far. In fact, he's off to North Carolina for the day again tomorrow.

Our Day

Well, he didn't dance today, but we had a good day nonetheless. Carter was particularly good in our yoga class. He has a tendency to need attention during the poses that I love the most and to be a perfect angel during the poses I'd rather avoid! After yoga we went for a nice walk. When I was pregnant, I had the idea that we would take lots of nice long walks by the Hudson. Today, ten and a half weeks in, was the first time we actually did it!



You can see that Carter really appreciated the nice views!


















But he perked up a little while later when we were singing a song about... well... a song about boobies - his favorite topic.

















And on the way home from the river, we found a beautiful park just a few blocks from our apartment.

Carter Retrospective

For those who missed his first 2 months, here they are (edited for time and content...).

Cooking with Fire

In case you were wondering what I'm doing with a small child sleeping just upstairs...

Here it is...

Our blog. For the time being, we're keeping our website as well, but the blog will be updated more often. More posts to come just as soon as Carter does something interesting.

Come on, Dance, Baby, Dance!

Thomas' First Post

T here, this is hard work, all this posting.