Fathers' Day

On Father's Day, we went to see the US National Soccer Team play against Jamaica in the Gold Cup. We invited our friends, Kaitlin and Ryan, to come along and, of course, the little man came too! Although we were a couple minutes late, due to horredous traffic in DC, we had a great time!

Happy Father's Day, Luke!  Go USA!!

The atmosphere at international games is so intense and fun. It was a first time experience for everyone except Luke. We often watch games like that on tv, and I can't believe how many people are there and how into the game they are. It's great! Augustine wore his protective ear muffs for most of the game, and without them I would have been in tears worrying about the future of my son's hearing. But with them, I didn't worry about a thing--they do a really good job keeping the noise out.



Augustine loved it!  He is wearing his ear muffs, clapping, and flirting with the little girl next to him!
{He kept reaching over and touching her hair--she was none too thrilled...}.

 A highlight of the game was when Luke's good friend, Clint Dempsey, scored a goal for the US. He and Luke have been friends since playing for the Revs together, and it was great to see him play in person, rather than on the tv. Unfortunately, in the rush to get out of the car and into the stadium, I forgot my camera in the car, but Kaitlin took a few pictures for us.


Luke loved sharing his passion with his Little Man.



Augustine fell asleep in the car on the way home at about 7:15 pm, and when we got home at 8 pm, I nursed him for about five minutes and put him peacefully into his crib. I think it was a Father's Day gift for Luke because he didn't get up until 7 am!! He has slept through the night only a handful of times, and most of those times, our day has started very early {think 5 or 5:30 am}...so this was a real treat! And one that I could really get used to!

Hope you all had a nice day celebrating with your Fathers and Husbands!

**Sorry for the poor picture quality--they were taken with a phone.**

A Change in our Bedtime Routine

Tonight, for the first time ever, Augustine went to bed for the night without nursing first.  After his bath, I gave him a small cup of whole milk to sip on while Luke read him stories, which he did drink.  When stories were over, Luke handed him to me so I could nurse him.  Usually, he can't wait to get into my arms for milk.  Sometimes we even have to forgo stories because he is too excited about his milk.  But tonight I had to coerce him to settle down enough to begin sucking because he was too excited aobut his book!  Instead of "mi, mi, mi," tonight it was just "boh, boh, boh."  So I quickly handed him back to Luke, and we all read a few more books together. 

And then we put him in his crib and gave him lots of hugs and kisses and his two "b's" {blankies}.  He gave us hugs and kisses and "pats," still requesting his book but mentioning nothing about milk.  After a final kiss and "goodnight," we walked out of his room.  He protested for about 30 seconds, which is typicaly even when he nurses before bed.  And then he was asleep.  I am curious about how tonight will go and if this is really the end of nursing before bed.  I think it is probably for the best.  After all, he has to stop nursing before bed at some point, and maybe he will start sleeping through the night now {fingers crossed--all of them!!}.  I am sure there will still be nursings before naps and for comfort during the day once in awhile, so I am not getting too emotional about the possibility of losing this nighttime nursing.

Ah, my little guy is growing up...

A Day in the Life of Augustine {and His Parents}



People love to blog and read blogs for a number of reasons. One of the many reasons I love to blog is to create an online diary, of sorts, for me to look back on in the future.  And it is in the interest of such that today's blog will be about a normal day in the life of Augustine and his parents {circa April 2011}.  Yes, it may be self-indulgent, and yes, you may find it boring. But this one is more for me than anyone else, so please feel free to stop reading at any time. Although, personally, I think it's a great life...



Prince Charming, indeed!



This morning, Augustine woke up at 7:15 am--pretty typical. This rarely happens, but I was actually already awake when I heard him {for the past 16 months, my alarm clock has had blue eyes and no snooze button}. Maybe "awake" is the wrong word--I was still in bed and contemplating rolling over and going back to sleep--so let's just say I was "conscious." Anyway, I was super excited to go get the little guy. I love to go into his room and crawl across the floor to his crib. He is usually standing up holding on to the rail, and when I get to his crib, I get up on my knees and give him hugs and loves over the rail. We love it.

We head downstairs for breakfast {after a quick stop in my bedroom to either:
*wake Daddy up if it's a decent hour on the weekend,
*give Daddy a kiss and let him go back to sleep if it's an indecent hour on the weekend,
*or wait for Daddy to finish getting ready so we can walk him to the door if it's a weekday}.

This morning we walked him out. He leaves the house around 7:25 am for soccer practice during the season.

After Luke leaves, Augustine eats his usual breakfast: YoBaby yogurt, a couple Cheerios, some blueberries {or banana}, and a few sips of milk.

After breakfast I usually change lil' A's diaper and sometimes get him dressed for the day {if we stay at home all morning, we often wait until after he gets up from his nap to dress him}.



Swinging and reading.



Then we hang out in the living room playing. Augustine always points to his cd player and grunts, so I turn on music. Our current favs are WeeSing and Jewel's Lullabies. We listen to music every morning. Augustine likes it when I hold him and dance with him for the first couple songs--he gets this cute, contented look on his face and often lays his head down on my shoulder.  He is such a sweet boy. 

While the music is on and Augustine is playing, I *try* to get some reading in. I may only read a couple of pages in an hour's time, but I always have a book handy.

We keep most of his toys in the living room, so he has a lot to play with--yet, he often prefers to play with things like the broom or the mop.  If it is nice outside, I prop open the doors to the screened-in porch so he can go in and out as he pleases.  He has a swing set with a swing and slide on the porch, as well as a hammock, all of which he enjoys.
It is not usually for me to be sneaking in and out of the kitchen to do dishes, unload the dishwasher, switch over loads of laundry, browse cook books for dinner planning ideas, etc. during this time.

We start looking at the phone around 9:45 am, in anticipation of Daddy's phone call--he always calls when he finsihes up with practice. We love it when he calls to say he is on his way home, though sometimes he has to head elsewhere, like coaching, meetings, chiropractor appointments, etc.  When Luke does come straight home after practice, I usually make us a cup of coffee, as he settles in in front of his computer to work.



Playdate at Cartwheels & Coffee



Sometimes Augustine and I make it to daily Mass in the morning; other times we go to a playgroup event; other times we go for a walk; other times we just stay at home.

Whatever the case may be, about four hours after Augustine wakes up for the day he is ready for a nap. It's usually around 10:30 am that he starts trying to nurse and gets a little "sensitive" {e.g. gets weepy when he falls, wants me to hold him non-stop, signs and says "mi" = milk}. So we head upstairs for another diaper change, and then he nurses to sleep. {I cherish those moments of cuddling with my baby as he drifts off to sleep}.

While A sleeps, I do all sorts of things: blog, read, clean, pray, take a nap if I didn't get enough sleep the night before, eat lunch with Luke if he is home, watch the Today Show, prepare for dinner, do laundry, etc.

After about 1.75-3 hours, Augustine gets up. I make him lunch, and we are back to playing. Sometimes we have friends over to play in the afternoon. If we make it out of the house, it is usually for a walk or a play date or to go shopping.  Depending on his mood and how busy we are, Augustine may or  may not nurse in the afternoon.  It is usually around 3:30 pm if he does and mostly just for comfort and down time.     

I like to start cooking dinner around 5 pm. Augustine likes to hang out in the kitchen playing with swords {spatulas, spoons, etc}, getting pans out from under the oven, and trying to get me to pick him up by standing at my feet--I usually give in because I just can't resisit that sweet face! {Cooking dinner with one hand can be tricky and frustrating though...}

Sometimes Luke works from home all afternoon and others times he has to go coach, but he is usually home by 5:30 pm. We eat dinner as a family, and then the boys go for a walk while I clean up and get a few minutes of down time to check Facebook, email, etc.

Augustine takes a bath each night around 6:40 pm. He is learning that it's a good idea to go "pee-pee" before ones gets into the bath, and he often does just that--sometimes in his potty, and sometimes on the bathroom floor! 

After bathtime, it's pajama time, book time with Daddy, and then milk time with Mommy.  Luke and I pray with him for a few minutes each night at the beginning of our nursing session, and then Luke leaves.  Augustine and I get more special quiet time.  After 10-15 minutes, I put my sweet baby in his crib.  He is usually awake, but he rolls right onto his tummy and goes to sleep {most the time}. 

Once A is in bed, Luke and I have a quick "hold session" in our room to talk about what we want to do that night.  Our evening plans typically involve ice cream and at least one of the following:  watching a show or movie, playing a game, reading, going on a date, having friends over.  Before we get onto these great endevours, we usually spent 30 minutes on our computers finishing up work for the day/catching up on email, etc.

We try to be in bed by 10:30 pm.  Ironically, Augustine's favorite time to wake up for a great deal of his short life has been 10:31 pm {or just as we are drifting off to sleep}.  Our nights are as unpredicable as they come.  Sometimes Augustine gets up once, sometimes he gets up two or three times.  But when he is healthy and not teething, it's usually just once these days.  I am on-call at night, but if I need help with giving Augustine medicine or making a decision, Luke is a great sport and helps. 

 

Then we get up in the morning and do it again...

We are truly blessed!