52: a portrait a week | Week 10

He rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time today. I think he had a little help from gravity, and it probably won't happen again for a while, but we cheered and clapped all the same. Such a big boy.

52: a portrait a week | Week 9

I'm a week late on this, I know.

But I have a fantastic excuse, and it's called Ralph grew 2 teeth and it was painful for the entire household.

Poor baby was so sad, despite the happy look on his face.

So, portrait number nine gets an instagram photo one week too late. Oh well.

this is what happened this morning.

All the bad things that have happened today can be traced back to postpartum hair loss. A middle finger to you, postpartum hair loss!

Ryan woke up this morning to a flooded kitchen.

Our shower drain had been running slowly for days, and we both knew it was because giant clumps of my hair have been swirling down the drain every time I shampoo. Then, yesterday, I noticed our kitchen sink was running slowly. By evening it had completely stopped draining. Two trips to Home Depot and one dirty, smelly, silty sink later, we gave up trying and resolved to call a plumber in the morning.

But then Ryan showered this morning, and we're pretty sure the giant hair clog that was hanging out somewhere in the pipes decided to make sure nothing was going to drain AT ALL. So, all of his shower water came up the kitchen sink, and overflowed onto the floor and the counters and even into some of my cupboards.

And we were like, Aw man, postpartum hair loss. This is your fault! Middle finger.

Ryan took a half-day from work so he could help me clean up, and once the plumber left we actually ended up having fun while we washed piles of drippy wet dishes and bleached the floor and counters. You know, the kind of fun where you're totally annoyed at the same time. Thankfully there were only a few losses, like the cardboard box our garbage bags came in and a box of swiffer sheets, which, for me, is quite tragic since I use those suckers every day to wipe up millions of hairs. (MIDDLE FINGER.)

The upside of all of this is that we're going out for supper tonight. I've done enough dishes for one day.

And now you've read an entire blog post about a drain clog caused by postpartum hair loss. I'm sorry.

what's happenin'.

1. I've been a serious winter grump the past week or two. Turns out all I needed was three solid hours of uninterrupted window shopping. Ralph and I hit up Michaels, Target, and the party store today, and that sweet wee babe of mine slept the whole time. I got to browse the makeup aisles, ponder the new hand soap scents (Mrs. Meyers radish??) ((It's good.)) and put numerous bags of Easter candy into my cart. And then put them back on the shelf. And then put two bags back into the cart. Peanut butter eggs and Cadbury minis made the cut.

2. Guess what else I saw at Target. An old man in the bleach aisle, holding onto a big container of animal crackers. The kind that come in the big plastic teddy bear tub. Isn't that the sweetest thing?

3. As I write this, Ryan and I are sitting on the couch with that bag of Cadbury minis between us. We're watching The Artist. I like Peppy Miller the best. Ryan likes the dog.

4. Ralph has grown two little teeth this past week. The first one popped out last Thursday and the second one showed up yesterday. I knew it was coming, since he's been drooly and chewing on everything he can get his hands on lately, but I was still completely shocked when I felt it for the first time. He's been so sad about it all, and I can't say I blame him. I'd be annoyed too if people kept putting their fingers in my mouth.

5. Lately I can't stop thinking about our little life just a year ago. I think it's the changing of seasons. Last year at this time it was spring in that little apartment.

6. Can you tell it's the middle of March? This post has nothing to do with anything. Eh. I'll be back tomorrow with something more interesting. Hopefully.

Ralph giggles, and all is right with the world.

I remember it being around the 6-8 week mark of Ralphie's little life that I started to experience a slight case of the baby blues. I was so tired, and all Ralph did was eat, sleep, and cry. I was sort of afraid my baby didn't like me? And then, suddenly, finally, he started to smile. That was all it took for the chaos in my new mom brain to level out. His gummy grin boosted my confidence, and I did everything I could to get him to do it again and again and again.

Yesterday was dumb. It was the kind of day where nothing was going right. I was stressed, and Ralph was fussy and didn't want to nap. By the time Ryan got home I was totally crying. He kindly took over the fussy baby situation so I could have a minute to myself and clear my head -- and then I heard Ralph's first real belly laughs coming from the living room.

Magic.

{I was on the phone with my mom when this happened, so please enjoy listening to me try to explain to her what was happening, while also trying to watch my baby laugh for the first time, while also trying to record the whole thing on Ryan's phone. I say AWWW a lot. It's totally fine.}

the weekend

Boooooo it's Monday. It hurts extra this week.

We had such a good weekend. Our days were full and we got enough done that at the end of Saturday and Sunday, Ryan and I both felt we earned a spot on the couch with a beer and a brownie. Oh yes, don't mind if I do eat a Reeses peanut butter egg after that brownie, because I walked my buns off today. That sort of thing.

On Saturday we went to some thrift stores and other shops we used to frequent when we lived downtown. We grabbed lunch and some good cheese at the public market, and Ralphie had a nice people/ceiling watching session from inside his stroller. Ryan put Ralph inside his coat while we walked outside for a quick second, and then the kid fell asleep in there, so Ryan had to walk around everywhere looking like a shoplifter.

Sunday was full of little projects around the house. I baked some banana bread. My recipe makes 4 loaves, but I only had one banana, so I asked Ryan to cut down the recipe to only make one loaf. But, turns out, HE MADE A MATHEMATICAL ERROR AND I CAUGHT IT. But not until after I had followed the recipe the wrong way, so we both looked like fools. After it all happened I yelled to him, "I'M GOING TO TWEET ABOUT THIS!!" But then I forgot, so I'm blogging about it instead.

And now it's Monday. Another big snow storm is on it's way, which means more staying indoors, and I'm counting on the flowers on my table to prevent me from going completely bonkers.

52: a portrait a week | Week 8

Ralph at 18 weeks::

Likes: his ball, his swing, a warm bath, getting his diaper changed, playing with dad, squealing, music (kid's got a beat, for sure) covering his eye with his pudgy little hand while nursing, eating, and sucking on everything.

Dislikes: his carseat, getting out of the bath, getting a diaper put back on (I think there's gonna be a lot of bare bum time this summer) and don't you dare try and stick his arms through the arm holes in his shirts, or you will hear from him.

Tricks: reaching, grabbing, rolling over, scooting, giggling, sleeping allllllmost through the night, and being the sweetest, ever.