things of note.

This smile. 

 

 At the recommendation of a friend, I've discovered an alcohol delivery service in St. Louis.  I'm convinced this was mostly designed for parents.  (ps - get $5 off your first order and have a date night in using code "kgwcp")

 

 Our plants may have to go, if Claire doesn't kill them all first anyways.  They're like a baby magnet - also, since I have no idea what species any of them are (other than "easy to care for potted plant I found on sale at Wal-Mart) their toxicity level being an unknown quantity really freaks me out.  

 

 Darrell & I took half days on Thursday & we all went to the Magic House and out to lunch.  It was a pretty perfect day, and such a treat to have them all to myself. 

 

 The static electricity ball at the Magic House is a rite of passage, and I will forever cherish this ridiculous photo of Claire's hair.  

Also at the Magic House, I'm fairly sure she managed to put every thing they have on or in her mouth.  This kind better have a gangbusters immune system by age 2.  

She found her way into Gatsby's kennel the other day and promptly got upset about the matter of getting out.  

Other things not requiring a photo...

-House of Cards comes out this weekend, so you know how I'll be spending the next 72 hours....

-We have a babysitter on Saturday night to go out and do adult things, and is it sad that I'm mostly excited to wear something decidedly not breastfeeding friendly?

And because it's been a million years, a few of my favorite links lately:

The best Bachelor recap out there, by hilarious former contestant Sharleen.  

A ridiculously amazing website for buying pretty underthings - at the best prices ever.  I'm addicted, and I'm nearly impossible to shop for when it comes to bras.

Maybe this sweatshirt could make me forget about how cold it is?   

I am so, so guilty of this. 

a snowy week in st louis

It snowed in St. Louis yesterday, and the entire city is apparently in a catatonic state as a result.  My workout class got canceled, along with two interviews, a handful of restaurants, and work for several friends.  My sainted babysitter decided she was up for the trek to my apartment, and for that I am forever grateful because there was a stack of work to get through.  I could always have attempted to work while watching Claire, but that gets more difficult all the time due to her learning how to do things like this...

 

 Is it setting a bad precedent that I pretty much let this happen?  It kept her busy for almost half an hour! While Claire is at home terrorizing her sitter, I'm sure, I'm sitting at my co-working space using my coat as a blanket because apparently they don't like to turn the heat up past 55 degrees?  That's about how cold it feels in here and everywhere else in the city for that matter - trust me, I tried a coffee shop and Panera yesterday.  They're all this cold. 

 Thankfully I get to go home (to our 75 degree house, Lord help me come this next electric bill) this evening and snuggle and eat chili and maybe can I just hibernate for the rest of the winter?  I don't really want to come out until March.  I haven't even taken out Claire for pictures of her in her first snow because, well, have I mentioned how cold I am?  It's not leaving though, so no worries!  No temperatures above 40 for the foreseeable future!  This is quickly turning into the whiniest blog post of all time, how about some more baby pictures to make up for that, hey?

 

 Claire stands up now, which is terrifying - it means walking can't be too far off and come on, MAKE IT STOP!! She's only 8 months old and it took her forever to roll over but apparently she decided to make up for lost time.    

 

She also REALLY digs climbing things, and I feel like I'll need eagle eyes at the playground this summer because while her climbing skills are good, her dismount needs work. 

(ps - In case you hadn't noticed, this blog has mostly turned into a personal diary.  While I loved posting to share outfits/awkward & awesome/natural parenting techniques and will continue to do so when I feel like it, I've pretty much decided to give up on pressuring myself to keep this up in any organized fashion.  I am mostly posting now for friends & family who want baby updates, but I do plan to leave it public for any longtime readers who still want to stop by just for fun.) 

lunchtime photoshoot

 Yesterday on my lunch break, I met up with the most excellent of lunch dates. 

 

Hi Claire.  

 

 She insisted we take some selfies (even though my hair looked like that)

and also that I show off her new yelling skills.  

You're welcome, and happy Wednesday! 

february magic

Oh St. Louis, you're such a tease.  For some reason, each February when we're all getting quite tired of winter - March is in sight! - and we're really itching for some outdoor fun, St. Louis gifts us a  sunny and 65 day.  We got two this year actually - they landed on Saturday and Sunday and made for an all-around magical weekend.  Unfortunately, there's nothing promising in general about this weather.  The high on Thursday is 20 degrees and one year this happened we got two feet of snow in March so......no high hopes.  But being reminded of what it feels like to be warm outside, sun shining on your head and your baby's head and playing baseball in the park.....it feels so good.  So here are a few pics (both outdoor and not) of our magical February weekend.

Okay, let's start with a good one: 

I can't even remember what she was so excited about in this photo but apparently it had something to do with wanting to remove her Wilco onesie.



Darrell's level of excitement at her newfound ability to sit on his shoulders is kind of ridiculously adorable.




She is easily his biggest fan.  She basically tries to climb onto the guitar every time he starts playing.  It's heart-breakingly cute.





Play has become much more of a *thing* now than ever before.  Playing, it is serious business.  We usually have no less than a dozen blocks, 2 stuffed animals, a light up counting toy and an exersaucer strewn about our living room, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  (But please, PLEASE for the love of God Fisher Price; improve your electronic singing toys a bit?)  I cannot listen to "the cow and the triangle" one more time.  Did you want to hear the lyrics?  Don't worry, I have them memorized.

"The cow and the triangle, want to sing for you.  Moo moo moo moo, the cow and the triangle!!!!!" (Sing that last "triangle" with much fanfare.  Those exclamation points were not superfluous.)





Still having excellent success with solid food IF AND ONLY if it comes in a pouch.  Apparently food in pouches tastes better?  Who knows, but they are, if anything the least messy way to feed a baby (outside of breastfeeding, which is magically tidy.)





We're still only napping in the wrap or sling and I'm starting to wonder if this is something I should try to fix......do 4 year olds take naps?  Will I be toting a napping 4 year old around on my back?

Let me know if you think this is an actual concern....



Saturday, we decided to do a Mardi Gras 5k (Mardi Gras is a BIG St. Louis thing.)  It wasn't very serious, there was day drinking of mimosas involved, so I decided to walk it with Claire.  Big mistake.  HUGE.  It hurt to walk the entire rest of the day - 18 lbs of baby on your back for 3 miles is a much bigger strain than I thought it would be!

Speaking of mimosas:



It was Lisa's birthday, so we decided to celebrate with a 3 hour brunch.



Let's end with this incredibly natural picture of all of us laughing on the patio of the restaurant!

So tell me, did any of you get a freak spring weekend?  Anyone else successfully drink champagne in the morning both Saturday and Sunday?  Tell me something fun so that I can forget it's Monday!  

around here lately

Oh, have you been wondering what we've been up to lately?  Really nothing too terribly interesting, but since you're here...

We were sitter-less again on Monday but we made the most of it, this time.  There was much more snuggling and much less crying.  Call me a crazy hippie, but those amber teething necklaces are really magic.  I swear.





#alltheselfies

One of Claire's funnier quirks is her obsession with anything and anything crinkly.  She loves (in no particular order) plastic bags, bubble wrap, aluminum foil, saltine cracker packets, potato chip bags, and half empty water bottles.  My mom has joked that perhaps she'll grow up to be a packaging designer - sure, why not - and here she is in her happy place, being heavily supervised while getting more joy than any human possibly ever has from a ziploc bag filled with Hersey kiss wrappers.  Also, I have no idea who ate all those Hershey kisses!!





Her newfound mobility has gotten to where it REALLY wears her out quickly, and the child who used to take 2 naps a day now sometimes needs 4 little naps.  Where does she take those naps?  Not in her crib that's for sure.  No, Claire Olivia Hayes prefers to be strapped to my person while she naps, so we've gotten heavily into the wrapping.  She still sleeps in her crib, in case you were wondering if I ever sleep (although the answer is really, I could sleep more.)  I'm planning to start a series on baby wrap reviews, kind of similar to my sling posts, but we'll get around to that in a bit - maybe when it warms up a bit and I get brave enough to actually take some photos outside?



Her OTHER new big thing is pouches - yes, I basically convinced myself I'd never ever give Claire one of these things and we'd do Baby Led Weaning and I'd complete my circle of natural parenting, but just like she hated bed sharing, this one is just falling into the category of "whatever works."  Plus she looks SO INCREDIBLY CUTE eating them.



This is the face she makes when it runs out of juice:



Disclaimer - the brand pictured isn't my favorite, it was just a diaper bag emergency pouch.  I usually do my best to source out the organic/low sugar kind that you can only get at the fancy grocery stores, but such is life.  Sometimes you give your kid the peach sugary smoothie if it makes them happy.

She also says "mama" now (first world, I'm just the teeniest bit proud) but usually only when she wants me/is mad at me, go figure.



All in all, things are pretty crazy and wonderful around here.  Just riding out the last of the worst season of the year (I'm side-eyeing you, winter) until we get to all the fun we have planned in spring and summer - there are a truly obscene number of concert tickets sitting in Darrell's inbox, and we couldn't be happier about it.