This kid is quite a character…when he wears hoodies, he plays peek-a-boo with the lid (a new game he adores)…he bites me and laughs hysterically (I consider them “love bites”)…he points the remote at the tv and knows how to turn the surround sound on and off (maybe we do watch too much tv)…he loves to be surprised (or anything that results from yelling “boo!”)…he tosses anything he does not want to eat over the side of his high chair (we do not have a dog to take care of this issue)…his favorite drawer is my belt drawer (he will pull out at least five belts and carry them around the house)…he dances whenever he hears music (he can move! Again, not sure where he picked this up as I am whitest of white girls when it comes to dancing…see previous post regarding Hall & Oates)…he says good-bye when leaving a room, store, restaurant, car, etc…he MUST push the buttons in the elevator (all of them)…so many quirks in such a short period of time…man, I love this kid!

Our little road warrior is ten months old! In addition to riding his car around the house (and pushing it into the other furniture to create magical noises and dents), his newest hobby is imitating Mr. B and me. Things that sound like hello, good bye, vroom (like a car), and mama and dada are practiced frequently. I even taught him how to moo like a cow last week. It’s probably my favorite thing ever. I could watch/listen to it all day. Of course, as the oldest (and only) child, we must praise him relentlessly afterward.

Scenes from a birthday party…

Little B “entertaining” his friend with a little tambourine jam (while Mr. Dave plays the real tunes in the background).

Chicago moms, if you have not yet been to a Mr. Dave concert (or visited him at Sprout in Wicker Park on Mondays), you are missing out!

Can’t watch fireworks without glow sticks!

Guess who else likes neon??!!

Yes, Little B swiped my neon yellow scarf at his 9 month doctor visit today and was entertained through his shot (didn’t even flinch!)…until he noticed the pediatrician’s stethoscope and the tongue compressors…I need to send a bottle of wine to the nurse that has to clean up that mess…

Olympic swimmer in training…there’s still time to make the London team, right?!

It has been five months since I changed “careers” and became a SAHM.  I was doing marketplace marketing for an accounting/consulting firm as well as getting my Masters of Integrated Marketing and Communications at Northwestern.  I was putting in a lot of hours (not including those dedicated to the non-profits I served).  I got pregnant faster than I ever expected (we were VERY fortunate) and it was blissful news; we were euphoric!  I continued to plug away, but it was tiring (as it turns out, creating a human takes quite a bit of work).  I feared that I wasn’t doing what was right for me nor my baby, so I decided to postpone school.  It was a nice break, but I really missed learning and the interaction. 

I wasn’t sure how I would feel as a new mom.  I loved working, but I also knew that with my husband’s travel schedule, two working parents may not be the best option for our family.

I could bore you with a bunch of chatter about how it’s the toughest job on earth (which it is) or how I don’t know how working moms do it (which I don’t), but you’ve probably heard that already from multiple sources.  The thing is, you don’t know what sort of mom you will be or will want to be until you become one.  Some days, I do want to put on a chic black dress and my Choos and hop on the train with my husband to the office.  On most days, however, I’m so thrilled that I chose this path and get to throw on a tank and a pair of comfy flats and witness Little B’s every move, reaction, milestone, and smile.  He is not easy to leave.

I gave myself a year of “training.”  Of course, I understand that being a mother requires much more, but a year that is interrupted.  I am not trying to “do it all” this year.  I’m not going to try to figure it all out, plan the next five years of my life nor commit to things that take me away from my family (with the exception of serving on one non-profit and a Vegas bachelorette party, of course).  After this full year with Little B, I will access the situation and plan with my husband (even though my A-type personality wants to start now). 

I would like to work away from the home again someday or go back to school, but I will cross that bridge when I am hydrated, stretched and ready to run over it.  For now, I will humor you and myself with with pics from our play dates, music classes, attempt at making family dinners, occasional nights out with my friends, shoes I’m lusting over and weekly manicures (because that is clearly important!).  I hope you like it.  Thanks for joining me on this journey…

The path of destruction begins…I’m just waiting for him to take down Zeus the Zebra!

Looks like someone is getting into a bit of trouble while mom and dad are away…I told you he likes to rip magazines apart!