the things you can get done when you have a napping baby

man, this bed to the floor business is great.  nolan took a perfectly timed nap in the bed this evening.  i got to close the doors, turn on the baby monitor and make dinner.  tuesdays, wednesdays and thursdays anthony works double shifts, so we don't get to see much of him.  therefore the timing of dinner (and said nap) is oh so important.  tonight the three of us got to sit down for a nice 15 minute dinner in between shifts!

when i planned the menu for the week, i was trying to embrace this oregon-like, fall weather we are having down here in santa monica.  tonight's adult menu: butternut squash soup (thank you martha stewart), hot turkey sammies on crusty bread and salad.  tonight's baby menu: butternut squash puree (thank you "super baby food" book).  conclusion: success on all fronts!

 so...this is what a butternut squash looks like on the inside...hmm...interesting...

 and it is a little tricky to peel...

 baby's in the back...ours in the front...

 soups all pureed up...man...what a mess!

mmmmmmmmmm.....anthony got to eat too...just not pictured.  

 ready for more

 learning to use the sippy cup...not quite there...but getting the hang of it.  it sure is slippery when everything is covered in squash!

 ha...two weeks of solids and this is the first funny face we've seen...interestingly enough, it was on the very last bite.  hmmm...

a mattress on the floor surrounded by pillows makes mama breathe easier

at long last we baby-proofed our bed!  unfortunately, it took nolan nose diving off of it for us to figure that out...silly first time parents.  note: at 6 1/2 months your baby is no longer a lump that stays where you put him! luckily, he is amazing and no serious damage was done. (thank you maura for your help).  after that sad, sad day i spent many a night going to bed at 7:00pm to snuggle and act as a human barrier. which i love doing, but now and again, i need to stay up just a little later.

nolan will turn 8 months old in two days and finally the problem has been solved.  frame apart and dispersed to odd places around the house.  box spring "hiding" against the wall in his room (ha...his room that is decorated as a nursery, but is pretty much entirely unused) waiting for me to go get a storage bag before we can move it into the garage.  mattress on the floor.  baby in the middle.  four pillows surrounding him.  five more on the around the edges of the bed, just in case.  mama up at 9:00pm writing a blog.  all is right with the world.

many of you may say..."why kimberly, don't you have a crib?  why don't you put him in that?"

to you i say..."because we love more than most anything to be able to snuggle up next to our little man, to kiss his head while he sleeps and to breathe in his little baby boy smell.  all of which will be gone before we know it.  way too soon. way too soon.  so, we are taking every possible minute of it in...well, with the exception of these two hours that he's been asleep and i've been up acting like an adult."

butter paddles

when my brother and i were kids, we used to say that we had butter paddles for front teeth...i guess it's a reference to the size and shape of the old fashion butter making tools. well, as nolan's top front two teeth are making there way in, it is plain to see that he is following in mama and uncle tyler's toothsteps.  :)  as adults, i think they make a pretty fine set of chompers, but we certainly had to grow into them!  good luck my little man!