Shut Up Duffy

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2012-02-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

Since we finally got Miles' first haircut, I thought we should take a little look back at the history of his hair.

Miles arrives and bam! Full head of hair.

The first of many mohawks to come.

Really dark hair, flat on his head.

By the end of his first month, it was already lightening up and growing like crazy.

In month two, it started growing out in every direction, but mostly upwards.

And then it was officially a mohawk.

But as it got longer, the weight eventually started to make the 'hawk fall to the side.

By six months, he'd pretty much settled into his hairdo.

Which was right about when people started politely suggesting that it was time that we cut his hair.

But we couldn't do it, so we just let it grow...

And grow...

...And then it was time.

At first he was ok with it.

And then he wasn't.

But he wasn't the only kid who thought he was being tortured.

And then we were ok again.

After I choked back a few tears because my baby no longer looked like a baby, I think we were all happy with the results.

And there you have it.

Hopefully now the lady at the grocery store will stop calling him a princess.

It Is Happening...

2012-02-04T22:01:00.000-06:00

After more than eleven months of strangers commenting on my "sweet baby girl", the time has come....

Check back soon for how this all turns out.

Who Wants To Talk About The Weather?

2012-02-01T09:55:00.000-06:00

Nobody? Fine, then I'll just say this. Today (but really yesterday) the high is 58 degrees and sunny. Exactly one year ago today (yesterday), we were dealing with THUNDERSNOW! I was also increasingly concerned about how I was going to get to the hospital in case I went into labor (while Michael was busy printing out information on "how to give birth at home"). This was also part of the discussion:

So while we all wait for Miles to get better, why don't you all go back and read the post from last year and think of better times (not better because there was no Miles, but better because I wasn't on the verge of a nervous breakdown).

The Verdict Is In

2012-01-31T14:32:00.001-06:00

Hives. F-ing Hives.

I need a drink.

Sad Face Part 2

2012-01-31T10:03:00.000-06:00

And now he has a rash all over his body. I'm thinking/ hoping it's just an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he's on for his (4th) ear infection. At this point, I'm not even surprised anymore.

When does this shit end, Mom?

And furthermore, where are my pants?

Guess we have a few more days to look forward to being camped out at Starbucks, hitting on the other stay at home moms so I can get some sort of adult interaction.

Sad Face

2012-01-28T13:25:00.001-06:00

Miles has bronchialitis.

Making things worse, he has to breathe in

from a mask every four hours.

Luckily, he discovered that it makes a cool noise

when you talk into it, so he sits somewhat still for it.

Still sad, though.

Who's The Boss?

2012-01-26T10:54:00.002-06:00

Miles is. Which is why when he gets sick, all other operations around here shut down. He's been sick for 10 days now, with a bad cold and yet another ear infection. This means that we are basically quarantined since if I took him to any of his play classes I'd get the total evil eye from all other moms as soon as he coughs. Although, I'm pretty sure it's their stupid kids that got him sick in the first place, but fine, whatever. You'd think this leaves plenty of time for blogging but it's been exhausting so instead, I just try and rest when he naps. I have about 15 minutes before he wakes up so instead of closing my eyes for the remainder of nap time, here I am. You're welcome (ahem, Tom). But don't get too excited because a sick kid means an unexciting kid. So I don't have much for you.

Finding out how tall Daddy really is.

New favorite toy. Heavy glass full of small parts. Perfectly safe.

He's really into Seinfeld lately.

And finally, I think we have a rock star on our hands. Check out his sweet drumstick move:

Told you things were slow around here.

Time for Roast Beast!

2012-01-11T09:05:00.000-06:00

Every year my family (mom) puts together an incredible Christmas day feast for the family. Last year this task fell to me since they were all here for (early) Christmas. I guess they didn't hate it because this year they were back for more. As I mentioned last year, my sister is quite complicated to cook for. She is gluten-free, dairy-free, and then has an additional list of common items she can't eat (think olive oil and basil). Now my dad has decided that he no longer wants salt in his food. I was going to try and accommodate that ridiculous request for about a minute, until I tried a salt alternative. This:

No. Just no. Or should I say "Just Nu".

I hate that I just wrote that.

I did a taste test with this on a regular dinner night and everything tasted bitter and just off. So I went back to only listening to one family member's demands. This is what I came up with:

Christmas Dinner

Mixed Greens Salad with French Vinaigrette

Green Beans and Toasted Almonds with a Lemon Vinaigrette

Yukon Gold Potatoes Jaques Pepin Style

Salt and Pepper Crusted** Prime Rib with Sage Jus and Horseradish Sauce

**Obviously I really took my dad's request to heart

I had to put some of the sauces on the side for Courtney, plus canola oil had to sub in for olive oil and anything with butter had to be vegan butter. Nevertheless, everything was delicious if I do say so myself.

I gave up on dessert and bought pie for the four of us and coconut ice cream for Court. Don't judge.

It's Christmas! Well, It Was.

2012-01-09T08:30:00.001-06:00

Oy we have outgrown our condo. My parents and sister came to Chicago for Christmas this year. We've done this before, but that was pre-Miles. They were able to sleep in, like, beds and stuff. Now that Miles has taken over the good guest room, there's only one guest room remaining, which is much more of an office than a guest room. There's no room for a bed since every wall is taken (built-in desk on one, built-in shelves on one, double door on one, and double door closet on one). We dealt with this by splurging on a quality air mattress. So what's the problem? Perhaps you forgot I mentioned my sister came as well. Unfortunately for her, these are her new quarters:

Long ass paragraph summary: My family came and my sister slept in the closet.

Miles has become so much fun lately and my family had a great time with him. Ummm... I swear my mom was there. I don't know how I don't have any pictures of them.

Obviously now that we have Miles, Christmas feels completely different now. It's kind of like it's new again, even though he had no idea what was going on. Although, he did love the tree.

New stocking for Miles!

We continued our Christmas eve tradition of making pizza...

...watching It's a Wonderful Life (Miles got his middle name from George "Bailey")...

...and we even roasted chestnuts.

Christmas morning was adorable. Obviously he didn't get that Santa came, but he definitely was happy to see all of the new toys.

So nice of Daddy to wear his socks with the holes for Miles to play with.

Someone wasn't quite as happy, though.

The gift theme this year apparently was hats.

Miles even got to eat at the big kid's table for dinner (more on dinner another day).

Speaking of food, Miles loved pickled okra! But not really.

Christmas is exhausting!

In Between Holidays

2011-12-29T09:59:00.000-06:00

I have a lot to catch up on when all of the holidays are over but right now I'm in between Christmas #1 and Christmas #2 so instead of getting the ball rolling around here, I need to get packing. In the meantime, here's a little video to tide you over...

First steps!

These days anytime he does something (whether it be taking his first steps or knocking two blocks together), he claps and looks around to make sure everyone else is clapping as well.

Merry Christmas Yall!

2011-12-25T11:49:00.003-06:00

Chris Webber Calls a Time Out

2011-12-21T20:09:00.000-06:00

~~I had to google this since I didn't get the reference.~~

Since I'm married to a Michigan man and I listen to every story about sports that he tells me, I totally got the reference.

The Holiday Cards That Weren't

2011-12-19T09:00:00.002-06:00

Once you have a kid, you enter into a contractual agreement with the parenting gods that says you must now send out Christmas cards. Since our cards are still working their way through the incredible Chicago post office (seriously, click that link if you missed the original post), I won't ruin the surprise for those of you still waiting. Instead, I'll show you the other options that didn't make the cut.

This is the first Santa that Miles met. Santa and Mrs. Claus were hanging out at Dinkels, our neighborhood bakery. I knew that they were taking pictures since as we approached, most of the kids leaving were screaming and crying. Miles, on the other hand, did great with it. But come on Claus; rule number one of taking pictures with kids is that you never break. You always look at the camera and smile. If the kid smiles and you are caught not paying attention, you have missed your window. A professional Mrs. Claus should know this.

Here we have Miles's first European Santa. I'm pretty sure this is the guy walking around town with Krampus. Actually, that would have made a good Christmas card- Seasons Greetings from Miles, Santa, and Krampus. Nothing terrifying about that at all.

This was what I had in mind for awhile (you'll probably have to click to enlarge this one). We took the top pic last Thanksgiving in Austin. Had we all not gotten the flu and ended up stuck in Houston, the bottom pic was supposed to have taken place. And also I'd not be fat in it.

Happy Holidays!

A New Thanksgiving Tradition: Flu Dominoes

2011-12-05T20:47:00.001-06:00

I have been putting off this post for awhile now because, quite honestly, it exhausts me to even think about it. And with every passing day, this post that I had written in my head just gets shorter and shorter. Plus, my sister pretty much covered it. So here is what I have left to say about our grand Thanksgiving vacation.

First, I lost my mind and decided that it would be a good idea to keep up with our traditional Thanksgiving-three-city-tour-extravaganza, only with Miles in tow (here's 2009 and 2010 part one and two). Second, we had to buy our flight last minute. You don't even want to know the grand total for the tickets. Let's just say no one is getting any presents for Christmas this year. Third, we booked a non-refundable hotel for our Austin leg of the trip.

The plan was to fly to Houston the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, drive to Shreveport with my family on Wednesday, drive to Austin on Friday, drive back to Houston on Sunday, fly home on Monday. Crazy? Maybe. But we had beautiful dreams of relaxing surrounded by built-in babysitters. We had plans to visit some of my best friends. We had tickets (non-refundable. again.) to a holiday show in we see in Austin every year. Michael was ready to hit up the Michigan bar in Austin to watch the Ohio State game surrounded by Michigan fans. I was ready for bbq.

But the weekend before all of this was to begin, we went to Michigan for the Nebraska game...

I went to get him out of bed Saturday morning and I saw it: puke. He was just recovering from a double ear infection, so I tricked myself into thinking that it was just a side effect. And then he proved me wrong when he threw up all over me. For the rest of the day. After the game, a bunch of our friends stopped by to visit. An unlucky few held Miles.

Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? Sunday, Miles takes down his first victim.

Monday, he takes down three more.

The flu was dropping people left and right. Remember those two unlucky friends I mentioned that held Miles? Well guess what? Xs for them, too. (I'm getting lazy with MS Paint). A few days later we were all better and flew to Houston, and continued on to Shreveport.

But while he sat pretending to be innocent in this bucket of balls...

...he was silently taking everyone down...

...because within the next two days...

Anyway. You have probably figured out how this story ends. We all get murdered by these two:

No, that's not true. The rest of the trip basically got cancelled. Miles, Michael, and I were all healthy as could be, but all of our babysitters were stuck in bed while we were supposed to be on our way to Austin. We tried to make the best of it with some Tex-Mex (and even dressed Miles for the occasion)...

...Miles had toys, so he didn't care...

...and Michael got to watch the game exactly how he wanted to: at my parents' house, with me and my sister pestering him, and a kid to look after.

In the end, Miles took down 13 people. Although, I should say 13 people that we know of. That's worth mentioning, because our trip started like this:

Oops.

Losers

2011-11-08T11:40:00.000-06:00

Well, the costume contest is over. And I'd just like to say great work, everyone. We only lost by 229 votes. Really just a tight, tight race.

Six Things

2011-11-03T10:21:00.002-05:00

1. Let me guess. You didn't "like" my photo on facebook, did you? Can I tell you how many "likes" the kid in the lead has? 153. Do you know how many I have? Nine. NINE! It's not even about winning the free classes anymore, now it's just about saving me Miles from the embarrassment of being stuck in the single digits. Come on people. Let's go over this again. Go to your facebook page and search for The Little Gym of Chicago. Scroll down, find the picture of Miles in his costume, and "like" it. Easy. I may be able to afford TLG classes, but I can't afford the years of therapy the kid is going to need from losing so horribly.

Update: I'll make it even easier on you. Click on this link to go directly to the photo. Like it. Done.

2. Friday was Michael's birthday. All the Halloween business made me forget to mention it in my last post. We got a babysitter and went to a cooking class at The Chopping Block, which is what we did last year also. I know, not so original, but it was fun so we did it again.

Swiss chard. Pretty.

Yes, we need a little work on our plating skills.

Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Arugula Salad with a Fig Vinaigrette
Corn and Scallion Souffle
Pork Chops with an Apple Bacon Compote on a bed of Wilted Swiss Chard
Not Pictured: Gingered Pear Upside Down Cake

3. Yesterday was my friend Molly's birthday. She spent it doing 33 random acts of kindness. And no, I do not know why she is friends with me.

4. A few weeks ago we went to Traverse City to do some wine touring (drinking). It's too late to recap now, but here are a few pictures from the trip:

The seriously awesome house we rented.

View from the balcony

View from our bedroom

5. Miles has the best bedhead. This is what he looks like when he wakes up:

6. And finally, I will end with a recipe. Michael has been working late this week and what I usually do when this happens is I try to eat things that he doesn't really go for. Last night it was spaghetti squash. I don't follow this recipe much but I love my version. Here's the original recipe with my notes:

Warm Spaghetti Squash Salad

One 4-pound spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped

1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallion whites
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 ounces Greek feta, crumbled
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the spaghetti squash and cook until it is al dente, about 12 minutes; drain. Place the spaghetti squash halves cut side down on a rack and let cool for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, spread the sliced almonds on a pie plate and toast them in the oven for about 7 minutes, until lightly golden. In a mini food processor, combine the chopped olives with the sliced scallions, lemon zest, lemon juice and canola oil and pulse until finely chopped.

3. Working over a medium bowl and using a fork, scrape the spaghetti squash into the bowl, separating the strands. Add the dressing along with the crumbled feta and toasted almonds and season with salt and white pepper. Toss the spaghetti squash salad and serve warm.

I basically make the lazy version of this. I usually skip roasting the almonds. I use capers instead of olives, whatever onions I have on hand if I don't have scallions. I just hand-mix the dressing instead of lugging out the food processor. I use about half of the oil suggested. And it's still delicious.

Cut that bad boy open. It's easiest to just hack into it; then, with your knife lodged in it, pick the whole thing up and whack it against the cutting board.

Make dressing. Is your cell phone sitting next to the cutting board? Move it. You are about to spill lemon juice all over it.

Does your son have an ear infection? Is he on antibiotics that have a really disgusting side effect? Did you have to deal with it right before you put him to bed? Pour yourself a glass of wine. Only have box wine? ~~Me too~~ I'm not judging.

Combine everything in a big plastic pink bowl.

Enjoy.

And be happy that your husband doesn't like squash or leftovers.

Halloween Recap

2011-11-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

First of all, let's get something out of the way. Before you read this post, I need you to get onto your facebook account and look up The Little Gym of Chicago. Now, find the picture I posted of Miles in his costume and "like" it. If I get the most likes, I get free classes. Free classes makes me happy. So go do it and then you can read on. I'll wait...SERIOUSLY GO DO IT. Ok, thank you. Moving on.

Friday Miles had his TLG class (ahem, the ones that you will help me make free). All the kids dressed up and I took about 100 pictures but for some reason, a bunch of 4-10 month old babies just didn't want to cooperate. This will continue to be a common theme throughout Halloween this year.

On Saturday, Miles and I headed up to Lincoln Square for their annual Halloween Trick or Treat Stroll. All of the businesses were handing out candy and there was entertainment for the kids in the square. It was super cute, but good lord was it packed. The sidewalks were wall to wall kids. And can I just point out that every year there is that one kid under the age of ten that is dressed up as Freddy Krueger? Every year without fail. I'm curious as to whether this little kid has seen the movie or if he's just confused as all hell about what his parents made him wear. Anyway. We met up with some friends on the roof deck of Gene's for some beers and to escape the crowds.

Once again, kids not cooperating.

By the way, that's Jack. He's Miles' BFF. They met at TLG and it was a match made in heaven. They have all the same likes (eating and sucking on toys) and dislikes (getting their noses wiped) but most importantly, they live a few blocks away and their moms are friends. Side note: Miles and Jack are the lead characters' names in Sideways.

Coincidence? Doubtful. They were meant to be friends.

Saturday night, we joined a few of our friends at a Baby's First Halloween Party. The highlight here was, once again, trying to get a bunch of babies to take a picture together.

I like everything that is happening in this picture.

I want to point out that as all these babies were crying, Miles thought the whole thing was hysterical and was having the best time.

Sunday was supposed to be more of the same in another neighborhood, but Miles caught a cold and it started raining just as we were going to leave and decided to take a day off from the festivities. On Monday, we put on Miles' casual Halloween wear (like what pageant girls wear to answer questions as opposed to their formal wear) and did some more trick or treating at the neighborhood businesses. All this meant was that he got a rubber ball, a package of Smarties, and I got a cup of hot cider.

Finally, we rounded out the holiday but putting him back into his pilot costume and walking around the neighborhood that evening, looking at all the trick or treaters (although, as per usual, he was more interested in the trees). Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween (and that you liked my stinkin' photo on facebook)!

And His First Costume Is...

2011-10-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Auchtung! Wir werden jetzt zusammen die Geschichte jenes Schweins-köpfigen Hunds Snoopy und des beliebten Roten Barons singen!

Still not sure?

Duh. He's the Red Baron.

Fine, I'll translate for you lazies who didn't bother to learn German: Attention! We will now sing together the story of that pig-headed dog Snoopy and the beloved Red Baron!

The Kiddo's First Halloween

2011-10-27T09:03:00.001-05:00

Halloween has been one of those "we are officially parents" moments. The hubs and I love this holiday. Love. Every year I am in charge of putting together the pub crawl that us and all of our friends go on so we can both maximize the fun and the drinking but also see as many costumes at as many bars that we can cram into until 4am. We also pride ourselves on our costumes. We have never bought a pre-packaged costume, but usually come up with an idea and scour the thrift shops until we have found all of the pieces we need. People in Chicago go crazy for Halloween and it never fails to be one of the most fun nights of the year.

Alas, us two chumps now have a 7pm curfew in order to get the kiddo to bed on time. This means no pub crawl. We also pretty much refuse to do a three person theme costume (what are we supposed to do, be the Three Bears? I just can't). This means no brilliant costume. Apparently what we are supposed to do now is dress Miles up, check out all of the street festivals that are put on for the kids, and head home beerless. Although, the rules are a bit sketchy on whether or not we can take Miles trick-or-treating and collect candy. Maybe people will see right through it but will they really refuse the kid candy? We shall see. Anyway, here is a look at Halloweens past.

Little Red Riding Hood & The Wolf (dressed as Grandma)

Clue characters: Professor Plum, Miss Peacock, Colonel Mustard

Paul Bunyan & Babe

(note- Paul the giant made taller by wearing 5 inch high Frankenstein boots)

Bun in the Oven & The Baker

I'm keeping Miles' costume under wraps for now (I don't need any of yall stealing it), but I'll tell you a few things that he isn't. I considered using that lonely tooth of his to his advantage and making him a jack-o-lantern or a hillbilly, but I didn't want to have to stick my fingers in his mouth every four minutes to help explain his costume. I also considered a scarecrow, but the costume was too big (although I kind of loved the hat).

Yeah, I don't know where that random idea came from either. But we finally have a costume for the little guy.

Stay tuned...

Most Original Parents Ever

2011-10-25T08:57:00.001-05:00

Listen, everyone. We came up with this really great idea that I think will catch on pretty quick. We took the munchkin to a pumpkin patch (asphalt playground) and took pictures of him, get this, surrounded by all of the pumpkins while wearing fall clothes. I know. How did we ever think of this? We are just that brilliant.

I had another outfit planned for this day (although it turns out it's more fox-hunting sheek than pumpkin patch casual) but the weather warmed up too much for him to wear it. It's too bad, because HE LOVED IT.

It Has Arrived

2011-10-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

Cute picture.

Tooth picture.

End of pictures.

The Worst

2011-10-11T09:20:00.001-05:00

We have had a really long couple of days and I'm still too tired to get much into it, but I'll give you all I've got. If the point of this blog is to keep friends and family updated on our lives, then I have to include the good with the bad, right? I will start with the end of the story: Miles is fine now and as happy and playful as ever.

On Saturday he woke up and right away we knew something was off. He wasn't his usual squirmy, bonkers self and all he wanted to do was cuddle. We tried to give him his bottle, but he just kept reaching for me and he'd just lie down and close his eyes.

I know, really nice one of me.

I just thought that maybe he didn't sleep well so we put him down for an early nap. When he woke up, we saw that he'd thrown up. He'd actually hit his head a few days before (but was fine afterwards) so we were told to take him to the emergency room. They said that when sick babies are brought in, they pretty much cover all of their bases so one of the things they did was get chest x-rays. This was awful. It was like a mini torture chamber. We had to hold his arms up in the air while being locked into this crazy contraption and he was just screaming his head off. So anyway, they found a small inflammation in his lungs, diagnosed him with a respiratory infection, prescribed antibiotics and sent us home.

He then threw up his next bottle. And then his next. And then he started projectile vomiting and I pretty much lost my mind while masquerading as a calm and collected human. We rushed him back to the hospital and within ten minutes of being there, he threw up four more times. He was super dehydrated so they had to hook him up to an iv to get fluids in him. I had to put Michael in charge because I couldn't stay in the room. I don't think I would have done so well when they had to stick him a second time in a different spot on his arm. Ugh.

So Miles and I (I sent Michael home when we saw the single pull-out chair knowing that we didn't both need to be tired the next day) spent the night in the pediatric ER. Me on the little pull-out, him in the crib that looked like a mini prison. He was hooked up all night so he woke up every time he moved because it was so uncomfortable for him. After a very long night, he woke up seeming much better. He drank some formula and was able to keep it down. He (we) also took a much needed nap on my lap and we were sooooo happy to see the change in him when he woke up. His cheeks were rosy and he was talking and smiling.

(That diaper on his arm was to help keep his hands off the iv)

They had a really great playroom that was right next door to our room and he loved it in there. We spent most of the day playing in there and giving him increasing amounts of food as the day went on. The iv came out around noon and after about five more hours of getting more and more food in him (and him keeping it down), we were able to take him home.

So. Phew. In the end everything was fine and we did the right thing, but man was I ever terrified. I feel like I only started breathing again yesterday afternoon after seeing him eat and play and laugh and act like himself again. It's crazy how much you don't care about being covered in vomit when your little one is sick.

Here he is playing the day after being released from the hospital.

Good as new!

I Know, I Know...

2011-10-05T11:38:00.000-05:00

...but Miles is keeping me on my toes these days. For one, he has a tooth starting to come through. I know that some people say their kids had no problems with this. I hate those people. Teething is a Bitch. Lots of night waking and the poor thing even had a fever.

Aside from that, he's dangerously close to erasing all memory of when I was once allowed to turn my back on him.

So down it went, much to his chagrin.

And also, this:

I also taught him how to do a back flip, but I don't have that on video.

Puke Sounds Are Hilarious

2011-09-28T14:07:00.001-05:00

Is there anything funnier than pretending to vomit?

The answer is no.

I'm Free!

2011-09-23T13:06:00.000-05:00

This post might be TMI for some of you, but whatevs. It's official: the tap has been turned off. It's kinda sad but the kiddo is getting older and smarter (I mean, hello! The child can wave!) and it was time. It seems insane that I would ever stop since I had such a hard time in the beginning with it. Seriously, it was so hard and awful and painful that once we both finally got the hang of it I figured I might as well keep going until he turned four after all of the effort that went into making it work. But enough is enough. Soooooo, where am I meeting yall for happy hour?

P.S. For those of you (men) that have no idea what I'm talking about, you probably didn't want to know anyway. Move on.