tunes.

when lars naps, he grows about 83929 inches. seriously, i go to check on him and its like someone switched my baby (gasp, when are they considered toddlers?) with a teenager. i feel like he should be talking and telling what he did in school today. alas, he is 11 months old....and not even walking.

lars has started to 'sway' and 'bop' to music - its so cute! today we went to a 'makeup' music class since lars was sick early april and we missed 2 weeks in a row. during class, which we typically enjoy on thrusdays, lars clings to me like no other kid in the group. he hugs me and stares at the teacher (who playes music with a guitar, a base, etc). lars "sort of" smiles and then puts his head on my lap. all the other babies are crawling around, or sitting with their mommy's or babysitters or nannies and watching the teach with awe. yesterday, he sorta enjoyed it, so i thought we better go back today to make up, as discussed above, since we are running out of time.

well, thankfully we did! today, while he started out with the usual hugging and staring, he progressed to pointing at the mom's toes sitting to our left, and even smiling at the mom to the right. by the end of the class, lars was 'walking' with my help, toward the teacher and actually played on the mats - without me - while i got my crap together for the journey home. phew!

once good thing, there was a 13 month old girl there who apparently is also a little intimidated by the teacher, the noise level in general. the mom said to me 'oh, im so glad that my daughter isnt the only kid who doesnt like this class!' uuuuuh. i guess it made me feel better on some level too?

tgif i guess.

lucky number five.

lars name is expression No: 5

Positive Traits : The number 5 Expression Number endows with the wonderful characteristic of multi-talents and versatility. You can do so many things well. The tone of the number 5 is constructive freedom, and in your drive to attain this freedom, you will likely be the master of adaptability and change. You are good at presenting ideas and knowing how to approach people to get what you want. Naturally, this gives you an edge in any sort of selling game and spells easy success when it comes to working with people in most jobs. Your popularity may lead you toward some form of entertainment or amusement. Whatever you do, you are clever, analytical, and a very quick thinker.

Negative Traits : Your restless and impatient attitude may keep you from staying with any project for too long. Sometimes you can be rather erratic and scatter yourself and your energies. You have a hard time keeping regular office hours and maintaining any sort of a routine. You tend to react strongly if you sense that your freedom of speech or action is being impaired or restricted in any way. As clever as you are, you may have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again because much of your response is glib reaction rather that thoughtful application. You are in a continuous state of flux brought by constantly changing interests.

walk this way

well, lars is very close to walking. we havent purchased a 'walker' or a push toy to aid in walking, we just watch him try the old fashioned way. lars took a few steps to me about a month ago - then got very sick and well, all went to hell. but every time i look over he's just standing there, teedering, looking at me slyly, and then finally plops down on his butt. and back up again...and the cycle continues.

we had a busy weekend - my parents were in town. my dad was alone with lars for like 2 whole hours! and they both survived! i told my dad if he just keeps reading lars books, all will be well. after some car issues (my dad's, not mine) my mom and i made it to Bliss spa and we had massages. it was great! i wish there was a way to just nap there for a little while. nothing like putting your clothes on and driving back home to feed your kid peas and wrestle on the changing table. ahhahhahahaha. the life.

doug made a lovely dinner on saturday and i felt like crap all day yesterday. what a blast!

im excited to spend an entire week at my parents - from memorial day to lars' first birthday! at the pool, in the grass, should be fun. wonder if lars will be walking by then!!!!

mama's day!??@


so a lovely relaxing mother's day here in new jersey. nothing special, just family time. its very cold -50s! (and windy) so we've decided to stay in. and do...nothing. im on the computer now, because, lars is sleeping on daddy (who is also sleeping!). and im catching up on a little me time (computer style).

doug made a lovely bfast for me and we even took a family photo.

oh! and doug got me a new wedding band! ive been allergic to my original one (ah, diamonds and white gold). so now i have a lovely platnum band to wear all the time. yeah! good job doug!

i actually got the sewing machine out of the closet - its a start! looking forward to making some fun projects in the coming weeks. stay tuned!

MORE SICK, teething and a bday approaching!


greatness my ass, he was getting SICK! so lars caught an awful bug about 2 weeks ago....projectile vomit, the poos, fever (well, elevated temperature) which progressed to a cough, massive congestion, even more massive mucus and then...a sick mother. finally, we are both better - im only coughing at night and lars is well, back to being an almost one year old.

the past few weeks have been like living in a black hole. where did april go? now, its may 3rd and we've got a packed may. i think every weekend is booked!

on top of being very very sick, lars was/is getting FIRST MOLARS!!!!!! yes, i looked this up and they are 'due' around 14-17 months, and while he is only 11 months (tomorrow) he also got his first teeth around 4 months, so he's about 3-4 month ahead of the text-book tooth getting age. ahgrigh! he's got one huge huge tooth broken thru on the bottom and the other side is swollen and red. no wonder this kid woke up screaming a few times last week. DUH.

im attempting to plan a little family first birthday party for lars too. it will be at my parents house, since our apartment is, well, a 2 bedroom apt apx 1000 square feet. we'd be able to have about 5 people, total in the apartment. its cramped when we have one couple over for dinner. anywho....

speaking of small apartments, im very very happy to be in this one right now. it's so easy to keep my eye on lars - there aren't that many places he can be! sometimes he crawls away, down the hallway and into his room but i can see him running away. and at this age, he doesnt want to be in his room alone - so we either play in his room together (today we built some seriously high towers) or he plays in the living room. thats about it!

all in all, its been a pretty good spring. im happy to be feeling above the weather for a change and looking forward to some fun summer times.