Baldwin Events: October 2013

I'm sorry if this blog has been a little bit boring lately with just photos and updates. I'm sure some of you are really missing my tales of second-hand parenting in this dream life of mine. It must be hard not hearing about how I am living the good life right now on permanent vacation as a stay at home mom (or as a nurse at the doctor's office recently called me, "a housewife"). I will tell you, everything I dreamed about staying at home with the kids is exactly nothing like I thought it would be. I mean, I really do get to do whatever I want all day long feed, change and clean up after children on a rotating 24 hour basis [feed, change, clean up, repeat]. My children really do give me a reason to live cause me to lose sleep. My husband really does come home every day to a beautiful woman who is dressed in her best and has cooked him a glorious meal find out which pajamas I'm wearing and hopefully a meal his mother in law has prepared. It is all perfect!

Here's the truth: I do really love it on most days. It is not at all like I thought it would be, but it's great in it's own way. I really don't have time to do 1/2 of what I thought I would have time for, but I can still get stuff done, my house is relatively clean, and my family is a beautiful mess.

Onto what I do have time for; a couple of updates.

The Tooth on the Roof

Vaughn has lost his first tooth. He talked about how it was getting loose, at which point I cringed and said, 'please don't show me, please don't mention it again and please don't ask for any help from me with this matter-ever'. Loose teeth really are one of the most disgusting things in the world. Truly cringe-worthy. I know I just gave birth and have photos of my placenta which I've looked at twice, but I hate loose teeth, losing teeth, pulling teeth and the tooth fairy. It may go back to my own tooth-loosing experiences which were- for whatever reason - traumatic. Or rather the first one was and I can't remember any subsequent tooth-losing experiences. Anyway, he was eating some goldfish a few weeks later and said something about his tooth, at which point I closed my eyes and slipped away to look at photos of my placenta. When I returned, he was in the bathroom talking about how he lost the tooth. Apparently, he pulled it out himself or something. Again, the details are fuzzy because I could only engage about 10% of myself in this experience. Enough to take some photos and celebrate with him that he lost the tooth.

A while back when the loose teeth discussions began, he told us what kids did when they lost teeth in the Congo: when a kid loses a tooth they 'throw it on the roof so it will grow'. [We are going to uphold this Congolese time-honored tradition.] In a clarifying conversation, I asked if he was supposed to throw it on the roof or if we were. He laughed and said that if we threw it on the roof, we'd grow more teeth and have double, so he had to throw it [he actually has two permanent teeth on the bottom which he lost in the Congo, so we are celebrating his first tooth lost as an American]. Later, for some reason he asked what we did with lost teeth here in the US. We told him about the tooth fairy. However, we also told him how she doesn't exist and how we will not pretend we are her or give any money for teeth found under pillows. Yes, we will be denying our children all of the magic & myths of childhood. We did, however, tell him to smile and nod when his friends talk about the tooth fairy and not to be that child who ruins everyone else's childhood just because his parents ruin his.

One month old!

Yay! I'm a month old!

My brother and his family visited (another big event for us!) and my sister in law got me this sticker pack of these ties that say 1 month, 2 months and so on up to a year, so we plan to offer this adorable update each month. (The one month was taken at 5 weeks- but you get the idea).

Cousins! Baby Nora in the front.

At one month, Avett is still the best, most adorable baby we have ever seen. He is sweet tempered- like Andy and cries when he is hungry- like me. We're still figuring out this parenting-an-infant thing and every time we figure something out, something changes. That something is our infant, who is growing so fast it isn't even funny! I can't believe how fast your little, tiny baby suddenly becomes heavy in your arms or how fast you look at your baby and suddenly he is smiling back at you or making a new face. It's crazy and wonderful. At one month, Avett smiles in response [sometimes], hold his head up to look around [a little], sleeps for four-six hours at night [some nights] and likes to be in our arms [always]. We love, love, love having baby Avett in our lives and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. 

Just in case

You thought I forgot about Eloise... I didn't. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch. Honestly, it was relatively lame from an adult perspective, but I think the kids enjoyed it. And in the end, that's all that matters.