A Night Out with Cat & Scott

Cat & Scott rolled into town last night in their stylin new Mazda Tribute (I think that's what it was called?). They were so thoughtful to sacrifice several hours of their fun vacation to swing by (totally out of the way!) to see us.

We celebrated their arrival by eating an insanely large amount of Indian food at Shivas. Scott & Kevin were proud of themselves for leaving NO FOOD in sight on the table by the time we left. I had yummy Shahi Paneer and since Cat also loves veggie dishes, she got my other favorite one, Malai Kofta. Kev ordered his usual, Butter Chicken, and Scott had some crazy lamb kabobs. Too much rice, naan, and samosas made it so we almost had to be rolled out of the restaurant.


Andrew was the perfect content boy at the restaurant. Especially after Uncle Scotty showed him how to pick up the silverware... and then Andrew discovered the fun part, licking it. :)

We also had fun showing Cat & Scott some home movies from our wedding. Scott had never seen my wedding since he was on his mission and so it was definitely entertaining to watch DJ Neil again ("Let's give it up for Grandpa Brown and the prayer!"). I had forgotten how awful the music was that they had Kevin & I walked in to. (DJ Neil, stolen from the Bar Mitzvah circuit, on the far right of the picture)... and did we really just stand there clapping when we danced to "Don't Don't Stop the Carnival"?... b/c I really wish we would've stopped it earlier... or not started it :) So hysterical!



It was also fun to sit with Scott listening to his recorded speech he sent us from England. It was so cute- made me cry all over again!

I can't wait till Scott & Cat's wedding in less than 2 weeks!

Oh... and here are a few pics of Andrew from Saturday. Our friend Jen lent us a fun new toy for him to try out.


And here he is eating his favorite giraffe toy again... man, the thing can keep him occupied for hours!

Shoe Shopping, Thai Cooking, and Hanging out with the Balenas

Andrew started out his day with two of our favorite people, Grace and George. Grace kept the boys entertained and Andrew and George had fun hanging out looking at each other. Just watching Andrew try to roll over and grab George made me think that all too soon they'll be wrestling and moving all over the place! They grow up so fast! Such cuties!

"Excuse me... I'm over here"

Grace saying, "Look babies, look!"... she would hold up a toy to show them while looking around for the next one. What a super big sister!



Later in the day, Andrew and I went to the mall to escape the heat and FINALLY get me some new running shoes! The last time I bought shoes was about 6 months ago and now there are holes in the soles and all sorts of parts of the fabric are worn out... so the time had finally come! I usually dread shopping for running shoes b/c I always end up settling on a color that I don't like because they are the right make/model... and they rarely have the color of shoes I want at the store (next time I plan to buy online!). Today was an exception though... they had both pairs of shoes that I wanted and they were ON SALE... so I was finally able to get a pair of pink trimmed running shoes. After we bought my shoes, we took our traditional trip to Mrs. Fields (I was good today and didn't fall for the buy 3 get one 1 free trick that causes me to eat 4 cookies for dinner!). After that, Andrew reminded me that he needed shoes too... so we headed to Nordstrom to look for the shoes I've been wanting to buy for him for awhile. They are also always out of stock. Today was our lucky day! Andrew LOVED his shoes. I'm hopeful that by starting early to pair his mall experience with a cookie and some sort of item he can chew or play with, eventually he'll become a super shopper like his dad :) Today definitely helped move us in that direction.

Loving his shoes! (or, maybe the plastic?:))

A successful shopping trip!

The last part of my fun day involved Andrew going to bed nice and early so that I could head over to my friend Sona's house to learn how to do some Thai Cooking. My fabulous friend Nat taught us how to make a delicious pork, veggie, egg, and rice noodle dish called Pad See-Ew. It was amazing! Not only did it look beautiful, but it tasted delicious and wasn't too hard to make! I can't wait to try making it for dinner.


What a wonderful day! Such a great way to finish off the week!

Ninja Noises

The sounds you'll hear in this video are what my dad has dubbed, Andrew's "ninja" noises... or what I call his happy shrieking sounds. He was making these sounds today as he played with his new toy- the ExerSaucer. His super dad went and got it at Target last night and put it together this morning with his early rising little helper while I was off doing some consulting in Palo Alto.



Still Going...



Obviously, Andrew loves his new toy!

Hungry Man!

We had fun introducing Andrew to rice cereal this morning. We were expecting it to be a short feeding and him not to like it... but boy were we wrong! Like father, like son, Andrew LOVES his breakfast (and food in general) just like his dad- not that you could really tell by his reactions in these pictures... but he kept opening his mouth for more.

First bite

Waiting for more

Mmmm! Food everywhere

Enjoying his mini-Jamba after his cereal (j/k, but he does love gumming straws)

Here's some video footage of the little guy eating. Such a cutie!

First tastes- Andrew performing for the camera (long clip, especially so grandparents can feel like they were here with us :))




Blowing bubbles

Andrew at 6 Months!

What would life be like without this smiley little boy around to wake us up in the morning?! It is hard to remember a time when we've been so happy or had so much fun!


Andrew had his 6 month appointment today on his 6th month birthday! He LOVED getting to hang out with both his mom and dad at the doctor's office. One to hold each hand as he got those nasty shots!


As always, the doctor knew exactly what to give Andrew to keep him occupied while she checked him out. He was a crazy kicker and especially loved the sound of his legs and feet slamming against the scale as he got weighed. He weighed in at 18lbs and is 27 1/2 inches long - no wonder our arms are tired!


The doctor also told us Andrew is now ready to begin eating solid foods. He was very excited about that and got started right away. Mmm! Fiberous paper!


Andrew spent a good chunk of the rest of his 1/2 birthday napping and cuddling with me while we went to some of my work meetings. Kevin & I celebrated by taking him out to Jamba Juice for a treat (he slept... and we enjoyed spending some time together :))

We can't believe the time has flown by so fast! Happy 1/2 Birthday Andrew!

Cat's Shower

The highlight of our week was going up to Orinda for my soon-to-be Sister-in-law's bridal shower. When Cat is around, everything is just a little bit more fun. Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious! I had a great time meeting her sister, sister-in-law, grandma, and friends. It was also entertaining to learn a little bit more about Scott & Cat during the shower games.

Cat with her beautiful grandmother

Cat's sister Laura, Cat, and her mom

Scott was a super babysitter and made sure Andrew enjoyed himself during the shower. What an awesome Uncle! Thanks Scott!

When Mom's Away the Boys Will Play

It's a just a little bit more fun when dad's in charge...

Am I supposed to eat that?

Why bother purchasing any toys? Labels and straps are delicious!

Kevin & Andrew had a blast watching the Olympics and playing this week in the mornings when I went to work and Kevin worked from home. Andrew LOVES soccer... although Kev was a little
disappointed that Andrew was more interested in The O.C. reruns than the soccer game (my question would be, why were they watching The O.C. in the first place?.... ;))

Blissful Sleep!

Something is working. Here's how the sleep training has gone so far:

Friday- I was anxious to get started and go cold turkey on the pacifier and swaddle, so I started at naptime instead of waiting till nighttime. We started with our usual naptime/bedtime schedule- diaper change, 1 story, 1 song, prayer, kisses/cuddles, fan on, put him in bed awake and say "nigh-night." He protested for the first hour and 10 minutes (on and off crying and LOTS of movement). Then he fell asleep for about 50 minutes. I went in after 5 min, then 10 min, then 15 min, and then kept going in to re-assure him every 15 min until he fell asleep on his own.

(he figured out how to move the crib bumper... so that is off now)

Friday night- Protested going to sleep from about 7-7:50pm. Around 10 pm he woke up and rolled himself onto his stomach. He didn't like that and cried for awhile and fell asleep after about 50 minutes (we checked on him after 5-10-15, etc.). He woke up hungry around 4am, so I fed him. He rolled onto his stomach again, cried for about 10 minutes, and fell asleep. He woke up happily around 7am.

We partied the night away with Chilis take-out and cookie dough! French fries... mmmm!



Saturday- naps were great, very little crying, went down quickly, midday nap he slept for 1hr 1/2- 2hrs, yay!

Saturday night- He went down easily without much protesting, if any, around 7pm. Woke up around 11pm and cried for about 50 minutes on and off (much quieter and less intensely- we checked on him every 15 min). Slept until 4am and ate, slept until 7:30am. We added some towels on his side so that he wouldn't roll onto his stomach anymore...

Kevin & I partied the night away watching Mean Girls while enjoying Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Thanks Christian!! We appreciate all your hard work at KPMG that earned us all this yummy ice cream. :)


Sunday night- Cried for about 15-20 minutes when we put him down at 7pm. Still hadn't woken up when we finally hit the sack around 1am. I woke up at 5:50am in a panic- did he stop breathing??! I raced into his room and he was just happily playing, seemed to have just woken up. I fed him and he went back to sleep until 7:50am.

Happy kid after 12+ beautiful hours of sleep!

Monday night- he slept 10 hours, ate, then slept 2 more, minimal crying, if any

Tuesday night- he slept 9 hours, ate, then slept for 3 more, minimal crying

Wednesday- This is what I discovered when I checked in on the little guy during his midday nap today. When I put him down, he cried for about a minute and then was silent... must've been his thumb pacifier that helped out


Today was the perfect day with regards to his sleep schedule. I hope we can replicate it.
8:45-9:45am- morning nap
12pm-2pm- midday nap
4:15-5:00- afternoon nap
7:00pm- bedtime- no crying- when we checked on him earlier, he was sucking away on his thumb pacifier again. Such a big boy! Can't believe he's growing up and can do all these things on his own now! Kevin and I just love going into his room to watch him sleep! He is so much happier during the day now that he is getting more consolidated sleep!... which means we are happier too! Hopefully he keeps up the good work and we can stay on schedule for a few weeks until our trip to Utah... or until he starts teething or something else crazy happens.

Update (I've know you've all been dying to know :))

The little guy slept from 7pm until 6am all by himself last night (no swaddle, no pacifier, no rocking, no ssshhhhing, no swinging, no feeding... and we thought it couldn't be done). I'll post more specifics later (and of course, pictures :)). I think it was his Back to School present to me since I had work all day today and needed to be semi-functional. Hopefully we get a repeat performance tonight! I think he's figured out the whole "self-soothing" thing, at least for now... Thanks again to all those sleep gurus who passed along advice. We definitely had an entertaining weekend of sleep training!

Google Buddy

Andrew's little Google buddy is just beginning to take some abuse. Andrew's still not quite sure what to make of his friend... sometimes he cries when he sees him, sometimes he just starts eating the poor little bear, and sometimes he just stares at him... I would too- the bear's leg was put on backwards and it just looks a little creepy!

(If you look carefully in the above picture you can see how one leg just isn't quite right!)

We still have a blank Google bear birth certificate... so send along your best ideas for Andrew's buddy's name. I'd hate to just call him Buddy or something lame like that.

Passing Time

The last hour before Andrew heads to bed is usually his toughest... since he'd rather be going to sleep and I'd rather have him stay up a little bit longer so that he doesn't wake up at 5am. Our new favorite evening activity is to go on a walk and explore the neighborhood and apartment complex. It is somewhat mundane for me since we see the same sights daily, but Andrew doesn't ever get bored of it and stays happy... so I love it!

Here's his favorite place:

He totally zones out just staring at the water... and then starts shrieking happily because I think he likes the sound of the water splashing

Since Andrew goes to bed around 7pm and Kevin doesn't usually get home until 7:30 or 8, we love having him home on the weekend to join us on our evening adventures!

Father & son push up time before our rigorous walk around the block

Check out those tired eyes! Hopefully Andrew'll have a good sleep tonight!