Max's First Visit to Wine Country

I know, he's 6 weeks old and just now getting to wine country! Talk about neglect...

We had a great day trip up to St. Helena. Had both Grandma's with him and slept most of the day. We went to Casa Nuestra and Storybook Mountains and he slept thru both of the tastings. Well almost slept thru them both... I had to leave the pack early at Storybook to feed the little guy.

I think he's going thru some sort of spurt - or at last I HOPE thats what it is - as he's been feeding every 1.5 - 2 hours. Thankfully he eases up during the night and gives us a good three hours between his hunger cries. Oh god how I miss 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Wonder how long until I get that again...6, 7 years? To all my child-free friends and readers - how I envy you and your sleep pattern.

We were able to get "out on the town" for a good hour last Friday night. D discovered that it is SF Beer Week and that the *new* Rosamunde Sausage Grill had his fav beer in tap just that night. The grandma's were over for dinner and they offered to watch Max(I had just fed him and had a good 3 hours until he would be hungry again) while we ventured out for a few cold ones. My bro was over as well and joined us. Not an hour later (I had just finished a beer and Erin had ordered us another round) I check my phone and I see, not ONE but THREE missed calls from my Mom. Oh Gawd - I think something terrible has happened and immediately call her - but Danny answers his phone "Hello Bootsie....He's been crying? Ok we'll be home as soon as we can" We head out and jump in a taxi and make a bee line for home. Max is calm by the time we get there...

So today I had kinda a big day out with Max. We went to Lullaby Lane to get a few things (toys and a mobile for Max's crib)
and then we went to Whole Foods for fixins for dinner. Big day out, I tell you.

So we don't have Cable TV. Its a waste of money - TV has been reduced to nothing but commercials and reality tv. So Hulu.com has been a savior for me. We've been able to keep up with current tv - Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Glee, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I have been watching Modern Family on Hulu - that show comes in as a close second to Arrested Development. Hilarious family structure and ideologies.

Best thing since Astronaut Ice Cream

...Ok maybe not comparable to Astronaut Ice Cream - but it certainly is the Bee's Knees when it come to calming Max down.

MISSION: Throw him in the "Heart to Heart" sling we got (see my earlier post about this) and bounce up and down on a exercise ball. The exercise ball I got at Sports Basement with the intention that I was going to labor on the ball - which is a great comfort during the labor process and really opens up the hips. I didn't need to ball however, as the hospital had a few of them on hand. But I digress.... So this big purple ball has just been sitting in a corner collecting dust.

OBJECTIVE: Max was fussing and I did all I could to calm him down and nothing was working. I held him in my arms and sat down. I bounced up and down 3 times (NO JOKE!) and the little buster was asleep.

MISSION COMPLETED! Down for the count. Out cold. I highly recommend to anyone who has a fussy baby to get on of these balls and try out this technique. I'm coining this technique as "Jenn's Mojo Mix for Max" of "Jenn's MCubed "if you will.

Anyways here's a closeup of the little guy in full 'MCubed'.

This weekend we have Grandma Busch and Betty visiting us. I was trying to align a Grandma vs. Grandma arm wrestling match for the coveted title of 'Max's favorite Grandma'. But neither Bootsie or Busch were having it. Geez! I was even going to get a trophy made up. Guess I will scratch that idea :)

Max got his first Valentine's Day card from Grandma and Grandpa Busch. They also got him an adorable outfit from Target. Its a one piece from Dwell Studio for Target. I love Dwell. And I love even more that they are collaborating with Target on putting out cheaper products with the same fun Dwell look. Interestingly enough, they don't have all the available Dwell products available online. ( I went into the store and they had loads more there). I was eyeing a cute scooter printed outfit for Max. After he was born, we recieved and abundance of clothes (thanks family and friends!!) so I am not allowed to buy him any clothes just yet. Although I think I might cheat and get this (how adorable, right?!) I know its not Dwell...but something so cute AND Piratey.

Ok Mission Madre has to run - Wake Max up (J MCubed in full effect!!), feed him, Grandmas coming over, go to get Mani/Pedi. Bring it!

One more thing to mention - Mission centric news - I'm super excited about Heart, a new wine bar that opened at 24th/Valencia. Hopefully it will not turn into a hipster haven or become overrun by Marina scuppies (Scum + Yuppies) before we get to check it out. Come on, they serve wine in Mason jars - how great is that!?

"Alameda is where hipsters go to have kids" - Ruports

So we had the Ruport clan over yesterday. Mad props to them as they brought us dinner (Chicken Enchilada's) which was delicious! It was so great to see Andrea and Matt as well as their 4 young ones. Their youngest Rex, 14 months, was a great trial run in how badly we will need to childproof our home. Starting with our dearly loved Noguchi coffee table. Rex attempted to climb over the glass top and nearly tipped the whole thing over. I wasn't too worried about the coffee table, but the 30 pounds of glass top that could have fallen on Rex and smashed the 28 lb bruiser. Next up, all our sharp corners on cabinets. Thankfully the little bruiser was able to skillfully navigate his way around all the possible bumps and bruises. Their other three kids had discovered out Bombo bar stools which we alot of fun for them to spin around and go up and down. And thankfully the bar stools withstood the test and no kids were hurt in the process.

Matt and Andrea live in Alameda. They really love living there and I think are trying to secretly (maybe not so secretly) trying to get us to move there. "Alameda is like where hipsters move to have kids." Do they have a Mommy and Me American Apparel there? I can picture a slew of hipsters pushing their babes in Paul Frank Bugaboos, decked out in American Apparel cotton shirt, skinny jeans and Toms Shoes. Oh don't forget the RayBans for the parents and the babes. Oh how I love to stereotype. Its only cause I am a honorary hipster that I can poke fun at my fellow brethren. Ok so I don't have Tom's shoes - yet. Cmon silver sparkle and you are helping a child in need get a new pair of shoes. "Danny can you hand me my wallet!?" Being a new mom - I am all about slip on shoes. I miss the time where I had the time to lace up my shoes, and accessorize my outfits. Perhaps wearing deodorant can count as accessorizing?

So my Uncle and Aunt in Canada got us a Heart to Heart sling.

Which is great! Danny uses it all the time with ease. I, on the otherhand, have had a little difficulty in making it work. Perhaps it is because I am not wearing my Kitten Heels like the picture on the Heart to Heart website (Gotta love those quirky Canucks!)

Oh I almost forgot! We took Max to his well baby 1 month check up this past week. He's looking good and growing fast. He's 22" long (which puts him in the 67% percentile for growth) and he's gained 2 lbs since we initially went to the doctors (so that's 2lbs in 2 weeks - which for those of you Metric users I think is roughly 1 kg.)


Lastly here's our little guy, who's so "beary cute." We are going over to family's for dinner tonight. Will be good to see Auntie and Uncle - as well as show off our little cutie. Next week, Grandma Busch and Betty are coming to visit us, which will be lots of fun!

MM out

Max's trip today - Post Office, Gym, and coffee shop - excitement!!

Hi,
It's been awhile since the Madre has posted. Max has been rather fussy the past 2 days and nights, which means the Madre y Padre are running on low. Last night was a little better, so we are getting our second wind. Yesterday Max fussed all day - so come today I was determined to throw him in the Ergo and go for a long walk. I had to hit up the USPS to send out a book I sold online via Half.com (love it!). I decided to go to the 'further' away post office (10 blocks vs. 3 blocks). It was rather nice out and I worked up a little sweat on the way there (not to mention that I had this adorable little space heater strapped to my chest!). There was the typical 10 minute wait at the post office as some A-Hole had 30 packages to send out and didnt have them ready by the time it was his turn. But I regress. Next up, Mission Cliffs to reinstate the Madres's membership. I've got to keep this svelte little figure! ha! I'm looking forward to finding other Mommies who want to climb, as well as start taking my weekly'ish yoga classes. On our way home, we stopped at our local coffee shop, Progressive Grounds, for a chicken wrap and Madre fuel (ala coffee). The people that work there are so nice and are buddy buddy with D as he goes in there everyday. I hadn't been in since I had Max so it was nice to be welcomed and congratulated as I walked in.

Here's our Lil Peanut just chilling in his crib

* please note, he doesn't sleep there at night just yet thus we have the bumpers there. We know that its advisable to not have bumpers in the crib - but they are just so darn cute. Plus Max likes to stare at all the animals on them!

We've been getting some fun videos with our Flip, which I will try to upload shortly.

Will this rain ever stop?

I still have yet to take Max out in his killer ride (aka Quinny Stroller) for a stroll around the 'hood. Its been raining and pretty cold, so I'm waiting till its a little nicer to venture out. I've been finding means to entertain myself - baking cupcakes, cookies, changing poopy diapers, organizing baby clothes and reading books that have been collecting dust (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). D just went over to Valencia street and got some more books at Dog Eared Books. He picked me up another book that I have been wanting to read, "Diary" by Chuck Palahniuk (honestly, how DO you say his last name?) I also have David Sedaris' latest book to start.

Ok let me forge thru P,P, and Zombies!

MM out.