Date Night Recap
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Hi! I'm back as promised, to fill you in on our date night! First off, a big THANK YOU to Tara, Phillip, and baby Brooks for hosting Marin on Wed. night. I'm sure he had a great time and I'm sure the three of you were worn out from his visit. He's cute, but a handful. :) Thanks guys.
Matthew and I had a great dinner downtown at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We love it there. It was low key and quiet, as there isn't much going on downtown on a random Wed. night. We ate way too much and had a good time just sitting around and talking and taking our time. We're always so rushed during dinner these days, either because we always have somewhere to be or we need to tend to Marin's needs. So it was nice to have all the time in the world to eat a meal. Ah, the old days. ha.ha.
Next, we did the one thing that Matthew said he would not do until after the new year. We went to the mall. ha.ha. Opry Mills is a HUGE retail complex, built on the site of the old Opryland amusement park. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to spend a gift card that I'd gotten for my birthday from my aunt and uncle. We got a bunch of Yankee Candle stuff. So, our house smells good now. You hardly notice the lingering scent of diaper. :)
Next Matthew hit the Starbucks, and we made a quick stop into Carters & Osh Gosh but didn't buy anything. Nothing spells date night like shopping for baby clothes. ha.ha. Marin is in desperate need of some new pajamas but we (and he) are so picky that they are hard to find. We really like the snap up ones with feet (the one piece sleeper style). We really don't like the ones that zip up and the two piece pant and shirt combos always ride up. Plus, Marin's feet get cold and it is a pain to have to dig out pajama top, bottoms, and socks. We just like the easy sleeper route. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the baby brands stop making the snap up ones at 9 months sizes and go to the zipper style. He's bursting out of the 9 months size pajamas. He has a few weeks left at best and that is pushing it. So, I'm a mom on a mission.
Speaking of Mom, Marin said it for the first time today! Actually, he said Mama, but that is what I refer to myself as in front of him. I think everyone usually goes with Mama and Dada since they are easy for a baby to say. Matthew has been all smiles because Marin has been saying Dada for a few months now. I was thrilled to finally get my turn today. :) I've since figured out that Marin will only say Mama when he's really tired and sleepy and wants me to cuddle him. This makes no sense because it is usually Matthew that puts him to bed. He just needs a little love from mom, then he goes to Matthew for his last call bottle, then he's out like a light. Hey, whatever works for the little guy.
We've been working hard to get Marin back on a decent schedule. We were letting him sleep in till noon if he wanted to and for a while that was working out fine. Then we started noticing that he wanted to take late evening naps and then some nights he would be up till nearly 2 am. Yeah, I can't handle that business. So, I've started being mean and dragging him out of bed every morning by 10:30 am. Ha. Yeah, I know, he's got a rough life. :) Marin seems to have a 12 on/12 off kind of internal clock. He can party all day, but he likes his 12 hours of beauty sleep. He seems to be weaning himself off of long naps, much to my dismay. He'll sleep an hour tops during the day. Just a quick power nap is all he needs. Luckily, he will sleep anywhere for his nap (in his car seat, in his stroller, in his play yard) he isn't picky. So, we don't have to be at home for naps. He sleeps in his crib, in his room at night though. I'm glad we got him out of our room at 4 months like his pediatrician recommended. He cautioned that babies at that age start getting set in their ways and if there are any routines you'd like to start or habits you'd like to break, that is a good age. He didn't seem to notice when we moved him, even though I missed him for a night or two until I learned that he was only a baby monitor squawk away. I think we all slept better after that. Marin is a noisy sleeper and kept us up half the night with his antics. We also felt like we had to tip-toe around or risk waking him up and then being up the rest of the night if we disturbed him.
We're getting geared up for Christmas. The shopping is DONE. We're just planning to sit around and relax and spend time with family and friends. Matthew is off all this coming week and we are glad to get some time off to just chill out. Sleeping in and eating way too much are on the tops of our priority lists. Speaking of eating, Marin is good at that too. He is LOVING solid foods. His current favorite dish is Pear/Apple Oatmeal. The label on the back says that raisins and dates are mixed in too just to give it that extra kick. :) He loves the stuff and when I pull the jar out of the cabinet and say in a very dramatic fashion, "It's Oatmeal Time!" he kicks and squeals and gets this ear to ear grin. That's my boy. He loves his food. ha.ha. His new food of the week is Sweet Potato/Apricot which he seems to be enjoying. Next week brings Spinach/Potato. We'll see how that goes. ha.ha. Last night he tore the heck out of some Peas & Brown Rice. He hated peas when he first tried them, but apparently when they are mixed with brown rice that makes all the difference. Who knew?
Well, I guess I'll talk to you all later. It is 2:53 am and I really should be in bed. That's what sleeping in will do to you!
Matthew and I had a great dinner downtown at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We love it there. It was low key and quiet, as there isn't much going on downtown on a random Wed. night. We ate way too much and had a good time just sitting around and talking and taking our time. We're always so rushed during dinner these days, either because we always have somewhere to be or we need to tend to Marin's needs. So it was nice to have all the time in the world to eat a meal. Ah, the old days. ha.ha.
Next, we did the one thing that Matthew said he would not do until after the new year. We went to the mall. ha.ha. Opry Mills is a HUGE retail complex, built on the site of the old Opryland amusement park. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to spend a gift card that I'd gotten for my birthday from my aunt and uncle. We got a bunch of Yankee Candle stuff. So, our house smells good now. You hardly notice the lingering scent of diaper. :)
Next Matthew hit the Starbucks, and we made a quick stop into Carters & Osh Gosh but didn't buy anything. Nothing spells date night like shopping for baby clothes. ha.ha. Marin is in desperate need of some new pajamas but we (and he) are so picky that they are hard to find. We really like the snap up ones with feet (the one piece sleeper style). We really don't like the ones that zip up and the two piece pant and shirt combos always ride up. Plus, Marin's feet get cold and it is a pain to have to dig out pajama top, bottoms, and socks. We just like the easy sleeper route. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the baby brands stop making the snap up ones at 9 months sizes and go to the zipper style. He's bursting out of the 9 months size pajamas. He has a few weeks left at best and that is pushing it. So, I'm a mom on a mission.
Speaking of Mom, Marin said it for the first time today! Actually, he said Mama, but that is what I refer to myself as in front of him. I think everyone usually goes with Mama and Dada since they are easy for a baby to say. Matthew has been all smiles because Marin has been saying Dada for a few months now. I was thrilled to finally get my turn today. :) I've since figured out that Marin will only say Mama when he's really tired and sleepy and wants me to cuddle him. This makes no sense because it is usually Matthew that puts him to bed. He just needs a little love from mom, then he goes to Matthew for his last call bottle, then he's out like a light. Hey, whatever works for the little guy.
We've been working hard to get Marin back on a decent schedule. We were letting him sleep in till noon if he wanted to and for a while that was working out fine. Then we started noticing that he wanted to take late evening naps and then some nights he would be up till nearly 2 am. Yeah, I can't handle that business. So, I've started being mean and dragging him out of bed every morning by 10:30 am. Ha. Yeah, I know, he's got a rough life. :) Marin seems to have a 12 on/12 off kind of internal clock. He can party all day, but he likes his 12 hours of beauty sleep. He seems to be weaning himself off of long naps, much to my dismay. He'll sleep an hour tops during the day. Just a quick power nap is all he needs. Luckily, he will sleep anywhere for his nap (in his car seat, in his stroller, in his play yard) he isn't picky. So, we don't have to be at home for naps. He sleeps in his crib, in his room at night though. I'm glad we got him out of our room at 4 months like his pediatrician recommended. He cautioned that babies at that age start getting set in their ways and if there are any routines you'd like to start or habits you'd like to break, that is a good age. He didn't seem to notice when we moved him, even though I missed him for a night or two until I learned that he was only a baby monitor squawk away. I think we all slept better after that. Marin is a noisy sleeper and kept us up half the night with his antics. We also felt like we had to tip-toe around or risk waking him up and then being up the rest of the night if we disturbed him.
We're getting geared up for Christmas. The shopping is DONE. We're just planning to sit around and relax and spend time with family and friends. Matthew is off all this coming week and we are glad to get some time off to just chill out. Sleeping in and eating way too much are on the tops of our priority lists. Speaking of eating, Marin is good at that too. He is LOVING solid foods. His current favorite dish is Pear/Apple Oatmeal. The label on the back says that raisins and dates are mixed in too just to give it that extra kick. :) He loves the stuff and when I pull the jar out of the cabinet and say in a very dramatic fashion, "It's Oatmeal Time!" he kicks and squeals and gets this ear to ear grin. That's my boy. He loves his food. ha.ha. His new food of the week is Sweet Potato/Apricot which he seems to be enjoying. Next week brings Spinach/Potato. We'll see how that goes. ha.ha. Last night he tore the heck out of some Peas & Brown Rice. He hated peas when he first tried them, but apparently when they are mixed with brown rice that makes all the difference. Who knew?
Well, I guess I'll talk to you all later. It is 2:53 am and I really should be in bed. That's what sleeping in will do to you!
