Words of Wisdom

Warning: brace yourselves for an obnoxious amount of pictures following this post. Of course, it would only be obnoxious if I wasn't so darn cute. But given the unimaginable degree of adorableness of the subject matter in these shots, "delightful" would probably be a more appropriate adjective to describe the quantity of these photographs.

I celebrated my 2 month birthday on Saturday. A month older and light years wiser. If only I could communicate more aptly, I could impart my profound wisdom to my parents.

Take, for example, how to deal with pain in life. I had my 2 month check-up with Dr. Donohoe on Friday, which meant I had to get my first round of vaccines. Mommy was truly traumatized to see me cry out in pain from the three shots the nurse very roughly and unsympathetically administered. Mommy had to go home and drink a glass of wine to recover from the disturbing experience and she's still a little shaken three days later. Me? Sure, I screamed bloody murder and got purple in the face. But that was only for several seconds until I was able to recover my composure while breastfeeding. Then I slept for an obscene amount of hours over the next two days. The life lesson here? When faced with immense pain, just sleep it off.

This past week was pretty jam packed. We had a lot of mommy group outings during the week and A LOT of visitors this weekend. On Friday, my girlfriend Avery's dad, Kyle, came to visit us. Mommy and daddy were so happy to see him and I was terribly excited to meet him, but I sure wish I could have also met my dear Avery, her big sis Addison and their mama Anne (they were all missed by all parties involved). Then, on Saturday, M & D's friends from New York Roya and Andy came to visit us. I've heard a lot about Roya and Andy and couldn't wait to meet them. I'm happy to say they didn't disappoint. They were every bit the stylish, funny and incredibly awesome people M & D described them to be. And, as if two guest weren't enough excitement for me, we also had another incredibly cool couple come visit us from Michigan. Nick and Jess were good friends of M & D's from NYC who recently moved to Ann Arbor. They drove down for the night and stayed with us on Saturday as well. They are really great and extremely kind. Nick was a riot (he made me smile nonstop when he was around) and Jess is really good at taking care of little guys like me. 

M & D let me stay up way past my bedtime on Saturday night because they were all playing a very heated game of "Celebrity." Mommy wore me in her baby carrier while she acted out the charades round of Celebrity. It was a wild night, if I've ever seen one.

I will leave you with some final (more profound) words of wisdom. Having lived two months in this crazy world, I've learned one important thing: loving others and being loved back is the best feeling in the world. I am lucky enough to get so much love from so many people, near and far. And, like that old British boy band from the 60's once said - love is all you need.

Love,
WFT

Another Night

I slept for 7 hours straight last night. From 10:15pm to 5:15am.

No big deal. But mommy is so happy about this new sleeping schedule of mine she is doing cartwheels around the house this morning. Could it be that mommy would rather be sleeping through the entire night like daddy instead of waking up with me when I need to eat? Hmmmm. I need to ruminate on this further.

Aside from my new sleeping schedule, I've discovered my right hand. It's pretty cool, as far as hands go. It has four long fingers and a short little stubby finger that looks nothing like the rest (I wonder if it's a deformity). I like to make a fist with my right hand and tuck the stubby finger in between my forefinger and middle finger, and then lick my fist. It's a source of great amusement and comfort for me. But every time I do it, mommy's got the camera out snapping photographs of me, as if I'm some sort of spectacle. I'm not a side show, people.

I also love sitting in my Baby Bjorn chair. M & D will place the chair on the dining table or the kitchen island (even though there's a warning label on the chair admonishing such behavior) and I like to stare up at the lights in the kitchen. They're marvelous. So bright and shiny and miraculous. How do they glow like that? It's an enigma to me. I wish mommy would let me google things, but I'm strictly forbidden from using the computer to do anything but blog.

Love,

WFT

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep, That Is The Question

My growth spurt did, in fact, end last Tuesday and I went back to my regular sleeping schedule at night. Then something happened last night. And mommy has asked me to write a special post today to tell everyone about it.

So, here I am, forced to announce that I slept 6.5 hours last night. From 10:30pm to 5am to be exact. I don't know what the big deal is. I was tired. Plus, I wanted to convince mommy that, contrary to her intuition, it is not yet time to transition me out of M & D's bedroom and into my crib.

Mommy thinks it's time for me to make "the big move." I beg to differ. She went into battle with me last night, but I was determined to hold my ground. Guess who came out victorious? 

She lulled me to sleep around my bedtime and then ever so gently set me down in my crib. The sleep giraffe was on, softly playing his calming African beats. The room was pitch dark. The baby monitor was on. The door was closed ever so gently. But something wasn't right. The room didn't smell like M & D's room. The mattress was hard. And I could immediately tell I wasn't in my cozy little rocker. I didn't hear anyone breathing near me. I grew sad and lonely. Where was mommy? Where was daddy? Where was Luci for heaven's sake? That darn giraffe and his Afro beats were my only forms of consolation. Did they really think an inanimate object could provide the same level of comfort? It was like they had placed me in solitary confinement. I didn't enjoy this new sleeping arrangement one bit. A midday nap in my crib is one thing. But it was nighttime and I'm not too proud to admit it was scary. So, I did what any self respecting 8-week old would do. I started wailing.

Mommy eventually came running and we went through the same routine again: lulling to sleep, crib, giraffe, dark room, hard mattress, loneliness, wailing. 

After losing two consecutive rounds, mommy surrendered and put me to bed in my rocker in her bedroom. 

And, because I didn't want to go through the same song and dance again tonight, I decided to sleep for 6.5 hours (and then for another 3.5 hours), just to drive the message home. Weston in his crib = no sleep for anybody. Weston in his rocker in M & D's bedroom = hours upon hours of glorious sleep for all. 

Which would you choose?

Love, 

WFT

PS - Some pictures from the past several  days:

Growing Pains

I may have gone through a growth spurt the past 4 days, which means my sleeping/feeding patterns at night have regressed back to waking up every 2 hours to eat and I have been a very unhappy guy during the day (thus making for a very unhappy household). Although you might find this hard to believe, I really don't enjoy fussing. It's not something I do for kicks (at least not generally). So nobody wants this little growth spurt to be over more than moi (okay, mommy desperately wants it to end as well). I don't wan to jinx myself, but I feel like we've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. But mommy says that I shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched. I don't even know what that means. We don't have any chickens, except the ones in our freezer.

Despite my growing pains, mommy and I have been on the new-moms-groups circuit this past week. We've been out and about around town and we've met a bunch of new moms and new babies.

Some of the babies I've met are pretty cool. Like Brady. I met him last week at our Lincoln Park New Moms group meet-up. He showed up sporting a Bears jersey. As soon as I saw that, I knew he was my kind of guy. We hung out again this morning because his mommy and mine met up at a stroller workout class.

The class was pretty fun, although somewhat ridiculous at times. Picture 10 grown women doing squats while facing their babies in strollers, singing the theme song to Sesame Street and "The Wheels on the Bus." Some of the other babies smiled and laughed. Not me. I don't like nonsense. I don't think Brady laughed either. To be fair, despite the singing absurdity, the physical aspect of the class seemed pretty legitimate and I think mommy got in a decent workout (my favorite part was when she held side plank with me in the baby carrier).

I've met some other babies on the mommy-group circuit whom I'm a bit suspicious of. Like the group of babies yesterday at a New Moms on Maternity Leave group organized by Neighborhood Parents Network. There were 5 baby girls in this group who, I'm pretty confident, were on a mission to make me look bad. They all slept peacefully during the meet-up while I starting causing a ruckus about 10 minutes into it (not my fault; I blame the growth spurt). Really girls? You're going to sleep through the *entire* meeting, without making the tiniest little peep? I didn't buy it for one minute. It was a conspiracy.

Okay, okay. Most of them had a meltdown at one point during the two hours we were there, except for one. I had my eye on her. That little "angel" who sat there 100% awake and 100% peaceful and content, as if she didn't have a care in the world. She looked at me from across the room, flashing her charming little smile. Was she flirting with me or was she taunting me? And why was she being so darn well-behaved? No baby is that perfect. There must be a little devil hiding beneath that angelic facade. She is bound to break down sooner or later during one of our group meet-ups. And guess who will be smiling then.

In other news, Buni and Papa John came to visit last weekend. They cooked us a delicious meal on Saturday night. And by "us," I mean M & D because of course my cuisine of choice these days is mommy's milk, but I was allowed to hang out during dinner in my bouncy chair on the dining room table which made me feel very special. On Sunday, M & D took me to see the Chicago Marathon (the route went right by our home so we didn't have to travel far) and then the whole gang went out to brunch at M & D's favorite Lincoln Park restaurant called The Peasantry.

Today, after the stroller class, mommy and I met up with her friend Kate and Kate's 4-week old twins Violet and Clara. They are incredibly cute. I'm a very lucky guy to have them as my friends. And if my girlfriends Hadley and Avery are reading this, fear not, ladies. You both are my number one.

Speaking of Avery. I received a very cool postcard from her the other day. She's a saucy one. (Avery, I can't wait to go to a rodeo with you one day!)

Finally, here are some random pictures from the past week.

Love,
WFT

Yes, I'm Still Alive

In order to explain my absence from blogging over the past week, I must share a somewhat embarrassing fact: Mommy does not allow me to blog unsupervised (she really treats me like a child sometimes). This means, when mommy's busy (and let it be known that by busy, I mean mommy taking time for herself to practice yoga and run and get a mani/pedi instead of allowing me to chronicle my life adventures), young Weston is prohibited from blogging. I've tried to negotiate blogging rights with Luci's supervision, so I am not beholden to mommy's schedule, but I lost that argument because mommy said since Luci can't speak English, she can't properly monitor what I write. A technicality!

Also, I must say M & D have been somewhat neglecting their photo-snapping duties. I guess six weeks pass and I'm not as important anymore. At least Luci still loves me.

It's been an entire week since my last post, so let me catch you up on what's been happening. 

Last week, we made our first trip to Buni and Papa John's house. We even stayed overnight. I loved every minute of it. It was nice to get out of the city and stay in a real home, with a yard and a deck and nice landscaping. Luci, Buni and Papa John took turns doting on me while mommy was off - again - doing yoga, running and taking really long hot showers. She's having some sort of post-baby personal Renaissance. Whatever. And did she remember to take any pictures of my first trip to Buni and Papa John's? No.

We came back to the city Friday night just in time to have M & D's friends Katie and Jake and their kids come over for dinner. And did my parents think to take any pictures of me with Katie and Jake? No.

On Saturday, M & D's friends Chris and Andree were in town from NYC for the Northwestern homecoming game. They came over and kicked off a long day of day-drinking with M & D. No complaints here because I got to hang out with the four of them all day long. We started with mimosas at our house, then went to Nookies for brunch and, since we got caught in a rainstorm on our walk home, we ducked into the Lincoln Hotel and spent the afternoon at The J. Parker bar on the rooftop. It was a fabulous day. Then M & D went for an impromptu date night while I hung out with Luci. I caused a bit if a fuss after they left (I generally dislike being excluded from things) but eventually passed out from exhaustion after the day's excitement.

On Sunday, M & D were supposed to take me to Harvest Days at the Farm at Lincoln Park Zoo so I could decorate a pumpkin. But, by the time they got their acts together and we got to the Farm, all the pumpkins were gone. Typical M & D. Can't execute a plan properly to save their lives. Mommy did feel very bad about that and went out and bought me some miniature pumpkins yesterday. I'll give her that. Daddy didn't do anything to redeem himself.

After the pumpkin debacle on Sunday, mommy took me for our first run along the lake. I loved it... until I didn't. I was sleeping so soundly that mommy decided to go for a really long run. Unfortunately, I had an abrupt and inexplicable meltdown around Addison Street (even I can't tell you what exactly happened). I was screaming so loudly and got so red in the face, and we were so far from home, mommy had to call daddy and ask him to drive up and pick us both up in the car. So, first mommy & Weston jog = major fail. But I am assured by mommy there will be more attempts.

And then the Bears lost.

Sunday wasn't the best day for Casa Bargoz-Tedeschi-Tedeschi.

That's it for now. Don't blame me for the lack of interesting pictures. You know who the culprits are.

Love,

WFT

Yoga Momma

Mommy was able to start up her yoga practice again yesterday and she feels like a new woman. It's only been five weeks since my birth so the doctor hasn't yet cleared her for exercise but we both decided it was time. 

In honor of mommy's return to the mat, I'm donning a "Namaste" onesie today (thanks to mommy's friend Sam Heffner for the super cute yoga garb).

Namaste,

WFT

                                              

Weekend Report

This past weekend was a very exciting one for yours truly. I met Grandma and Grandpa. Of course, you already know this if you conscientiously follow my blog. If you don't already know this, shame on you. Shame on all you casual readers who visit this blog intermittently whenever I happen to cross your mind rather than fastidiously following every post, every word, every day.

But I digress.

Grandma and Grandpa flew in early Friday morning and we had three action-packed days together, mostly consisting of walks (of which I generally approve) and seemingly incessant photo shoot sessions (of which I highly, highly disapprove but will endure only because I can't really blame them for their fervent desire to photograph me, given that I'm so darn cute).

On Thursday night, because I was so anxious and excited, I experienced my first "diaper blowout," meaning, I pooped not only my diaper but also the leg of my pijamas. I should probably rephrase my preceding sentence to say that *mommy* and I experienced my first diaper blowout because, unfortunately, she was the one who discovered what had happened when felt something wet and sticky on her left arm during my evening feeding. Needless to say, both mommy and I survived the experience and bounced back relatively quickly after eliminating all traces of the blowout and having a bath.

On Friday, after having been the subject of much attention and affection from Grandma and Grandpa all day (which I enjoyed immensely; even though I may have cried from time to time throughout the day, it was solely because I was overly excited and happy... I haven't yet entirely worked out how to properly convey my emotions), we went out for dinner at M&D's favorite Thai restaurant. It was me, M & D, Grandma and Grandpa, Buni, Papa John and Luci. So many people doting on me in one place! 

On Saturday,  we went to the Lincoln Park farmer's market, ate lunch at Cafe Brauer and strolled through the zoo. After that, mommy took me for a walk during which I became so upset at having been separated from Grandma and Grandpa, I screamed so furiously and loudly that after a couple of minutes I put myself soundly to sleep. I surprised myself and mommy both.

On Sunday, we went out a took literally hundreds of pictures throughout the various parks surrounding our neighborhood (no further comment). Then we went to watch the Bears game at John Barleycorn (again, no further comment) and ended the day with a long stroll along North Pond. 

Overall, an entirely magnificent weekend. In honor of our special guests, I've posted an abundance of photographs below.

Love,

WFT