Bedtime Stories

Barrett is very interested in reading before bed right now. We went to Borders and bought a few new books the other day. He is really into grabbing the pages now and surprisingly he sort of turns them back and forth. When you hit a really colorful page he gets so excited and starts squealing and doing my new favorite trick ...basically spitting (hence the bib in the shot).

Crib Training Update

Well, we aren't quite where I thought we would be with crib training yet. I had him in the crib every night for a week+ but he was waking up so frequently that I reverted back to the swing for awhile. Bad mommy, but seriously, I was going to lose it. We are on week two now of trying it again and we are making progress. Barrett is doing his first stretch of the night in the crib from 7:30 - 11 or 12. That is 4+ hours he is making it which is record breaking for him. The catch ...he needs to sleep on his bean bag bear. The minute we move it he is waking up and squirming around. It is just so comfy :) He sinks that big head of his in there and the bear legs make a nice rest for his arms.

Mommy and Daddy can't sleep though knowing that the bear is in there with him, too scary to think what could happen after you get it beat in your head that nothing should be in the crib with your child to reduce the risk. So, after that 'dream feeding' between 11-12 it is back in the swing. Three of the last four nights he has slept from 12-7 without a peep. Waking up and looking at the clock and realizing you just slept 7 hours feels...AMAZING!

Next step...removing the bear and 'cribbin' it' from 12-7. Wish us luck...we will keep you updated of course!

Mommy Says Team Edward

Mommy is a bit obsessed with the Twilight Saga. Jeff had told me about the books right around the time Eclipse, the third book, was about to come out. I think he read about the series in the WSJ. I went out and bought the first two a couple days later and read them in a week. I was hooked! I patiently waited for Eclipse to come out and then swooped the last copy at Borders just as a 14 girl was coming around the corner with her Dad to pick it up. I have no shame! Finished that in two days and then had to wait like what seemed an eternity for Breaking Dawn.
Since then I got Melissa hooked, Erin followed...

Jeff just took me to New Moon a week ago at the Kabuki Theatre in SF with Carlos and Melissa. We caught the matinee and a drink afterwards, it was a nice afternoon out. Jack and Susan watched Barrett for us...we thank them again and again.

Nordy's is carrying a new line of Twilight clothing in the teeny bopper section. I teased Melissa and told her I was going to buy a 'Team Edward' t-shirt for our movie date. I didn't...but I wanted to! I was at the mall the other day with Miss Cheri and she professed her love for Jacob. She is a bit crazy. Here is her statement... WHATEVER CHERI!

Green Eyes?

Well, we have definitely shed the blue eyes but we haven't went to Daddy's dark brown eyes. Right now, I'm seeing green! That means even though Baby B looks exactly like his Daddy he did get something from his mommy because I have the blue/green eyes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have much to be thankful for this year and we celebrated it on Thanksgiving.
This was Barrett's first Thanksgiving and he gave me the list of what he was thankful for to share with you all:

1. Kisses from his Mommy and Daddy
   
2. Warm milk
3. Clean diapers
   
4. His happy place, which is his swing
5. His Jellycat Busy Bee

I hope all of our friends and family enjoyed the holiday as well.

Welcome Henry W.G. Mauch!

Finally after almost 42 weeks our stubborn little Henry Mauch has arrived! He was born in San Francisco on November 24th at 8:14PM, weighing 7lbs 10oz. Mommy and Daddy were getting pretty impatient with him, but he is all worth the wait.

I went to visit Henry in the hospital the day after Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie in my purse for the new parents. When I picked Henry up he was so tiny to me. He was the same size Barrett was when he was born, but I can't even remember Barrett being that small. Henry was very alert and was awake the whole time I held him and he gave me a little cry to introduce himself. What a personality this guy has already!

I was very fortunate to go through this entire process with CC from conception to birth :) Henry you are very lucky, you have the most amazing mother who has dreamed about you long before you were created. I am so happy for you Christina and Justin! You have a little family now. Welcome to the world Henry!

More Adventures in Babysitting

Jeff, Barrett, and I spent Sunday night babysitting Landon and Tatum so Melissa and Carlos could take Melissa's Dad out for his 75th birthday. Before I go on I must say...Papa I cannot believe you are 75...you look great!
All was good, it was even easier than I thought. It works well now that the babies are on good schedules. We fed them and had a little bit of play and then they were off to dreamland. It was nice to put them down early so Uncle Jeff could spend some quality time with Landon. They drew, tried on hats, and then Landon took Uncle Jeff through the catalog and showed him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas. It was too cute! We ended the night with a little Monsters Inc. and despite all my efforts to get Landon to sleep the only person that dozed off during the movie was Uncle Jeff!

Mommy is Thirty ... Something

November 19, 2009; Mommy turns thirty... something.

32, I'm not ashamed! It has been the best year of my life, getting pregnant and having Barrett with Jeffrey, I couldn't be happier with where I am in my life at 32 years of age.

Jeff told the girls to take me out for sushi for my birthday. I have not had 'good' sushi since before I got pregnant with Barrett, so it was just what I needed. And two weeks prior to my birthday I learned that I basically share the event with my friend Cheri. I'm the 19th, Cheri is the 20th. I am so excited to celebrate all my future birthdays with her! Gina made the joint birthday plans for us this year and we all met up at Nihon in the Mission for drinks and dinner. Nihon's happy hour is notoriously bad for me (have you heard the story where I thought my car got stolen after a Nihon happy hour night?) because their drinks are so yummy they lure me in! Mommy was good though and kept her composure this time. Well on the drink side anyway...we did end the night eating donuts in the cab back to Melissa's house. I know what you are all thinking...sounds like Linsey to have a late night donut run...well it was not my idea I will have you know. Melissa and Rachel were the donut girls and I actually had to talk Rachel down from a full dozen. She was thanking me in the morning.

I had a great time with all of your girls, thanks for the night out!

Can't wait to celebrate with you next year, Miss Cheri...

4 Months New

November 16th means Barrett is 4 months. I usually post his well baby stats from his Dr. appt, but haven't we all talked about his weight enough? We are going to give him a complex. Bottom line...he is a big, healthy boy!

We've come a long way since month 3. Cooing has turned to babbling, smiles are accompanied by laughter, and tummy time no longer provokes a tantrum. He is getting so strong and loves to sit up and look around. We can prop him up with a pillow and he can sit there on his own and he is just now starting to plant that hand down and tripod himself. He has discovered his feet hanging up there in the air. I'm sure he would love to grab them if there wasn't a big belly that kept getting in the way. And now Mommy and Daddy are just eagerly awaiting the roll; which our friend Jen says be patient for because that is all he will want to do then is roll, roll, roll away.

Every day brings something new. Stay tuned for the month 5 update...

November 16th also means I am four weeks away from returning to work. Boo! I'm NOT ready! I'm going to be a puddle in my cube the first week. It makes me sad. It isn't because I don't want to work, I am looking forward to changing up my daily routine by now. I just want my little buddy to be able to come and hang with me (do you think anyone will mind his swing in my cube?). When you spend pretty much every minute with him for five months it is hard to walk away. I feel sorry for Jeff now, he leaves before Barrett is up in the morning and 3 out of 5 days he comes home and Barrett is already asleep. I am not sure I can deal with that. I remember Melissa saying that is why Landon stayed up later as a baby so they could have their time with him. I have a feeling Barrett's bedtime might get changed...

It will be nice for Jeff though, he is taking two weeks off from work when I go back and the boys are going to spend time together. Then we are off for the holidays and we are have time together for another two weeks. Starting January 4th, the Rosenlund family will be commuting to work together and Mr. B will start daycare at Cisco. At least we will have him close...

I Finally Meet Joe and Rose

Last Sunday we had an introduction long overdue, Barrett finally met Joe and Rose Archer. 'Ma and Pa' Archer drove down from Sacramento for brunch and a visit at the house. Rose had been anxiously waiting to meet our little man and once she got a hold of him she didn't let go. We were lucky she gave him up for a few minutes so Joe could hold him :) Barrett loved every minute of it, he loves to be held and he loves when people give him face time. He did a little showing off for them...showed them how much he loves to smile, how he can hold his toys, how he can play peek-a-boo, and how he can drool, of course.

Joe has given Baby B a new nickname...'little fart.' He got this when Joe kept trying to take his picture. He would stare right at Joe and the camera until the picture took when he conveniently turned his head. We feel this nickname is acceptable...it is much better than the nickname Joe had for Jeff growing up. Ask me about S.F.B. sometime.

We know this will be the first of many visits. We are thrilled that Doug accepted a job in Tracy and that Doug, Holly, Kylie, and Jake will be moving closer to us. We know Joe and Rose are sad that their family will be a little further away, but we hope they will come visit often and we can all get together more regularly. We haven't seen them enough over the last few years. We hope to remedy that now.

It was great to see you Joe and Rose...we really enjoyed catching up!

Half Moon Bay Getaway

This is the life!!!

Jeff booked a family getaway for us at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay. First beach day for Barrett - check! First successful overnight family getaway - check! First time a bellhop had to load a baby swing onto the cart - probably...

We now understand why parents say it is so hard to travel with kids. Two days, one night and Barrett stuff took up half of my suitcase, we had a big duffel bag full of toys, the swing, the stroller... Geez, when we checked in you would think we were staying for a week. The hotel was gorgeous, our room was lovely, and our view...phenomenal! We arrived around noon and spent the afternoon on our patio by the fire pit. It sprinkled all day on Friday and the fog was hanging over us, but it actually set a pretty cool atmosphere for hanging out by the fire and gave us an excuse to stay in and enjoy our room. Barrett was very content all afternoon sitting on our lap and looking out.

We did leave the room for dinner on Main Street at Pasta Moon. Melissa and Carlos gave us the recommendation and we thank them for that. Great little spot, fresh homemade pasta, and great service. We had Barrett in the carseat and approached our table which was by two ladies that gave us the stink eye as we walked up. He showed them though. He was a perfect angel for two hours...smiling and laughing while we ate. We are so lucky...I can't say that enough.

Then back to the hotel. Barrett down for the night and Mommy and Daddy buddled up in our blankies chatting by the fire listening to the ocean crash on the cliff. We brough the fixin's for smores but we were to stuffed that night to make them (but ridiculous not to make them during oru stay so we made them for breakfast on Saturday). We didn't even have food out that night, but that didn't stop a ginormous raccoon from walking right up to the wall of our patio and scaring the s*^t out of me! Jeff saw it first, a big black blob walking toward us and thought it was a cat. No cat, as he got closer to the fire you could see the stripes around those beady little eyes. I gave a little shriek and he stood there still for a moment then walked away. That was the end of the fire pit for me...

Saturday was gorgeous! We woke up to clear skies and cooler weather but tolerable once we all bundled up in our sweaters. We walked along the coastal trail with our coffee and tea and got some great shots of the beautiful ocean scenary. Breathtaking!

Check out time, then off to Sam's Chowder House for a late lunch and a little beach time down on the beach by the marina. Barrett isn't to interested in the beach yet. Just another spot for him. We kept him on the blanket because I'm not ready to pick sand out of his mouth yet. We hung out for a bit, watched some windsurfing and then headed home.

A great little trip. A warm up I hope for many more (and longer) family trips to come...

I took so many pictures and I couldn't post them all so the link is to the album is to the right or you can click here

Laughter

Barrett has really started laughing. He loves it when you bury your face in his cheeks and neck, it gets a giggle every time!

He's Not Saying 'DaDa' But He Is Saying Something

Jeff came home from work the other night to Mr. Talky-talky. I got this cute video of them talking...

Z is for Zoo

Barrett and I can't get enough of the Oakland Zoo. We made our third trip the other day with Jen, Carson, and Carson's Grandma Janelle (just met her, I hope I am getting her name right). It was another gorgeous day and the fresh air always does Barrett and I good. This was Carson's first trip to the zoo! Both of them were such good boys. I think that Barrett and Carson enjoyed looking at each other more than the animals though.

Barrett and I are always ready to go back...if anyone wants to join us we are in.

I said earlier since there will be so many zoo posts I would profile a new animal each time. Take a look at the pictures of Ting Ting, the Bornean Sun Bear. There are two bears in Oakland Ting Ting and a little cub named Bulan. We saw Bulan climbing down from a tree during our last visit but she was hiding somewhere that day. Ting Ting was busy decimating this wooden structure in her exhibit. She was rolling around and doing some moves that would make any yoga instructor jealous...flexible little bear.