Fast and Furious

Dude. Seriously. This kid is in milestone overdrive. Last night, Wyatt crawled for the first time! He's been taking a few "steps" before losing his focus, but he's done it several times, so we know he has the mechanics down. He ought to be a speeding bullet of a rug rat in no time. As I mentioned in my last post, he's also learning to climb. We finally lowered his crib in order to prevent him from taking a dive over the top. Last night he also attempted to pull himself up to a standing position on the couch. He couldn't quite get there, but he looked determined, which seems to garner quick results in Wyatt land. I'm also trying to teach him how to crawl down backwards from the couch. I got a picture of him on my cell phone standing steady after a crawl-down lesson, and I expect we'll see more of this pose as he figures out how to pull all the way to standing. And since every time he's in a standing position, he tries to take steps, I foresee an early walker... I keep having to remind myself that my milestone-ramming, super tall little boy is really only 7 months old. Sometimes he looks so much older than that. Oh, but those chubby cheeks give him away... :)

I'm also happy to report that yesterday I slipped into the jeans I wore for my engagement pictures two years ago. I wore them comfortably for most of the day until Wyatt managed to get carrots on them. Fun with laundry! But it felt great. I'm not quite to my goal weight yet, but getting into some of my skinnier clothes is definitely incentive to keep fighting the good fight. It'll probably take a "mom job" after we're done having kids to get me back into my favorite bikini, but I sure do have a lot of great jeans I'll be thrilled to wear all winter. :)

More about me, me, me: I've been wrestling with an old manuscript lately. (Yes, reading Twilight inspired me.) I love my characters and the premise, but something was eating at me as I tried to move the story forward. Well, I figured it out! Now I can move forward, and potentially finish this thing! I realize this is kind of cryptic, since I'm not going to reveal my secret ingredient... or even the kind of recipe for that matter, ha ha, but I just had to share. I made a breakthrough. And for a writer, that kicks ass. :)

Here's the happy mama with her munchkin. I so rarely have pictures of myself posted anywhere, so I figured I'd drop in and say hello:

Lucky Number 7

On Saturday, the munchkin will be 7 months old. It's strange to even try to think about whether that happened quickly or slowly. Like with all things time-related, I have a mixed response with dramatic swings of the pendulum. But whether that took forever, or happened in a blink, we have a 7 month old child. And I say child, not baby. This kid quit being a baby a while back. He's such a little boy. It's crazy to listen to him growl, see him create his own game of peek-a-boo, and watch the milestones wander past us. He's cut his second tooth as of this morning (a grumpy morning indeed), and is learning how to climb. Evidently, a child doesn't need to know how to crawl forward in order to crawl up. He is easily bored, fights naps like a champ, and will always grin wildly at his first glimpse of his dad each day. He's a beautiful little boy, and he now actually knows what "no" means, and responds (usually) accordingly. Pretty stinkin' miraculous stuff.

I will now enter the portion of my blog I'll call "luck-schmuck". I'm going to give you the very abbreviated story of what I referred to at the end of my last blog. A week ago today, Ryan was called in to help his landlord evict a tenant. It was a church, which sounds innocent enough, but when all was said and done, the "pastor" had called in some thugs to break Ryan's face, and he had to pull his pistol (a gun he carries legally, by the way) to get them to stand down. (I put "pastor" in quotation marks fairly, considering by the end he was yelling "don't call me pastor. I'm not a pastor". I think that's what we refer to as a "wolf in sheep's clothing.") Well, they claimed they were gonna go get more guys and guns... As they sped of, Ryan called 911. After 5 attempts, he got through. (Makes you feel really safe, doesn't it? 5 attempts to get through to 911? Our safe society is such a thin veneer...) After a tense and scary 15 minutes, the police came to "diffuse" the situation. That means they made everyone go away, not that anyone was actually safe. But still, a gun fight was obverted, so that's a relief. Especially over a frickin' eviction of a church. Well, the next morning, the landlord got a call from the "pastor", saying the boys didn't like getting a gun pulled on them, so they were out looking for Ryan with a few "shooters" fresh out of the Pen. Great. Perfect. So there was like a hit out on my husband for evicting a church that never paid a cent of rent... and he's not even the landlord. Needless to say, we decided to leave town for a while and let things cool down. Things seem to be okay now, but no mother of a small child (okay no one, period) enjoys scary threats. So we're still on high alert for a while... Awesome. Heartwarming, ain't it? So that's the short version. I don't know if I have the energy to get into the longer version, but let me just tell you one thing: Ryan acted in wisdom and more importantly - he acted rightly. And I'll always be glad I'm married to the good guy, even if dealing with a bad guy may put him in danger. Contrary to what some may think, there's still such a thing as right and wrong, and my husband is on the good side.

On a lighter note, where are my book recommendations, people? Come on, throw this literary fiend a bone! I'm almost done with my rebound book and I'm jonesing for input. Thanks!

Read the Signs

I basically decided that if I was going to start reading again after Twilight, it was going to have to be something very different and potentially mindless. I found the perfect transition book to help me enjoy some lighthearted chick lit again. It's called Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. The protagonist is pleasantly sarcastic and completely grown up, which helps my cause. I needed something written in a voice that sounded nothing like Bella Swan, so I wouldn't keep comparing and getting bored when she didn't fall madly in love with a vampire and repeatedly almost get herself killed... So yeah, this one works. Hopefully the books keep on coming. Ideas are always appreciated!

Wyatt, now 6 1/2 months old, is really on verge of crawling. I know I've said that several times, but he actually pushes with one knee now and magically finds himself a couple feet away from his initial location. I don't think he quite knows what out of his arsenal of movements actually works best, but he'll probably figure it out any day now. I started putting outlets plugs all over the house in preparation, and Ryan even put corner guards on our ridiculously sharp coffee table corners. We haven't installed the cabinet locks or actually moved things out of their low-to-floor positions (i.e. vases in the entryway...) and we still need to get something to guard the fireplace from little hands, and I guess we're gonna need a couple retractable gates... oy. Not sure how these changes will look in our house... Get over it, Shannon. You're a mom now. These things go with the territory... And really, can I complain when I already have a pile of toys in the living room and blankets spread all over the floor for playing? How is that not an eye sore? :) Only the best fo my little dude.

Speaking of the boy, I forgot to share his latest measurements from the doctor. He was 20lb 13oz (90th percentile) and 29.5" tall (off the charts). Still on his way to some sort of high-paying professional sports career, I think. :) But you know, we'll settle for a doctor; so he has options.

I will very briefly touch on one more topic from our day, before calling this blog quits. I am exceedingly grateful to God that my husband is safe today. And I have a brand new level of understanding as to why the 2nd Amendment was written for the good guys. Holy CRAP. If you know Ryan (or me, and want to know more details) give one of us call, and we'll give you the breakdown on how Ryan's CCW (permit to carry a concealed weapon) saved his life today. I'll blog little more about it next time. Not trying to be cryptic, just absorbing it before I spit it out to the masses.

Sit Up Straight!

A month after my last post, it has finally occurred to me that perhaps I should write again. You'd think I didn't find my life interesting enough for public consumption or something.... jeez.

So, anyway. Wyatt is sitting up on his own now! He just started doing it, without immediately falling over, today! I think it was the incentive of getting to beat up a toy football, as is illustrated in the picture. :) I'm hoping maybe this will also mean he'll stop spitting up soon, spitty little bugger that he is, but I'm not holding my breath. I think I may have a son who spits up until well into high school, ha ha. He's still working on the whole crawling thing. Not quite there, but very much on his way. And no, we still haven't baby proofed our house. Yeah... we really need to get around to that soon.

Let's see, what else? I just finished reading all four books in the Twilight saga. I'm embarrassed to even say it, because until I read them, I thought they were just obsessive teen books... about as tempting to me as the Jonas Brothers. But then, you know, I read them. I blame Andrea, who convinced me that they're as fun for adults as teens. :) And it turns out she was right; they're really good! And now every time I start a new book, I'm bored after a few pages. Nothing is entertaining me! Help! If any of you have some good ideas for books that are super entertaining and fun, I'm all ears. I was digging the reading thing so much, and now I'm ruined for most of the books I had on my "to read" list. For now, the good news is that I'm back to working on a book I started writing in grad school. My goal is to write a book that entertains me as much as those did. If you can't find one, write one, right?

I guess that's about it. Have a great October!

That Bites

Wyatt has a tooth. Oh yes, after two months of sore gums, runny noses and pain relievers, my son's first tooth has finally broken through... or at least a corner of it has. So, um, how long do you think the other corner is gonna take to make its appearance? And does the first tooth prep the gums for the other 20 or so teeth that still need to arrive? I'm feeling.... underwhelmed. Poor kid. No wonder kids start to get a little grumpy and bratty in their "terrible twos". They're just finally fed up with the whole teething process! Or, um... something like that.

Oh, and there's more. Wyatt has a new sound. He has learned to shriek like a girl. It's cute, because he's squeaking with glee... but you know... it's also loud. Very loud. And it can be hard to decipher from his other shriek... the one where he's crying in misery. Glee, misery... same difference? Hmmmm.

The third Wyatt tidbit involves mobility. Our boy is on the brink of crawling. He gets his butt up in the air and sort of scoots forward accidentally. It's not quite deliberate mobility, but it's definitely shaking up his world a little bit as he stumbles upon the ability to get to some of his toys. You think maybe we should start baby proofing our house? Yeah, maybe...

Short and sweet. It's a cliché. It's also the perfect description of this blog, so you'll have to deal. Bye!

Bottle Shock

It's been almost a month since I've updated my blog. Shame. Shame. I think sometimes you get into a groove, and then sometimes you lose it. I lost my groove. (And no, I don't plan to get it back Stella-style...) So, anyway, I'm back. Hi.

Wyatt is now 5 1/2 months old. He's a kick. He's finally to an age where he's trying to do new things... where you can see the gears turning in his head as he turns things over in his hands or tries to move somewhere once he's rolled onto his stomach. He does that all the time. He starts on his back, rolls onto his stomach, and then lays for a while and tries to figure out how to crawl. So far, he rocks and squirms, but he hasn't quite figured out the coordination or how to get up on all fours at the same time. It's coming. I think crawling is about a month or two out. He's also getting closer to sitting up on his own. He can balance as long as he doesn't lose focus, but as soon as he looks in a different direction, he tends to tip over in that direction. :)

In other Wyatt news, I've decided to wean the munchkin. I know, I know. Evil Momma. Good mothers nurse for at least a year, not 5 1/2 months, right? Blah blah blah. Here's your medal for mommy sainthood. Listen, all I can tell you is that my son is teething, and he's a stubborn little monster when it comes to chewing and biting during feedings. YES, I tried flicking him when he did it. I tried it with a stern "NO!". I tried it over and over again while he alternately cried or laughed at me and then went back to gnawing on things he shouldn't be gnawing on. He's either a little thick and doesn't understand cause and effect, or he's as stubborn as his father. I think it's the latter. So the shop is closed for business. I'm dealing with sore boobs and he's dealing with bottles. Yea for bottles!

Okay, now for a paragraph about something new. We have a backyard! It's true; the dirt lot behind our house has been transformed. Beautiful stained and stamped concrete, green grass, a retaining wall, trees and a jacuzzi. It's pretty stinking nice to have a reason to open the shades. The only thing we don't have yet is the patio cover, which is being engineered for a large span. It'll be nice, pitched, and have a matching roof with our house. Pretty sweet. And then of course we'll invest in some good outdoor furniture, etc. But honestly, just seeing green grass and trees makes me happy!

I guess that's enough for today. Been following the election? Yeah... me too. It's been hot lately... Sure am glad fall is coming... So... The Trojans are playing some awesome football, eh? Yeah... You can hang up now.

Rollin' with my Homies

We're in milestone land. On Wednesday, August 13th, Wyatt rolled over for the first time from his tummy to his back. He was chillin' on a blanket on the floor with his buddy Alex, who's 2 weeks younger. He saw Alex rollin' like a pro and decided to give it a try. (Jealous, much?) To our delight, he pulled it off on the first try! (He hasn't done it again since, ha ha, but it still counts!)

And while we're talking milestones, we can add Mr. Wyatt to the solid food club. Yep, my boy now eats from a spoon. Rock on, little muncher. He seemed a little weirded out by the texture of something not-milk-like, but being the hearty eater that he is, he got over it in no time. Watch out world, Wi-Fi is learning to chow.

In other eating news, not Wyatt-related, I'm learning to cook. And by "learning" I mean "teaching myself with random recipes and expensive grocery bills". I find that the basics are boring, so I've jumped right into gourmet-land. Okay, that's an exaggeration, considering I don't even really know what all the tools do, or the difference between "chopping" and "mincing". But if I don't know, I just improvise. So far, most things have turned out pretty good. I've had a couple flops, but I guess that's the whole "learn from your mistakes" angle. Tonight, I'm cooking for the first time for Ryan's family. (I made jerk chicken for my parents a couple weeks ago, but knowing me, they have such low expectations in the kitchen, ha ha, it wasn't much pressure.) What's funny is that it's not like the Kuhns are a high-maintenance group. We could order pizza and they'd be perfectly happy. But I know Ryan wants to show off his wife's culinary progress, ha ha, and so I'm stepping up to the plate with a repeat performance of my Garlic Sesame Pork Tenderloin, Artichokes with Creamy Dill Dipping Sauce, and some Garlic Bread. Garlic is the thru-line for this meal, so my apologies to anyone in the family who was planning on having minty fresh breath tonight...

I feel like with as long as it's been since I blogged, I should probably have more to say. I should, for instance, be telling you about Wyatt and my perfectly fun day in LA last week. I should be writing about Ryan and my sans-baby trip up to the Napa area for the Bottling Party at the Housley's winery. I should, but I'm tired of typing. I'll get back to you on those. It'll be a teaser - setting you up for the sequel. Try not to be too impatient. :) And speaking of impatient, I'll leave you with a picture of the little dude, who was too impatient to take his nap to let his mommy know he was tired...

Our Little Dude is Bulking Up for Fall

Tomorrow, Wyatt will be 4 months old. He'll start eating cereal with a spoon. I had to stop by Target today to buy spoons and plastic bowls, because somehow that age just seemed so far away... I didn't even prep for it. And yet, here we are. And of course, he isn't just getting older; he's getting bigger. At his 4 month appointment today, he weighed in at 17lb 7oz and measured 27" tall. That's still 90th percentile for weight and a whopping 95th percentile for height.

Here's my theory: Wyatt's obsessed with football, because he could hear his momma watching both NCAA and NFL games through a good chunk of her pregnancy. It soaked into his very DNA. And he will, of course, be justified in his goal come the end of this month. Football season is almost here again!!! Yea! Pure heaven for me and my little linebacker. I do, after all, watch more football than my husband, even though he used to play.

Here's Wyatt working out for fall:

Post Traumatic Vacation Disorder

We're home! Mammoth was fun and exhausting and adventurous and funny. And as with so many vacation experiences, it's the old "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation" scenario. I don't really know where to start, so I'll just sort of jump right in.

First, I have to fess up. We didn't make it a week in the trailer. :) We stayed in it for 3 nights. Then, on Wednesday, after a fun, long day at the ghost town Bodie (a baby name we actually like a lot, by the way) and to the sound of the wails of a teething (more on that in a second) cranky baby, Ryan suggested that perhaps we should finish out our vacation at the Westin. Now you're talkin'. We did, after all, want to get a little relaxation into our vacation, and Ryan and I tend to find luxury very relaxing. :) Granted, we still had an infant with us, so it wasn't quite as relaxing as it would have been with a sitter, ha ha, but it definitely took the edge off! I know what you're thinking. How spoiled are you? You can't handle a week in a perfectly good trailer? Plenty of people go tent camping all the time, and they don't complain! They like it! It's fun! And hey, people even do it with babies and have a good time. Well... yeah... I don't know what to tell you. I do have a better understanding of why people enjoy camping now, but I still kind of like a soft, king size bed and daily maid service better. I'm a nut like that. Normally, one of my favorite things would be the pool and two hot tubs. I'm still, however, widdling away at the 64 pounds I gained with my pregnancy (I know, gasp!). So I just couldn't bring myself to pack a swimsuit. I'm happy to report that I didn't gain any weight on vacation, at least. So there's that.

There's no rhyme or reason to how I'm writing this blog, so hey, let's start a new paragraph, shall we? (She's a writer?) We had a few obstacles on our vacation, as I hinted at earlier. I'll start with the teething baby. My son isn't even 4 months old yet, but he's already starting to get a tooth. You can just make out a tiny white spot, but it's there. What an overachiever. I guess he figures if he's as big as an 8 month-old, he might as well prep himself to eat steak and potatoes like a man. With that discomfort, plus a ravenous appetite from what we assume is another growth spurt, (because our child clearly wants to catch up with Shaq's kids), we had some moments of pure delight in the trailer. One night, Wyatt screamed for about 2 hours straight. It was insane, and let's just say I did my share of crying that night, too. And it didn't help, obviously, that I'd just found out that day that my grandpa had passed away. I was a little, shall we say, fragile. I'm sure that contributed to Ryan's decision to treat us to the Westin.

Wow, that got somber. But we also had a lot of fun on this trip. Mammoth is a very cool place, and we enjoyed spending time with Ryan's family. Wyatt was in hold-the-baby heaven. He also really gets a kick out of his cousins. Babies seem to really enjoy other little people. :)

Okay, I'm going to change the subject. Wyatt is almost 4 months old. He has his 4 month appt. on Thursday, so we'll find out just how big our little dude has gotten. Despite some little frustrations like teething and growth spurts, he's actually amazingly fun right now. He smiles and laughs all the time. He's also obsessed with his hands, tongue and feet (in that order). If he could spend hours chewing on one hand, using the other one to pull a foot in front of his face, and experimenting with new ways to stick his tongue out and make new sounds, he'd be in heaven. (And let's face it, that's basically exactly what he gets to do for good chunks of the day, which may explain why he's always smiling and laughing.) He also thinks he can already walk. If you hold him steady and stand him up, he'll lift each foot and try to take a stroll. Again, this is a child who wants to grow up too fast! I figure he ought to roll over, sit on his own and crawl before he walks, but what do I know?

Here's more about our little dude. Let's talk binks. (Those are pacifiers, by the way.) Wyatt pretty much only uses a bink when he's sleeping or in the car (when his parents want him to be sleeping). There's a pretty strong sleep association there, so we're big fans of the bink. Well, Mr. Curious has now figured out how to pull the bink out with his hand and look at it as he's drifting off to sleep. This would be awesome if he were skilled at putting it back in his mouth. But the boy is notorious now for going down for his nap with a bink in his mouth, pulling it out to investigate it as he drifts off, but not fully falling asleep because he can't figure out how to get it back into his mouth. He's also good at spitting it out accidentally because he wants to play with his aforementioned tongue. We don't plan on letting him have the bink past a year old, but we weren't expecting it to have complications by 3 1/2 months! Oh well. It'll just be a race to see if he learns how to sleep without it, or how to put it back in his mouth first. Honestly, I'm okay either way at this stage.

More pics from Mammoth (in the trailer) of the boy:

Vacation, Kuhns Style

Those of you who know me, know that I'm not a camper. I love the mountains, but prefer to experience them in a cozy cabin with all of the amenities of home and plenty of room to stretch out. Especially a cabin with a cleaning service. When we were kids, our family had a nice cabin up at Huntington Lake. Vacation was laying out on the deck getting a tan while reading about 5 new novels and watching sailboats. There were a couple hikes, maybe a day on the lake in a houseboat, and possibly a couple hours of light fishing. Most of these were just alternate ways to work on my tan. We'd make s'mores in the pot bellied stove in the cabin, or down at the country store fire pit. To me, that's a vacation in the mountains. I like the smell of the woods and nice views of a lake. But I've never understood the point of purposely roughing it. Let's pretend we're homeless! Not you style...? Okay, well step it up. Let's pretend we live in a trailer park! I guess I've just never quite understood the appeal.



This week, we're heading off for a vacation, Kuhns style. We're going to Mammoth. We're staying in our trailer (more on that in a second) and will be spending the week doing activities with various members of Ryan's immediate an extended family. And, we'll have Wyatt with us on this adventure, of course. I really want this to be fun. I especially want it, because I know Ryan is totally excited about the trip. I like it when Ryan's happy. And there are certainly aspects of the trip that I'm looking forward to. It'll be cool to see the whole family. I like Ryan's family. They're an entertaining bunch. I also know there will be more hands than usual to hold Wyatt, which is always a plus to a new mom. He'll get to meet his new second cousin (who is only like a two weeks younger than him) Elliott, too. Ryan will hopefully not be working (on job work, project work, or any other work -- crossing fingers), so he shouldn't be overly stressed out or tired. At least I hope that's the case, because I think that's the whole point of being on vacation, right? The air will be clean. The weather should be nice. I've also heard that Mammoth is a pretty cool town. So good stuff, right? Yeah, mostly...



I do have some concerns, however. One, of course, is staying in the trailer. I know, I know. What a princess I am. But as a long-time insomniac, new mom, and general relaxer during vacations, I foresee a few discomforts and inconveniences that in the past, I have never associated with vacation. First is the trailer itself. It's nice enough for what we paid for it, but you know, it's no Ritz-Carlton. The premise for our purchase of said-trailer was for "if sh!t hits the fan". My husband was doing the very responsible thing of protecting his family in case of natural disaster, societal breakdown, or great depression. It's good to have a "just in case" trailer. I could have sworn that was why I was okay with getting a trailer, when for other reasons...like I don't know...vacationing... hadn't convinced me prior to that. So I'm mildly bummed to be vacationing in our "if sh!t hits the fan" trailer after all. Maybe that makes me a spoiled brat, but there it is. I'm also not stoked about the general lack of room when we have so much needed baby gear. And of course, to be perfectly honest, I have protested the very idea of camper/trailer/RV vacations from the moment I met Ryan, because as my grandmother always said "If mom has to take her chores with her on vacation, it's not a vacation for mom". And so... yeah... a few concerns. To Ryan's credit, though, the positives should outweigh the negatives. So there's that.



The truth is, I think we'll have fun, for the most part. That's what I'm hoping. My goal is to be positive and embrace the new vacation standard. I mean, otherwise it's a losing battle. After all, my last name is Kuhns now. It's just one of the many changes I've encountered now that I'm married. I'll let you know if I succeed with my goal to enjoy myself... :)