A fun weekend!

Jackie came for a visit this weekend, arriving around midnight on Friday night / Saturday morning. It's always great to see her and we have to thank Alaska Airlines for being her client so that Jackie's got lots of excuses to visit the Left Coast.

Saturday morning we realized that the booties she'd crocheted for Davey a few months back now actually fit him. Cute, no?

That evening we decided to barbecue stuff for dinner and, to ensure ensure that Jackie got to see them, invited Dad and Linda over. We ate too much filet mignon, lamb chops, grilled asparagus, grilled portabella mushrooms and salad. So much so, in fact, that we didn't have dessert. *GASP* Now we've got 3 pints of sorbet, a whole pineapple and a TON of macaroons left over at our house. Oh DARN.

Sunday was a dim sum breakfast kind of day. Jackie, Davey, Polly and I drove in to San Francisco together. There we finally got to meet Zoe Browdy, who was born on Thanksgiving last year. Over dumplings the Browdys and I kibitzed about an arranged marriage for our little ones.

Later in the afternoon, Mark, Davey and I headed over to a small gig at a club next to the Post Office in Novato. Davey marked the occassion by wearing his cool denim jacket and some SHOES! How cool does he look?

At the show, Davey reminded me of me... that is, when I was a kid, I could sleep at a concert, no matter how loud. It wasn't all THAT loud at this show, but Davey surprised me by totally crashing out and sleeping very soundly for a nice, long nap. Of course he wasn't asleep the WHOLE time:

After the show we headed home just at Davey's bedtime and finished off the exciting weekend with a nice, relaxing bath. Lately he's been practicing his flexibility and reminding me of Chinese acrobats:

Time for food?

Trying frozen banana - 166 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

So for the past month or so, Davey's been fascinated with what Mommy and Daddy are putting in their mouths. Whenever we eat, he's intently watching the food go from dish to mouth. So every now and then we let him try to drink from our water glasses (he basically sticks his tongue in the water) and have given him small amounts of food. For instance, on St. Patrick's day, I had corned beef hash with poached eggs. He was doing the food stare thing again so I put a tiny bit of egg yolk from my (unseasoned) poached egg on my finger and put it in his mouth. I did that a couple times. And we gave him a tiny bit of mashed up avocado from Mark's dish.

Well a couple days ago, a gift from our friend, Sue, arrived. it's called a Baby Safe Feeder and she said her son, Jimmy, loved it. Basically you can put ANY food in a little mesh bag, and the bag screws on to a holder. In order to get any food out, the baby has to gum/crush the food through the fine mesh holes. It's supposed to make a great teether (think baby carrots, frozen fruit, etc.). NEAT idea! We gave it a try this morning with a piece of semi-frozen banana. Davey wasn't NUTS about it, but he did give it a try for a while. I can see how he could get to enjoy it pretty quickly. Gotta go get some baby carrots tomorrow. :-)

Daddy and son - 165 days old

Daddy and son - 165 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Mark has been such a great daddy this week, taking care of Davey so much as I've been working so hard. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a bit resentful of how much time work is taking away from Davey... booooooo. But at least Mark has been able to be the primary care-giver, and they're having a good time with it. Well, okay, Davey was fussy yesterday while I was at the office, but they still were fine.

Mark wants everyone to know that Davey rolled over completely a couple times today. Yayyyyy!!

Daddy day-care - 163 days old

Daddy day-care - 163 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Chatty, smiley boy

The boys - 159 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Another day of sweetness and light!

The newest addition

Davey, Mark and the new truck - 158 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Mark finally replaced his old truck today. That is, he sold his old truck back in October but hadn't replaced it until today. He worked hard the past week or so to get the best deal possible on this puppy. It's a 2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab Limited Edition 4x4. Boy is it big! Gas mileage... ugh. I feel like we should buy a Prius to offset the truck!

THAT SAID -- I'm glad we've got the truck! Now we can get up to the snow before it's gone. And we can pick up furniture (we're looking for a desk and book case for Mark). And Mark can easily tow vehicles that he finds. YAYYYYYYYY.

Plus it's got all kinds of goodies. More bells and whistles than my Mercedes, really. DVD GPS navigation, bluetooth hookup for the cell phone, cold weather package, heated seats, dual climate zones, fog lights, in-dash 4-CD changer, running boards, bed liner (it's on order), tow package (of course). We took a ride to Sausalito to run a few errands late this afternoon and it does ride nicely.

When do we go to the snow?

Hangin' with dad and grandma Bonnie - 157 days old

Hangin' with dad and grandma Bonnie - 157 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Come hither - 156 days old

Come hither - 156 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Spring in the garden - 155 days old

Spring in the garden - 155 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Sweetness & Light

5 month old cutie

5 month old cutie
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Boy... sure do love this beautiful boy!

Five Months Old!

It's mind-boggling to realize that Davey turned 5 months old today. It feels so much shorter than that but at the same time, I can't (and don't want to) imagine a time when he wasn't part of our lives. Our sweet little guy is simply the best!

He awoke this morning and was all smiles and laughs. All day long he was in a good mood and showing off his skills. Such as an all of a sudden mastery of several of the toys on his jumper. Well done!
While I went to the "office" (at the back of the house) to work, Mark took great care of Davey. When it was time for Davey to eat, Mark would bring him back to me. At one point, I fed Davey and he fell asleep in my lap as I was observing a usability test (that my colleague, Debra, was conducting). I just kept him during that time and let Mark get some stuff done. After a while, Davey woke, but wanted to help me work, so I let him!

He was very helpful and didn't distract at all. Once he was finished working, he let me know by falling asleep on me (again). Once he awoke, the usability test was over, Mark had gotten some of his work done, and it was time for lunch.

In honor of his birthday, we went out to lunch with Dad and Linda and tried out a new restaurant that's within walking distance from our house (once was Denny's, then a string of coffee shops, now called Peter's Restaurant). Dad and Linda go on tour tomorrow, so it was also a last chance for us to see each other until their return.


Davey definitely enjoyed the lunch, as did we all. The food was very good, and the prices reasonable. I had a B.LA.T. (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwich) with a side salad, Mark had a hickory bacon burger with fries, Linda had a caesar salad with seared ahi and a bowl of minestrone and Dad had the calimari fritti and a cup of soup. Everyone enjoyed their food and the servings were ample. Nice to have another good restaurant so close to home.

Mark then dropped me off at home while he and Davey went to Sausalito Shirt Co. to drop off some merchandise and pick up some of Mark's work. By the time they returned from there, Davey was having a good late afternoon nap and I was nearly done with work.

I tried to get a video of Mark and Davey talking with each other, but I was too slow to get the camera. Darn! They were really cute! Then it was time for Davey's bath -- possibly his favorite time of the day. Lots of splashing, laughing and smiling. Then a quick change in to cozy jammies, some Pat the Bunny, Goodnight Moon, singing of lullabies and then a meal in the dark and Davey slipped off to dreamland.

All in all, it was a beautiful day with our beloved little boy. Mom warned me about this, and it's true: Every day I think, "He's so perfect right now. I don't want him to change." But then, the next day, he's even more wonderful. I'm looking forward to every future day with this little love bundle.

Lovin' the bumbo seat!

Lovin' the bumbo seat! - 149 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

What a great baby seat!. And, apparently, Davey approves as well. Yayyy.

Smiling with Grandma Julia

Smiling with Grandma Julia - 150 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

A busy day here in Merzville! We all got our first taste of me working from home and Mark taking over the lion share of Davey's care during the day. He'd bring Davey to me to eat (though he fed him a bottle while I was on a couple conference calls in the morning) and Davey and I got in a bit of snuggle time in the late afternoon when I was too pooped to work anymore either. All in all, Davey seemed to enjoy the day. In addition, it was the housekeeper's day to come and my mom came over to do some work on our garden. Busy, busy, bustle, bustle!

Davey's been asleep for a couple hours now. Perhaps we should go follow his lead...

Bye bye Maternity Leave, hello Sybase!

Davey in my Sybase office - 149 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

The first day back to work has come and gone and it was all just fine. Yeah! Once Davey was awake this morning, we got dressed and headed in to the office together. There was some traffic but he had a nice nap on the drive there and I caught up on This American Life via podcast. Once at the office, Davey awoke and was chirpy and cheerful as he met several colleagues as we entered the building. Then time for a snack in my office (yay for locking doors and mini-blinds!), listening in on a conference call and lots more visits from lots more colleagues. Eventually a lunch with Leif, outside in the sun, where Davey took a snooze while Leif and I ate. Then a meeting with my boss to find out the high level first priorities, some more snacks for Davey and the drive home before traffic.

All in all, it wasn't too bad. It seems that they've been awaiting my return and definitely had work ready and waiting for me. I'd better get those gears humming quickly!

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight and getting through a lot of email and a few jump-start phone calls tomorrow while Mark takes care of Davey. But I'll be doing the work from the office at home so I'll be able to play with and nurse Davey whenever I've got time for a break. Most excellent!!

Okay, this cheers me up a bit

More Sesame Street nostalgia:

Last day of maternity leave

Playin' in the bouncer - 148 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Tomorrow begins a new phase in our family unit: Mom going back to work. I know I'm lucky and got a longer maternity leave than most U.S. moms (and still have a job to go back to) -- nearly 6 months, including the time off before Davey was born. Also, of course, I'll be working from home 4 days a week. So what do I have to complain about? I suppose I shouldn't! But honestly, this has been 6 of the best months of my life and I'm concerned that I'm really going to miss having Davey's well-being as my full time job.

But it'll be good for Davey, Mark and I, right?

Tomorrow will likely be a light and short day at the office, as I'm taking Davey with me. He'll get to meet folks at my office and get a glimpse of where I'll be each Monday. Not that he'll remember, but I like the idea of this for easing my way back in to work.

Wish us luck!

Checking out the spring flowers - 21 weeks old

Checking out the spring flowers - 21 weeks old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Well March certainly is starting out beautifully here in Novato! Today was a beauuuutiful, sunny day. Davey got to wear shorts and no socks all day, which he loves, since he loves to play with his toes. In honor of the beautiful weather and Davey's 21 WEEK BIRTHDAY (oh my god, I can't believe it's been that long already), we took him to the back yard to inspect flowers close up, get his toes in the grass, on the pavers and in some dried willow leaves. Very exciting, don't you know?

Dad and Linda stopped by later in the afternoon and we had a late afternoon lunch / early dinner at a new Mexican restaurant in town, El Encanto. Most tasty place - check it out!

A splashing good time

Forget reading - toes are more interesting!

Forget reading - toes are more interesting. Mom's teaching me pilates! 145 days old
Originally uploaded by jessicafm.

Today was a day to stay in the house... Once I'd written the entry in the blog last night, Davey woke up and was very, very fussy. Also, he was very congested. I think he's finally come down with the cold that I've been fighting off since last Saturday. So last night we snuggled and I let him sleep on my until 10:30 or so and then put him down. By then he was asleep enough to stay asleep for another 6 hours. Then more feeding, another couple hours of sleep and then more feeding. Today he seemed to need more sleep and was a bit fussy. Still sweet, but definitely seeming not well. No fever thankfully. Just congestion and fussiness.

He did, however, realllly enjoy his bath tonight. He bathed in his own tub tonight, not sharing a big bath with me as last night. But he was having so much fun, kicking like crazy and splashing all over, making himself, me and Mark laugh. Mark shot some video but we'll need to edit it before we can upload to YouTube (it's too large to be uploaded).

Now he's asleep -- hopefully for the night. Hopefully he'll be feeling better in the morning so we can go to Kindermuzik. :-)