What A Lot Of Livin To Do

Do you know that song? It's one of my favorite downloads and I sing it to Charlie all the time. It's an oldie, but maybe you remember it if you were a lowly chorus girl in a high school production of Bye Bye Birdie. Who needs to know how to sing when you can dance?

Little Man is getting bigger every day. Went to the doctor on Monday for nine month check up and shots. Asthma is as of yet, undetermined. Doc didn't hear any wheezing and said to use the meds only if he needs it. Good news, I thought.

Our boy is 29 inches and 21 pounds. He giggles and claps for Dr. M. and does this "twisting" thing. Dr. M. is very amused and says, "Where did he learn how to dance?"

Ummm...maybe in the womb when he went to about 3000 dance classes.

Charlie is fast! He sweeps the floor with his Buddha belly, crawling with elbows and toes like he's at boot camp. He wriggles up to the cd tower and pulls out all the cds only to stop and stare at Johnny Cash. so all this Queen and the Who and Van Halen I have been playing results in his becoming a cowboy after all, just like daddy. Of course.

Yes, I play Rob's cds, too.

And Philadelphia Chickens. I think I need to get more baby music. But what baby doesn't love "Magic Bus"?????? Who cares what the wipers do if the bus is magic???!!!!

Today I rewarded myself with a shopping spree at Forever 21 after my math test. I had a gift card but still...........why am I shopping at stores with deejays? I'm getting a little (dare I say it) mature for that scene. I pretend that I am hip enough to buy a Hello Kitty t-shirt that says something about "My boyfriend" on it. No one can sense that I have a purse filled with pampers, or a belly covered with scribbly marks.

So to balance that out I went to Sears and tried on "miracle swim suits."

Now that's mature.

More later.

Social Butterfly

That's Charlie with his friend C.J., who is a few days older (maybe weeks?). We got to spend time with C.J. and family on Memorial day, soaking up sun in their nice green backyard.

Sorry for the delay in tummytime, there, readers! I have been so busy--the end of the school year rolled right into summer Math class (yes, you read that right) and social activities galore--retirements and graduations and showers and stuff. That's cool, though. The Victorson and Lentz gang likes a party.

Charlie is nine months old and bursting with fruit flavor. He is a sweet, grinning chubster who is busting out of his clothes Hulk-Style. He sits and watches and checks people out, prompting lots of people to assess him as "quiet" and "chill." All true. However, he has moments of gigglemania where he can be tickled by a loose eyelash. And moments of impressive, monosyllabic soliloquies. He is a tiny wonder.

This week our dance card has been really full! Monday swings and park time with Noah (a crawler--he is so fun to watch), Wednesday park time again with the Wednesday gang--Jordan, Claire, and Silas, and today: playgroup and a retirement party. Right now he is in his crib, and feeling very reluctant about this early nap. yes, I am trying to manipulate his schedule a little. He'll be glad when he gets to see the gang!

So no crawling for our guy yet. He sure does get around, though. he moves like an inchworm, pushing his feet and squirming towards toys, books on shelves, dustbunnies, loose electrical cords. He gets faster everyday. It's so fun to watch him grow.

more from us later. Mommy needs naptime too.

Swedes in the City

Not much time to post right now. Little bear sleeps and I must grab a shower so we can head out for a day of adventures..........one potluck grad school party in the burbs comin' up!
What a nice week we had! Momala the super grandmother (well, one of two!!) swooped into town to take care of the three of us, have some Charlie love time, and help me get through a stressful week. Well, my star tiny dancers at John J. Wonderful Elementary School put on a lively show and I got through the rehearsals and prop making and sound checking with my kitchen intact and my closet filled with all 3 of my current outfits, clean! Thanks Momala.
Another nice thing about Momala's visit is that she was here on mother's day. We had a great day. Rob made a yummy brunch that included Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls, and then we went to church. we had an easy day followed by dinner at one of our favorite places, Andies in Andersonville. It was fun to walk through my old hood and soak up all the Scando-mania. Of course we took a picture with the giant Dala horse! I'm dying to find out if it's okay to actually put baby ON the horse. I did not take any chances on Mother's Day however.
So my first Mother's Day was sweet and relaxing and full of goodness. On top of being surrounded by the people I love, I also got a very nice gift that I think is worth mentioning. Rob placed a beautiful, Kay Jeweler's-sized box in front of me, covered with a picture of Charlie in my favorite p.j.s. I was so sure he had gone to Jared, but he surprised me with an Ipod shuffle. Wow! I don't think I have received a "toy" from the electronics/wireless department since the days when they were called Walkmans and featured a radio AND cassette player. It is very cool, was a huge surprise, and will be lots of fun given my hobby of downloading music. Here's a sample playlist:

Kickstart My Heart
Bicycle Race
Turn it On
I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys (rob put this one on--it's Charlie's favorite lullaby)

Back on the Boards

What a big weekend!!! Mommy returned to the stage as the nurse in friend Tekki's show, Blurred Vision. This is such a fun show to do--it is really Tekki's monologue piece about her life in and out of hospitals and her search for answers to health care questions. Or you can just read a much better description at: www.tellintales.org
I think that's the site. I'll check it for my next post.

Anyway, Tekki is a comic genius and I get to play her crazy nurse in many incarnations: mean nurse, nice nurse, nurse chewing gum. I have no lines--I simply dance and prance and make faces and try to remember my blocking. Oh, and I lift Tekki and carry her around the stage a few times. Because I am a post-natal warrior princess. And Tekki is very light anyway.

I have done this show so many times--we take it to hospitals, conventions, anyplace that will have us. It is the most fun and I never tire of it. I last performed it in October when Charlie was about 6 weeks old. I pretty much stuffed the old bra with sweaters to keep the nursing whites dry.

Prior to that show we performed at Second City when I was 5 months preggers. Ironically, the costume never fit better than that time. It just stayed in place, held still by my belly.

This week we did it at the Acorn Theatre in 3 Oaks MI. What a beautiful little town with cute cafes and shops and galleries. It is all quiet escape from Chicago vibe and very cozy. We stayed in the theatre! David and Kim, the owners, operate the theatre and keep 3 or 4 very nice guest rooms for visiting friends and actors.

ROb and I thought about taking Charlie to the matinee but rethought that when he had one of those "I'm too tired to take a nap in that pack n play" cries. Instead, mommy went onstage while Daddy found the local historic artifacts park and the boys had a good stroll.

I look forward to that day when I'll be onstage and I'll hear that tiny voice in the front row---"Mommy! Mommy!" Ahh--some other day.

I Spy........

the Charlinator and I had an excellent day. We went to the bank with Daddy and then drove him downtown to work. We took a long walk in beautiful Horner Park and then went to lunch in Lincoln Square.

Since he passed out in the car between Lincoln Square and home ( a tedious 5 minute drive), I thought we were golden for a long winter's nap. Not so. I put Charlie in the crib and listened on the monitor as he babbled for a good 30 minutes. Okay, I thought. So you're not tired. We'll do a nebulizer treatment and you'll get exasperated and pass out while I'm holding you and then I'll dump you into the crib and you'll sleep for hours and I can get my Winsor Pilates on.

Well.....the treatment did not tire him out. He seemed giddy and goofy. So we played around on the floor, rolling, tickling, giggling, babbling. And I took my daily "do you have teeth yet" look into his mouth and spied a small white sliver of bone just barely jutting from that lower gum. Oh yeah! It was so exciting. I can't wait until the real thing comes all the way in. Or can I? more to come on that. Oh my little guy is growing up too fast.

And after all that, the boy DID nap! What a guy.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nebulizer

Just look at that baby! 19 pounds of sweet huggy love! (19!) Because Butters is so well fed and sleeping and happy and pleasant, little bumps in the road make me overly anxious. Last week's cold turned into wheezing that would not go away so we took Charlie to Dr. M. on Monday. Dr. M. definitely heard wheezing and suggested that we might want to try a nebulizer. We hesitated for 4 days and then charlie and I went back in yesterday. He's still wheezing.

So now he gets asthma meds by nebulizer 3 or 4 x a day until the wheezing clears up or we know what's going on. He's not sure if he likes the little stream of air--sometimes he holds the mouthpiece and sometimes he bats it away. So hopefully this will work and its just a temporary thing. If it is asthma, that's okay. Nothing we can't handle.

I got a little overwhelmed this weekend trying to deal with this on top of errands and work and all. But it's all good. I did get to have a baby fall asleep in my arms twice! Something I haven't seen in a long time. That was well worth it.

Mom and Baby Good Times

Charlie and I have been fighting colds but keeping busy! I lost my voice but am slowly getting it back. Charlie's voice is fine but he has that raspy breathing thing so we are going to check in with Poppy about that.

Yesterday, Kay and her wonderboy, Sam (age 10) paid us a visit. Hopefully they did not contract our diseases. They brought presents suitable for a little Vikking (ginger cookies and a Snip, Snap, Snurr book) and entertained and fed Charlie. It was especially cute to see Sam play with Charlie; I remember Sam crawling around the CMC office in my early dancer days. Now he is one inch shorter than me and writing essays about Presidents and stuff.

Kay and I got to chat about the dance world and she filled me in on everyone I haven't seen. Lots of catching up to do this summer!

Nothing big planned for today except a nice fat walk in the park --it's 70 degrees in Chi-town!!! I already worked out and went to Target so the rest of the day is for Mom and baby good times.