paint job

Buff Natural Nail Bar. A little piece of Heaven.

For part of my Valentine's Day present, Pat gave me a mani and pedi at this nail salon. I finally made my appointment and went this afternoon. It was FAB! I caught up on all of the celebrity gossip while sipping a cold glass of wine. What a great way to end my Thursday.

If you live in Greensboro, I highly recommend this salon. They use all natural products, the staff are very personable, and it's a very swanky place for a nail salon in G'boro! Check out the above website for pics if interested...

Triad Child Study

Towards the end of my pregnancy with Owen, I decided to participate in a research project (Triad Child Study) for first time mothers. Basically, this research project studies baby's temperament in relation to development and well-being. It also looks at what influences how mothers parent their child.

So far, I've had two/three visits for the project. The first visit was when I was 9 months pregnant. During this time, they gave me pages and pages of questionnaires, showed me videos, recorded my reactions to the videos, interviewed me, hooked me up to a heart monitor to track my heart rate, and video-taped me.

Yesterday Owen and I had his 6 month visit. Of all days, when I picked him up from childcare, he was tired, and soon-to-be-hungry. Fantastic. I rushed him over to UNCG for our 4:15 appointment and fed him dinner before we got started. I knew I had to feed him first because we were going to be there for over an hour. Once I fed him, I had to change him into gender neutral clothes, hook the two of us up to a heart monitor, and strap him in a car seat attached to a chair (to keep him in one place for the 3 activities).

Activity #1 (total of 4 minutes): Baby is strapped in a car seat. Assessor firmly holds baby's arms by his side for 1 minute. Mom cannot look at/interact with baby during this time. After initial minute, mom can interact with baby using anything in the room- toys, books, self, etc.

Result for activity #1: During the first minute, Owen looked around the room wondering what was going on. He looked over at me several times to check for reassurance/guidance/comfort. I could see him wiggling his arms as if he were trying to break away! Once I was allowed to interact with him, I sang several songs, tickled him, and explained to him what was going on. Of course, he laughed and giggled! Silly boy!

Activity #2 (total of 4 minutes): Baby is strapped in a car seat. A table is placed in front of baby. A remote control dump truck (with Spiderman jumping out of the truck bed) is placed on the table. The assessor drives the loud, big, scary dump truck towards baby over and over again. The dump truck makes loud siren noises, talks, and has lots of flashing lights. Mom cannot interact with baby during the first minute. After initial minute, mom can interact with baby using anything in the room- toys, books, self, etc. Truck continues to zoom back and forth on the table, stops, then moves again until the 4 minutes is up.

Result for activity #2: The truck was very loud so I wasn't sure how he would react. Owen immediately opened his arms wide, opened his mouth, and kicked his legs uncontrollably. He was clearly excited about this truck! Once I was allowed to interact with him, I decided to turn this into a learning experience by explaining what was happening, talking about the appearance of the truck, and asking for his input. Teacher mode definitely came out! When the assessor moved the truck, Owen kept looking at the box she put it in. I think he really wanted to play with it some more!

Activity #3 (total of 4 minutes): Baby is strapped in a car seat. Mom is sitting in front of baby. Mom interacts with baby using anything in the room. After 1 minute, mom looks away for 5 seconds. Mom turns back to face baby with a blank face, then mom turns away. Finally, mom faces baby again, interacting using anything in the room.

Result for activity #3: When I was allowed to interact with Owen, he was a jolly, happy, soul as usual. He sang songs with me, "talked" a bit, and grabbed his toes. When I had to face him with a blank face, it was hard! He kept doing the cutest stuff, making it that much harder for me. I could tell he wanted me to say something because he had this look of confusion on his face, wondering why I wasn't interacting with him.

Overall, I could tell a lot about his temperament. Nothing upset him during this session. NOTHING. Not even being tired! Can we say laid back???

After the activities, Owen got to go home with Pat and I had to stay for another hour for an interview. The assessor and I watched the video of all three activities and talked about what happened and how I was feeling during each activity. I was impressed with Owen's performance. In talking with the assessor, I realized how important it is to constantly interact with your child because they truly depend on us. Talk to them, explain to them what is happening at all times, expose them to lots of new experiences, help them build self-confidence, push them to the limit, but not over the limit, and most importantly, cherish each moment, for it only lasts a split second.

Our next visit is in December when Owen is 13 months old. At the end of this study we will get a copy of the journal it's published in. I can't wait to read the findings!

*The assessor didn't even recognize Owen's pic (see above) on the wall in the research room. She said it looked nothing like him now!

A.I.

I'm casting my vote, are you??

For some reason, I am a BIG fan of this good ol' country boy!

Sunday night means

Relaxation and weekend recap:

On Saturday afternoon, we tried to go pick berries at Bernie's Berries, but we were unsuccessful. When we got there they told us that all of the berries were ruined due to large amounts of rainfall the past few days. So we decided to head over to Ingram's Farm in High Point. At this particular farm they have berry picking, an ice cream shop, and petting zoo!

Watching the goats at the strawberry farm

One of the goats nibbled on Owen's finger!

Saturday evening we headed over to Ryan and Rebecca Sharpe's for a pig pickin'. Owen stayed awake and socialized the whole time- almost 3 hours!

Emily and Noah

Jeff (w/ Noah), Kelly, Kirk, and Emily

This afternoon we took Owen for a swim at the pool, and to his first Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball game.

Sitting with Papa Riddle

Reaching for the woman's hair in front of us!

It's not a baseball game without a cap and ball

Pat was excited to see #34- Bryce Harper- the top prospect in baseball

Have a great week everyone!

Good night

Our little munchkin fast asleep:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep:

May God guard me through the night

And wake me with the morning light.

Amen.

Sorry for the poor quality photo- I took a pic of the monitor screen!

From one generation to the next...

On Wednesday evening, we went over to Nanny and Pops' house for dinner with Caroline. Owen sat in his great-grandmother's high chair (from 1923) for the first time! He did really well! He ate some sweet potatoes, puffs, honeydew, and cantaloupe, followed by water in his sippy cup.



Thankfully, over the years, Pat's family has held on to precious heirlooms from generation to generation. In Owen's 6 months of life thus far, he has enjoyed reading his daddy's baby book, wearing his daddy's clothes, shoes, and bibs, sleeping in his Nanny's crib, and eating in his great-grandmother's high chair.

We can only hope that Mom-Mom was looking down from above- she would be delighted!

The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries

Support educators!

Link to NYT article

Wordless Wednesday- snake edition

This was in our backyard this week:

Note: I said WAS.

Thankful

Pat and I were talking this evening about how much Owen has changed within the past couple of months, weeks, and days. I knew 6 months old would be fun, but not this fun! He has such a great little personality. Owen is a social butterfly, he talks all of the time (even during a 45 minute trip at the grocery store), he is adventurous, and he is guaranteed to smile when you talk to him- or make eye contact! He has even started giving hugs and kisses! Our little boy is such an angel, and we are two thankful parents.

A BABY BOY
Author unknown

A baby boy was created,
by the hand of God above.
To give the world sweetest touch,
of tenderness and love.
With the softness of a whisper,
God made a baby's skin.
And then designed two trusting eyes,
to put the starlight in.
With giggles from a waterfall,
and breezes passing by,
God made a baby's laughter,
and a tiny, sleepy sigh.
God made the world a precious gift,
more dear and pure than gold,
with little toes to play with,
and tiny hands to hold.
Then brought into the sunshine,
a precious baby boy,
All wrapped up in a rainbow,
of wonder, hope, and joy.

Jam packed

I can't believe it's Sunday evening already...

We were very busy this weekend so the days seemed to fly by. Friday night Pat and I went to Brian's 30th birthday celebration at the bowling alley. On Saturday, we ran errands in the morning, went to Anna Katherine's 2nd birthday party, and had supper club at the Patterson's. We took Owen to the pool on Sunday. Our neighborhood pool opens Memorial Day weekend, but we really wanted to get him in the water before then so he would be familiar with it.

At AK's birthday party

Owen finally got to meet Allison and Annie

The babes checking each other out. Right before we left, Owen was talking to Annie like crazy. It was so cute to see them interact. He had so much to say to her!

Annie really wanted Owen's hat

She got it (as you can see, Owen was clueless)!

watching the kids play

Having a little snack: watermelon and cantaloupe

Cold fruit felt good on his gums

A very sleepy boy

Supper club ladies. On the menu this month- crab cakes, BBQ chicken, baked beans, pasta salad, broccoli and cheese casserole, pineapple casserole, and rice crispy treats for dessert.

The guys- minus Blake

Owen's first time in the pool 5.15.11

checking things out

he loved it!

such a big boy

kicking non-stop

i could eat him to pieces!

motor boat...

telling daddy how much fun he had

Owen truly enjoyed swimming in the pool today. We knew he would like it (he splashes all the time in the tub), but we didn't know he would LOVE it! It was definitely a little chilly, but Owen didn't seem to mind.
After an afternoon of swimming, Owen was exhausted. We were only in the car 5 minutes and he was passed out. Once we got home and I put him in his crib, he slept for 2 hours! Needless to say, he ate a ton of dinner: one 7 ounce bottle, rice cereal, and two servings of squash! Swimming made our little fish tired and hungry!