Date Nights

Mark and I got to have TWO dates in one weekend!

Date 1: Friday night was Mark's company Christmas party at the bowling lanes. We were planning on taking Mr. Mister since it was close by and since Ohio passed the smoking ban that makes places like that a little more bearable for us and for babies. But, we ended up getting a spontaneous offer to babysit from my sister and her fiance who happened to be in Fairfield that night. Mr. Mister was already in bed, so it was easy for them and we got to enjoy a couple games of bowling and some fun socializing with his coworkers.

Date 2: On Saturday night, Grandma came over to babysit while we went to the Over The Rhine concert downtown. This was our third year going and we are thankful that this year's concert was a little less eventful than last year's. It was after this same concert last year that I took the pregnancy test that revealed my future as a mom. If you've never heard the story, I was slightly (or very) shocked and spent a while crying and lamenting over the fact that I was too young and not ready to be pregnant. I didn't know then that it was my little Marquitos.

So anyway, we had a fun time at the concert and even snuck in a 20 minute dinner beforehand at Lemon Grass, a Thai restaurant I've been craving for months. It was great for Mark and I to have some time together, but I do admit that in the middle of the concert I leaned over and whispered to him that I missed our little Mr. Mister.

All Smiles

Sorry for the brief blogging hiatus. I always think of things I want to blog about and then forget to sit down and do it. Here a couple new highlights and stories.....

1. Mr. Mister got over his first cold and returned to his old smiling self. It was good to have my happy baby back. It really is amazing how happy he is all the time and how much he smiles. He's the cutest thing in the world. (I'm sure I'm the only mom who thinks that about her baby)

2. The other night, Mark and I watched videos of him when he was first born. He was so teensy tiny and could barely open his eyes. He's just growing up so fast.

3. He can now lift his head and chest up pretty far when he's on his tummy. I think he was supposed to be able to do this a while ago (according to the books) but he hates tummy time and cries every time I make him do it, so he didn't get much practice. I was really excited when he finally did it and almost cried.

4. Saturday night, he slept from 8:30pm until 7:00am! That was the night grandma was babysitting...she's welcome to put him to bed anytime she wants if that's what it takes to get him to sleep through the night!

5. Sunday morning, when were getting ready to leave for church, I was changing Mr. Mister's diaper. He peed without the diaper on and it shot straight up and landed right on his face! It was pretty gross but funny. Then after I covered it, he kept going and made a puddle that he proceeded to kick his feet in. Then he spit up all over. So we gave him a bath and made it only a half hour late to church, which is pretty typical for us these days!

Here's a picture of him ready for the winter cold....

Pampered

Yesterday, I got my hair cut for the first time in a year and I went to a REAL salon (most of my previous hair cuts have either been at Great Clips when they have a sale or in Mexico when I could get it cut for free by the women who came on teams to cut hair). It was my post-baby treat from Mark and it was definitely a treat. He stayed home with Mr. Mister while I escaped for an hour.

I always get intimidated going into those nice salons because I'm not real into my hair and of course all the girls working there have cute and perfectly taken care of hair. And I know the inevitable question will be asked: "So what products do you use in your hair?" I remember when I went to a real salon for the first time in college and the woman asked me that and I didn't know what to say. Shampoo? Conditioner? Do those count?

The other thing I don't so much look foward to about getting my hair cut is maintaing conversation with the person cutting my hair. It always feels awkward if it's silent and I know the questions they ask in order to make conversation are probably the same ones they have asked all of their clients that day. As I answered Ashley's questions about my Christmas plans, Christmas shopping, my son and nephews, etc. I couldn't help but wonder if she was really listening. Oh well, I wasn't there to make a new best friend and really, she was nice and we had a relatively nice conversation.

When she asked what my son's name was, I told her Mr. Mister and then explained to her how my husband's name is Mark and we wanted to keep his name but that since we worked in Mexico for a while we went with the Spanish version of Mark. She asked what we did in Mexico so I got to explain a little about our work in the garbage dumps, which was cool. Then she said what so many people say when I tell them about working in Mexico, which makes me laugh every time: "Well I've never been to Mexico City, but when I was in Cancun for spring break....."

I hope this doesn't make it sound like it was a bad experience. It wasn't. It was wonderful. This salon offered a choice of two "experiences" to go along with the haircut. I chose the 5 minute chair massage and the shampoo with a hot towel wrap. Sitting there with a hot towel around my head in a dim room with classical music playing even for just 5 minutes was a fabulous escape. Then came my haircut. I kept it long, but got an inch of split ends cut off, and some long layers added. (See picture below. I made Mark take this picture because I knew it would never look like this again as long as it was up to me to do it!)

Ashley said that my hair didn't look that bad for not having it cut in a year but she did suggest that I come back every 10 weeks. That's definitely pushing it, but I do hope to go again before another year passes.

In the end, I felt so light and refreshed. And the best part was that I had a coupon for 50% off so it didn't even cost a fortune!

More Firsts

Every week it seems like Mr. Mister is doing something new! I figure this will keep happening for a while. Here are some of his new firsts...

1. He splashed in the bathtub! He held onto the side of the little plastic tub with his right hand (Mr. Mister really likes feeling secure) and splashed in the water with his left hand. It was so cute.

2. He banged on the table. Same motion has the splashing...I think he just likes to move his hand now.

3. He is grabbing for objects now. Including the knife that was sitting on the table while he was sitting on daddy's lap at dinner (lesson one in baby proofing the house!). Don't worry grandmas and grandpas, we didn't let him have the knife.

4. This is a not so fun first...his first cold. It started last Friday and he still is a little congested. Our always happy baby is a little fussy now...we're not used to fussiness! But don't worry, we're combating the cold with all possible weapons - the humidifier, Vick's Baby Rub, saline nose drops, the nasal aspirator, the inclined mattress, and lots and lots of love.