This boy had blood work done today a few days ago, to test why he won’t put on any weight. He sat in my lap and I snuggled him, while he played with his car. I whispered in his ear that it would hurt, but he had to be brave
I asked the Phlebotomist if he would hurt? If he would cry? She said yes. I hate needles and blood. When she stuck it in his teeny tiny vein in his inner elbow, I couldn’t bear to look. I closed my eyes and waited for him to cry. I was on the verge of tears myself, dealing with the thought of my baby being in pain. I was failing him, Thats why we were here, getting blood work done on a 22month old
Just like breastfeeding before, I was failing motherhood. I could not do the basics- feed my son
There was no sound. He did not cry. He did not whimper, just looked slightly annoyed, that it was taking so long.
She pulled the needle out and told me it was over. I took a quick peek at the syringe, it was big and dark red.
Its not october if you don’t visit the pumpkin patch! Just for the record, I’ve only felt this way, since I became a mom. We went to our annual pumpkin patch trip on sunday to Ganyard Hill Farms in East Durham. We visited last year and we couldn’t wait to take Bun again this year, especially since we knew, he would enjoy it so much more.
The skies were blue, the weather mild and the air was crisp. A perfect day to spend time with some goats, walk through a corn maze and go on a hayride.
We got to the farm around 11:00AM and the first thing we did was check out the “Goots” Bun was super happy to feed them “Coons” and pet them through the fence.
The Hayride was next and we got a seat right behind the tractor. Toddler Mind = Blown
It was the first time for me at a corn maze and this was a really simple one, designed for kids. But this was my favorite part of the day. We let Bun run ahead in front of us and pick which way to go. I wish I was able to capture his “Dis a way” on video but my Blackberry video did not quite get it.
Isn’t my boy beautiful? I think so! These are my favorite photos of the day.
Since Bun had such a fabulous time on the Hayride, we thought he would enjoy climbing on the tractor. Wrong!
The corn pit was only mildly successful! He really disliked the texture the first few minutes and he was really concerned about the mess. But eventually he relaxed into the corn and even walked around in it.
Bun was getting tired and fussy, so we finished up with some pumpkin photos
Another Pumpkin Patch visitor was nice enough to get a few photos of the three of us!I love how these turned out, especially this one! I posted another one here, if you are interested.
Notes to Self:
– Bun’s shirt is from Children’s Place
-Bun no longer says “pum pums” He actually says Pumpkins. This makes me a little sad, because I died of cute, every time he said pum pum
– Next year, do not pay attention to the weather report and wear short sleeve shirts
This is the last post for Adventuroo’s Week in My Life Project. I’m going to keep this post short, not because I didn’t get enough pictures like Friday and Saturday, but because I got too many! And yesterday was such a fantastic, busy day where I was out and about and hanging out with friends that I haven’t had time to go through and sort the photos yet.
I want to do a separate post for our Pumpkin Patch visit so I’ll post more pictures under that.
Sunday morning J, Bun and I had a Thomas the Train party in our bed. Bun watched Thomas on my laptop and J and I tried to sneak in some more sleep.
We also had a mini dance party afterwards in our jammies to my new favorite dance song- Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People. Wish I had my camera for that but it was a fun impromptu moment that I’m going to cherish
The rest of the day can be summed up from my Facebook Status yesterday
Naina DG
Headed to the pumpkin patch on this perfect Fall morning and then football in the afternoon- Go Cowboys!
The pumpkin patch was so much fun and so was football! The Cowboys lost, but it was still a fun afternoon with friends and the toddlers out partied us all!
And Week in My Life is done! I was really apprehensive about doing this challenge, but, I’m so glad that I did.
Sitting and going through photos at the end of the day was a such a meditative moment for me. It helped me focus and take in all the bits and pieces that make up my life. Who knows what my future holds, Next week can totally suck, but my Now is filled with happy moments – big and small and these are moments that I could never ever have imagined for myself.
So my original plan of doing Friday and Saturday separately for Adventuroo’s Week in My Life project is not going to happen. None of my pictures from Saturday is worth posting, So I’m just going to jot down what we did on saturday at the bottom of this post. Sunday’s post is going to be skimpy too, but you’ll have to read it to know why.
Friday and Saturday were both busy days for me, it as mostly running errands, dealing with a tantrum-ing toddler and getting craft supplies busy
Friday night my parents invited us for a family dinner to celebrate Bijoya- the last day of Durga Puja. My mum cooked an elaborate dinner and we ate and ate and ate some more after we were already full
My parents have a toddler size camping chair on their deck for Bun and he loves to sit in that and look at my mum’s plants.
Bun and his Dee
For Dinner, we had Stuffed Puris- fried bread with spices and peas stuffed inside, goat meat curry, Baked Fish in a cilantro and Coconut sauce, chickpeas chilli and rice and dal
My dad found this chocolate wine and decided to open this as a dessert wine and it was interesting. I like wine and I like chocolate, but I don’t think I like them together in a bottle.
But despite the negative review all around, we still finished the bottle. Now wine is ever wasted if my family around
After dinner, Bun read some books with my dad to get the bedtime routine started. And then since it was getting late, we said goodnight to Dee and Babu and headed home.
****
Saturday Highlights
* I bought supplies for Bun’s Halloween costume
*Went to look at houses with my parents
*J, Bun and I took a family trip to the Verizon store at the mall to see if the Iphone 4S was in stock- it wasn’t
*We ate some Chick Fil A at the food court and then wandered around and saw some diggers and bulldozers.
*After Bun went to bed, J and I hung out and got caught up with our DVR and then I went to bed.
You thought I gave up didn’t you? But I didn’t I have been recording and taking photos, just not posting. But in my head if I blog about 7 days of my life it fits Adventuroo’s Week in My Life Challenge. Do not tell me otherwise.
Anyway, Thursday afternoon Bun and I went to Duke Gardens. It was one of J and my favorite spots when we lived near campus but for some reason it seems really far to me from SW Durham and we have only taken Bun a handful of times, and that was when he was an itty bitty baby.
This time though, I timed it and it took exactly 14 mins- Not bad at all. And we had such a great time that I think we will be going to Duke Gardens a lot more in the near future
And now photos:
We entered through the Japanese Gardens and spent most of our time in this section. I love how lush and green everything looks in this photo. It was a cloudy day and the green leaves just popped against the grey skies.
We went and visited the Ducks that live in the “Ocean” as Bun called the little canal/pond. We had some bread with us and fed them. Bun was happy to perch on a rock ledge and just look. He is not into throwing bread at ducks, it seems.
We walked around the Japanese section some more and Bun was absolutely mesmerized with the waterfalls and the Koi pond but he was a little scared and insisted on holding my hand the entire time, so I wasn’t able to get any good photos of him and the waterfalls.
As we were walking back to our car, we took a detour through the area where they do weddings and spotted a really cute bridge and a Lily pond and Bun loved running across the bridge.
J was supposed to meet up with us but he ended up having to work late, so we made our way back home for regular dinner and bedtime.
But I plan on visiting it a lot more in these upcoming fall afternoons.
I’m sticking to the plan- post #3 of consecutive 7 posts! This is a part of Adventuroo’s A Week in My Life Project.
This is going to be picture heavy. Photos from by blackberry and P&S- all unedited, since none of the photos seemed inspired enough to edit (ETA- I did crop and storyboard a few)
Wednesday morning was rainy and humid and Bun and I decided to go to Durham Main Library’s story time with Miss Jessica. She does a great story time and also has the toddlers do a craft (In our case, I do the craft, since Bun is still a little too small).
This week’s theme was Owls! The toddlers had Owl name tags and made a owl puppet!
After storytime, I decided to stop by our favorite used book store Nice Price Books near 9th street in Durham and we scored two fun books! Bun loved exploring the “aisles” and looking at the books. And then we were off to lunch.
We had lunch at Dee and Babu’s house (my parents). Bun had scrambled eggs and toast with Jam and yogurt. I had some yummy chicken kebabs.
***
He was really upset about having to go home from Dee and Babu’s and insisted on splashing in puddles. So we did!!!! Splashing is his favorite outside activity these days. He also call them “Pretty Puddles”
After naptime- I napped yesterday afternoon too, I was tired from not having slept very well the night before- we went outside to play and the dog ran away. So we spent a lot of time chasing Layla Blue. I think Layla would have come home sooner if Bun wasn’t in such hot pursuit.
The mosquitos and the humidity were unbearable so we came inside to play with trains and our activity cube. I’m surprised he chose to play with it, since he generally ignores that toy.
I didn’t document dinner because J was late coming home and I was tired and cranky by then as was Bun and I just chose to skip documenting dinner. Thankfully J got home right as we were getting done, so I was able to run upstairs and get clean sheets on Bun’s crib and run the bath.
And then it was the usual routine- Bath, dancing in front of the mirror, Playing “House” (where Bun puts a towel over his head and calls it his house), books and cuddle time.
We read The Fathers Are Coming Home by Margaret Wise Brown. Bun’s Shirt is handmade by my dear dear friend Jessica from Happier Still. Isn’t she talented? She gave it to us for Christmas last year and its a little small for him now but still super soft and comfy so he wears it all the time.
Did “Habush” – Brushed Bun’s Hair.
We finished our Bedtime by reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
And then J and I spent the rest of the evening on the couch drinking wine and watching Breaking Bad
So that was a long title….yeah. Anyway, I waffled back and forth about participating in Adventuroo’s Week in Life project – it seemed like a big commitment and if I was going to do it, I wanted to do all 7 days or none at all.
In the end I decided it would be fun to participate but I’m going to do some things differently- I didn’t take any photos yesterday and I planned on this post this week anyway capturing some of the things Bun and I are into right now. So I’ll probably do some traditional posts for tuesday and thursday and maybe the rest of the day will be snippets like this or not…I’m not quite sure yet. But I’m committed to blogging the next 7 days in a row. Thats going to be a record
These Snippets are for the past 2 weeks
Me
*photo by Google Product Search
Reading- A Life of Spice. I’ve really slacked off on reading this month because I’ve found my mojo on the interwebz lately. So I’ve been reading a lot of blog, and some photoshop tutes
Watching: Breaking Bad is rocking my world right now! I can’t believe I almost gave up on that show. We have the season finale DVRed, but haven’t watch it yet. I ❤ Jesse so much!
Listening: 90s throwback. J and I recently watched the top 100 songs of the 2000s on VH1 while we were super wined up on a saturday night and it has brought back all these memories. So I’ve been playing some late 90s early 00s pop classics like “Since You’ve been gone” and “Mr. Brightside” and “Hey Ya” and dancing around with the kiddo
Wearing: Its fall! My favorite pair of jeans are out and I even rocked some black leggings last week.
Wanting: These Rainboots and a return of normal naptime for the Bun
Bun
*photo from Amazon*
Reading: Hooray for Fish. Bun really liked some of the books in the Maisy series so I checked this one out from the library since it was by the same authors. Oh, its been such a big hit that I think we might have to buy it. Its colorful and adorable and the words are so easy to say that he has most of it memorized
Watching: Have you heard of the Wonder Pets? They help baby animals and save the day. The show is cute but the entire song is sung and the theme song will forever be stuck in your head. Highly Highly annoying. It has taken over our lives- Bun loves it though and asks for it constantly and even sings the theme song in the car.
Wearing: I’ve pulled out most of Bun’s fall clothes but I’m still trying to squeeze in some summer outfits for the warm afternoons, since I know it will be the last time he’ll ever wear them.
Playing: Closing doors is the most fun game in our house right now. He goes into rooms and shuts the door and then giggles and giggles. That and cars.
We had a brief respite from the rain in the middle of the week. Bun and I played with some sidewalk chalk in the afternoon. He was only interested in the chalk for a little bit. The main attraction was definitely driving his “Dumpity Truck” and “Gween Garbage Truck” outside. After we drove the trucks for a while he said “Fun- Whee!!!” Only his Whee sounds very stern. Such a serious little man.
Now that he is 21 months, Bun is definitely getting into more artsy stuff, we have done quite a few fun little crafty things lately. In spite of the short time span spent sidewalk chalking (is that a word?) I think we are going to try it again next time we have lazy afternoon.
Summer is winding down in NC and it feels like its going to be an early fall. This week has just flown by- doing nothing in particular but also things that take up a lot of time- grocery shopping, doctors appointments, ikea trips (2hr drive for us). But what I’m going to remember from this week is our impromptu picnic with some of Bun’s stuffed furry friends.
We took our lunch of pb & jelly sandwiches, cheese crackers and grapes and yogurt and sat outside, in the grassy area outside our front porch.
I think Monkey and Haathi wanted some of his yummy sandwich. It was rather rude of us to not give them any after inviting them to our picnic
And then Bun gave Haathi a big hug
But kept the sandwich for himself
Photos are kinda meh, but Bun and I still had a lot of fun. Also looking at the photo
While in Columbus, I found out that our hotel was very near to the Columbus zoo and decided to check it out. It was a really hot day and we had very little time so we only decided to hit up a few exhibits, but turns out even that was too ambitious. It was very very crowded and it was almost impossible to get close to the exhibits.
However, the Gorilla exhibit was fairly deserted when we got there and I was able to let Bun out of his stroller and run around. It was one of our favorite parts of the zoo trips. The other favorite was a little animal show they had where they had rescued dogs, cats and some animals do fun tricks.
Bun recognized the gorillas as monkeys and made his monkey noises but he kept pointing at them and saying “baby baby.” I don’t know if he feels some sort of kinship with them but watching a mama gorilla cuddling a baby, I definitely felt a connection. I’m not saying, I recognized her as my long lost ancestor or anything like that but I could relate to the maternal feeling even in an animal. The way she groomed her baby by nibble on his face was almost identical to how I almost can’t help myself and nibble and nuzzle on Bun’s cheeks, nose, ears any chance that I can. It really reinforced my belief that a mother’s love is probably one of the most primal feelings we have, perhaps even more so than the preservation of the self.
Okay, so I guess this post got kinda sentimental- not where I had originally intended it to go.
Orange You Grape 