Spring Scrubbing

Spring is slowly but surely in bloom and a familiar feeling is creeping up on me . . . a feeling that is only matched by the desire to get outside, get some sun on my Casper-esque features, and work the baby weight right off. I have been overcome with the urge to clean my house from top to bottom. Earlier this week I bought a new shower curtain liner and yesterday I took all of the plastic rings (aka shower curtain "holders") down and gave them a good scrubbing before putting everything back together, fresh and clean! I felt such a sense of satisfaction from such a simple and random task. What are your secrets to a successful Spring Cleaning? Do tell.

Chevy Chase

The time has come for a second set of "wheels" to transport the members of this household. Our family has most definitely been grown out of my college car -- the fabu Honda Civic named Peanut (she is roughly the same size as one) -- for quite some time, but now we are finally taking action to make her our secondary/commuter car. Maybe it's the way my husband has to hunch over (translation: eat) the dashboard every morning when we drop him off at the train station for (AND pick him up from) work or maybe it's the fact that we've had to wake Cade up every morning for the last 9 months to do so (I exaggerate, as he sometimes stays asleep the entire time; he is his mother's son after all), but we are ready for a fresh routine. We started looking at cars a year ago but the baby arrived early (yes, I am still getting around to sharing that story) and life happened and we couldn't get it all together. But now we're back in the saddle and ready to ride off into the sunset in a newer car. After quite a bit of preliminary research (all David) we braved three different dealerships last weekend to drive a number of cars in the Crossover SUV class and we've narrowed our search down to the roomy, safe, lovely and smoothe Chevy Traverse. Now the hunt is on for the perf version with all of our "must haves" in a reasonable price range. Fortunately, we have family with car sales negotiating experience and wisdom to share but if you have any tips, bring them on and wish us luck!

Cade Crawls

He's on the move and nowhere is safe (translation: nowhere in our house is truly baby proof and safe for him to crawl around unattended just yet). Hide your stinky slippers (don't act like you don't have a pair), record players, fireplaces and power strips (in that order) . . . he's after 'em! Just a couple of weeks ago our dear son was dry dusting our "hardwood" floors for me, scooting around backwards on his tummy at amazing speeds. But just like that *snaps fingers* he put things in reverse and is off and . . . crawling! Such a cool milestone, but I have mixed emotions. So much for my little baby who just squirms around a lot . . . he's a mobile little boy-in-training and always on a mission. And with his top, right tooth rapidly descending he's going to look the part even more.

Proof: here is a live action shot of Cade sneaking up on a poor, unsuspecting Duncan, going straight for the tail . . .

. . . and giving it a lovable little tug. That blur you see in the photo is our dog whipping around, whodunit style.

Fed Up with Fed-Ex

Earlier this week People.com, my #1 go-to for confirmed celeb info, posted 5 things that we don't know about Kevin Federline's Baby Mama (I have paraphrased the article's title). For those of you who are not as obsessed with all things Brit Brit as I am, Kevin is Britney Spears' ex-hubby and the father of her 2 sons who is expecting baby #5 with mama #3. Here's my version of that list:

1. Who cares.
2. Who cares?
3. Who cares!
4. Qu'est-ce que j'en ai à faire?
5. A quién le importa?

Say My Name, Say My Name

Cade has mastered the art of crawling backwards and is slowly moving forward (pun very much intended), he has his two front bottom teeth in and looks more like a "real boy" than ever!

And, he clearly states his love for "Da da" over and over again throughout the day. It's the sweetest sound and he is so proud of himself when he gets on a good roll and the "Da da da da das" are rolling off his tongue. However, the only time a "Ma" comes out is when he is amidst a good whine session or full on crying. The only time he calls out for me is when the chips are down and he's vying for the "Saddest Baby EVER Award" or in the middle of the night when he's half asleep and needs a spot of Baby Orajel on those red gums. I know I'm with him all day and we talk about/talk to Dada all the time but I can't lie -- I am super excited for the day when he says Mama and there isn't a big, fat crocodile tear running down one or both of his sweet cheeks.

My first words were Mama and Dada (pretty standard, really) . . . what were yours?