It's not easy being grey

We should all have such a rough day.

V-Day Pics

Sadly, this is probably as close as I am ever going to get to a good picture of all three of my kids. Notice Garrett is about to crawl away in the first one. And if it weren't for that pouty lip the second one would be pretty good! Oh well.

Getting into trouble

I finally rearranged our home-office to make it a little more baby friendly. While Garrett can still pull books off the shelf, there aren't as many. I have strategically placed boxes to keep him out of the areas where there is the most stuff to get into (and of course these are the most interesting!), and once again went through all our crap to get rid of the stuff we don't need. NOW maybe I can be in here for more than 10 minutes and actually get some work done.

Garrett has started literally getting into EVERYTHING. Not the drawers and cabinets, but that is coming soon. He crawled into the bathroom and tried to unroll the toilet paper. So I leave it off the dispenser now! He likes to pull up on the bookshelves then pull out all the books. And forget having a magazine or other paper product on any surface he can reach. He has learned if something is hanging over the breakfast nook table just the tiniest bit, he can reach up and pull it off. My counter is currently covered with stuff I haven't found a place for that can no longer be left in their usual place. If nothing else, it will force me to finally organize all our stuff. . . Oh, and the toilet lid is apparently the greatest drum in the world.

I never thought I could love an inanimate object, but I am seriously IN LOVE with my Dyson vacuum. I actually like to vacuum now. Good thing, because I have two dogs that love to destuff toys and a baby who likes to eat everything on the floor. I have to vacuum the whole house at least once a week, but it really gets done more. Yay for the Dyson vacuum!

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Adrianne's hubby took this picture of the boys and Clifford at the baby fair on Saturday. Garrett loves Clifford--one of our neighbor girls has a big stuffed one and he has been enamoured with it ever since he saw hers. He and Cody were both petting clifford, which is why we couldn't get them to look at the camera!

Random Musings

Garrett is just 14 days shy of his 9 month birthday. In just a few short months, my little man is going to be a year old. It's just amazing to me that the little person that started out so teeny-tiny is now crawling all over the place and getting into everything. He pulls up on our lowest stair and I just KNOW he is contemplating just how he can get up those stairs. With all the big "milestones" he has hit in these past few months, I can't help but think about all the precious moments he has had in the past 9 months, and all the adventures that await for us in the future. Okay, unsentimental types (this means you, Daddy-O!) should probably just stop reading here. I am going to be a complete mushball female for a change!

I will never forget the first time he said mama and dada.

I will forever cherish the evening walks the three of us take together--we will only be able to carry him in our arms for so much longer. The look of pure contentment on his face as we walk around the neighborhood, greet our neighbors, or just enjoy a peaceful night, is priceless.

I HOPE I never forget that toothless grin that he gives everyone, the one that melts my heart and makes my little guy so endearing to anyone who meets him. I will probably cry when he gets his first tooth.

I will always remember the night a few weeks back, when we were working on our sleep training, and I laid outside Garrett's shut door, listening to him chat to his toys. What was he telling them? What was he thinking about? I hope that he can live every day of his life with the same energy and joy that he had in his voice as he talked to his toys.

While the "arrangement" we have that allows me to be for the most part a work-at-home mom is often stressful and exhausting, there is no way (or dollar amount) in the world to quantify what it is like to be with my guy every day. So what if i was at work till 2am yesterday, and spent half the evening on the phone with my boss. I also got to read to Garrett before every nap, and worked on the floor next to him while he played. Now that I have an awsome sitter to watch him as-needed, I can truely have the best of both worlds.

I left my son with a babysitter the other day, and told Brad I couldn't imagine having to do that every day--I know lots of moms do it because they must, not because they want to, and I am blessed not to have to do it all the time. Brad looked at me and said "I do it every day." That's probably the first time it has occurred to me how hard it is to be a daddy. I can understand how tough it is for working moms, but it never even occurred to me that it is hard on dads. I have always thought of moms as the ones that do it all, and I guess I forgot how hard it must be for Brad to walk out that door every morning, before Garrett even gets up, and know that it would be 13 hours until he could see him, hold him, and see his cute smile. And that an hour was all he would get before it was time to bed. Maybe that's the first time I really understood what it is to be a dad.

One of the girls who is on a community board I post on wrote on her blog that this V-day, her heart expanded to belong to three boys instead of 1 (she has twins). That is so true. My guys have my whole heart, its such an amazing thing. I look forward to first unassisted steps, first sentances and all the stuff that comes after--teeball and soccer, school, girls and someday a family of his own. Its just so amazing how they transform from this tiny little being to their own person. Part of me wishes he would stay just as he is forever, and part of me can't wait to see the child, and later man, that he will become.

Okay, done now :-D I am allowed one sentimental post every now and then. It is, after all, what being a mom is all about!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day from the Compton household. I tried to get a picture of all 3 kids, no such luck! Have some to post in a bit. No big plans here, Brad gave me the sweetest card :-D We will probably just chill for the evening, maybe have a nice dinner. Hugs!

Xander and Garrett

Jess (Xander's mommy) took this pic last week when we were over for a playdate (Thanks for the pic Jess!) Believe it or not, Xander is one month and two days younger than Garrett. Look at those beautiful blue eyes. Garrett insisted on taking Xander's sippy cup, even though Jess gave him one of his own. The boys sure do like playing together!!

Mei-Tai

Garrett and I are loving his new Babyhawk Mei-Tai. After the falling incident (involved the MT but was my fault), Brad doesn't like it too much and I think it will take a while to convince him its a good thing. But it makes my life a snap and is nice and cozy for Garrett. We went to the Everglades today and he just chilled in it for a while, then took a good nap. And it makes breastfeeding on the go a snap again (something that became hard when Garrett outgrew the cradle-hold in his hotsling). And it makes housework a cinch, especially in the evenings when he just wants to be held.

Tomorrow we are off to a baby fair with Adrianne, Cody, their little peanut and Daddy Sabino. This will be the first time we have gotten together with the "men-folk" around--should be fun! Hugs everyone!

Big-Boy Seat

I need to upload the picture I have for this one. Garrett got his "big boy" carseat yesterday. We got it for a steal from Albeebaby.com (almost 70$ of the retail price!!). It's just crazy how fast he is growing up. He seems to like it--he fell asleep within 3 minutes of being in it for the first time in the car!!

Garrett's new buddy

The past couple of nights, Garrett has been going to play with his "new" friend Xander. Xander is a month and two days younger than Garrett. They boys (and their mommys of course!) met in December at our HOA's Holiday Party, but have just started getting together the past couple of nights. We have fun on our playdates, even though Garrett and Xander just sort of look at each other! Xander is such a good sport, he lets Garrett play with his toys and even take his sippy cup. And today Xander even let his mommy Jess give part of his dinner to Garrett, who stood patiently next to Xander's booster seat while Jess gave a big bite to Xander, a little bite to Garrett, a big bite to Xander a little bite to Garrett. It helps both mommys make it through the most fussy time of day--the evening!!

YouTube

Check out the YouTube Channel (click the link to the right that says "Utter Chaos on YouTube")--two new videos, one of Garrett crawling (and the dogs hogging the camera!) and another of him pulling up. Enjoy!

Being this cute is exhausting!

I could not have posed Garrett like this if I had tried. I just put the bobby pillow up because we never use it anymore. I guess he was protesting, because he climbed into the closet, under his clothes organizer and laid down on top of it. He NEVER uses the thing. Yet it seems he doesn't want it to be retired to the attic. I have been boxing clothes seemingly non-stop lately. He's getting so big!!

Aspen's in the doghouse!

I was cleaning today and had to put Garrett's little play house on the bed. When I turned around, I found Aspen was investigating. This is the closest thing to a "dog house" my spoiled pups will ever see!

We're cruisin'!

Garrett is officially a wild child. He is crawling everywhere now, and pulling up on everything. He got to the dog's water earlier this week and dumped it all over the floor and himself, great fun! And he pulled up on Aspen's food bowl, not sure how he succeeded without tipping it over. But he did, and the food bowls have subsequently been moved to the closet when not in use! He loves pulling up on Aspen's crate too. Thankfully, because of my wild pooches, everything in the house is sturdy and stable. So there isn't much baby proofing to do there. I just need to put a gate at the top of the stairs. In the meantime, we spend 90% of our time downstairs these days. Thank goodness for the Dyson, I think I vaccumm at least one room every day!!

Someone has taken my little baby and given me a budding toddler in his place. He crawls across the kitchen and pulls up on anything without a problem. He will walk around the breakfast nook table, moving from one chair, to a table leg to another chair. Its just crazy. He wasn't doing ANYTHING a few months ago, and now this. It's just crazy how fast they grow!

Oh, and last but not least, Garrett said Dada this week. He is becoming quite the chatterbox, he always has something to say, especially to his pups!

And the bad mommy award goes to . . .

Your's truely!

Sorry I haven't been keeping up, life has been, well, typical. Today was not the greatest day--started out good, got this new baby carrier I have been waiting to get for a while, called a Mei Tai. It's great, I carried Garrett around in it all afternoon and he loved it. Anyway, I had him in it at our POA meeting, on my back, and as I went to get him out, he fell. Not. Good. At. All. And completely my fault, I wasn't being careful enough to keep him in. He hit his head and of course started wailing, I took him outside and calmed him down. It was 7:15 and he was acting drowsy (it WAS bedtime) and that worried me. Then he spit up once, and that was that--we were off to the emergency room. By the time the nurses were checking him, though, he was back to his usual self--charming the nurses, smiling away. When they were done, he tried to crawl off the bed, (You'd think falling on your head ONCE would be enough for the little guy!) pulling up on the railing, etc. Then he discovered the TV in the corner and was facinated. By then, I was sure he was fine without them telling me, he was back to being his old self. The doc looked at him and came to the same conclusion. No bumps, no bruises, nothing. Just a heart attack for momma is all!! Anyway, it was scary, and I feel bad, but I guess it just happens sometimes. Still no fun though! Enough of the bad news, let me post some pics!!

Success!

Garrett put himself to sleep without me in the room (with less than a minute of crying) last night. I wasn't planning on leaving him, but he was all over the place in his crib and just chatting away, so I decided to go out for a little bit to see what he would do. He also had an awsome night, he was only up twice and then when we left for work today. He has been napping GREAT today, too. Yay for the Sleep Lady.

8 months today

Its so hard to believe that Garrett is 8 months old today. Time has certainly flown. In one more month, he will have been on the outside of this world for as long as he was "cooking!" Now that is amazing.

He has hit so many milestones this month. He is really crawling, pulling up on EVERYTHING, able to get into a sitting position on his own. He said babyfood is for the birds and has transistioned almost completely to real table food. He still only gets one meal a day though, plus some cheerios, but that's all me. After a year, we can worry about all the ins and outs of a well-balanced solids diet, but for now its all about the milk. He loves fresh fruit (especially kiwi) and always wants to eat if he sees someone else eating.

With his new mobility, our monthly "couch" picture was a bit of a challenge today. He kept trying to crawl off of it. So this might be the last one of those, we'll see. Sleep training is going great, tonight it took him 7 minutes to fall asleep. Hopefully within a few weeks I can put him in and leave him to put himself to sleep. But for now I sit in the middle of the room until he is asleep. Its definately better than it was.

Not much else to report today. I spent the majority of the day passed out in bed catching up on some much needed sleep. Garrett spent the day with Daddy--they planted palm trees in the back yard, went to the fruit stand, and grilled dinner. Much needed break for mommy!

Busy weekend!

These pics are from 1/22. I think it was the first day he decided it would be fun to climb under the chair. It was quiet entertaining when he tried to stand up under it. That didn't work out to well. Anyway, I uploaded two new videos to YouTube, to get to them just click the link to the left that says "Utter Chaos on YouTube". I think you can subscribe to my webchannel, which basically means they will email you when new stuff is uploaded. But then, I know most of you check this thing pretty religiously anyway!

Brad and I spent the majority of the day working on our landscaping. My boss was kind enough to offer us some plants from his beautiful tropical yard. We pulled up the rest of the original landscaping in the front, put in new topsoil and planted a bunch of stuff, and added rock. Need more rock. Dr. Brand also gave us some palms for the back yard, tiny little guys but they will be big soon enough. On top of that, we also both had various duties to do for our property owner's association. That is always keeping us busy these days. And of course there is little Mr. I-don't-need-to-take-a-nap. The sleep stuff is going well--tonight was pretty easy, he only fussed for a little while. He was up at 11, and was so tired he kept standing up, then falling and folding in half. He is so sleep deprived lately, but doesn't want to miss anything. And he sure does love his puppies. When we were working in the yard today, I put his pack'n'play in the x-pen, he just sat there and talked to them. Sooo glad they get along.

Well, in about 12 hours, my little man will be 8 months old. Where does the time go?? My friend's son turns a year old on the 28th. Unbeliveable. Well, off to bed I go. Hopefully Garrett will sleep most of the night. (Yeah, right!)

Reallly Rotten Baby!

No pics, sorry Grandmas. But I do have to share my adventures in sleep training. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry :-D Anyway, I started putting Garrett to bed earlier today--I figured it took him an hour and a half, all in all, to get to sleep--we started at 6:30, he was asleep by 8 last night. My thinking was if I tried to put him down a little earlier, he would actually FALL ASLEEP when he needed to. Silly me. He just went to bed and its 9, we started at 6!! Before you think "Poor baby cried for 3 hours," read the rest of this. Last night he fussed for about an hour, then played for 30 minutes. Wellll, tonight, he played for 15, fussed for 30, played for another 15, took the shortest cat nap humanly imaginable. Then he stood up in his crib, fussed a little more, and proceeded to carry on an hour long conversation with Aspen and Haylee, who were laying by me feet. When Aspen would stand up to get some pets, Garrett would reach out to pet him. No joke. He would occassionally fall over from standing, and the poor tyke was so tired he would fall flat on his face and fall asleep for about 10 seconds, then immediately stand up and chat with the pups some more. I finally pried his little hands off the top of his crib, laid him down and rubbed his back for 30 seconds and he was out. At least he didn't cry much tonight. Clearly puppies are not helpful in getting your baby to sleep!! It was so funny, I couldn't keep from laughing . . . .

Shopping with Cody

Here is picture of Garrett and his friend Cody sharing a shopping cart at BabiesRus a few weeks ago. Thanks Adrianne for the pic! Cody's 1st birthday is just a few days away!!

Sorry I haven't been more diligent about getting photos up. We are still trying to get caught up from our vacation. I have a couple of cute new videos to upload, and a few pics of Garrett too. He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. He can crawl on his hands and knees, but seems to still prefer his crazy commando crawl. Last night we started working on sleep training . . . Garrett stopped sleeping through the night at 5 months, and has been getting progressively worse. Here lately it has been a battle of wills to put him down for anything--naps, bedtime, and when he wakes up in the middle of the night. We are using a method developed by the "Sleep Lady" Kim West, it's laid out in a book called "Good Night, Sleep Tight". Last night went okay, I slept on the floor in Garrett's room. Now THAT was fun. Haylee curled up on my sleeping bag and kept me company. That's it for now--back to work!

Video

Check out Garrett's latest YouTube video, a vacation slideshow with video clips, by clicking here

Theres more

More pics where these came from--Brad took six roles of great pictures, we just need to scan some of them in. And I have another YouTube video coming. But things have been nuts since we got home, between work and the house and other committments. But hopefully we will get the rest up soon.

In other news, Garrett is pulling up on everything. He has been standing in his crib the last couple times I have come in to get him. He gets terribly frustrated if he can not stand IMMEDIATELY. He even stands up while nursing, its quiet a sight! Anyway, more to come!

Leinster Bay Plantation

Yet another awsome spot on the island is Waterlemon Cay/Leinster Bay. This is another spot you can only get to by foot--its a .8 mile walk along the shoreline from the Annaberg plantation ruins. Just inland from the walking trail, there are some extensive, but overgrown, ruins of the Leinster Bay Plantation. Brad joked that we needed a machete to explore these ruins, it was incredibly overgrown. The section for this plantation in the book said "Go back into the bush" to find the ruins. Again, we had to abandon the hiking backpack, and AGAIN I forgot my sling!! At any rate, these were some awsome ruins. The first image is of the water tower, the second is Brad and Garrett infront of one of the plantation's 3 wells. There was so much more of this plantation to see, but it was too overgrown. Next time we will go armed with pants and longsleeve shirts (and maybe a machete!!)

A little further up the trail (or rather a new trail), we came across the ruins of an old guardhouse, which boasted a spectacular view of the waterway between USVI and BVI.

Ruins at Brown Bay

Brown Bay is one of the most secluded spots on St. John. It can only be reach by a 0.8 mile hike over one of St. John's steep "hills". Because it is such a shallow embayment, the big yachts can not anchor there, so when you go, you are usually alone. Last time we went to St. John, we snorkled the waters surrounding the bay. This time, we went to check out the ruins.

The ruins at Brown Bay are some of the most extensive to be found on the island. If you ever go to St. John, pick up a book called "St. John: Off the Beaten Track"--it tells you all of the best places to go that you would otherwise not know about. To get here, we walked along the shoreline, following an overgrown trail. The brush was so thick that we had to abandon the hiking backpack for a while because we wouln't fit with it (and silly me forgot my sling--
I really don't know how anyone lives without one of those!)

The ruins were overgrown, but beautiful. (can you see Brad in the pic to the left?) Garrett was so exhausted after a day of exploring that he zonked out in the hiking backpack on the way back--this is what he looked like when I set the backpack on the ground to get him in the car. True to form, he woke up as soon as I moved him. He was such a good boy though, apparently he really likes exploring ruins!

Daddy and Garrett @ Cinnamon Bay

Local wildlife

Wild donkeys and goats--St. Johns most commonly seen wildlife. We saw alot of donkeys along the beach this trip. When Garrett and I were walking to the beach at Cinnamon Bay following a nap in the car, a little baby laid down in the sand in front of us and had a good ole role. They aren't at all skiddish around people

Ruins

In the 1700s and beyond, St. John was used extensively to produce sugar. The ruins of the old sugar plantations cover the entire island. These pics are from the Cinnamon bay plantation, which is right next to one of St. John's three whole roads!

Spectacular views

Sandy Baby

Mmmm, sand was fun, and tasted good! I think we are still removing sand from ourselves

Entertainment

Every night, the six of us would gather aound the table and watch Garrett crawl around on it. He loved being the center of attention

Water Baby

We were a little worried that Garrett wouldn't like swimming in the ocean, since he had never been before. We went to Francis Bay our first day on the island, and he wasn't too thrilled with it. When we went to another beach the next day, he was tenative at first, but by the end of the day, he was having the best time playing in the sand and water. He loved to float around in his little boat, would stick his face in the water while trying to reach his toes, and basically smiled all day long. Good--don't know what we would do with a baby who didn't like the water!

Little Paradise

We're back! We had an awsome time, and Garrett was such a good boy. He loved having both his Grandmas, his Nana, and his Aunt Steph to fuss over him. Gave mommy and daddy a chance for some much needed Rand R. It is just crazy how much stuff there is to do on such a small island--this is the 3rd time Brad and I have gone, and its not like we went to do the same thing twice any time. I have so many pictures, Idon't know how we will ever share them all. Working on a photo/video thing for Youtube of Garrett at the beach. Anyhoo, it was a bummer to come home, and Brad and I were having a hard time driving on the right side of the road after thinking "LEFT" the whole time we were in St. John!
<-Four generations of Comptons

Buh byeeeee

In about sixteen hours, I will be HERE. :-D No traffic!! No noisey nighbors! And not a care in the world!! This is the view from the house. **ahhh, I can feel the stress melting away already!!

It's so quiet

I took the dogs to my friends house this evening to stay while we are in St. John. Its so quiet, and a little lonely without them here. While I was uploading Garrett's latest pics, I happened upon these, taken in December of '04, back when my big grey boy was just a tiny bit bigger than his sister. It seems like a completely different time--we were still in our apartment!! (One place I certainly don't miss). My friend, Maria, who watches the dogs while we are gone has 2 kids--her youngest just turned 4. It goes by sooo fast, Garrett is going to be a big boy in no time, just like Aspen has gone from this little pup to a big monster :-D I miss my pups already!

Another couch pic

Belated 7 month pics

I finally am getting around to posting pictures from when he turned 7 months. This cutie outfit is from his Great-uncle Saeid and his family.

Uh oh, the time has come

I've been fearing it for sooo long. Garrett is definately 100% mobile and looking for trouble. This evening on the changing table he went from laying down to sitting up all on his own. Earlier today he crawled over to Aspen not once, not twice, but three times, to ask if he wanted to share his bone. Thankfully, Aspen declined very politely! Good dog, Aspen. He's squealing, squacking, crawling (commando, still) and rrying to pull up on everything. I am never going to be able to keep up!! Its fun, but scary. . . if I turn my back for a second, he is in to something new.

Garrett and Cody

Cody is my friend Adrianne's son. We worked together before we had our boys (lucky girl gets to stay home now!!) and were pregnant together too. Cody is 4 months, to the day older than Garrett, and will be celebrating his first birthday in a few weeks. We took the boys to the mall a few days afer Christmas . . . Adrianne (who always is on the ball and remembers her camera) took these. Cody is walking now, and had a tough time sitting still. Looks like Garrett is holding him down. :-D

Plaster + 7 month old = Pain in the butt!

My mother-in-law got us this cute ornament keepsake--its plaster, and you make an imprint of your child's hand. Yeah, sounds cute. But has anyone ever TRIED to do this with a baby? Garrett thought it was great fun . . . he squished it in his fingers (that made a WONDERFUL imprint, let me tell you), tried to eat it, and attempted to "splash" in it. I finally gave up and made one of his foot. :-D Maybe next year it will be easier. But I don't recommend it with a baby!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Compton household. Nothing fabulous happened here . . .Brad actually made it till midnight! In 5 short days, we will be in St. John, soaking up the sun with plenty of babysitters :-D

May 2007 bring many happy moments for you!