Snippets (+ sleep makes me sparkle!).

No time for real writing these days. But snippets. I can do snippets, albeit disjointed ones.

(I kind of don't feel like doing real writing on the blog these days, anyway. I don't know. I kind of feel like if people really want to know how we're doing, they should call me! Or talk to me in person! And it's irritating when people don't, because reading a blog / social networking does not equal relationship maintenance nor is it a substitute for actual communication, right? It's filtered, as genuine as I try do be. It's kind of like when people wish you happy birthday on Facebook only because Facebook told them it was your birthday, but they'd never know otherwise. Anyway. A random subject I've been thinking about as I try to maintain this little space for our own personal documentation.)

Anyway. To document, without any profound or even organized prose:

We've discovered that Q likes to have quiet time in his crib. We like this too, especially when he is eschewing the idea of naps. Music + his mobile will keep him content long enough that I'm able to unload the dishwasher & get a few quick things done. And he's so happy & content doing it, just staring & cooing at the bright birds. 

Mike has come home the past few nights & said that he's looking like such a boy. He is, & the speed with which this has happened is kind of unbelievable. Sometimes, when I'm putting him back down to sleep at night after I've fed him, I hold him just a few minutes longer. Because of this so big, so fast phenomenon that is taking place.

But the last two nights - I've only had to put him back down once. This makes me happy, because it means that I've had 6+ hour stretches of straight sleep each night. Amazing. Fingers crossed that it continues, although documenting it likely means jinxing it, right?  

(Never mind. I said nothing.) 

Today - I ran into the broker that we signed our apartment through. Have I mentioned her before? She's great, & she happens to look like the prettier version of Heidi Klum. She's the tallest, most thin, nicest woman you'll ever meet. I love her, except that I sort of hate myself when she's around because I look like a plump midget in comparison. But anyway. She loves Quinn & always wants to stare at him for 20 minutes every time I run into her in our lobby (& I'm always running somewhere). Today - she said, Your eyes are sparkling! What happened?! I said maybe it was the eyeliner that I managed to smear on that morning, but she said no. Sleep! That's it, & I told her so. It makes me sparkle! 6 hours! Amazing. 

We discovered a new place for pizza on the Upper East Side, run by real fresh off the boat Italians. Farinella Italian Bakery. My favorite was topped with artichoke hearts & green olives, but the options are endless, & fresh, & delicious. We snagged a menu & it will be our new go-to for delivery, I think. Fresh pizza, breads, pastas. Yum. 

And cupcakes! Purple Elephant Cake Boutique was an accidental find yesterday as Q & I were walking home from the pediatrician. I bought the sweet & salty + the red velvet on a whim & was converted right then & there. Another spot for Mormon girl dates always makes me happy, especially without having to trek to the East Village. 

My sister Tara sent along this beautiful copy of Peter Pan for Quinn. The most thoughtful gift & so pretty (like the Clothbound Penguin Classics friend Lindsey brought over for me from London a few years ago). It's on his shelf with the copy of The Secret Garden that I picked up shortly after. My dad read that to us when we were little, & I remember our copy being so beautiful, too. 

Sur la Table opened up a new location just a few blocks away. This is more dangerous than I could have ever imagined. It's like Anthropologie for my kitchen. Love. Yesterday - Le Creuset on sale! A lovely find, but carrying my 11+ pound child and Le Creuset home proved to be a very bad decision. And really, I think this coupled with the amount of rocking + bouncing I've been doing lately... we need to have an arm wrestling competition & see who wins (me).  

Quinn has kind of forgotten how nice it is to have closed eyelids during the day. We were doing so well for a stretch, & now - we've regressed a bit in the napping department. It's the saddest thing to watch because he's so tired & his eyes are half open & he gets so sleepy & sad. He needs to sleep. I'm sure he wants to sleep, kind of. But more than that, I think he just wants to hang out with his mama. This makes me feel warm & fuzzy because I know that he loves me, but sleeping makes me sparkle, so I'll resort to the Bjorn & really long walks (think several hours), or like today - letting him just sleep on my chest for an hour & a half leaving me unable to accomplish anything except using my thumb on my iPhone (which I had to grab from the ottoman using my toes - talent!). Sometimes, when I'm trying to help him go to sleep in his crib, I stroke his forehead in a downward motion which helps his eyes to clothes a little bit, & then it's like he remembers how nice it is to not have his eyes open ALL. THE. TIME. But really, I think he just forgets sometimes that they can actually close. Anyway. I suppose I'll take night sleeping over day sleeping, but still. I'm anxious for the day when these naps sort themselves out a bit.

We bought tickets for Christmas! We'll be in Portland this year, at Tara's house. It's not the cabin, but Tara's house is beautiful during the holidays & it will be so fun to be with her family + my parents. I haven't spent a real holiday with my family in several years (I'm discounting last Thanksgiving in Mexico since it was a total not for the www bust), so that will just be nice. Tara + my mom are both fabulous cooks. The food alone will be worth the trip, although the flight is already giving me anxiety. 

Speaking of tickets - Letterman! We finally got tickets! For January. Although we were talking & decided that we're excited, but slightly under-whelemed. Because we've seen SNL, & Jimmy Falon, & Stephen Colbert, & The Daily Show, & Martha... & they're all kind of the same. But still. It will be fun. Now I just have to find a babysitter.

Quinn is smiling all the time. He has dimples, like me. And sure enough - it validates me as his mother. I love it. Totally makes my day. And - he's looking more & more like a Hudson. As Kera said, we have dominant genes (go figure).

Baby is sleeping so I must sleep. 

Started this post: 8am

Finally published, without any really necessary proofreading: 9:54pm