For Eric’s birthday, we had family over to celebrate. Eric got a pancake griddle, a fire pit, a hammock, St Barnadas, and steaks. The weekend before, he got a grill and lawn mower. So he’s pretty set for awhile…well, until he gets that sports car in a few days…🚘

Harry gave Eric a picture of himself, which was a little narcissistic, admittedly. He also gave his dad a picture of the cousins, which is super cute.

Eric mowing the lawn. Pure bliss. Oh! Have I even mentioned that we moved?!? That’s right…a new place to call home. Maybe it’s the ability to go outside without effort, or the gigantic grocery store around the corner, or our new king bed, or being here all day with Harry…but somehow this place instantly felt like home to me.

I never realized how much I liked suburbia until now. Top ten ways we are more suburbanites than manhattanites:
1. Getting giddy that Eric bought paper towels in quantity of 16 instead of 2.
2. Going outside with Harry without the use of an Ergo, Bjorn, stroller, or carseat…love it!!!
3. Purchasing the second car in two months because the one car we have is just not enough.
4. Enjoying a grill more than doorstep delivery. We have grilled out 4 of the past 6 nights since we moved in. Eric took a couple of nights off for his birthday eggplant parm and eggplant parm leftovers. But tonight, we grill again.
5. Watching collage football the way it was meant to be watched: after the grass is freshly cut and the car is washed and with grilled meat.
6. Meeting both of our next door neighbors the first day, a feat that took months in Manhattan.
7. Strolling trash to the curb twice a week is exponentially better than hauling it to the basement every day, lest creatures infest. The suburban recycling is a pain though. The City wins on that account.
8. Sleeping better. Harry has his own room = more sleep for all. Enough said.
9. Not schlepping my gear to the bathroom every day, which became a pain right after sophomore year of collage. Two and a half baths is great but secondary to a bathroom with drawers!
10. Driving only 10 minutes to DNB! Eric has a 10 minute commute to work. Heaven.

Collage game day today. Go dawgs. Sick em. Hopefully, we fare better today than on Thursday with the Heels…

Harry loves the morning. He’s not such a big fan of 4am, and he is sure to let his opinion known. But 9am…right after second breakfast…he’s all smiles and coos. Adorable, if I do say so myself.

I seriously think he’s learned to smile back at me and E. This has to be the best feeling in the whole world.

Yesterday, we had brunch and park time with Harry’s new friend Penelope. Our first afternoon lunch date!

Harry is six whole weeks old this week. He’s smiling and holding his head up more. He is sleeping and eating more predictably, and he has the cutest coos ever.

He is now almost 10 pounds, which is unbelievable. Growing up before our eyes.

Last weekend, we went to visit the new house and met our neighbors. We are planning on brining some apple pie to the neighbor with the awesome pool setup.

While on his first road trip, Harry seemed to like jazz, as he was fussy until we turned on the radio. The cheesy NPR DJ couldn’t ruin the awesome jazz, and it hushed Harry right away. Nice trick to know for a fussy time, not that he fusses much at all…but nice to know nonetheless. I’ll report back whether it’s a one trick wonder or a sure fire solution.

I am completely smitten with our buddy. More by the day. It’s such an amazing thing how much time I could spend holding and talking and singing to this little guy. Poor thing has to listen to my terrible voice, and I’m praying it doesn’t damage the perfect ear I’m sure he inherited from Eric.

We move on Friday, so things have been crazy busy. We will miss NYC so much!! But more excited for a yard, patio, nursery, guest room, office, and most importantly: to have Eric only a 10 minute drive from home. Looking forward to settling down and having a place to call home…hopefully for more than a year or two. That’s right. We are days away from calling Jersey home. Unreal!! But so exciting…

Yes, our baby can do more than eat, pee, poop, sleep, and lay there. He has learned all kinds of new tricks!

To smile:

To take a bath:

To yawn:

Harry with his new friend and my very dear old friend from Macon (via NYC and Houston).

Is it just me, or is he just the most adorable baby ever?

Today, Harry is one month old!!

His official one month pic is on the camera which I haven’t figured out how to steal pictures from yet…but here are some pictures of our Buddy from his birthday:

Harry yawning for Grandma…no, that is not a cry. Of course not!

It’s been an exciting month. In 31 days, Harry has learned to eat, poop, and see more than dark and light. He can follow finger puppets from right to left, and his hearing has improved. He even listened to the Grateful Dead several times. He’s gotten baths and played on his tummy and met so many people! He’s been to Central Park and Riverside Park, and he loves sunshine.

For my part, it’s been what the first month is for most: amazing, exhausting, miraculous, painful…a dream come true and all a blur.

Of my many memories of this month, my favorites have to include those of Eric and his Buddy playing, talking, loving…We are just so blessed.

I intended to post this last Thursday and just realized it was still in draft mode. But I have to post it now because Grandma came to visit again today and we are hoping for a second record breaking nights sleep!

From August 1:

Last night Bud slept from 9:00pm to 1:15am and then from 2:30am to 6:00am. In case you’re as tired as I am and the math is a little slow it add up: that’s one 4+ hour stretch followed by a 3+ hour stretch. Heaven. Here’s for him keeping up that routine.

Clearly, I’m foolishly analyzing every little thing that could have possibly contributed to this miracle. Yesterday around 4:30, Harry took his first bottle from Grandma. So you bet, I’ll be giving him a bottle before bed again. Most likely, however, it’s due to the Benadryl that I’m on. If only I could reuse that trick on a regular basis…

Grandma came to visit yesterday while I went to the doctor – hence the bottle. Harry was so happy to see her.