this whole selling the house thing is frustrating. we had an offer, and made a counteroffer, and then the buying party got cold feet & backed out. so there was an open house today, and our agent said lots and lots of people looked at it. we'll see if it produces any buyers. i'm so sick of cleaning up the house, making it's all aired out & perfectly perfectly clean with no speck of dirt visible. it's so much work.

another friend had a baby this month. i'm losing count, there are so many! it's definitely baby season.

our baby has two more teeth - that makes four on the bottom, four on the top. his lower right molar area seems extra swollen & squishy, so i'm wondering if it will be coming through soon. he's been drooling a lot. we've been giving him ibuprofen at night, as the few times we haven't, he seems to wake up. we were doing an 8pm bedtime, but realized that it wasn't helping at all with his early wake up times, so we've switched him back to a 7-7:30pm bedtime. also trying to reign in his naps. i'd let him sleep 2-3 hours if he was game for it the past month, but i think it was ruining his night sleeping, so i'm limiting him to just 1.5 hours at a time. he'll be switching to just one nap a day at some point, but i don't think he's ready for that. this weekend was pretty busy. friday night we spent cleaning for a 10am showing on sat, after which we were told about the buyers backing out. we spent some of sat afternoon at boedecker cellars, picking up some futures we had purchased way back in the winter, and tasting some great wine. sat evening we met up with g'ma & g'pa tigard, and my cousins s & d for dinner, before getting zane to bed. we watched forgetting sarah marshall - it was a really really funny movie!!!! really quirky & not as predictable as most comedies. today we cleaned the house, napped when z did, and then left the house for the open house. we ran some errands, saw a friend & her new baby in the hospital, and went to another friend's birthday party, before coming home to do laundry & cook for the week. busy weekend. this week will be short - we leave for the east coast for the weekend for a friend's wedding. z will be staying with g'ma & g'pa tigard.

our ferocious tiger.

today, we happened to be in fred meyer, and saw some halloween costumes, so we thought we'd get one while they're all available & while we had the time. there was an open house at home today, so we had to be out of the house for at least 2 hours. daddy tried the costume on to see if it fit. he thought it would be too big, but mommy knew better- it barely fit. we took pictures just in case it no longer fits in a month. here's the front view.

here 's a back view. we love the tail, and the inside out foot (looks a little creepy...)

and the hood up... little z was such a good sport about the whole thing.

laundry

daddy's having fun doing laundry. z is a good sport.

it's all over

our little pumpkin just walked by himself a few minutes ago...

11 months!

z is now 11 months old. i don't know how much he weighs, but most likely above 25 lbs. he likes dancing, and can do so on command. he stood by himself for about 6 seconds twice today, but he's not walking by himself yet.

we all went to the fountains by the beaverton library this afternoon, after running some errands. z was getting tired, but still had fun. he's such a cutie! grandma tigard came over & watched him while daddy & mommy went to see the new quentin tarantino movie "inglorious basterds." it was a good movie, but gory & bloody like all the other tarantino flicks.

yum watermelon!

our son loves watermelon!!!

bike ride

daddy & z are headed out for a bike ride to a playground...

bike helmet

z is never so happy getting his bike helmet on, but once it's on, he's ok. he's so cute with his new shoes!

z & momma lying on the floor. we like rolling around...

orange!

z has new shoes, courtesy of c. they're great, and they're ORANGE!

checking out the ducks at the park

walk to the park

z & j on a walk to the park with the ducks & the lake.

boo-boo

here's a pic of z soon after falling flat on his nose on sunday. i have no idea how it happened. i was sitting very close to him, and for whatever reason, he leaned forward without his hands, ending in the face-plant. his nose bled a little - not gushing or anything, but i took a picture just to keep track of what it looked like in the beginning in case it got really bruised, etc. i called the doctor to find out what to do, and they just said as long as it didn't look broken & the bleeding didn't continue, just give him some tylenol. he soon forgot about it, and it never got bruised. just shook mommy up.

the weekend got a little better - j gave me some time away from z, which is always refreshing. saw my sister n law, & another new mommy on monday. the weekend disappeared quickly, but at least this is a short week!

things with the house buying/selling are getting more complicated - there are other buyers interested now in the house we made the offer for, so it's more important than ever to get our house sold. we're lowering the price again today. lots of stress in this house at the moment.

stupid day.

this was one of those no good horrible very bad days.  i didn't sleep so well last night.  the pumpkin was very fussy today.  he barely slept for his second nap, and woke up screaming.  he usually screams for a few minutes halfway through his naps, before falling back to sleep for a significant time, but not this time.  he wouldn't calm down when i picked him up.  i tried nursing him, but he bit my nipple and wouldn't let go - i had to pull out through his teeth.  i started crying too, and this was 10 min before i had to go teach a lesson.  and then i was so tired after teaching when we were at new seasons doing the grocery shopping - i dropped two of three of my yogurts & they splattered all over the floor & my jeans.  i had to ask a worker to clean it up - i felt like a little kid.  they're always so nice when something like that happens - they don't charge you for it.  i still feel bad about it.  i've broken so many jars of baby food - they're stacked so precariously, and i get really clumsy & jittery with sleep deprivation.  lately i can't tolerate any caffeine - no chocolate, not even decaf coffee.  so i'm constantly tired.  i haven't exercised in such a long time, because it's more important to sleep when i can.  i spent the evening cooking food for j & i, and separate food for z.  i was so so so exhausted when i finally finished that i went straight to bed.  i did some sudoku, & then turned out the light.  i fell asleep for about a half hour, and something woke me up.  and now i've been lying in bed, unable to sleep.  i just got up for a small snack.  i'll try sudoku-ing again.  i hope i can sleep.  i'm so tired.  z must be teething or something - he felt warm to the touch today.  i took his temp once, and it was 100.3 - not an official fever.  but i think he's been extra fussy.  of course part of it was due to his lack of a real afternoon nap - 35 min does not do it.  he didn't make it to his new 8pm bedtime.  j started bedtime early (i was cooking).  by the time friday comes, i don't have any patience left, especially when he bites me... most kids are soothed by nursing.  not mine.  i don't think he "knows" mommy, or at least doesn't prefer me over anyone else.  he never went through the whole attachment thing, and should have by now if he was going to.  on one hand i'm happy, but on the other, it makes me feel like a bad mother.  i guess i shouldn't bother with nursing anymore.  he really doesn't seem to like it.