Photographic proof of the matching pajamas I bought from Etsy:

I was interviewed over at Magpie Musing. I think she asked interesting questions, and I even revealed B’s real name over there, if you didn’t see it here already or have forgotten it.

I interviewed Mommy Mae. When I get her answers, I will post them here.

This is all for Neil’s Great Interview Experiment, where bloggers interview each other.

October 31: B is totally fine.

November 1: B has a high fever all day. We call the nurse line for our pediatrician and discover that the reason his fever isn’t going down with Tylenol or Motrin is that we have only been giving him half the dose he is supposed to get for his weight. Oops. We correct the dose, and he seems fine.

November 2-4: B seems fine without medicine but spikes a fever once every day at random times.

November 5: I finally take B to the doctor, even though he is acting fine. B has a double ear infection. The symptoms for an ear infection are the same symptoms as that of H1N1, so the doctor prescribes Tamiflu just in case.

November 6-14: B is fine. H and I are sick. B has his 12-month checkup on 11/11, and his ears are fine.

November 15: B coughs from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. I take him to the doctor. He has an ear infection, despite the fact that he is still on amoxicillin. The doctor is amazed at how bad the ear infection is. B gets a new prescription.

That’s pretty much all that’s going on here. When you have a hacking cough and a sick baby, there’s not really a lot you can do. I am starting to prepare for Thanksgiving, by which I mean that today I looked at the calendar to see when Thanksgiving is. That’s all my preparation so far. My mom and her boyfriend are coming to stay with us for Thanksgiving again this year, which I am looking forward to (now that I realize when Thanksgiving is). I have bought probably half the Christmas presents I need already,which makes me happy. One of the presents I bought was matching pajamas for B and H. You guys, I know it is totally dorky to have father/son matching pajamas, but it is dorky in a TOTALLY AWESOME way. The pajamas were made by SeamsByGwenny on Etsy, and the are PERFECT. I will take a picture soon because I know you guys are just so excited to see them. Seriously though, they are awesome. I am sure B will be horrified when he is a teenager.

I have a lot to write, but I am currently suffering from day five of the plague. I finished my 3 days of antibiotics, but I am still SICK. Some day when I am feeling better, and when the smoke detector in our office/guest room stops beeping, I will try to write something of substance.

Yes, our smoke detector has been beeping for over 27 hours now. Twenty-seven hours. We can’t just take the batter out because the smoke detector is connected to the electrical wiring in the ceiling. It does have a battery though. We have tried replacing the battery with a new battery. Twice. We have tried to clean inside the smoke detector. We have blown compressed air into the smoke detector in case dust was the problem. Do you have any other suggestions, in addition to selling our house and buying one that doesn’t have smoke detectors, which right now is my number one choice?

Edited to Add: You guys, I think I fixed the smoke detector! Guess what I did! I put the battery in backwards. I put the plus side of the battery in the side of the detector labeled minus. So the smoke detector was either manufactured with a wrong label, or the incorrect positive/negative charge is going to corrode the detector and cause a fire. But at least it hasn’t beeped for a few minutes!

I have no idea how we got from here

all the way to here.

B is walking and speaking gibberish and chasing and being chased. He is climbing and grabbing and searching and throwing.

When I was staying at home with tiny baby B, and all he did all day was stare at the light fixtures, cry, and toot, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to have a funny, smiley baby who loved to play. And now that new funny, smiley, playful baby is already here, and he’s getting to be less and less of a baby every day.

I wasn’t going to write something sappy, but it just kind of happened. It’s crazy to see how different B is now than he was one year ago. And it’s crazy how much H and I have changed too.

Today’s post was written by an anonymous participant in Blog Share. This means that I wrote a post that is on another participant’s blog. I hope you’ll check out all the posts and leave comments. The list of participating blogs is in the post below this one.

I’ve got a secret. There’s another man in my life, besides my husband. Actually, two.

But it’s not what you think.

Starting back in grad school, when I began dating the guy who would become my husband, there was a male classmate that I really got along well with. We had a shared love of music, tv shows and movies. He was always listening to music I’d never heard of, but always really ended up liking (O.A.R., Modest Mouse). I didn’t work very much during that time, so he and I would go to the movies during the middle of the day, or we’d go shopping together to make use of a GAP coupon one of us had. We had a great time. And the boyfriend was totally cool with it. (Even though in the early stages of the relationship, he didn’t know what our status was, because one of our dates to see a movie was with grad school guy and another guy in our program.) Ultimately, the two of them even joked about the situation. Grad school guy was my daytime boyfriend, and he was glad because that meant he didn’t have to take me out to dinner and buy me stuff. Boyfriend was happy I had someone to hang out with during the day.

Now, there are two men at work who are like my new daytime boyfriends. We talk on the phone or visit each other’s office several times a week. We talk about the frustrations of work and share work related gossip. And we share funny videos, movies and music with each other. On occasion we talk about stuff going on at home (one guy is married, and I know his wife, and the other guy is single). And, now that I’m married, it’s nice to let off some of the steam and irritations of my day before I get home with hubby. It makes life at home so much better because he is happy he doesn’t have to hear my rants over and over. It works well for all parties involved.

Do you have or have you had a “daytime boyfriend” and what did your significant other think?

The following blogs are participating in the Blog Share today. All should have anonymous Blog Share posts up by Thursday morning. Please stop by each and enjoy all the anonymous stories!

Not the Daddy
O is for Olson
Red Red Whine
Rediscovering Me
Reflections in the Snow-covered Hills
The Reluctant Grownup
Sauntering Soul
Serendipity Now
Snarke
So, This Is a Treadmill
Thinking Some More
Time for Change
Together They Come
Wondering and Pondering
And You Know What Else
Andrea Unplugged
Arctic-ulate
Bright Yellow World
Bwildered
Catheroominations
Did I Say That Outloud?
Dispatches from the Failed Mommy Club
Full of Snark
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Just Below 63
The Little Goat

This isn’t the most original post in the world, but I’m ok with that tonight after working on Blog Share e-mails for the last hour. Without any further excuses, I present baby pictures.

I have selected my new work nemesis. We will call him RAN, which stands for Reply-All Nemesis.

At my office, people occasionally send out e-mails looking for specific help. The messages are things like, “Is anyone an expert on the legal issues related to transporting baby pajamas from Europe to Asia?” or “Can anyone provide a reference for a good family law firm in Miami?” If you are the expert on European-Asia baby pajama transportation, you just reply to the person who sent the e-mail and say, “I may be able to help you with this issue. Please let me know if I can be of assistance.”

But not RAN! No, RAN replies to everyone in the whole office with long explanations of why he is an expert. RAN writes (to everyone), “When I was in law school, I wrote a paper on that very topic. It was very interesting, and I spent many late nights working on it. I found that the issues related to baby pajamas are vast. I would be glad to provide greater detail at your convenience. Blah, blah, blah, suck up, suck up, suck up, I’m awesome.”

Many a time I have been tempted to reply to RAN with, “There’s a difference between Reply and Reply-All. Learn it.”

PS I sent out Blog Share e-mails to all the people signed up so far, so if you think you signed up but didn’t get an e-mail from me, leave a comment or e-mail me. Also, if you haven’t signed up but want to, posts are due November 3rd at 8 p.m.

Can we discuss holiday gifts? Good.

I think I have some good ideas this year.

For women:
*cashmere scarf - Macy’s has some too, but more expensive
*missing pieces of a collection someone has
*mustache ring
*personalized note cards
*cosmetic bags from Pottery Barn- I got these last year for two people, and I think this year I’m going to get them for myself

For men:
*beer of the month club – Kristin gave me this idea
*BBQ sauce of the month club – Abby gave me this idea
*wine of the month club – I gave this to both a friend and my dad one year, and they both liked it
*Lands End sweater blanket

Stocking stuffers:
*coffee mugs
*chip clips in the shape of breast cancer ribbons from Kohls
*a personalized address stamp

PS If you want your very own weather woman, I saw them at Kohls this weekend.

PPS At Target today I saw a Snuggie FOR DOGS. Here it is!

Any great finds this year? Please share!