mighty maggie: Tending to the prince

Tending to the prince

July 16, 2008: Again! About nothing! Am on a ROLL.
Comments: 8 | Categories: Tending to the prince

***PEOPLE! Set your TiVos! Season 5 of Project Runway premieres TONIGHT! Life is again worth living!*** ...and now back to our regularly scheduled blog... Phillip didn't get home until ONE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING. When he called, around nine-thirty, I could...

July 8, 2008: Brown, pink, green and SUPER CUTE
Comments: 6 | Categories: Awesome , Tending to the prince

*RAW BOTTOM UPDATE* All is well. We were fully expecting to be up in the middle of the night changing a screamy baby, but he slept through and didn't make a peep when Phillip changed him in the morning. He...

July 7, 2008: Counting down the days till I'm allowed hard liquor
Comments: 19 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Jack isn't sick very often. Like: never. There was the time he got his first cold and Phillip took an entire day off work because OUR BABY IS SNIFFLING. And there was the time a few months ago when he...

June 22, 2008: I NEEDED a glass of wine
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Last September, when Jack was about 4 months old, the three of us took a little weekend trip to Lake Chelan. Lake Chelan, for you un-local types, is east of the mountains. As in, you have to drive over the...

June 4, 2008: Interrupted
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

It's 9:00 here on the rainy gloomy totally not aware it's freaking JUNE beautiful West Coast. And Jack went down for his morning nap about 20 minutes ago. Me: I KNOW! I KNOW! AM BIG FAT LIAR! You: Oh God....

June 3, 2008: Stupid Pacific Northwest "summer"
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

It's like we've fast forwarded to October and completely skipped summer. Dark, pouring down rain, all the lights on in the house. I don't think we'll be skipping the morning nap today. At the very least someone will be going...

May 28, 2008: A small victory!
Comments: 4 | Categories: Tending to the prince

That was so helpful you guys, SO HELPFUL. I just needed a little Confirmation of My Suspicions. Last night I informed Phillip that there would be no morning nap and we would see how things go. It is now 11:25...

May 27, 2008: TOTD! Nap Transitions! Your experience please!
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Topic Of The Day! (Forget that stuff I wrote last night! This is more important!) HOW DID YOUR SWEET ANGELIC BABY TRANSITION TO ONE NAP? Around nine and a half or ten months, MY sweet angelic baby's clockwork nap schedule...

May 20, 2008: Life at one year
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

What are we going to do today? It's raining, it's 8 in the morning and who knows when this kid is going to take a nap. Oh, NAPS. You thought I'd MOVED ON, hadn't you? HA. If "moving on" means...

April 29, 2008: Whiiiiiiiiiiiiine
Comments: 12 | Categories: Tending to the prince

You guys know I tend to exaggerate things a bit here on the website. Quite often I am all WOE! and DIE! and ARMAGEDDON IS COMING!, but you also know (I HOPE you also know) that as soon as I've...

April 24, 2008: Worst Mother in the World, NO REALLY
Comments: 14 | Categories: Tending to the prince

You guys, today (well, yesterday, by the time you read this) was spectacularly awful. It started out okay. We woke up. We ate breakfast. We took our nap like a good boy. We got up in time to go visit...

April 15, 2008: My life isn't ENTIRELY about the nap schedule
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

While the nap strike continues, even though one side has completely given up and offered the full contract (and I am as sick of writing about it as you are of reading it), some good things are happening too. Jackson...

April 4, 2008: Vacation. And naps, again, of course.
Comments: 3 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Should I be embarrassed that I spent actual hours of my life yesterday wondering how I could arrange a Mommy Blogger Spring Break? Like, for REAL. Stash the baby with the husband and jet off for a cheap yet refreshing...

April 3, 2008: My flight to Cabo leaves in 10 minutes
Comments: 8 | Categories: Tending to the prince

It's just one of those weeks. Phillip is swamped at work. All the babysitters are on spring break. The baby finally caught the Sickness. The laundry never disappears. And then I think: TWO. Can I do this with TWO? Yesterday...

March 26, 2008: SIGH
Comments: 8 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Nap training: HA HA HA. Jackson Cheung will not be undone by a silly thing like NAP TRAINING. With the exception of the chaos that was Easter, I've been working on the nap thing. I take him upstairs, I pop...

March 24, 2008: Can't you take that child OUT?
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Easter Mass was probably the most awkward and frustrating service I've been to since Jack's baptism, when he produced the largest poop in the history of babies mere minutes before he was supposed to be dunked in the water. Ever...

March 12, 2008: Progress
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

So, eight and nine months pretty much kicked me all over the place. Possibly this had to do with getting pregnant again, and experiencing the First Trimester Yuck I somehow managed to escape the first time around. And also the...

March 4, 2008: My morning
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

At 5:30 this morning my husband got a phone call from a tech support guy on the East Coast letting Phillip know that there might be something wrong with this particular system, he's not sure, he's just giving Phillip a...

February 29, 2008: Mamamamamamama
Comments: 12 | Categories: Jackson , Tending to the prince

Yesterday my baby said "mama". FOR REALZ. And then I died. Probably the best part was that my sister was there to be a WITNESS so when we called my mom and she said, "Oh, I bet he was just...

February 28, 2008: I would really like some French toast for breakfast
Comments: 12 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Wondering where the fluff went? Well! Yesterday I ventured into a maternity store (you know which one, the eeeeeevil one) and managed to exit with dignity intact. You can find out what I was doing there and whether or not...

February 13, 2008: In which I love the internet a little LESS
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Note to Self: Do not tell the internet you are taking your child to his 9 month appointment until after it is over, lest they scare the You-Know-What out of you with their talk of POKING HOLES and FALLING OFF...

February 12, 2008: Something new to vent about
Comments: 11 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Not that anyone really cares, but I finally got my blogroll working (see? over there? to the right? the blogroll of awesomeness?) I just used Blogrolling and set it to only show 10 blogs at a time. It's random, although...

February 6, 2008: Terrible horrible no good very bad you know where this is going
Comments: 10 | Categories: Tending to the prince

I had a rotten day today. It is 7:30. I am wearing my pjs and watching Supah Tuesday punditry and feeling very sorry for myself. I was supposed to chauffeur our old lady to Ash Wednesday Mass because Phillip was...

January 24, 2008: Grossest post you'll find on this website
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Last night my child barfed up his entire dinner. (Oh wait. If you are not into things like children barfing up their pureed chicken and vegetable dinners, you can go read about my extreme lack of effort in the appearances...

January 10, 2008: Ooooh, I am SO CRANKY
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

LAST night the boy slept all the way till 3:45, whereupon he woke up AND NEVER WENT BACK TO SLEEP. After fussing for an hour we finally went in and tried to calm him down and get him back to...

January 8, 2008: I suppose there's always Benadryl
Comments: 13 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Well, Internet, I feel as though I have run out of options. I just put the boy down for a nap. At seven. Meaning he woke up at five. Which means he only slept two more hours after I sat...

January 4, 2008: I was not joking about the Motivational Emails
Comments: 21 | Categories: Tending to the prince

EEEEEEEEEXCELLENT. I knew I'd have some takers. I am so excited. Once I rid myself of these four pounds I'll suddenly learn to love running and my floors will be clean and my hair will look awesome and there will...

December 20, 2007: This post sponsored by the Caps Lock key
Comments: 8 | Categories: Tending to the prince

One night a month Phillip has to stay late at the office with the other geeky worker bees and update servers. Or something like that, I'm not really sure. And they have to make sure the East Coast clients are...

December 11, 2007: ANOTHER post about sleep? I'm sure there's something else to read today.
Comments: 10 | Categories: Tending to the prince

This is supposed to be an email response to Tara, but I'm not one to waste blog fodder on an email. At least, not now that I have a kid who insists on being fed and changed and ridiculous annoyances...

November 25, 2007: Yes, I know, it's my own fault
Comments: 10 | Categories: NaBloPoMo07 , Tending to the prince

The new thing now is waking up at 2 in the morning, finding oneself on all fours and loudly protesting in indignation. I curse the developmental stages and the near onset of baby mobility in my house. I've finally admitted...

November 16, 2007: The one thing I did not want to pass on
Comments: 3 | Categories: NaBloPoMo07 , Tending to the prince

I think my kid has Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am not even kidding. The evidence is as follows: The last two days have been miserable. Gloomy. Gray and dark all day with periodic episodes of Oh My God The Flood...

November 7, 2007: A bit of sap with your Wednesday reading
Comments: 14 | Categories: Jackson , NaBloPoMo07 , Tending to the prince

My kid is now working on hour three of his afternoon nap. Which is good, because he refused to take a morning nap and I've needed the last two hours to clean up the blood and gore from when my...

November 6, 2007: Giving in
Comments: 10 | Categories: Food , NaBloPoMo07 , Tending to the prince

Last night, because my mother-in-law was watching Jack and I was tired of the computer (gasp!) and there was still another hour before Phillip would get home, I busted out the food processor and - dum dum dum! - made...

October 30, 2007: About to shoot myself between the eyes *UPDATED*
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

A while ago I got a comment that subtly (or not so subtly, because I still remember it) suggested that maybe my baby was not napping because I was, ahem, too busy. Babies like schedules. Babies like routine. Maybe I...

October 23, 2007: GOTOSLEEPGOTOSLEEPGOTOSLEEP
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Thanks for the links, guys. I've already checked out a few and can I just say you all have excellent taste? LOVE your recommendations. In fact, reading some new sites is exactly what I'd be doing right now IF my...

September 30, 2007: Skip this, come back tomorrow
Comments: 12 | Categories: Tending to the prince

This sleep thing is killing me. I know I know. This is possibly the most boring topic on earth. I KNOW. I have had to listen to myself for a whole MONTH now going on and on about sleep and...

September 27, 2007: At least we got some cute pictures
Comments: 7 | Categories: Places , Tending to the prince

He slept so badly last night. SO. BADLY. Before Phillip left for work we discussed which state-run homes we're willing to live in, should we lose our minds and need to be institutionalized. Jackson, of course, thought the entire conversation...

September 25, 2007: I think I could go / Deep as the sea of Yoko
Comments: 7 | Categories: About Me , Tending to the prince , What I want to be when I grow up

The opening line of one of my favorite Dar Williams songs goes, "The first part of every day for me is good." (My favorite Dar Williams song starts with, "I wonder if Yoko Ono/Ever thought of staying solo". Which, in...

September 20, 2007: "Vacation"
Comments: 8 | Categories: Places , Tending to the prince

Wow, vacation was hard. I know part of the reason (what am I talking about? MOST of the reason) things have gone so well for Phillip and me in the Taking Care Of A New Baby department is a large...

September 18, 2007: Before we leave
Comments: 6 | Categories: Tending to the prince

After much howling and protesting, the boy fell asleep around 8 last night, unswaddled. He woke up at 2:30. (Well, that's the time I got out of bed. I was lying there listening to the baby holler and feeling bad...

September 17, 2007: Practicalities
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

I planned to have this fabulous Emmys post this morning, but I couldn't stay awake. But a quick perusal of the internet shows that no one I care about won an award (except America Ferrera- whoo!). Anyway, I have a...

September 11, 2007: Sleeping through the night
Comments: 6 | Categories: Tending to the prince

The baby slept through the night Sunday night. 9pm to 6:30am. I know. You may all pick your jaws up off the floor. We hardly hoped that he'd sleep through last night as well. But he did, mostly. I got...

September 2, 2007: I can't think of a title that isn't the phonetic spelling of bawling
Comments: 7 | Categories: Jackson , Tending to the prince

I FELT A TOOTH. It's there. I can see it. Something hard and white jutting up from under my baby's gums. I felt it when he was gnawing on my finger, as he likes to do when nothing else is...

August 31, 2007: Sleep, the Holy Grail
Comments: 3 | Categories: Tending to the prince

The baby is finally down for a nap, after an hour of rocking and singing (interrupted with a shower for me, because all the rocking and singing was getting ridiculous.) When Jackson was first born he slept in a pack...

August 19, 2007: Someone call Child Protective Services
Comments: 21 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Well, I finally did it. After weeks of feeling rather smug about my ability to quickly and fearlessly clip my baby's fingernails, this morning I snipped off a huge chunk of skin in addition to the nail. Not just a...

August 15, 2007: Sleep, TV and Music: guess which one the baby likes best
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

After a couple days of truly awesome sleep, enough so that Phillip and I were starting to bat around the "sleeping through the night" phrase, the last day or two have been ROTTEN. What is this eating every two hours...

August 8, 2007: This day has an attitude problem
Comments: 17 | Categories: Tending to the prince

How bad is it that I am strolling 'round the internet choosing a pediatrician based on the functionality and design of his/her website? Terrible. What is more terrible? That my doctor (and Jack's doctor, and the hospital where Jack was...

August 6, 2007: Some bloggity business
Comments: 7 | Categories: Blogalicious , Tending to the prince

The other day I spent two hours updating my Bloglines account. (What is more shocking? That the baby slept for two hours or that I spent the entire two hours updating my Bloglines account?) I had, like, 4000 unread feeds...

August 1, 2007: Should I be worried about _____?
Comments: 16 | Categories: Tending to the prince

So ladies (and gentlemen? Are there gentlemen?) This is the post where I list various baby-related topics and tell you how concerned/not concerned I am. And then you are supposed to tell me that I am totally not concerned enough/too...

July 25, 2007: Stick a fork in me
Comments: 9 | Categories: Tending to the prince

I am done feeding the baby. DONE. I think I'm going to invent some kind of strap on food chute down which I will pour pureed peas and melted ice cream and the cans of chicken broth taking up space...

July 16, 2007: Stay at home mom
Comments: 10 | Categories: Tending to the prince , This Mom thing

What do you do with a two-month-old? Most days it's just him and me and I battle selfishness all day long. I want to sleep longer in the morning or take a shower when I get up or eat when...

July 12, 2007: The shots. Oh my God, the shots.
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Is it bad that I am leaving my kid to nap in his car seat while I am scarfing down string cheese sticks (hello South Beach!) and catching up online? We just got home from a friend's house and Trader...

July 11, 2007: The Great Cloth Diapering Experiment
Comments: 13 | Categories: Tending to the prince

I can't believe I'm going to write an entire blog post about diapers. I thought I was dull before, but this is probably going to take the cake. Mmm, cake. Anyway. I spend a lot of time on the internet,...

July 6, 2007: Odds & Ends
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince , This Mom thing

Phillip Cheung's Get The Baby To Go To Sleep Playlist, aka Here's To Hoping Our Baby Likes Banjo Jazz: Up & Running- Bela Fleck The Landing- Bela Fleck Forgiven- Deb Talan First Light- Bela Fleck Song D- Bruce Hornsby Song...

July 2, 2007: How long before the baby realizes I'm not holding him?
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

The baby is sitting in his bouncy seat whacking the little toys dangling above him. He's wearing a red onesie and navy blue pants and he looks like a BOY. He has lost, as a friend of ours said, his...

June 20, 2007: Last day of spring
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince

So this smile thing is not working out for me. I thought I'd taken 100 photos of every smile, but on second glance they look more like the beginnings of a grimace. Or the 'concentration' face. You know what I'm...

June 18, 2007: This is what Linda Hershman would call an utter waste of time and talent
Comments: 7 | Categories: Tending to the prince , This Mom thing

Good morning, Internet! It's 6:30 here on the West Coast and I've been up for three hours. That sounds bad, but it was actually a pretty good night. The baby is hanging out with me in a borrowed bouncy seat...

June 15, 2007: The plethora of things I'm doing wrong
Comments: 11 | Categories: Tending to the prince

We're having some sleep issues over here, Internet. The baby is five weeks old. During the previous four weeks I was content to say, "There is no schedule, there is no routine, there is just doing what works and he's...

June 13, 2007: How much do you think I could get for him on eBay?
Comments: 14 | Categories: Tending to the prince

Thanks for your comments the other day. You are all fabulous lovely people. Liars, but lovely nonetheless. But let's move on to the next crisis, shall we? The baby seems to have missed reading the ground rules I posted in...

June 1, 2007: This is where the clever title goes
Comments: 11 | Categories: Tending to the prince

I can't figure out how to go outside. How does it work? I've been sitting here for an hour going over all the possibilities in my head and I still can't figure out how to do it. Jackson and I...

May 30, 2007: My little portable space heater
Comments: 5 | Categories: Tending to the prince

The boy wore me out today. I'm beat, and that's with having one of the devoted aunts watching him all morning and Phillip due to walk in the front door any minute now. If you're wondering how I managed to...

May 29, 2007: No real train of thought, but a post nonetheless!
Comments: 8 | Categories: Tending to the prince , This Mom thing

Phillip went back to work today. I am home. Alone. With a mewling infant. Okay, so not very alone. Lunch was delivered by my old friend Neighbor and her eight-month-old and my in-laws are here right now. ("I can hold...