• Home
  • About
  •  

    I want a do-over

    January 31st, 2009

    G is now 5 months old. Amazing how time flies, huh? He is such a sweet little guy.

    In honor of this milestone, I’ve decided that I want a do-over! I want to re-live the first 4 months all over-again. I’m not talking about having another child, I want to do-over of my time with G.

    I just feel that we know so much more now, about him, about ourselves that I just know we could do it better if we had the chance. And we’ll have more fun.

    What would I change?

    1. Enforced nap-time.  G’s a great night-time sleeper, but still fights day-time naps. I could have trained him to fall asleep, but didn’t know how to.

    2. Recognized his crying as being hungry, or tired. It took me awhile to start recognizing hunger as a possibility for him being upset. And fatigue never even crossed my mind. Looking back, there are so many days when he’s get fussy, when all it really meant was that he needed some Z’s.

    3. I would have started pumping right away. In the hospital even. If there was any way I could have promoted my body to produce more than it is, I should have done it.

    4. Recognized and accepted the reflux earlier. There was a period of time I lived in denial. It would have saved us all so much grief. Above all, my little guy wouldn’t have been in pain for as long as he was.

    5. Started tummy time earlier… and stuck to it. G’s getting better, but still not a big fan. If I was dedicated to it more, and let him cry a bit more, maybe he’d be better now.

    All in all, I don’t think I’m a bad mom. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world, but I just feel like it could have gone better and we could have enjoyed each other so much more.

    So… anyone got a time-machine I could borrow?


    Yes, I’m “that” mom

    January 30th, 2009

    As it turns out I’m the creepy mom from the book “I love you forever” (PS. That book, by the way, made me “Aw!”, then cry, then creeped me out, then made me cry again).

    Why is that? Because if you’ll observe the timestamp of this entry (3:01am, thank you very much), you’ll see that I’m up.

    G is asleep. Has been since we put him down last night, but I’m awake. I’m awake and I just went into his room to check in on him. When I do, I put my hand on his tummy, lightly, and just feel him breathe. To be clear, as crazy as I may seem, I do value my sanity somewhat, so I don’t pick him up to rock him (ala ILUF mom) for fear of waking him, but I do stand by his side and just watch him.

    We have a room monitor, but he sleeps so soundly that many nights he doesn’t even make a peep. It’s nights like this that I wonder if a video monitor will help… but even then he doesn’t move much, so unless the monitor has thermo-heat setting (can you say military-issue and expen$$$$$ive?), I’ll probably still be getting up. We also tried the Angelcare monitor only to get rid of it faster than the time it took us to get it setup. Obviously the low-tech, little-sleep approach is most effective in this family.

    So yeah…. can you say “neurotic”?


    Me? I wasn’t doing nothin’

    January 29th, 2009

    Sometimes I think that G will become and attorney, a politician, or be involved in … well…. how should I put it…. “waste management consulting”. How do I know this? Because it’s hard to get documented proof of G’s achievements!

    Spontaneous laughing? Not on record.
    Rolling over? Also not on record.
    Cooing? Nada.

    He has done these things, to be sure, but as soon as the camera comes out he sits and stares at it with an innocent look, almost saying: “Me? I wasn’t doing nothin’”

    I know eventually he’ll be doing these things more often and they’ll be easy to capture, but it’s not as special as “The first time”s.

    Aaah, G – why do you deny your poor mother the opportunity to embarrass you in front of future dates?


    He rolls!

    January 25th, 2009

    After a good nap today  I took G to his little activity mat for some tummy time. We’re really trying to be diligent about this even though he’s still not a huge fan.

    S was in the kitchen (doing something), as I, 5 feet away, laid G down. And there he went — from his belly to his back. His big ole’ head (this kid really has a big one, let me tell you) finally gave him some momentum to get going. I squealed from excitement, and as S heard this he was so bummed. He was standing so close and yet he missed it. I was thrilled, and G seeing how excited we both were over this new accomplishment just laid there smiling.

    So I flipped him over again (no tears even for try #2) and he rolled a second time. This time for S’ viewing pleasure. It was so cool to see! It was watching rolling in slow motion. First the head, then his shoulders, followed by his little bootie.

    Now S and I are both grinning and cooing, G is smiling ‘cuz he knows something good is happening, and we go for belly time placement #3. And he rolls. Again!

    At this time of course, I’m thinking  “I gotta go get the camera”. I run as fast as I can up the stairs, digging into the diaper bag, and come storming back down. Of course now that the camera is running, G wants no part of having any video evidence that he will tolerate tummy time, let alone roll, so the tears and crying begin. Figures! So you’ll have to take our word for it… for now.

    If you think about it, rolling is hard. I was on the floor the other day looking up at S as we were disecting the anatomy of rolling. Think about it: how would you roll over if you were a baby? You can’t really lead from the hips because you don’t have the core strength to do it. Your arms are also not strong enough to get you going, and a little short to boot. Get on the floor and give it a shot. It’s good, cheap family fun. I promise 🙂

    I also discovered tonight that G does a pretty good job sitting up on his own. He won’t initiate it, but if I pull him away from my body, he props himself up pretty well. Occasionally he’ll loose balance and start to topple over, but I think it’s pretty good.

    I’m pretty excited. Another set of milestones!


    Beer. It’s for the baby… really!

    January 24th, 2009

    There was a period of time when I believed that I wouldn’t be consuming any alcohol until Griffin was weaned. But as it turns out my consumption of beer is almost “prescribed”.

    I, sadly, am not one of the lucky moms who produce a great deal of milk. G gets what he needs for his weight group and nothing more. I’ve tried Fenugreek supplements, the teas, the oatmeal, the extra pumping, but I gotta tell you out of all of the above what’s worked (surprisingly so) has been beer. Yeah, no joke. Beer!

    Beer is supposed to help with breast milk production.  More specifically, if you want to get nerdy, the polysaccharides in barley stimulate prolactin.

    Yet I don’t like beer. Tequila, wine, cocktails… yummy… but beer? No thanx! It has a bitter taste, that I just don’t enjoy.

    Still, I was out with some colleagues for lunch yesterday and everyone ordered a beer, so I figured… “Sure, why not? I’ll give the “old-wives tale” a shot!” I drank half of my “lunch beer” (yes, that’s how it was ordered) and at my next pump — immediate response. Nothing miraculous, mind you, but enough for me to be able to tell. I repeated the experiment at dinner with another half a glass, and again I had some good results.

    I’m surprised! I never thought I’d be finding myself consuming alcohol in the name of my child, yet here I am.

    I’m not getting drunk here, to be clear, but it looks like I’ll be integrating half a pint of beer to my diet once in awhile.

    Now the trick is finding out what beer I tolerate. I feel so immature really because I don’t know what to order. I just don’t really know what’s out there. Tonight at dinner, due to the lack of “menu” of beers, I ordered one based on the highlighed sign at the window of the restaurant. I got lucky, it was fine (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale if you’re curious), but I gotta study up on my beers. So, if there’s anything a beer-novice should try, give me your recommendations.


    How to loose 20lbs in 2 weeks

    January 22nd, 2009

    I’m a glutton for punishment. Last night after a carb-o-licious day of meals I decided to get on a scale and see which way the numbers are tilting these days.

    Woe and behold, after the little “calculating” animation, 106.6lb!!!

    This I saw and went “Whaaaaa?” Now, I’ve heard that breastfeeding can help you keep weight down, but going back to Jr. High weight isn’t something I’d heard of before.

    So I pull out the scale a little further out into the bathroom, hearing some crunching noises along the way. I step on it… more crunching… 113lb. Close, but still unbelievable. What is going on?

    I look down at the scale and notice little cat-food bits along the drag path. I guess Neko has been storing some “reserves” for a rainy day under our scale. It was uneven when I first stepped on, so not exactly at it’s accurate best. I cleaned it all off, and re-weighed. Finally a weight I would believe (and wouldn’t you like to know what it is?)

    So next time you want to loose lots of weight fast? Just put some kitty bits on the floor and go nuts.

    In other not-so-pleasant news, Mother Nature has decided that she’s missed me and has returned for her monthly visits. I’m not thrilled! I was kind of enjoying living pad and tampon free for the while. I genuinely hoped that as long as I was breastfeeding she’ll stay away. Now my milk supply is dropping, I’m tired and I’m moody. Oh, joy!


    Meet Sleeping Beauty

    January 19th, 2009

    Yesterday, S and I drove G to melt-down mode. It was entirely our fault, and yes we paid for it.

    We went to the Tech Museum to check out the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit. It was fun, but since G is not a good napper while on the move, the poor little guy didn’t get more than 40 min of sleep the whole day. He is just so curious and wants to be social and the idea of napping, as much as he knows he needs it, doesn’t settle in.

    So to makeup for yesterday, today G went into hybernation mode. He slept in to 8:30 (which for him is unheard of), 2 hours later he was asleep for a 2 hour nap, woke up, ate, played a little, then crashed out again. This happened a few times throughout the day. He even slept in his Pack N’ Play: the unit also known as the “insta-cry-machine”. To top it off, he requested an early bed-time and zonked out by 7:00pm. I’m glad he’s catching up, but I feel badly for causing it.

    It appears now that in addition to our early dine out schedule, our week-end socializations will also be mapped around  nap-times. It’s moments like this that make me a little relieved we don’t have two children. Two kids with two separate nap-times? How does anyone get anything done?

    On a complete tangent though: as part of the exhibit, we all saw a movie: an 40 min IMAX presentation of “Adrenaline Rush: the science of risk”. How appropriate is it that G’s first-ever movie turned out to be about skydiving, base jumping, and a test of da Vinci’s parachutte? G behaved himself remarkably well. Nap issues aside, I’m so proud of my little guy.


    Don’t buy 1, buy 3!

    January 19th, 2009

    S and I are realizing that we’re coming to a dangerous point in time in G’s life: toy attachment. His new favorite is a soft froggie blanket. He almost can’t nap without it. The problem? We only have one! G, being who he is, is happy to mark his territory with the necessary amount of spit-up. Going one day without washing is OK, but by day 3 this blankie, as cute as it is, begins to qualify for bio-chemical weapon status. We try to wash it while he sleeps, but if it doesn’t go in the drier in time, it’s not ready for day care the next day, and naps aren’t as pleasant. So tonight, after S and I confirmed that Froggie (blankie’s name) has reached irreplacable status, we went online to find a back-up.

    As it turns out, S and I are not the only parents that buy “back-ups” of their kid’s fave toys. The company is making a business out of it. Presenting the “Three of a Kind” box. They advertise it as a “Pair and a Spare”.

    I’m not quite so sure I’ll need 3, but it’s an interesting concept. The only problem? Their marketing department didn’t do their math quite right. Buying one blankie is $10. Buying a box of 3 is $39. Why would I want to pay $9 extra for a package I can make myself by adding 3 of the same item in my cart? Shipping and handling is even cheaper when you don’t have to deal with the weight and size of a box. Am I missing something?

    Either way… I’m now impatiently awaiting Froggie’s dopple-ganger.


    G likes to bounce

    January 18th, 2009

    Some pics of G in his very cool jumparoo


    Movie Monday

    January 18th, 2009

    Presenting Giggle Time!

    Also known as the 15 min before going down for the night (which is also why this video is so dark)

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZAk4eaQ3gk]