Gametes In Love

G wants to wish you a Happy Smooch Day!

G has his first solid meal today … and it went well!

I should say that “solid” here is really a misnomer because there was nothing solid about it. I started with a quarter of a teaspoon of rice cereal and added an ounce of breast milk resulting in …. well… more or less milk. Same runny consistency.

G ate it up. I was a little worried he’d close up those little lips or spit stuff right back out, but it worked out.

Can’t speak for the taste — I’ve tried my breast milk (as I’m told any mom should to know if/when it goes bad) enough to know I won’t be mixing it in my coffee anytime soon.

Here’s some proof that it really happened.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0BxmnprLnw]

Oh, and a little bit of play-time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHppuiI8GzI]

Do you see what we see? About 25sec into the clip G transfers his spoon from one hand to the other — midline crossing in action, baby!

Yey, food stuff!

G has a new trick: he can reach for an object using the opposite hand. Ok, I don’t really know how to explain it, but the jist is that he’s crossing the midline.

You may think: “What’s the big deal? I do this every day!”, but for little people this is a pretty big developmental milestone. It’s something you learn to do. You’re not born with it.

I don’t know how long he’s been doing this (yet another sad thing about not being around him every day), but the moment I saw it, I squealed and called S to tell him. S suspects he saw G do it last week, but wasn’t sure. As of today it’s official.

I don’t know what comes next, but I know that G will at least be able to shake hands as an adult ;p

I had a dentist appointment this morning. Nothing serious: just my regularly scheduled cleaning. I’ve been with this office ever since I moved up here from college. Although, after 2 moves, it now takes me 40 minutes to drive there (without traffic), I still go there because 1)  I really like the staff; and 2) given how rarely I need an appointment, I don’t mind the trek.

This morning I dropped G off at day care at his regular 7am time and, anticipating traffic, headed towards my 9am appointment. I got there at 8, much to my surprise, and since I had an hour to kill I decided to keep my 8am pump session and pump in my car.

That’s right folk – I pumped in public. Well… sorta!

I drove around the parking lot to find myself the most remote and concealed spot possible. I found one right next to a utility enclosure surrounded by bushes. I though “Perfect!” My side would be completely covered and my only exposure would be if anyone decided to pull up on my right. I figured that it was a big parking lot though, I was far enough away from the building entrance and the average “lazy” person wouldn’t care to park next to me. Of course as soon as I lifted up my shirt someone decided that of ALL the empty spaces around, the one literally right next to me would be the most perfect one to choose. Yeah – lucky me!

I don’t feel self-conscious nursing in the car anymore. I feel justified in it, but pumping is different. I felt exposed… and a little embarrassed.

Either way, the driver (thankfully a woman) came and went without paying too much attention to the evil-science experiment my vehicle was begining to resemble. After she left, I re-settled myself and finished up my business without further disturbance. But once I was done, I realized I had another problem: “How do I clean up?”

This is where I realized how spoiled I am, and how good I have it. At work my Mother’s Room has a cozy recliner, an electrical outlet, a sink and a fridge. It’s clean, and private and quiet, and these days ALL MINE!!!!! Here’s a crappy photo, but one I’m going to cherish going forward.

My car had neither of these things: the seats are certainly no leather recliner, it wasn’t private and a sink was only as close as the nearest bathroom. I started to feel bad for all the women out there who don’t have all the conveniences that I’ve gotten used to and have grown to expect. I’m really starting to admire them for being committed to “breastfeeding” their little ones while back at work.

So yeah, I have it pretty good.

…I think I need to send HR and our Facilities teams a thank you!

So S and G have this little game they like to play: The infamous balancing act. I say ‘infamous’ because it scares the crap out of me.

S balances G on one hand as G is sitting up on it. The two of them enjoy it while I typically quiver, freak out and yell off the side. He’re some video. At least this time they did it over the bed.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBtsla4gB0E]

And, yes, G really does enjoy this. A minute before the video started he was cackling at S for the game they were playing.

Thanx to my beer post, I got a lot of good suggestions for beer. Thank you for that!

I also got a recipe for cookies that incorporate several ingredients also known for boosting supply. I made them last week-end, but read the recipe incorrectly and didn’t make them right. They were very tasty, mind you — but all the important ingredients were there in part, so they weren’t fully potent.

So today, I made them the right way. Still taste yummy and I’m very pleased with myself.

Ta-da!!!

I changed the original recipe by adding nuts and white chocolates (in addition to the milk chocolate chips).

For those that care, here’s the recipe:

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp flaxseed meal (no subs)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cup Thick cut oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
3 tbsp Brewers Yeast (no substitutions)

Preheat oven at 375.
Mix the flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add eggs.
Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.
Beat until well blended.
Sift dry ingredients, except oats and choc chips.
Add butter mix to dry ing.
Stir in the oats, nuts and the choc chips.
Drop on parchmant paper on baking sheet.
Bake 8-12 minutes.

Yeah, it’s a Saturday, but you get pictures 🙂

Caption: What? You haven’t seen a monkey holding a monkey before?

Caption: I wasn’t sleeping — just thinking really hard

Caption: The glasses may be girlie, but I’m still too cool for school.

And from our high-chair shopping trip:

Caption: Does this chair make my head look big?

Caption: Uh-humn: can you please pass the Grey Pouppon?

Caption: I can make some fine messes on this one!

I’ve been within 2-3lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight for a couple of months now, but it wasn’t until today that I can happily report that I’m back to pre-pregnancy weight (a little under actually). That last one has stubbornly been hanging on since Christmas.

But it’s gone. Ha! Take that you stubborn pound!!!

… now, if only the extra skin (also known as pouch belly) could also get the hint and pack it’s bags…

Oh, and just ‘cuz I’m a nerd and I like graphs here’s a pretty chart of my progress over the pregnancy. Now stop laughing!

G has a stuffy nose. It’s not the first time in his life (a stuffy nose was one of the first souveniers he brought home from daycare),  but today’s was the first night there’s been any impact from it.

My normally ‘sleeps like a log’ kid was up every hour or so last night because he couldn’t breathe.

I learned that my natural instinct is apparently to comfort, not solve problems. It wasn’t until my third sleep-zombie walk to G’s crying bedside that I realized that just rocking my kid back to sleep wasn’t cutting it.

I sprayed saline drops in his nose and busted out the bulb syringe:  both considered to be torture devices in G’s mind. He got pissed off for being brought out from his already weaning slumber, only to be tormented, and proceeded to express his ‘appreciation’ by screaming. But I got the job done and then cuddled my little guy. In the end I ended up putting him in his swing. I realize it’s not the most ergonomically proper way to sleep, but it’s the biggest incline I can have him sleep in, so that his nose drains out.

He slept soundly (or I guess as soundly as can be with a stuffy head) after that.

Today the vaporizer comes out of the box. I was another wake-up away
from setting it up last night, but I got lucky enough with the swing to buy myself a few more hours of sleep.

God, I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a full blown cold. I know he’s bound to get one, and is probably overdue for one, but I’m still hoping that his first cold can wait until he can take some basic direction… Things like ‘blow’ or ‘swallow’; ‘snort’ or ‘don’t move’.

Ugh! Hate sickness. The only othet thing I can think of to do is to spent a ton of time holding him so that I can get his germs, make antibodies, and then pass them back to him through feeding. A bath in a steamy room, maybe?

What else am I missing?

If that wasn’t enough, the poop-supreme I talked about the other day produced a diaper rash not yet seen in our home. We’re still dealing with it. I think G will be spending some quality nakie time this week-end at home if it doesn’t get any better by then.

Stuffy nose & rashy bottom. Poor kiddo! At least he’s still in good spirits and generally a happy little guy.

… of poop that is.

If you have no desire to observe me marvel at the solid waste production value by my child this am, please skip this entry. However, if you want to take the train-wreck approach…. read on!

This morning after I finished feeding G (and got myself dressed), I headed into the nursery to get G changed and situated in his car seat for the drive to care. As I put him on the changing table I saw a poopie stain on his clothes. I think “Oh, goodie!” I peel off Mr. Froggie from him and notice that even the toy has poop slathered on it. This stuff leaked so bad it sent through his clothes onto his toys. Now I’m checking my clothes (the one day I decide to get dressed before him) to see if I myself need a change. After I confirmed I was poop-free, I proceeded to reveal the diaper.

Dear lord, it was a sight to behold! (Ok, fine — not really)

There was no holding back from this kid. I think he was saving 2 days worth of poops to deliver in one go. I was trying to maneuver his legs up in the air, the wipes, the old diaper while trying to minimize the mess. What was G doing? Looking very content. Yes, we are happy to see him “go” as it illustrates he’s eating well, but that smug smile on his face as I was bewildered on what to do first was walking a fine line.

All I have to say is that I am glad this happened in a disposable diaper (since he sleeps through the night, we put a ‘sposie on for the duration).  S should be happy too that he’s not rinsing that out tonight.

… now back to non-poop scheduled programing. You hope.