SmallSteps for Owen, Giant Leaps for Mommykind

Today, we went to the grocery store, where Owen had an inexplicable tantrum- oops, not inexplicable, I just limited the amount of yogurt drops he could eat. Forgot about that. Anyway, he had a tantrum in the frozen food aisle, and I just ignored him and calmly strode on. It was great- he only cried from frozen pizza to just past beer, which is about 10 feet. Something about having enough coffee to make me awake but also jittery and not willing to put up with it had something to do with my newfound ignoring-my-toddler success. BUT the more exciting news is that when we got home, Seasame Street had just started, and Owen sat in the rocking chair, eating goldfish while I unloaded the car. For some reason, I do not think the APA would be as excited about this as I am- but I also doubt that the doctors in the APA have ever had to unload groceries from a car by themselves. Their wives or nannies play a big part in their lives, I am sure. For me- I feel like I have a new sense of independence. It is AWESOME.

Owen has started waking up before 6:30. It shames me to complain about this, as every other mom I know has been doing this for months (years, almost) and sometimes this is even sleeping in for their children. HOWEVER- Owen used to sleep until 8:45- sometimes even 9:30. Even as a newborn he was never up before 7:15. What is causing this? Plus, now he is back to two naps a day, which I shouldn't complain about, but seems to cut into our schedule of possible fun, because he has either just woken up and is getting fed, etc., or he is getting ready to go back down. (To be fair- I just re-read this and it looks like I am getting up with Owen in the still- dark hours of the morning. I am not. Craig is. I wish Owen would sleep in more for his sake. ahem.)

Sigh.

I bought milk today that expires on the day Kim will get married. I remember buying milk that would expires after my own wedding date, and how unreal that felt. Also, buying milk that would expire after Owen's due date. It felt surreal- "by the time this milk goes bad, I will be married." (or have a baby, but he was so late the milk would have expired anyway.) I have not decided whether to share this with Kim, as a bride-to-be-bonding-moment, or refrain from telling her as it could possibly freak her out. But she might read this. Hmmm... cyber-space.

I am approaching half-way on the ninety handmade baby shower invitations for Danielle. Would really like to get those done SOON.

Migraines are back, but this time accompanying ovulation. Does not bode well for producing a second child, but I can't even be bothered to think about that right now.

okay- I'm back

So SOME people have been telling me I need to start blogging again, and I do appreciate the kick in the a. I need those every now and again.

What is new in my life?

Owen is no longer taking morning naps, but is hopefully moving towards some killer afternoon naps- 1- 4 anyone?

I have discovered that a 20" pokey stix is only 10.00 on thursday nights. Bad bad bad, especially as I have recently become pescatarian in hopes of losing a few pounds. I am not finding success here.

E's thesis is done, which means that the only other things looming on my horizon are K's wedding and D's baby shower. Then Christmas. I guess that this is what is meant by "life goes on"- there is always something right around the corner.

In an effort to regain some semblance of household sanity, I am clearing out STUFF and re-organizing. God bless IKEA. Already, my living area looks much better and I have high hopes for my child growing up into a little boy who respects and participates in orderliness.

My backyard is quite possibly my favorite place to be right now, b/c Owen can play in his sandbox BY HIMSELF, theoretically leaving me free to leaf through a magazine and sip a cup of coffee. This is still more of a magazine fantasy than reality, but maybe we'll get there soon.

I may soon be reinstituting my quilting room as a place of order and productivity, as opposed to the hold-all it has become in recent months.

Not being pregnant is currently a very good thing for me. Let's see if I can keep my momentum up.

You're right- I do feel better! Yay for the Momma movement!

snap shot

- GFSS is over for the month. I miss Kim and even Yuki, and I feel the let down that is felt when your life has been a crazy whirlwind. Also, this feeling is relaxing.

GRRRRRRR.. Owen is awake after having slept for 45 mintues. NOT acceptable.

The Sound of Silence

Our niece is staying with us for a week. Things to know about V: she is an only child, very precocious and dangerously smart. She talks A LOT. Her parents work, among other things, in real estate, which meant that for years, she had two parents home with her virtually all the time, and she had a very charmed life. Lately, her father has been ill, and her mother has gone back to working as a home health care nurse (in addition to managing a large number of properties), which means that V has had less attention. It has done her a world of good. Because her parents have been under extreme pressure and stress, I asked if V could come stay with us for the week. She showed up on Monday (her mom forgot to let us know when she'd be coming, so we were at the grocery store) and we plunged right in.

It has been surprisingly easy to care for an eight year old and a one year old- surprisingly easy interspersed with moments of terrifying impossibility. I fell off the earth mother wagon with a vengeance, allowing her to stay up until midnight last night for a Wii Marathon, and then shoving cocoa puffs and Hawaiian punch at her for breakfast (on the run, in the car) on the way to my mother's house to let her swim for an hour before picking up and Owen and bringing him home for a nap. Of course, she had a glazed doughnut at Mom's, and asked her for another even after I said no. Mom promptly sent her home with half a box full. In an attempt to regain authority and prevent the ineveitable melt down once the sugar high wears off, I ran V a bath and gave her some water to flush out her system. She will easily stay in the bathtub for over an hour (as I learned Wednesday morning) which is FANTASTIC. I asked what she wanted for lunch today, and got the same answer I always get: watermelon. With further prompting, macaroni and cheese was added to the menu. (V has never been a fan of my cooking, so I decided to give in and just serve her kid food all week- macaroni and cheese, Stouffer's lasagna, Capri Sun juice boxes. I am about to die from lack of real food). When I asked if she would like broccoli and dip to go with her lunch, she gave me a distaining look (as only an 8-year-old can give) and said "Of course. Who wouldn't?" Well, duh.

 

One of my favorite conversations from this week:

To my father, who fool-heartedly asked her a GIGANTIC open ended question at the beginning of dinner:

Dad: So what have you been doing since school let out?

V: Well, I have been to horse camp. What do we do at horse camp, you might be wondering? Well, don't worry, I am going to tell you everything you might want to know. (This caused my mother and I to exchange a look of sheer panic, as we knew she meant what she said.)

A lengthy discussion of horse camp ensued, including a recap of the field trips they took- one to a puppy mill!?!?!?!?! I thought puppy mill was a derogatory term, but apparently not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimberlina sent me this link http://lifehacker.com/software/kids/10-ways-to-entertain-young-children-for-1-or-less-without-the-tv-283550.php
which got me started on things that have been successful for Owen this past year.

1. a package of clothespins (not the clippy kind, but the kind that are one piece and advertised to make dolls with)- this $2 will go a LONG way. Pair them with clean milk cartons (or containers with openings of various sizes) for hours of enjoyment. Well, in 20 minute increments. Just don't let kiddo chew and walk at the same time. I got mine at JoAnns.

2. Large mouth nalgene bottle- the key here is the twist off cap that is attached and not a choking hazard. I keep one in my purse with a few of the above mentioned clothes pins.

3. Laundry basket. Include a ball for extra fun.

4. Clean laundry- esp. kitchen dish towels and burp clothes. Owen "helps" fold (ie picks up pieces and runs away) but he likes to manipulate cloth. He has enjoyed playing in laundry since he was about 3 months old.

5. An unopened box of pasta.

6. Almost all plastic containers that I previously recycled have become Owen's. Try sticking toys inside clear containers (tupperware, etc.) and put the lid on. (WARNING: this can frustrate kids, but keeps Owen occupied).

7. A dishpan of water and a cup or container. (Oooh.. funnels...) Do this outside. Don't let your kid drown, and be prepared for full on bath. Owen always tries to climb in.

8. A ceiling fan for really little babies. Some people tape streamers on and turn the fan on low.

9. A book of finger games. Marthe can attest to the seemingly impossibly large number of times the "itsy bitsy spider" song can be sung in one day.

10. Old magazines or phone books or anything that can be destroyed.

ALSO: PSA to parents of toddlers:

You will be tempted to stick bags/tubes of Gerber Graduates Finger Foods in your purse. Don't. They don't stay closed, and you end up with sweet potato puff powder in your lipstick and yogurt melts in your cell phone.

Really, I am so full of unsolicited advice I could burst. Instead, I end up spewing it all over virtual strangers. And acquaintances.

Along with unsolicited advice, I am also full of questions. Please feel free to answer. Really.

My current dilemma involves sand, and how to stop Owen from eating it. Any advice is appreciated.

seriously?

I just checked on Owen, fussing in his bed. Craig got him ready tonight (plus) but Owen's onesie is on BACKWARDS. Seriously? backwards? There is a tag ticking him on the throat. How hard is this?

ah, nostaglia

PMS. I forgot what it's like. Apparently, it involves werewolf-like personality changes and a lot of chocolate. After almost 2 years, this is hitting me like a mac truck.

I can't wait to get pregnant again.

reason number 783 not to be vegan

bacon.

even if I go full-bore vegetarian, I will never count bacon as a meat.

it is a fat unit, but not a meat unit. I learned that during pregnancy, as in "Bacon and avocado do not count as protien and vegetable. They just count as fat."

totally worth it.

reason number 782 not to be vegan

Grilled havarti and granny apple sandwiches made with very thin sandwich bread.

Forgive me, Owen for eating mine and half of yours off your tray.

You were just going to feed it to Junie, anyway.

email to kimberlina

This is how lazy I am: I am going to post a copy of an email to kim, b/c I am too lazy to repeat my afternoon. But the advantage is, maybe it will motivate me to take pictures tomorrow and post them, so there will be more details added to an already rambling email. Yay for blogging!


Email to kim starts here:

PLUS: I received the baby lotion- thank you so much! Owen and I are up to at least 2 baths a day now, so we are both enjoying it. We have been gardening together- seriously. It's like the cutest fucking thing in the world. So fucking cute i will have to tell you the whole story. You might want to grab some coffee.


Ok- do you have your coffee? good.

I moved a bunch of my canna lillies from the front door to the fence, in between the jasmine that we planted. (btw: super easy to grow/transplant/separate canna lillies. once they are established again/ you move into a house i will send you oodles.) We did this on saturday, while Owen stayed at my mom's for 24 hours. If I could all caps "24" I would.) So today, i decided to cover the transplanted flowers with landscaping fabric and mulch, b/c they looked like they were dying. as this is officially the first time i have EVER done yard work, I am hoping that they do NOT die. Owen played in the box that his super awesome play castle came in ( and tried to drink from the turned off sprinker, and tried to walk through the new plantings) while I did the landscape fabric ( not as cute in description as was in real life), and then we moved mulch in buckets to the fence. like, 20 trips. This process made us very thirsty, which led to a drinking from a cup incident. Thank god we were already hot- he still needs quite a bit of practice. I am also afraid that he now thinks the point of his (rather expensive) mulch playground-pit is to move the contents around the yard in buckets. hopefully, that part did not stick. After about 45 minutes of this, he turns around, walks across the yard to the back door, waits for me to open it, goes inside, grabs a nuk off the floor and little bear, and heads off to his bedroom for a nap.
wtf? my kid puts himself down for a nap? I must have been ghandi in a past life. I do not deserve this. unfortuneately, he was COVERED in dirt, so I had to actually bathe him before a nap, but it was still great. I love being his mom. He's like a sit-com baby (today, at least.)

If gardening makes babies this tired, maybe you could get moms to pay YOU to let their toddlers work on the compound. It could be profitable.....as long as they don't eat all the mulch. sad but true- babies will eat mulch if you let them.

blah blah blah- I have had an adult conversation deficit today.

Happy Wednesday (if you read this tomorrow at work!)

I am off to
a) put laundry away
b) unload the dishwasher
c) watch the Extras finale
d) eat bon bons
e) copy this to my blog, b/c I am a lazy mo-fo.

ciao!

Mimsie Friday, take 3

Owen is officially celebrating Mimsie Friday for the third time-- all night! Craig and I have big plans: dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Thornebrooke, breakfast at a new place tomorrow morning... I do not see the point in doing dishes when we can enjoy being "single" again. My mother is the best.

melancholia

I was commenting on mighty girl's 100 things worth doing entry (http://mightygirl.com/2008/03/18/100-things-worth-doing/) and I got weepy (inexplicably) about my plum tomato baby. After seeing my beautiful baby Owen, I understand why miscarriages happen- it must be nearly impossible to produce a healthy all put-together-correctly baby, especially on the first try. But my plum tomato baby will always be a part of my life, even though I think I thought I was over it- her? I always think of it as a her. I will never be able to truly bond with a baby in utero, which made me feel VERY guilty when I was pregnant with Owen. The guilt evaporated the moment we locked eyes for the first time, so I feel okay with that. Actually, he is the first baby I didn't try to bond with, and he is the first that stuck. So there you go. Maybe my babies just need personal space.
When I was pregnant with Owen, I waited over a week to tell my mother, 12 weeks to tell most people, and some people I never told at all. (Which incidentally led to a friend visiting unexpectedly when Owen was 2 weeks old- one of the best memories I have of those early, fuzzy sore post-partum days). To be honest, I hate people who announce pregnancies before 12 weeks, because I am so jealous of their smug joy in a baby, in a pregnancy that they are sure will last. I also hate my neighbor, who said "That's awfully early to be announcing it" with plum tomato, when Craig told her at 10 weeks. I started miscarrying that afternoon. I am convinced she is an out of work witch who stalks us, as she sits, typing endlessly on her computer as she stares out the window in her sandels from 1992, yellow toenails needing a trim.
So here is my public apology to plum tomato: I am sorry I took Motrin, possibly contributing to your demise. I am sorry you were flushed down the toilet. I am not sorry that I did not rescue you, so they could take you apart at the hospital. I think of you every day, sweet tomato.

cozy

Today is such a cozy, crafty day. The kind of day for which I am grateful to be staying at home with Owen. He is napping, and I am debating which pleasurable crafting activity to partake in.

Options:
1. My new knitted headwarmer (http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTcalorimetry.html). I have the perfect yarn for it, and so far it seems to be going well... except that it seems inordinately long. I am hoping that it will work out, because I did not (as usual) knit a gauge swatch. We'll see. I am either knitting it for myself or Virginia. The yarn I have is perfect for this pattern, but I am not sure that it will look good on me. On the other hand, it is probably way too dorky to wear in a trendy urban environment, such as Connecticut, New York or London. (But I think the colors will suit her...)

2. The lottery block for the March guild meeting. I have chosen the "Crossing Ohio" pattern, in orange and blue, because of course I have excellent school spirit. Plus, in Gainesville, either you can use an orange and blue quilt or you know someone who would love one. I don't see how you can't win with this one!

3. Valentines. I picked up Owen's pictures yesterday, which means it is time, yet again, to cut and label an ungodly number of photos for distribution. I think this is the last time I am going to order so many, now that I know I can email the proofs out to everybody.

Or I could unload the dishwasher, but that seems less exciting. It has stopped raining, but is still really overcast. And I an totally exhausted. I drank some "pick-me-up" cocoa this morning, rumored to have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, but obviously not a cup of coffee as I make it.

EFFF. Junie just barked and woke up the baby. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. No crafty time now. Oops.

the 60,000 calorie weekend

Kim left this morning after a fantastic 2 GF (+ 2 boys) SS weekend. It was fantastic. (Did I mention that it was fantastic?) Except I am now feeling slight regret over the INSANE amount of calories consumed, 1/2 of which were from dinner at my mother's house last night (filet, lobster, plugras, italian wedding cake and a yard of reisling). I think another 1/4 of those calories were from alcohol. Very bad. Very very bad. But completely worth it. I think I am going to make a rule that calories consumed with long-distance girlfriends do not count. Yum... I keep getting flashbacks- asti, sea turtle white chocolate ice cream, 2nd street bakery brioche french toast (which practically caused me to orgasm in front of the waiter-oh my god. it was so very very good), pigs in a blanket, salmon pesto, stuffed tomatoes.


I will walk in the mall tomorrow.

Plus, I learned how to spray paint. We painted my dressing table-cabinet-thingy aqua. I think Craig lost 2 years off his life because we didn't ask his advice or do it in a planned, perfectionist way. We just did it. It feels so liberating. I want to antique it a little- maybe put a white glaze on it? I feel ready to take on anything. Pictures to follow, once I get it closer to finished.

whoo hoo!!!

My apologies. I have officially become Magda, the smug married from Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason.

If you are male, or considering having children, I do not recommend you keep reading. But if you are already a mom, go for it!

I had my annual with Jane today. I decided that I should just do it around my birthday, because then I will remember to renew my car registration at the same time. (Even though Craig does that for me, after he drove to Miami lastyear in a car with a tag that was two years expired. Oops.)

Anyway, good news and bad news:
-I am offically back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I thought I was, but it's nice to have it on the medical chart.
- I only actually gained 32 pounds while I was pregnant. (I eventually got to the point where I just closed my eyes whenever I got on the scale).
- Jane says that not only can I choose to be induced again next time, but that she recommends it at 39 weeks. Yay! I will not be pregnant forever again! Nor will I have to deal with boring pre-labor. I could be in and out in under 3 hours. SWEET.
- (Okay, I am totally going to brag here): Jane told me that she talks about me all the time, because I dealt with labor so unusually well. I feel so smugly proud. I was obviously meant to have four children.
-She told me I can stay on Implanon forever if I want to. Awesome. I could never have my period again.... well mostly.

bad news:
- her Ph.D. is done in a year, so I think she will move onto teaching and not delivering babies anymore. I am considering getting pregnant again right away, and I'm not sure how I'm going to pull it off. How am I going to have a baby without her?????????
- I have to go to physical therapy. Ewww.
-I have cabbage stuffed in my (three) sports bra(s). I have tried everything else, and this is the only thing that is working to stop producing milk. It is the first time I have been remotely comfortable in 5 days. If only I didn't smell so...cabbagey.

coffee press lamentations

Today I am feeling defeated. This is probably the result of not drinking coffee until 10:45, but there you go. Laundry is covering my kitchen table, and let's face it, some of my living room furninture as well. I do not have a lime for the recipe that I was planning on making for dinner tonight. Owen has been incredibly fussy, and then had one of the most copious poopy diapers I have ever seen. After all this hard work, he happily went to bed, allowing me to make my coffee and moan electronically to the world.

Craig got up with Owen at 6:15, ran the dishwasher (even though I ran it last night... oops. I think I left the door unlatched, thus ruining our method of non-verbal-dishwasher-status communication), fed Owen breakfast, and I swear I heard the vacuum running. Where does he get the energy? Am I sure that I want four boys? Maybe I should get a better coffee maker than my french press.

Pros to the french press:
+ is tiny
+ does not take up counter space
+does not (directly) use electricity, but the electric tea kettle that I use to put hot water in the french press does.... this is a draw
+ makes me feel slightly urban and chic

Cons
- we both hate washing it (damn coffee grounds)
-it seems to require additional steps to coffee, which I can not perform unless I have already consumed said coffee
- we both REALLY hate washing it
- Since I am the only one who drinks coffee, I don't make enough to really compact the coffee grounds, which makes them difficult to throw away, so I just dump them down the drain and hope it won't clog our plumbing system. Fat chance
- It is rarely clean first thing in the morning
-have I mentioned that we really hate washing it?

I am a totally boring person.

correlation and causation

I was rereading some of my previous posts, not because I am entirely self-absorbed and find myself fascinating, but mainly because I am always amazed that I managed to post at all. I was mystified to see how much I talk about cleaning and reorganizing the house. Completely baffled. I can only conclude that:

a) I really do spend more of my time cleaning than I am aware of

or

b) I get really bored when I'm cleaning and take a very importnat break to update my blog.

It has to be the latter. If it isn't, my house should look a hell of a lot better than it currently does. I finally understand the psych 101 theory about causation and correlation not equating each other. Aha.

gerbil on crack

Okay- I admit that I am feeling a bit frenzied. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am switching Owen over to formula, so I can now consume unlimited quantities of caffeine. The problem is, after over a year and a half of not consuming caffeine except in very small quantities, my tolerance is low. Instead of being really drunk after one beer (also happening, but mostly at night), I get supercharged after a medium to largish cup of coffee. This has led to "cleaning: frenzies, which do not involve actual cleaning, but rather frantic rearranging, leading to a differently (note that I do not say "better" or "more efficiently") configured home environment. Actually, what this means is that while I am putting things away, I can not remember where I put them. So far, I have lost my ipod charging-docking cord thing. Happily, I have since found it with the trivets. Obviously.

I also stored the Christmas decorations in the hall closet, on a shelf that was amazingly underutilized. Apparently, because the shelf can not hold anything heavier than batting. This is incidentally very lucky for me, because I have an excess of batting in the quilting room with no place to live. Craig seems to think that I can replace the batting in my quilting room with Christmas decorations. Silly silly man. I may also place board games on that shelf (unless they are too heavy), thus removing them from their NEW home, on an open shelf under the television in the living room. Right at Owen's level. These were placed there by Craig while I was at book club. They do make the new TV shelf look very magazine worthy, but seriously. How much of a chocking hazard are board game pieces? Craig thinks Owen will not try to access them. I think Craig is from another planet.

I am looking forward to staying home tonight and setting up the cube-ee thing we bought at Target for our kitchen. (Ha! I write that as if we might actually usually "go out" and do something fun. What I meant by "stay in" is "not run errands".) I feel that it will help get the kitchen organized (ha) and baby-proofed (ha ha). At least we will be utilizing something we bought, which will also make Craig happy.

today

Dishes are piled up, waiting to be loaded into the not-yet-emptied dishwasher. Lunch fixings are scattered all over the house, both from me prepping actual food for Owen (vs. easy-lazy-mommy jar food) and then from me subsequently trying to snag questionably nutritious tidbits from the fridge while keeping Owen away from Lucy and Junie simultaneously. But why am I so happy? Because Owen is still sleeping- we are looking at an hour and a half nap, and counting!!!!