William has basically been weaning himself, and now I need to decide whether or not I'm going to drag it out, or make it official. He really only nurses when he wakes up in the middle of the night now. Last week, when I tried to nurse him other times, he just wasn't interested. And the few times that he did nurse, he only stayed interested for a few minutes.
The reason I'm reluctant to let it go entirely is because: a)formula is expensive, and for now, I'm pumping two bottles a day, and making 2formula bottles, and he nurses in the night/morning; and 2) I don't want to have to spend time warming a formula bottle and dealing with a bib in the middle of the night. I was hoping that he would stop waking up in the night, and then the decision to stop nursing would basically be made for me. But the reason that I want to stop nursing is because I hate pumping, it's so hard to keep it up on the weekends, and I feel like I'm making less and less milk. The long Thanksgiving break was tough, and my supply has definitely dropped. So we'll see if pumping regularly four times a day will get my supply back up. But if it doesn't, I just need to make the decision and be done
with it, either way.
Maybe this will help me be more proactive about getting William to sleep through the night. This week, I'm trying to nurse him for shorter periods of time, and put him back in his crib awake. It worked pretty well last night. Although it's hard for me not to doze off. I don't know if it helps any or not, but look at how well he goes down for the night now. Tonight he fussed a little bit, and I put hispaci back in his mouth and he went to sleep. Last night, he didn't fuss at all. It's definite progress, even if it has been slow.
Okay--off to try to do some on-line Christmas shopping. They're blocking a ton of
Web sites at work, which is really hampering my ability to get my shopping done! I'm going to end up having nothing to do at work but work. :-)
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Disjointed thoughts
There are several things I could talk about tonight, none of which have a common theme. So I'll just go for broke.
First of all, William had a good day at daycare. His teacher said he was showing off his new sitting skills. I swear, yesterday he wasn't sitting up for very long without falling over, and today, he's sitting like a champ! He's also starting to try to pull himself up on things, like me, and the bathtub.
Speaking of the bathtub, tonight he planted his face in the water and it totally freaked him out. He cried really hard. I felt so bad. It was kind of funny though. After his bath, I got him in his PJs and gave him his bottle, but he didn't drink very much before he got really restless and started twisting all around in my lap and kept pushing away from me and fussing. So I took off his bib, put him in his crib, gave him his paci, and he went right to sleep. Go figure. I guess what he was trying to tell me was, "Please put me to bed already!"
Well, whatever other thoughts were in my head are now gone. I tried to get pictures of William and Baba this morning, but the camera battery was too weak to use the flash, so all the pictures came out blurry. I'll have to get some at Christmas I guess. Okay--I'm off to bed now. William is developing a cough, poor thing. I hope it doesn't get really bad. A lot of my on-line friends have sick babies right now, with bronchitis, pneumonia, strep throat. Maybe all those germs he caught in the summer when he started daycare have helped him build up immunity to worse germs. Let's hope!
First of all, William had a good day at daycare. His teacher said he was showing off his new sitting skills. I swear, yesterday he wasn't sitting up for very long without falling over, and today, he's sitting like a champ! He's also starting to try to pull himself up on things, like me, and the bathtub.
Speaking of the bathtub, tonight he planted his face in the water and it totally freaked him out. He cried really hard. I felt so bad. It was kind of funny though. After his bath, I got him in his PJs and gave him his bottle, but he didn't drink very much before he got really restless and started twisting all around in my lap and kept pushing away from me and fussing. So I took off his bib, put him in his crib, gave him his paci, and he went right to sleep. Go figure. I guess what he was trying to tell me was, "Please put me to bed already!"
Well, whatever other thoughts were in my head are now gone. I tried to get pictures of William and Baba this morning, but the camera battery was too weak to use the flash, so all the pictures came out blurry. I'll have to get some at Christmas I guess. Okay--I'm off to bed now. William is developing a cough, poor thing. I hope it doesn't get really bad. A lot of my on-line friends have sick babies right now, with bronchitis, pneumonia, strep throat. Maybe all those germs he caught in the summer when he started daycare have helped him build up immunity to worse germs. Let's hope!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Vacation's over
Well, our vacation is over, and it's back to our regular routine tomorrow. Thank goodness! I think mom had a nice visit and enjoyed getting to know William. I'm sure William will miss his Baba. Unfortunately, though, William caught a cold and he's teething at the same time, so he's been slightly more demanding and clingy than usual. Poor guy! He also seems to be getting a bit of separation anxiety, because he's been crying whenever I leave the room. I hope he's not a bear at daycare tomorrow. I don't want them calling me to come pick him up. I'm almost looking forward to getting back to work so I can have a little break!
I've loved spending this time with William, though, and it made me realize that if I stayed home with him, I think we'd have a routine established and I would do okay with him. I'm very reluctant to let him fuss and cry when I'm with him, but spending several days in a row with him, and needing to get things done, made me a lot more willing to let him cry a little. It's probably better for both of us anyway. I don't know why I have such a hard time emotionally when I hear him crying. I hate the thought of him feeling sad or anxious or of him physically hurting. I'm supposed to respond to him crying--that's what I'm here for. He's still so little, and that's how he communicates. He's not going to end up totally spoiled as he gets older. I mean, I'm not going to give him everything he wants, and I'm not going to give in when he throws tantrums or not punish him when he misbehaves. For now, though, I'm just following my instincts, and they're telling me to respond when he cries.
As for this weekend and what I accomplished on my list, the short answer is, not very much! William was not very cooperative. But I did get a few things done. I cleaned out the cabinet under the sink and the cabinet with William's food. I also wiped down the kitchen cabinets and back splash, and the refrigerator door. I put away my maternity clothes and got all the laundry done. I dropped off a bunch of clothes at the dry cleaners, we got the outlets covered, and got one gate (which I don't really like, so we'll probably take it back). We also got straps to attach a few pieces of furniture to the wall. And best of all, I called around to different cleaning services and set up an initial cleaning for two weeks from now. That's the best news of all! So instead of all the cleaning I wanted to do, I'll just wait and have the cleaning people do it. Yay!
Okay, gotta go. I'm going to try to get a picture of William and Baba tomorrow morning before we take Baba to the airport, since I'm a knucklehead and didn't take out the camera at all this weekend. I'll post them tomorrow!
I've loved spending this time with William, though, and it made me realize that if I stayed home with him, I think we'd have a routine established and I would do okay with him. I'm very reluctant to let him fuss and cry when I'm with him, but spending several days in a row with him, and needing to get things done, made me a lot more willing to let him cry a little. It's probably better for both of us anyway. I don't know why I have such a hard time emotionally when I hear him crying. I hate the thought of him feeling sad or anxious or of him physically hurting. I'm supposed to respond to him crying--that's what I'm here for. He's still so little, and that's how he communicates. He's not going to end up totally spoiled as he gets older. I mean, I'm not going to give him everything he wants, and I'm not going to give in when he throws tantrums or not punish him when he misbehaves. For now, though, I'm just following my instincts, and they're telling me to respond when he cries.
As for this weekend and what I accomplished on my list, the short answer is, not very much! William was not very cooperative. But I did get a few things done. I cleaned out the cabinet under the sink and the cabinet with William's food. I also wiped down the kitchen cabinets and back splash, and the refrigerator door. I put away my maternity clothes and got all the laundry done. I dropped off a bunch of clothes at the dry cleaners, we got the outlets covered, and got one gate (which I don't really like, so we'll probably take it back). We also got straps to attach a few pieces of furniture to the wall. And best of all, I called around to different cleaning services and set up an initial cleaning for two weeks from now. That's the best news of all! So instead of all the cleaning I wanted to do, I'll just wait and have the cleaning people do it. Yay!
Okay, gotta go. I'm going to try to get a picture of William and Baba tomorrow morning before we take Baba to the airport, since I'm a knucklehead and didn't take out the camera at all this weekend. I'll post them tomorrow!
Friday, November 24, 2006
Gobble gobble gone
Wow--Thanksgiving has come and gone. That was fast! We had a nice holiday. Ed's parents hosted and there were 18 people total and William was sooo good. He only took 2 30-minute naps yesterday, but he was still really good. We slept at his parents, and that was the first time William has slept away from home. He didn't do so well sleeping--he was up most of the night I would say. At 4:00 a.m., I was so tired so I tried bringing him in bed with me and he went to sleep! That's the first time he's done that. He usually cries. He was still pretty restless, so I didn't really sleep, but it was sweet to have him there.
I think he was up so much, though, because he's getting a cold. His nose was runny and he was congested today. Poor guy! I hope we're not in for a rough weekend.
Mom's visit is going well, too. So far, I've only accomplished one thing on my list. I cleaned out the cabinet with William's formula/baby food and made some more room. Still not enough room, but it's a start. I need to make a plan for tomorrow, but I'm too tired. I forgot my camera so I didn't get pictures of William's first Thanksgiving. Oh well. I remembered almost everything else! We were only away for one night and I was so stressed packing everything and trying to remember everything. Our trip to Florida over Christmas is going to be rough!
Okay, I'm off to pump and then to bed.
I think he was up so much, though, because he's getting a cold. His nose was runny and he was congested today. Poor guy! I hope we're not in for a rough weekend.
Mom's visit is going well, too. So far, I've only accomplished one thing on my list. I cleaned out the cabinet with William's formula/baby food and made some more room. Still not enough room, but it's a start. I need to make a plan for tomorrow, but I'm too tired. I forgot my camera so I didn't get pictures of William's first Thanksgiving. Oh well. I remembered almost everything else! We were only away for one night and I was so stressed packing everything and trying to remember everything. Our trip to Florida over Christmas is going to be rough!
Okay, I'm off to pump and then to bed.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Getting organized
My mom is coming to visit for a week, starting Wednesday night, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her and to her seeing William. She hasn't seen him since he was a newborn. She is just going to fall in love! I'm also looking forward to her visit because I'm hoping it will give me a chance to do the hundred million little things around the house that I never seem to find the energy or the time to do. Such as:
Here are some cute pictures for you. William and I went to the mall on Saturday and met Ed's mom and grandparents there. Santa Claus was there, and since there wasn't a line and William was in a good mood, we had his picture taken. He did great! I won't post it until after Thanksgiving, though. Something to look forward to, right? Anyway, here are the pictures:
I'm off to pump!
- Clean clean clean! I need to dust, clean baseboards, mop floors, do some serious vacuuming. Now that William is mobile, I can't get away with cleaning the floors once every 2 months. Gross!
- Sort the pots/pan cabinet, the tupperware cabinet, the cabinet with the formula and babyfood, and basically reorganize the kitchen. I need to get all the cleaners out from under the sink. (What the heck we're going to do with them is another issue.)
- Sort/organize the linen closet.
- Put away maternity clothes that have been sitting in a pile on the chair in our room since I stopped wearing them a month after William was born. (Okay--two months. What do you want?)
- Organize and put away William's clothes that are too small. Also organize the clothes from Ed's sister and from Mary.
- Order a gazillion pictures from Kodak Gallery (or go to Ritz Camera)
- Get some recipes together for make-ahead meals and crock pot meals. That also includes getting the grocery lists together.
- Baby proof the house (buy outlet covers, cabinet locks, and 3 gates)
- Figure out what we're getting everyone for Christmas.
- Figure out holiday cards.
- Weatherproof William's window
- Get the van cleaned
Here are some cute pictures for you. William and I went to the mall on Saturday and met Ed's mom and grandparents there. Santa Claus was there, and since there wasn't a line and William was in a good mood, we had his picture taken. He did great! I won't post it until after Thanksgiving, though. Something to look forward to, right? Anyway, here are the pictures:
I'm off to pump!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Laundry
So I finally figured out why people with kids have so much laundry to do. It's not because of the additional volume of kids' laundry. I mean really--a week's worth of William's dirty clothes, bibs, wash cloths, and his crib sheet barely equal one load. The real volume comes from my clothes. Everything I wear has to be washed now after one use because it either gets covered in spit-up, forumla, pee, breastmilk, rice cereal, or baby food! I used to be able to wear a pair of pants or a sweater 3 or 4 times before I had to wash it. And I only had a few things that went to the drycleaners, every once in a while. My drycleaning pile is HUGE, and my laundry basket overflows before the week is halfway over! It's a good thing I don't mind doing the laundry. It's just a matter of finding the time to do it.
William's daycare lowered his crib today. Man--things are changing soooo fast. I spent a lot of time today on-line looking at safety-related paraphanalia. This could really cost us! Our house is sooo not configured for a baby. Tonight my plan is to count the outlets that we need to cover. And to figure out how many gates we need. And how many pieces of furniture we need to secure to the wall! Aghhhhh!
Here is a picture of William eating sweet potatoes. Last night and tonight, he really started getting into eating. They're feeding him rice cereal in the mornings at daycare now, too. I was hoping he would take longer naps, but that's not the case. He's still taking 3 40-minute naps a day. And the past two nights haven't been too great either. He's gotten up 3 times. I've been nursing him every time he wakes up, but I think tonight, if he wakes up before 2:00, I'll try to get him back to sleep without nursing. I'm a little worried about my milk supply right now, which is why I've been inclined to nurse him, but I think I like sleep as much as I like nursing, if not more!
Okay--Ed's making dinner and William is asleep, so life is good right now! I'll try to post more pictures later.
William's daycare lowered his crib today. Man--things are changing soooo fast. I spent a lot of time today on-line looking at safety-related paraphanalia. This could really cost us! Our house is sooo not configured for a baby. Tonight my plan is to count the outlets that we need to cover. And to figure out how many gates we need. And how many pieces of furniture we need to secure to the wall! Aghhhhh!
Here is a picture of William eating sweet potatoes. Last night and tonight, he really started getting into eating. They're feeding him rice cereal in the mornings at daycare now, too. I was hoping he would take longer naps, but that's not the case. He's still taking 3 40-minute naps a day. And the past two nights haven't been too great either. He's gotten up 3 times. I've been nursing him every time he wakes up, but I think tonight, if he wakes up before 2:00, I'll try to get him back to sleep without nursing. I'm a little worried about my milk supply right now, which is why I've been inclined to nurse him, but I think I like sleep as much as I like nursing, if not more!
Okay--Ed's making dinner and William is asleep, so life is good right now! I'll try to post more pictures later.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
William's on the move
William has started dragging himself across the floor now. It's so cute!!! I can't believe he's already mobile. We have some serious babyproofing to do this weekend. I don't even know where to begin!
Yesterday I went to the store to get him some rice cereal (daycare is starting to give him cereal in the morning. He's still not very into it, though), and I went ahead and bought a sippy cup, and Cheerios, and Zwieback toast. The doctor said he might be more into table foods than baby food. I've tried pears and bananas and ice in the mesh feeder. So far he liked the ice the best. Not too crazy about the pear or banana. Maybe it's just the mesh feeder he doesn't like. He eats better when he sees me eat, though.
Wow--I can't believe I'm talking about real food and crawling. These milestones are coming so quickly now!
I need to go--I'm at work. There's a lot to do now since the Senate is changing hands!
Yesterday I went to the store to get him some rice cereal (daycare is starting to give him cereal in the morning. He's still not very into it, though), and I went ahead and bought a sippy cup, and Cheerios, and Zwieback toast. The doctor said he might be more into table foods than baby food. I've tried pears and bananas and ice in the mesh feeder. So far he liked the ice the best. Not too crazy about the pear or banana. Maybe it's just the mesh feeder he doesn't like. He eats better when he sees me eat, though.
Wow--I can't believe I'm talking about real food and crawling. These milestones are coming so quickly now!
I need to go--I'm at work. There's a lot to do now since the Senate is changing hands!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Six months today!
I can't believe William is six months old today. I know it's a cliche but time really flies. He had four immunization shots today, but he did really well. He cried for a minute, and wasn't very happy even when they were over, but by the time we got to daycare, he was happy again. Poor guy! The shots get harder and harder at every doctor's appointment. For me anyway.
He weighs 14 lbs., 11 oz., and is 26.5 inches long. He's still a peanut, but now he's more like a string bean. He jumped the curve in the height chart. I don't know the percentiles, but I know he's small. But he's chugging along and everything developmentally looks great. I need to pay attention to a few milestones, like object permanence (when he drops something, does he look for it?), and passing an object from one hand to another. I think he's getting object permanence, because he gets peek-a-boo now. I'm not so sure about passing objects, though. He doesn't have great dexterity yet.
On Saturday night, he slept from 7:30 until 5:30 in the morning. Ten straight hours!!!!!!! How exciting is that. I'm so happy that he's making progress in sleeping and I haven't had to let him cry it out yet. His doctor said now that he's getting object permanence, it's important to get him to fall asleep on his own at bedtime. We've been working on that, and he's doing pretty well. For the past few nights, I've been making him fall asleep in his crib. I'll stand there and lay my hand on him and give him his pacifier and that's working. He's also starting to put his pacifier back into his mouth by himself, so maybe he'll end up being a pacifier baby after all. Who knows.
Wow--six months since I've become a mom. A lot has changed in six months. Wonder where we'll be six months from now? Hopefully searching for a new house. Hopefully getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Hopefully not pumping anymore. Hopefully leaving William at the in-laws overnight every once in a great while so Ed and I can get some us time again. Hopefully listening to William's first words, watching him crawl or take his first steps, reveling in his smile, his laugh, and his love. He is such a delight, and at the same time, the weight of responsibility for this amazing human being is so overwhelming sometimes. I hope we're doing things right!
Okay--gotta go pump.
He weighs 14 lbs., 11 oz., and is 26.5 inches long. He's still a peanut, but now he's more like a string bean. He jumped the curve in the height chart. I don't know the percentiles, but I know he's small. But he's chugging along and everything developmentally looks great. I need to pay attention to a few milestones, like object permanence (when he drops something, does he look for it?), and passing an object from one hand to another. I think he's getting object permanence, because he gets peek-a-boo now. I'm not so sure about passing objects, though. He doesn't have great dexterity yet.
On Saturday night, he slept from 7:30 until 5:30 in the morning. Ten straight hours!!!!!!! How exciting is that. I'm so happy that he's making progress in sleeping and I haven't had to let him cry it out yet. His doctor said now that he's getting object permanence, it's important to get him to fall asleep on his own at bedtime. We've been working on that, and he's doing pretty well. For the past few nights, I've been making him fall asleep in his crib. I'll stand there and lay my hand on him and give him his pacifier and that's working. He's also starting to put his pacifier back into his mouth by himself, so maybe he'll end up being a pacifier baby after all. Who knows.
Wow--six months since I've become a mom. A lot has changed in six months. Wonder where we'll be six months from now? Hopefully searching for a new house. Hopefully getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Hopefully not pumping anymore. Hopefully leaving William at the in-laws overnight every once in a great while so Ed and I can get some us time again. Hopefully listening to William's first words, watching him crawl or take his first steps, reveling in his smile, his laugh, and his love. He is such a delight, and at the same time, the weight of responsibility for this amazing human being is so overwhelming sometimes. I hope we're doing things right!
Okay--gotta go pump.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Different rules for Mommy
It amazes me that William can be a totally different baby when I leave him with Ed. Today I went to a baby shower, so Ed stayed home with William. I thought for sure he would have a really hard time getting William down for a nap. But wouldn't you know, Ed said he just laid William down in his crib (AWAKE!!!) and William went right to sleep, and slept for an hour and a 40 minutes. Unbelievable. William never does that for me. Yesterday morning, he slept for an hour and 15 minutes and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Geeze! When I put him down in his crib awake, he plays, talks, squeals, and then starts crying until I go in there and either nurse him or rock him. Yesterday, I swaddled him, gave him his pacifier, and then kept my hand on him and rocked him back and forth a little until he fell asleep, and I thought that was pretty good.
Maybe it's a trend, though, because tonight, I put William in his crib awake after he finished his bottle, and he talked and rolled around for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. It's nice being able to put him down and walk away. Last night, he woke up at midnight, I nursed him, and then woke up again at 5:30, and then up for the day at 6:45. So not too bad. He has been sleeping until around 3 a.m. or 3:30 kind of consistently, so that's been nice. His sleep is DEFINITELY improving, so I'm thankful for that.
Here are some pictures. We met up with two other moms yesterday at Panera (a sandwich restaurant), and I brought the portable high chair seat. He did great! Of course, he kept dropping his toys because he thought it was fun to watch mommy keep picking them up. And he got lots of attention from the other restaurant patrons. He was quite the ham!
And here's another jumperoo shot:
Maybe it's a trend, though, because tonight, I put William in his crib awake after he finished his bottle, and he talked and rolled around for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. It's nice being able to put him down and walk away. Last night, he woke up at midnight, I nursed him, and then woke up again at 5:30, and then up for the day at 6:45. So not too bad. He has been sleeping until around 3 a.m. or 3:30 kind of consistently, so that's been nice. His sleep is DEFINITELY improving, so I'm thankful for that.
Here are some pictures. We met up with two other moms yesterday at Panera (a sandwich restaurant), and I brought the portable high chair seat. He did great! Of course, he kept dropping his toys because he thought it was fun to watch mommy keep picking them up. And he got lots of attention from the other restaurant patrons. He was quite the ham!
And here's another jumperoo shot:
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Squandered opportunities
Well, it's 9:20 and William is asleep and Ed went to see a movie with some of his friends, and what am I doing? Instead of being fast asleep, I'm surfing the Internet and cutting recipes out of magazines and watching T.V. And I almost forgot that I still need to pump before I got to sleep! Why can't I seem to go to sleep before 10:00 every night? I could be getting 6 hours of sleep!!!!!
Tomorrow is a holiday and William and I are meeting up with some friends for an early lunch. We're going to Panera, so I'm thinking of taking the portable high chair with me. He's not sitting up well enough for the restaurant high chairs, and he won't just hang out in the car seat anymore, and just holding him on my lap is problematic because he grabs at everything and squirms too much. So I think I'll bring the high chair and the mesh feeder with some pears or banana and maybe he'll enjoy it.
Okay--boring post, but I'm going to pump and then to bed. One of these days, I'll post about my dilemma over breastfeeding. Should I continue to nurse and pump, or wean him, and be free of the pump forever? I know I would miss nursing him, even though he hardly does it anymore. But I absolutely positively would not miss the pump one single bit!!!
Tomorrow is a holiday and William and I are meeting up with some friends for an early lunch. We're going to Panera, so I'm thinking of taking the portable high chair with me. He's not sitting up well enough for the restaurant high chairs, and he won't just hang out in the car seat anymore, and just holding him on my lap is problematic because he grabs at everything and squirms too much. So I think I'll bring the high chair and the mesh feeder with some pears or banana and maybe he'll enjoy it.
Okay--boring post, but I'm going to pump and then to bed. One of these days, I'll post about my dilemma over breastfeeding. Should I continue to nurse and pump, or wean him, and be free of the pump forever? I know I would miss nursing him, even though he hardly does it anymore. But I absolutely positively would not miss the pump one single bit!!!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Election Day
Today is election day, which always makes me think about my dad. He was so into politics, and loved to track the elections and make predictions and play out the various scenarios. He would fill pages of yellow legal pads with state-by-state lists of candidates and predicted outcomes. He lived for this stuff. It's so sad that he died before the Internet came about. He would have been thrilled with all of the interactive political maps and the political blogs and the instant access to election returns.
I can't believe it's been 15 years since he died. I often wonder if my life would be different had he lived. If so, how? Maybe it wouldn't be different at all. But I'm sad that he didn't know me as an adult. He would LOVE my job and where I work. He loved DC and considered moving here at one time to work for Congress. I know he would have loved to visit me, and I would have loved introducing him to my boss, walking around the Capitol with him, sitting in the Senate gallery watching Senators vote and debate.
And how would dad and Ed get along? I think they'd get along great. Ed is a lot like my dad in many ways. He enjoys home improvement projects (although I think Ed is a lot better at home improvement than my dad was!), and he's introspective, like dad was. They both love jazz, and dad would have loved it that Ed plays the clarinet in a jazz band. I wonder what they would have talked about? Ed doesn't like sports or politics, which were two of dads favorite subjects. So maybe they wouldn't have a lot to talk about. Who knows.
I think dad would have been a great grandfather, too. I'm sad that William will never get to know him. I never knew my grandfather, either (dad's dad), and I like hearing my older cousins talk about him. But William won't even have that, because my nieces never got to know dad, either. He would have been silly and goofy and fun, no doubt.
Okay--enough being sad. I'm lucky that I had him for as long as I did, and that he was a really good dad. Not perfect, mind you--but really really good. I am so lucky that I had parents who never divorced, that I felt secure and loved growing up, that I never went hungry and was never abused, that I lived in a place where I could ride my bike to school and play with all my friends outside, that I always got lots of Christmas presents and an Easter basket every year. I'm so lucky in so many ways. I will count my blessings tonight. And I'll hope that the Democrats take back the House and Senate! :-)
I can't believe it's been 15 years since he died. I often wonder if my life would be different had he lived. If so, how? Maybe it wouldn't be different at all. But I'm sad that he didn't know me as an adult. He would LOVE my job and where I work. He loved DC and considered moving here at one time to work for Congress. I know he would have loved to visit me, and I would have loved introducing him to my boss, walking around the Capitol with him, sitting in the Senate gallery watching Senators vote and debate.
And how would dad and Ed get along? I think they'd get along great. Ed is a lot like my dad in many ways. He enjoys home improvement projects (although I think Ed is a lot better at home improvement than my dad was!), and he's introspective, like dad was. They both love jazz, and dad would have loved it that Ed plays the clarinet in a jazz band. I wonder what they would have talked about? Ed doesn't like sports or politics, which were two of dads favorite subjects. So maybe they wouldn't have a lot to talk about. Who knows.
I think dad would have been a great grandfather, too. I'm sad that William will never get to know him. I never knew my grandfather, either (dad's dad), and I like hearing my older cousins talk about him. But William won't even have that, because my nieces never got to know dad, either. He would have been silly and goofy and fun, no doubt.
Okay--enough being sad. I'm lucky that I had him for as long as I did, and that he was a really good dad. Not perfect, mind you--but really really good. I am so lucky that I had parents who never divorced, that I felt secure and loved growing up, that I never went hungry and was never abused, that I lived in a place where I could ride my bike to school and play with all my friends outside, that I always got lots of Christmas presents and an Easter basket every year. I'm so lucky in so many ways. I will count my blessings tonight. And I'll hope that the Democrats take back the House and Senate! :-)
Monday, November 06, 2006
70 New mom truths
Okay--this is kind of cheating because I got this off the babycenter.com message board, but most of them are sooooo true! The ones I really relate to are in blue:
1. you will hear all sorts of delivery and nursing nightmare stories once you start sharing you own.
2. you will want to burn your maternity clothes-even if you plan on having more kids.
3. you will able to shower, wash and dry your hair and get dressed in less than 10 minutes.
4. you will want to apologize to friends and family who had kids before you for never really getting why they had less time for you.
5. you will dream about what you would swap for a good 8 hours of sleep
6. you will be so proud of every ounce your baby gains.
7. you will wonder whether it's possible to get all the jam out of you baby's skin folds.
8. you will laugh at your OB when she asks what you plan on using for birth control at your 6 week checkup.
9. you won't stop worrying that you'll make your LO bleed when you clip his fingernails.
10. you will wish you had the time and brain cells to read just on of the novels you blew through when pregnancy heartburn kept you up all night.
11. you will want to throw the baby monitor out the window.
12. you won't have the time to iron the crib skirt after you first wash it and the wrinkles will drive you crazy, but not crazy enough to dismantle the crib and iron it.
13. you will wonder how other moms manage to be so skinny, put-together, or energetic.
14. you will think you seem pretty together compared with other new moms you see.
15. you will dread encountering baby-crazed preschoolers with runny noses and coughs.
16. you will never touch an infant that isn't yours on the hands or face.
17. you will forget all about your difficult day with your baby when you finally see her sleeping peacefully at night.
18. you will have some mornings when you bounce out of bed to get the baby...and others when you need a truck to pull you from under the covers.
19. You will thank the Lord for caffeine.
20. you will get used to how your husband comes home from work, checks on the baby, and "accidentally" wakes him up.
21. you will pretend you don't smell your child's dirty diaper as you hand her to Dad.
22. you will over bundle your LO for winter outings. 23. you will call out to your hubby as he's taking the baby for a walk, "you have your cell phone, right?"
24. you will get sick of hearing yourself say, "I didn't get to it yet."
25. you will feel bare when you walk outside alone.
26. you will wonder if you could possibly love another child as much as you love this one.
27. you will put your sweet pea in the ugliest outfit he's got, take an obligatory photo, and send it to the distant relative who purchased the fashion disaster.
28. you will rejoice when the baby's bald spot finally fills in. now if there were something to do about her mullet.
29. you will call your new-mom friend to say that your baby has a runny nose and has sneezed twice, and that if she wants to reschedule your play date, you'll understand.
30. you will come up with a soothing mantra-for yourself-for when you take your child's rectal temperature.
31. you will get peed, puked, or pooped on when you have nothing handy to change into.
32. you will pack everything your baby could possibly need for a weekend and forget your own eyeglasses and toothbrush.
33. you will need to leave the house and have your husband stay home if and when you let the baby cry it out for the first time.
34. you will detest traffic-it means you're either late getting back home to your child or stuck in the car even longer with a fusspot.
35. you will slide a picture of your bambino on top of the wedding photo in your wallet.
36. you will get takeout (again) just so you can take your baby to the park and hear her coo and giggle on the swings.
37. you will crack up when you see your kid get down to music for the first time.
38. you will chat intimately with complete strangers on the grocery checkout line just because they are pregnant or have a small child.
39. you will e-mail friends and family pictures of the baby, always noting that if they want to stop receiving the updates you'll totally understand.
40. you will confess to your hubby whenever you do something no-so-smart with the baby, to ensure he doesn't make the same mistake.
41. you will find yourself saying, " I only have one child so far" as if you're apologizing for not having a brood hidden underneath your petticoat.
42. you will eagerly devour your first really spicy post-pregnancy, post-nursing meal.
43. you will catch your husband being moved to tears by the baby.
44. you will feel so lucky to have a child when you catch up with a friend who's been struggling to get pregnant.
45. you will hear about criminals on the news and wonder what their moms are doing.
46. you will wake up feeling sick one morning but will muster the strength to get through the day with your baby because you have to.
47. you will take waaay longer to go on your first post baby getaway than you'd imagined.
48. you will be excited when you tot grows out of one size and into the next.
49. you will be glad to put away what he's grown out of.
50. you will actually be in the mood for love one night, only to find that you husband's passed out cold in bed.
51. you will not be in the mood for love as he runs his foot along your unshaved legs and touches your greasy hair.
52. you will be grateful for k-y jelly
53. you will consider your husband's work commute his alone time, and be jealous of it.
54. you will be taken by surprise by your first postpartum period.
55. you will struggle to stay close to some of your childless friends.
56. you will wonder how your stay-at-home-mom friends do it.
57. you will wonder how your working-mom friends do it.
58. you will make peace with your stretch marks because they give you character.
59. you will accept that your husband will never be as paranoid about the baby as you are, and will decide it's a good thing.
60. you will eventually find a playgroup whose kids are on the same schedule as yours.
61. you will hear yourself tell brand-new moms that the first 12 weeks really do fly by, even though it upset you when people told you that.
62. you will live for your girls' night out, once you get a couple under your belt and see that everything at home went just fine without you.
63. you will find cheerios in odd places.
64. you won't care that she's getting food in her hair when she does"so big" in her high chair.
65. you will cherish the freedom to empty the dishwasher while your baby holds his morning bottle himself.
66. you will miss the smell of Dreft once you get the green light to wash infant clothes with yours.
67. you will try not to take it personally when your sweeties first word is "da-da". it must be easier to pronounce.
68. you will write more heartfelt thank you notes to anyone who gives a toy without lights, batteries, or noise.
69. you will be relieved when your child turns 1--you didn't break him.
70. you will marvel at the volumes of unconditional love you have for your most wonderful achievement--your baby.
I picked up William from daycare early today because they called and said he was crying a lot and was tugging on his ears and was having a hard time with his bottle. So I took him to the doctor, but he's fine. No ear infection, thank goodness. He's either teething, or just had a tough Monday. Hopefully he'll do better tomorrow. It's election day and we're going to be super busy at work. No time for a sick baby! I hope he does well tonight. He didn't fall asleep on his own tonight--I had to rock him for a few minutes. But that's okay--I'm definitely at the point now where I'm enjoying holding him and rocking him and nursing him because I know it won't last forever and all too soon, he won't want me to do any of those things. So while I want him to learn to go to sleep on his own, I'm not too upset if it takes a while.
1. you will hear all sorts of delivery and nursing nightmare stories once you start sharing you own.
2. you will want to burn your maternity clothes-even if you plan on having more kids.
3. you will able to shower, wash and dry your hair and get dressed in less than 10 minutes.
4. you will want to apologize to friends and family who had kids before you for never really getting why they had less time for you.
5. you will dream about what you would swap for a good 8 hours of sleep
6. you will be so proud of every ounce your baby gains.
7. you will wonder whether it's possible to get all the jam out of you baby's skin folds.
8. you will laugh at your OB when she asks what you plan on using for birth control at your 6 week checkup.
9. you won't stop worrying that you'll make your LO bleed when you clip his fingernails.
10. you will wish you had the time and brain cells to read just on of the novels you blew through when pregnancy heartburn kept you up all night.
11. you will want to throw the baby monitor out the window.
12. you won't have the time to iron the crib skirt after you first wash it and the wrinkles will drive you crazy, but not crazy enough to dismantle the crib and iron it.
13. you will wonder how other moms manage to be so skinny, put-together, or energetic.
14. you will think you seem pretty together compared with other new moms you see.
15. you will dread encountering baby-crazed preschoolers with runny noses and coughs.
16. you will never touch an infant that isn't yours on the hands or face.
17. you will forget all about your difficult day with your baby when you finally see her sleeping peacefully at night.
18. you will have some mornings when you bounce out of bed to get the baby...and others when you need a truck to pull you from under the covers.
19. You will thank the Lord for caffeine.
20. you will get used to how your husband comes home from work, checks on the baby, and "accidentally" wakes him up.
21. you will pretend you don't smell your child's dirty diaper as you hand her to Dad.
22. you will over bundle your LO for winter outings. 23. you will call out to your hubby as he's taking the baby for a walk, "you have your cell phone, right?"
24. you will get sick of hearing yourself say, "I didn't get to it yet."
25. you will feel bare when you walk outside alone.
26. you will wonder if you could possibly love another child as much as you love this one.
27. you will put your sweet pea in the ugliest outfit he's got, take an obligatory photo, and send it to the distant relative who purchased the fashion disaster.
28. you will rejoice when the baby's bald spot finally fills in. now if there were something to do about her mullet.
29. you will call your new-mom friend to say that your baby has a runny nose and has sneezed twice, and that if she wants to reschedule your play date, you'll understand.
30. you will come up with a soothing mantra-for yourself-for when you take your child's rectal temperature.
31. you will get peed, puked, or pooped on when you have nothing handy to change into.
32. you will pack everything your baby could possibly need for a weekend and forget your own eyeglasses and toothbrush.
33. you will need to leave the house and have your husband stay home if and when you let the baby cry it out for the first time.
34. you will detest traffic-it means you're either late getting back home to your child or stuck in the car even longer with a fusspot.
35. you will slide a picture of your bambino on top of the wedding photo in your wallet.
36. you will get takeout (again) just so you can take your baby to the park and hear her coo and giggle on the swings.
37. you will crack up when you see your kid get down to music for the first time.
38. you will chat intimately with complete strangers on the grocery checkout line just because they are pregnant or have a small child.
39. you will e-mail friends and family pictures of the baby, always noting that if they want to stop receiving the updates you'll totally understand.
40. you will confess to your hubby whenever you do something no-so-smart with the baby, to ensure he doesn't make the same mistake.
41. you will find yourself saying, " I only have one child so far" as if you're apologizing for not having a brood hidden underneath your petticoat.
42. you will eagerly devour your first really spicy post-pregnancy, post-nursing meal.
43. you will catch your husband being moved to tears by the baby.
44. you will feel so lucky to have a child when you catch up with a friend who's been struggling to get pregnant.
45. you will hear about criminals on the news and wonder what their moms are doing.
46. you will wake up feeling sick one morning but will muster the strength to get through the day with your baby because you have to.
47. you will take waaay longer to go on your first post baby getaway than you'd imagined.
48. you will be excited when you tot grows out of one size and into the next.
49. you will be glad to put away what he's grown out of.
50. you will actually be in the mood for love one night, only to find that you husband's passed out cold in bed.
51. you will not be in the mood for love as he runs his foot along your unshaved legs and touches your greasy hair.
52. you will be grateful for k-y jelly
53. you will consider your husband's work commute his alone time, and be jealous of it.
54. you will be taken by surprise by your first postpartum period.
55. you will struggle to stay close to some of your childless friends.
56. you will wonder how your stay-at-home-mom friends do it.
57. you will wonder how your working-mom friends do it.
58. you will make peace with your stretch marks because they give you character.
59. you will accept that your husband will never be as paranoid about the baby as you are, and will decide it's a good thing.
60. you will eventually find a playgroup whose kids are on the same schedule as yours.
61. you will hear yourself tell brand-new moms that the first 12 weeks really do fly by, even though it upset you when people told you that.
62. you will live for your girls' night out, once you get a couple under your belt and see that everything at home went just fine without you.
63. you will find cheerios in odd places.
64. you won't care that she's getting food in her hair when she does"so big" in her high chair.
65. you will cherish the freedom to empty the dishwasher while your baby holds his morning bottle himself.
66. you will miss the smell of Dreft once you get the green light to wash infant clothes with yours.
67. you will try not to take it personally when your sweeties first word is "da-da". it must be easier to pronounce.
68. you will write more heartfelt thank you notes to anyone who gives a toy without lights, batteries, or noise.
69. you will be relieved when your child turns 1--you didn't break him.
70. you will marvel at the volumes of unconditional love you have for your most wonderful achievement--your baby.
I picked up William from daycare early today because they called and said he was crying a lot and was tugging on his ears and was having a hard time with his bottle. So I took him to the doctor, but he's fine. No ear infection, thank goodness. He's either teething, or just had a tough Monday. Hopefully he'll do better tomorrow. It's election day and we're going to be super busy at work. No time for a sick baby! I hope he does well tonight. He didn't fall asleep on his own tonight--I had to rock him for a few minutes. But that's okay--I'm definitely at the point now where I'm enjoying holding him and rocking him and nursing him because I know it won't last forever and all too soon, he won't want me to do any of those things. So while I want him to learn to go to sleep on his own, I'm not too upset if it takes a while.
What will William be like?
In many ways, life is progressively getting easier with William. Of course, that may be because we're just getting used to him and are getting better at handling everything. But our days are mostly predictable (though hardly scheduled!), he's sleeping better at night, I know when he's tired and when he's hungry, he's very portable still (meaning he does well wherever we take him), and he's just so dang happy and cute!
At the same time, though, I think we're going to have a very rambunctious kid on our hands! He's gotten very vocal over the past few days and has started squealing and making these loud grunting noises. It's very amusing. And I realized that the child is never still. He's always moving, always looking around, never content to be in one place for long. He's very energetic! I don't know how we'll keep up.
What made me start thinking about this was that this weekend, William met his two cousins, Zack and Jake, who are 4 and 2. As I watched their parents (Ed's sister and brother-in-law) deftly keep up with the two, along with making me tired, it made me consider what kind of child William will become. Will he be a good student? Class clown? Troublemaker? Underachiever? Overachiever? Leader? Loner?
I know he's stubborn, and he seems very extroverted. Right now he prefers the electronic toys that light up and make noise. What does that mean for the future? Anything? He also loves books--especially the ones with real pictures of babies and animals. He likes music, and has definite likes and dislikes when it comes to specific songs. He certainly doesn't waste time letting you know when he's not happy.
Well, it's late and I need to go to bed. Here are some pictures of William with his cousins. As you can see, it was hard to get them all to sit still for a picture.
And here's one of William with Grandma and Grandpa:
And for the record, tonight William went to sleep by himself! After drinking his bottle, he seemed to get a second wind, so after trying to rock him down, I just put him in his crib and he spent 15 or 20 minutes squealing, grunting, and rolling around and then he fell asleep! We'll see what tonight is like. [Update: It's 6 a.m., and Blogger wouldn't post this last night, so I'm posting this morning. William did pretty well last night. Went down about 7:45, woke up at 12:45, and then woke up at 5:30. I just put him back down, so hopefully he'll sleep for another hour.]
At the same time, though, I think we're going to have a very rambunctious kid on our hands! He's gotten very vocal over the past few days and has started squealing and making these loud grunting noises. It's very amusing. And I realized that the child is never still. He's always moving, always looking around, never content to be in one place for long. He's very energetic! I don't know how we'll keep up.
What made me start thinking about this was that this weekend, William met his two cousins, Zack and Jake, who are 4 and 2. As I watched their parents (Ed's sister and brother-in-law) deftly keep up with the two, along with making me tired, it made me consider what kind of child William will become. Will he be a good student? Class clown? Troublemaker? Underachiever? Overachiever? Leader? Loner?
I know he's stubborn, and he seems very extroverted. Right now he prefers the electronic toys that light up and make noise. What does that mean for the future? Anything? He also loves books--especially the ones with real pictures of babies and animals. He likes music, and has definite likes and dislikes when it comes to specific songs. He certainly doesn't waste time letting you know when he's not happy.
Well, it's late and I need to go to bed. Here are some pictures of William with his cousins. As you can see, it was hard to get them all to sit still for a picture.
And here's one of William with Grandma and Grandpa:
And for the record, tonight William went to sleep by himself! After drinking his bottle, he seemed to get a second wind, so after trying to rock him down, I just put him in his crib and he spent 15 or 20 minutes squealing, grunting, and rolling around and then he fell asleep! We'll see what tonight is like. [Update: It's 6 a.m., and Blogger wouldn't post this last night, so I'm posting this morning. William did pretty well last night. Went down about 7:45, woke up at 12:45, and then woke up at 5:30. I just put him back down, so hopefully he'll sleep for another hour.]
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Biting off more than I can chew
I decided to try to be supermommy tonight and it just about did me in. Ed worked late, so I had baby duty all to myself, but Ed and I haven't eaten a real meal in over a week, so I also wanted to try to cook something for dinner. And I've had a butternut squash sitting on the counter for a week and I've been wanting to make some babyfood for William. SOOOOO . . .
When we got home at 5:30, here's what we did--I changed, we pet Clark, we got the mail, I got some chicken breasts out of the freezer, William played, I got the bottles and pump parts in the sink with soapy water, we played some more, I cleaned the bottles and pump parts and started to cut up the squash in between playing with William and trying to keep him entertained, fed William some rice cereal and sweet potatoes, cleaned him up, cleaned up the high chair, played with William, finished cutting up the squash, played with William (who by this time was getting pretty tired and short-tempered), cooked the squash in the microwave, put the chicken breasts in a ziplock in some warm water, made formula for bedtime bottle and tomorrow's bottle (all of this while holding William), ran William's bath, undressed William, played on the changing table (he's sooooo cute and loves to eat his feet and giggles when I blow zrbrts on his tummy and cheeks), gave him his bath (6:30), dried him off, dressed him in pjs, filled the humidifier, gave him his bottle, burped him, put him in his crib with lights off, tried processing the squash in the pathetic tiny food processor that we had (which was super loud, so I stopped), went back into William's room and picked him up, rocked him to almost asleep and put him down (at 7:10--turns out he was asleep, though, oops!), went back to the kitchen, made lemon mustard glaze for chicken, put butternut sqaush cubes I had saved for me and Ed's dinner in toaster oven, put chicken breasts under broiler, and then Ed came home. It was 7:40 when I finally got dinner in the oven, and we didn't eat until 8:10. Which really isn't bad, but I'm so pooped, and the kitchen is such a mess! And I ended up putting the "pureed" squash in the refrigerator since it didn't really process the way I wanted it to. Maybe tomorrow night I'll run in through the blender. My plan was to freeze it in an ice cube tray to make single servings. Oh well. You can't say I didn't try. From now on, though, when Ed works late, it's cereal for me for dinner!
William is growing and changing by leaps and bounds these days. I swear he's mastering new skills daily. Three days ago, he wasn't sitting up and could hardly stay up propped. Two days ago, I sat him up with a boppy at daycare and he played like that for a good 5 minutes! Now he's working on balancing on his own sitting up. He's manipulating toys with both hands now--and he's grabbing things like blocks with both hands. And he's gotten so playful and funny lately. He's so excited to see me at daycare when I visit him or pick him up. I get great big smiles and kisses. He literally reaches for me, grabs my hair or face, and plants big, wet, slobbery kisses on me. I love it!
Okay--I'm going to go sleep now, before he wakes up. He's been sleeping pretty well lately. Last night he woke up twice, and the night before, only once. I'm breastfeeding when he wakes up if it's been more than 5 hours. But I should probably make more of an effort to get him back to sleep without breastfeeding him. I know he can go at least 8 hours. He's done it before. But now that I'm not nursing him before bed, those night wakings and the mornings are the only time I'm doing it now (except on weekends), so I don't mind it so much in the middle of night. Ahhhh-the paradoxes of motherhood!
When we got home at 5:30, here's what we did--I changed, we pet Clark, we got the mail, I got some chicken breasts out of the freezer, William played, I got the bottles and pump parts in the sink with soapy water, we played some more, I cleaned the bottles and pump parts and started to cut up the squash in between playing with William and trying to keep him entertained, fed William some rice cereal and sweet potatoes, cleaned him up, cleaned up the high chair, played with William, finished cutting up the squash, played with William (who by this time was getting pretty tired and short-tempered), cooked the squash in the microwave, put the chicken breasts in a ziplock in some warm water, made formula for bedtime bottle and tomorrow's bottle (all of this while holding William), ran William's bath, undressed William, played on the changing table (he's sooooo cute and loves to eat his feet and giggles when I blow zrbrts on his tummy and cheeks), gave him his bath (6:30), dried him off, dressed him in pjs, filled the humidifier, gave him his bottle, burped him, put him in his crib with lights off, tried processing the squash in the pathetic tiny food processor that we had (which was super loud, so I stopped), went back into William's room and picked him up, rocked him to almost asleep and put him down (at 7:10--turns out he was asleep, though, oops!), went back to the kitchen, made lemon mustard glaze for chicken, put butternut sqaush cubes I had saved for me and Ed's dinner in toaster oven, put chicken breasts under broiler, and then Ed came home. It was 7:40 when I finally got dinner in the oven, and we didn't eat until 8:10. Which really isn't bad, but I'm so pooped, and the kitchen is such a mess! And I ended up putting the "pureed" squash in the refrigerator since it didn't really process the way I wanted it to. Maybe tomorrow night I'll run in through the blender. My plan was to freeze it in an ice cube tray to make single servings. Oh well. You can't say I didn't try. From now on, though, when Ed works late, it's cereal for me for dinner!
William is growing and changing by leaps and bounds these days. I swear he's mastering new skills daily. Three days ago, he wasn't sitting up and could hardly stay up propped. Two days ago, I sat him up with a boppy at daycare and he played like that for a good 5 minutes! Now he's working on balancing on his own sitting up. He's manipulating toys with both hands now--and he's grabbing things like blocks with both hands. And he's gotten so playful and funny lately. He's so excited to see me at daycare when I visit him or pick him up. I get great big smiles and kisses. He literally reaches for me, grabs my hair or face, and plants big, wet, slobbery kisses on me. I love it!
Okay--I'm going to go sleep now, before he wakes up. He's been sleeping pretty well lately. Last night he woke up twice, and the night before, only once. I'm breastfeeding when he wakes up if it's been more than 5 hours. But I should probably make more of an effort to get him back to sleep without breastfeeding him. I know he can go at least 8 hours. He's done it before. But now that I'm not nursing him before bed, those night wakings and the mornings are the only time I'm doing it now (except on weekends), so I don't mind it so much in the middle of night. Ahhhh-the paradoxes of motherhood!
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