I have written this post in my head so many times since Ant was born, but kept putting it off because I really do enjoy blogging. But the time has come. I am finding that I just can't keep up with blogging anymore - I even wrote a post last week and never got around to actually putting it up. And I'm so far behind on reading y'all's posts, let alone commenting... I'm working effectively 4 days a week now (two in the office, two more 4 hour days at home), and then play dates on my day off means that I can barely find time to check my email anymore. So I think it's time to call it a day, take a hiatus, until (if) things get a bit more manageable.
I really truly want to thank you for all your support through the thicks and the thins, from the bottom of my heart. Each comment of commiseration and support has meant so much to me. And I hope my comments and thoughts have meant something to you. I will keep reading and commenting as much as I can, but hopefully you can cut me a little slack for the moment!
One thing I'm truly curious about is whether I have actually conquered my hypothalamic amenorrhea or not. Still no sign of the Crimson Bitch - not entirely unexpected, as I'm still nursing, but I do keep hoping that she'll show her ugly face. I will definitely update to let you know if / when (please, when!) she returns.
In other news, Ant just got his top two teeth. He's sitting pretty well - although not 100% stable, as both M and I discovered to our chagrin yesterday. Had his 6 month appointment today; 28 inches long (90%), and 17lb 7oz (44%). Still long and skinny! He's a joyous, happy, smiley baby. Being a parent is so much better than I ever imagined. I can't wait for each of you to experience it, whatever path may take you there.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Baby trip
We spent the weekend visiting a good friend of mine from college, who has a son 5 weeks younger than Ant. It was really great to see her again, and to meet B. What a difference in personality between the two kids though! B is much more mellow and chilled out; Ant is constantly moving and shaking. It is really easy to make Ant smile and laugh; you really had to work at it with B. All my friend had to do was to look at Ant and say "hi", and he would laugh! That hasn't happened with anyone else, I don't know why he thought she was so amusing. They also had a jumper which Ant loved :-)
I've been annoyed with some of the books I've ready about child-raising. Healthy Sleep Habits for example, says "your child will naturally develop an earlier bedtime". But never really said what to do if they didn't! I feel like a lot of these books have good theories, but are very short on how to actually put the theory into practice. But I did really get to see this weekend what a difference some of the things I picked up from HSHHC make. That book says that babies shouldn't be awake for more than two hours at a time, that's all they can manage before needing a nap. And we have definitely found with Ant (until recently, as he approaches the 6 month mark) that he would start getting fussy at right around 2 hours of awake time. So we basically would put him down for a nap as soon as he'd start fussing, and he'd sleep for anywhere from 40 minutes to a couple of hours. And then he's a really pleasant baby when he's awake.
Poor B, though, would be up for 3-4 hours at a time - and he'd start whining and fussing and being miserable at right around 2 hours, and they wouldn't put him down! What a nightmare. Hours on end of the poor kid going "Wah".."Wah"..."Wah". M and I tried to suggest naps without seeming overly pushy. I mentioned HSHHC and the two hour thing; I said once "That's how Ant is when he's tired", once or twice I said "awww, look at his droopy eyes!". But it's so hard to tell another parent what to do. I just felt bad for the poor little guy, it was clear to me that he was totally overtired! I guess HSHHC has at least some worth.
(And Ant is finally getting to this "naturally" earlier bedtime. He's going from 4 naps down to 3, awake for longer than two hours in the evening, which means that he's tired for the night closer to nine rather than ten. I guess I would have liked HSHHC to tell me that some kids would do this earlier bedtime thing sooner than others, and that I shouldn't worry, it would happen eventually.)
Monday, February 05, 2007
let them eat cake
I haven't gotten to do much cake baking of late... but I put my skills to the test on Saturday, for my in-laws retirement party. I wanted to share the results - I got the idea for the decorations from a Betty Crocker cake decorating book, and am really pleased with how it came out. The things on top are supposed to be those party blowers - they don't quite look right because I couldn't find the candy sticks I was looking for, so made do with twizzlers instead. But it was fun to make (and tasty too - lemon cake, with raspberry sauce and lemon frosting). The streamers were made from fruit rollups! (Boy, have those changed since I was a kid. I still liked them though, sadly enough.)
Monday, January 29, 2007
Games babies play
A friend was asking me today what games Ant and I play together, as she was looking for ideas. Here are some of the things we do... What can we add to our repertoire?
Sometimes we go up in the office where he really likes looking at the Tivo box we just got (the box the Tivo came in, that is), and moving its lid up and down. There's also a full length mirror in there, and we look at and wave to each other in that. In front of that are some piles of books and wrapping paper that he likes to play with. He actually really likes wrapping paper, I think the colors are really appealing. I've started giving him squares of it to keep him occupied in the car (he hasn't started eating it yet!).
We play on the bed in his room, I'll roll him over while singing "there were ten in the bed and the little one said...". There are also a couple of toys up there that he'll grab at while I hold them in front of him. We do lots of sitting and standing whereever we go, and I also try and throw in some tummy time as often as I think of it and he'll stand for it. He also likes it when I hold brightly patterend clothes above his head, and swing them from side to side. Sometimes he'll reach for them, sometimes he won't. But he always seems excited, which is what I think he's feeling when he starts kicking his feet and moving his arms more.
Downstairs we read books while sitting on the couch, or just practice sitting and standing. Sitting on the coffee table too, where there are lots of things to look at. Sometimes I'll put him on my lap and play bouncy games "Trit-trot to Boston, trit-trot to Lynn - you'd better watch out that you don't fall IN" I drop him between my knees on the last syllable. Or "This is the way the lady rides....". A new one I just learned from another friend "Jumpy jumpy sugary lumps... the more AJ eats, the more AJ JUMPS", lifting him up on the last.
We play "head, shoulders knees and toes", or other body part songs where I sing body parts to random tunes, like "nose and mouth and cheeks and chin, cheeks and chin, cheeks and chin...nose and mouth and cheecks and chin, all parts of Antony" to the tune of mary had a little lamb.
He's quite fond of the leapfrog music table we borrowed from my sis. From about three months on we would lie it on its side, and make it play for him, he really liked the lights and music. Now we do about 50/50 with it on its side and him on the floor, and it upright, holding him up while he's standing. We've gotten a LOT of use out of that one. Not quite as much as the gymini, but close.
He has various other toys that will amuse him for a few minutes at a time, I basically just show them to him, talk about them or sing a song, and see if he wants to grab onto them or not. His favorites are Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, and a little bee that makes noises and lights up when you move its wings. I've also taken to just showing him random objects that are lying around - he's enjoyed my keys, the plastic tab that you have to pull off to open a bottle of milk, my poland springs water bottles, granola bar wrappers - I try and give him things of lots of different shapes and sizes so he can learn about how they feel and sound. Oooh, he also really likes the tissue paper that presents come wrapped in.
Sometimes he just doesn't seem interested in his toys so we'll wander around the house and I'll tell him about different things. He particularly likes the basement, I think becuase he's not down there that often so there's lots of new stuff to look at. When he's in one of those moods is when I'll pop him in the baby bjorn. We'll also look outside for a while, when it's too cold to actually go out.
His absolute favorite thing is when we make faces / noises. He's gone through phases of what he's liked - at the moment, slurpy noises and exaggerated laughing really set him off. We can keep him laughing for a good five minutes with those. And we generally stop because we're tired, not because he is! For a while he really liked exaggerated kissy noises, which I would do while kissing his face or his hands. I also make muching noises while munching oh his hands and feet. He likes consonant / vowel combinations... "dah dah dah dah dah" over and over - one night he found it so amusing I went through the whole alphabet a few times! We also play "where's Antony", where I put a bib or facecloth over his face for a few seconds, saying "Where's Antony? Where's Antony?"... then I move it off from one side or the other and say "There he is!!! I see you!!!". I would have thought he wouldn't like his face being covered, but he does his excited kicking/arm flailing and never seems upset, so I think he does like it. Maybe just the anticipation of what's coming...
I'd love to hear ideas of other things we can do together, to keep us both interested!
On a totally different topic, I've always put pictures in as separate links, not right in the post, as I don't want to cause angst to those who may not want to have baby pictures shoved in their face. Should I continue to do that, or do you think baby pics in the post are okay?
Sometimes we go up in the office where he really likes looking at the Tivo box we just got (the box the Tivo came in, that is), and moving its lid up and down. There's also a full length mirror in there, and we look at and wave to each other in that. In front of that are some piles of books and wrapping paper that he likes to play with. He actually really likes wrapping paper, I think the colors are really appealing. I've started giving him squares of it to keep him occupied in the car (he hasn't started eating it yet!).
We play on the bed in his room, I'll roll him over while singing "there were ten in the bed and the little one said...". There are also a couple of toys up there that he'll grab at while I hold them in front of him. We do lots of sitting and standing whereever we go, and I also try and throw in some tummy time as often as I think of it and he'll stand for it. He also likes it when I hold brightly patterend clothes above his head, and swing them from side to side. Sometimes he'll reach for them, sometimes he won't. But he always seems excited, which is what I think he's feeling when he starts kicking his feet and moving his arms more.
Downstairs we read books while sitting on the couch, or just practice sitting and standing. Sitting on the coffee table too, where there are lots of things to look at. Sometimes I'll put him on my lap and play bouncy games "Trit-trot to Boston, trit-trot to Lynn - you'd better watch out that you don't fall IN" I drop him between my knees on the last syllable. Or "This is the way the lady rides....". A new one I just learned from another friend "Jumpy jumpy sugary lumps... the more AJ eats, the more AJ JUMPS", lifting him up on the last.
We play "head, shoulders knees and toes", or other body part songs where I sing body parts to random tunes, like "nose and mouth and cheeks and chin, cheeks and chin, cheeks and chin...nose and mouth and cheecks and chin, all parts of Antony" to the tune of mary had a little lamb.
He's quite fond of the leapfrog music table we borrowed from my sis. From about three months on we would lie it on its side, and make it play for him, he really liked the lights and music. Now we do about 50/50 with it on its side and him on the floor, and it upright, holding him up while he's standing. We've gotten a LOT of use out of that one. Not quite as much as the gymini, but close.
He has various other toys that will amuse him for a few minutes at a time, I basically just show them to him, talk about them or sing a song, and see if he wants to grab onto them or not. His favorites are Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, and a little bee that makes noises and lights up when you move its wings. I've also taken to just showing him random objects that are lying around - he's enjoyed my keys, the plastic tab that you have to pull off to open a bottle of milk, my poland springs water bottles, granola bar wrappers - I try and give him things of lots of different shapes and sizes so he can learn about how they feel and sound. Oooh, he also really likes the tissue paper that presents come wrapped in.
Sometimes he just doesn't seem interested in his toys so we'll wander around the house and I'll tell him about different things. He particularly likes the basement, I think becuase he's not down there that often so there's lots of new stuff to look at. When he's in one of those moods is when I'll pop him in the baby bjorn. We'll also look outside for a while, when it's too cold to actually go out.
His absolute favorite thing is when we make faces / noises. He's gone through phases of what he's liked - at the moment, slurpy noises and exaggerated laughing really set him off. We can keep him laughing for a good five minutes with those. And we generally stop because we're tired, not because he is! For a while he really liked exaggerated kissy noises, which I would do while kissing his face or his hands. I also make muching noises while munching oh his hands and feet. He likes consonant / vowel combinations... "dah dah dah dah dah" over and over - one night he found it so amusing I went through the whole alphabet a few times! We also play "where's Antony", where I put a bib or facecloth over his face for a few seconds, saying "Where's Antony? Where's Antony?"... then I move it off from one side or the other and say "There he is!!! I see you!!!". I would have thought he wouldn't like his face being covered, but he does his excited kicking/arm flailing and never seems upset, so I think he does like it. Maybe just the anticipation of what's coming...
I'd love to hear ideas of other things we can do together, to keep us both interested!
On a totally different topic, I've always put pictures in as separate links, not right in the post, as I don't want to cause angst to those who may not want to have baby pictures shoved in their face. Should I continue to do that, or do you think baby pics in the post are okay?
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Believe only half of what you read...
My eyes have finally started getting better. YAY! Thanks for all the tips ladies. Although, Elle, what on earth did you mean with the breast milk comment. Is one supposed to put that in one's eyes???
On the whole carseat issue, I did a little bit more reading and came to the conclusion that we would stick with the Britax for a bit longer.
#1 - According to the American Association of pediatrics, in 2000, there were 539 deaths of children under 5 in motor vehicle accidents. Half of those were not restrained at all. I think that's a pretty low number (approximately the same as the chance of being struck by lightning). In fact, according to the NHTSA stats, only 81 infants under 1 were killed in auto accidents while restrained.
#2 - If all those car seats truly are that bad in high speed crashes, why have I *never* heard about it?
#3 - the sites that folks mentioned that bring up some very valid points about the CR testing: they will not release their methodology so no-one else can duplicate their results. They don't make any comparison to the real world, so it's hard to say what their results truly mean. And, apparently they don't test the car seats in cars (I guess that would get expensive), but using a sled contraption. How does that mimic the crumple zones etc. that cars have?
And then, LOL, CR retracted the whole damn thing! Bastards!!!
On the whole carseat issue, I did a little bit more reading and came to the conclusion that we would stick with the Britax for a bit longer.
#1 - According to the American Association of pediatrics, in 2000, there were 539 deaths of children under 5 in motor vehicle accidents. Half of those were not restrained at all. I think that's a pretty low number (approximately the same as the chance of being struck by lightning). In fact, according to the NHTSA stats, only 81 infants under 1 were killed in auto accidents while restrained.
#2 - If all those car seats truly are that bad in high speed crashes, why have I *never* heard about it?
#3 - the sites that folks mentioned that bring up some very valid points about the CR testing: they will not release their methodology so no-one else can duplicate their results. They don't make any comparison to the real world, so it's hard to say what their results truly mean. And, apparently they don't test the car seats in cars (I guess that would get expensive), but using a sled contraption. How does that mimic the crumple zones etc. that cars have?
And then, LOL, CR retracted the whole damn thing! Bastards!!!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Woe is me...
I have acquired myself a lovely case of viral conjunctivis. I think it's a second whammy from a nasty cold I had at the end of December (with a fever, which is really unusual for me). I've been sniffling ever since, blowing my nose a lot, and I think that somehow the loveliness got transferred. Yuck.
I've been washing my hands every time I even *think* about touching my eyes, and no-one else in the family has come down with the pink-eye yet. (Although I must say it is much more like RED-eye!). I'm really really hoping that Ant doesn't get it. I'm miserable, I can only imagine how awful this must be for a baby who has no comprehension of why he can't open his eyes when he wakes up.
My PCP prescribed antibiotics for me, which did not work. So I went to an eye doc, who gave me eye drops with steroids in them. Thank god for those. I'm still uncomfortable, but at least I don't want to scratch my eyes out anymore.
The best part? There's nothing that can make this go away, except time. 7-10 flipping days!!! 5 down so far, with no real signs of improvement. I'm thinking about trying Zicam - if it works for colds, it might work for this, right????
The reason this sucks is multi-fold. First, my eyes are constantly leaking tears, so I have to dab at them with a tissue every 15-20 minutes. And then I have to wash my hands. All this wiping, plus cleaning that I have to do when I wake up in the morning in order to get my eyes unstuck, means that the skin under my eyes is incredibly dry. It looks as if I'm about 80 years old. I put moisturizer on this morning, and it stung like heck. And of course, all the handwashing means my hands are incredibly dry and sore too. Ugh.
I've been washing my hands every time I even *think* about touching my eyes, and no-one else in the family has come down with the pink-eye yet. (Although I must say it is much more like RED-eye!). I'm really really hoping that Ant doesn't get it. I'm miserable, I can only imagine how awful this must be for a baby who has no comprehension of why he can't open his eyes when he wakes up.
My PCP prescribed antibiotics for me, which did not work. So I went to an eye doc, who gave me eye drops with steroids in them. Thank god for those. I'm still uncomfortable, but at least I don't want to scratch my eyes out anymore.
The best part? There's nothing that can make this go away, except time. 7-10 flipping days!!! 5 down so far, with no real signs of improvement. I'm thinking about trying Zicam - if it works for colds, it might work for this, right????
The reason this sucks is multi-fold. First, my eyes are constantly leaking tears, so I have to dab at them with a tissue every 15-20 minutes. And then I have to wash my hands. All this wiping, plus cleaning that I have to do when I wake up in the morning in order to get my eyes unstuck, means that the skin under my eyes is incredibly dry. It looks as if I'm about 80 years old. I put moisturizer on this morning, and it stung like heck. And of course, all the handwashing means my hands are incredibly dry and sore too. Ugh.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Safety first
I had to make an unexpected purchase today. I got an email alert from babycenter yesterday, with links to the latest Consumer Reports study on infant carseats. Much to my dismay, I read that the Britax Companion carseat, which we had specifically bought based on it having the best ratings from the previous CR tests, failed their new tests. Both with the LATCH system and when secured by seatbelts. And the failures seem spectacularly bad.
So, off to purchase a new car seat. I could never forgive myself if I didn't, and Antony were hurt in an accident.
He had his 4 month appointment on Thursday, and came in at 26.5 inches, 92nd percentile for height! Given that the Graco carseat that is now the top CR infant seat recommendation only accomodates infants up to 29 inches, it seemed silly to us to bother, as he'd likely outgrow it in short order. So I went out and bought the Evenflo Triumph convertible seat, which garnered the highest CR safety recommendation in these latest tests. I'm bummed that I won't be able to put Ant to sleep in his carseat, then carry him out to the car, anymore. But it is what it is.
(Ant was in the 50th percentile for weight at 15lb 1 oz - weight for height he was in the 5th percentile. I guess he's a string-bean!).
So, off to purchase a new car seat. I could never forgive myself if I didn't, and Antony were hurt in an accident.
He had his 4 month appointment on Thursday, and came in at 26.5 inches, 92nd percentile for height! Given that the Graco carseat that is now the top CR infant seat recommendation only accomodates infants up to 29 inches, it seemed silly to us to bother, as he'd likely outgrow it in short order. So I went out and bought the Evenflo Triumph convertible seat, which garnered the highest CR safety recommendation in these latest tests. I'm bummed that I won't be able to put Ant to sleep in his carseat, then carry him out to the car, anymore. But it is what it is.
(Ant was in the 50th percentile for weight at 15lb 1 oz - weight for height he was in the 5th percentile. I guess he's a string-bean!).
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Resolved
I don't usually do New Year's resolutions, because I don't see the reason to wait to make changes. But I've been thinking about these things, so what the heck, now is as good a time to start as any.
I also think that Suz's idea of having metricable resolutions is an excellent one. So, keeping that in mind, my resolutions are:
1. Lift weights at least three times a week.
Up until Ant's birth, I had been lifting weights at least 2x/week for almost four years. Except for the 9 weeks during my pregnancy when I wasn't allowed to exercise. Since his birth, number of times I've done it? One - today! I feel so weak and out of shape, even though the baby weight is gone. So I will start doing some light lifting in the basement (getting to the gym is really out of the question) during his morning nap.
2. Change out of my pajamas every day.
Don't laugh, there have been a number of days recently where I have not bothered to get dressed. Which is all well and good, I'm not seeing anyone or anything like that. But it makes me feel slovenly and yucky (forgetting to brush my teeth and put on deodorant probably has something to do with that!). And it's not even as if I don't have time to change, I've just been lazy. So that ends today as well.
3. Do my diastasis (abdominal separation) reduction exercises at least 2x/day until I feel like it's totally fixed.
That's all I've got for now.
My first foray to the basement for weight lifting this morning was amusing. I pulled out a couple of old "Shape" magazines I used to use for a quick exercise routine, figuring those would be a good place to start. First, a quick aerobic warmup - the magazine had a five minute routine, which I remember used to get my heartrate up pretty quickly. Starts with some marching, then jogging in place, jumping jacks, squats, punches, kicks... Got to the jogging, and very quickly realized that it wasn't going to work! When I was doing this before I had little "A" sized bubbies. Bouncing up and down, no problem. Now? Not so much. I didn't feel like stopping to go upstairs to get some more support (I was just wearing my cotton nursing bra), so instead I used my hands. Effective, although unwieldy. But next time I will plan ahead a bit more. I always wanted bigger boobs, but now I'm actually kinda looking forward to going back to the little ones that didn't get in the way!
I also think that Suz's idea of having metricable resolutions is an excellent one. So, keeping that in mind, my resolutions are:
1. Lift weights at least three times a week.
Up until Ant's birth, I had been lifting weights at least 2x/week for almost four years. Except for the 9 weeks during my pregnancy when I wasn't allowed to exercise. Since his birth, number of times I've done it? One - today! I feel so weak and out of shape, even though the baby weight is gone. So I will start doing some light lifting in the basement (getting to the gym is really out of the question) during his morning nap.
2. Change out of my pajamas every day.
Don't laugh, there have been a number of days recently where I have not bothered to get dressed. Which is all well and good, I'm not seeing anyone or anything like that. But it makes me feel slovenly and yucky (forgetting to brush my teeth and put on deodorant probably has something to do with that!). And it's not even as if I don't have time to change, I've just been lazy. So that ends today as well.
3. Do my diastasis (abdominal separation) reduction exercises at least 2x/day until I feel like it's totally fixed.
That's all I've got for now.
My first foray to the basement for weight lifting this morning was amusing. I pulled out a couple of old "Shape" magazines I used to use for a quick exercise routine, figuring those would be a good place to start. First, a quick aerobic warmup - the magazine had a five minute routine, which I remember used to get my heartrate up pretty quickly. Starts with some marching, then jogging in place, jumping jacks, squats, punches, kicks... Got to the jogging, and very quickly realized that it wasn't going to work! When I was doing this before I had little "A" sized bubbies. Bouncing up and down, no problem. Now? Not so much. I didn't feel like stopping to go upstairs to get some more support (I was just wearing my cotton nursing bra), so instead I used my hands. Effective, although unwieldy. But next time I will plan ahead a bit more. I always wanted bigger boobs, but now I'm actually kinda looking forward to going back to the little ones that didn't get in the way!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Year in Review
I've seen this meme on a few other blogs, and really liked it. I cheated a little bit though, some of my first sentences were lame, so I went with the second instead.
January: Last night we were quite boring, and went over to some friends' house to play pinochle (It's a rough game!). So instead I'll tell you about my favorite New Year's Eve celebrations.
February: Not much news on the Phred front - although I did have my first OB appointment last week.
March: Had my 14 week appointment today (14w4d).
April: We had our "big" ultrasound today, and found out we're having a ..... baby!
May: One of the things that I did know might happen was the separation of my abdominal muscles.
June: I'm still contracting like it's going out of style (this is one uterus that damn well better be able to handle labor, with all the practice it's getting!)
July: My contractions have calmed down quite a bit - every now and again I'll get a bout of them, but they're never closer together than 10 minutes anymore, and for the most part they're an hour + apart.
August: As I mentioned, since reading "Natural birth the bradley way", I've also read a couple of other books on the topic of delivery, and more specifically, the things that your doctors don't necessarily tell you ("The thinking woman's guide to a better birth", and "The silent knife" about C-sections and VBAC.
September: I can't tell you all how much your support has meant to me - your good wishes and thoughts leading up to my c-section, and congratulations on Ant's birth have been so appreciated, even though I haven't been able to tell you so individually.
October: Here's [redacted] another pic of my babe, wearing a Polo outfit someone gave us.
November: I played in my first ice hockey game today.
December: I am in a pissy mood.
I hope that 2007 brings only good things to each and every one of you!
January: Last night we were quite boring, and went over to some friends' house to play pinochle (It's a rough game!). So instead I'll tell you about my favorite New Year's Eve celebrations.
February: Not much news on the Phred front - although I did have my first OB appointment last week.
March: Had my 14 week appointment today (14w4d).
April: We had our "big" ultrasound today, and found out we're having a ..... baby!
May: One of the things that I did know might happen was the separation of my abdominal muscles.
June: I'm still contracting like it's going out of style (this is one uterus that damn well better be able to handle labor, with all the practice it's getting!)
July: My contractions have calmed down quite a bit - every now and again I'll get a bout of them, but they're never closer together than 10 minutes anymore, and for the most part they're an hour + apart.
August: As I mentioned, since reading "Natural birth the bradley way", I've also read a couple of other books on the topic of delivery, and more specifically, the things that your doctors don't necessarily tell you ("The thinking woman's guide to a better birth", and "The silent knife" about C-sections and VBAC.
September: I can't tell you all how much your support has meant to me - your good wishes and thoughts leading up to my c-section, and congratulations on Ant's birth have been so appreciated, even though I haven't been able to tell you so individually.
October: Here's [redacted] another pic of my babe, wearing a Polo outfit someone gave us.
November: I played in my first ice hockey game today.
December: I am in a pissy mood.
I hope that 2007 brings only good things to each and every one of you!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Virtual Cookie Exchange!
Thanks to Jenn for organizing this virtual cookie exchange. Fabulous idea!
Here is my absolute favorite cookie recipe. Apricot Spirals. What I love about them are the contrast in textures - the cookie itself is really soft and crumbles in your mouth; that is set off really well by the chewiness of the apricots. YUM! (Note, the original recipe was in cups, I translated into ounces and grams as that's how I prefer measuring ingredients)
Apricot Spirals
2/3c finely chopped dried apricots
1/2c water (4 oz, 125mL)
1/3c brown sugar (3 oz, 80g)
3/4c butter, softened (6 oz, 170g)
1c sugar (7 oz, 200g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 1/4c flour (9.5 oz, 275g)
Simmer apricots in water for 15 min then add brown sugar and lightly mash. Put in the freezer to cool while you prepare the dough.
Beat butter for 30 seconds (use either hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment). Add sugar and baking powder, beat until combined. Beat in egg. Beat in flour.
Roll dough between two sheets of plastic wrap (it is very sticky, this is the only way to roll it) to a 16x12 rectangle. Remove top layer of plastic wrap and spread cooled apricot filling almost all the way to the edges. Roll from the long side, using the bottom piece of plastic wrap to form a tight roll. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until dough is hard. Cut into 1/4in slices. Bake for 9-11 min at 375.
Friday, December 08, 2006
All I want for Christmas...
It looks like Ant will have his two front teeth for Christmas! Poor little guy is not doing well with the whole teething thing. He barely slept at all yesterday, I was wondering what the heck was going on until I met up with my sis, and she pointed out "tooth bumps"! Tylenol last night got him to sleep (he was so exhausted he went down for the night at 5:30, 4-6 hours earlier than normal), but I don't want to give him too much of it. Although it's definitely worth doing at bedtime!
Any idea how long it will take to get from the "tooth bump" stage to them actually breaking through?
Any idea how long it will take to get from the "tooth bump" stage to them actually breaking through?
Monday, December 04, 2006
Pissy
I am in a pissy mood today. It started at around 1am when M came upstairs to get ready for bed, and turned on the monitor in our bedroom where I was sleeping. Rather than taking it with him (which is what I always do) he left it there, and I got woken up from a deep, sound sleep by Ant being fussy. Strike one.
Strike two - Work was annoying because I tried to change my network password in the middle of the day when I was prompted to upon logging in, and I've been having problems accessing the damn thing ever since. I was trying to do some work after I got home while the kid is sleeping, and I can't access anything. Grrrr.
Strike three: I called my FIL who was taking care of Ant today to let him know that I'd be home at around 3:30. Wouldn't you know, I arrive, and he had *just* started a bottle. I would SO much rather have fed him myself - instead I had to pump again. I said I would have liked him to hold off for a few minutes, FIL said he tried his best, and I could have been late. Yeah, well fucking call me and find out where I am!!!!!
Strike four (aren't we out by now??) - I left specific instructions with M this morning on the order in which the milk in the fridge was to be used, and they were totally ignored. So now we have to bottle feed Ant at least one more time today, or throw away 6 ounces of milk. Is it REALLY that difficult to use the bottles on the top first, then the milk in the bag, THEN the bottles on the bottom??? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Honestly I'm annoyed with myself too because I thought this morning that I should perhaps put numbers on the milk in the fridge to indicate the order in which it should be used, but decided not to because I was running a little late.
Hopefully the rest of the day will not add to my pissiness!!!
Strike two - Work was annoying because I tried to change my network password in the middle of the day when I was prompted to upon logging in, and I've been having problems accessing the damn thing ever since. I was trying to do some work after I got home while the kid is sleeping, and I can't access anything. Grrrr.
Strike three: I called my FIL who was taking care of Ant today to let him know that I'd be home at around 3:30. Wouldn't you know, I arrive, and he had *just* started a bottle. I would SO much rather have fed him myself - instead I had to pump again. I said I would have liked him to hold off for a few minutes, FIL said he tried his best, and I could have been late. Yeah, well fucking call me and find out where I am!!!!!
Strike four (aren't we out by now??) - I left specific instructions with M this morning on the order in which the milk in the fridge was to be used, and they were totally ignored. So now we have to bottle feed Ant at least one more time today, or throw away 6 ounces of milk. Is it REALLY that difficult to use the bottles on the top first, then the milk in the bag, THEN the bottles on the bottom??? Yeah, I didn't think so.
Honestly I'm annoyed with myself too because I thought this morning that I should perhaps put numbers on the milk in the fridge to indicate the order in which it should be used, but decided not to because I was running a little late.
Hopefully the rest of the day will not add to my pissiness!!!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Rough morning (LOL)
So I put Ant in his vibrating chair while I took a shower and got dressed. When I picked him up out of it when I was done, I felt wet on my arm. I was wondering how he could already have peed through the diaper, but when I looked at his bum, it was poop! No idea what happened, but he managed to poop out of one side. So we got totally messy trying to get out of the clothes (with pants and a long-sleeved onesie, it was basically impossible not to get poop everywhere). So I decided to give him a bath. He was *not* pleased with me, so I didn't do a very good job. After we were done, I had him on his towel on the floor. Just as I was getting ready to put vaseline on his bum so I could put his diaper on, he peed on his leg, his towel, and my pants. And then to top it all off, he had a nice chunky spitup on his face, shoulder and neck. Probably the most unsuccessful bath ever!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Breakthrough!
Okay, maybe I shouldn't call it that just yet, but today Ant has taken two naps IN HIS CRIB, with nary a peep!
I decided yesterday that what I was doing wrong was letting him fall asleep on me, then trying to put him down after that. So today when he was in his tired phase after being up for 1.5 hours, I took him into his bedroom, shushed him for about three minutes until his eyes were closing, then put him down in his crib and shushed him for a few more minutes. Worked like a charm! He seemed to sleep much better, and I got to make my mom's bday cake for tomorrow. And it worked twice!
Who knew?
I decided yesterday that what I was doing wrong was letting him fall asleep on me, then trying to put him down after that. So today when he was in his tired phase after being up for 1.5 hours, I took him into his bedroom, shushed him for about three minutes until his eyes were closing, then put him down in his crib and shushed him for a few more minutes. Worked like a charm! He seemed to sleep much better, and I got to make my mom's bday cake for tomorrow. And it worked twice!
Who knew?
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Sunday randomness
I played in my first ice hockey game today. SOOOooooo much fun! We won, 7 to 1. I felt like I played reasonably well, and our team played really well together. We managed to put into practice all the things we've worked on over the last few years. Yay hockey!!!
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My sis and I went to the mall last Sunday with our respective babies. As we were leaving, I went through the door first, then held it open for her. This other female person waltzed through after her, and didn't even bother to say thank you. My mouth opened before my brain could do anything, and I said in a really sarcastic tone of voice "No problem, let *me* just hold the door for you." She gave me a nasty look, but you know what? I felt pretty dame smug about it. I am always so nice and polite, and let people get away with being rude, but this time my mouth won out.
************************
M and I went to a friend's wedding last night, and I had my first alcoholic drink in almost 11 months. Two toasted almonds. Yummy! We had such a great time at the wedding (my mom was babysitting), and although we had to leave early because A only ate 2.5 oz at his 8pm feeding so I wasn't sure if he'd be down for the night, or wake up at around 11 for more, we did get to stay for some dancing, and the cake! I tried on all my formal dresses the night before, fortunately one of them fit me. It had criss-crossing ties in the back - which used to meet up in a bow in the middle of my back, but with my little baby belly there was no meeting at all. But no-one else knew that ;-)
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The past week has been really cool with Antony. So many things have changed! He's leaving his hands open now, they're not in fists nearly as much anymore. He's blowing spit bubbles, and sticking his tongue in and out. Definitely looking AT the toys on his gymini now, and he was apparently following Winnie the Pooh with his eyes when my mom was babysitting the other day, although I haven't seen that myself yet. Also lots more talking and smiling. We stayed at my mom's house last night after the wedding, and had a really fun exchange with Ant when we got up this morning.
Me: Antony, I hear you were reading some poetry with your granny last night?
Ant: Smile
Granny: I started reciting the poetry and he went to sleep almost right away.
Ant: Smile
Grampa: We should tell him some limericks!
Ant: Smile
Grampa: There once was a man from Nantucket...
Ant: Huge smile and almost a chuckle.
We all roared with laughter. The timing of his smiles was just *so* perfect, and the grin we got after "Nantucket" was priceless!
************************
My sis and I went to the mall last Sunday with our respective babies. As we were leaving, I went through the door first, then held it open for her. This other female person waltzed through after her, and didn't even bother to say thank you. My mouth opened before my brain could do anything, and I said in a really sarcastic tone of voice "No problem, let *me* just hold the door for you." She gave me a nasty look, but you know what? I felt pretty dame smug about it. I am always so nice and polite, and let people get away with being rude, but this time my mouth won out.
************************
M and I went to a friend's wedding last night, and I had my first alcoholic drink in almost 11 months. Two toasted almonds. Yummy! We had such a great time at the wedding (my mom was babysitting), and although we had to leave early because A only ate 2.5 oz at his 8pm feeding so I wasn't sure if he'd be down for the night, or wake up at around 11 for more, we did get to stay for some dancing, and the cake! I tried on all my formal dresses the night before, fortunately one of them fit me. It had criss-crossing ties in the back - which used to meet up in a bow in the middle of my back, but with my little baby belly there was no meeting at all. But no-one else knew that ;-)
*************************
The past week has been really cool with Antony. So many things have changed! He's leaving his hands open now, they're not in fists nearly as much anymore. He's blowing spit bubbles, and sticking his tongue in and out. Definitely looking AT the toys on his gymini now, and he was apparently following Winnie the Pooh with his eyes when my mom was babysitting the other day, although I haven't seen that myself yet. Also lots more talking and smiling. We stayed at my mom's house last night after the wedding, and had a really fun exchange with Ant when we got up this morning.
Me: Antony, I hear you were reading some poetry with your granny last night?
Ant: Smile
Granny: I started reciting the poetry and he went to sleep almost right away.
Ant: Smile
Grampa: We should tell him some limericks!
Ant: Smile
Grampa: There once was a man from Nantucket...
Ant: Huge smile and almost a chuckle.
We all roared with laughter. The timing of his smiles was just *so* perfect, and the grin we got after "Nantucket" was priceless!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
6 week checkup
Cleared for full activity. Woo-hoo! I have been pretty good about following the rules, although yesterday I carried Ant in his car seat, and obviously the biking that I started last week.
Had a pap test and vag. exam. Oh.My.God. I have never had such a painful cooter check in my life. Doc said because I had a c-section I would be tighter down there than a vag birth, and also breastfeeding means my estrogen is lower, so less lubrication. I have never bled after an exam before (including during the pregnancy, when they would say every time that I might have some spotting afterwards), but I did today. And of course I hadn't brought any protection with me, as I had stopped bleeding last week... and there were also no supplies in the exam room I was in. So I stuffed some toilet paper up there. Lovely.
Doc asked how breastfeeding was going, and how my supply was. I pointed down to the big patch that was already on my hospital gown, and said "no problems there!". I still can't get over the leaking.
The other thing that cracked me up was that as I was getting dressed again, I was checking myself out in the mirror. We don't have a mirror in our bedroom, and the one in the bathroom has decorations on it, so I don't actually look at myself nekkid that much. I had to laugh at my boobs - A) they're *huge* (well, for me anyway, starting at a paltry A cup, to a decent sized C now), and B) the veins on them stand out SO much. I look like a roadmap!
Had a pap test and vag. exam. Oh.My.God. I have never had such a painful cooter check in my life. Doc said because I had a c-section I would be tighter down there than a vag birth, and also breastfeeding means my estrogen is lower, so less lubrication. I have never bled after an exam before (including during the pregnancy, when they would say every time that I might have some spotting afterwards), but I did today. And of course I hadn't brought any protection with me, as I had stopped bleeding last week... and there were also no supplies in the exam room I was in. So I stuffed some toilet paper up there. Lovely.
Doc asked how breastfeeding was going, and how my supply was. I pointed down to the big patch that was already on my hospital gown, and said "no problems there!". I still can't get over the leaking.
The other thing that cracked me up was that as I was getting dressed again, I was checking myself out in the mirror. We don't have a mirror in our bedroom, and the one in the bathroom has decorations on it, so I don't actually look at myself nekkid that much. I had to laugh at my boobs - A) they're *huge* (well, for me anyway, starting at a paltry A cup, to a decent sized C now), and B) the veins on them stand out SO much. I look like a roadmap!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
peanuts and other things
Thanks for all your input on my peanut question. I have decided that since there are no peanut allergies in either of our families, and there isn't any strong evidence that eating peanuts while breastfeeding causes allergies, I'm not going to worry about it. On the other hand, nor will I continue with eating peanutbutter on my toast on a daily basis. I've just been having Marmite or honey instead. No biggie.
Suzanne asked "why the big deal over peanuts? Why not over antibiotics, or any of the umpteen other things people can be allergic to?". I think the reason for the higher concern over peanuts is that they are so much more prevalent - so if you're allergic to peanuts you have to be vigilant every day. Whereas other allergens are generally easy to avoid. (BTW, Suzanne just found out her beta (donor eggs) doubled in 39 hours!!)
Lisa asked about the correlation between soy and peanut allergies. If exposure to soy can cause peanut allergies because the proteins are so similar, shouldn't that cause soy allergy as well? The article says in the discussion "Soy-protein fractions have been shown to be homologous to major peanut proteins, and exposure to a common soy T-cell epitope could cause cross-sensitization to peanuts, without necessarily resulting in clinical soy allergy. " They don't give any more explanation than that though.
I've been doing quite a bit of walking, as it's the only exercise that the docs said was okay after the c-section. I feel perfectly fine though, so I was wondering about starting up with biking again. Hockey season begins in about two weeks, and I'm sure my stamina is shite these days. So I thought that starting to do a little biking might be a good way to get a little more in shape. Called the ob's office to ask about it, and of course they said that I really should wait until my 6 weeks are up. Hmph. But I feel FINE! So I called a friend of mine who is a surgeon, and asked her opinion.
She said that the reason they say six weeks is that is the length of time it takes for the incisions in the muscles, that I can't see or feel, to heal. But, she said that biking should be just fine - it's important to avoid doing things (like heavy lifting, situps, etc.) that are stressing / using the abdominal muscles, in order to avoid tearing and a possible hernia and future corrective surgery. If I feel any pain or pulling, or like I'm using my abs while biking, obviously it's not good, but barring that, no problem.
I do so much better with following instructions (or not, as the case may be) if I actually understand the reason behind them, as opposed to just being told "don't do x, y or z". Her explanation makes a lot of sense to me, and also explains why when I lay on my stomach this morning on our hardwoord floor (videotaping A), I was somewhat uncomfortable - being up on my elbows WAS pulling on the underlying incision to some extent!
Of course, then there is the question of how exactly I plan on finding time to go biking, or to hockey for that matter. It will probably end up being a moot point!
We gave A his first bottle yesterday. Warmed up pumped milk to 98 degrees, and he took it like a champ. Going to try him with room temp milk today, so hopefully we can avoid having to heat it up when we want to give it to him. If he takes the room temp milk today, we'll try cold tomorrow...
Suzanne asked "why the big deal over peanuts? Why not over antibiotics, or any of the umpteen other things people can be allergic to?". I think the reason for the higher concern over peanuts is that they are so much more prevalent - so if you're allergic to peanuts you have to be vigilant every day. Whereas other allergens are generally easy to avoid. (BTW, Suzanne just found out her beta (donor eggs) doubled in 39 hours!!)
Lisa asked about the correlation between soy and peanut allergies. If exposure to soy can cause peanut allergies because the proteins are so similar, shouldn't that cause soy allergy as well? The article says in the discussion "Soy-protein fractions have been shown to be homologous to major peanut proteins, and exposure to a common soy T-cell epitope could cause cross-sensitization to peanuts, without necessarily resulting in clinical soy allergy. " They don't give any more explanation than that though.
I've been doing quite a bit of walking, as it's the only exercise that the docs said was okay after the c-section. I feel perfectly fine though, so I was wondering about starting up with biking again. Hockey season begins in about two weeks, and I'm sure my stamina is shite these days. So I thought that starting to do a little biking might be a good way to get a little more in shape. Called the ob's office to ask about it, and of course they said that I really should wait until my 6 weeks are up. Hmph. But I feel FINE! So I called a friend of mine who is a surgeon, and asked her opinion.
She said that the reason they say six weeks is that is the length of time it takes for the incisions in the muscles, that I can't see or feel, to heal. But, she said that biking should be just fine - it's important to avoid doing things (like heavy lifting, situps, etc.) that are stressing / using the abdominal muscles, in order to avoid tearing and a possible hernia and future corrective surgery. If I feel any pain or pulling, or like I'm using my abs while biking, obviously it's not good, but barring that, no problem.
I do so much better with following instructions (or not, as the case may be) if I actually understand the reason behind them, as opposed to just being told "don't do x, y or z". Her explanation makes a lot of sense to me, and also explains why when I lay on my stomach this morning on our hardwoord floor (videotaping A), I was somewhat uncomfortable - being up on my elbows WAS pulling on the underlying incision to some extent!
Of course, then there is the question of how exactly I plan on finding time to go biking, or to hockey for that matter. It will probably end up being a moot point!
We gave A his first bottle yesterday. Warmed up pumped milk to 98 degrees, and he took it like a champ. Going to try him with room temp milk today, so hopefully we can avoid having to heat it up when we want to give it to him. If he takes the room temp milk today, we'll try cold tomorrow...
Monday, September 25, 2006
A day in the life of a new mom...
I spent three hours today soothing, feeding, changing A, soothing, more soothing, trying to put down, more soothing... in the nude! I had put A down, and was just getting ready to shower, when he decided that today he didn't want to sleep anywhere but on me. Didn't care that I was somewhat on the stinky side, not only having not managed to shower, but also having forgotten to put on deodorant today.
It's a good thing they're so dame cute!
It's a good thing they're so dame cute!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Precocious one...
I opened up my email the other day to find the following message, from Antonys.email@comcast.net (not the real address):
Hi Mommy,
I want to apologize for being fussy yesterday. I realize now that it was your first day home alone with me since Daddy had to go back to work.
Thanks for taking care of me! Hopefully I feel better today and I make your day easier than yesterday.
I love you!
Antony.
Obviously M had set up Ant's email account, and sent the message, but it still makes me smile :-)
Hi Mommy,
I want to apologize for being fussy yesterday. I realize now that it was your first day home alone with me since Daddy had to go back to work.
Thanks for taking care of me! Hopefully I feel better today and I make your day easier than yesterday.
I love you!
Antony.
Obviously M had set up Ant's email account, and sent the message, but it still makes me smile :-)
Monday, September 18, 2006
To pea or nut to pea?
I had a lactation consultant come to visit last week - things had been going well, but I was quite sore, so I thought it couldn't hurt. I was in the middle of breakfast when she arrived, which was whole wheat potato bread toast with peanut butter.
She immediately told me to lay off the peanuts because of the possibility of peanut allergies. I haven't been able to find much in the medical literature about it, just one article in NEJM that says that peanut consumption by the mother is not related to allergies, but I wonder if I should stay away from them anyway. Then there's always the flip side, I keep hearing now about how people are getting more allergies because they're NOT exposed to allergens when they're young because we keep everything so clean now. What would you do?
BTW, that same article says that peanut allergies are related to exposure to soy milk, eczema (on the baby), and with the use of lotions or creams containing peanut oil on the baby's skin (although not on the mother's breast). The association with soy milk is likely because peanuts and soy are in fact in the same family, and some of the pieces of protein that are the peanut allergens are also found in soy proteins.
She immediately told me to lay off the peanuts because of the possibility of peanut allergies. I haven't been able to find much in the medical literature about it, just one article in NEJM that says that peanut consumption by the mother is not related to allergies, but I wonder if I should stay away from them anyway. Then there's always the flip side, I keep hearing now about how people are getting more allergies because they're NOT exposed to allergens when they're young because we keep everything so clean now. What would you do?
BTW, that same article says that peanut allergies are related to exposure to soy milk, eczema (on the baby), and with the use of lotions or creams containing peanut oil on the baby's skin (although not on the mother's breast). The association with soy milk is likely because peanuts and soy are in fact in the same family, and some of the pieces of protein that are the peanut allergens are also found in soy proteins.
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