Howdy there. How are you?
So many changes with a baby are monumental, and then also kind of mundane.
Take today. It's Friday. We're upstairs in baby Evelyn's bedroom instead of downstairs in the kitchen, trying to work on our homeschool lessons for the older girl. I decided to grab my laptop and relax up here in this different space. We have the radio tuned to NPR, like usual, and Evelyn is enjoying a blanket-covered floor with the toys that stay upstairs. The older one is cleaning her room. At least, she is supposed to be cleaning her room but it's awfully quiet in there. It sounds more like she's reading books than cleaning. It's like a whole new thing, except for girlie's book-reading, but without all the effort of actually leaving the house.
This little house. It's small, but at around 1,600 sq. ft. it's not small at all. It is cozy, our house built for elves. In 1945, post-war, people must've been shorter? I don't know, but I love the low ceilings, the built-in shelves (WE NEED MOOOORE), and the steep stairs that were made, I can only assume, for the teeny little people that used to live here. They didn't bonk their heads on the doorframe that we do when we walk down the stairs. Or bonk their heads on the sloping ceilings on the second floor. But it's a romantic kind of ceiling, so the goose-egg that it leaves on our heads is cute. One of these days, we'll probably move. I just wish we could find a house with as much cuteness - some people call it character - as this one. But character in one built for not-elves, like us.
Evelyn is enjoying her room. She is much less screechy this morning than usual, even though her tummy has been giving her trouble. She's had several poops during the day, whereas her normal routine is to have just one... or two at the most. Aren't you glad you asked?
It's just a normal Friday. My teeth are not yet brushed. Both children are clean and dressed. We will probably go to the library, if their mom can get it together enough to clean her teeth to a socially acceptable level, that is.
It's a good day.
Showing posts with label Evelyn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evelyn. Show all posts
Friday, October 19, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
The World is a Magical Place
Remember the child from the box? Well, she's taking her afternoon nap. And this morning, she had a morning nap. And last night? Last night, she slept in her crib for the first time. Her father and I took turns sitting with her until she fell asleep. When she woke during the night, I was prepared to soothe her but not feed her. She mostly self-soothed before I could go in there and muck things up, except for that 2 - 3:30 am stretch where I went into her room LIKE A MORON. See: previous part about SELF-SOOTHING, dumdum.
Holy sweet Baby Jesus, today is a marvelous day!!!! The world is a beautiful place!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, there's the other one. The older one. She is running cross-country this fall for the first time.
Kids. There's nothing like them. Sometimes you put them in boxes in a vain attempt to hang onto your mind and get through the next few minutes, and other times you shout out loud your support for all the world to hear. Much to their dismay. I'm not sure which is the truest indicator of a loving parent.
Probably both.
There is a reason why sleep deprivation is a torture device, people. Think about it.
Holy sweet Baby Jesus, today is a marvelous day!!!! The world is a beautiful place!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, there's the other one. The older one. She is running cross-country this fall for the first time.
She's the blondie in black shoes. I screamed maniacally for her as she ran by. I think she loves that.
Kids. There's nothing like them. Sometimes you put them in boxes in a vain attempt to hang onto your mind and get through the next few minutes, and other times you shout out loud your support for all the world to hear. Much to their dismay. I'm not sure which is the truest indicator of a loving parent.
Probably both.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
The Baby at Nine Months
Yesterday, I put my kid in a box. She was screaming and unhappy everywhere else I put here, might as well go for broke. It kept her happy for a surprising amount of time. I think I washed dishes.
She still won't crawl, eat solid foods, or allow any teeth to come through her gums. I'm trying not to panic, which means NOT going to the internet and googling "eight month old doesn't crawl". Because I did that and the results range from "crawling is normal at 9 to 10 months" to "it could be the result of central nervous system damage...". Good old internet.
Today Evelyn turns nine months old. To mark the occasion, she took a nap with the cat. The cat jumped in her bed as I was feeding her in preparation for her afternoon nap, when he pointedly looked at me before settling down as if to say, "you're stuck under the baby, so watch this."
I shook the bed and tried to get him out, but he just looked like he was enjoying his free massage. So, I put the baby in on top of/next to him. I think I made my point.
Who know what tomorrow will bring? Maybe crawling, and the minute she pulls out all the books from the bookshelf and gets into my purse to rip out all the checks, I know I will wonder why I wanted it to happen so badly in the first place. Immobility is not so bad.
She still won't crawl, eat solid foods, or allow any teeth to come through her gums. I'm trying not to panic, which means NOT going to the internet and googling "eight month old doesn't crawl". Because I did that and the results range from "crawling is normal at 9 to 10 months" to "it could be the result of central nervous system damage...". Good old internet.
Today Evelyn turns nine months old. To mark the occasion, she took a nap with the cat. The cat jumped in her bed as I was feeding her in preparation for her afternoon nap, when he pointedly looked at me before settling down as if to say, "you're stuck under the baby, so watch this."
I shook the bed and tried to get him out, but he just looked like he was enjoying his free massage. So, I put the baby in on top of/next to him. I think I made my point.
Who know what tomorrow will bring? Maybe crawling, and the minute she pulls out all the books from the bookshelf and gets into my purse to rip out all the checks, I know I will wonder why I wanted it to happen so badly in the first place. Immobility is not so bad.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
A First of Sorts
Baby's first rice cereal. I was all excited to try a bit of solid food, to get more in baby's tummy so baby would feel full and baby wouldn't want to eat once per hour or some such nonsense.
I'm not exactly doing attachment parenting, except I think that I am what with feeding on demand and all. Oh, sure, sometimes I distract the baby with other things, like brushing my teeth, just to buy another 10 minutes here and there. Now that she's five months old, she MUST want to EAT something SUBSTANTIAL, right??? When does the detachment process begin? I mean, not "rip off the band-aid and throw it away" harshness, just some subtle, you know, independent sitting for a few minutes and things.
Evelyn isn't down with it. Instead of baby's first rice cereal = success! so that we could celebrate and move on to other such things as Sleeping More and Making Mommy's Coffee, no.
I'm in ur high chair not eatin' ur food.
Evelyn Roísin prefers to drink her breakfast, just like the longshoremen. Evelyn's got it over the longshoremen with her smooth face that I would like to lick. And do, on occasion. Mostly I just eat her hands and feet, snacking on some cheek every now and again.
STARDATE MONDAY, JUNE 18: RICE CEREAL ATTEMPT NO. 2
Our subject has gotten a whole 10 days older, with 10 days worth of growing and development under her belt. She's been practicing sitting up and watching the family eat with their utensils, though she is not mimicking us. Perhaps her fool mother thinks she is ready to try again with the cereal? Let's find out.
Our subject has gotten a whole 10 days older, with 10 days worth of growing and development under her belt. She's been practicing sitting up and watching the family eat with their utensils, though she is not mimicking us. Perhaps her fool mother thinks she is ready to try again with the cereal? Let's find out.
Hallo, what's this?
My nemesis, Spoon. I've seen you before, you of new-way-to-eat of doom. I've rejected more comforting alternate food delivery devices, I will reject you, too. If my icy stare doesn't freeze you in mid-delivery, then my steel-trap mouth will not let you in.
Do not enter. Wrong way. Do not pass go. Back up Jack. It ain't happenin'.
Noooooooooooooooooo. Ope.
Admit defeat, you coated-for-my-comfort scoundrel! Lay there like the useless instrument that you are.
That's right.
Haha!
 |
Evelyn won the first round, and the second. Stay tuned.........the spoon has more delicious weaponry in its arsenal. I don't want to give it away, but it rhymes with "bapplesauce".
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
What the Fuss
As a breastfeeding mom, I have a long list of foods to avoid eating or else they will upset the baby. As the mother of an infant, I have very little time to invest in creating new menus to replace those I have automatically enjoyed for years. Take breakfast, with the restriction of no eggs, peanuts, or dairy. I can replace the milk on my cereal with rice milk, but that leaves my bagel painfully dry, without peanut butter, cream cheese or butter.
Breakfast is annoying but the worst meal of the day by far is dinner, where I must make something amenable to my baby and the rest of the family. Sometimes, I have cereal for dinner. That doesn't cut it for the rest of them, though, who don't like to eat like they're still in college. A dish as simple as pasta becomes inordinately difficult. No marinara, and no alfredo either.
There are websites that list meal plans and recipes for people like me, but often they are for omitting one item or maybe two, not the entire list that is applicable to me. A dairy-free site will tell me to avoid dairy if baby is fussy, but suggest cabbage or broccoli as an alternate calcium source, which also makes my baby fussy. A breastfeeding guide to nutrition cautions me to get plenty of calories, and then merrily suggests getting plenty of calcium from sources like yogurt or broccoli, which we've already established are out of the question.
Restrictions + no time + need for calories = mealtime freak out.
That formula could be the case, but I've decided to remain calm. I've eaten my (cereal with rice milk) breakfast, now it's time to plan for lunch. Yesterday's lettuce sandwich was all right, but isn't enough. I can't keep improvising. I need a plan. I also need a calcium supplement.
No:
eggs
dairy
tomatoes
citrus
peanuts
soy
corn
vegetables like cabbage and broccoli
shellfish
caffeine
carbonated drinks
Evelyn is calm for now.....to the internets!
Breakfast is annoying but the worst meal of the day by far is dinner, where I must make something amenable to my baby and the rest of the family. Sometimes, I have cereal for dinner. That doesn't cut it for the rest of them, though, who don't like to eat like they're still in college. A dish as simple as pasta becomes inordinately difficult. No marinara, and no alfredo either.
There are websites that list meal plans and recipes for people like me, but often they are for omitting one item or maybe two, not the entire list that is applicable to me. A dairy-free site will tell me to avoid dairy if baby is fussy, but suggest cabbage or broccoli as an alternate calcium source, which also makes my baby fussy. A breastfeeding guide to nutrition cautions me to get plenty of calories, and then merrily suggests getting plenty of calcium from sources like yogurt or broccoli, which we've already established are out of the question.
Restrictions + no time + need for calories = mealtime freak out.
That formula could be the case, but I've decided to remain calm. I've eaten my (cereal with rice milk) breakfast, now it's time to plan for lunch. Yesterday's lettuce sandwich was all right, but isn't enough. I can't keep improvising. I need a plan. I also need a calcium supplement.
No:
eggs
dairy
tomatoes
citrus
peanuts
soy
corn
vegetables like cabbage and broccoli
shellfish
caffeine
carbonated drinks
Evelyn is calm for now.....to the internets!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, Poopy Sunday
Ahhhh..........Sunday. The day of rest. The Sabbath. A day for lounging, reading the paper, drinking endless cups of coffee, and not doing much of anything one normally does during the week.
None of that describes this day. This day was precisely the opposite, and with a lot more bodily fluids involved. Specifically, hers:
The rest portion of the day was wiped out when I was up twice to feed and diaper Baby Evvie. That's not bad, because it means she slept longer rather than shorter. My addled brain thanks you, baby. I am slightly less addled today and I appree-she-ate that. In my most sleep-deprived delirium, I think about some pretty wacky things. Sometimes I think babies know we're tired and are engaged in a plot to see how long they can keep us up until they fall asleep. I tried to take a nap with her earlier and she was all, THAT IS NOT HAPPENING ON MY WATCH. The other babies might hear about how she let her mother nap during the day, and she would be, what? Fired? I don't know. Must get some sleep and put brain to useful purposes instead of this nonsense.
The coffee-drinking is not something I can indulge in while breastfeeding, for the most part I do avoid massive infusions of caffeine. Instead, I drink black tea for my first cup of the day and then herbal after that. Well, today I went nuts and had a cup of coffee. Not more than 8 ounces, mind you. It wasn't a Girls Gone Wild kind of binge, but that was a little bit different.
What's next, reading the paper? Oh, well, I got to read an article or two before the crying got to me and I had to pay attention to the baby.
KIDDING.
It was three articles. *
* NOT REALLY.
I was under time pressure to eat my lunch and so just read whatever section was in front of me. It was the front page, about a man who shot his son in alleged self-defense. Sad. I don't remember the others (what with all the crying I was trying to ignore).
As for not doing much of anything that I normally do during the week, let's inventory. Today I did:
➜ laundry
➜ cooked, or reheated food
➜ washed dishes
➜ swept laundry room
➜ fed baby
➜ changed baby
➜ gave baby a bath after massive blowout involving immersing baby fully clothed in warm sink bath because the poop, she was everywhere
➜ changed baby's outfit after unlawful peeing incident**
➜ drank 8 ounces of fully-caffeinated coffee, with a little sugar
Those are just a few of the things I have done this restful Sunday. So different!
Neener!
Baby Evvie has fallen asleep. Now is when the ancient conundrum rears its head, because I have to decide whether to sleep, eat, read, or some compact version of all three. My husband and oldest daughter are out doing softball things, and I wonder whether I want to go somewhere? That would require packing diaper bag, hefting baby around in car seat, in other words work. I'm not averse to work, but again, I'm trying to make this day look different than the other six.
Uhhh.....no dice.
In the end I chose to blog about it, to give it all meaning. I type for you. WIth Milo looking on and concerned that maybe the cursor ought to be attacked.
This is what Evvie looks like right now, except with eyes closed.
He thinks that would be too much work and has laid his head on the computer to sleep instead. A noble endeavor, which I will now pursue because my addled brain is all empty and such.
** Peeing while one's diaper is removed.
None of that describes this day. This day was precisely the opposite, and with a lot more bodily fluids involved. Specifically, hers:
The rest portion of the day was wiped out when I was up twice to feed and diaper Baby Evvie. That's not bad, because it means she slept longer rather than shorter. My addled brain thanks you, baby. I am slightly less addled today and I appree-she-ate that. In my most sleep-deprived delirium, I think about some pretty wacky things. Sometimes I think babies know we're tired and are engaged in a plot to see how long they can keep us up until they fall asleep. I tried to take a nap with her earlier and she was all, THAT IS NOT HAPPENING ON MY WATCH. The other babies might hear about how she let her mother nap during the day, and she would be, what? Fired? I don't know. Must get some sleep and put brain to useful purposes instead of this nonsense.
The coffee-drinking is not something I can indulge in while breastfeeding, for the most part I do avoid massive infusions of caffeine. Instead, I drink black tea for my first cup of the day and then herbal after that. Well, today I went nuts and had a cup of coffee. Not more than 8 ounces, mind you. It wasn't a Girls Gone Wild kind of binge, but that was a little bit different.
What's next, reading the paper? Oh, well, I got to read an article or two before the crying got to me and I had to pay attention to the baby.
KIDDING.
It was three articles. *
* NOT REALLY.
I was under time pressure to eat my lunch and so just read whatever section was in front of me. It was the front page, about a man who shot his son in alleged self-defense. Sad. I don't remember the others (what with all the crying I was trying to ignore).
As for not doing much of anything that I normally do during the week, let's inventory. Today I did:
➜ laundry
➜ cooked, or reheated food
➜ washed dishes
➜ swept laundry room
➜ fed baby
➜ changed baby
➜ gave baby a bath after massive blowout involving immersing baby fully clothed in warm sink bath because the poop, she was everywhere
➜ changed baby's outfit after unlawful peeing incident**
➜ drank 8 ounces of fully-caffeinated coffee, with a little sugar
Those are just a few of the things I have done this restful Sunday. So different!
Neener!
Baby Evvie has fallen asleep. Now is when the ancient conundrum rears its head, because I have to decide whether to sleep, eat, read, or some compact version of all three. My husband and oldest daughter are out doing softball things, and I wonder whether I want to go somewhere? That would require packing diaper bag, hefting baby around in car seat, in other words work. I'm not averse to work, but again, I'm trying to make this day look different than the other six.
Uhhh.....no dice.
In the end I chose to blog about it, to give it all meaning. I type for you. WIth Milo looking on and concerned that maybe the cursor ought to be attacked.
This is what Evvie looks like right now, except with eyes closed.
He thinks that would be too much work and has laid his head on the computer to sleep instead. A noble endeavor, which I will now pursue because my addled brain is all empty and such.
** Peeing while one's diaper is removed.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
A Conversation With Evelyn
I have something to say.
Happy St. Paddy's Day! My mom's drinking a Guinness for you.
Just kidding.
She doesn't have any Guinness. But if she did, she would totally drink one.
So, here's the thing...
...I've been smiling, and now I'm old enough that it's not due to gas. See?
This baby is not tooting.
Here's another one. My mom's talking to me all funny, and it makes me laugh.
Still not tooting...
Sometimes I worry about the grownups in this house. The way they act in order to get me to do things? It's embarrassing. It makes me laugh.
Note the blurry baby? It is not Gaussian Blur, that is Baby Blur. Also, this chair rocks so that could also be why.
That could be a Photoshop filter.
Baby Blurrrrrr...
Go ahead and look. I'm adorable!
I move so fast, you can't get a good picture. But the smile makes you want to eat me up, doesn't it?
That's what mom says. I can't say that doesn't make me nervous.
Happy St. Paddy's Day! My mom's drinking a Guinness for you.
Just kidding.
She doesn't have any Guinness. But if she did, she would totally drink one.
So, here's the thing...
...I've been smiling, and now I'm old enough that it's not due to gas. See?
This baby is not tooting.Here's another one. My mom's talking to me all funny, and it makes me laugh.
Still not tooting...Sometimes I worry about the grownups in this house. The way they act in order to get me to do things? It's embarrassing. It makes me laugh.
Note the blurry baby? It is not Gaussian Blur, that is Baby Blur. Also, this chair rocks so that could also be why.
That could be a Photoshop filter.
Baby Blurrrrrr...
Go ahead and look. I'm adorable!
I move so fast, you can't get a good picture. But the smile makes you want to eat me up, doesn't it?
That's what mom says. I can't say that doesn't make me nervous.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Motherhood is Losing One's Mind One Sleepless Night at a Time
The baby teased me with a couple of five-hour nights before she decided she didn't need that much sleep all in a row.
Commented to husband the other night: I don't want to only be able to converse about sleep schedules and the intricacies of diaper changes, and yet, here I am.
This is what it is for now, it seems. Things will change and flow into the next stage in time. I will read the paper everyday again soon, and drink caffeinated coffee without counting ounces...one day.
On the other hand, who wouldn't want to spend the wee hours with this one?
Commented to husband the other night: I don't want to only be able to converse about sleep schedules and the intricacies of diaper changes, and yet, here I am.
This is what it is for now, it seems. Things will change and flow into the next stage in time. I will read the paper everyday again soon, and drink caffeinated coffee without counting ounces...one day.
On the other hand, who wouldn't want to spend the wee hours with this one?
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