Resolutions 2008

Monday, 31 December 2007

If I write them down, I'll have something to refer back to.

1. Lose 55.6 pounds (that would get me down to 200). - I think I can do this, especially if I make nursing work for me.
2. Make a lunch to bring to work 4 days a week. This should also help with #1
3. Get rid of another trunk (or three) of clothes and create a more pared back wardrobe. (chant after me, I will not become my mother/mother-in-law, I will not become my mother/mother-in-law)
4. Use an apron in the kitchen and stop spilling stuff on myself. (should help keep the clothes budget in check)
5. After the Sprout weans, start exercising regularly.
6. Go to a museum or park at least once a month with the Sprout (may wait until she's just a touch older, but definitely after she's a year old)
7. Organize the Sprout photos and make a baby book, like not even digital.
8. Finish knitting something for someone else.
9. Finish quilting something for Sprout (seriously can't have enough baby blankets)
10. Take better care of my skin. Moisturize more often than once a month. (this was going to be shave my legs more often than once a month, but I lotion regularly will help with this and maybe keep me lookin' young)

Merry Christmas 2007

Thursday, 27 December 2007

So, I have this partially written post bitching about Christmas. It wasn't all smiles and fun, but none of them were Sprout related, at least not directly. (I'm not counting teething and a constant need for mom, snuggles and nursing) This is like my second attempt at writing this, so I'm trying to include positive and negative.

We are setting limits and some guidelines for gifts for the Sprout. We don't want to be in competition for who gets her the biggest best thing. We get it, period. You want to get her more, let me give you the info to deposit money in her savings account. ( no one who reads this was guilty of this) We also want to have some veto power over what she gets. We have some values we don't want undermined.

I got a few totally cool things, including the complete Monty Python's Flying Circus (Albatross!), a bunch of good music, and the best thing, a digital picture frame for work, so I can have non stop Sprout photos.

BaNaNa may have gotten her the most stuff, but what she got from us is her favorites. A four key piano, a peak-a-block shape sorter, and her first (my kid, the doll I gave her counts as her first, even if she got it second) dolly.

There are a couple of things that we realized about ourselves after this year. We want to hold tight some important traditions, and keep some of the "firsts" for ourselves. That includes first visits to places, and first toys (I give the joy of first Legos to my brother if he wants it), and first big cool gifts (see above). Better to get these things out in the open, before things get nuts.

We are not having a family Christmas for my family at our house next year. Limit, reached. I suspect I will be much happier next year.

I made an awesome dinner Christmas day. Skirt steak stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts, garlic mashed potatoes with a creamy blue cheese gravy, Brussels sprouts with Dijon vinaigrette, and a mixed green salad with dried cranberries and pecans. Best dinner like ever.

Merry Christmas! New photos on Flickr, including some really good ones.

This could be me...

Sunday, 23 December 2007

Yeah, just bummed I didn't think of this first.

Happy 8 Months

Thursday, 20 December 2007

These were taken late, since she still isn't napping at daycare, and getting an awake Sprout to take a picture of is hard. As it is, she has dark circles and looks stoned.





And before I forget, thank you Aunti akj for the stacking cups. They are a huge hit around here, as they make very good noise. Best part, she blinks every time they make noise, like she was startled, but she loves every time it happens.

This made my day.

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

I'm so sad he's only doing Sundays now. However, this should be a holiday card.

Ents

Oh God

Thursday, 13 December 2007

OK... Re: Climate Change

"It is important for assessments in this regard to be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions..."

The Pope

So he just said that we should depend on solid science and not on ideological crazies, right?
Can we apply that to everything? Please?

Trying really hard not to be a bahumbug.

Tuesday, 11 December 2007

We got a Christmas tree. I told the guy to cut it off six or so inches from the bottom (6 years selling Christmas trees people), went inside to pay, he asked ajd where to cut it (why?), he said two inches (not his fault, he didn't know). In two weeks I will have a nicely decorated stick, and a big mess to clean up.

I'm annoyed with some stuff at daycare (an 8 month old needs more than 45 minutes of naps during the day), so I sent the Sprout in today wearing a dress and tights. Is that wrong?

Why do they have to put off bonuses until the 15th? That leaves 10 days until Christmas, and not enough time to get some things shipped. Couldn't they do it one pay period earlier.

Still don't know what the Sprout is getting her dad for Christmas.

Snow, snow, snow!

Friday, 7 December 2007

*just think the of the Snow song from White Christmas, and you'll get what I'm going for*

Ok, I too need to profess my love for snow. Its why I live here, its a big part of why I moved back, and it makes me happy. I have a little SAD issue, and snow generally lessens it. I think its the light bouncing off the pretty white stuff.
I think people who live here and complain about snow need to move somewhere else. Its not like you're chained here, and it snows here. Don't like it, leave. It will make driving easier for those of us who love it.
Speaking of that, I like shoveling snow (after dark is my favorite, when the ambiant light makes it bright even in the dark), I like playing in the snow (horrible at skiing, but still want to do it again), I like how it makes everything look so magical, and I can't wait until the Sprout is old enough play outside.
The best part of having it snow at a normal time (instead of super late), I'm totally in the Christmas mood. I have lights to put up outside of our house, and this weekend we're going to go get a tree. Its going to be an amazing first Christmas for Spout, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I pink puffy heart..

Monday, 3 December 2007

My new snow thrower. Its electric, smaller, but perfect for our little driveway and narrow back sidewalk. I can even lift it up and bring it from one part of the house to the next. I have a raging bad cold and I was able to do all of the blowing (split over two days) without really feeling it. It will however force me to be better about weeds by the garbage cart and cleaning up in the fall.
It was also apparently the last electric one in the city yesterday, and I found it. Yay!

My new goddess nursing bra. AKJ was right, they rock. Boobs are up, separated (they don't always play nice together) and its easy to get in and out of.

My self control. I did holiday shopping with my MIL. I had no idea how bad it was... I'm happy I'm not that bad. Good news though, no tense moments. I believe progress is being made.

The smell of cloves and oranges. I got all nostalgic and made a clove orange smelly thing.

That my dog will let me do this. We got her one that fits, and its terribly cute.

Updates

Thursday, 29 November 2007

- Sprout said her first recognizable word/sylable... DaDa. Daycare says they heard a mama first, but so far all we've heard is Da's. I also heard some Ga's and La's. I'm tickled by all of it, but still looking for a Ma somewhere in there.

- Last week she puked every time we fed her solids (2 times of an hour+ of it). We went to the Dr. on monday because we're kinda freaked out, and she thinks we need to split her prevacid dose and feed her at a different time. We're hoping this is it and she is not allergic to a. squash b. oatmeal c. gluton, because she had been eating the squash oatmeal combo just fine and while I can cut out squash, oatmeal/gluton could take some work. Next test is this weekend. Cross your fingers people... we could be in for a bumpy ride.

- The best lines in the Shr&k holiday tv show were given to Puss in Boots. Specifically seeing the children and saying "I will assume the position". Nearly lost it over that one. I miss owning a cat.

- If you look at our holiday photos you will see lots of drool. Its hard to prevent, especially when the stinker now has two (2!!) teeth. Both bottom. No idea what happened with the top one I thought I felt, maybe another cyst. If you look hard at the open mouth photos, you will see the one thats been there for a couple of weeks already.

- Holiday cards are done. Sprout is cute, Boof! in a parka is just as cute.

- I'm within 10 pounds of my pre pregnancy weight. I've been close enough for a bit I've been saying I'm about 10 pounds away, but I'm acutally there now. I'm of course 80-100 pounds away from where the AMA thinks I should be, but we'll take the battles one at a time.

Productivity

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

Ok, Blogger isn't letting me upload, so see the Flickr stuff.

Two aprons for Atila, and stockings for the fam. I had enough leftover oilcloth that I'm going to make a bib or two for Sprout of it. I also think I'll make some gift bags or zippered bags out of the leftover silk fabric from the stockings.

Bias Tape

Tuesday, 20 November 2007

When I was a kid, I would steal the bias tape from my mom's sewing stuff and play with it. I would dream of how one day I would have a project that required it.

I take it back. I just made an adorable washable crafty apron thingy for Atila out of this, and I'm done with bias tape. I'm hoping I get over it, since its a really cool apron and it comes in diferent kid sizes and it would be really cool to have more of them...

7 Things.

Saturday, 17 November 2007

The Dude tagged me. I have no one left to tag, so this game ends here unfortunately.

1. If I won the lottery, I'd go back to school for a sociology degree and maybe get my masters in public health. There are tons of things I would like to do studies on. Like why breastfeeding rates are so low, the effects of breastfeeding on conditions like autism, and why women make the choices they do about breastfeeding (and not for judgemental reasons either, I'm seriously curious about the why, and no one talks about it). I'd also start a foundation and help with public and women's health issues and advocate for better support for working families.

2. We found out recently that a friend of ours is dealing with unknown fertility issues. Came as a real shock because they had up until when they started trying two years ago not wanted kids. They have a blog, and I've been keeping up. It also links to all kinds of other infertility blogs. I've developed an odd fascination with all of them, and I feel strangely guilty because it was so easy for us.

3. I kind of want to have the Sprout baptized, and not because I'm into the whole Christian thing, but because I'm superstitious. Is that odd?

4. The sprout doesn't roll over. She's done it, but she doesn't seem to feel the need to continue to do it. I'm sort of worried about that.

5. I think I'd like to have a part time job instead of the one I have. Or do my current job part time. I really love working and I don't think that I could do mom full time because it wouldn't be good for my depression, but I'd like to be around more than I already am.

6. Because of our issues with our parents, and what I see my friends go through, I really want to be a good mom. And not just make sure she turns out to be a good person, but I want her to like me when she's 30. I know that just because you're some one's parent its not a guarantee that they have to like you and talk to you when they're grown up. I want to make sure that I can be a good parent, and she'll still want to be my friend. The part of this you don't know. I'm seriously considering cutting ties to my dad.

7. I just woke up from a two hour nap with the Sprout and the Boof! It was delicious.

Locusts?

Wednesday, 14 November 2007

The Sprout has pink eye (infestation at daycare), ajd is home with her, but pukin', and work is nuts.

Happy Hump Day!

Content, yet sensitive.

Monday, 12 November 2007

On the nifty little "this is what your kid did today" sheet we get from daycare, there is a little box for your kids general mood. Top is "cheerful", bottom is "sensitive". Today Sprout got "content" and "sensitive". Apparently while she ate, she cried during eating. She's still not back to eating full amounts (and I'm having to pump to keep from being in discomfort), so I wasn't entirely surprised. Given both the stomach bug and the tooth. I wasn't expecting it to be that bad though. However... I think I know why it was that bad. While checking on the progress of the bottom tooth, I discovered the TOP tooth. Also breaking through. It would be on the opposite side from the bottom tooth. That's gonna look interesting in her Christmas photos.
I'm honestly so used to seeing her old lady toothless grin that I don't know what she'll be like with teeth. Kinda freaked out, especially with the odd order they're coming in in.

Toof!

Sunday, 11 November 2007

Ok, so we had a false start on the whole tooth thing, that turned out to be some little cysts on her gums. However, this one is real, and sharp. Sprout has her first tooth. She looks more and more like a little girl every day. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out how much she's grown. Tomorrow, 7 months old.
As you can see, she's recovered from the flu thing.

Eat your heart out Linda Blair

Friday, 9 November 2007

Sprout had her first ER visit today. After sleeping from 4:45 yesterday afternoon until this morning, and projectile vomiting in the middle of the night and immediately after I tried to feed her this morning, our Ped reccomended we go into the ER to make sure she wasn't too dehydrated. (this was all before office hours) She was barely able to stay awake, hadn't had a wet diaper since last night, and after pukin' would get dry heaves, so we knew it wasn't just a little spit up.

We thought it might have been her reflux, or some bug, and on my way out of the ER at CHC we found out where she got it from. Turns out another little girl from her room at daycare had been having issues with the other end Wednesday, and then threw up at daycare yesterday and was waiting to be seen herself. Hrm... Since she really only puked, I think maybe her being breastfed kept the illness more in check. At least thats what I'm going to tell everyone.

They checked her urine, and rechecked her temp, and made sure she could keep down pedialyte (though she seriously hated the stuff), and then sent us home. We were able to get some of the unflavored stuff in her at home, and she's eating fine now, though she slept all day.

Her timing is about as good as Pumpkin's, since I was going to do holiday photos this weekend. I'm hoping the dark circles go away enough that I still can.

Raspberries, squash and forward progress.

Monday, 5 November 2007

Third time is a charm for food. The Sprout has started up the solids again. Oatmeal is better than rice, as far as she's concerned. Squash is better than bananas or apples. We're trying something green next. I made another batch of homemade squash and made enough that the ice cube trays were not enough. I froze the rest in a mini muffin tin. We'll see how that works out. I like making food for her, and even if I buy organic, its still cheaper than the store bought stuff. Only issue is availibility of some things.
She discovered her ability to do raspberries a couple of months ago, but she's really perfected it recently. We go Ma Ma or Da Da to her, she goes tthhbtt! Yesterday, I got a face full of squash when she did it while eating. I think she's doing it for laughs now.
Sunday we moved the coffee table so we could hang on the floor in the living room and have fun with tummy time and fending off the dog. So far she's turned in circles on her tummy, but yesterday she got up on all fours and started to push off with one knee. Not really crawling, but if its like football, forward progress counts right?
Time to get serious about childproofing.

A big Thank You!

Thursday, 1 November 2007

As I was cleaning the umteenth blowout of bright yellow baby poop out of one of my favorite Sprout outfits, I realized I really should give a huge thank you to Syl. Without her advice about Dreft Baby Stain Remover and Oxyclean, it would either be impossible, or even more time consuming to clean the crap out. (I mean it, literally baby crap)
Today's fun one was caused by an explosive little number while sitting in her highchair after our third attempt at solids (previous two proved she wasn't ready). I was cooking dinner and looked over to see something yellow green on the foot rest below her dangling feet (she was sitting playing with a silicon spatula while I finished our dinner). Funny I thought, I fed her oatmeal and squash. Squash isn't green. (for the record, oatmeal has gone over way better than rice cereal). Upon closer inspection, she had pooped so furiously that it was dripping down her leg... Onto her shoes... and her socks, and lining her very cute pants.

So, thanks Syl, for the advice on this and so many other things. I have yet to have to give up on anything, and I've made numerous cute things return to the brightest of whites. It was especially useful for the month that she pooped on my favorite white with hot pink flowered onesie of hers every time she wore it (kid you not).

Ms. Independent

Wednesday, 31 October 2007

Sprout has a new skill. Unassisted sitting. I think she's been ready for almost the last week, I was just too chicken to do it. Today I came home and found out that ajd had sat her down on the stack of blankets in her room (where she plays on her tummy, etc) and she had been fine, even rolled over onto her tummy. Still needs a soft insurance policy underneath for me to be OK with it, but as we learned, even falling over backwards in the yard doesn't phase her.

Here is the evidence.

Power to the People C'mon

Monday, 29 October 2007

Ok, time to put those reps to good use:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=summary&bill=h110-2236

MN has some protections, but not the encouragement of the all important tax breaks. I can say from personal experience that a supportive workplace that has multiple mother's rooms (with fridges and sinks), access to a hospital grade pump, and covers breastpumps (thats new this year) has made breastfeeding a very easy choice for me. My only complaint is that knowing about the resources is like being a special club, and most managers/HR isn't even aware they exist.

So, put democracy to work for you, and ask that they move the bill along.

Stats

Friday, 26 October 2007

So, we finally had our 6 months appointment today. The Dr. I had finally decided on after all wasn't available for weeks since she's on vacation, and then rounding. Bah! Bonus though, the physician's assistant was available, and since I've had good luck with those who don't have an MD after their name, we went for it. She was great, she was good with Sprout (though still not as good as the Ped we had to give up). Everything looks good, she's still um... big. (19 pounds, 3 ounces, 28 3/4", which puts her in the 97th % + again) Though she does have fluid in the ear that wasn't infected two weeks ago. Man I hate the pietri dish that is daycare some days. (ajd is on his second round of steroids to clear up asthma related issues since Sprout was born)

To celebrate being a BABY (not just a baby), we went for walk with the Boof!. Bundled the Sprout up all Clara like in her stroller and enjoyed that the leaves are peaking in our neighborhood. What a fun way to spend the day off.

Oh, and I was inspired by AKJ and got some Christmas shopping done. Figured I should take advantage of the fact that I can shop for her while she's with me this year. I'm nowhere near Syl on the whole card thing though.

Yeah, we're those kind of suckers.

Sunday, 21 October 2007

Today I finally made good on one of the MIL's demands. On one of our more recent visits I asked if she was dropping hints by constantly giving me coupons for Penney's portrait studio. She said she wasn't hinting, she needed an 8x10 to match the one she had of Attila. First time I had any idea it was more than a general nicity to give me the coupons. I had thought that the nearly weekly digital photographs including monthly ones next the teddy bear they got her was enough, but she needed an 8x10. I admit, I sort of don't understand the facination with posed photography. Catching her being goofy is far more fun. (though I have yet to catch the true fun of her belly laugh)
So, we did it. I had intended to be frugal about the whole thing, but we turned out to be those suckers. Not the really big ones, but we definitely got into it. It helps that we have the super smiley kid. We've ordered enough to share with the relatives and decorate ours, and our parents, respective homes/work places.
Aside from learning that we are suckers for pictures of our kid, I learned that ajd is sucker for a girl in a dress. I still think they're impractical and that she'll have plenty of time to wear them when she doesn't have the urge to eat them, but he's all about the girly girl. (which makes me wonder sometimes how he married me, but thats another matter) He bought her three new dresses, one of which she is wearing in her pictures. (yes we bought it right before our appointment, and the pink tights to match) I have to admit, she was cute. And after all, we're those kind of suckers.

Hey, its another picture of a cute kid and some pumpkins

Monday, 15 October 2007

This is the only one that didn't look like "Uh... I was asleep... whats with the orange things as big as me?"

Squash!

The weekend turned out to not be quite the loss that I thought it would be. I managed to get some cleaning done (the Sprout's room no longer looks like a tornado hit it), and even better, I made baby food. I steamed a squash I bought a few weekends ago (love how they keep so well) and pureed it in the blender. (only had to add minimal water, and I used the steaming water so I didn't lose some of the nutrients) I then hijacked an ice cube tray to freeze most of it, the rest is in the fridge, and we'll try feeding it tonight. All in all, not a bad deal. Next I'm going to try apples.
The other part of the weekend, the family in Red Wing, turned out great as well. Great Aunt Suzie is as always a blast. There is something about her that changes the whole family dynamic, in a really fun way. Great Grandma kept her comments about how we're raising Sprout to herself (and seemed to stay sober), and Nana shocked us all with some of her comments. (I had the tassels thing explained to me on the ride home, sorry I missed it. I would have peed my pants) Makes me wish that she lived closer, though I'm sure she's glad that she's farther away.
We did manage to go get apples and a pumpkin, though not at an orchard proper. I have pictures I'll post to flickr later. I may need to try to do the pumpkin thing again, since Sprout had just woken up and seemed a bit confused by being plopped down with the big orange things.
The other success of the weekend, I put the Recipeeps to good use and made baked Ziti (except couldn't find Ziti and used Penne), and it was a huge hit. I've got leftover for lunch. Yum!

A bunch o' questions.

Friday, 12 October 2007

Has anyone done a farm share? I keep thinking that buying local is really a good idea, and its an easy way to do organic. Its obviously too late for this year, but it would allow planning for next year. However, there are still only two adults in our house, and it might be easier to try and split with someone near by or who works near one of us. (Pusher? AKJ?) There seem to be a number that deliver, which would take care of any concerns about having to drive to the country to get it.

Along the same lines, we were thinking about buying part of a cow. I've found a number that do around 30 pounds in the 5/lb range, but if someone was interested in splitting a quarter/half of a cow, then it would be less. Mmmm... Beef?

The sprout turns six months old today. Holy cow. (She's going to be a cow for Halloween) We tried solids a month or so ago when it looked like I would be going out of town. She got all gassy/fussy, and my trip was postponed, so we delayed. Lots of reasons to delay, very few to start early. Did anyone do baby led solids? It seems to be the hot thing to do in the wholistic family world. We are going to try solids again, this time a whole grain variety, but I was thinking we could see how she does with feeding herself some mashed banana or avocado (my first food). She tried to eat my oatmeal the other day, I think we're getting closer to ready. She also has been having fun with a spoon while I eat, keeps her from trying to to steal the pork chops.

We thought we would have a weekend off to work on stuff around the house, but we're off to Red Wing to see out of town family that came to visit. I get to try out my new nursing tops. (exposing skin in winter in MN bad) I'm sure I'll still get stuck in another room, but at least my tummy won't be cold. So my last question is this, why can't everyone get over it, they're just tits. Everyone's got them, some are just bigger than others. I wish I lived in Europe some times, they put them in the newspaper there. Since I started nursing, I have a hard time thinking about them as anything but someone's lunch. I totally see what other people can be nervous about, but why can't people just let it be. And what's with Bill Maher. He used to be so cool.

Baby Loves Disco

Tuesday, 9 October 2007

Since the Sprout is going to be six months old on Friday (When in the hell did that happen?), I was wondering if anyone would be interested in doing a Baby Loves Disco outing with all of the munchkins in October or November?

No, I don't need a break...

Wednesday, 3 October 2007

There seems to be a lot of attention and fussing about giving me a break lately. Most of it comes from people with "Grand" in their names. They seem to think that I need a break from dealing with the Sprout. None of them read this, but I would just like to say, I don't need one.
Maybe its because she's such an easy going kid, maybe its because she eats every hour and a half when I'm home at night, and sleeps most of that time anyways, or maybe its because I'm gone from the house, and her, almost 50 hours a week, but I don't need a freakin' break. Her dad doesn't need one either. When she's asleep, I'm not rushing out the door to socialize, I'm doing laundry/dishes/sleeping myself. If I'm going to socialize, its best if she can come with. The fact is, she's fun/funny/goofy/cute and I miss her when I don't spend time with her.
I realize that you want time with her too, and I'm sorry you don't get this since you stayed home or came from a generation of men who weren't as involved, but she's going to be six months old next week and I already am afraid that I'm missing too much. Sorry, but being my parent doesn't make your needs more important than mine when it comes to my kid. Maybe if we have another, maybe when she has temper tantrums, maybe when she figures out how to slam a door, then we'll talk. In the mean time, given the choice, I'd rather watch her discover her toes more than any of my old hobbies.
And while we're at it. I'm not you. I'm not going to parent like you, and while I turned out just fine, my doing it differently than you is not a critcism of you, its just my way of doing it and it does not need to be questioned.

Note: I've got family coming to town, and I needed to get it out of my system before they got here.

Apparently, I've been missing.

Monday, 1 October 2007

I figured I was just giving you a break from talking about the Sprout. I'm still here and doing well. Right now I'm enjoying laptops, wireless networks, and remote access. The Sprout has been running the course of a cold. Four or so weeks and counting. First it was snot out her nose, then it seemed to go away, and now the snot is being worked out via coughing. A nice nasty sounding cough. Makes her dad cringe, so we spent the 20 bucks again to have them tell us she's fine. I'm thinking of investing in a stethoscope so I can tell if what I'm hearing is in her chest or not.
So I brought her into work, to the Dr, and then home, because breast feeding and work don't always mix. At the Dr. we learned that she now weighs over 18 pounds, and is around 28.5 inches long. We'll get the official measurements next week at her 6 mo. appointment. In the mean time, I'm keeping up the doses of Baby Miracle Grow.
We should be out and about this weekend, at parties, etc. I have a babysitter (my mommy), which will be nice. Booze doesn't mix well with the chemicals, but I've recently discovered blood orange syrup, and it makes amazing Italian sodas. (old school coffee shop drink, ya know) I would bet it also mixes well with Vodka, so I'll bring it along.

I should have known, you've been snacking more.

Thursday, 20 September 2007

Well, I went to the Dr. and I'm living better through chemistry. I thought I was doing so well, that I'd escaped things since I didn't have any signs of PPD early on, but alas, I've been snacking, and shopping, and not really acting like myself. I can tell you admitting whats going on made me feel half better, which should be enough to tide me over to when the drugs kick in. I'll just be buying a mouth guard in the mean time. *grind*grind*

In other good news, all travel through the end of the fiscal year is off, so I won't be going anywhere in October. Other major projects mean travel is out for November/December, so the earliest would be January. Which brings up issues of weather effecting travel, but I guess thats a risk I have to take. I'm just happy about not having to do formula for right now. It did scary things to her poop that may have given ajd PTSD. Though if he thinks that is bad, I can't wait for when she starts eating table food. I suspect he will be encouraging potty training early on.

Yeah, thats my kid.

Sunday, 16 September 2007

Aside from the fact that she looks an awful lot like my baby pictures, she apparently has my attitude as well.

Umm... can we buy tickets now?

Thursday, 13 September 2007

I didn't see Body Worlds because every since my childhood encounter with the mummy, and the nightmares afterwards, I have had no desire to see human bodies, plasticized or not... but um, this, this we need to make into a group outing. Like with dinner and wine and everything.
Go here to sign up to get on a priority ticket email list.

We're rookies

Wednesday, 12 September 2007

Monday we decided to feed the Sprout cereal for the first time... even got out the camera and everything.

We forgot to put a bib on her.

We did better last night, remembered the bib, which is good because most of the cereal ended up on it.

Formulating.

Monday, 10 September 2007

Don't tell my mom, but I just signed up at Nestle's site. I already have Similac samples at home, and at Syl's suggestion, I'll get some from Nestle as well. Not to mention, coupons are good.
Even if I get enough milk frozen, on the off chance it still isn't good, I'd better have a backup plan. Its not like if she won't eat it that I can just come up in a few hours and feed her. I've also done some checking around here, and their kids were picky about formula, so we should make sure she is OK with it before I'm a three hour flight and an international border away.
However, please don't tell my mom. She boycotted Nestle from way back in the day. I didn't have a damn Crunch bar except Halloween until I had my own allowance. They still are on the really iffy side in the whole breast milk vs. formula war. I'll be hiding the evidence when she comes to visit.
Mmmm... chocolate.

Update

Sunday, 9 September 2007

I read this:

Is your freezer cold enough? If your freezer keeps ice cream hard, then the temperature is right.

I think the main issue is the freezer. We had some ice cream in August, and it wasn't staying hard. I thought it was airy cheap icecream. I suspect its the temp. I've dropped the temp in the freezer. I don't think scalding is a bad idea as an insurance policy. I'm going to press to get a deep freeze right away.

I've also gotten some good advice on what to do to help mitigate the issue. Including for the more recent stuff, mixing it with fresh milk to cut down on the smell, so hopefully she will take it.

Oh god, I'm gonna cry.

Saturday, 8 September 2007

We did our test, and its pretty official. All of my frozen milk is bad. I'm guessing its the lipase combined with the defrost cycle on the fridge. So far I've been able to get my milk to last over the weekend (Thursday to Tuesday didn't however), but the freezer stash is out. I've thawed August and July milk and same issue. It makes me wanna gag, and she refuses it. I haven't counted it up yet (and I'm afraid I really will cry if I do), but I'm estimating around 150 ounces. Even I find a way to scald/store, and if I go ape shit on pumping between now and mid October, I don't think I'll have the 75+ ounces I'll need for my trip.
The plan it to clean out the basement, get a chest freezer, and start scalding my milk. Seems a lot of women have had good luck with doing it in bottle warmers, so that's what I'm hoping to do. I have one, just need an instant read thermometer to devote to the process as well.
So, that's the plan, but now I have another question. A question I never planned on having to ask since I had the super boobs. How in the hell do you pick a formula to use? I have some samples, but that's not making an educated decision. Daycare uses a Nestle product with Iron, so that wouldn't cost me anything for daycare, but I don't know if that's best either. Syl? AKJ? Help? I'll most likely call the Dr. office too, but I need some mom opinions.

Mmm... Donut

Its a good day to cuddle up with a nice warm pastry.

This episode brought to you by the letter K.

Saturday, 1 September 2007

I steal cool stuff from other people's blogs.

My name: Kale

1. Famous Singer/Band: Korn
2. Four letter word: kick
3. Street: Knox
4. Color: Khaki
5. Gifts/Presents: Killer Rabbit Plush Toy
6. Vehicle: Kia
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: keychain
8. Boy Name: Kent
9. Girl Name: Kayla
10. Movie Title: Kiss Me Kate
11. Drink: Kamikaze
12. Occupation: King
13. Celebrity: Kate Hudson
14. Magazine: Knits
15. U.S. City: Kansas City
16. Pro Sports Teams: Knickerbockers (Knicks)
17. Fruit: Kumquat
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Kid
19. Something You Throw Away: kitty litter
20. Things You Shout: Kaboom!
21. Cartoon Character: Kermit (Muppet Babies)

A boob post.

Thursday, 23 August 2007

Dear Breast Milk Fairies,

I'm very sorry for bragging about how much milk I could produce, and how big my stash was. It was silly and egotistical of me. After all, who wouldn't like an awesome stash and a mutant weed of a baby. But I am truly sorry about it, and if I could be so humble, I'd like it back. See, I've got a business trip coming up, and I'd really like it if my little Sprout could eat nothing but breast milk while I'm rocking out north of the border. It would make me feel not quite so bad about leaving her. In offering, I'm eating some oatmeal for dinner (in my meatloaf) and drinking fluids, and I'm even considering downing a jug of fake maple syrup. (or just going to the Wedge and getting some fenugreek this weekend)

Sincerely,

Greenveggie

BPA is not your friend. Its not even someone you wave to when you pass in the hallways.

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

I was moderately aware of BPA (thanks mom) when we started doing the bottle thing with the Sprout. However, I was more interested in getting her to eat from a bottle, since it wasn't going really well. However, the outlook has gotten worse.

I have a picky daughter. She thinks breasts come with silicon covers and that artificial things to suck on involve odd "orthodontic" shapes. No information I could find on the Internets (here, here and in open questions to the LLL crowd) helped me out with my particular issue. So I've spent some money and done some research.

Nuk wide mouth nipples do not fit on any bottle that I could find. Their bottles are just slightly smaller than most other wide mouth bottles. German manufacturer Nuk does make a wide mouth glass bottle, but I was unable to find a way to purchase it. Even if I found it, we only use bottles for daycare, and I think the chances of them wanting to use a glass bottle are... none.

Nuk "standard" nipples are orthodontic in shape and fit BPA free bottles that are readily available including Gerber, Medela, etc. They offer something no other "standard" nipple has, venting. However, if you are looking for a bottle that has the "breast like" wide base and the orthodontic shape, there doesn't appear to be a bpa free alternative. (we did try the narrow one, but she likes to "latch" on to the bottle and get in to her normal sucking rhythm, can't do that on a narrow nipple)

BPA free alternatives with "natural" shaped nipples: (though seriously, my nipple has never looked like that)

Born Free - Wow are they expensive. Pretty much anyone researching stuff knows about them, I won't waste the space.

Gerber GentleFlow - There seems to be a lot of love for the Avent bottles among breastfed babies (mine just wasn't one of them). These are nearly identical. The nipples don't have the same extra outside sealing ridge that Avent does. However, their nipples are completely interchangeable with the Avent nipples. Had the Sprout liked the Avent bottles, we would be going this route. They weren't available at any major big box retailer that I found, but I found them at a Walgreen's and they are available on their website.

Playtex Drop Ins - Here is where it gets interesting. There are two kinds of bottle liners from Playtex. The stiff ridged "drop in", and a plain plastic bag. The stiff ones work on Playtex bottles only as far as I can tell. The bags, though I haven't tested it with milk, would appear to work on just about anything. I'm sure Playtex wouldn't recommend that however. I have yet to feed with this option because I'm not sure what it would do with a venting nipple. The bottle frames (that makes sense right?) from Playtex come in two different varieties, Original, and Premium. The Premium is Polycarbonate (and thus has bpa), the original is not. You're not actually having liquid touch the frame with the premium, but why encourage them. Downside, heating up stuff in the liners. Of course, you wouldn't microwave breast milk, but if you're thinking you'll use your bottle warmer, I don't think they'll work. I can't confirm that, but I'm extrapolating from their literature. If you heat under hot water, they're good.

What I'm going to do.

I'm going to try the bag type liners (note: they say you can store bm in them, oh are they delusional) in my wide mouth Nuk bottles, see if it heats up ok, and see if daycare is cool with them. Right now the Sprout won't take any other kind of nipple. Doesn't mean I wont' keep trying. I'll be careful about my bottles, avoid the dishwasher, etc. I'll also transition her to a sippy cup earlier rather than later. There are SO many more sippy cup options.

The politics of charity.

I work for a pretty cool company. Every year they participate in a number of charity type programs, and are a major supporter of a local school. Its a good thing that they encourage volunteering and donation, since our FC's make oodles of money. I'm convinced that the people who make less participate more sometimes, however.
I'm all too glad to donate to these things, and at a minimum, give my time to shopping. I mean really, you're going to encourage me to go shopping, and because no one else will do it, I don't even have to spend my own money for everything. How can I pass that up?
So, the point. I was at the T downtown today shopping for school supplies, and some of my coworkers were there. I was picking out some really cool rulers, and they pointed out how I could get the cheaper ones. Basically, get the kids the cheapest stuff possible. My reaction, while I can't confirm it, I'm pretty sure my parents got help with my school supplies at least once. At a minimum, I got the cheap stuff. I wore second hand clothes too. Me = Not cool. I feel for the kids getting this stuff. The kids that get the stuff I'm buying most likely have second hand clothes too. The last thing they need is Rose Art crayons, cheap rulers and the ugly backpack. So when I do this, I get some cheaper stuff, but I also get a cool pencil case, really fun folders for the "decorative" ones. When I do adopt a family, I make sure they get a toy, that girls get girly winter coats, etc.
I figure quality matters, and generosity matters, even I don't scrimp for every penny. And maybe, someday when they have a job, they remember getting the cool stuff, and do it for some other kid.

Final Score

Thursday, 16 August 2007

Mystery stomach bug - 2
Kale - 0

Yup, definitely kicked my butt. Lasted almost exactly two days. Doesn't appear it took anyone else in the house out. *crosses fingers* It was not food poisoning, it was most likely the flu.

Lessons learned:

Breastfeed/pumping dehydrated = Not fun. I think this is why some women think breastfeeding hurts. They need to drink more water. Think about it, the kid is taking in 20-30 ounces of fluid from you. That's an extra liter of water, or more, you need to take in.

Mixing juice with water is not as bad as you think. I thought it would taste gross. Not so much, pretty decent.

Thinking you're better after a day and that you'll prove it by eating Taco Bell is a tremendously bad idea.

It is better to violently puke from a stomach bug than from drinking too much.

Angel food cake is good, no matter what state you are in.

The Score

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

Pizza - 1
Veggie - 0


Dear Mr. Father Jose's pizza,

Thanks. I wanted to spend my wednesday alternating worshiping and sitting on the porceline god. Really, good times. I especially like the muscle cramps from dehydration, and that pumping milk for my INFANT DAUGHTER, hurts like a mo-fo. I'm cranking it up to high and sticking it on your dried out nipples next.

-Veggie

Oh, and god bless ajd, who picked me up from work, got me saltines and gatorade, and didn't complain about me whining for like four hours about being cold. He's also holding the Sprout because I'm still both weak and very warm.

4 Months?!?

Monday, 13 August 2007

When in the heck did that happen. (I'm practicing not swearing. I've been getting in trouble for my foul tongue)

We have gone over a week with sleeping through the night. Some nights are better than others... last night ajd laughed during our last feeding and woke her up enough that she didn't go back to sleep easily and thus spent the whole night with me (I'm sure she would have, but I like sleep, gosh darnit). Oh, she starts in her basinet co-sleeper so I get some good tossin' and turnin' sleep first.

Her reaction to her shots got her another Dr. visit. She wouldn't eat at daycare and our normally happy baby wouldn't stop crying, so they called, and we brought her in. She's fine, just needed more tylenol.

At four months old, she gets to try new toys. I offer you, the Johnny Jumpup. It will be a stellar replacement to the bouncy chair which she has nearly outgrown. Thank you Pusher & Puck. This will allow me to cook dinner with her still near by. The only issue is that she is now an easy target for the Boof.

Stats

Thursday, 9 August 2007

Ok, as requested. Honestly, not as big as I expected, but thats a good thing.

Length - 27.25 inches
Weight - 16 pounds, 15.5 ounces (oh heck, if she hadn't peed right before, she would have been 17 pounds)

Off the charts on both, again. More off the charts on height, so the Dr. called her skinny for only have four fat rolls on her arms. She's staying consistant on her growth pattern, so the skinny thing is ok. I have noticed that she's not gaining quite as fast as she was, but then again, adding two pounds to 15 is way different than adding two pounds to 8. I finally feel like I don't have to go shopping once a month.

That wasn't so bad.

I'm working from home today since the Sprout had her shots yesterday and is running a fever today. It happened last time, so I was prepared. The shots were not the most shocking/painful part of the appointment however.

Our Ped. is leaving the practice, and our local office is closing! Apparently they don't want to tell anyone about either, but it does explain the unexpected retirement of the most awesome lactation consultant nurse practicioner ever. We initially thought we would just follow the Ped to her new practice, even though its in ANDOVER! But, I'm having second thoughts. Her new practice is a HUGE general practice with just a handful of Peds. One of the major benefits of our current practice is that its all Peds, and that they offer weekend hours when, because its all Ped's. we get to see a Ped. The new practice offers weekend hours, but only Saturday, and only with GP's. I'm not so keen on any of the other Ped's at our current ones local office, but there is one I really like in Plymoth, and it would be about the same drive as ANDOVER! The other downside is hours. Current Ped. is only Wed-Fri, but is in all day. (thus the bonus of the most awesome lactation consultant nurse practictioner ever, before she retired). In her new office she's m-f, but only 7-1:30. So no more cutting out of work early for Dr. apts. I would have to go in late and fight rush hour going back to home/daycare.

So, here is what I am thinking, let me know if it makes sense. I really love our Pediatrican. She listens, she talks to us like we're smart (cause we are), she loves the Sprout and can always calm her down, and really seems to know her stuff. She's also open to and encouraging of breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and alternative therapies. I really don't want to give her up. We'll follow her, and see how it goes. There are a lot of appointments in the first year, so we'll know in short order if we have issues. If we don't like it enough to give up seeing her, we have a backup plan in our old practice and the doc in the other office. We're driving no matter what.

Oh, other downside, new practice seems to only have rights to Unity. Never been there, no idea where it is. Not totally comfortable with going to a hospital that doesn't have a children's specialty. I do believe some of you (Syl) have experience in north metro hospitals and may know more. Opinions? If we had another kid, I would either have to get another OB, or not have said next kid seen by other kid's practice in the hospital (not a big deal unless there are complications again).

Happy Birthday to me!

Tuesday, 7 August 2007

For my birthday I received a very fun gift already from my daughter. She slept through the night for the second time ever. Yay 7+ hours of sleep, only slightly interupted. (it counts as uninterupted if I don't have to get out of my bed) Yay Co-sleeping, and snuggly baby.

On another note, Sprout got her first non-self inflicted wound yesterday. A kid touring her daycare walked up to her when she was just hanging out in the bouncy, and grabbed her face. Some small scratches appeared to be the only issue. However, this morning, the eye that was part of the area grabbed was very crusty. It wasn't red or anything, so I'm hoping it was just sinus draining or her eye flushing out. Daycare hasn't called, so I'm guessing it still looks good. Either way, we'll have the Dr. check it out at her four month appointment tomorrow.

Random

Sunday, 5 August 2007

In the world of Harry Potter, do they have to use a breast pump, or is there a spell for that?

Is everyone who makes money off of a blog full of themself? How can I be like them?

This week (August 1-7) is world breastfeeding week. Its recognized by the medical community as the best thing to do, but there are still Dr's out there (suposedly educated people), let alone average people, who question it. WTF?

If its the right thing to do, why doesn't insurance cover breast pumps?

My MIL likes to tell me what I WILL be emotional about, now that I'm a mom. So far, she's been dead wrong on just about everything. The first thing that really almost teared me up, this:



All of my toys, all at once. from Kale and Vimeo.

A silly little video of my kid. Who knew.

We're ok.

Wednesday, 1 August 2007

For the record, we're OK. I haven't driven that route in years, and we were up at a friend's house in the evil burbs. Kinda freaked out though. If it were my family, I'd be a mess. This kind of stuff only happens in exotic places, like California. Its odd to have it be close to home.

A bunch of posts, all at once.

Monday, 30 July 2007

After running out of patience at the umteenth over sized SUV that was half assed parked and dinged my door, I may or may not have accidentally dragged my key along the side of it. Only after my door wouldn't retaliate scratch their door, it just hit the freaking running board. My poor car has taken some serious abuse by people who should have to take a parking test before buying a large car. We won't even go in the Jimmy that parks in the compact car spot on a regular basis. Seriously, it was mostly an accident, less than a centimeter long, and nothing compared to the FOUR INCH scratch and dent on my passenger door. (the attempt at a retaliation door opening however, was not remotely accidental)

My darling child, and my blog, should be renamed to Veggie and freakishly mutant weed spawn. I went shopping for her this weekend and bought her, kid you not, 12-18 month stuff. Its a little big, but only a little. She has also worn a pair of 18-24 month pants. I believe they were meant to be capri's, but again, their oversizedness is only minor. Because of her ability to outgrow things before she has worn them twice, I am now buying everything large, and letting her swim in it. If for no other reason than to attempt to get my money's worth.

As an aside to that one, just how big do they make diapers? We're about to be in size fours. They may say 22-28 pounds, but based on the number of blowouts, we need the length to cover her long ass and contain her explosive poop. I saw some other kids at the store with size fours in their carts. They were actually sitting in the cart, because the can sit unassisted. They're practically toddlers.

Which brings me to my next point. Maybe its good her hair isn't growing in because it still makes her look young. Based on her size, I'm already getting odd expectations about what she can do before people know her age. Based on some stuff I've seen on blogs and message boards, that's a big issue with big kids. Expecting a large two year old not to act like a two year old.

The weed's cold has not cleared up. She's still stuffed up. Bad enough we did a return Doctor visit just to make sure that it was still isolated in her nose. We have now taken to spraying her nose with saline, and trying bulb syringe some of it out so she eats better. If she could talk, she'd tell you that we're trying to suck out her brain. I tell you, its not so. Really. Honestly. We're not.

I'd like to get more frustrated when I try to feed the weed and she instead coo's and laughs at me, but I can't. She's just too darn cute. She's incredibly vocal. I fear I may get mine when she starts talking, there may be not stopping her. Not to mention the habit of laughing at me...



You can't see it, but yes, that is an 18 Charisma.

Next week I turn an age that pretty much every person reading this has already gone through. I realize I will get no sympathy at all. However, I ask this... Anyone want to go out for Sushi? Like Sushi Happy Hour at Sushi Tango? I was going to be all big and cool and have a party, however, I don't have the energy to clean. So... Bloody Mary's and cheap caterpillar rolls anyone?

24 Hours

Sunday, 22 July 2007

Last time a HP book arrived at my door, for some odd reason, it took me two years to finish it. This time, I was determined not to make the same mistake. 24 hours. And yes, I slept. ajd and I hung out in our porch and read, I snuggled the Sprout and read, I even fed the Sprout and read. Was it worth it? Yes. I honestly can say I didn't expect what I read. Only let down? Thats its all over. Lately I haven't been much of a reader. Nothing has inspired me to read, nothing has been good enough, fast enough. Robert Jordan's nice and all, but seriously, get to the point. This was the only reading I really looked forward to, and now its done. The good news is that soon, I won't notice so much. The Sprout sits and watches while you read her books. I know she's only getting the fun of listening to me out of it right now, but soon, she'll want more. Soon, she'll be ready for us to read chapter books to her. I can't wait for that.

Simpsonizeme

Friday, 20 July 2007

Ajd is a big geek and made me go there and get Simpsonized. We did the whole family, and ajd photoshopped us together. (yes, I verbed a noun)



I am, of course, thinner as a Simpson.

A Toof?!?

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Sprout has started to sprout a tooth. I guess I wasn't looking for it yet, but daycare saw the little white flash. The increase in drool should have been a sign. It may still not start to really break through for up to months, but since her dad and uncle Dude both got teeth between three and four months, it wouldn't be unheard of.
My first reaction? To grab my boobs. Maybe it will be a good thing that she hasn't given up the nipple shield yet.
She's also doing things just a little different, because its her top left. Rebelling already, I couldn't be more proud.

Well, that didn't take long.

Sunday, 15 July 2007

One week of daycare, a cold, and an ear infection.

Any one have any suggestions for getting a kid to take her antibiotics if she won't swallow excess liquid in her mouth, and the "suck on my finger while I sneak it in the side of your mouth" trick isn't working? A fever, an ear ache, and a clogged nose don't help matters and I can't seem to get her to take the stuff.

Three months + 1 day

Friday, 13 July 2007

Dear Sprout,

Today you're three months and one day old. I'm a day late because when I get home, I just want to snuggle you, and when not snuggling you, I'm getting ready for our next day of work and daycare.
This week you started daycare, and after that nasty scary woman last week, I was relieved. You are a social little one, so independant and lucky for me, so happy. You seem to enjoy all of the toys, and while your napping is hit and miss, I know it may just be because you're having too much fun.
You are eating well at daycare, something I worried about, but nursing more at home. I figure a little more comfort nursing is fine, because honestly, I need it too. You are still sleeping with us, something that I also feel good about, especially when you still have a little reflux gurgle. Your Nana and great-grandmother continue to question my parenting because you sleep with us. They can kiss my lily-white-cellulite ass. I would never do anything to risk your life. As-fucking-if. Sorry, little pissed off about that one.
Most importantly, I love you. I'm still amazed by you, and that I had anything to do with you. You're one cool little one, and I'm lucky to have you, your dad, and the Boof in my life. Yes, even the Boof, though I would like it if you tried a little harder to "accidentally" kick her more. It just makes me laugh.

Mom

Update

Thursday, 12 July 2007

Three days in, we are really liking daycare. She seems like she's having a good time, and her motor skills took a big jump in that short period of time. She's started to really figure out grabbing things. Its far less accidental. Their communication is wonderful. We get a nice sheet giving food, naps and activities for the day. She is coming home every day in what she left in, so we know they're on top of her diaper changes (otherwise exploding baby would have gotten them).
We're getting good feedback that she's really good for them, and enjoys the activities and toys. We're hoping this continues. Its nice to feel like she's not only getting care, but that they are helping her learn and grow.
She is also going off to daycare incredibly well dressed. Tie dye every other day so far. This morning, she looked terribly cute in a onesie by Pusher and the jeans that I believe that AKJ gave her, that I had to take some pictures. Ignore the milk drool.

Through the nose.

Tuesday, 3 July 2007

Daycare has been found. I interviewed the two OTHER centers by my house. I hate to say it, but the burbs one won out. The other one was just too... North Minneapolis. Too much just giving up and being half assed. Nothing like the suburban branches of the same chain. I hate how being in this neighborhood seems to mean that everyone does the minimum effort. You can't tell me that The Man is putting you down when you don't even try.

We start on Monday, after my mom does a couple of days for us. She was going to take the Sprout out of daycare to snuggle her anyways, so everone wins. Today the Sprout did her morning with dad, while I went in for a few hours. Love the little stinker, but it was nice to be at work.

I'm going to continue to look for a home daycare. Because as the title suggests, we're bleeding money for the center daycare. We can do it, but I'm going to be in the same boat as Syl. I'm basically paying for a second home for the Sprout during the day. We're paying them what I made as a live in nanny for two kids. Ugh.

Oh, one more thing. If my supply stays up with pumping, and she eats like she did for dad, I'm so golden. She at 2-2.5 ounces over two feedings, I pumped 7 in one pumping. Yay for the milk machine boobs.

*sigh*

Monday, 2 July 2007

This morning went pretty well, so I should have known something would go wrong. I just wish it hadn't been so big of a thing.

We got up around when the alarm went off, put the Sprout in her crib, made sure all stuff for shower was together, and got in the shower. All was going well. Got out of shower, got partially dressed, fed the Sprout, got fully dressed. Got help going out the car, and headed off to daycare.

Went up the stairs, saw the Sprout's name was not on checkin sheet. Hrm. Ok, no matter.

Went in, found one person there. Not the center director, or the person who I had been introduced to as the person caring for my child, no, someone else. Someone who was shocked to see me. I ask where are the other people. Oh, the infant teacher doesn't come in until 9:30. 9:30???? Its 6:50. 9:30 is a long way away. Oh, the other baby person (apparently there is another one who covers infants, I'd only met one), she comes in around 8. But she's on vacation this week. Ok, the center director gets in at 7:30. Ok, we can deal. Not what we expected, but she can take care of her for a bit. I tell her about the Sprout's explosive poops, she says she doesn't change diapers. I start getting worried. She's gonna poop any minute. The Sprout nursed around 6:15, that means that at the LATEST she should be eating again around 9:15. And there is no one for me to tell about how/what she will be eating. No one to tell me where to put her things. Just a woman who doesn't do diapers, and already gets a bouncer/rocker for the Sprout. Can't handle holding her for 10 minutes. Oh, did I mention she put said rocker on the table. A raised surface. (where of course I can read the warning lable on the back that says not to put it on raised surfaces, nice) I'm a little freaked, but so in shock, I don't know what to do. The more I talk to her, the more upset I am.
So, I leave to go catch the bus, and call ajd. It takes all of a minute for him to tell me to go back and get her. I decide to take her into work.

I go back in, take the Sprout, my milk, and my check.

We had a good morning at work, she was a dear, my coworkers were understanding, and I already met with another daycare this afternoon. One where they actually communicate. They even have little forms to help do it.

I even had a little bit of a bonus thing happen. Turns out that in the mother's room in my building, there is a company supplied, multi user, medical grade breast pump. Yeah haw! I don't have to bring in my own pump. I got the attachment parts for this style of pump with kit I got when I had to pump for Sprout in the hospital. Even better, the room has a window, a sink, and a fridge.

Some letters

Sunday, 1 July 2007

Dear Sprout,

Tomorrow you start daycare. I want you to know now, long before therapy, that we did everything we could to find you the best possible place. Somewhere where they will snuggle you and care for you nearly as good as we will. I've done what I can to make sure that you will eat while you're away, and I've had your bag packed for days. Please please be the good baby that you are for me, but save some of the good for me when I get home. Also, just know that when I'm tearing my hair out tomorrow morning running around trying to find my keys and underwear, that its all going to be ok. I'll be back to get you as soon as I can.


Dear daycare,

Please take good care of my Sprout. She means everything to me.


Dear blog readers,

Before I cry, I give you Kermit the Sprout.

Puke?

Saturday, 30 June 2007

<
I got a G rating for using the word puke?

Crap. Fart. Those turkeys.

That reminds me, I've got to start swearing less. The Sprout is impressionable and I am a drunken sailor.

Finally!

Thursday, 28 June 2007

I finished the most recent Harry Potter with only weeks left until the next one. Yay! That also means I finished a maternity leave goal. To read more. Hopefully it starts a trend. ajd and I are trying to watch less TV and read more. Which is good, because Sprout notices the TV. Its also good because I keep asking for books and then never reading them. If I can figure out hands free pumping (I have a few different ways of doing it, just have to make them work at work), then I can read while pumping at work. Double yay! I may actually be smart again. ;)

I wanna be cool too!

Me!Me! I wanna do this too. I've been waiting ages to do one of these on a blog.

1 Where is your cell phone? bag
2 Relationship? stressed
3 Your hair? fluffy
4 Work? Monday
5 Your sister? in-law

6 Your favorite things? baby
7 Your dream last night? tortured
8 Your favorite drink? water
9 Your dream car? roomy
10 The room you're in? office

11 Your shoes? barefoot
12 Your fears? daycare
13 What do you want to be in 10 years? happy
14 Who did you hang out with this weekend? Sprout
15 What are you not good at? posessivism

16 Muffins? Chocolate
17 Wish-list item? books
18 Where you grew up? commune
19 The last thing you did? read
20 What are you wearing? denim

21 What are you not wearing? ring
22 Your pet? untrained
23 Your computer? old
24 Your life? wonderful
25 Your mood? tired

26 Missing? sex
27 What are you thinking about? bebe
28 Your car? dented
29 Your kitchen? cluttered
30 Your summer? short

31 Your favorite color? pink
32 Last time you laughed? breakfast
33 Last time you cried? afternoon
34 School? money?
35 Love? plentiful

36 Tag? anti

We're off to see the wizard.

Monday, 25 June 2007

Its my last week of leave, so I figured I'd better get around to taking one of those trips I planned on taking when I knew I would be off for part of the summer. We're heading up North to see the house my brother's girlfriend is destroying. (I know, I need to let go, but as far as I'm concerned, its still my house, dammit) We're also going to show off the Sprout to whomever I can find still living in the purgatory that is known as my home town. I was going to stay at the house, but decided against it after the forcast said it would be in the high 90's. The house doesn't have AC, and the Sprout has not been aclimated to hot weather since her parents live in a frozen cave. Wish me luck. I hear that she painted my old bedroom bright orange and blue, and actually made sure there were outlets in the original bathroom. Too bad, you haven't really lived until you've blown dry your mall bangs by running an extension cord from your bedroom to the bathroom for your hot pink hair dryer. I may however hand the Sprout off to my mom so I can enjoy a cool bath is six foot long claw tub they installed. Hrm. Maybe she's not so bad, that tub was sitting in our yard for years, and she got it installed.....

I feel lighter.

Friday, 22 June 2007

The haircut was a success. I've had my hair this length before, but not quite like this. Its shorter and a little funkier.



While I was gone, the Sprout ate half of her bottle, then less than an hour later, when I was home, got hungry again and finished it off. She was far better with this one that she has been with any others. When I was giving her the second half, she really got in to it and finished it off. I read about the trick after I had already figured it out on the LLL site. We used a bottle that has the same nipple shape as the pacifier she likes. It happens to be the one that her Dr. recommended. I got the idea that if she got used to sucking on it without having all the milk getting in her way, it would make the bottle easier to take. I was right. I now feel better about her not being a hassle for daycare. At least until she gets gassy like she did last night and won't tolerate being in any position but curled up in a ball.

Dry run.

Thursday, 21 June 2007

Since I am just over a week away from actually being back at work, I've started to work on our morning schedule. Being a person who adores sleep more than just about anything except her child, husband and dog, this is an important thing. (my favorite is of course sleeping with child and dog, and sometimes husband)
Its tricky figuring out just how late you can sleep and still make it out the door on time. So far, so good. I can wake up at a reasonable time and still clean up and feed the Sprout. It will require a certain amount of pre planning, such as making sure the Sprout's bag is packed the night before, that the food for the Sprout is all portioned out and ready to go, and that I don't have any ironing to do. It also requires wash and go hair. I've got an appointment at 1:45 today to help deal with that. Wish me luck.

Sometimes...

Friday, 15 June 2007

...when you're feeling good about how things are going because you wrote a really snide email to an elected official, and the Sprout is eating, and the Boof seems good, and you and you dad are getting along for the first time since he regularly took you out for malts when you were 9, and even though ajd is out of town on his first business trip, you're feeling good.

Somtimes, with all that, life bites you in the ass. Because the Sprout pukes all over everything right after getting in her jammies, and while you're trying to clean up and deal with that, the Boof poops in the living room, and the kitchen isn't clean enough to setup the baby tub, and the Sprout gets cranky about being all trailer park naked 'cept her diaper.

But sometimes, even with all of that, you setup the Sprout in her bouncy seat in the kitchen so you can clean up enough to wash the puke off her, and she looks especially all trailer park in nothing but her diaper, and you almost miss that for first time she actually reached for a toy and was able to grab on to it and you could tell that she was pleased with herself. And then she bounces and gets excited when the toys bounce too, and holds out long enough for you to give her a bath, and feed her to make up for what she puked, and you get a Sprout that looks like this.



Sometimes, life is so good.

Oh my.

I saw this article in the Strib today (apologies if you have to login to read it). Having known some really loving wonderful large dogs, including chow chows, I was a little irked. So I sent off this letter to the guy who is proposing the bill. I also copied my representative.

Subject: Mr. Lesch, you make me ashamed to call myself a member of the DFL

I've always thought of us DFL types as better informed. You obviously don't know anything about dogs if you think that it has to do with the breed. It has to do with the owner. Unfortunately there are some crummy owners out there, and crummy owners tend to favor certain dog breeds that they think are cool by their reputation. Its a self perpetuating issue, but the banning dogs, good dogs, isn't the solution. A teacup yorkie is just as capable of a horrible bite, but because its a small dog, people ignore it. I can tell you from experience that a miniature schnauzer hurts just as much as a big dog. If you're going to start banning dogs, lets ban stupid people too. I propose starting by banning you. Or better yet, why not try education and information. Penalties for not being a good owner of all dogs that bite, not just big ones. Assistance with spay and neuter so that there are less unwanted dogs. Why not a little positive instead of negative.

Sincerely,

Veggie
District 58A

This is what I got in response. I'm hoping it means he got that I was joking about the banning part...

Dear Veggie:

I've already been banned - several times over in fact, so you're going
to have to take a number and wait in line to ban me. Thanks for your
thoughts, though.

John Lesch

Oh, it took him less than an hour to respond to someone not in his district. He's an email addict!

2 months old

Tuesday, 12 June 2007

Sprout is two months old today. Time has really flown by. To celebrate, a couple of pictures.

And there was much rejoicing.

Monday, 11 June 2007

New manager rocks! Totally wants us to have home lives separate from work, and understands where I'm at with the whole baby thing. Is encouraging me to return to work at a slow pace, gets the breastfeeding limitations, and oo'd and ah'd over Sprout. The upcoming projects will not mean after hours work like I feared. I feel confident about going back to work in three weeks. I have a couple of little things to take care of like a small fridge for my pumped milk (they make silly little ones that will work great). I also took a look at how Sprout was feeding from the nipples that she was using and I don't like it. Going to try suggestions from Dr. for a different brand and see if she will take them with less work. I want it to be easy on the daycare folks so that they will have more time to snuggle and love her instead of fighting with feeding her.

Oh, 8.5 weeks of leave from work = 2222 unread emails. And I still have three weeks until I will really start reading them.

And not an elastic waist in the bunch.

Friday, 8 June 2007

I realized that part of my dread about going back to work was because I didn't have clothes for it. Its hard to get in the mindset when you're afraid all you're going to have to wear is sweats and milk stained t-shirts. I really needed to get back in that frame of mind because I meet with my new manager on Monday to discuss the back to work plan. I need to feel confident in my ability to do my job so I can feel confident asking for flexibility.

So, I've gotten the work clothes thing taken care of. It took a trip to Albertville, Kohls, a local Lane Bryant and Penney's. Penney's didn't pan out, but everything else was good. It wasn't fun. However, I did find stuff that will be both comfortable, and not look like I'm wearing a burlap sack. It also should fit me down a size. The plan is of course to not get any bigger... just smaller. My favorite thing is a pair of Levi's. I do love my jeans, and these make me feel a little snazzy.

Next issue, shoes. I do believe that my feet have expanded a little, or rather not returned to their previous size. Not sure if its permanent or not. I do know that I can't live in my Birkenstocks forever though.

Oh, and because she just can't seem to stop growing... I got the Sprout some stuff too. We should be set for comfy/easy clothes for daycare. And enough of them so that even if she goes through two outfits a day, I don't have to do laundry every other day.

Irked.

Wednesday, 6 June 2007

My bad luck with nurses who don't listen continues. A good nurse is worth their weight in gold, a bad nurse...

Sprout got vaccinated today, and one is done orally. I know from giving her Prevacid that she has to be sucking on a finger if you give her anything orally or she won't swallow it. I told the nurse, and she still just squirted it into her mouth while I was trying to get her to suck, which she obviously wasn't doing. To make it worse, she did it TWICE! So she choked, aspirated a little, turned a little purple trying to cough it up, and freaked me out.

I have fortunately learned that I have every right to ask for someone else to help me, so we got another nurse, and the Dr. came back and made sure she got it all up. But not before I was totally freaked out and a little teary.

/rant

Hi-ho.

Monday, 4 June 2007

Hi-ho, hi-ho, its off to work I go.

The main disability part of my leave ends on Wednesday. And since I decided I didn't want to lose a day to a holiday, I'll be back at work on July 2nd. That means, four more weeks. And up until today, we didn't have daycare lined up. Not for lack of trying. After my first choice gave up the spot I wanted for two employees, I was left scrambling. I have very high standards, and there seems to be a certain lack of professionalism among home daycare providers. So we are going with a center in our neighborhood. Its housed in a church, and is small enough to have a family type feel, but big enough that staff sickness won't put me in a bind. Its signifigantly more expensive than home daycare, so eating out and lattes are going to be out. So are vacations for awhile. If I seem pretty blah about the whole thing, I am. I never thought this would be me, but between it just being fun to be a mom, and the concern if anyone will care for her as well as I will, I don't want to go back to work. It doesn't help that I'm going back to a new manager, a very changed job, and two huge projects that I already know have issues. I may start buying a lottery ticket a week. Just in case, you know.
Along with the cost of daycare, is the cost of dressing for work. I was already at my largest when I got pregnant, and despite losing the first 40 of the 70 or so pounds I gained rather quickly, the rest is taking the usual pound or two a week (like it should since I am breastfeeding and need to make sure that I feed that appropriately). Then there is an issue of skin. I seem to have skin that won't cooperate the same as Syl. So, that means new clothes. Clothes I don't want to have to buy or spend much on because I don't want to be this size for long.

Speaking of music...

Thursday, 31 May 2007

Has anyone else seen Baby Rock Records? Its a nice idea, but some of them are moderately disturbing. Particularly the Ramones. Nirvana and NIN works, but the Ramones... I just can't do it slowly.

I just used the Cure to knock her out again. It worked. At least its not Celine Dion or Barry Manilow (though I think I could tolerate some Barry).

Still a drama queen...

Tuesday, 29 May 2007

I don't know who she takes after yet, but the Sprout is finally getting to show her personality. Something about not being in pain I think helps with that. Yesterday we got to do some infant massage, and she's making eye contact far more regularly. The eye contact thing seems to have everything to do with not crying all the time. She's also sleeping more soundly. All in all, she seems like a happier baby.

She is however still a drama queen. Still does jazz hands when startled, and the Staying Alive dance moves while on the changing table. She also holds my hand when I'm nursing or when she's freaking out. The best new thing though is that she's discovered the dog. Likes to look at her. I think she's just waiting until she can grab fur and see what happens.

*sniff* Goodbye tree.

Sunday, 27 May 2007

The tree is now a shadow of its former self, on its way to being completely gone. I apologize to the tree gods. I promise I will replace it after fixing the drainage issues next year. (regrading lawn and newborn is just too much to ask)

The good news is that we have awesome friends. Jaysan showed up unexpectedly and Martin was gracious enough to come on short notice and bring all of the tools. As an added bonus, Pusher and Puck are taking the wood chips. Yay! Everyone wins. I was even able to save a good portion of the hostas from underneath. They have been transplanted to the bed that failed growing tomatoes last year. I give in to your shade oh great maple, please don't kill the hostas.

I also planted my plant sale stuff finally. All in containers, since up until today, I didn't have anywhere to plant things that isn't shady or maple rooted. I also went to the local nursery and got very pretty things to plant in my chimney/former gas light thingy. I may not mow my lawn as often as I should, but I got pretty flowers in my front yard.

Maybe I should be worried...

Saturday, 26 May 2007

I've been opening my iTunes to play music to sing along with to the Sprout when she's fussy. Mostly the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkle, and other stuff I remember from when I was a kid. Easy to sing along with, PG, I know most of the lyrics, etc. However, I had it on random and a Cure song started playing and she calmed right now. I remember my Cure phase...

Let there be less acid...

Wednesday, 23 May 2007

And no, not acid rock. After progressing downhill, and it finally starting to take a toll on me, the Sprout is on acid reflux medication. Prevacid to be exact. I finally decided it wasn't me (as some including MIL have illuded to), after realizing that the baby state known as calm alert never happened in our house. Calm alert is required for doing massage. Nothing like taking a class your psyched about and then not being able to do it. Our doc is not one to take prescribing things to infants lightly, so I know I made the right choice. An interesting addition is that her 3 month old has the same issue. Her response to me telling her about how Syl had regretted waiting until the girls were two months old was that she had the same regret. Made me feel better about not being able to hold out.
Good news is that even with the reflux issues, she's still a weed. Almost thirteen pounds!?! Beginning to understand why a) the bucket seat is getting small and very heavy b) my arms are getting tired carrying her around c) My back is getting sore when she's in the sling.
Other good news is that insurance is nice. Otherwise, ugh, this would be expensive.
Now we just wait for it to take effect... and cross our fingers just a little, since there could still be issues.

Doesn't it figure.

We had finally gotten things financially under control. Getting closer to debt free... And then, this. I believe we incurred the wrath of some god by talking about a vacation. This was the tree we knew had issues, but had hoped would outlive the maple, since the maple was the one that requires major work to bring down. I guess not. It now has a strap holding the remaining trunks together. Hopefully that will get us through the storm thats coming. Oh, and btw, its been a windier than usual month. Hrumph.
I'll add this as well. It pays to have your trees properly pruned as the grow by a professional. This should have never been allowed to have the four trunks. We're losing equity in losing trees and it sucks, plain and simple.

Just stuff...

Monday, 21 May 2007

My love hate relationship with Starbucks continues (yes, at times even I can hate the mothership). While I am finding them a very good place to nurse with their comfy chairs, liberal staff, and good stuff to drink (hydration and all), there are issues. Staff inability to make a drink right continues, and the new crummy thing, many of their restrooms don't have diaper chaning facilities. Seriously, in this day and age, with all of their kiddy friendly drinks, they don't have a place to change a diaper. So I changed Sprout's in front of everyone, then nursed her, so :P.

In other nursing news, the Galleria in Edina rocks. They have a family restroom with a glider! A really nice leather glider, perfect for nursing in. Just totally cool. I continue to be amazed and dismayed about the facilities available to nursing moms. I do believe I'm becoming a lactivist. I've always thought that breastfeeding the best option if you can do it, and with the medical community backing me up, I fail to understnad why the world in general isn't more accomodating. The other news is that we're working on switching positions. Sprout has outgrown the football hold. She isn't tollerating having her legs bunched up when we're on the couch, so I've had to go to the cradle hold. She feeds for longer, which I don't understand... How can a hold make a difference in length of feed? And if she is actually eating more and not just taking longer, just how big is she going to be?

And finally... I feel really guilty about disposable diapers. They come with a bunch of negatives that really go against my upbringing. I try to rationalize them to both myself and my mother, and I guess its good that I think about their impact. Especially since I have a child that seriously goes through them. The kid can poop. However, my guilt is not enough for me to go to cloth, either on my own or with a service. Day care wouldn't cooperate anyways, and I've cleaned enough dirty diapers... thank you mom and Katy. Get to the point, I know. I found something that at least helps a little. I found Seventh Generation unbleached diapers and wipes. Still disposable, but less dioxins going in to the environment. The cost is similar to premium diapers (that we were getting anyways because pooper blows out the cheapies), and I can get a good price by subscribing to them on Amazon. The wipes are here, and the diapers should be here tomorrow. I'll report on if they're any good. The reviews I saw were pretty decent since they improved their design recently. If all goes well, hopefully the guilt will at least reduce a little.

Great...

Sunday, 20 May 2007

Right after signing up for consumer reports, and obsessing over getting the next level of car seat for the Sprout (who has been growing like a weed and will most likely be out of her bucket before I go back to work), I see this on the Strib site. It happens to be that heavy metal contamination is one of my biggest fears. Just to let you in to my head a little... I worry because there are some that link it to autism. And if there is anything that developmentally I fear for the Sprout, its that. Because it usually comes with the inability to communicate. I've spent a lot of time trying to communicate better, and the thought of not being able to communicate with my spawn, scares me more than broken bones, cancer, and just about anything. I'm paranoid, I know. I have a daughter that is growning so fast she's sitting in my arms wearing a 6 - 9 month sleeper that seriously fits entirely too well for her being less than 6 weeks old, and I worry every day that she's not getting enough to eat. I'm going to have to take another look at better living through chemistry before she goes to pre-school. To heck with the side effects.

Its the middle of the night...

Friday, 18 May 2007

Mmm... that was good, thanks for the great meal mom. No really, couldn't have another nibble. Very tasty. No really, I'm full.

10 minutes later.

Damn woman, why won't you feed me. *grasping at nightgown* Seriously, I'm hungry. here. I'm going to suck on this cloth until you feed me more. What do you mean I'm going to pay in another 13 or so years. Whats a mu-mu?

Mom's Day

Sunday, 13 May 2007

I have a new favorite holiday. It used to be my birthday, but after this year, I'm changing my mind. Its at least third on the list. I'm having one of those zero birthdays this year and I'm not entirely sure I'm old enough to have one. Its not that I mind aging, just see my gray hair, its that I don't feel like I've earned the distinction of another decade. I'm not good enough for 30. So, my new favorite holiday is Mother's Day. Not because I got out of almost all of the dirty diapers, but because I really like being a mom. Having a day to have that appreciated is really cool. I got the most amazing card, where the Sprout listed off some of her favorite things about me. Her dad helped her write the lists of course, since she is all of a month and a day old. Most of them involved food, but it was cute and special in a way I didn't expect. Being a mom has really made me appreciate my mom more as well. Not only did she help me grow up to be a strong independent woman, she was also willing to let me go when it was time. I only hope I can do as good of a job as she did. Oh, and my other majorly favorite special day, my anniversary. Because without that, I wouldn't have all of this. And this really rocks.