Saturday, September 30, 2006

It's Saturday, right?

I'm awake from the early morning feeding and everyone else is asleep. I don't even have a cat to keep me company. (Ah, here comes my fluffernutter. Okay!)

Let's see; what news on a baby front? We weren't going to get a stroller and just carry the boychik around in a carrier, but I discovered at the mall this week that there are limitations to that method. One is my aching back. Two is the fact that I couldn't try on any clothes when shopping by myself without putting the baby down on the floor of the dressing rooms, which was a little too gross for me yet. So we did stroller shopping this week.

Shopping for strollers is confounding. I was so glad to have read The Paradox of Choice while our friends Mr. and Mrs. Bump were out here. Mr. B let me snag his copy when he was off cooking for us; talk about a good deal. Anyway, part of what Schwartz talks about is how choices across the entire spectrum have proliferated over the past few decades, leading to the expectation that there is a perfect choice out there to meet every single one of your needs, leading to you being crazy while trying to make a choice and unsatisfied once you do.

Boy howdy should Barry Schwartz go shopping for baby strollers. There are six different types of strollers, dozens of manufacturers, then hundreds of models. My bible on baby products admits that most people have two (or more!) strollers. Heck, even my baby product bible is still short-sighted enough to only be dealing with a good stroller choice for a baby, not a good stroller choice for the whole baby-through-toddler year, so I should be shopping for a stroller again in a year or so.

Anyway, I ordered this stroller from a place online. It's a lightweight umbrella stroller which should work for our lifestyle. It's more expensive than a $20 throwaway model but it should last until he's 55 pounds, at which point I would hope Master A would be hauling his own butt around. This model has adjustable height handles, a bonus when there's a foot's height difference between Mommy and Daddy. And yes, for those of you steeped in baby product brand names, this is a more hoity-toity brand than say, Graco, but we didn't get it because it's what the royals and celebrities are using (besides, they've all moved on to the Bugaboo Frog). The main drawback to the Mac was that there is no napper bar. For those of you not familiar with strollers, a napper bar is the waist-height tray in front of the baby. It commonly has toys, cupholders, or even snack trays attached to it. It's not a bad thing for Master A to not be able to munch on the go.

Wow, everyone's really sleeping! The other excitement is that I took A to have his picture taken yesterday. That was bizarre. I was curious about how they would get babies to smile since A stops smiling every time I take out the camera. The camera is fixed in position and has a trigger button on a line. The photographer puts the baby in position in front of the camera, then gets right up in the baby's face, blocking the baby's view of the camera. The photographer then makes ridiculous noises, faces, etc., to get the baby to smile. A was more than a little confused and concerned by the photographer talking gibberish. C and I usually just ask him if he can smile while grinning like madmen. Once the baby smiles, the photographer hits the deck and pushes the trigger. Between hitting the deck and the flash, A was confused enough about why the photographer was leaving when they were just getting along so well that we just got little smiles out of him. But he's a cutie.

Our pictures are fine, although I discovered that I was the wrong person to pick out pictures. I found all the pictures adorable and as such I had a hard time saying no to anything that wasn't just a not-great picture of him. So I bought more than I should have for our picture needs, even though I had a list of how many pictures we would need to guide me in my decision-making process. Next time I'll have to be more ruthless (or take someone along with me for editing and counsel).

My only plan for this weekend was to sleep in and that's not panned out. Maybe tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

We did it!

The house is sold, glorious day! It's sad to have sold our wonderful house but it's wonderful to not have a mortgage to pay.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Life with a baby isn't conducive to blogging

But I know people are ravenous for updates.

My car was recovered and spent all of last week at the mechanic's. Nothing horribly bad happened to it although someone did smoke in it (sigh) and some things were missing, like the paperwork, a notepad and a jar of peanut butter. A and I had our first trip in the car together today; we took it to the Fashion Valley Mall to get the car detailed so I would feel better about putting my darling boy in it. The car wash people were super and the car is as gorgeous as an eighteen-year-old car can be. I'll have to take a picture. A did splendidly in the car with me; slept the whole time.

I was going to try and make it to infant massage class after the detailing, but the detailing took longer than anticipated and I missed it. This also meant I carried Mistah A around the mall in his Peanut Shell for about two hours total, which was long for me and my back's sore now. I ended up treating myself to an American Coca-Cola for my efforts, when I was pretty much off all carbonated beverages except root beer. Anyway, I will try to get my darling boy to infant massage next week.

What else? My ILs came for a too short visit, but they were just ever so helpful in all the drama around recovering the car (one place for paperwork, another to actually get the car). Not to mention the fact that they helped C in cleaning the garage so that we can park both cars in it and not worry quite so much about the car disappearing again. And my MIL cleraned my kitchen which I haven't spent much time in since A was born. I have been horrified when I've been in it so that was wonderful.

Master A had an incredibly cranky day yesterday where he was either sleeping lightly or crying. I didn't eat anything weird so I don't know what it was. He's been making up for it today by sleeping incredibly soundly and smiling at me when he is awake. It's like he saved up all his smiles for today.

I don't think I'm doing horribly at home alone. I've had a couple days where C comes home and I basically drop the baby on him and disappear for email, a shower, or reading an article in the New Yorker straight through, but I think I'm getting more adapted to A's quirks. The house is still a mess and I've not mastered multitasking yet, but we're alive and fed and that's what's important.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Hump Day

Good grief it's Thursday, isn't it? When Project Runway isn't on, it just messes up my sense of the week. My sense of the week has only recently been rejuvenate by Mistah C's return to the corporate world.

Mistah C is off to the dentist. Young master A is sleeping after waking us up at 5AM (well, waking me up at probably 4AM to eat for a long time then waking up Daddy at 5AM for a change and a load of laundry caused by pee leakage). I can read mail and blog in peace with a darling Jakey-cat purring in my lap.

The week's been good so far, although last night at 5:30 Master A got cranky and wouldn't calm down. Offered him a bite, he wasn't hungry. Changed him, he was dry. Tried to burp him, wasn't having it. No amount of cuddling and jiggling was helping. When Mistah C came home, I had young master A in the bouncy seat on vibrate with my finger in his mouth. This was still only keeping him moderately happy.

So far, we're at two days in PJ and one day successfully dressed. Let's see if I can't get successfully dressed again today.

Monday, September 18, 2006

First day on our own

The wonderful Mistah C returned to the corporate world today and young Master A and I stayed home.

I'm still in my PJs. I ate lunch at 3. And while I thought I had finally gotten A down for a nap, now he's crying. So much for catching up.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Holy cow, they found my car

It's being towed to the garage, so a status update of what actually happened to it will follow then. The car was found in La Jolla one block from the beach with a tote bag filled with a woman's street clothes in the trunk, so it was towed courtesy of SDPD before someone was done with my car. We're having a heck of a laugh imaging someone walking back from the beach to her (stolen) car to find it gone.

A back window was broken and the ignition's been messed with, but the car apparently started and there was no easily apparent damage. But there you go.

No one is stirring...

Except little ol' me. The ILs are a-coming today and I've got my six week checkup just as their plane lands, so I'm already showered and eagerly anticipating the go-ahead for exercise.

Not much other news. We had lunch with a friend from birth class and her beautiful baby girl yesterday at a lovely place in Pacific Beach with seating in a garden area. I'm going to have to get Miz J to go (and possibly Miz J's mom if the garden's still looking nice in November) because it is just the sort of place she would like, I think.

It's the last week of paternity leave for Mistah C, so I'm just loving it up. I don't know what I will do next week. It'll be one day at a time, I guess.

No news on my car. The insurance agent said if cars are recovered, they are usually recovered within a week. I'm trying to imagine about my car's second life as a sturdy family vehicle for some down-and-out people who can use it to better themselves and their situation. It's easier to have Horatio Alger fantasies than it is to think about it being callously carved up for parts.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

To pump or not to pump

We've actually settled the question, but it's all still a bit odd here.

Yesterday we went out and bought a breast pump. It's a lightweight Medela intended for occasional use. That meant we had to buy bottles and breast milk storage bags.

Anyway, there was some question as to whether or not Master A would take a bottle, but last night I pumped an ounce of breast milk. We put it in a bottle and Mistah C gave it to A. He gulped it down like nothing and cried when there was no more. So it seems to be going okay so far.

I'm a little torn. Part of me wanted him to not take a bottle (the "I want Mom and nothing else will do!" mentality); part of me didn't want to pump at all so that the whole feeding would be mine, kit and kaboodle. Part of me feels like a heel because pumping milk is essentially planning on being away from my baby at some point, even though I've got nothing planned that would separate us right now.

I know it's better to be pumping and that we're at the outside edge of him even accepting the bottle so it needed to happen this week. I'll appreciate having bottles of milk available if I want to go get my haircut and leave him with someone else. If I ever get stuck in traffic when we're apart and A needs to be fed, I'll be glad he takes bottles and that I've got milk in the fridge. If my milk changes taste after exercising and I just need to expel that milk to get to better milk, I'll be really glad to have the pump. But it's still sad. While I was pregnant, someone told me that after pregnancy, the job of the rest of the kid's immediate life (like the next 18 years) is separating from Mom. That's normal and proper, but I didn't think it would start happening so soon.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Oy vey!

The car theft bumped young master A's latest height/weight stats out of my head.

At six weeks, he is 10 pounds, 11 ounces and 22 1/4 inches, which puts him at exactly 50% for both height and weight. More than that, it means we are breastfeeding just fine.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Make sure you take photos of those you love...

...because you're not sure when they will slip away.

No, we're all fine. I'm talking about my car. My wonderful old beater of a car was apparently stolen sometime between Mistah C's trip to Ralph's and Trader Joe's last night and our trip out this morning to the zoo. We called the tow company (not that it was parked illegally) and they didn't tow it. We filed a police report.

If you know my car, you're laughing your ass off already. My car is (was) a 1988 Volvo 740 that had seen better days. It had 188,000 miles on it. The AC wasn't working well. It was too noisy to have any decent conversations. It boasted an AM/FM radio and not great speakers. I do not know why anyone would want it. I don't think there was any identifying information in the car, but I've filed an identity alert just in case.

But it was a turbo, had a seat that raised high enough for short little me, and I loved it. I learned to drive on that car from my FIL and I think he ended up selling it to me because I just liked the car so darned much. I took good care of it for nine years.

My car's been sitting in the cul-de-sac since I've been on driving restrictions since the C-section. We saw it last night and this morning it was gone. Not a trace of my darling car.

Now the car is eighteen years old, so Mistah C has suggested calling the runaway hotline instead of the car theft hotline. Maybe it's emancipated. I've also thought that I loved the car so much that the universe knew I would not give it up easily and took care of that for me.

At some point we will have to discuss new wheels, which is something I wasn't planning on thinking about until my car was 25 years old, but right now, I'm caught between mourning and hysterically laughing at the thought of someone stealing my car. If you love your car, make sure you get some pictures.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Vaccinations and Baths

Young master A's having a rough day today. He had a bath this morning that he did not enjoy. Our water bill will probably go through the roof because we ended up turning on the water to soothe our little pumpkin. He likes the sound of running water.

Then we went to the pediatrician for our six week checkup and first round of immunizations. Boy howdy, he got four shots and turned purple, screaming his head off. Tears welled up in my eyes. Yes, I know he needs vaccinations, but oh, I'm so glad he's got some more rounds of immunizations to go before he's old enough to gauge my reaction and I can muster up a proper motherly, "It's okay; shots are no big deal," demeanor. It won't be good if we're both crying when he gets shots.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Yay and boo

After my whining about our house's lack of sales, I must disclose that a contract is in the works and ask everyone to keep fingers, hands, feet, and any other appendages you can manage crossed. If you sent good vibes our way, thanks and keep it going.

So that's the yay. Our lovely friends D&L came to town to gaze upon the baby, which was wonderful and also a yay. They filled up our freezer with food for later and cooked us a good, hearty nutritious lunch today to boot. Since food seems to be beyond our creative capacities a lot of the time recently and will only go downhill once Mistah C returns to work, this is a huge thing for us.

Boo, they left today. Too short a visit, even though I felt like I am not the most entertaining, charming or gracious (hi Liz!) host right now. I feel like I might have two neurons left to rub together and maybe manage not to drool on myself. I'm hoping they had clean towels - I realized today or yesterday that I hadn't put out guest towels in the downstairs bath.

Now we're going to try and sleep before 11PM.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Random thoughts for crazy Friday

I realized I was just using the blog to bitch, so I thought I'd add happy thoughts.

Yesterday most things ended up going our way, house sales not withstanding. And at least we have a house to sell. I don't want to be a woman with a Virgina ham under each arm crying because she's got no bread.
  • Young Master A's grandparents are finally coming to visit, yay!
  • I found out the state was taking care of telling the CNP that a doctor had to sign for 8 weeks' pregnancy disability for a C-section, so I didn't need to. I followed up with the clinic and they said the form was faxed back with a doctor's signature yesterday. So that should be shaking out soon.
  • The HR rep finally realized that I had a C-section, even though I know my darling husband called the first day we were home and asked how having a C-section affected my leave from work. But that gave me another two weeks' of disability pay.
  • The doctor we were recommended by the happy, sane, smart pediatrician is indeed on our health plan, which was a matter of debate when I called the office to get an appointment.
  • I managed to get an appointment with the new doctor in two days (so that's today) to have the really strange and bizarre splinter in my toe taken out. Maybe I won't pass out when that happens; I really can't stand having things embedded in the bottom of my feet. The woman in the office was really sweet, though, so that's a good sign.

Plus, A's been staying awake longer and looking at things more. We're starting to shift him to being awake during the day and asleep at night, but there's still no hope of 8-hours of uninterrupted sleep - oh, until he goes to college.

It's hard to blog about what we do with him because we watch him, hold him and talk to him. He's not spouting bon mots (more like fountains of pee when we're changing him without anything to staunch the flow in reach); he's just started smiling at us every so often. Naomi Wolf wrote about baby time, where you're just in a bubble of uninterrupted time, and it's close to that. Hard to describe.

Last night I found out that he most certainly understood he was about to be fed. I unsnapped my nursing tank to feed him, picked him up and held him, then realized he was wet. He just doesn't feed well when he's wet; he fusses and fumes and can't keep latched on. So I moved him away from my breast to get up and change him. He howled. He shrieked more than I have ever heard him shriek. So the bad news was that he had a pretty inconsolable diaper change; the good news is that he's learning a cause-and-effect of unsnap shirt, see/smell breast, soon no longer hungry. He didn't used to recognize that. That means I'm going to have to start being better about checking his diaper before I feed him.