Sickie & more on starting to sign

After just one day of amoxicillin, Dash was up to his usual hightened cheerfulness!! When I got to daycare yesterday afternoon, I was wearing a leather jacket and his socks were off—I picked him up and those sticky little feet of his started climbing my coat. I wasn't prepared, but managed to keep hold of him before he was up to my neck. So active!

With the signing, I noticed parents & kids using it when Rosie was in early daycare and bought a set of flashcards. We didn't really try to sign with Rosie, though; the flashcards disappeared (behind a dresser) and re-emerged after she was getting pretty verbal. I dug them out again when Dash was a newborn and looked for signs that I wanted to start with.

I've been trying out: milk, more, food, all done. Next, I'm planning to add mommy & daddy. There is a workshop I'd like to try for teaching your baby to sign and is just on a weekend morning. More info is at http://www.tinyfingers.com/ .

Ballerina gift

On a very sweet note, Rosie got a wonderful Xmas gift of a pretty wooden cut-out of a ballerina (painted nicely) with metal dots in strategic places, a stand, and a selection of multi-colored *magnetic* tutus, pointe shoes, and tiaras. It's a fantastic gift for a little girl!! She was playing with the ballerina last night and I heard her say my name. When I responded, she said, "no Mommy, my ballerina's name is Alanna!"

I got kind of choked up... I mean, who didn't ever want to be a pretty ballerina?

Homemade baby food, need to get on it!

I was pretty successful making Rosie's baby food; she was especially fond of the sweet potatoes. I just baked them till they're soft, mashed them well with fork or masher, and strained them. One thing that was a big no-no was to put the sweet potatoes in a food processor or a blender because the fiber would combine to make a glue.

My book recommended processing most of the foods with a device called a "Mouli" which we went ahead and bought back in 2003—it grinds the food fairly gently. I lent it to a few friends after Rosie phased out of the purees and now I have it back. I have a veggie medley recipe that we used until Rosie got sick of it at 8 or 9 months. It was a combo of sweet potato, carrot, and broccoli.

So, I've got my Mouli and I have a potato ricer, so I need to start making baby food for Dash already, darn it.

1st ear infection & starting to sign!

Well, it's certain. Dash has his first ear infection. He had a fever yesterday, was sleeping quite a bit through the day, and the daycare ladies told me that he cried every time they tried to put him down, so I suspected.

Also, an interesting development: last week, I was feeding Dash some green beans and would occasionally stop to make the =more= sign and ask "more?" One of the times I stopped, he CLEARLY made the =milk= sign more than once, so I quickly mixed a bottle and he happily slurped it down!! He's made the =milk= sign several times since then and I try to follow up ASAP to let him know that he's communicating.

We dropped his mattress down, too, because he's been pulling up to his knees and on one occasion, to his feet!

Xmas 2005, glad it's over

Our Christmas started out hectic, but as soon as we left the house it got better. AJS even threatened to stay at home while he sent the rest of us off to my parents' because we were getting so stressed out. AJS HATES, hates to be late.

We were planning on getting to my parents' by around 10 a.m., but didn't arrive till 11:45 because, I don't know, it was just difficult to wrangle all the gifts, the kids and all the gear you need to spend the day somewhere else. AJS was handling the kids while I did EVERYTHING ELSE. And, it seemed that as soon as I started one thing, he would yell about something, so I'd drop what I was doing and start something else, and so all my stuff was in half-finished pieces all over the house. I wrapped/labeled all the gifts, fed and dressed the kids, got all of Dash's food & bottles packed up, re-dressed Rosie because she had a potty accident, somehow managed to shower and put on makeup while Dash napped, packed up all of the spare clothes and gear in case of more accidents, fed the bird, and on and on until I was about to cry.

I told AJS that it would all be just fine as soon as we were in the car and on our way, and sure enough, it was!! The kids were so cute all day. I already got all the gifts I wanted ahead of time, so I wasn't expecting anything. The kids got plenty of gifts and I hope my family was happy with what we gave them. I'm kind of glad it's over, you know? There are so many expectations about this holiday and stress and disappointment involved when expectations are unfulfilled.

Slept through the night!!

Dash didn't wake up ONCE last night!! He SLEPT THROUGH 10 HOURS straight!!! That's a major first for us. I had to wake him up to feed him this morning. He must have really needed his sleep. And TMI: The poor guy woke up this morning without any nostrils—they were caked over with snot! Ewwww. Seems like lots of kids are getting colds around this time of year.

Struggling with pregnancy weight

I keep trying on my size 4 clothes, hoping that maybe, miraculously during the night, the weight redistributed or something. Even this morning! Like a pollyanna, I put on a size 4 skirt that still has at least 2–3 inches before it will zip up. However, I did manage to—very tightly, with jumping—fit into my Old Navy size 6 stretch jeans!!

I don't know what size I'm at right now—it's probably between an 8 and 10. Most of my work clothes are between size 2 and 6, but I'm managing it somehow (elastic waists!). I can't fit in some of my suitjackets because my upper arms are too thick.

Okay, blah, blah, whine, whine. I'm joining the gym today! Since I wasn't going while pregnant, I cancelled my old membership. There's a gym at my new office that's only$18/month and that just can't be beat (my old one was $60/month). The trick is that you have to work in the building.

YES!! That's the stuff.

Last night, I fed Dash some peas and at the first mouthful, he threw his arms up in the air and waved them around, like, "YES!!" and continued to throw his arms up for the next few spoonsful. I guess I *was* taking a bit long to phase in vegetables... LOL

And, over the weekend, AJS was holding Dash so Rosie could play "doctor," giving Dash "medicine" with a little spoon. An empty spoon. The poor darling was leaning forward with an open mouth for the spoon and then looked so bewildered and disappointed when there was no food in it that I laughed so hard I was crying!! Ah, we should have had the vidcam out.

Dash is weaned; a rant at boob-nazis

For good or bad, 50% of mothers in the United States today begin formula feeding at their child's birth, and by 6 months, 70% are formula feeding. If your child is nursing at six months or nine months or even a year, big CONGRATULATIONS!! are due both of you. You are in a small group of 30% who are able to keep breastfeeding going in the U.S.

My decision to wean my son and switch to formula was NOT lightly made. My daughter was exclusively breastfed until she was nine months, and I found that it was an easy transition. However, with Dash, it really was a struggle to produce enough milk to keep up with his demand. I was working and pumping in both cases, so I don't know what changed (my age?). So this time, I altered my diet, I took vitamin supplements, I took galactagoges, I had consultations with lactation consultants, I spoke with and emailed La Leche League representatives but despite all my efforts, my supply kept dropping.

There were also nosy people in my office who asked me once or twice a week, "so how long are you going to be pumping?" or "you've really been at that pump long enough, don't you think?" Comments like this really stressed me out. Also, Dash was getting bottles all day at daycare, so when we swiched to the boob at home, it wasn't always his favorite thing, which was stressful for both of us. When Dash was five months old, in a 10-hour period I only expressed 5 ounces at work, and I knew that was it for me; it wasn't even enough to fill one bottle and he was taking 4 to 5 bottles a day. I did some informed research and found what I decided was the best formula to start him on. He still nursed upon waking and before bed until right before he reached 6 months, then he rejected nursing entirely and I gave it up. I WISH we were still breastfeeding. It was so convenient, a wonderful way to bond, and inexpensive. But it didn't work out like it did with my daughter.

Moms, please, let's attempt to be supportive of all the hard decisions that we make as moms! Parenting is hard enough without being attacked your peers.

Let's start babyproofing...

Lately, Dash has been very busy experimenting with different ways to move around. He pivots around on the floor, with some forward scooting; he rocks back and forth on his knees, sort of pre-crawling moves; he's been "swimming" on his belly, which is a full-arm waving and kicking move while balancing on his belly; he jumps and bangs his arms while in his saucer; jumps and dances while we hold him; and jumps and spins in his johnny-jump-up. He loves to find/go after a toy, bang it around, and then throw it; or alternately, chew on it for a while. All this busy, active behavior is very different from Rosie's. I remember that I was worried if she'd ever learn to jump... to this day, she's not much of a jumper, she never throws things, and is more of a thinker/observer than a doer. I guess we need to get busy babyproofing the house (we really didn't need to with Rosie)!!