Adventures in gnawing, part II

 

Adventures in gnawing.

It's been a busy week. I gave y'all a task, you kindly obliged, and then I ran off without thanking you. While MJ didn't win the contest, she did land herself in the top five percent (okay, really the top 6 percent, but if you round... significant figures and what not.) So that's pretty sweet. I know that it's all a popularity contest. Okay, not even a popularity contest. An advertising campaign designed by Parents to get you to their website. But regardless, it makes me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside people voted for her, even if their was some arm twisting involved.


Last week was MJ's 8 month birthday. It boggles my mind that she still hasn't been breathing oxygen for as long as she resided in my ute. It feels like she's been here forever, life before her arrival is a distant memory. She's been crawling up a storm and generally fascinated by the whole world. Although everything still goes in the mouth, after giving her an unplugged cord to chew on for a while she is less interested in chewing on all the cords plugged into the wall. But the forbidden is still the most sought after... I have not yet figured out any way to childproof the dog food or water bowl; if the dog food wasn't perfect choke-inducing size I would let her gnaw on some until she discovered it's really not very good. But instead, I have to constantly place it out of her reach and then remember to put it back so poor Vito doesn't starve. And for this reason it is the one thing that MJ is most fascinated by. She WANTS that dog food like you wouldn't believe. This doesn't bode well for drugs and boys later in life.

I love how she follows me around the house as I do chores. She's constantly curious what I'm up to, and participates in whatever way she can. She helped me unload the grocery bags yesterday, pausing for a while to gnaw on a leek. A long while, actually. 20 minutes of gnawing on a leek. Is this an acceptable chew toy for an 8 month old? We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, one of the few child proofed rooms in the house, as well as outside. I still love chewing on grass so I figure she can go to town.

I've become obsessed with buying organic and finally joined a Co-op (more on that to come.) We've been getting more adventurous with what we feed her: yesterday was lentils with onions, peppers and carrots. It was tasty, I brought some in for lunch today. I'm working on a leek concoction, and her preliminary opinion of leeks seems to be a good one.

Whenever we go out to eat she tries to grab everything off the table and off our plate. So sometimes we let her, expecting the reaction to be one of disgust, and usually we're wrong. This weekend she gnawed on a pickle for a while and loved it. I'm guessing this is not something you're supposed to feed an 8 month old, though I never see it explicitly stated. The assumption is probably that it doesn't need saying. Last week she gnawed on a lime for a while; despite a pause every now and then for a sour face she continued gnawing. Then I remembered that whole no-citrus-fruits-the-first-year bit. Parenting has so many rules.

I mock people who do this.

But here I am.  One of them.  (I also mock people who obsess about dandelions.  And what did I do yesterday?  Weed our front yard of every last dandelion.  It was like a dandelion genocide.  (Can we joke about that?  I have jewish friends who joke about the Holocaust, but maybe that's like the N word?  (And can we use parentheses inside of parentheses?)))

Anyway, one of those people.  Those people who put their kid in beauty pageants.  And otherwise attention whore their child.

But in a moment of weakness, I submitted MJ to the Parent's Magazine photo contest.  And now that I've done it, I feel compelled to try to get her votes.  So that one day I don't have to tell her "Yes, honey, I put your photo in a contest but no one voted for you but me."  How sad would that be?

So anyway, here I am, asking you to vote for my child.  There's no prize for you, but she is a cutie, isn't she?

You can click here to vote:  http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/279297
You can vote once per day.
 And now let's never speak of this again. 

Thankful.

I must confess, this day has never meant much to me.  I always made an effort to make or buy a present.  Or a card.  As I've gotten older that effort has been less consistent.  But I confess that my efforts stemmed more from obligation than from real gratitude.  There are exceptions, and gratitude was always part of the package.  But this year is different.

I feel really, truly, utterly, completely thankful.  Both to my Mom and to DH's mom.  We are both lucky, and we know it.  We both have great mom's.  And we both know that we owe them everything.  But this is the first year that I get it.

On happy days, when MJ is all smiles and kisses and loves me more than anyone in the world, it makes me a little sad to know that she won't remember this.  That she'll remember all her teenage angst ridden years, but not her "mom-is-the-best-in-the-universe" years.  But then I remember I was the same.  I cooed and smiled just like MJ, I am sure.  And then spent years being ungrateful.  And my Mom just took it.  And still loves me, unconditionally.  And never even holds it against me (at least not that I know of.)

And the rough days?  When MJ just cries and refuses to sleep?  That's part of the package, too.  Those days when my Mom had no one around except two ungrateful children and she still loved us unconditionally?  I now know how hard that is (though still only the square root of that effort, because I'm sure two children is exponentially more difficult.)  This is the first year I can have any inkling of what my Mom went through.  And DH's mom.  We were both raised by two brave, strong, independent, loving, compassionate and totally wonderful women.  And we owe you everything.

::grumble::

I love me some Minnesota spring... but seriously?

Diagnosis.

It's official.  I have asthma.  The diagnosis wasn't even subtle; after running my pulmonary function test, the nurse turned to me and said "You've NEVER done a test like this before?  Are you sure?", practically screaming "Even I can tell you have asthma!" with her tone of voice.  After coughing for 4 months (that brief respite I wrote about a few weeks ago was just that: brief.  MJ brought home another cold and ::BAM:: cough was back.)  It is such a relief to officially have asthma.  I'm not sure one is supposed to feel happy that they have a disease, but that's exactly how I feel. 

So I'm on Symbicort.  You know that ad they show?  With the puppies running through the field and the feet dangling off a dock into the water?  That's exactly how I feel.  Puppies and rainbows, oh my.  Because it's advertised ::ALL THE TIME:: and I hate direct marketing of pharmaceuticals to consumers I want to hate the product.  But no, it's great.  I'm not coughing.  I don't have people moving away from me on the bus for fear of tuburculosis or alien impregnation via sputum.  My slightly increased risk of death seems totally worth it (don't worry, Mom, there's always a slightly increased risk of death.)

The other reason for the puppies and rainbows is that our household has made it through the jungle of sick that has been this week.  ::BAM:: Sunday night Dad starts puking.  ::BAM:: Monday Mom (that's me) starts puking.  ::BAM:: Tuesday night baby starts puking.  Thankfully (for me and MJ, not so much for Dad) with each successive knockout the degree of puking diminished.  I think Dad puked for about 12 hours, Mom ~4 hours, and baby just once!  But we have survived.

And you know what else is great about being sick?  PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT Y'ALL!!  I celebrated by going to McDonalds (I must be a bad American, because I apparently don't know proper McDonald's etiquette.  You know when you order and they put the tray down with your receipt?  YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE TRAY.  You're supposed to leave it there.  So they can put your food on it.  Who knew that when they hand you a tray you're supposed to leave it there?  Obviously not me; McDonald's guy seemed appalled by my ignorance in the ways of fast food.)  Anyway.  Let me just say that again.  PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT.  Maybe stomache viruses aren't all that bad.  You know how else I'm going to celebrate?  In honor of impending Mother's day, pre-pregnancy weight, no more coughing, no more puking, and the fact that all my pants have holes in the crotch and all my shirts have pit stains, I'm going to buy me some new clothes.

That is all.

Oh yeah.  And Genevieve, I have drawn again.  I'm not going through the rigamarole of posting another little chart to show that I drew the winner impartially (though I did).  I will just tell you: the winner is #5.  That happens to be Ryan, Christy, Landen, and Jackson.  Congrats!

Winner: Baby Beehinds

Thanks for the reminder comment, it's been a crazy weekend and I didn't pick the winner when I said I would. Anyway, the winner is Genevieve! Please let me know a way to contact you in the comments section. Thanks to everyne for your participation!

Edit:  Genevieve, if I don't hear from you by Friday I will draw again. 

The cuddle quota

I've never read this in a parenting book.  Which means it must be wrong, because if it hasn't made it to a parenting book yet then it is either 1) a ridiciculous myth your mother told you 2) a lie you read on a messaging forum or 3) an idiotic idea you came up with yourself.  This falls under the third category.  Maybe I'll just go write a parenting book, so it will then be parenting-book-approved. 

See over in my side bar?  Where it says "about me" and it says my baybee sleeps a lot?  Through the night even?  No longer true.  That sidebar is now a liar.  For ~2 months now MJ wakes up at least once or twice a night.  I realize that's still pretty good in the sleep department, but we were spoiled.  I've adjusted to the new norm, it's fine, I get a little more MJ time, blah, bla bla (more lies I tell myself.)  But I have a new theory.  I call this theory the "cuddle quota" (sounds like a good parenting book title, no?)

She started sleeping poorly right around the same time that she became very active and alert.  And since she started crawling, about 2 weeks ago, putting her to sleep has been a nightmare.  She screams, she wails.  It's really, really awful. 

But yesterday, after an evening with friends that included lots of Moby wearing, she went to sleep instantly.  This morning she woke up at 5; I brought her into bed with me, gave her a bottle and she fell right back asleep.  I'm curious now if she hasn't been getting enough cuddle time.  She used to be held all day long; now she won't tolerate it, but by the end of the day, maybe her cuddle tank is empty.  I know that if I don't get enough cuddle time I feel... off.  Not as happy.  Could it be that my baby is experiencing the same thing?  By forcing her into the Moby, despite her desire to crawl around, I was forcing more cuddling on her.  By doing some early morning co-sleeping she gets even more cuddle time.

Right now this is one data point.  And ya'll know my love of data points. But thinking back, it seems the nights she gets lots of cuddling she sleeps great, so it's really one data point that agrees with heresay (is that better or worse?)  My plan is to put this plan into action.  And write a parenting book about it.  Even if it doesn't work.

Ready for grandchildren

Have I mentioned how much I love having a baybee? Like, I think I want to have 9 more? Maybe it gets more difficult at some point, who knows. But being as my uterus might not comply with my desire to have 9 more, I've decided to start prepping MJ to provide me with grandchildren. She seems to be on board.

Grass

We may not have sand, but it turns out grass is just as fascinating. Happy spring!

I'm a cloth diaper whore; and now you can be too!

It is ridiculous.  One of the things that us cloth-diapering mamas can't put into words is the joy that cloth diapers bring.  We all espouse how they're good for the environment.  How they're cheaper.  How we don't fill landfills.  Blah, bla ba.  What we generally DON'T tell you is how giddy we feel when we get fluffy mail.  I think it's kind of like clothing shopping with the added component of morality: not only are we buying something cute and fashionable, we feel like good people for doing it (dangerous, I know.)

So imagine how much giddier one feels when gets a beautiful, glorious, FREE cotton-hemp fitted diaper.  And furthermore?   I get to offer a FREE diaper to one of you lovely folks as well.  It is a good day, people.

I'm probably walking on dangerous ground here. When a blogger is given something to review it is supposed to be an unbiased review, but it actually never seems to be. I have NEVER seen a review of an item given to a blogger that was negative.  Being as this is not, primarily, a giveaway blog, I don't need to rely on freebies from company's. So I will tell you what I actually think. Because I kind of enjoy pissing people off.

All in all, this is a very nice fitted diaper. For those who need a little background, a fitted diaper means that it goes on easily, almost like a disposable, generally with velcro or buttons holding it in place. But it is not waterproof and needs a cover put on the outside. I really, really like the theory of fitteds. Unlike something like BumGenius, you only change the inside and can use the cover several times, until it gets poopy or smells. With fitteds, covers generally last a long time. So, theoretically, a fitted diaper is super easy to put on (unlike, say, prefolds) and has the added economic benefit of not needing very many covers. The problem I have is that in reality fitteds are often as expensive, or even more expensive, than something like pockets or all in ones. And there aren't very many one-size fitteds, so you need to keep buying larger sizes.

Why are fitteds so expensive? I'm not really sure. Many of them are organic cotton or hemp, unlike the common microfiber you find in bumgenius and fuzzibunz (among others.) They are often customizable with cute prints, etc., and often not as mass-produced. They are also often very absorbent and make great night time diapers.

Fitteds are not the primary solution for us. Not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because daycare in Minnesota requires that the whole diaper be changed at once (cover and insert). So it makes more sense to use pockets and all-in-ones. However, we do use things like fitteds and prefolds at home and overnight, and this makes a great night time diaper.

Another pet peeve of mine is this tendency of diaper manufactures to overstate their size range, and Baby Beehinds is no exception. They claim to fit 8-35 lbs, and there is no way this is true. It fits MJ perfectly right now, at 16+ lbs, but I'm sure it wouldn't have fit her before ~12 lbs.  And the other reviews of this diaper online suggest it doesn't go to he max end of that range, either.  The only brand I have found that doesn't do this is Thirsties. Here's my recommendation to diaper companies: don't do this, it pisses us Mamas off. I know you THINK you are doing us a favor by outlining the absolute upper and lower limits, because there are babies for whom this range may work. But we would prefer if you only list sizes that are almost guaranteed. And then, if it fits longer, that's a nice added bonus. If we think we are buying a diaper that will last far longer than it does we are upset. If you narrow the size range, we will still buy your product, but we'll be happier in the long run if it meets or exceeds our expectations. Get what I'm saying?

So all in all, here's my thoughts on this diaper. If you realize that the weight limits listed are bunk, and instead accept a more realistic 15-25 or 15-30 lb range then it's a good diaper. As fitteds go, it's a great fitted; you'll have to ask yourself whether fitteds are the right choice for you, though. As someone that owns mostly microfiber, the soft, organic fabric of this diaper feels luxurious. It has snaps, which I generally don't love (though I've been told once MJ can start taking her diaper off I'll change my mind on this), but the snaps overlap in the front, allowing the waist to cinch down tighter than snaps usually allow. It also has detachable inserts, which are great because they allow the diaper to dry much faster than if the inserts are sewn in.

If I had to give this diaper a star rating, I would say 4 out of 5.  And to be fair, I'm generally a pretty harsh grader.  I will use this as one of my primary night time diapers, paired with either a bumgenius flip cover or a thirsties duo cover. 

So, now that I have rambled on, some other things you should take note of:  this was provided by ecomom, a fabulous online store with all things green and crunchy (yay earth!)  I am excited to be able to offer a 15% discount to ecomom.com with code SBBL223 (this expires May 31st).  In addition, they currently have a $99 membersip that allows free shipping and a 15% discount off every order, with no minimum purchase. 

Okay.  We know why you're here.  You want a free diaper.  I believe in easy giveaways, so here are your options (each option should be a separate comment):

1)  Go to EcoMom.com and tell me a product you would love to find in your May Day stocking (if there was such a thing.)  This is a mandatory entry.

Additional optional entries:

1)  Follow ecomom on twitter (twitter.com/EcoMomCEO) and tell me that you did.
2)  Join EcoMom's newsletter and tell me that you did (they won't spam you, I promise!)
3)  Publicly follow this blog and tell me that you have.

That's it.  I can't handle giveaways with 15 different options, so I'm sticking to these 3.  This giveaway will close in one week (Friday, April 30th).

Since I can't be productive today...

I had planned on a long, full day in the lab.  But the argon tank is empty (fascinating, no?) so I can't run anything.  So instead?  I'll update.

I sometimes forget that this blog is as much about documenting MJ's life as it is an outlet and soapbox for me.  And you know what?  I haven't done much updating lately.

Yesterday, MJ sort of crawled.  I'm not sure if it counts yet, but she's finally able to go forward.  For months now she has been scooting backward.  Back in February DH made a bet that it would happen within a week.  And you know what?  It didn't.  Man, I really should have bet money on that one.  And it is good.  I always said I'd be perfectly content if she was a late crawler, but in the past several weeks her grumpiness has been grumpier than my grumpiness (meaning: very grumpy).  She has been so frustrated by her inability to get at what she wants, but now that she can move in the direction she wants she's less grumpy.  She's still slow at getting where she wants to go, but she can manage it.

And so, I am trying to become cleaner.  It is very, very hard.  As a working mama I have accepted that our house will be chaotic.  But now, I can't even do that.  Because chaos=not baby proofed.  And she loves to lick everything: the stool, the heating grate, my laptop, DH's shoe...  I realize these things won't kill her, and once she discovers something's not food she generally leaves it alone (kind of like the dog.)  Such as grass: at first she tried to eat it, but after realizing that even broccoli tasted better she became content to just play with it.  And by play with it, I mean rip out all the grass in her tiny-12-inch-arm-radius.  So we have little circles of torn out grass in the yard, (crop circles?  aliens?) but at least she's learning to like the outdoors, no?

In other baby news, she is a great eater.  Here is our list of things she will happily eat: peas, carrots, butternut squash, zucchini, sweet potatos, parsnips, green beans, avocado, bananas, and BROCCOLI!  (note: blogger wants me to add an "e" to "potatos" but I resisted.)  Broccoli is a huge coup for me, because I hate it.  In fact, I'm a bit of a picky eater (though SO much better than I used to be).  And so I have made it a goal to have her become a good eater early on.  As part of this goal, I have been making her baby food, which allows more texture and variety than what you can find in the jarred baby food.  My Mom (generously) bought us the Beaba Babycook.  It's spendy, I'm not going to lie.  And probably not necessary, but it does make the whole process much easier.  I can make a batch while I'm making dinner, and it's so whip!bang!boom! done.  Furthermore, unlike most grinders out there (we have the magic bullet) you have more control on how well ground you make the food.  It's not all or nothing, so I've been able to gradually make her food more lumpy.

And it makes me feel good.  Now that I'm not breastfeeding, I feel like this is one small thing I can do to make sure she eats well.  So I send her with food everyday to daycare, rather than relying on the food they provide.  And (one of the many reasons I LOVE our daycare) they don't act like I'm putting them out by slightly complicating their feeding routine.  They are always very good about honoring the requests of the parents.  We haven't introduced many fruits yet, largely because we haven't had to.  I really wanted her to eat veggies first, so that she didn't yet know there are tastier foods out there.  We added (lots of) formula and rice cereal in the beginning in order to make them more palatable, then gradually reduced it until now she just eats straight veggies.

Funky baby

Do you see what that says? Let me start with a joke:

What are the two funkiest animals in the barnyard?

(Cue 70's porn music) Brown chicken, brown cow. 

Still don't get it?  This adorable girl tells a version of the same joke:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtibDkCPeaE

This onesie was the very first thing I bought for MJ (other than a few cloth diapers I bought on clearance.)  I bought it way back in February of last year, when she was just a wee 2 month old fetus.  I could barely even conceptualize that she was human, let alone that she would one day have a personality and be this adorable, precocious child.  I tried very hard to bond with my child before she was born, but I can honestly say that I didn't really.  Maybe a little, but I never could imagine her as an actual baby.  And here she is. Every day amazing me in new and unexpected ways.

7 months...

... and what a month it's been. First tooth ::bam:: Second tooth ::bam:: First vacation as a family. First swimming.  First sand. First grass. First clap. First pull up (she pulled herself up guys! It was amazing...)


On Friday, MJ saw her first fire. Our neighbors, who have also become good friends, invited us over for a bonfire in their backyard. MJ. Was. Stoked. If she could have spoken she would have said something like this...

"You guys. Do you see this? Seriously! How can you talk at a time like this? Do you see what's going on over there? I have NEVER seen anything like this. And IT. IS. COOL. Man I want to touch it... if only Mom would move me closer. Damn these legs... why don't they work yet. Guys? Guys? WHY ARE YOU NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE AMAZING THING GOING ON OVER THERE!!"

Yesterday we *finally* put the swing away. I know. We are TERRIBLE parents for still letting our kid nap in the swing. DH wanted to find another, bigger swing; he did NOT want to give up on the swing. But it has a 20 lb weight limit, and she is now reaching out and grabbing hold of the bars to stop it, so it really wasn't working anymore. Needless to say, yesterday was rough. She would NOT nap in her crib. She usually naps okay in the crib, but I think she decided to go on strike.

She's been a bit of a pill lately. I think she's frustrated; I remember a similar trend before she figured out how to roll over. This time, she sees things she wants but can't get to them, and it pisses her off. And so, for the first time, I find myself having to parent. I see her frustrated. I see why she's frustrated. Do I fix it for her? Or do I let her be frustrated so that she learns how to crawl? Ultimately, you go with your gut. I let her get frustrated, but not too frustrated. Where is the line? I don't know, but I know it when I see it. Is it the correct line? I don't know, and I'll probably never know.

I've turned on anonymous comments... do you know what that means?

I bet you think you know what that means, but I bet you don't, actually, know what that means.

Husband has been asking me for a while to let him write a guest blog.  Jokingly, he has been asking.  And I have, half-(mostly)-jokingly, said that I will only allow him if I get veto-power.  But today, I decided to allow it.  The caveat?  You get to request the topic.  It can be anything.  And if you don't suggest good topics, I will just submit them anonymously myself.  It's a win-win either way.  I will use some variant of random.org to pick the topic.  If random.org doesn't give me a topic I like, I will regenerate.  I don't even pretend that this is an objective and random topic assignment.

My view from here.

I may not be outside, but at least it's a nice view. Which is good, because what I thought would be a short day is looking like it will turn into a weekend spent in the lab.

Dropping like flies.

So, I lost a follower yesterday. To the best of my knowledge that's the first one I've lost. Was it the laundry basket? I promise, I don't leave her in it. It's not like I go take a nap while she chills in the laundry basket and plays with matches. Was it prostelytizing about cloth diapers, telling you you're an evil person if you use disposables?  Maybe I went a little too far there... Was it my messy house? Or am I just boring you? I guess I'll have to try harder.
I've been on a little bit of a crack-high lately. After a week of antibiotics my cough was NOT going away. I was still waking up 2 to 3 times a night with a fit of coughing that made me fear I would stop breathing altogether. This, on top of coughing all night long intermittently and keeping DH awake, it was a bad scene. So I started a serious dose of steroids a week ago, and it's wonderful. I still have some minor coughing fits, but I've been getting full night's of rest (this is partially attributable to my mother-in-law being in town and taking some of the night wakings.) So not only do I have the added energy from all those steroids, I have the added energy from multiple good nights of rest. Thus, the crack high.
You know that feeling you get after you've been sickity-sick and all of a sudden you feel better? The bird's sing. Your food tastes better. Even just walking down the sidewalk is a beautiful thing. I go off the steroids tomorrow, let's hope the bird's continue to sing.

*I'm fully aware how riddled with misplaced apostrophes this post is. Is it okay to pull the "chemist" card as an excuse for not going back to fix them?

Who needs a pack and play?

Can we ignore how not-child-proofed our house is, and focus on yet another ingenius use of a laundry basket?

Heavenly Day

I warn you, this is cheesy.  But it was such a nice weekend, we had to commemorate it.

Why am I here?

Every. Single. Day. I think about quitting my job/ grad school. I dream about doing a gazillion other things. The irony is, I don't really dislike what I'm doing, I just don't want to be here. Does that make any sense? I think about writing a book. Or just blogging all the time. Or cooking and watching my baby grow up. About having 3 more babies.   I NEVER expected to like being a mom so much. 

The biggest problem, I suppose, is that I don't really know why I'm here. Why get a PhD if you don't plan to become a big research professor? I would far rather write a book than become a research professor. So why not just stop, if I don't plan on using it? I. Don't. Know.

Is it normal to obsess this much about quitting your job?