Call already!

The Baby’s 9-month appointment was yesterday. It went well for the most part. He’s developing normally and has reached all the milestones expected of a 9-month old. He did, however, have low hemoglobin, which means he could be anemic. I don’t know because I’m still waiting for the test results. I HATE WAITING!! Actually, I’m a pretty patient person, but things have been slow at work and I’m sitting around worrying. And I keep Googling things.

Step.Away.From.The.Search.Engine.

The doctor did say that his hemoglobin could be low because he is fighting a cold (Who, The Baby? Sick? Nah!). Hopefully that is just the problem. At least one benefit of my milk supply tanking is that formula is rich in iron, so The Baby is really benefiting from that now. I told the doctor that he’s been getting plenty (more than three quarters) of his liquid diet from formula for the last two weeks and he said it could take longer than that for dietary changes to take effect.

Thursday 13… things I’m sooo ready for:

1. Warm weather. I hate bundling up.
2. Vacation (Savannah, GA and Tybee Island in June – woot!)
3. Friday (tomorrow – yeah!)
4. Mental stimulation (my job description changed from creative to boring)
5. A new wardrobe. Not that I’m going to buy one, but everything I have is so blah.
6. Working out. Did I say that?! I miss riding my bike and doing my Firm DVD. It’s too cold for the first and hard to find time to do the second. I’m lazy in the morning and don’t want to work out after 8:30 p.m.
7. Dinner. I’m hungry and it’s only 4 p.m. Crap. I didn’t pull anything from the freezer.
8. The Baby’s bath… it’s bath night! He just loves playing in the tub and I love watching him!
9. A weekday off of work. And being sick or having a sick child doesn’t count! I would love to take a day off and go shopping. Just me. I would eat junk food and Starbucks all day.
10. A new president. I’m so sick of all the candidate bashing and it’s just the f-ing primaries!
11. The Baby to say, “mama”
12. Or “dada”
13. The doctor to call with the lab results of The Baby’s test.

Nine Month Checkup

The Baby’s nine-month check up is today, even though he’s just a week shy of being 10 months old. I always feel a little nervous about these appointments. Will they find something wrong? Will they wonder why I didn’t make an appointment for the cold he has? Will they start to notice that he’s in for sick visits every other week and think that I’m just a worry wart? Will they roll their eyes if I express concern over vaccines? Will they see the bruises on his knees and wonder if we watch him closely enough? Will they think I’m making up that he doesn’t eat a lot since he is gaining weight?

As you can see, I am indeed a worry wart. I’m constantly thinking that people won’t take what I say or ask seriously. I second guess myself. It’s awful. I hope The Baby gets his dad’s optimism and positive attitude. Spending your life waiting for the ball to drop can be somewhat exhausting. Thank goodness I have my husband to balance me out. Anyway, fingers crossed that all goes well today!

By the way, I totally think I jinxed myself a few weeks ago when I commented that I didn’t expect The Baby to go from purees to eating steak and potatoes. That’s exactly what he’s done. He refuses baby cereals and all pureed food – homemade, stage 1, 2, 3, it doesn’t matter. He’s had it with the spoon, unless, of course, it’s yogurt on the spoon – YoBaby = baby crack. He will, however, eat off of a fork. Sometimes I think he's just messing with me.

The Baby only tolerates real people food these days. Last night he had a small chunk of potato, a half of a baby carrot (if that) and about three bites of kielbasa (and two oz of yogurt). He loves meatloaf and chicken and tolerates green beans well. I worry that he doesn't get enough. Considering how small we must chop his food, and how time consuming it is for him to feed himself, a meal might only be two green beans and a few shreds of chicken. It just doesn’t add up to much.

Cute Alert: The Baby has learned to give me five. Hehehehe.

Cute Alert II: While reading someone’s Blogger profile, my hubby pointed out a spelling mistake. I had to tell what WAHM was.

OMG, U2 3-D was awesome!

If you live near an Imax theater I recommend it highly! It was very much like being at a concert; people at the movie were even cheering and singing like they were there. My husband thought it was like being a fly, buzzing around the band and through the audience. That’s pretty accurate. It’s neat being on the stage. You see all their hidden drinks, instruments, props, cheats sheets taped to the floor, even roadies. The only complaint that I could find is that sometimes I wish the camera would have slowed down for a little bit and focused longer on a member of the band. Just when you were getting into watching The Edge, they switched over to Bono. Also, when did Adam Clayton become so good-looking? He’s one of those people that actually look better with age.

Anyway, it was so nice to go out for a while. We’ve been to a few parties and on some dates, but we always take The Baby to my parent’s house. Just a couple weeks ago we went to a party. It entailed packing up The Baby, his crib, his clothes, milk, food, my pump and stuff for us to spend the night (so we don’t have to wake The Baby and drive home after 11 p.m.). It was literally like packing for a weekend away to get out for 3.5 hours. On Friday my parents came over to our house, it was so much easier. We just left and had fun. It’s still nice to have my parents close by and available.

From the Pump Room:
Here’s a good interview the authors of The Milk Memos. Just click on "Enter Salon" in the upper right corner.
www.salon.com

Haiku Friday and U2

Happy B-day to my husband. He's 33 today.

To celebrate, we're going to dinner with The Baby and my parents. Afterward, hubby and I are going to go to the Imax theater to see the movie U2-3D. I'm ridiculously excited to see it. When I was in college I saw them in concert three times, once in the front row! My friend and I had nose-bleed seats and band security came over and told us that we couldn't sit where we were and asked me where I wanted to sit. I said the front row, and ta-da!, he gave us tickets! It was great!

I'm trying something new, Haiku Friday. Hope you like it.



Little boy, strong will
He sees me walking away
And screams in protest

One arm up, reaching
I turn to reassure him
And hug him to me

Small fists full of hair
He holds on in his own way
I pull him closer

He squeals, and is off
Crawls where his mind propels him
But looks back and smiles

White noise and middle-of-the-night fun

For the past nine months we’ve been able to rely on one thing to calm The Baby down: white noise, namely radio/TV static. In the throws of a crying jag (he was VERY colicky), we cranked the fuzz and The Baby calmed down almost immediately. I remember a time when he was about 1.5 months old, I was in the den with the TV blaring static for well over an hour. I couldn’t even turn the volume down for 30 seconds or crying would ensue. My head hurt, I was emotionally numb, and the static began to feel like a soundtrack to a really shitty day. I think my right eye was twitching. I’m not sure. It’s the closest I’ve ever felt to being completely mentally incompetent.

Whoa… Anyway, static had always been the answer. The Baby never accepted a paci, scoffed at the womb sounds bear (sorry, grandma!), and broke out of swaddles. We depended on the static. Now, sadly, it doesn’t work. When he cries out in the middle of the night (the only time we really need it now), we can no longer crank the static, pat his back and get him back to sleep. If he wakes up crying, by the time we get to him, he is usually already in full crawl position or – worse – he’s standing. Static has zero effect on a partially- or fully-standing baby. It’s also very hard to get a baby who doesn’t want to lie back down into a position where sleep is possible, much less probable.

Luckily, The Baby doesn’t wake up often at night and stay up for more than a minute, maybe once or twice a week. I’m trying to get him use to a lovey to help calm him down when he does wake, but so far no real luck. This morning he woke up crying at 1:30 a.m. I tried to tuck his lovey into his arms (after strong-arming him off of all fours) and he went from crying to screaming at the mere sight of the thing. He’s on to me. I also have one of those aquarium rain forest crib soothers. No real luck with that either, though he likes it while he's awake.

If you would have told me eight months ago when I was slipping off the gentle slope of sanity that I’d long for the day when I could crank a steady stream of crackling, hissing and popping full blast, I’d have laughed. Either that or I’d have fallen on the floor in a fetal position. That was a very iffy day for me.


ALSO, totally, off topic, but do you guys know that there is a country song called, “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”? LOL… yikes!

Baby boy clothes

I don’t mean to complain, I really don’t, but boys get the shaft in the clothing department. I don’t care if they are 2 or 70, boys and men just don’t have the same variety in clothing, not in color or style. Little girls in 12- and 18-month clothes (my 9 month old is fast approaching 18 months in size) have a whole variety of primary and pastel-colored clothes to choose from. My problem isn’t so much with the tops. The Baby has a variety of onsies and shirts, though if he got something once in a while without a ball, car or dinosaur on it I’d be happy. The bottoms are the problem. My kid has 10 pairs of pants in varying shades of blue. He also has heather gray sweat pants that match nothing, make him look 5 years older and 10 pounds heavier than he is, but end up in the rotation for the sake of variety. If I see black, brown or olive pants at a decent price, I’m on it! Since he’s been over the size of 6 months, it’s been a challenge.

My husband, bless his heart, gets The Baby ready every weekday and takes him to daycare. Though I no longer do a morning pump, we had factored that in with having to style my hair, put on makeup and shave 80% of my body and figured he just had more time in the morning. I usually try to lay out his clothes the night before so that The Baby matches I feel helpful.

One thing that I’ve learned to do, is buy 5-packs of Gerber’s plain white long-sleeve onsies. They match everything. It makes mornings easier for everyone involved. I leave a pair at daycare and pack one in the diaper bag for emergencies. Now that The Baby is doing more than laying around drinking all day, they get a little messy looking. I still love them. Plus, The Baby looks great in white: like an angel, with scratches and bruises. Another great match-anything item would be jeans, but Daddy refuses. They are too hard to pull over The Baby’s ample hips. Since Daddy dresses, Daddy decides. I’m just saying.

Anyway, I had to laugh when I saw The Baby this morning. He had on a green plaid shirt and olive-drab sweat pants. The greens didn’t really match, but it’s the closest match that we can get for the shirt, except jeans, of course, but that’s not what struck me funny. All I could think of was the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine and Puddy were on a plane on either side of a guy in a green plaid shirt and she was referring to him as Vegetable Lasagna. From what I have learned since, she was calling him that because that’s what he was eating. I always thought it was a barb at his shirt, so that’s what I associate green plaid with. Tee-hee.

I'm Rich!

Well, it looks like I’m quiting my job. One Roger Michael Needham has willed me 1.5 million dollars. Woot! Woot!

Subject: Will Notification

PARTNER MANAGING WILLIAMS HENRY SOLICITORS
(Is he Williams Henry, or is he a partner in managing a person named Williams Henry? Also, didn’t I hear something once about not trusting people with two last names?)
EMAIL: williamshenry007@sify.com (even though the email you mailed it from was some poor SOB on Peoplepc??)

On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Prof (I didn’t realize Late Prof was a title) Roger Michael Needham. I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered.

I hereby (well, if he is hereby trying …) attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the WILL (Wow, my email’s on someone’s will?) . I wish to notify you that late Prof Roger Michael Needham made you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Fifteen Million, One Hundred thousand (what did thousand do to not deserve to be capitalized too??) United States Dollars to you in the Condicile (not even a word) and last testament to his WILL (quit yelling WILL!).

This masound strange (masound strange? Is this like haz cheezeburger?) and unbelievable to you with the current upsurge in cyber crime and the likes, but it is for real and true Being a widely traveled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to him by one of his numerous friends abroad who wished you good (Ahhh, that must be why I don’t remember having such an accomplished friend. I was nominated. Now it’s clear.).

Prof (Do you get the feeling that they aren’t sure if professor has one or two fs, so they are just abbreviating it? I mean, I do that sometimes) Roger Michael Needham, an engineer/Computer scientist who worked as Director, Microsoft Research limited,Cambridge before he died (oh, not after he died?) on 1st March in the year 2003 and was patron of the Royal Academy of Engineering and also member ofvarious societies andorganisations .

He was a very dedicated Christian who loved to give out (is give out like put out?). His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his life time one of which was the Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Late Roger Michael Needham died on the 1st March in the year 2003 at the age of 68 years, and his WILL is now ready for execution.According to him this money is to support humanitarian/philanthropic activities and to help the poor and the needy in our society. Please if I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavour to get back to me (nothing says I really don’t know English as well as endeavour to get back to me) as soon as possible to enable me conclude my job. I hope to hear from you in no distant time (Well, okay, maybe this sentence says it better.).


Note: You are advised to contact me through my secured email (the Peoplepc one or the sify one?)
address- williamshenry007@sify.com (007, LOL) In your response, please
provided the following information.
FULL NAMES AND ADDRESS, TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER, SEX, OCCUPATION
The requested information shall enable me authenticate the ones in the WILL and my file (I thought the will only contained my email address?).
You can reach me on phone immediately on your receipt of this email:williamshenry007@sify.com call now: +447045717958
I await your prompt response

Honestly, I can't believe people still fall for stuff like this!!!

Another Friday Night

At 3:30 p.m., I was sitting in The Pump Room writing. I don’t have a laptop at work, so I freehand write many of my blog entries. My topic was pretty much, “woe-is-me, it’s another weekend and what do I have to look forward to,” and a bunch of other sorry crap you just don’t even want to hear. Basically, as a couple, our lives have changed. We knew it would when we had The Baby, I mean, duh. We are in our 30s and had more than our share of nightlife as singles and as a couple, but sometimes it’s hard to let go. I miss going to dinner, happy hour, movies, gallery opens, unhurried love, all the things that use to typify Friday night. I miss my husband.

As I was writing and feeling depressed, and feeling guilty for feeling depressed, something funny happened. I remembered that it was bath night! Until about two weeks ago, The Baby got his bath in the sink. It’s just easier, especially for a shorty like me. My mother in law recently got me a bathing kneeler for the tub (SafetyFirst, it works great!), so The Baby has graduated to the tub. It’s soooo cute and so much more fun. I love watching him splash and crawl after his rubber ducky. The cat does, too – he’s obsessed with water. The cat stands on his hind legs propped up against the tub watching. I swear he is thinking, “Okay, I’m going to jump in …. NOW! No, wait…. NOW!” and he just keeps chickening out. Whenever The Baby gets near him while he is in the tub, the cat licks the water off of him. This delights The Baby to no end. It’s the only time the cat pays quality attention to him.

So, it turns out I do have something to look forward to that doesn’t start with laun and end with dry. Yeah! Have a nice weekend.

From The Pump Room
My effing tube has a hole in it! As I did my final pump last night I could feel a breeze emanating from my flange. GAHHHHH! I had to order a new tubing kit last night and tape up the one I have. Scotch tape has so many applications. :-)

Bad Dream

Wow, I had a bad one this morning! It was my first bad motherhood dream.

Here’s a little background: The Baby got up at 4:44 a.m. and would not go back to sleep. I sucked out his nose and fed him a bottle to relax him. He had other ideas. Finally, I just decided to let him work it out himself. He’ll usually cry for a few minutes and go back to sleep. He was crying for three minutes, and quiet for 10, so I didn’t know whether to get back up or what. After about four cycles of this, and desperate thoughts of fleeing to the Caribbean to tend bar, I decided to get him and lay with him in the den on the futon. It didn’t matter, he just cried and tried to struggle away. He either was upset that I wasn’t breaking out the toys or desperately wanted to go back to sleep and couldn’t. Clearly I wasn’t helping matters. I put him back down, gave him his lovey, patted his toushy and went back to lay in darkness dreaming of white sand and steel drums. It wasn’t too long until The Baby fell back asleep, so I also was able to sleep for another 20 minutes.

The dream that I had contains some very common dreamscapes and themes for me: being at the location of my first job (a steakhouse that I waitressed at on and off from the ages of 15-21), my husband not listening to me (in real life he does!), me being aware that I am only dreaming, the beach, and tides that rush in unexpectedly. I know, you are probably twirling your finger around your ear while pointing at the monitor like Pump Mama is coo-coo. Maybe she is.

Anyway, on to the dream. I was standing in Western Sizzlin (the steakhouse). I was aware that I was dreaming and I was thinking how awesome it was to revisit the place where I worked for so long. Everything was nice and organized. I went outside and walked under and underpass and up a hill and into a parking lot (this is total dreamscape, it doesn’t exist). At this point I stopped being aware that it was a dream and I had The Baby with me. My husband and his coworkers were there. I was trying to talk to him and he was busy talking to his coworkers and pretty much ignoring me. I said something snarky to him and walked back toward the underpass. I heard waves crashing and looked behind me and there was a pretty beach. All of sudden the tide came rushing in and a little water splashed up on to The Baby’s face. I hurried to the underpass. When I rushed down the steps I realized that it was flooded from top to bottom and we were under water completely and had to swim to the other side. While I was under, it occurred to me that The Baby didn’t know how to hold his breath. When I reached down to pinch his nose and clamp his mouth, he gasped in a mouth full of water. I was swimming with my hands over his nose and mouth not knowing if it was too late. That’s when the alarm went off. Thank goodness.

I’ve felt a little sad all day. :-(

Mom My Ride

This will never happen to me. And, hey, I like Zima. I mean, as much as you can like Zima. I had to laugh, because I do have a friend who has a minivan like this, duct tape and all.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Table

The Baby is at the age where he just wants to move. Who can blame him? He’s been sitting or lying around for nine months. Gone are the nights when my husband and I can plop him in the swing or the jumper and eat a peaceful dinner. He wants to pull himself up on everything – the TV, the cat, the radiator. We figured it was time to get a standing toy that was safe and didn’t hiss.

He has a bazillion little toys that keep him somewhat occupied, but this one is really worth a mention to anyone else looking for a toy that will hold their baby’s attention and meet the need to be standing and all grabby. The Baby can easily pull himself up on the table. It’s designed to look like a meal with a bowl of soup, slice of pizza, cookies, napkin, cup, and fruit, all of which move and play either music or a lesson. It keeps The Baby occupied. Heck, it keeps me occupied. It’s also small and light enough to move from room to room or to grandma and pop-pop’s. It was $37 at Babies R Us. I give it a big pumps up!

Oh, hey, it's snowing…


From the Pump Room:
I got my new pump! The milk has stopped backing up into the horn, but the suction isn’t very much stronger. It fixed the reason that I called Ameda, so I am happy. I might order a new tubing kit. My tubes are pretty icky looking. Some milk got backed up in them. All in all, I hate to say it, but I just don’t think that I’m letting down very well anymore – maybe my breasts are getting to used to the stimulation? Who know!

Good eats for you and baby

The Baby in 9 months old and is starting to eat “regular” food, which I pick apart into minuscule pieces because I am afraid he will choke. On Saturday he ate his first “regular” meal with us. It would have been a picture-perfect moment had we been gathered around the dining room table. We were eating in front of the TV. I know, I know. At least The Baby wasn’t watching TV. He was busy cruising along the coffee table. Whenever he cruised by I'd pop a piece of food into his mouth. It was probably pretty white trash, but whatever.

We had macaroni and cheese (homemade, but left over) and chicken avocado salad. Avocado is perfect for babies and not-quite tots. It's soft, good for you and at once both flavorful and bland (is that possible?). Here’s a recipe, courtesy of my brother's wife Bibi, that is great to make for you and serve to your little one.

Chicken Avocado Salad
(Servings: 2 and a half)

2 boiled and shredded chicken breasts (or ¾ package of Purdue Selects or other pre-packaged cooked chicken breast strips)
1 ripe avocado (firm, but you should be able to press into it)
Grape tomatoes (I use about a dozen)
Fresh cilantro leaves to taste
Grown ups only: 1 sliced jalapeno pepper

Shred or cube chicken, cube avocado, slice tomatoes in half, add cilantro (if you have it-we had none on Saturday) and mix together. The oil in the avocado acts as a binder for everything so there is no need for mayonnaise. This is yummy made with hot or cold chicken. It's great on toast, on a bed of greens or in a wrap. Plus, it’s EASY. I tore up pieces of chicken coated with avocado for The Baby. He dug it.

Here's the recipe for Great Mac and Cheese. It’s sooo good and, if you don't do the onions, it's just as easy as Easy Mac.

Ameda Customer Service

I have a Ameda Purely Yours pump, which I’ve always loved (as much as you can love a device where you crank up the suction and attach it to your breast); however, in the last month or so it seems to be losing a little steam. About once a week I have a day where milk gets backed up into the horn and I have to break suction to release the milk to the collection bottle. On most days the pump also doesn’t seem to have as much suction. When I’m done pumping, there is still milk – so much so that I can hand express it. I don’t know why I didn’t call in November when it started. I had typical excuses… I’m losing supply, I’m probably just not as stimulated by the pump anymore, I’m almost done anyway…

I finally called on Wednesday. They asked if I tested the pump suction by taking off the tube, turning it on and putting my finger over the hole. I had and I felt suction. “Yes,” she said, “but did you hear a loud pop?” I hadn’t! So she determined the motor was defective and a new one is being Fed-exed to me. Of course, since then, I retried the test and DID hear a pop! *sigh* But sometimes the suction is better than others, sometimes the milk backs up and sometimes it doesn't, so I must have just hit it on a good day. Customer service also said the model I had was several years old! I just bought it nine months ago – thanks, Baby Depot. I should have known, when I sent in the registration I got it mailed back because the building moved.

Anyway, the customer service was helpful and more than willing to help solve the problem. I got the number off of the Web site: www.ameda.com, just click contact us in the lower corner.

The Baby has the stomach flu

In keeping with our every-other-week routine, The Baby went to the doctor’s yesterday. He’s seems fine, except he pukes (copious amounts of vomit) one to two times per day. He got X-Rays of his belly to make sure it wasn’t related to constipation. In addition to not eating well, The Baby doesn’t poop well either. Normally, we give him 2 oz of pear juice in a bottle daily (he doesn’t like it straight) and that keeps things moving, but lately he isn’t drinking enough at one time to “hide” the juice. The doctor thought he might be impacted, hence the X-Ray, but he’s not. She said it must be the flu that’s going around, even though he doesn’t have diarrhea or seem ill. I’ve never heard of a flu that makes you vomit only once a day and where you can be happy otherwise. For the next few days we aren’t suppose to give him a lot of milk or food, mostly Pedialyte (he isn’t dehydrated, but they’re the experts). I can’t imagine he’ll drink the Pedialyte, but we’ll try! The doctor also told us we could use a half dose of Miralax in a bottle for constipation. She said it is good for long-term use.

Hopefully he’ll straighten out by the weekend. Until then, I’m going to wear a rain poncho and put a tarp on the floor.


Randomness:
Here are three things that I totally misunderstood recently. The first two things I read wrong. The third, I heard wrong.

The Idiot Rod (Iditarod)
#1 Fat Head (#1 Father)
“Barchjor” (My husband was saying this they other day, and I kept saying, “excuse me?” I still don’t know what he was saying. He was getting frustrated so I faked it. :-/ )

Baby clapping

I think The Baby is confused. Cute, but confused. He’s learned to clap but doesn’t grasp the context in which clapping is appropriate.

Appropriate: He sees Pretty Mommy (his pet name for me) walk through the door and immediately smiles and claps.

Appropriate: Handsome Daddy starts clapping and singing, “1-2-3, A-B-C!” and The Baby joins in.

Inappropriate: Background - in the last two weeks The Baby has developed a distaste for getting his diaper changed. As soon as I lay him down, he begins to scream AND clap.

Inappropriate: When he’s fighting sleep (or a bottle, or a spoon), he’s been known to burst into an angry fit of applause.

I don’t want to make light of his confusion, but dang it, sometimes it’s hard not to laugh at him.

Mad moms against stuff

A few weeks ago I was on cafemom and noticed a forum called "Breast Feeding Moms Against Formula (except for medical reasons)". I understand drunk drivers, Internet predators –– heck, even Barney –– but formula??

Curiosity piqued, I went in to find a disclaimer that said something about how the forum wasn't intended to be against moms who use formula. I've learned that if people disclaim what they say ("no offense, but..." "I don't mean to be mean, but..."), they usually mean exactly what they are about to say they don't mean. Sure enough, a few sentences later it says, "It's the choice to not give your baby the best that we have a problem with!" So, I guess it really is against other moms, no?

If the group's only focus, as it claims, is to shed the breast feeding "Nazi" image, encourage people to breast feed from birth, and to support the rights of those who breast feed, why bring formula into it at all? Why not name yourself Moms for Exclusive Breast Feeding or Breast is Best or something positive?? Why the hate?

Almost everyone gives their children vitamins to supplement their diet... will people so opposed to artificial nutrients not do so because it's not natural and the body doesn't absorb it as well as nutrients in food? Or is that different? There are no groups called Moms against Flintstones Chewables (that I am aware of). Organic diet and lifestyle is a choice that has a positive effect on a child's health. Would it be a problem if someone in this group didn't take the time and expense to provide a green household? It is, after all, the best choice. Or would that also be different?

Breast feeding, bottle feeding, formula, cloth vs. disposable, sleep training, when to start solids, When to forward face the car seat, when to drop the bottle, how to discipline, SAHM, WOHM, daycare, home school... there are a ton of choice we have to make with our little ones. Sometimes a choice is made that may not be the best but it works well and best for the person making the decision (can anyone really argue that an organic diet isn't best? Probably not, but most of don't follow one - myself included). But again, why the hatefulness? Why can't we just positively believe in our choices?

*tripping off of soap box to put daisies in the cleavage of mad mothers*

Pumpin’ Pal

“I’m into nuggets, ya'll… I’m into nuggets, ya'll…
Ketchup and may-o! Ketchup and may-o!”

I can’t get that McDonalds commercial out of my head. Agggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

From the Pump Room
I’ve been pumping for 9 months now and, at this point, I don’t plan to buy anything to make things easier or to increase my supply. If I were to buy something, however, this product might be it. Pumpin’ Pal has flange inserts called Super Shields that make it easier to pump in a semi-reclined position. Perhaps an even bigger reason to consider this product is that it is available in three sizes. Flange fit effects supply. Your entire nipple should not touch the sides as it is being suctioned, nor should your entire boob be pulled in. At only $12.95, it is less then you’d pay for custom flanges from the manufacturer.

Pumpin’ Pal also makes a hands-free pumping strap that sells for a $9.95. I simply put my pump on and close my nursing bra around it for hands-free pumping. It works great, it’s free and it’s one less thing to take to work. To do this you need a nursing bra with cups that don’t fully cover your breasts. There will be no room for the pump horns if they do. In other words, those ugly uni-boob nursing bras won’t work – trust me, I have one. Target sells nursing bras for around $14 with cups that don’t go up to your collar bone.

Anyway, I justed wanted to pass this on to anyone who might find it helpful. There are good testimonials on the site and I was impressed that they didn't charge an arm and a leg for their products. Hands-free pumping bras can cost up to $35. Medela has a kit for $10.95, but it says it works with only Medela nursing bras and pumps.

Confession : I've been slacking with the pumping.

mom jeans

This made me snarf my soda. Tee-hee.

SNL Mom Jeans

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Finger foods

I think I might be starving my son. Not from lack of food, but from lack of variety. Don’t get me wrong, I never thought The Baby would go from eating purees to eating a steak dinner, but somehow I just never really considered the interim - or that it was approaching so quickly. Sometimes it’s hard to believe I’m responsible for a whole other life.

Lately, The Baby’s taken to slapping the spoon out of my hand pushing the spoon aside during mealtime. My husband and I have come to the conclusion that he really wants to either feed himself or live entirely off of YoBaby blueberry yogurt (no spoon slapping with the yogurt). Honestly, we aren’t sure which is the issue. Since he (The Baby, not my husband) doesn’t seem to understand that the big end of the spoon is the side that goes in the mouth, we’ve taken a step up the food chain to finger foods.

We started a few weeks ago with puffs to get him use to chewing and handling food. Over the weekend we started adding some more finger foods to his diet: the “meaty” part of a green bean (if you’ve ever picked them into tiny chunks, you’ll know I’m not crazy), chunks of cooked carrot and sweet potato and pieces of spaghetti. The process of him feeding himself takes sooo much longer and he can’t be getting half the amount of food that he was getting before by these little bits of food. I try to offer purees at the same time, but he’s much less interested. This evening, for instance, he ate about 2 Tablespoons of pureed veggies, but only because I dipped puffs in them and let him eat it that way.

I’m so afraid of him choking… and I don’t know what else to add that is nutritious and palatable for a 9 month old who wants to feed himself. It will be easier when he can actually use the spoon. Until then, I am going to worry that he’s not getting enough food.

Also, when I reheat cooked carrots and sweet potatoes in the microwave, they make zapping electric sounds and put off sparks. What the heck is up with that? Is this one of those Dear Heloise things I should know about???

A Baby-Proof New Year

And... he's off!



The baby learned to crawl and pull himself up during my holiday hiatus from The Pump Room. He's got the bruises to prove it. We've taken to calling him "Sniffy," not just because he always seems to have a cold, but also because he just sniffs and snorts his way along while he crawls. It's hard work!

My husband and I are pretty minimalist when it comes to décor. He's a fine artist, which means we have a lot of paintings and drawings on the walls. So that our home isn't overbearing, we keep the rest pretty simple. Me? Visual clutter makes me nervous. No wonder I've been such a basket case since The Baby's been born - my living room looks like a Gymboree. Anyway, luckily we don't have a lot of figurines, photo frames, houseplants and other things laying around for The Baby to knock over and/or ingest. We got rid of a few floor items (large candle holder, oversized vases) that we didn't use anyway. We thought we were in good shape. I mean, our coffee table has rounded edges and everything.

On Sunday something happened that opened our eyes. From my perspective I was holding The Baby while he lovingly stroked my face and tugged my ears and hair. From The Baby's perspective he was pulling the toys off of mama’s ears and trying to navigate a fistful of earring to his mouth. He had managed to pull out my hoop without me knowing (the sneak!). Thank goodness that my mother-in-law was on to him. If he could do this right smack in front of me with an accessory that went through a part of my body, what other trouble could he get in to? Based on watching him stuff balls into the sub-woofer, plenty. We obviously needed to do more baby proofing.

This is what we've done so far: covered our outlets, taped the glass door on the entertainment center shut, bolted the speakers to the entertainment center, put corner guards on the book shelf, tethered the CD case to the wall, put door stops on our base cupboards in the kitchen, moved chemicals from under the sink to a high shelf in the pantry and we got door knob covers to install later. We're still looking for gates that work with 6-inch molding and don't cost $100 a pop.

There are things that still stump us. What to do about the litter box? It's in the basement. Currently we leave the door cracked. Our cat is too fat (ummm, fluffy, sorry Mo!) to hop a gate down the stairs. The cat doesn't fit through standard cat doors (again, he's fluffy), but medium-sized dog doors are big enough for a toddler. We live in a small home and really don't want the box upstairs. Sometimes Mo misses the box entirely, if you know what I mean. I think we're going to have to cut out our own cat door and frame it out with quarter-round or something. With the gates we're going to get it should keep The Baby from tumbling down the cellar stairs. The cat dish is the other dilemma. The Baby's first extended crawl was from the living room to the cat's food dish. The kid who can barely get a puff in his mouth, is showing much interest in cat food. We don’t want to put the cat’s food in the cellar (to easy to forget to check his water), we don’t want to elevate it on the counters and make a) our fluffy cat jump or b) have our cat’s paws (i.e. poop-burying instruments) where we prepare food. We’ll just have to keep an eye on The Baby when he’s in the kitchen.

Here's a link with lots of helpful info on baby proofing:
www.babyandkidsonline.com