Warning: This is a boooooooooooring catch-up blog. If you need a nap, do continue reading!
I switched blog sites about a month ago, but I have yet to figure out how to post on my new site, so I am back on blogger until that gets sorted out. Plus, I haven't organized or named my new site, so it's pretty pathetic if you check it out right now. But I have high hopes for the future! Blogger makes me totally crazy (at least when my blog is private), so this new site should be a great relief. The site is: abeandlily.darais.com, and to view the posts you have to enter our password, "playground". I'll post another Blogger blog announcing when it's ready for actual viewing. (Right now we've just imported all of my blogger blogs and just put them onto the new blog, so there's nothing original or fun to see.)
Here's a quick review of fun things we have done since the last blog.
My friend, Thalia, Randall, visited us in mid August for a lovely week! She is from South Africa, and we had such a wonderful time with her. We did a two day Moab stint wherein she biked Sick Rock with Jere, and then we all swam in the pool. It was Lydia's first time in the pool! I don't have any pictures--story of my life--but Thalia bought a gorgeous new camera, and she has some. Eventually we will get those pics (plus some of us hiking to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park) and I will post them here. We also had a mini-mini mission reunion party in her honor, and it was so fun to see friends from the mission again.
Abe and I have made so many trips to Moab that by this point I've lost track of how often we've gone. We have hiked a number of different hikes in Arches, including Park Avenue, the Windows, and Landscape Arch. Next time we plan to hike in Canyonlands National Park. If you ever go to Moab, our most recommended restaurants to date are Peace Tree and Jay's Pasta. Peace Tree has a ton of vegetarian fare (since we are now officially vegetarians) including a to-die-for hummus wrap and a lovely mushroom-and-roasted-veggies bagel. Jay's Pasta has a great dish with pasta, tomatoes, artichokes and mushrooms...mmmm! I am kind of drooling just thinking about it. There's a really promising Mexican place too, but it is only open certain hours in the evening, and so next time we'll schedule ourselves time to wait in line and get a spot.
We also just got back from a trip to New England. Abe's little brother, David, is getting his Ph.D. at Harvard, so we visited him and took a trip to see the leaves. It was glorious! Suzanne planned the whole trip, and every day was packed with fun and interesting things. We visited a Shaker village in New Hampshire, toured the Ben and Jerry's factory in Vermont, explored a glass blowing factory/shop (Simon Pierce?), visited and hiked around Joseph Smith's birthplace, strolled around a Fall Foliage Festival in some cute little New Hampshire town, shopped at the fun little Vermont Country Store, and ate lots of yummy food. We also spent an evening in Cambridge and took a little tour around Harvard. I broke my two month long no sugar streak and drank some hot chocolate from Burdick's. I couldn't believe how rich that stuff was! I remember downing about a cup a day when I lived in Cambridge, but after not having sugar for two months, just half a cup was almost too much to handle. Wow. Although I wish I could have seen more friends from Boston, I was deeeelighted that the last minute timing still allowed a beautiful (short!) visit with my dear friends, Sherelle and Jean. It was probably the highlight of my trip just to see those two!
On the Lydia front, all continues to be sugar, spice and everything nice. She has been turning the pages in her books for about a month now, and she is rolling all around and sitting up. At her most recent doctor's visit, she weighed 15 pounds and was 28 inches long. She says "mamamama," "bababa," and, occasionally, "mamababama." My heart leaps every so often when she says, "mama," but I'm never sure if she knows what that means. On our trip, she sat in her first high chair and delighted us all with her darling expressions as she tried new foods. Abe was appalled that she initially appeared to dislike beets, but upon several subsequent spoonfuls, she decided that they were okay. At that point, Abe declared that she was definitely his daughter.
We are leaving for Idaho today and will be there until Friday or Saturday. I am dreading trying to keep Lydia entertained for a week in one little hotel room, but we are getting used to this traveling thing. The good news is that they have a pool, so that should provide at least forty five minutes worth of entertainment per day. And then I get to see my friend Candace on Tuesday and Wednesday, so that should make the days much brighter. She is having a little girl in January, and when we get together on Wednesday we will craft in anticipation of this exciting event. I am SO excited!
Okay, since I'm a little hungry, I'll end by posting links to some great recipes I've tried lately:
A sweet and savory Macedonian strudel from Moosewood Cooks for a Crowd. It's a little rich, but very delicious. http://www.havura.org/recipes/shabbat-services/macedonian-sweet-and-savoury-strudel
Whole wheat walnut bread from Anna Thomas' book, Love Soup. This bread is a yeast bread but it's actually easier to make than many quick breads. http://caloriecount.about.com/awesome-recipe-anna-thomas-love-soup-ft160082
And I wanted to post a recipe to the tofu stuffed cabbage rolls from Moosewood Low Fat Favorites, but unfortunately it's not on the web. So I am instead recommending you check out that book from the library or, if you have it already and haven't tried the cabbage rolls, try the cabbage rolls! Seriously, that recipe is great. I think the miso is the key secret ingrediant. Also, just a plug for that cookbook in general: by this point, I feel like I've almost cooked through the whole book, and I've only found one dud recipe (the tamale-ish recipe, if you're wondering). It's a great book.
Okay, I should probably pack for our trip--especially since we're leaving in less than an hour!!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
cry it out, diet update, and prayers
Well, we are finally settled into our new house, and so we figured it was time to get serious about Lydia's schedule. Her sleep routine was out of hand. Abe had started to joke that soon she'd require him to rub his tummy and pat his head while singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm in order for her to sleep. As it was, he had to hold her while hopping up and down on one foot and leaning at just the right angle, or else she absolutely refused to fall asleep. When I put her down, I often had to spend about an hour feeding, swaddling, changing, reswaddling, refeeding, and rechanging...and then I'd jiggle her all the way to her crib and put her down about six times before she's actually go to sleep. I was actually starting to develop back pain from the hour long process.
When we explained our routine to the pediatrician, she scared us witless by saying that she'd met three year olds who still require their parents to do similar routines and hold them until they fall asleep. She suggested we let Lydia cry it out so that Lydia could learn to self soothe.
And that is what we've been doing for the past couple days...and it's working! At first it was brutal to hear her cry for so long, but every time we put her down now, she cries less and less. Last night she cried for a total of FIVE short minutes, and then she slept so long I started to worry. When I realized she'd been sleeping for nine hours, I went into her room to make sure she was still alive. Lo and behold, not only was she still alive, but she was awake and playing by herself with her little pink monkey. I could not believe my eyes! Up to this point, Lydia has needed constant and direct adult stimulation every waking minute of her life, but there she was--happily playing away with Minkey (her monkey)! Wow, wow, WOW. Abe and I are thrilled.
Here's what I'm not thrilled about. I have been enduring painful exercise sessions five days a week for over a month and I can't remember the last time I ate anything sugary...and I still weigh the same as I did in APRIL! Can you believe it? I even checked out The Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss to see what I'm doing wrong. That book says to throw out the scale and judge yourself on how clothes fit, but as far as I can tell, I can't fit into any of my old clothes. I suppose there is a possibility some fat is turning to muscle since some people (namely, my mom and Abe) keep telling me I look like I'm losing weight, but at some point, doesn't the number on the scale have to go down?? It's so sad. I have had more than one dream about all of the desserts I've passed up, and I always wake up from those dreams hungry and grumpy.
Oh well. The real purpose of this whole program is so that I'm healthy for baby #2, and I really do feel a lot more energy and health. So that's good. When I get pregnant again, I am going to try to continue avoiding sugar and exercising five days a week, and maybe--just maybe!--I won't gain another 70 lbs. But to end on a positive note, I have really enjoyed not being alone in this post-baby weight loss journey. My friend Ashley and I have been emailing each other about our goals and praying for each other, and that has been immensely helpful. There have been days when I would not have reached my goals if it weren't for her support. One day I got up and really did not want to run at all, but I thought of her and felt like I'd be disappointed if she didn't reach her goals that day--so I didn't want to let her down, either! I spent my whole run praying for us both, and we both ran longer than we thought we could that day. God really does answer prayers.
Oh, and that reminds me! One more happy thing. I have really felt God answering my prayers when I pray to know how to mother Lydia. I'm not sure where my journal is, so even though this is normally material for my journal, I think I'll blog it before I forget that it happened. When we were in Moab at the hotel (before we started cry it out), I felt at a total loss for how to get Lydia to take her nap. I knew she was tired, but we were in a new place with a different bassinet, and I just felt extremely daunted by the prospect of putting her down. So I said a prayer that God would show me how to put her down, and right away thoughts came into my head about what to do next. I started to do things I don't normally do, but I just kept following the impressions I was getting. The whole time I kept thinking "There's no way this is going to work," but I followed the Spirit anyway--and fifteen minutes later, Lydia was sound asleep. It was a miracle. That's not the only time something like that has happened, but since it was the most recent event, I figured I should record it before I forgot.
Sorry for the epic blog post! Now I need to go and find my journal...
When we explained our routine to the pediatrician, she scared us witless by saying that she'd met three year olds who still require their parents to do similar routines and hold them until they fall asleep. She suggested we let Lydia cry it out so that Lydia could learn to self soothe.
And that is what we've been doing for the past couple days...and it's working! At first it was brutal to hear her cry for so long, but every time we put her down now, she cries less and less. Last night she cried for a total of FIVE short minutes, and then she slept so long I started to worry. When I realized she'd been sleeping for nine hours, I went into her room to make sure she was still alive. Lo and behold, not only was she still alive, but she was awake and playing by herself with her little pink monkey. I could not believe my eyes! Up to this point, Lydia has needed constant and direct adult stimulation every waking minute of her life, but there she was--happily playing away with Minkey (her monkey)! Wow, wow, WOW. Abe and I are thrilled.
Here's what I'm not thrilled about. I have been enduring painful exercise sessions five days a week for over a month and I can't remember the last time I ate anything sugary...and I still weigh the same as I did in APRIL! Can you believe it? I even checked out The Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss to see what I'm doing wrong. That book says to throw out the scale and judge yourself on how clothes fit, but as far as I can tell, I can't fit into any of my old clothes. I suppose there is a possibility some fat is turning to muscle since some people (namely, my mom and Abe) keep telling me I look like I'm losing weight, but at some point, doesn't the number on the scale have to go down?? It's so sad. I have had more than one dream about all of the desserts I've passed up, and I always wake up from those dreams hungry and grumpy.
Oh well. The real purpose of this whole program is so that I'm healthy for baby #2, and I really do feel a lot more energy and health. So that's good. When I get pregnant again, I am going to try to continue avoiding sugar and exercising five days a week, and maybe--just maybe!--I won't gain another 70 lbs. But to end on a positive note, I have really enjoyed not being alone in this post-baby weight loss journey. My friend Ashley and I have been emailing each other about our goals and praying for each other, and that has been immensely helpful. There have been days when I would not have reached my goals if it weren't for her support. One day I got up and really did not want to run at all, but I thought of her and felt like I'd be disappointed if she didn't reach her goals that day--so I didn't want to let her down, either! I spent my whole run praying for us both, and we both ran longer than we thought we could that day. God really does answer prayers.
Oh, and that reminds me! One more happy thing. I have really felt God answering my prayers when I pray to know how to mother Lydia. I'm not sure where my journal is, so even though this is normally material for my journal, I think I'll blog it before I forget that it happened. When we were in Moab at the hotel (before we started cry it out), I felt at a total loss for how to get Lydia to take her nap. I knew she was tired, but we were in a new place with a different bassinet, and I just felt extremely daunted by the prospect of putting her down. So I said a prayer that God would show me how to put her down, and right away thoughts came into my head about what to do next. I started to do things I don't normally do, but I just kept following the impressions I was getting. The whole time I kept thinking "There's no way this is going to work," but I followed the Spirit anyway--and fifteen minutes later, Lydia was sound asleep. It was a miracle. That's not the only time something like that has happened, but since it was the most recent event, I figured I should record it before I forgot.
Sorry for the epic blog post! Now I need to go and find my journal...
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
a walk on the sidewalk
A confession: Because I accidentally packed most of Lydia's stuff in the moving boxes, up until yesterday, Lydia had one toy. Every time my mom came over to babysit, she would ask plaintively if Lydia had any toys, and every time I'd present her the same circle of colored teething rings that served as Lydia's solitary plaything. It was sad. Lydia idled away her life taking tours of house plants, practicing the piano (while I gently corrected her technique), reading (the same three) books, watching me eat, and enduring my crazy attempts to make her smile and laugh. Poor thing.
And then we decided to accompany Abe on some of his work trips. These have changed my perspective on toys. Try spending 12 hours in a hotel room with a five month old, and you'll decide that toys--LOTS of toys--are basic necessities. After Abe returned to the room yesterday, we high tailed it to the nearest Babies R Us and stocked up on toys. We took turns thrusting different gadgets into Lydia's hands to see which ones seemed most stimulating. Since she has been so toy deprived, our sweet baby kept trying to stuff each candidate into her mouth...she couldn't fathom that there are other things to do with toys besides eating them. I felt so bad.
So today we have tried to make up for Lydia's lack of sensory stimulation by playing up a storm. She got to the point where she just cried when I put another new toy in her hands. I think she might be feeling a little overwhelmed.
To break up our twelve hour day, I took Lydia on a walk. We are currently situated at a Marriot in the middle of a corporate desert; there's nothing around but business buildings, hotels and a couple restaurants. They do, however, have a lovely sidewalk that no one uses. It goes for miles besides the major roads running through these strips of buildings. I decided that our first stop would be the Marriot across the street. I wanted to find out why they are more expensive than the Marriot we are staying at, so Lydia and I started our leisurely walk by off-roading onto the hotel lawn and making our way to the front desk.
I explained my question to the lovely hotel receptionist, and without batting an eyelash the woman told me the difference lay in the color scheme and flow of the rooms. I must have raised an eyebrow because then she offered to show me a room. I was delighted by her invitation, but my happy spirits sank when the lady asked how old Lydia was and then told me she also had a five month old. I looked at her fat-less figure and felt immediately depressed. And then she proceeded to tell me that her son's favorite colors are yellow and red.
Favorite colors? Lydia doesn't even appear to recognize differences between colors, and she certainly doesn't have favorites. "It's her lack of stimulation," I thought, sadly. "She hasn't had enough toy-time, and she's developmentally delayed because of it. And it's all my fault!!!"
On top of that, I couldn't really tell a difference between that Marriot's rooms and ours. The colors were more blue, as I remarked to the receptionist. "Yes," she said, smilingly, "It's those little details that make a difference." Uh huh...
So we continued on our merry way. The sidewalk was really well manicured and maintained, but there was hardly any tree cover. That's a problem when it's the beginning of August and the heat is beating down, so I scanned the buildings to see if there was anywhere Lydia and I could duck in for some heat relief.
Out of nowhere appeared a store that advertised "Fine Country Furnishings." "Good enough," I thought, and veered right towards the store entrance. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt as though I'd been transported to autumn in 19th century New England. The whole store was scented with spiced candles and filled to the brim with folksy knick knacks and old fashioned furniture. It was delightful. I even found some house scents labeled "antique porch" and "log cabin." But my absolute favorite part of the store were the cutesy signs with the word "Simplify" hung right above the piles of folksy Americana kitsch. Love it!
There were some signs, though, that had heart stopping grammatical errors: "Sister's are the best" and "Friend's are the best" stopped me in my tracks. Really?? But the store was so quaint and cute and sweet that I immediately forgave the sign makers. They were probably too busy thinking sweet thoughts to pay attention to grammar.
Back in the sunshine, Lydia woke up and started screaming bloody murder. At that point, I decided it would be prudent to begin the mile long trek back to our hotel.
And now here we are. Just a couple more hours before Abe comes home for a little dinner break before heading out to work again. (Did I mention he works a lot?) But Lydia is sleeping peacefully and Blogger appears to be working again, so I am happy. I even like this room's color scheme better than the other Marriot, so right now life feels pretty great!
And then we decided to accompany Abe on some of his work trips. These have changed my perspective on toys. Try spending 12 hours in a hotel room with a five month old, and you'll decide that toys--LOTS of toys--are basic necessities. After Abe returned to the room yesterday, we high tailed it to the nearest Babies R Us and stocked up on toys. We took turns thrusting different gadgets into Lydia's hands to see which ones seemed most stimulating. Since she has been so toy deprived, our sweet baby kept trying to stuff each candidate into her mouth...she couldn't fathom that there are other things to do with toys besides eating them. I felt so bad.
So today we have tried to make up for Lydia's lack of sensory stimulation by playing up a storm. She got to the point where she just cried when I put another new toy in her hands. I think she might be feeling a little overwhelmed.
To break up our twelve hour day, I took Lydia on a walk. We are currently situated at a Marriot in the middle of a corporate desert; there's nothing around but business buildings, hotels and a couple restaurants. They do, however, have a lovely sidewalk that no one uses. It goes for miles besides the major roads running through these strips of buildings. I decided that our first stop would be the Marriot across the street. I wanted to find out why they are more expensive than the Marriot we are staying at, so Lydia and I started our leisurely walk by off-roading onto the hotel lawn and making our way to the front desk.
I explained my question to the lovely hotel receptionist, and without batting an eyelash the woman told me the difference lay in the color scheme and flow of the rooms. I must have raised an eyebrow because then she offered to show me a room. I was delighted by her invitation, but my happy spirits sank when the lady asked how old Lydia was and then told me she also had a five month old. I looked at her fat-less figure and felt immediately depressed. And then she proceeded to tell me that her son's favorite colors are yellow and red.
Favorite colors? Lydia doesn't even appear to recognize differences between colors, and she certainly doesn't have favorites. "It's her lack of stimulation," I thought, sadly. "She hasn't had enough toy-time, and she's developmentally delayed because of it. And it's all my fault!!!"
On top of that, I couldn't really tell a difference between that Marriot's rooms and ours. The colors were more blue, as I remarked to the receptionist. "Yes," she said, smilingly, "It's those little details that make a difference." Uh huh...
So we continued on our merry way. The sidewalk was really well manicured and maintained, but there was hardly any tree cover. That's a problem when it's the beginning of August and the heat is beating down, so I scanned the buildings to see if there was anywhere Lydia and I could duck in for some heat relief.
Out of nowhere appeared a store that advertised "Fine Country Furnishings." "Good enough," I thought, and veered right towards the store entrance. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt as though I'd been transported to autumn in 19th century New England. The whole store was scented with spiced candles and filled to the brim with folksy knick knacks and old fashioned furniture. It was delightful. I even found some house scents labeled "antique porch" and "log cabin." But my absolute favorite part of the store were the cutesy signs with the word "Simplify" hung right above the piles of folksy Americana kitsch. Love it!
There were some signs, though, that had heart stopping grammatical errors: "Sister's are the best" and "Friend's are the best" stopped me in my tracks. Really?? But the store was so quaint and cute and sweet that I immediately forgave the sign makers. They were probably too busy thinking sweet thoughts to pay attention to grammar.
Back in the sunshine, Lydia woke up and started screaming bloody murder. At that point, I decided it would be prudent to begin the mile long trek back to our hotel.
And now here we are. Just a couple more hours before Abe comes home for a little dinner break before heading out to work again. (Did I mention he works a lot?) But Lydia is sleeping peacefully and Blogger appears to be working again, so I am happy. I even like this room's color scheme better than the other Marriot, so right now life feels pretty great!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
picture update
Blogger has gone beserk. Sorry for the poor formatting, the underlining and also the lack of captions. This sorry looking post has taken me hours spread over the course of multiple days...I am seriously considering starting a new blog that's not a Blogger blog. Anyway, the following pictures are of the following:
1) Clark at the Miners' birthday bash. With one exception, this was the first time we'd celebrated his birthday since before middle school. He looks pretty happy. (My mom, Clark and I each got our own cake!!! It was rather amazing.)
2) Lydia found her foot!
3) Lydia and I enjoy a cuddle after our morning hike in Arches National Park. One of the perks of Abe's new job is that one of his accounts is a mine near Moab, so if Lydia and I go with him we can have fun at Arches!
4) Grams with Lydia. Lydia is in her party dress. Whenever we put it on her, she wiggles and grins in delight.
5) Abe, Lydia and I posing for a picture in front of an Arch. We didn't realize the hike was going to get slightly tricky...as you can see, I am wearing a skirt and flip flops!
6) This past Saturday we celebrated Jere's birthday by driving to Cascade Springs and taking a little hike. It was so fun and pretty! David was there, but he's not in the picture because he's busy taking it. =)
1) Clark at the Miners' birthday bash. With one exception, this was the first time we'd celebrated his birthday since before middle school. He looks pretty happy. (My mom, Clark and I each got our own cake!!! It was rather amazing.)
2) Lydia found her foot!
3) Lydia and I enjoy a cuddle after our morning hike in Arches National Park. One of the perks of Abe's new job is that one of his accounts is a mine near Moab, so if Lydia and I go with him we can have fun at Arches!
4) Grams with Lydia. Lydia is in her party dress. Whenever we put it on her, she wiggles and grins in delight.
5) Abe, Lydia and I posing for a picture in front of an Arch. We didn't realize the hike was going to get slightly tricky...as you can see, I am wearing a skirt and flip flops!
6) This past Saturday we celebrated Jere's birthday by driving to Cascade Springs and taking a little hike. It was so fun and pretty! David was there, but he's not in the picture because he's busy taking it. =)
Monday, July 18, 2011
rewards and a question for you moms
So I am starting a weight loss program, inspired by a friend's program she blogged about recently. I am soooooooooo tired of my mommy belly! And I want to get pregnant again. I know, I know...I spent nine months whining about how much I hated being pregnant, and I really don't enjoy pregnancy. But I do want to have other babies in my lifetime, and so I'm willing to undergo the accompanying yuck that precedes the baby. Lydia needs siblings. But the only problem is that I am still carrying way too much extra weight, and I don't think that would be a healthy starting point for pregnancy, so here I go!
1) No sugary treats. Period. (Aggghhhh!! This is SO hard for me, but I think it will be worth it...please tell me it will be worth it!!)
2) Exercise minimum five days a week. Make a weekly exercise program and follow that.
3) Eat only three meals and one snack a day.
Goals: Get down to 155 lbs by the end of September and, if I don't get pregnant before, get down to 135 lbs by December.
Abe and I came up with a google doc that tracks my points for adhering to these goalsrewards program yesterday, but I already want to revise it. I couldn't think of anything I really want besides more time with Abe, and he can't really control that factor, so I just said that I wanted an iPad if I earn 275 points (there's a max earning of 280 points according to our plan). But when I was exercising this morning, the iPad had zero motivating power. So now I am thinking of switching that to a really nice camera so that I can take pictures of Lydia. It would be nice if she could look back and feel loved. Right now my camera is missing in action, so she will probably think we forgot about her during the move to Utah.
Oh, and I want a picture of my aura taken. I think I get that after 100 points, but I'll have to check the document. Apparently, they can map your aura in colors after taking a special photo! Isn't that cool?
This will be a struggle, though. I have already eaten two meals and one snack, and it's only 4:45!! I wonder if I can revise the rules so I can have an extra fruit snack. Since I am still nursing, it feels hard to make such long stretches between meals.
From the Lydia front: she rolled from her back to her stomach for the first time today! It was so cute. Too bad my camera is missing--otherwise I could post a cute picture!
She also has been on a very weird schedule lately. Every other day she barely takes any naps (no matter how much effort is put into getting her to go down), and then the day after a no-nap day, she'll sleep almost all day. Today is a sleep-all-day day, so I have already worked out, taken her on our stroll to the grocery store, done two loads of laundry, and cooked dinner. I tremble when I think of how unproductive tomorrow (a no-nap day) will be...
I want to put her on a schedule, but I am going to wait until we are settled to do that. Right now we are still at Tom and Suzanne's, and since we're moving in a week or two, it doesn't make sense to put her on a schedule only to get that all jostled in a move. Also, I suspect putting her on a schedule involves a bit of cry it out...and it would be better if that weren't inflicted on the ears of anyone but me (and occasionally Abe). I really need to read up on this, but I don't have a library card yet. Have any of you put your babies on a schedule? How do you do it? I would LOVE your input!!!
1) No sugary treats. Period. (Aggghhhh!! This is SO hard for me, but I think it will be worth it...please tell me it will be worth it!!)
2) Exercise minimum five days a week. Make a weekly exercise program and follow that.
3) Eat only three meals and one snack a day.
Goals: Get down to 155 lbs by the end of September and, if I don't get pregnant before, get down to 135 lbs by December.
Abe and I came up with a google doc that tracks my points for adhering to these goalsrewards program yesterday, but I already want to revise it. I couldn't think of anything I really want besides more time with Abe, and he can't really control that factor, so I just said that I wanted an iPad if I earn 275 points (there's a max earning of 280 points according to our plan). But when I was exercising this morning, the iPad had zero motivating power. So now I am thinking of switching that to a really nice camera so that I can take pictures of Lydia. It would be nice if she could look back and feel loved. Right now my camera is missing in action, so she will probably think we forgot about her during the move to Utah.
Oh, and I want a picture of my aura taken. I think I get that after 100 points, but I'll have to check the document. Apparently, they can map your aura in colors after taking a special photo! Isn't that cool?
This will be a struggle, though. I have already eaten two meals and one snack, and it's only 4:45!! I wonder if I can revise the rules so I can have an extra fruit snack. Since I am still nursing, it feels hard to make such long stretches between meals.
From the Lydia front: she rolled from her back to her stomach for the first time today! It was so cute. Too bad my camera is missing--otherwise I could post a cute picture!
She also has been on a very weird schedule lately. Every other day she barely takes any naps (no matter how much effort is put into getting her to go down), and then the day after a no-nap day, she'll sleep almost all day. Today is a sleep-all-day day, so I have already worked out, taken her on our stroll to the grocery store, done two loads of laundry, and cooked dinner. I tremble when I think of how unproductive tomorrow (a no-nap day) will be...
I want to put her on a schedule, but I am going to wait until we are settled to do that. Right now we are still at Tom and Suzanne's, and since we're moving in a week or two, it doesn't make sense to put her on a schedule only to get that all jostled in a move. Also, I suspect putting her on a schedule involves a bit of cry it out...and it would be better if that weren't inflicted on the ears of anyone but me (and occasionally Abe). I really need to read up on this, but I don't have a library card yet. Have any of you put your babies on a schedule? How do you do it? I would LOVE your input!!!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Ever since Abe got home from his trip yesterday, life has been great. I didn't expect him until yesterday evening, but he got up at 4am and surprised me by showing up at 11am. It was sooooooo nice! I know this sounds morbid, but we walked to the city cemetery (just a couple blocks away) and found the spots his dad and stepmom bought a while back. They got eight spots together in this amazing part of the cemetery close to some of the prophets and really close to Porter Rockwell (Joseph Smith's body guard).
I love spending time in cemeteries, and it felt so peaceful to visit such a nice spot with Abe, Lydia, and his dad. We also got a nice laugh out of one of the graves on our way back. Some guy thinks he is Hyrum Smith reincarnated, and so he bought himself a grave near the Hyrum Smith monument. For his full story, the tombstone refers you to his website! I probably shouldn't laugh because I am sure this person feels sure that he is actually Hyrum Smith, and his paradigm deserves respect...but I wasn't good enough to suppress my laughter when I read his tombstone.
And then today we drove up to Park City to watch the movie Forks Over Knives. It was awesome. Here's a link to the trailer:http://www.forksoverknives.com/ Of course, I am biased because I read The China Study and came away totally convinced that we need to be eating plant based diets. The movie is basically The China Study in cinematic form, but it was still motivating.
Lydia was a star during the movie. Normally I don't let her watch any type of TV or film, but I thought that this could be an exception. She was totally taken with the movie and stared mesmerized until she got excited and started vocalizing back to the people on the screen. At that point, I took her out of the theater, but she was in a really happy mood for the whole hour and a half. I didn't need to do anything except walk around with her, and she just looked at everything around her. She is totally enthralled by life. I love my sweet baby.
Yay! Abe is home! He was out for a late night inspection, so I started blogging to pass the time. And now the time is successfully passed!
I love spending time in cemeteries, and it felt so peaceful to visit such a nice spot with Abe, Lydia, and his dad. We also got a nice laugh out of one of the graves on our way back. Some guy thinks he is Hyrum Smith reincarnated, and so he bought himself a grave near the Hyrum Smith monument. For his full story, the tombstone refers you to his website! I probably shouldn't laugh because I am sure this person feels sure that he is actually Hyrum Smith, and his paradigm deserves respect...but I wasn't good enough to suppress my laughter when I read his tombstone.
And then today we drove up to Park City to watch the movie Forks Over Knives. It was awesome. Here's a link to the trailer:http://www.forksoverknives.com/ Of course, I am biased because I read The China Study and came away totally convinced that we need to be eating plant based diets. The movie is basically The China Study in cinematic form, but it was still motivating.
Lydia was a star during the movie. Normally I don't let her watch any type of TV or film, but I thought that this could be an exception. She was totally taken with the movie and stared mesmerized until she got excited and started vocalizing back to the people on the screen. At that point, I took her out of the theater, but she was in a really happy mood for the whole hour and a half. I didn't need to do anything except walk around with her, and she just looked at everything around her. She is totally enthralled by life. I love my sweet baby.
Yay! Abe is home! He was out for a late night inspection, so I started blogging to pass the time. And now the time is successfully passed!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
We moved!
Warning: I am tired. I just reread this blog and noticed many instances of poor syntax. I am really too tired to fix these parts, but I am too embarrassed to do nothing. So this is something. You are warned!
It is time for a blog update. We now live in Utah. Surprise! It has been a craaaazy couple weeks, but for those who do not yet know the story, here it is:
About a month or so ago, Abe and I wrote down our life dream. It included, among other things, living in Salt Lake. We didn't know how that would happen, but we thought that maybe, if we were lucky, Abe could get a job transfer in a couple of years.
Fast forward to Thursday, June 23 of this year. I was cooking in the kitchen loving my little Chicago home. In the middle of my peaceful thoughts, I got a call from Abe. He told me he'd been trying to call me all day (I am very bad about answering my phone), and that he hoped it was okay with me that he had pretty much accepted a position in Salt Lake and was flying out to NYC immediately to interview with his company CEO to make everything formal.
I asked him when we were supposed to move and found out that Abe's new position started on July 1st. We had one week to pack up, get our condo ready to sell, and move.
It was a little stressful.
Thank goodness for Abe's family! They just happened to be in town that week, so I had help. I really don't think I could have done it alone, especially with Lydia. But there were so many heroes who came to our rescue. Abe's brothers, my brother, Abe's stepmom, uncle and cousin all pitched in when they were in town. Huge thank yous to all of them! And then the day before our flight to Utah, Abe and I worked from 3am to 1pm to finish everything up.
It was hard to say goodbye to friends in Chicago/Evanston, and I don't know if we'll go back anytime soon. I grew up there, and so it felt very odd thinking that by the time I get back there, things might have really changed. But who knows? Maybe we'll visit sooner than we think. My grandma lives in Springfield, and we really want to visit her, so we'll just have to see how everything plays out.
And now we are in Utah living happily ever after. No, really, it is wonderful to have so many friends and family members everywhere. And I love having so many babysitters!! Before I told Abe we weren't ever going to do anything without Lydia because I am super scared of leaving Lydia with anyone besides family. Since we didn't really have any family in Chicago (except when Clark was in town), we never ever left Lydia. Now we can theoretically go on dates again, assuming Abe is ever home.
He travels 1500 miles a week in his new job. I don't think I'm exaggerating, but I wouldn't know because I can't actually ask Abe if I'm exaggerating since he is on a work trip. Ugh. That is the only part of this that I don't really like. I hate being apart so much! But, thankfully, I have lovely people around to distract me. For example, today I took a beautiful walk in City Creek Canyon with my mom and Lydia. I can see my mom all the time now! It is rather heavenly.
We are currently living with his dad and stepmom until we move into a house Abe's mom is renting to us. I am grateful to his mom for being so sweet, moving out and giving us such an amazing deal on her house, but I can't lie--I love not having to be alone during Abe's trips right about now. His dad and stepmom have been so fun, and I love visiting with them and watching them interact with Lydia. I keep wanting to throw myself pity parties about how much Abe has to be away, but it is hard to do that when I get to hang out with Tom and Suzanne. Suzanne calls Tom the "baby whisperer" because Lydia adores him. When we are at our wits' end trying to calm her down, all Tom has to do is pick her up, and she's a calm happy baby again. It's amazing! I don't know what I'll do when I have to calm her down all by myself again.
Oh, and that brings me to my next subject: Lydia. She is a trooper for holding up under all this change, but lately she's had a couple very out of character meltdowns. I think it is all the change and the fact that I started supplementing with formula during all the craziness of the move. There was just no way I could keep up with pure breastfeeding. I know that formula is fine for some babies, but it isn't really good for Lydia. She gets really constipated, gassy and fussy on it, and so starting yesterday I completely stopped supplementing. So now instead of going to bed like I am dying to do, I will pump a ton first. The fun never ends! More next time...
It is time for a blog update. We now live in Utah. Surprise! It has been a craaaazy couple weeks, but for those who do not yet know the story, here it is:
About a month or so ago, Abe and I wrote down our life dream. It included, among other things, living in Salt Lake. We didn't know how that would happen, but we thought that maybe, if we were lucky, Abe could get a job transfer in a couple of years.
Fast forward to Thursday, June 23 of this year. I was cooking in the kitchen loving my little Chicago home. In the middle of my peaceful thoughts, I got a call from Abe. He told me he'd been trying to call me all day (I am very bad about answering my phone), and that he hoped it was okay with me that he had pretty much accepted a position in Salt Lake and was flying out to NYC immediately to interview with his company CEO to make everything formal.
I asked him when we were supposed to move and found out that Abe's new position started on July 1st. We had one week to pack up, get our condo ready to sell, and move.
It was a little stressful.
Thank goodness for Abe's family! They just happened to be in town that week, so I had help. I really don't think I could have done it alone, especially with Lydia. But there were so many heroes who came to our rescue. Abe's brothers, my brother, Abe's stepmom, uncle and cousin all pitched in when they were in town. Huge thank yous to all of them! And then the day before our flight to Utah, Abe and I worked from 3am to 1pm to finish everything up.
It was hard to say goodbye to friends in Chicago/Evanston, and I don't know if we'll go back anytime soon. I grew up there, and so it felt very odd thinking that by the time I get back there, things might have really changed. But who knows? Maybe we'll visit sooner than we think. My grandma lives in Springfield, and we really want to visit her, so we'll just have to see how everything plays out.
And now we are in Utah living happily ever after. No, really, it is wonderful to have so many friends and family members everywhere. And I love having so many babysitters!! Before I told Abe we weren't ever going to do anything without Lydia because I am super scared of leaving Lydia with anyone besides family. Since we didn't really have any family in Chicago (except when Clark was in town), we never ever left Lydia. Now we can theoretically go on dates again, assuming Abe is ever home.
He travels 1500 miles a week in his new job. I don't think I'm exaggerating, but I wouldn't know because I can't actually ask Abe if I'm exaggerating since he is on a work trip. Ugh. That is the only part of this that I don't really like. I hate being apart so much! But, thankfully, I have lovely people around to distract me. For example, today I took a beautiful walk in City Creek Canyon with my mom and Lydia. I can see my mom all the time now! It is rather heavenly.
We are currently living with his dad and stepmom until we move into a house Abe's mom is renting to us. I am grateful to his mom for being so sweet, moving out and giving us such an amazing deal on her house, but I can't lie--I love not having to be alone during Abe's trips right about now. His dad and stepmom have been so fun, and I love visiting with them and watching them interact with Lydia. I keep wanting to throw myself pity parties about how much Abe has to be away, but it is hard to do that when I get to hang out with Tom and Suzanne. Suzanne calls Tom the "baby whisperer" because Lydia adores him. When we are at our wits' end trying to calm her down, all Tom has to do is pick her up, and she's a calm happy baby again. It's amazing! I don't know what I'll do when I have to calm her down all by myself again.
Oh, and that brings me to my next subject: Lydia. She is a trooper for holding up under all this change, but lately she's had a couple very out of character meltdowns. I think it is all the change and the fact that I started supplementing with formula during all the craziness of the move. There was just no way I could keep up with pure breastfeeding. I know that formula is fine for some babies, but it isn't really good for Lydia. She gets really constipated, gassy and fussy on it, and so starting yesterday I completely stopped supplementing. So now instead of going to bed like I am dying to do, I will pump a ton first. The fun never ends! More next time...
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
cleaning and sitting
We have recently recovered from a bug infestation. I have no idea what kind of bugs they were, but they were littler than ants, easily squished, and everywhere! Every time I saw one, my skin crawled. But I tried to stay positive. Right before killing one I thanked it for not being a mouse. I really, really, really, reeeaaallly HATE mice. (As in, when my Boston apartment had mice, I set up a tent on my bed and lived in that. It was better than risking being run over by a mouse in my sleep!!) But the bugs inspired us to clean, clean, clean. We discovered they probably came from the flour and spice cabinet, so we completely overhauled those:
And now they look like this!
I like to stare at my bug free, organized cabinets in my free time. Lydia seems to like it too!
We have been on a massive de-clutter and organize ourselves kick, and so we got rid of a bunch of books and reduced down to one bookshelf. We have so much more space! Lydia loves staring at our remaining ROYGBIV (remember your rainbow order?) bookshelf:
And last night Lydia decided she wanted to be a big girl and sit at the table. She was really sad until she got to try out her new seat:
Thursday, June 9, 2011
An elf and a picture update
So you will now think I have gone completely cuckoo. First I claimed my baby talked and now I'm going to write a post about being visited by an elf. Oh, you don't believe in elves? Me neither--at least, I thought I didn't. After Lydia's little talking escapade in the car (which scared the bajeebers out of me), I was ready to believe anything. And what do you know, as soon as we opened the door to our home, there on the living room table was a vase of flowers, a letter, and the framed copy of my mom's wedding poem she wrote for us.
As a safety fanatic, my first thoughts were, sadly, quite panicky: How did this person get into our building? What if they come again and steal the baby? Is there someone in the condo RIGHT NOW??
But when I read the letter, it was a very sweet note congratulating us on our first year of marriage. The letter was quite touching, but I remained alarmed. The letter was signed by "Bob, the Anniversary Elf." Bob, the Anniversary Elf? I read the letter out loud to Abe, who seemed delighted and unconcerned at the security threat posed to us by the elf breaking in.
"Honey," he said, "what's an elf going to do to us? Give us more flowers?"
I didn't answer, and instead retreated to the bedroom to reread the letter and look up the latest door locks on the internet.
Abe came in smiling. "Ok, ok," he admitted, "you don't have to worry about our safety. The elf had some help from me. Why do you think I wanted to get that last load of laundry before we left?" His eyes twinkled.
"Are you the elf?" I demanded.
"Nope!" He said cheerfully. "But I met him when I let him in. All I know is he was about four feet tall, wore a funny hat and some green boots. He said he wants to keep visiting us on our anniversary."
I didn't believe him, of course. Elves don't exist! (Just like babies don't talk.) "Come on," I pressed. "Tell me who the elf is!"
Abe shook his head. The most I could get out of him for the rest of the evening was that the elf wore green boots.
In his letter, the elf mentioned that he was top secret and wished to remain anonymous. He likes to surprise couples on their anniversary. But he talked to us about things on the blog, so I figured I'd post an entry and ask the elf if it would be okay to blog about him. Guess what! The elf emailed me soon after! Here's his email:
Soooooo...do you want a visit from Bob (The anniversary elf)? Simply email him and see what he says! I am starting to believe he's real, since he has an email and all. Thank you, Bob, for visiting us!!
And to end on a cheery note, here are some pictures of Lydia and me on her three month birthday!
As a safety fanatic, my first thoughts were, sadly, quite panicky: How did this person get into our building? What if they come again and steal the baby? Is there someone in the condo RIGHT NOW??
But when I read the letter, it was a very sweet note congratulating us on our first year of marriage. The letter was quite touching, but I remained alarmed. The letter was signed by "Bob, the Anniversary Elf." Bob, the Anniversary Elf? I read the letter out loud to Abe, who seemed delighted and unconcerned at the security threat posed to us by the elf breaking in.
"Honey," he said, "what's an elf going to do to us? Give us more flowers?"
I didn't answer, and instead retreated to the bedroom to reread the letter and look up the latest door locks on the internet.
Abe came in smiling. "Ok, ok," he admitted, "you don't have to worry about our safety. The elf had some help from me. Why do you think I wanted to get that last load of laundry before we left?" His eyes twinkled.
"Are you the elf?" I demanded.
"Nope!" He said cheerfully. "But I met him when I let him in. All I know is he was about four feet tall, wore a funny hat and some green boots. He said he wants to keep visiting us on our anniversary."
I didn't believe him, of course. Elves don't exist! (Just like babies don't talk.) "Come on," I pressed. "Tell me who the elf is!"
Abe shook his head. The most I could get out of him for the rest of the evening was that the elf wore green boots.
In his letter, the elf mentioned that he was top secret and wished to remain anonymous. He likes to surprise couples on their anniversary. But he talked to us about things on the blog, so I figured I'd post an entry and ask the elf if it would be okay to blog about him. Guess what! The elf emailed me soon after! Here's his email:
Lily,
As you have noticed by now, I and my scouting team do read your blog. Blog-reading is one of our preferred ways of locating couples for me to visit. You may have wondered if I visit every married couple on their anniversaries, but I only visit some. There is a rigorous screening process. Think about it, millions upon millions of married people, and only one anniversary elf. I mean sure, I can do about 15 visits per day, times that by 365 days in a year and I get in just under 5000 couples per year. Factor in that I can only add new couples when other couples are gone, and you realize there aren't that many openings from year to year for new families for me to visit. You and Abe are very lucky!! Our scouting department is always on blogging websites to find couples that we feel would be fun to visit. They must be a couple that is totally fun and in-love, and also a couple that seems committed enough to make it through hard times. There is nothing that hurts more than seeing one of the couples I visit not work out. I try really hard to pick the one's that I think will make it. So anyway, after we've identified couples for me to visit, there is one final step: someone who receives visits from me already must refer the couple to me. It actually gets really complicated because sometimes we get referrals of couples we have not tracked so then we have to do additional research. Sometimes we don't get enough referrals so we have to start making calls to families we visit asking for referrals! It's a very laborious process and we should probably reconsider how we decide on families so our lives are a little easier.
Anyway, about your question.....hmmmmmmmmm...I generally make it a rule to be completely unknown to those I have not visited, but maybe it would help our process if people actually knew who I was. Perhaps people could even submit applications and then our scouting department would have an easier job....with people coming to us for a change! O-k, here's the deal, you can tell people about me, but only if you also mention my contact information for anyone who wants to be considered for a visit. My email is anniversaryelf@gmail.com. I think this could greatly help our elf's in the scouting department! They are slightly overworked.
Sincerely,
Bob (The anniversary elf)
As you have noticed by now, I and my scouting team do read your blog. Blog-reading is one of our preferred ways of locating couples for me to visit. You may have wondered if I visit every married couple on their anniversaries, but I only visit some. There is a rigorous screening process. Think about it, millions upon millions of married people, and only one anniversary elf. I mean sure, I can do about 15 visits per day, times that by 365 days in a year and I get in just under 5000 couples per year. Factor in that I can only add new couples when other couples are gone, and you realize there aren't that many openings from year to year for new families for me to visit. You and Abe are very lucky!! Our scouting department is always on blogging websites to find couples that we feel would be fun to visit. They must be a couple that is totally fun and in-love, and also a couple that seems committed enough to make it through hard times. There is nothing that hurts more than seeing one of the couples I visit not work out. I try really hard to pick the one's that I think will make it. So anyway, after we've identified couples for me to visit, there is one final step: someone who receives visits from me already must refer the couple to me. It actually gets really complicated because sometimes we get referrals of couples we have not tracked so then we have to do additional research. Sometimes we don't get enough referrals so we have to start making calls to families we visit asking for referrals! It's a very laborious process and we should probably reconsider how we decide on families so our lives are a little easier.
Anyway, about your question.....hmmmmmmmmm...I generally make it a rule to be completely unknown to those I have not visited, but maybe it would help our process if people actually knew who I was. Perhaps people could even submit applications and then our scouting department would have an easier job....with people coming to us for a change! O-k, here's the deal, you can tell people about me, but only if you also mention my contact information for anyone who wants to be considered for a visit. My email is anniversaryelf@gmail.com. I think this could greatly help our elf's in the scouting department! They are slightly overworked.
Sincerely,
Bob (The anniversary elf)
Soooooo...do you want a visit from Bob (The anniversary elf)? Simply email him and see what he says! I am starting to believe he's real, since he has an email and all. Thank you, Bob, for visiting us!!
And to end on a cheery note, here are some pictures of Lydia and me on her three month birthday!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
My baby TALKED!!!
Okay, so I know this will sound like I am making it up, but I promise I am not. Believe or disbelieve at will, but Lydia talked! As in, she said WORDS at the tender age of 10 weeks old. We are still in shock.
It began with Abe saying "I love you" to Lydia. We say this regularly to her, and he has been saying it repeatedly to her for weeks now. The other day I found him repeating the phrase as he changed Lydia's diaper, and she was cooing back to him. "It's working!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm telling you, her first words are going to be 'I love you'! She's going to say it one day soon."
"Mmmhmmm..." I said indulgently. Inwardly, I knew babies don't talk this young, so I dismissed his prediction off hand. I mean, Lydia has been cooing up a storm and we totally encourage her sounds (we both read a bunch of research saying a baby's tendency to verbalize is not based on how much exposure she has to language, but rather how much people around her respond to her vocalizations), but I never actually expected her to bust out WORDS.
And then...we were driving home from Springfield yesterday, and Abe was leaning over Lydia's car seat doing his "I love you" repetitions. I was driving, and Clark was seated next to me. Lydia was cooing happily back to Abe, when all of the sudden we distinctly heard her say, "I loff oo" to Abe.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I almost drove off the road. We all jerked around and stared at Lydia.
"Oh my gosh," Clark gasped, "she just said 'I love you'!"
I was trembling. "Yeah," I said shakily. "She totally did."
Abe grinned proudly and said, "Oh, Lydia, I love you too!"
She tried again. We listened, and her next couple attempts at the phrase continued to mimick Abe's voice. It was incredible. And scary. I just kept thinking, "Oh man, who is this baby? How am I going to mother this child?" I don't know if it makes sense, but the whole thing freaked me out. By the time we got back to Hyde Park, I dismissed the talking thing as a fluke. I mean, almost 11 week old babies just don't talk. They don't! So I figured I wouldn't worry about it and continue on as if everything were normal.
And then it happened again, only this time I was alone. Abe was out unpacking the car, and I was cuddling Lydia inside. She was smiling contentedly at the ceiling, and I asked her if she was smiling at her angels.
"Angel," she said, still looking at the ceiling. I about fainted. The "g" was really gurgly, but the "An" and the "l" on either side of the gurgly g were quite clear. She said, "angel." I really about died.
She hasn't said any more words today, and I'm still waiting to see if these were just fluke sounds. In the meantime, I guess I have to stick Lydia's "first words" sticker on her baby calender and try to remain calm.
(P.S. We also discovered Lydia may be getting ready to teethe this past weekend. We can see her teeth and she is drooling up a STORM. I checked the baby book and it says babies can teethe as early as three months, so this is not abnormal.)
Oh, and in addition to hearing my infant speak (AAAAGGGHHH!!), I also discovered that we'd been visited by an elf in our absence. Details and a pic in the next post. Elf, if you are reading this and don't want a post out (there was a little hint in your letter that you wish to remain anonymous to certain people) feel free to let me know not to post about you. I have no idea who you are, but Abe has me convinced you are real. He said you're a little more than 4 feet tall and wear green shoes. From your letter, I think you read this blog. If you don't want to be blogged about, I suppose you are magical and can find a way to tell us not to blog about you. Otherwise, you might share Lydia's spotlight in the next Darais Family Blog post. =)
It began with Abe saying "I love you" to Lydia. We say this regularly to her, and he has been saying it repeatedly to her for weeks now. The other day I found him repeating the phrase as he changed Lydia's diaper, and she was cooing back to him. "It's working!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm telling you, her first words are going to be 'I love you'! She's going to say it one day soon."
"Mmmhmmm..." I said indulgently. Inwardly, I knew babies don't talk this young, so I dismissed his prediction off hand. I mean, Lydia has been cooing up a storm and we totally encourage her sounds (we both read a bunch of research saying a baby's tendency to verbalize is not based on how much exposure she has to language, but rather how much people around her respond to her vocalizations), but I never actually expected her to bust out WORDS.
And then...we were driving home from Springfield yesterday, and Abe was leaning over Lydia's car seat doing his "I love you" repetitions. I was driving, and Clark was seated next to me. Lydia was cooing happily back to Abe, when all of the sudden we distinctly heard her say, "I loff oo" to Abe.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I almost drove off the road. We all jerked around and stared at Lydia.
"Oh my gosh," Clark gasped, "she just said 'I love you'!"
I was trembling. "Yeah," I said shakily. "She totally did."
Abe grinned proudly and said, "Oh, Lydia, I love you too!"
She tried again. We listened, and her next couple attempts at the phrase continued to mimick Abe's voice. It was incredible. And scary. I just kept thinking, "Oh man, who is this baby? How am I going to mother this child?" I don't know if it makes sense, but the whole thing freaked me out. By the time we got back to Hyde Park, I dismissed the talking thing as a fluke. I mean, almost 11 week old babies just don't talk. They don't! So I figured I wouldn't worry about it and continue on as if everything were normal.
And then it happened again, only this time I was alone. Abe was out unpacking the car, and I was cuddling Lydia inside. She was smiling contentedly at the ceiling, and I asked her if she was smiling at her angels.
"Angel," she said, still looking at the ceiling. I about fainted. The "g" was really gurgly, but the "An" and the "l" on either side of the gurgly g were quite clear. She said, "angel." I really about died.
She hasn't said any more words today, and I'm still waiting to see if these were just fluke sounds. In the meantime, I guess I have to stick Lydia's "first words" sticker on her baby calender and try to remain calm.
(P.S. We also discovered Lydia may be getting ready to teethe this past weekend. We can see her teeth and she is drooling up a STORM. I checked the baby book and it says babies can teethe as early as three months, so this is not abnormal.)
Oh, and in addition to hearing my infant speak (AAAAGGGHHH!!), I also discovered that we'd been visited by an elf in our absence. Details and a pic in the next post. Elf, if you are reading this and don't want a post out (there was a little hint in your letter that you wish to remain anonymous to certain people) feel free to let me know not to post about you. I have no idea who you are, but Abe has me convinced you are real. He said you're a little more than 4 feet tall and wear green shoes. From your letter, I think you read this blog. If you don't want to be blogged about, I suppose you are magical and can find a way to tell us not to blog about you. Otherwise, you might share Lydia's spotlight in the next Darais Family Blog post. =)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Very exciting news! A dear friend--who shall remain anonymous until she decides to go public with the news--just told me that she is pregnant! I am so excited for her, and she asked for a blog post about baby must haves. I know everyone's must-have list is different, and friends, please amend this list in the comments. I think my friend will appreciate different perspectives. Here's my list.
Basics: Car seat, stroller, diapers, wipes, assorted clothes.
A double electric breast pump + hands-free pumping bra!!!! Although pumping is tiring (and gross), I could not survive without this. Even though I feel like I spend all day nursing Lydia, I pump multiple times a day in my free time. In fact--this may be too much information--I am pumping as I blog. It is great for multitasking, and it also ensures that when my baby melts down because she is too agitated to latch, I can still feed her! Also, I've found that there are times throughout the day where my milk supply is down, and if Lydia happens to be hungry at those times, I NEED to have a bottle on hand.
Lots of burp cloths. I still have to write some thank you notes for burp cloths wise moms have given to Lydia. I didn't realize this before, but you really can't have too many. Even though we're usually too lazy to actually put the burp cloths on our shoulders when burping Lydia, we use them to wipe her face off and wipe ourselves off. Lydia now sleeps in her own room at night, but she spends all day in bed with me, so I spread those cloths out on the bed to protect the sheets from spit up. We even sometimes swaddle her with the bigger cloths.
Sleepers, onesies, gowns, and a Sunday dress. (Thank you, Megan, for Lydia's dress! She wore it every Sunday until last Sunday, when she finally blew out of her diaper onto it--just in time to graduate onto the other bigger dress you gave her!) I like the sleepers because if Lydia kicks off her swaddle, she's still covered. The gowns are great because of diaper access. And the Sunday dress (assuming your baby is a girl) is really fun because you get to dress your baby up.
HAIR PIECES!! Thank you, Ashley, for sending us these! They have made a world of difference in the cute department. We loooooooooooooooove using hair pieces, and I'm pretty sure we would still use them even if Lydia didn't have so much hair.
Nursing pads for you. Sorry, but leaks are a no-fun reality of nursing.
A bouncy seat! (Thank you, Sarah and Dick!!!) Lydia spends TONS of time in her bouncy seat. It's the only way I can cook or go to the bathroom or do anything that requires being physically separated from Lydia. I just sit her where she can participate in the action, and she's good to go. She just sits there and amuses herself in the bouncy seat, and I can get whatever needs doing done.
A My Brest Friend (Thanks for lending us yours, Sarah!) and eventually, a Boppy. At first, the Boppy was a waste of my time, but then Lydia outgrew the My Brest Friend and I lost 35 lbs (Woo-hoo!) and all of the sudden, the Boppy was a possibility.
A nipple shield. For those of us who struggle to attach ourselves to baby, this is a God send. This little piece of plastic means that I can read and scroll around on the internet while nursing. (I can't really type, but at least I can kind of poke around here and there.) I would go completely crazy without this thing.
Okay, please amend this list away. Also, for those of you who might not have seen on Facebook, we have two new exciting pictures of Lydia:
Basics: Car seat, stroller, diapers, wipes, assorted clothes.
A double electric breast pump + hands-free pumping bra!!!! Although pumping is tiring (and gross), I could not survive without this. Even though I feel like I spend all day nursing Lydia, I pump multiple times a day in my free time. In fact--this may be too much information--I am pumping as I blog. It is great for multitasking, and it also ensures that when my baby melts down because she is too agitated to latch, I can still feed her! Also, I've found that there are times throughout the day where my milk supply is down, and if Lydia happens to be hungry at those times, I NEED to have a bottle on hand.
Lots of burp cloths. I still have to write some thank you notes for burp cloths wise moms have given to Lydia. I didn't realize this before, but you really can't have too many. Even though we're usually too lazy to actually put the burp cloths on our shoulders when burping Lydia, we use them to wipe her face off and wipe ourselves off. Lydia now sleeps in her own room at night, but she spends all day in bed with me, so I spread those cloths out on the bed to protect the sheets from spit up. We even sometimes swaddle her with the bigger cloths.
Sleepers, onesies, gowns, and a Sunday dress. (Thank you, Megan, for Lydia's dress! She wore it every Sunday until last Sunday, when she finally blew out of her diaper onto it--just in time to graduate onto the other bigger dress you gave her!) I like the sleepers because if Lydia kicks off her swaddle, she's still covered. The gowns are great because of diaper access. And the Sunday dress (assuming your baby is a girl) is really fun because you get to dress your baby up.
HAIR PIECES!! Thank you, Ashley, for sending us these! They have made a world of difference in the cute department. We loooooooooooooooove using hair pieces, and I'm pretty sure we would still use them even if Lydia didn't have so much hair.
Nursing pads for you. Sorry, but leaks are a no-fun reality of nursing.
A bouncy seat! (Thank you, Sarah and Dick!!!) Lydia spends TONS of time in her bouncy seat. It's the only way I can cook or go to the bathroom or do anything that requires being physically separated from Lydia. I just sit her where she can participate in the action, and she's good to go. She just sits there and amuses herself in the bouncy seat, and I can get whatever needs doing done.
A My Brest Friend (Thanks for lending us yours, Sarah!) and eventually, a Boppy. At first, the Boppy was a waste of my time, but then Lydia outgrew the My Brest Friend and I lost 35 lbs (Woo-hoo!) and all of the sudden, the Boppy was a possibility.
A nipple shield. For those of us who struggle to attach ourselves to baby, this is a God send. This little piece of plastic means that I can read and scroll around on the internet while nursing. (I can't really type, but at least I can kind of poke around here and there.) I would go completely crazy without this thing.
Okay, please amend this list away. Also, for those of you who might not have seen on Facebook, we have two new exciting pictures of Lydia:
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| Like father like daughter |
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| Suzi pointed out on Facebook that Lydia is actually reading to Uncle Clark! What a super baby. ;) |
Friday, May 20, 2011
More Lydia! =)
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| Lydia has been experimenting with her fists for a while, but she finally figured out how to soothe herself with them yesterday. Right now she's sucking away contentedly while I blog. So cute! |
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| Wash me! |
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| Streeeetch! |
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| Daddy took over hair styling duties... |
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| Today's photo. Lydia's hair is growing straight UP. We even try to comb it down, but it goes up despite our best efforts. |
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| A smile!! |
Friday, May 6, 2011
So...I haven't been posting a lot lately. There are both obvious and less obvious reasons for this state of affairs.
Obvious: Babies take time and energy! Lydia has been a little more wakeful recently, and so I spend more time cuddling and playing with her. She is smiling now, although her smiles are fleeting and usually give way to expressions of bewilderment and concern. I suspect she is bewildered by all of the excited sounds her smiles elicit from Mommy, and she probably becomes concerned at how mentally unbalanced Mommy seems when she is making crazy faces trying to get Lydia to keep smiling.
Less obvious: 1) I am terrified that when I do blog, I will whine. Whining subject of choice: post labor recovery. No one warned me about this process, and I could easily write pages upon whiny pages about how yucky this stage is--especially since I have the good fortune of experiencing medical complications in this process! Yay for me. BUT...I spent nine months writing whiny pregnancy blogs, so I think I've forfeited my rights to keep complaining.
2) I am scared I will effuse too much over my adorable baby. She is SO cute, and I could write a book that would probably bore everyone else to tears about all the cute things she does. For example, I would love to write about her sweet little noises (my favorite are her exasperated sighs) and her floppy moods where she collapses onto me and becomes this little butterball of cuddly love. And how she looks so imperious during bath time...she is sooooooooo adorable!!
Because of the obvious reason listed in the beginning of this post, I am tired. Lydia fell asleep almost two hours ago, and I have spent the time pumping, going through post-labor care routines, cleaning, and now blogging. Off to bed I go! Ah, the joy of knowing I have at least three hours of solid sleep ahead of me...
Obvious: Babies take time and energy! Lydia has been a little more wakeful recently, and so I spend more time cuddling and playing with her. She is smiling now, although her smiles are fleeting and usually give way to expressions of bewilderment and concern. I suspect she is bewildered by all of the excited sounds her smiles elicit from Mommy, and she probably becomes concerned at how mentally unbalanced Mommy seems when she is making crazy faces trying to get Lydia to keep smiling.
Less obvious: 1) I am terrified that when I do blog, I will whine. Whining subject of choice: post labor recovery. No one warned me about this process, and I could easily write pages upon whiny pages about how yucky this stage is--especially since I have the good fortune of experiencing medical complications in this process! Yay for me. BUT...I spent nine months writing whiny pregnancy blogs, so I think I've forfeited my rights to keep complaining.
2) I am scared I will effuse too much over my adorable baby. She is SO cute, and I could write a book that would probably bore everyone else to tears about all the cute things she does. For example, I would love to write about her sweet little noises (my favorite are her exasperated sighs) and her floppy moods where she collapses onto me and becomes this little butterball of cuddly love. And how she looks so imperious during bath time...she is sooooooooo adorable!!
Because of the obvious reason listed in the beginning of this post, I am tired. Lydia fell asleep almost two hours ago, and I have spent the time pumping, going through post-labor care routines, cleaning, and now blogging. Off to bed I go! Ah, the joy of knowing I have at least three hours of solid sleep ahead of me...
Monday, May 2, 2011
Of parties and picnics
A couple weeks ago, my Food Network Magazine had a wonderful insert: 50 recipes for different tea sandwiches! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-tea-sandwiches/index.html How fun! I wanted to try/eat them all, and so I needed an excuse for a tea party. Enter this month's AMAZING issue of Martha Stewart Living. Inside was a beautiful craft for a Mother's Day card. (See here: http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/pop-up-card-for-mothers-day?comments_page=1)
So I thought, why not have a small tea party with some of my high school friends and make Mother's Day cards? Also, Abe and I have been discussing family traditions, and we thought it would be fun to do a yearly tea party with Lydia. As the party approached, Abe was almost as excited as I was for Lydia's first tea party.
Side note: we had her first tea party on the day of the royal wedding. It was a coincidence, but a very happy one at that. =)
Since this was my first time hosting a tea party, I learned many things.
1) Tea sandwiches take a while to make! I was totally duped by the pamphlet. Each recipe is approximately 2.5 sentences long and leaves the reader with the impression that assembling tea sandwiches is a snap. I beg to differ. By the time the tea party started, I was sweating it up in the kitchen with nary a sandwich in sight. I was caught between boiling eggs, blanching asparagus, mashing up lemon parsley butter, cutting grape tomatoes, and throwing watercress everywhere. The scene was a disaster, and if Abe hadn't come to the rescue, we would never have eaten. As it was, we ended up starting almost an hour late--at which point we realized we had totally forgotten the tea part of our tea party. So at our tea party, everyone just drank water until we had some water heated up for tea. Note for future parties: start working on the sandwiches more than half an hour before the party starts!
2) Narrow down the sandwich selection. I wanted to try all of the sandwiches, and so my final list consisted of the following: Cucumber, Watercress, Tomato Cheddar, Curried Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon and Cucumber, Asparagus and Egg, Ricotta and Marmalade, Cream Cheese and Strawberries, and Nutella with Raspberry Jam. In the end, I had to cut down that list a lot or we never would have eaten. Seriously, it was just too crazy trying to make all of those in half an hour. Next year we'll streamline.
3) Not to be sacrilegious, but Martha Stewart tends to skip steps in some of her recipes and crafts. I'm sure this is just because she is so busy and talented--she just figures everyone can read between the lines and figure out how to make a pop up origami bouquet of flowers on their own, but some of us can't. For future parties, I am going to give the crafts a test drive first. Or at least pick a simpler craft.
4) The leftovers are perfect for a picnic! The next day, (conveniently May Day), Abe and I took Lydia for a picnic by the lake. The weather turned cold and windy just in time for our arrival, so as we were entering the lakefront, crowds of people were leaving. That meant we got our favorite picnic table right by the Wilmette beach, conveniently vacated in time for our arrival. Abe dressed Lydia up like a little hippie for our picnic, and she seemed to enjoy herself (or at least slept so soundly through the whole picnic that we had no reason to believe she wasn't enjoying herself).
5) I need to take more pictures. Abe took some of the tea party, but I am too lazy to get up and post them on the blog right now. Lydia is asleep next to me, and I just know as soon as I make a move, she will wake up. So I will post more pictures later. Until then, Lydia's first tea party and May Day picnic will be commemorated by this picture-less post.
So I thought, why not have a small tea party with some of my high school friends and make Mother's Day cards? Also, Abe and I have been discussing family traditions, and we thought it would be fun to do a yearly tea party with Lydia. As the party approached, Abe was almost as excited as I was for Lydia's first tea party.
Side note: we had her first tea party on the day of the royal wedding. It was a coincidence, but a very happy one at that. =)
Since this was my first time hosting a tea party, I learned many things.
1) Tea sandwiches take a while to make! I was totally duped by the pamphlet. Each recipe is approximately 2.5 sentences long and leaves the reader with the impression that assembling tea sandwiches is a snap. I beg to differ. By the time the tea party started, I was sweating it up in the kitchen with nary a sandwich in sight. I was caught between boiling eggs, blanching asparagus, mashing up lemon parsley butter, cutting grape tomatoes, and throwing watercress everywhere. The scene was a disaster, and if Abe hadn't come to the rescue, we would never have eaten. As it was, we ended up starting almost an hour late--at which point we realized we had totally forgotten the tea part of our tea party. So at our tea party, everyone just drank water until we had some water heated up for tea. Note for future parties: start working on the sandwiches more than half an hour before the party starts!
2) Narrow down the sandwich selection. I wanted to try all of the sandwiches, and so my final list consisted of the following: Cucumber, Watercress, Tomato Cheddar, Curried Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon and Cucumber, Asparagus and Egg, Ricotta and Marmalade, Cream Cheese and Strawberries, and Nutella with Raspberry Jam. In the end, I had to cut down that list a lot or we never would have eaten. Seriously, it was just too crazy trying to make all of those in half an hour. Next year we'll streamline.
3) Not to be sacrilegious, but Martha Stewart tends to skip steps in some of her recipes and crafts. I'm sure this is just because she is so busy and talented--she just figures everyone can read between the lines and figure out how to make a pop up origami bouquet of flowers on their own, but some of us can't. For future parties, I am going to give the crafts a test drive first. Or at least pick a simpler craft.
4) The leftovers are perfect for a picnic! The next day, (conveniently May Day), Abe and I took Lydia for a picnic by the lake. The weather turned cold and windy just in time for our arrival, so as we were entering the lakefront, crowds of people were leaving. That meant we got our favorite picnic table right by the Wilmette beach, conveniently vacated in time for our arrival. Abe dressed Lydia up like a little hippie for our picnic, and she seemed to enjoy herself (or at least slept so soundly through the whole picnic that we had no reason to believe she wasn't enjoying herself).
5) I need to take more pictures. Abe took some of the tea party, but I am too lazy to get up and post them on the blog right now. Lydia is asleep next to me, and I just know as soon as I make a move, she will wake up. So I will post more pictures later. Until then, Lydia's first tea party and May Day picnic will be commemorated by this picture-less post.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Lydia's boyfriend =)
I am a little behind in blogging. Last week (I think it was last week! It's so hard to keep track of time when you are nursing every couple hours...) our dear friends Dan and Preethi Harbuck visited for a couple of days. It was so fun, and one of the most exciting parts of their visit involved observing the budding romance between Lydia and their super cute, fun, and smiley (did you hear that, Lydia?? Smiley!!) son, Nat. We saved the amorous pair some trouble and took their engagement pictures a couple years ahead of time. I have about a hundred different pictures of these two together, but here are just a few:
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| Lydia did her longest tummy time session ever when she was on the blanket with Nat! He helped make tummy time fun. =) |
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| Snoozing with her future in-laws. =) Thanks, Dan and Preethi, for a wonderful visit! We love you!! |
Friday, April 15, 2011
Smile, puh-leeeeaase!!!
I am DYING for Lydia to smile. According to the infant development books, she should have been doing this about a week ago, and when she didn't I started to worry that Lydia wasn't happy enough to smile. Her constant frowns make me really nervous. I mean, they are very cute and all, but I get the feeling that Lydia isn't quite enthralled with earth life yet. And I want her to be!
Therefore, I do regular smiling exercises with Lydia. We have replaced play time (whatever that was) for smile time. I hold her up and grin hard while explaining that this is what people do when they're happy. "I'm happy, Lydia! Are you happy? Can you show mommy you're happy by SMILING?? Pleeeeaaase???"
I've also tried various other techniques that other moms on the internet have said worked for them. Lydia has had to endure being poked in various places while I try to remember the rhymes in "patty-cake." She's had to listen to me sing. One mom swore that saying, "Yahoo, sushi!" works like a charm, and so this morning I held Lydia in place while repeating that phrase at various volumes--to no effect. In fact, all I got was a confused, rather irritated frown. I then panicked that she inherited some rare genetic disorder that prohibits her from smiling. Well, if that's the case, she didn't get it from me.
Poor Abe. I've repeatedly insinuated that his genes are responsible for Lydia's inability to smile. (Please ignore his grin at the top of this page. I am SURE that I am genetically innocent here, and so that leaves only one possible culprit!) He has started to pray that Lydia will smile, and I get the feeling he has a vested interest in these prayers.
Please excuse me for cutting this blog short. I just remembered that one mom said mirror time did the trick for her baby, so Lydia and I are off to stare in the mirror together. Wish us luck!
Therefore, I do regular smiling exercises with Lydia. We have replaced play time (whatever that was) for smile time. I hold her up and grin hard while explaining that this is what people do when they're happy. "I'm happy, Lydia! Are you happy? Can you show mommy you're happy by SMILING?? Pleeeeaaase???"
I've also tried various other techniques that other moms on the internet have said worked for them. Lydia has had to endure being poked in various places while I try to remember the rhymes in "patty-cake." She's had to listen to me sing. One mom swore that saying, "Yahoo, sushi!" works like a charm, and so this morning I held Lydia in place while repeating that phrase at various volumes--to no effect. In fact, all I got was a confused, rather irritated frown. I then panicked that she inherited some rare genetic disorder that prohibits her from smiling. Well, if that's the case, she didn't get it from me.
Poor Abe. I've repeatedly insinuated that his genes are responsible for Lydia's inability to smile. (Please ignore his grin at the top of this page. I am SURE that I am genetically innocent here, and so that leaves only one possible culprit!) He has started to pray that Lydia will smile, and I get the feeling he has a vested interest in these prayers.
Please excuse me for cutting this blog short. I just remembered that one mom said mirror time did the trick for her baby, so Lydia and I are off to stare in the mirror together. Wish us luck!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
mysteries of motherhood
"Does it mean she's full if it's coming out of her nose?" I asked concernedly, as milk started slowly pouring out of Lydia's nose.
Abe carefully assessed the situation. Yes, it appeared there was milk gushing out of Lydia's nose, but she still seemed...hungry. She was rooting. He shrugged. "I think she's still hungry," he said, and suggested I keep feeding her. So I did. Even though there was milk pouring out of my baby's nose, I kept feeding her because it seemed like the right thing to do. Am I going crazy??
There are so many parts to motherhood that mystify me. Am I feeding my baby too much? Too little? Am I talking to her enough? Too much? Is she sufficiently visually stimulated? Is she happy?? (How can you tell if she hasn't figured out how to smile?) Is she bored?
These questions drive me to do ridiculous things. Yesterday after a feeding session, I found myself tucking a striped blanket over my bra so Lydia could enjoy the visual stimulation of stripes from the supposedly ideal 8-15 inch distance. I've bounced her to all three movements of a symphony in the hopes that our activity staved off baby boredom. And I've nursed her (several times) while there was milk oozing from her nose. Still, I battle the constant fear that I'm not measuring up in the mom department, and that my baby is the victim of all of my maternal mistakes.
For example, yesterday I was reading up on baby constipation and baby acne. I thought Lydia might be suffering from the former--and she is definitely struggling with the latter. In my reading (which took me off of my intended topics), I discovered that babies a generation ago used to develop faster than babies today. Why? Because they slept on their tummies! Tummy time = muscle-development time. Today's babies sleep on their backs to avoid SIDS, but that slows down their time line of muscle development. The article went on to say that "sleep time is back time, and play time is tummy time."
I panicked.
I have totally neglected to put Lydia on her stomach during "play time." Most play time I just bounce her on my lap, stick her in a bouncy seat, or swaddle her and hope she falls asleep. I totally forgot about tummy time. So right after reading the article, I put Lydia on her stomach and tried to visualize her little muscles developing.
She freaked out. Soon she was sobbing on her stomach, deaf to my pleas that she just try it out a little longer. To heck with my muscles! she seemed to scream. I hate this! Put me back on my back where the world makes sense!! What could I do? I picked her up and helped restore order to her universe, while the order in mine seemed to unravel. I was sure my neglect of tummy time would translate into permanent developmental delays for my baby.
But babies learn fast. We tried tummy time again today, and right now Lydia is peacefully enjoying a (closely supervised) nap on her stomach. Sleeping right next to me, Lydia appears to be enjoying the pose a lot more than yesterday. She has even let go a series of satisfying sounding toots, and I suspect the slanted, stomach down position lends itself well to gastro-intestinal happiness.
So I guess making mistakes is part of motherhood, but thankfully, it appears that Lydia is surviving mine. Time to turn her over to ensure it stays that way!
Abe carefully assessed the situation. Yes, it appeared there was milk gushing out of Lydia's nose, but she still seemed...hungry. She was rooting. He shrugged. "I think she's still hungry," he said, and suggested I keep feeding her. So I did. Even though there was milk pouring out of my baby's nose, I kept feeding her because it seemed like the right thing to do. Am I going crazy??
There are so many parts to motherhood that mystify me. Am I feeding my baby too much? Too little? Am I talking to her enough? Too much? Is she sufficiently visually stimulated? Is she happy?? (How can you tell if she hasn't figured out how to smile?) Is she bored?
These questions drive me to do ridiculous things. Yesterday after a feeding session, I found myself tucking a striped blanket over my bra so Lydia could enjoy the visual stimulation of stripes from the supposedly ideal 8-15 inch distance. I've bounced her to all three movements of a symphony in the hopes that our activity staved off baby boredom. And I've nursed her (several times) while there was milk oozing from her nose. Still, I battle the constant fear that I'm not measuring up in the mom department, and that my baby is the victim of all of my maternal mistakes.
For example, yesterday I was reading up on baby constipation and baby acne. I thought Lydia might be suffering from the former--and she is definitely struggling with the latter. In my reading (which took me off of my intended topics), I discovered that babies a generation ago used to develop faster than babies today. Why? Because they slept on their tummies! Tummy time = muscle-development time. Today's babies sleep on their backs to avoid SIDS, but that slows down their time line of muscle development. The article went on to say that "sleep time is back time, and play time is tummy time."
I panicked.
I have totally neglected to put Lydia on her stomach during "play time." Most play time I just bounce her on my lap, stick her in a bouncy seat, or swaddle her and hope she falls asleep. I totally forgot about tummy time. So right after reading the article, I put Lydia on her stomach and tried to visualize her little muscles developing.
She freaked out. Soon she was sobbing on her stomach, deaf to my pleas that she just try it out a little longer. To heck with my muscles! she seemed to scream. I hate this! Put me back on my back where the world makes sense!! What could I do? I picked her up and helped restore order to her universe, while the order in mine seemed to unravel. I was sure my neglect of tummy time would translate into permanent developmental delays for my baby.
But babies learn fast. We tried tummy time again today, and right now Lydia is peacefully enjoying a (closely supervised) nap on her stomach. Sleeping right next to me, Lydia appears to be enjoying the pose a lot more than yesterday. She has even let go a series of satisfying sounding toots, and I suspect the slanted, stomach down position lends itself well to gastro-intestinal happiness.
So I guess making mistakes is part of motherhood, but thankfully, it appears that Lydia is surviving mine. Time to turn her over to ensure it stays that way!
Monday, March 21, 2011
breast is best (??)
A welcome to motherhood is really a welcome to the moist and soggy world of breastfeeding. Feeding my baby is so much harder than I ever imagined! Two days ago, my lack of skill in the breastfeeding department became sadly apparent when, at the end of one session, I realized everything--everything--was soaked in milk. There was milk in my hair, milk in Lydia's hair, milk all over my bra, milk on two separate wash cloths, milk slathered on both of our bodies, milk on the chair, and (the final indignity) one last milk stream squirted directly up Lydia's nose. Clearly, I need to work on aim.
Things are getting better, though. Sarah (who took Lydia's pictures) lent me her "My Breast Friend," and this handy device has revolutionized our breastfeeding sessions. My Breast Friend is a nursing pillow that you strap onto your waist. I had tried regular pillows and a Boppy (another kind of nursing pillow), but nothing works nearly as well as My Breast Friend. The only downside to this marvelous device is the visual effect; waddling around the house with a giant pillow strapped around my waist, bare chested and still large with pregnancy fat, I look kind of like a hippo in a tutu. My mom, Abe, and I now routinely refer to My Breast Friend as "the tutu." It's just so apt.
The sad part is that I am beyond the point of caring. Lydia needs to be fed every 2-3 hours (I have been pushing it to every 3-4 for the sake of my sanity and sleep), and so when the time comes around for me to shove a nipple in her mouth, I could care less about how I look in the process. My mind zones in with autistic like concentration on how fast or slow (usually slooooooooooow) Lydia is sucking and how long the session will last. Sometimes, for a break in the monotony, I will monitor the tree outside my window for buds and birds. So far, no buds--but there are more and more birds every day. Spring is coming!
And, thankfully, all of this feeding means Lydia is growing! She lost more than 10% of her birth weight before my milk came in, and when I took her to the pediatrician for her first check-up, the pediatrician told me Lydia was dehydrated. I felt terrible. Even worse, the pediatrician told me I would need to supplement with formula to get Lydia back up to speed. I went home feeling like a truly bad mother; I couldn't believe my baby hadn't been getting enough to eat!
Upon returning home, the first thing I did was rip off my shirt and start feeding Lydia. I stared morosely at the bottle of formula next to the bed but couldn't bring myself to use it at first. I just looked at it and felt bad about myself and the whole situation. It took an actual spiritual prompting before I finally reached over and fed Lydia the formula--and then, magically, she calmed down and proceeded to sleep for FOUR hours. That was the first time she'd ever done that. I was a convert. This stuff was great!
Except. Except. I want to breast feed. I really do, and I want Lydia to get the benefits of breast milk. It is just SO exhausting. Last night I was up until 1am completing a feeding that started at 11:30pm, and then I got up at 3am to start a feeding that didn't end until almost 4:30am. As I type this, I'm eying the clock and noticing that I have less than 2 hours until Lydia's next feeding. I can finish this blog, write some of the 25 thank-you cards that still need to be written, shower, eat breakfast, change the laundry, clean the kitchen, OR go back to bed. I think, thanks to my overworked breasts, the bed just might win this one.
Things are getting better, though. Sarah (who took Lydia's pictures) lent me her "My Breast Friend," and this handy device has revolutionized our breastfeeding sessions. My Breast Friend is a nursing pillow that you strap onto your waist. I had tried regular pillows and a Boppy (another kind of nursing pillow), but nothing works nearly as well as My Breast Friend. The only downside to this marvelous device is the visual effect; waddling around the house with a giant pillow strapped around my waist, bare chested and still large with pregnancy fat, I look kind of like a hippo in a tutu. My mom, Abe, and I now routinely refer to My Breast Friend as "the tutu." It's just so apt.
The sad part is that I am beyond the point of caring. Lydia needs to be fed every 2-3 hours (I have been pushing it to every 3-4 for the sake of my sanity and sleep), and so when the time comes around for me to shove a nipple in her mouth, I could care less about how I look in the process. My mind zones in with autistic like concentration on how fast or slow (usually slooooooooooow) Lydia is sucking and how long the session will last. Sometimes, for a break in the monotony, I will monitor the tree outside my window for buds and birds. So far, no buds--but there are more and more birds every day. Spring is coming!
And, thankfully, all of this feeding means Lydia is growing! She lost more than 10% of her birth weight before my milk came in, and when I took her to the pediatrician for her first check-up, the pediatrician told me Lydia was dehydrated. I felt terrible. Even worse, the pediatrician told me I would need to supplement with formula to get Lydia back up to speed. I went home feeling like a truly bad mother; I couldn't believe my baby hadn't been getting enough to eat!
Upon returning home, the first thing I did was rip off my shirt and start feeding Lydia. I stared morosely at the bottle of formula next to the bed but couldn't bring myself to use it at first. I just looked at it and felt bad about myself and the whole situation. It took an actual spiritual prompting before I finally reached over and fed Lydia the formula--and then, magically, she calmed down and proceeded to sleep for FOUR hours. That was the first time she'd ever done that. I was a convert. This stuff was great!
Except. Except. I want to breast feed. I really do, and I want Lydia to get the benefits of breast milk. It is just SO exhausting. Last night I was up until 1am completing a feeding that started at 11:30pm, and then I got up at 3am to start a feeding that didn't end until almost 4:30am. As I type this, I'm eying the clock and noticing that I have less than 2 hours until Lydia's next feeding. I can finish this blog, write some of the 25 thank-you cards that still need to be written, shower, eat breakfast, change the laundry, clean the kitchen, OR go back to bed. I think, thanks to my overworked breasts, the bed just might win this one.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Funnies
Right now I am typing one handed. Lydia is nestled on my shoulder, and a giant pile of her spit-up is resting smack dab in the middle of my bra. She has pretty precise aim; we are so proud of her!
Some memorable moments so far:
Abe somehow went days without changing a poopy diaper. When he confronted his first one, he exclaimed in genuine alarm that we must be over-feeding Lydia. He didn't believe that much poop could possibly be healthy or normal. I think he has since adjusted his expectations; when he changed another poopy diaper this morning, the only exclamations to escape his mouth were effusions over how perfect the color of her poop was.
Two days ago, Lydia managed to pee onto her head. Her hair got soaked. Don't ask. A sponge bath followed promptly.
Lydia must have the best dreams ever. Half the time she feeds in her sleep. It's amazing how much milk she can extract while she is sound asleep.
So far that's it. She sleeps a LOT, so most of the time we are dealing with a little baby zombie. Abe told her that she'd soon learn that life is better when you're asleep, and I think she took his advice to heart. I will never understand how my husband and daughter can so consistently choose sleep over food, but I'm learning to accept that my lot in life will be to remind all of my loved ones to stop zoning out and finish their food. C'est la vie.
Some memorable moments so far:
Abe somehow went days without changing a poopy diaper. When he confronted his first one, he exclaimed in genuine alarm that we must be over-feeding Lydia. He didn't believe that much poop could possibly be healthy or normal. I think he has since adjusted his expectations; when he changed another poopy diaper this morning, the only exclamations to escape his mouth were effusions over how perfect the color of her poop was.
Two days ago, Lydia managed to pee onto her head. Her hair got soaked. Don't ask. A sponge bath followed promptly.
Lydia must have the best dreams ever. Half the time she feeds in her sleep. It's amazing how much milk she can extract while she is sound asleep.
So far that's it. She sleeps a LOT, so most of the time we are dealing with a little baby zombie. Abe told her that she'd soon learn that life is better when you're asleep, and I think she took his advice to heart. I will never understand how my husband and daughter can so consistently choose sleep over food, but I'm learning to accept that my lot in life will be to remind all of my loved ones to stop zoning out and finish their food. C'est la vie.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Happy first week, Lydia!
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| Lydia is tired of all of the pictures! |
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| At your newborn photo shoot, Sarah Severson (www.sarahseversonphotography.com )did such a great job taking pictures of you, and we are so excited to see how they turned out. She had you in such cute poses that Daddy and Grandpa got in on the act, too. You had your very own Paparazzi. |
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| Day 2 with Daddy |
You are our precious bundle of joy. The lactation consultant told us that you, along with 25% of the baby population, fit into the "sweet and sleepy feeder" category. After Mommy's milk came in and you were no longer dehydrated, you have been so sleepy that we have to wake you to feed you--and then you fall asleep while you are feeding! So we have to keep waking you up during feedings to make sure you eat enough. We do not know how we got so blessed with such an easy child (especially when Mommy and Daddy were both so fussy at your age).
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| This is one of your favorite poses, and you do this almost every time we try to feed you. |
Yesterday was very exciting. You went for your first walk in a stroller:
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| Day one in the hospital with Grams and Grandpa |
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| With Nana (The nurses gave you a faux-hawk!) |
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| With Uncle Clark |
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| With Daddy |
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| Nana laughing after you peed all over her |
Yesterday, Daddy also gave you a tour of your new home. Mommy recorded it on video, but the sound isn't so great at the beginning of the video. Mainly you hear Mommy doing a lot of Darth Vader breathing (ever since labor, blowing her nose kind of hurts some rather sore muscles...and so her breathing is all skeewompus).
Here's the tour Daddy gave you:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ywtzx_JUKI
Also, here is a birth video!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ol9qBv29z
We love you, Lydia!
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