Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sh*t Storm

It was raining all day.

We missed our playdate due to illness.

Charles' uncle passed away suddenly.

Then shortly after he went to work, the baby had one of those epic movements that soils everything - the outfit, the carseat, me, my purse, the changing pad, everything. I had poo on my shoulder.

How does one get poo on their shoulder?

So then I spent the rest of the night walking back and forth with the baby to and from the laundromat. Because of course I couldn't use the carseat until I cleaned the cover.

Now it's nearly 9pm, I haven't eaten since noon, I have laundry to fold. And Charles doesn't come home until this time tomorrow night.

Ugh.

Friday, October 22, 2010

A photo of cousins:



Baby 1:
"Um, excuse me, there is a stick poking me."

Baby 2:
"A stick! Hand it over, that sounds delicious."

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The only Toy you need:


Striped socks.

(Sorry for the blurry photo. Camera batteries are dead and my cell phone does not account for the frentic movements of a 6 month old)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The way a 6-month old thinks in the middle of the night.


Ohhhhhh, noooooo, I'm awake!!!!! WAAAAAHHHHHHHH

Hey, there's Mom, Hi Mom (smile)

Mmm, I'm hungry, I want to nurse.

Oh, there's a light on in the hallway.

I can see myself in the mirror.

I like the strap on mommy's nightgown.

I want to nurse.

Oh there's a blanket on my legs.

I want to kick the blanket off.

I want to nurse.

This blanket feels good. What an interesting texture.

It looks delicious, I want to eat it.

My toes are delicious and are under the blanket.

I want to eat both at the same time.

I want to nurse.

I can see myself in the mirror.

If I arch my back, I can see behind me.

Oooooh, is that wicker?

I want to nurse.

Mommy is soft. I should stroke her.

Yay~! I can touch her hair.

I want to eat her hair, maybe I can pull it to my mouth.

I want to nurse.

I'm tired.

I can see myself in the mirror.

I want to nurse.

I'm very tired.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Half Birthday

October 13, 2010 - Baby Emmah is six months old!

Things I want to remember:
- How you have become like a cartoon character baby, laughing and laughing, but also violently pooping and vomiting at random and shocking moments.
- Speaking of pooping, now that you're eating solids, things are more difficult. You look up at me like, "Mom, help!" And I just say, "You're okay, you can do it!" It's our little thing. And I am happy to support you in whatever way you need me. Oh, but I will laugh when you fart at interesting or embarrassing times!
- How when you are in bed with both of us, you will stretch your arms straight out so that you can have one hand on mom and one had on dad.
- Speaking of Dad. Gosh, what a lovefest. You have a relationship that does not include me, and I LOVE that. And luckily you both love me, so I'm never far away.
- You are sitting and it's wonderful. Today at the library, I plopped you down on the carpet, went and got some books and then came back to read them to you. So much easier than trying to lean over while holding you to sort through the bins of board books. And infinitely easier than juggling an armful of books and more than an armful of baby at the same time.
- In fact holding you and doing other things has become much more challenging now that you can grab things lightning fast. Where do they end up. Your mouth. Time to babyproof!

- How you "get" it now. You want to eat when we are eating. You see your toys and you want to play with them. You are focused on whatever we are focused on. Good and Bad. So you have an obsession with the remote, our phones, and the computer. Of course you do, those are the three things that distract us away from you most frequently. When I see this, it makes me turn them off and play with you.
- I LOVE to dress you up. But I really don't care for always making you "a princess" or some other uber-feminine gender stereotype, and so people often say how handsome my son is. Or things like "wow, he's gonna be a flirt and a heartbreaker." Because you are beautiful, regardless of race or gender. I get a little too much into the theme of the activity - overalls for the farm fair, all black for when your goth cousin came for a visit, etc.

- Sleep is still our biggest obsession. Although on our trip to Maine I discovered you sleep easily through the night when in bed with me. Slowly, we're getting you back into your crib, but its hard on both of us, because you are so snuggly and warm when you are right there an inch away.
- You are such a love. As long as you are not bored, hungry or tired, you are a dream baby - SO fun. I love to snuggle with you, love to make you laugh, and love that we are spending our lives together.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Hitting the Wall:

from Wikipedia:
In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, hitting the wall or the bonk describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by precipitous fatigue and loss of energy. Milder instances can be remedied by brief rest and the ingestion of food or drinks containing carbohydrates. The condition can usually be avoided by ensuring that glycogen levels are high when the exercise begins, maintaining glycogen levels during exercise by eating or drinking carbohydrate-rich substances, or by reducing exercise intensity.

Last night, my sweet darling decided not to sleep between the hours of 1am and 4am. At 3am, I hit the wall. I was at a loss. I felt so alone, so tired, so frustrated. I didn't know what to do. Finally I called my husband. He said "Cuddle her, she will sleep."

I was mad that his solution was so simple, but I took a deep breath and did just that, and she started to relax and then she slept. Well we slept together in the bed for another 4 hours.

I was still a mess in the morning, but better.

I swore I would not be an AP kind of parent, but I totally am.

On a lighter note... this helped me crack a smile...

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ah Maine...


What a trip! My aunt and uncle could not have been more gracious about my sweet thing and I decending upon them. They were so generous with time and spirit and came up with lots of fun things for us to do.

Like hiking in the woods.

And going to the Common Ground Fair.


And teaching us new songs:


and...