So much happens in such a short time.
When my daughter was a month old, she spent her time eating, crying, pooping, puking, and sleeping.
When she was 2 months old, she spent her time eating, crying, pooping, puking, sleeping, and screaming.
When she was 3 months old, she spent her time eating, crying, pooping, puking, sleeping, screaming, holding her head up, and looking at things.
When she was 4 months old, she spent her time eating, crying a little, sleeping, holding her head up, looking at things, playing in her jumperoo, pooping, smiling, reaching for toys, petting the cats, and trying to hold her bottle.
She is now 5 months and 6 days old. She sits up for a few minutes at a time, She loves grabbing her toes when her legs are in the air. She gets a good grip on her bottle, but hasn't figured out how to get it in her mouth yet. She has gotten really good at picking things up, even very small things. She has 2 teeth. She can stand with very little assistance.
I was aware that the time period from 5-7 months is known aas the golden age of infancy and now I know why. It is the most amazing thing. You can actually see her learning and figuring things out. She notices everything, has developed her own opinions about items she comes in contact with everyday. She has preferred toys, toys she shuns, she likes watching our boy cat better than the girl cat, but she prefers petting the girl cat over the boy cat.
She is changing daily, time is flying by and it makes me a little sad. Before Alex and I know it, she will be graduating from high school and I feel like there is no way to capture every little moment and I worry that I may forget the little things that I love so much. Even though I write down a lot of it, I will forget how I feel during those special moments. It is one thing to read that I loved when she licks my shoulders, it is quite another thing to feel that love when she does it.
On a completely unrelated note, I have to put down in writing what motherhood has done to my tolerance levels. I have a deep well of patience for babies. After dealing with colic, I am fairly confident that my patience for babies is virtually inextinguishable. My tolerance levels for everyone else...not so much.
I am having a much harder time dealing with other's bullshit. I have always been fairly headstrong and I am not shy in stating my opinions. But, I could listen to people prattle on about really silly things without batting an eyelash. I recall, with great clarity, a 4 hour lunch where I had to listen to a former friend talk about how she couldn't understand why she had a rep for being promiscuous while talking about the random guy she had shtooped the night before. I, of course, gave the right sympathizing words to her. "Nobody thinks you are slutty", "You are a single woman that can do what she wants to do", "I totally think that guy from last night will call you".
Now, I would tell that friend that she is a dumbass and needs to close her legs. I just don't have that tolerance for people anymore. People get hung up over the dumbest things, things that are of no actual consequence. Get over it and get over yourself. And if you can't do that, keep that stupid shit to yourself, I don't want to hear it.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
before and after
The last 4 years have been somewhat of a whirlwind.
I met my husband in March of 2008. We both knew the relationship was going to result in a marriage after only a few months and we fell into a routine right away. We moved in together in May of 2009. We got engaged in September of 2009. We were married in July of 2010 and got pregnant in December 2010. We had our daughter in August of 2011. That is a lot in a short amount of time.
Sometimes, when I get nostalgic, I think about my life before. Before my daughter, before my marriage, before meeting Alex.
Before my daughter was born, Alex and I did what we wanted, when we wanted. Money was not something that we really thought about. All we really had to worry about was our few bills and our rent. It was easy peasy. We didn't go out a lot. We were more content to just hang out together. Also, I think I hit a wall when I turned 30, I just cannot stay up past 11 or 12. But, if we wanted to go out, we could, without a second thought. We also hung out with friends more often. I never understood why it is so hard to see friends with children. Now, I get it. Babies are exhausting and, after a day of cleaning, feeding babies, holding them, changing them, playing with them, getting dinner ready, putting the babies to sleep...who has the energy. Especially since, let's say you go out at get home at 11pm, your baby will be up at 1:30am crying for a bottle. Hanging out is tough to do.
Before my marriage, there was a sense of freedom that goes away with marriage. I don't mean it in a negative way. It was like Alex and I were on this adventure without any responsibility. Yes, we were together, but we were still living our own lives. Ultimately, he did what he wanted and I did what I wanted. Once we made the commitment to get married, we had to view things as an 'us' or a 'we'. Before, if I wanted to go on a trip with a girlfriend, I did not have to check with Alex. I would spend my money and pack my suitcase at my apartment. But, once we married, it became our money.
Before meeting Alex, I went out. I went out a lot. I drank. I could stay up until 4 am. I lived in a town called Long Beach, which has a well-deserved and well-earned reputation as being the surfing destination on Long Island, as well as, a party town. It is a great place for singles. Hell, my friends and I would go out several times a week, as every bar had different theme nights, and everything was within walking distance. On the rare nights where I stayed in, I could open a bottle of red wine, get in my pjs, and watch whatever I wanted on the tv. I could flirt with every guy I met. My life was a big party that didn't end and I loved it.
I write this not having gone 'out' out in 13 months. I have not stayed up past midnight for any other reason than my daughter or my pregnancy in 13 months. I can't remember the last time I went to a bar. Our Friday and Saturday nights usually consist of watching some tv after our daughter goes to sleep and being in bed by 10pm or so. Quite often, we will split a bottle of wine. There is very little excitement and a lot of predictability.
But, I wouldn't trade my ho-hum little life for anything. There is no place else I would rather be than at home watching tv with my husband and seeing my baby sleep. For, despite the mundane day to day, I feel like my life now is the more adventurous than my life before.
I met my husband in March of 2008. We both knew the relationship was going to result in a marriage after only a few months and we fell into a routine right away. We moved in together in May of 2009. We got engaged in September of 2009. We were married in July of 2010 and got pregnant in December 2010. We had our daughter in August of 2011. That is a lot in a short amount of time.
Sometimes, when I get nostalgic, I think about my life before. Before my daughter, before my marriage, before meeting Alex.
Before my daughter was born, Alex and I did what we wanted, when we wanted. Money was not something that we really thought about. All we really had to worry about was our few bills and our rent. It was easy peasy. We didn't go out a lot. We were more content to just hang out together. Also, I think I hit a wall when I turned 30, I just cannot stay up past 11 or 12. But, if we wanted to go out, we could, without a second thought. We also hung out with friends more often. I never understood why it is so hard to see friends with children. Now, I get it. Babies are exhausting and, after a day of cleaning, feeding babies, holding them, changing them, playing with them, getting dinner ready, putting the babies to sleep...who has the energy. Especially since, let's say you go out at get home at 11pm, your baby will be up at 1:30am crying for a bottle. Hanging out is tough to do.
Before my marriage, there was a sense of freedom that goes away with marriage. I don't mean it in a negative way. It was like Alex and I were on this adventure without any responsibility. Yes, we were together, but we were still living our own lives. Ultimately, he did what he wanted and I did what I wanted. Once we made the commitment to get married, we had to view things as an 'us' or a 'we'. Before, if I wanted to go on a trip with a girlfriend, I did not have to check with Alex. I would spend my money and pack my suitcase at my apartment. But, once we married, it became our money.
Before meeting Alex, I went out. I went out a lot. I drank. I could stay up until 4 am. I lived in a town called Long Beach, which has a well-deserved and well-earned reputation as being the surfing destination on Long Island, as well as, a party town. It is a great place for singles. Hell, my friends and I would go out several times a week, as every bar had different theme nights, and everything was within walking distance. On the rare nights where I stayed in, I could open a bottle of red wine, get in my pjs, and watch whatever I wanted on the tv. I could flirt with every guy I met. My life was a big party that didn't end and I loved it.
I write this not having gone 'out' out in 13 months. I have not stayed up past midnight for any other reason than my daughter or my pregnancy in 13 months. I can't remember the last time I went to a bar. Our Friday and Saturday nights usually consist of watching some tv after our daughter goes to sleep and being in bed by 10pm or so. Quite often, we will split a bottle of wine. There is very little excitement and a lot of predictability.
But, I wouldn't trade my ho-hum little life for anything. There is no place else I would rather be than at home watching tv with my husband and seeing my baby sleep. For, despite the mundane day to day, I feel like my life now is the more adventurous than my life before.
Friday, January 20, 2012
she can be fun
So, Alex and I put in our dues. For 3.5 months, our baby screamed and yelled and puked and wouldn't sleep and was pissed off all the time.
Then, something happened. Or rather a few things happened. The first was that her colic started getting less and less until the only time that you could tell that she was a colic baby is around naptime/ sleeptime. Second, her digestive system matured. Third, she became a little person with a personality. Fourth, she began to smile all the time.
I wrote a post about how horrid colic is. But, I think it is impossible to understand unless you have had a colic baby as there is no comparison that can be made between the fits of a colic baby and the fits of a non-colic baby. Thankfully, her colic is all but gone. She is still very hard to get to bed and fights sleep like it is her job. And then I think about where she is now and where she was 2 months ago and how much she has improved and I don't stay frustrated. Plus, all she really wants when she has her before-sleep fits is for Alex or I to cuddle her and not put her down. Kind of flattering, in a way.
An important step in the process for her was the abating of her GERD. At her worst, she stopped eating and had a stay in the hospital. She had a very severe case of GERD and feeding her was a nightmare. But, with time, her digestive system matured and she stopped projectile vomiting and she started eating without screaming and arching her back in pain. Now, she gets excited to eat and tries to hold the bottle herself. She has not vomited in quite some time and hasn't screamed or arched her back from the pain of GERD in 2 months or so. In fact, we started her on oatmeal 3 days ago. This is not for nutrition, as babies do not need any other nutrition than formula or breastmilk at this point. Rather, it is for babies to learn the mechanics of eating. I will be honest and admit that she is not having trouble with the oatmeal, but I don't think she likes it much. If it weren't for her having had so much trouble with the mechanics of drinking her bottle that she likely needs a lot of practice with the mechanics of eating, I would wait until she was 6 months old.
Because her digestive system is so much better, our pediatrician made the call to take the baby off her medication. She had been on Axid for her GERD since she was 6 weeks old. Neither Alex nor myslef wanted her on meds this young, but I was nervous to take her off them. Why rock the boat when things have been going so well? But, she can't be on them forever and all signs point to her digestive system being able to handle being off the Axid. Three days in and so far, so good. The jury is still out though. Talk to me another few weeks.
My daughter has an awesome little personality. She is funny, really funny. I know all mothers think their children are funny. They are wrong, I am right. She is hysterical. She also is very opinionated. She knows what she wants and she will make it very clear that she wants it. She has different looks, coos, smiles, and cries for Alex and I. She has him wrapped around her little finger. Well, she has me wrapped around it too. She is impatient and she wants nothing more than to be walking around, exploring the world. She touched everything, shoves everything she can in her mouth. This is a time of exploration and learning for her and Alex and I are loving being able to witness this.
And her smiles!!! She has the prettiest smile. When she first sees us in the morning, she beams and laughs. When she wakes up from her naps, she gives us shy smiles. When she is playing with her toys or in her jumper, she smiles and laughs, but she is not smiling for Alex or I, she is smiling for herself. I could be having the worst day and she smiles and I melt into a little puddle of goo.
The change in her has been nothing short of amazing. There were times when Alex and I thought she would never be a happy baby, that she would always be in pain and pissed and colicky. And now she is happy and I don't think there can be any greater joy for parents than a happy and healthy baby.
Then, something happened. Or rather a few things happened. The first was that her colic started getting less and less until the only time that you could tell that she was a colic baby is around naptime/ sleeptime. Second, her digestive system matured. Third, she became a little person with a personality. Fourth, she began to smile all the time.
I wrote a post about how horrid colic is. But, I think it is impossible to understand unless you have had a colic baby as there is no comparison that can be made between the fits of a colic baby and the fits of a non-colic baby. Thankfully, her colic is all but gone. She is still very hard to get to bed and fights sleep like it is her job. And then I think about where she is now and where she was 2 months ago and how much she has improved and I don't stay frustrated. Plus, all she really wants when she has her before-sleep fits is for Alex or I to cuddle her and not put her down. Kind of flattering, in a way.
An important step in the process for her was the abating of her GERD. At her worst, she stopped eating and had a stay in the hospital. She had a very severe case of GERD and feeding her was a nightmare. But, with time, her digestive system matured and she stopped projectile vomiting and she started eating without screaming and arching her back in pain. Now, she gets excited to eat and tries to hold the bottle herself. She has not vomited in quite some time and hasn't screamed or arched her back from the pain of GERD in 2 months or so. In fact, we started her on oatmeal 3 days ago. This is not for nutrition, as babies do not need any other nutrition than formula or breastmilk at this point. Rather, it is for babies to learn the mechanics of eating. I will be honest and admit that she is not having trouble with the oatmeal, but I don't think she likes it much. If it weren't for her having had so much trouble with the mechanics of drinking her bottle that she likely needs a lot of practice with the mechanics of eating, I would wait until she was 6 months old.
Because her digestive system is so much better, our pediatrician made the call to take the baby off her medication. She had been on Axid for her GERD since she was 6 weeks old. Neither Alex nor myslef wanted her on meds this young, but I was nervous to take her off them. Why rock the boat when things have been going so well? But, she can't be on them forever and all signs point to her digestive system being able to handle being off the Axid. Three days in and so far, so good. The jury is still out though. Talk to me another few weeks.
My daughter has an awesome little personality. She is funny, really funny. I know all mothers think their children are funny. They are wrong, I am right. She is hysterical. She also is very opinionated. She knows what she wants and she will make it very clear that she wants it. She has different looks, coos, smiles, and cries for Alex and I. She has him wrapped around her little finger. Well, she has me wrapped around it too. She is impatient and she wants nothing more than to be walking around, exploring the world. She touched everything, shoves everything she can in her mouth. This is a time of exploration and learning for her and Alex and I are loving being able to witness this.
And her smiles!!! She has the prettiest smile. When she first sees us in the morning, she beams and laughs. When she wakes up from her naps, she gives us shy smiles. When she is playing with her toys or in her jumper, she smiles and laughs, but she is not smiling for Alex or I, she is smiling for herself. I could be having the worst day and she smiles and I melt into a little puddle of goo.
The change in her has been nothing short of amazing. There were times when Alex and I thought she would never be a happy baby, that she would always be in pain and pissed and colicky. And now she is happy and I don't think there can be any greater joy for parents than a happy and healthy baby.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
damned if you do, damned if you don't
People love to give advice, regardless of whether or not it was asked for.
It started with pregnancy. Apparently, being pregnant is akin to holding up an 'open season' sign. I was advised to get a c-section, they are cleaner and you know exactly when the baby is coming. I was advised to go natural, it was healthiest for mother and child. I was advised to get an epidural, only crazy people want to feel that pain. I was advised on how to prevent stretch marks. I was advised on ways to kickstart labor. I was told I was too big. I was told to go on a diet. I was told that a glass of red wine a day would make my baby calmer. I took it all and smiled. The fact is, you can't argue with people about their beliefs regarding pregnancy. It is a fruitless endeavor.
For what it is worth, I had a c-section because my baby was almost 11 pounds. I used many types of lotions and oils and my stomach looked like a deflated balloon with so many stretch marks my stomach could pass for a topographical map of the Rocky Mountains.
Naively, I thought that once I had the baby, this would end. Hells to the no!! It got worse. The cockamaimy bullshit that people spout when it comes to babies is hysterical and shocking. Breastfeeding is for the birds, formula feeding makes you a bad mom. Babies should sleep in 75 degree rooms, babies should sleep in 65 degree rooms. Don't pick up your crying month old baby, she'll be spoiled. The tv makes a great babysitter. Giving a paci makes you a bad mother, not giving a paci makes you a stupid mother. Do not let the baby sleep in the bed with you. Do not let the baby sleep in the swing. Let your baby cry herself to sleep. Don't let your baby cry herself to sleep. The baby should be eating solids by now, the baby shouldn't be eating solids yet.
My personal favorites come from the old biddies. Why do you have the baby out without a hat (this was in late September on a 75 degree day). I don't like your baby's name, you should call her something else. And, drumroll, "You need to put your baby on a diet, she's too fat." She was 7 weeks old at that point.
The point is, no matter what you do, no matter how you choose to raise your baby, there is always going to be someone waiting in the wings to tell you that you are doing it wrong. There will always be someone there to tell you that all their children turned out great, so you should ignore the information that doctors have learned since said children were babies, cause "they all turned out fine".
I have come to the conclusion that I will be only listening to my pediatrician, my husband, my babies cues, and my mommy instincts. For the rest, I will smile vacantly and nod as though I am listening to the unsolicated advice being given and mentally transport myself somewhere else.
It started with pregnancy. Apparently, being pregnant is akin to holding up an 'open season' sign. I was advised to get a c-section, they are cleaner and you know exactly when the baby is coming. I was advised to go natural, it was healthiest for mother and child. I was advised to get an epidural, only crazy people want to feel that pain. I was advised on how to prevent stretch marks. I was advised on ways to kickstart labor. I was told I was too big. I was told to go on a diet. I was told that a glass of red wine a day would make my baby calmer. I took it all and smiled. The fact is, you can't argue with people about their beliefs regarding pregnancy. It is a fruitless endeavor.
For what it is worth, I had a c-section because my baby was almost 11 pounds. I used many types of lotions and oils and my stomach looked like a deflated balloon with so many stretch marks my stomach could pass for a topographical map of the Rocky Mountains.
Naively, I thought that once I had the baby, this would end. Hells to the no!! It got worse. The cockamaimy bullshit that people spout when it comes to babies is hysterical and shocking. Breastfeeding is for the birds, formula feeding makes you a bad mom. Babies should sleep in 75 degree rooms, babies should sleep in 65 degree rooms. Don't pick up your crying month old baby, she'll be spoiled. The tv makes a great babysitter. Giving a paci makes you a bad mother, not giving a paci makes you a stupid mother. Do not let the baby sleep in the bed with you. Do not let the baby sleep in the swing. Let your baby cry herself to sleep. Don't let your baby cry herself to sleep. The baby should be eating solids by now, the baby shouldn't be eating solids yet.
My personal favorites come from the old biddies. Why do you have the baby out without a hat (this was in late September on a 75 degree day). I don't like your baby's name, you should call her something else. And, drumroll, "You need to put your baby on a diet, she's too fat." She was 7 weeks old at that point.
The point is, no matter what you do, no matter how you choose to raise your baby, there is always going to be someone waiting in the wings to tell you that you are doing it wrong. There will always be someone there to tell you that all their children turned out great, so you should ignore the information that doctors have learned since said children were babies, cause "they all turned out fine".
I have come to the conclusion that I will be only listening to my pediatrician, my husband, my babies cues, and my mommy instincts. For the rest, I will smile vacantly and nod as though I am listening to the unsolicated advice being given and mentally transport myself somewhere else.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
a love letter to my Sweet Peas
I need to devote a blog entry to something I lovingly call the Facebump. But first, I should explain what the Facebump is. Back when I found out I was pregnant, I stumbled across a website called thebump.com. It was all about babies and pregnancy, and since I was clueless about both, I joined. I settled into a group where all members had due dates in September.
It was really nice, as we were all going through the same things at roughly the same time, and a nice comradarie developed. Over time, we stopped posting on the bump and started posting as a private group on Facebook.
This private group was called September Sweet Peas. We had our babies and have become a wonderful support for each other.
The 294 members of the group come from all walks of life, are scattered across the country, are a mixed bag of races and religions, and have wildly different opinions on all topics. Despite this, and this is not to say that there are not personality conflicts and that everyone shits rainbows, we come together when it counts.
Out of a group of strangers, real relationships have developed. I have been fortunate to live close to a few of the girls and have hung out with them, not just as moms, but as friends. It is not just us girls that live on Long Island that have met up. Girls have been meeting each other all over the country. There is even a giant get together planned for this summer in Chicago.
We know each other's secrets, we know each other's strange dreams, we have shared advice, asked for help, vented, raged. We talk about every topic under the sun, nothing is off-limits. Sex...check, religion...check, politics...check. Oh, I should mention that we do, from time to time, fight with each other. Sometimes the fights are with love behind them, sometimes it is between girls that really do not like each other.
There is a lot that I could say about what the group means to me. They rallied around me and supported me completely when were told that our daughter was going to be born with a possibly fatal genetic condition. It wasn't just "So sorry, thinking about you". It was "So sorry, thinking about you." followed by days of concerned questions and follow up questions and offers to be my sounding board if I should need one.
Then my daughter landed in the hospital before she was even 2 months old. Once again, my girls raised me up with their genuine concern. These women, most of whom I have never met asked for updates about my daughter all the time. Their collective concern for my child was overwhelming and helped give me the strength I needed.
And, it is not just my child that this love and concern is shown for. Everytime a difficult situation arises for one of the group members, we are there to help lift that person up. And when one of the moms experienced the loss of her child, we did what we could. I am not going to get into the specifics because that story is not mine to tell, but I will be forever touched and in awe of what transpired within our group after that tragedy.
It is such a shame that girls are not shown examples of positive female relationships. TV shows and movies show womens' relations as such a negative thing filled with jealousy, cattiness, and disloyalty. I like to think that we are an example of the best of womens' relations. We are supportive, loving, real. I wish girls could see what we are. I wish girls could see that, even though not everyone is best friends, even though there is some bickering, women can have positive relations with other women. More girls need to see this.
So, to my Sweet Peas...thank you
XOXOXO
It was really nice, as we were all going through the same things at roughly the same time, and a nice comradarie developed. Over time, we stopped posting on the bump and started posting as a private group on Facebook.
This private group was called September Sweet Peas. We had our babies and have become a wonderful support for each other.
The 294 members of the group come from all walks of life, are scattered across the country, are a mixed bag of races and religions, and have wildly different opinions on all topics. Despite this, and this is not to say that there are not personality conflicts and that everyone shits rainbows, we come together when it counts.
Out of a group of strangers, real relationships have developed. I have been fortunate to live close to a few of the girls and have hung out with them, not just as moms, but as friends. It is not just us girls that live on Long Island that have met up. Girls have been meeting each other all over the country. There is even a giant get together planned for this summer in Chicago.
We know each other's secrets, we know each other's strange dreams, we have shared advice, asked for help, vented, raged. We talk about every topic under the sun, nothing is off-limits. Sex...check, religion...check, politics...check. Oh, I should mention that we do, from time to time, fight with each other. Sometimes the fights are with love behind them, sometimes it is between girls that really do not like each other.
There is a lot that I could say about what the group means to me. They rallied around me and supported me completely when were told that our daughter was going to be born with a possibly fatal genetic condition. It wasn't just "So sorry, thinking about you". It was "So sorry, thinking about you." followed by days of concerned questions and follow up questions and offers to be my sounding board if I should need one.
Then my daughter landed in the hospital before she was even 2 months old. Once again, my girls raised me up with their genuine concern. These women, most of whom I have never met asked for updates about my daughter all the time. Their collective concern for my child was overwhelming and helped give me the strength I needed.
And, it is not just my child that this love and concern is shown for. Everytime a difficult situation arises for one of the group members, we are there to help lift that person up. And when one of the moms experienced the loss of her child, we did what we could. I am not going to get into the specifics because that story is not mine to tell, but I will be forever touched and in awe of what transpired within our group after that tragedy.
It is such a shame that girls are not shown examples of positive female relationships. TV shows and movies show womens' relations as such a negative thing filled with jealousy, cattiness, and disloyalty. I like to think that we are an example of the best of womens' relations. We are supportive, loving, real. I wish girls could see what we are. I wish girls could see that, even though not everyone is best friends, even though there is some bickering, women can have positive relations with other women. More girls need to see this.
So, to my Sweet Peas...thank you
XOXOXO
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
babies are weird and gross and cute and some things non-baby
While Evangeline sleeps, I want to get down some of what has been going on.
1) My daughter likes to beat the shit out of her face. Seriously. She has this nightly ritual that she does when she is going to bed and it culminates with a nightly face-beating. It begins innocently enough. She starts moaning and whining a little and rubbing her face into me or Alex. That is our cue to put her to bed. Once in bed, she brings her hands her to her mouth and yells at them. Her eyes will be closed the entire time. It is pretty funny. I don't know what her hands did to offend her, but there must have been a serious transgression there. After her hands have been properly chastised and she has stopped yelling, it becomes time to beat herself up. She flails her arms about pretty violently and whacks them onto her little face again and again. At first, we tried stopping this, but we learned soon enough that this is what she had to do to fall asleep. But, make no mistake, that shit hurts. I have put my face next to hers while she is doing this and have taken a hit from her arms. It's no joke man, she is a strong little stinker.
2) Evangeline seems to develops grosser and grosser habits with each passing day. Here are two of these gross habits. The first is drooling. Now, I know that it is just because she has started the teething process, but it does not make it any prettier. She drools constantly. I would not be the least bit surprised if she drools her body weight everyday. We are talking continual streams of drool. She is like a St. Bernard. Secondly, she has realized that she can lift things up to her mouth. She has also realized that it is fun to shove things in her mouth and chew on them. The two of these put together have made for some interesting moments. She loves to chew on her fists and her blankets. However, my daughter does not discriminate. Whatever she can grasp is fair game. So, she has chewed on stuffed animals, a Xmas ornament, my scarf, my cat's tail (don't ask), my hair, you name it. What makes it even nastier is that she shoves whatever she has in her hand, so far down her throat that she gags. She will take her hand out and wait until the gagging subsides and shove it back in again and gag again. It is like a game to her. It is a game that has ended in vomit more than once. Fun for her, I guess. My baby is just a gross weirdo.
3) I joined Weight Watchers online. It sucks. I hate it. I am hungry. I have lost 4 lbs in 3 days, so I am going to stick with it. But, I will bitch about it every chance I get.
4) Malls are really the armpit of commerce. Since I am not a shopper, I do not frequent malls, but I know that will be changing now that I have a baby. When it is too cold to do anything else and I need to get out of the house, I will go walk the mall. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. This is what I don't get about malls: when did the marketers decide that assaulting shoppers sense of sight, hearing, and smell is good business sense. I went yesterday to pick up a few things that I absolutely needed. I went in and went out and was done within an hour. But, the headache I got while at the mall lasted all day. First, the music that blasts out of every store is way too loud and is awful. It is all that fist-pumping crap. Like, if you are going to blast music, pick something good at least. So, my hearing was assaulted. Next, I had to deal with the smells. I assume that the amount of putrid cologne that wafts out of every teen clothing store has a purpose. It cannot possibly be to lure the customer in because of how awful the smells are. No, it must be something else. I have a theory that the strength of the scent makes the shopper dizzy and disoriented and more likely to make unwise shopping decisions. Whatever the reason, now my sense of smell was attacked. Finally, enough with the neon lights and dancing light beams and high intensity ceiling lights. It hurts the eyes and does not make me want to look at the merchandise. With my senses completely beaten up, I left with a raging headache and a pissed off baby that woke up every time we passed a store playing that techno shit. Malls suck.
Anyway, the tanks empty, that's all I got for now. Later.
1) My daughter likes to beat the shit out of her face. Seriously. She has this nightly ritual that she does when she is going to bed and it culminates with a nightly face-beating. It begins innocently enough. She starts moaning and whining a little and rubbing her face into me or Alex. That is our cue to put her to bed. Once in bed, she brings her hands her to her mouth and yells at them. Her eyes will be closed the entire time. It is pretty funny. I don't know what her hands did to offend her, but there must have been a serious transgression there. After her hands have been properly chastised and she has stopped yelling, it becomes time to beat herself up. She flails her arms about pretty violently and whacks them onto her little face again and again. At first, we tried stopping this, but we learned soon enough that this is what she had to do to fall asleep. But, make no mistake, that shit hurts. I have put my face next to hers while she is doing this and have taken a hit from her arms. It's no joke man, she is a strong little stinker.
2) Evangeline seems to develops grosser and grosser habits with each passing day. Here are two of these gross habits. The first is drooling. Now, I know that it is just because she has started the teething process, but it does not make it any prettier. She drools constantly. I would not be the least bit surprised if she drools her body weight everyday. We are talking continual streams of drool. She is like a St. Bernard. Secondly, she has realized that she can lift things up to her mouth. She has also realized that it is fun to shove things in her mouth and chew on them. The two of these put together have made for some interesting moments. She loves to chew on her fists and her blankets. However, my daughter does not discriminate. Whatever she can grasp is fair game. So, she has chewed on stuffed animals, a Xmas ornament, my scarf, my cat's tail (don't ask), my hair, you name it. What makes it even nastier is that she shoves whatever she has in her hand, so far down her throat that she gags. She will take her hand out and wait until the gagging subsides and shove it back in again and gag again. It is like a game to her. It is a game that has ended in vomit more than once. Fun for her, I guess. My baby is just a gross weirdo.
3) I joined Weight Watchers online. It sucks. I hate it. I am hungry. I have lost 4 lbs in 3 days, so I am going to stick with it. But, I will bitch about it every chance I get.
4) Malls are really the armpit of commerce. Since I am not a shopper, I do not frequent malls, but I know that will be changing now that I have a baby. When it is too cold to do anything else and I need to get out of the house, I will go walk the mall. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. This is what I don't get about malls: when did the marketers decide that assaulting shoppers sense of sight, hearing, and smell is good business sense. I went yesterday to pick up a few things that I absolutely needed. I went in and went out and was done within an hour. But, the headache I got while at the mall lasted all day. First, the music that blasts out of every store is way too loud and is awful. It is all that fist-pumping crap. Like, if you are going to blast music, pick something good at least. So, my hearing was assaulted. Next, I had to deal with the smells. I assume that the amount of putrid cologne that wafts out of every teen clothing store has a purpose. It cannot possibly be to lure the customer in because of how awful the smells are. No, it must be something else. I have a theory that the strength of the scent makes the shopper dizzy and disoriented and more likely to make unwise shopping decisions. Whatever the reason, now my sense of smell was attacked. Finally, enough with the neon lights and dancing light beams and high intensity ceiling lights. It hurts the eyes and does not make me want to look at the merchandise. With my senses completely beaten up, I left with a raging headache and a pissed off baby that woke up every time we passed a store playing that techno shit. Malls suck.
Anyway, the tanks empty, that's all I got for now. Later.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
next time will just pay for the pictures
As part of our austerity budget, we decided to forego paying someone to take pictures of our daughter for Xmas cards. How hard could it be to get a nice photos ourselves, right?
Wrong.
I googled 'baby christmas picture ideas' and got inspired by all the cute chubbers. I particularly loved the babies that were surrounded by xmas lights. The pictures looked so dreamy. I thought 'I can do this'.
So, first I set up a shoot that used a red blanket as a backdrop, had a nest of white lights, and an xmas teddy bear. I took a practice shot with the teddy bear to see how it would look:
I liked this very much, I was very excited. Unfortunately, I did not account for the big difference between the stuffed animal and a baby. Yeah...the baby moves. Oh, and the baby was a cranky fuss tonight. The best photo I was able to get with this idea was:
That was not gonna do. I next decided to try to put her in her xmas dress and use a white backdrop. My daughter hates dresses and decided that the best course of action was to eat the dress in protest. The best shot from this stroke of genuis:
Running out of patience, I went back to my original idea. My daughter started cooperating and almost seemed to pose for the pictures. The downside was the lighting. When I took the flash off, the pictures were great, except for her face. Her face was all shadow. When I put the flash on, the xmas lights and dreamy quality I was looking for disappeared. This is what I got:
So, without a good shot, and with only a few days left before we HAVE to get out cards out, I am going to have to try this again tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Wrong.
I googled 'baby christmas picture ideas' and got inspired by all the cute chubbers. I particularly loved the babies that were surrounded by xmas lights. The pictures looked so dreamy. I thought 'I can do this'.
So, first I set up a shoot that used a red blanket as a backdrop, had a nest of white lights, and an xmas teddy bear. I took a practice shot with the teddy bear to see how it would look:
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