Elephants

Last night at 5:14 pm Kristin (my cousin) gave birth to Sierra at a whopping 6 lbs 19 inches. Both mom and baby are doing well and I'll have pictures to follow soon. Rumor has it that she's feeling a little overwhelmed. I can't imagine why, labor and delivery are a piece of cake, right? and bringing home a new born is just like having a puppy! (I'll post pictures as soon as I get my hands on some.)

Today the Animal Planet (which we let Jack watch) was having a special on elephants and because they were talking about elephant pregnancy, labor and birth I thought I'd share some helpful statistics.

Human Gestational Period: 40 weeks (9.5 months)
Elephant Gestational Period: 100 weeks (22 months)
Human Birth Weight: 7lbs 6 oz
Elephant Birth Weight: 250 lbs
Human Birth Canal: 4 inches
Elephant Birth Canal: 8 feet
Human Baby Drinks: 25 oz of milk
Elephant Baby Drinks: 640 oz of milk

Elephant babies don't sleep through the night when they're newborns either.

All I'm saying is- it's good to be human!

Behind Blue Eyes

Today Cady had us over to play. We had a perfect afternoon play date. There's something about the afternoon that makes the babies a little extra fussy and it seems like the clock sometimes runs in reverse. Cady and Lindsey to the rescue!
Jack borrowed Cady's water, because his orange cup wasn't manly enough.

Jack spent alot of time hugging and kissing the lamb.

Then he decided to immitate Kiss.

Apparently there was some discussion about who was going to be allowed in the club house. We had to have a discussion about being kind to our friends and making everyone feel included. Jack expressed some concern over the tightness of Brooks's shirt.

Snow!

Today was a snow day for Moms Group and since I spent the morning getting 'needled' Matt was forced to take the day off work because by the time I got home the roads were getting worse and it was nearly 11am! In the afternoon we took advantage of the hearty blanket of snow (I know it's not that much, but we haven't had a good snow here since 2003 so just go with it.)We layered up and headed out to play.




Jack enjoyed sitting, walking and sledding in the snow. Unlike last time, we had to bring him inside because he was getting cold and wet but he didn't look ready to stop playing anytime soon. Even after we brought him in he stood at the door and watched me shovel the sidewalk.

My First Time

This morning I went to the Acupuncturist for the first time. The doctor is an 80 year old Japanese man. He was most concerned that my husband is 2 years younger than I am and indicated that he needed to get my ::cough:: energy level up to match his.

So when I got there I filled out a lot of forms on everything from hepatitis to glaucoma and acid reflux. Then I went back to the office to talk about my symptoms. He asked some of the same questions and some different ones. He seems most interested in my mood swings, allergies and back pain (caused by tension and having a heavy boy).

When I went into the exam room I kept most of my clothes on and rolled my pants up to my knees. He felt my pulse for about 2 minutes and he kept saying things like "lung......... lung and liver............... lung, yes, lung and liver" and then he felt my abdomen and said "lung and kidney? no, lung and liver." So apparently my lungs and my liver are out of alignment.

The needles didn't really hurt some of them stung a little and some felt warm and some I could only feel when I was focusing my mind on them. What I didn't expect when he balanced me was that he didn't place the needles symmetrically on my body. My right hand had 2 and my left had 1 my left knee had 2 and my right had none. I don't know why I had assumed the needles would be placed at symmetrical points across my body.

Then he left me for about 15/20 min and I kept yawning uncontrollably and feeling really really sleepy. Then I rolled on my side (needles left in place) and he put 6 in my upper back on either side of my spine and he hooked me up to a machine that delivers an electrical pulse and that felt fantastic. After 10 minutes he had to come in and turn up the juice because I couldn't feel it anymore. My back has not felt this 'loose' since my massage last March!

I'm totally going back next week!

Explicatives

My poll about blogging and the use of explicatives created an interesting little discussion in the Fruit-Cake household. I ::ahem:: tend to be more liberal with the cursing than my dear husband which I attribute to being an English Major because as a poet we were expected and encouraged to use language in any way we could to make a point, paint a picture, create rhyme etc.

Now that Jack is paying much closer attention to what we say I've had to get creative substituting other words where I would normally drop the f-bomb or something else I wouldn't want Jack to repeat at Group. (Oh the embarrassment!)

My favorite is 'sugar plum faeries' usually said like this "SUGAR... PLUM...FAERIES."

So here is the question: What do you say? What did your parents or friends or parent's friends say?

Closet, Needles and To-Do's

Closet: The closet in the basement was basically useless with this one tiny shelf. I'm starting to feel cramped in my house so storage and anything else that helps me to streamline my life is premium.Jack, being the sensitive guy that he is, heard about my plight and hopped into action.

First he put the boards in the studs.

Then he put the shelves in.

Then he organized all our board games, books, DVD series and Matt's RPG boos (yes I said RPG books). Some of the books are stacked 3 deep! I'm so excited to have all this storage! WOO HOO!

Thanks Jack, you're my hero!

Needles: So this hormone swinging-baby-weaning thing is getting a little out of hand. I was going to go get a massage and get my hair done to see if that helped me feel better but the trouble with a massage is I only feel better for the rest of the day. Emily 3 raved about how helpful acupuncture was to her with morning sickness and all kinds of physical and emotional symptoms (I read it can even help you with your sex drive). So I found an acupuncturist in Catonsville that takes my insurance! It will only cost me $30 per session! I'm going to get a call on Monday from them because they review my intake information and check with the insurance company before scheduling my first appointment. I can't wait to see what it can do for me!

To-Do's: In addition to trying to exercise regularly I also wanted to do a CSA this year and I am psyched to report that I'm signed up for June 3-Nov 14 at Breezy Willow Farm. I get to feel good because I'm going green supporting local organic farmers. I also get the challenge of cooking with new and different fruits and veggies (which also means healthier meals). This CSA includes bread and eggs in their weekly bounty (technically eggs are every other week, but hey). So thanks Lindsey for being a fantastic guinea pig for this CSA and for giving me the scoop on all the goodies!

... and finally we are on Baby-watch because my cousin is due in just a few weeks. I can't wait to see her little girl!

...and the bean stalk

Finally Jack decides to climb. Not that I really want him to get into everything. Some of Jack's friends are much more adventurous than he is. Like his father, Jack was born 40. He's very sensible and cautious which makes for east day-to-day maintenance of things like safety, but sometimes I'd love it if he would throw caution to the wind and try to climb on something.

Apparently when electronics are involved Jack is willing to do just about anything.

This is as close as I can get to him snuggling his bear. He spent a few minutes giving 'Rosie' some love and as soon as I whip out the camera he just wants to pose.

Maybe he'll be a male model when he grows up?

Startin' Somethin'

Today, Barack Obama became the 44th president and we celebrated in true fashion. We had some bubbly with Eric and Emily.

Jack 'let them eat cake' ...er... dropped food on the floor for Colin.

Colin struck his sexy pose. He's in to older ladies (like his daddy) Sasha and Malia: here he comes!

Jack hung out in his favorite spot- the box.

A Little Story

Last night Jack was not the best sleeper. He woke up at 10 and talked to himself for about 1 hour. There was silence in his room until 11:30 when I went in to put the extra blanket on him (since it's COLD right now).

I opened the door and stepped in to the room. Matt stood in the hallway because who doesn't like to sneak a peak at their sleeping baby?! So cute! As soon as I had the blanket in my hands Jack jumped up to standing so quickly I didn't have a change to run or hide. So as soon as he jumps up he points out into the hallway, right at Matt (keep in mind it's pitch black).

So I said "I guess you've got this one." Matt sang a quick lil' song to him and he was out like a light. It was hilarious to me 1. how quick he jumped up especially since he waited until I was all the way in the room and 2. that he knew he wanted Daddy.

The Start to a Loooong Weekend

Today was a productive day mostly spent at home. When Jack went down for his first nap Matt went to Lowes (our home away from home) and got the wood needed to make shelves for the closet in the basement. We then emptied the closet and ran electrical so now there is a light so we can actually find what we're looking for.

We also installed a baby gate at the bottom of the steps so that we can now just leave Jack in the basement between naps to safely entertain himself. That's what you do with your baby, right?

After nap we dealt with a jack-in-the-box issue.

Then we ate some Mega Blocks.

Matt went to the Obama speech at Town Hall in Baltimore, him and 40,000 other people. I stayed warm and watched from my couch.

Now for the nitty gritty: Jack has not taken his second nap of the day for about 7-9 days now. Sometimes he might have been dealing with teething pain, but I can't imagine it's been the cause of the nap-strike every day. Could he be giving up his second nap? If so what do I do? Do I move back his morning nap to the middle of the day? I fear change.

A Visit

Today one of my friends from college, Tara. Came to visit. She's in town cause it's her birthday tomorrow -Happy Birthday!- and since she and her husband live in NY they wanted to hang and see family and friends (like me)! Tara's husband is going to cillinary school so he can be a fancy high-end chef... maybe when they move back to MD they'll invite us for dinner. ::hint:: We went to lunch together and Jack flirted (of course) as much as possible. Jack showed off his toys, mostly with emphatic gesturing. Fun was had by all!

Review

After Emily's book-blog I've decided to bite the bullet and do something I've been meaning to do for a while. Book reviews.

What To Expect When You're Expecting (and WTE In The First Year)- these are helpful, but so is Google. There were several things in the first 3-4 months that I looked up in them and they were great reference but probably not something I would ever read cover to cover.

Girlfriends Guide (To Pregnancy, The First Year and Toddlers)- these are both good and bad. The author is very one-sided so it's not 'informative' about options and methods but the author has a fantastic ability to make you feel normal and even make you laugh at the most frustrating things.

No Cry Sleep Solution- it's true... and it mostly works. There may have been occasional crying in my house but it was minimal and not too painful to me.

Did anyone out there read anything else they found helpful or anything that didn't help them? I know a few of my readers are about to be first-time-mommies and I'm trying to collect as much knowledge to pass on as possible.

Translator?

Does anyone out there speak baby? Cause I have no idea what he's talking about.

Sunday, busy Sunday

Today we took a walk down to Savage Mill and ate lunch at the Ram's Head. There was a jazz group playing and Jack was completely enthralled. He danced and danced in his chair to the music.
I decided to try something new today for lunch. He has a banana for lunch nearly every day and I always take the time to cut it into non-choakable pieces. Well today I threw caution to the wind and just gave him the banana. This is clearly his preferred method for eating. (Pro: I didn't have to cut it into bits, Con: He ate it in about 4 bites and then wanted something more.)

Here are the illusive top teeth. Lefty (his left, not yours) is out about 2-3mm and Righty is still comfortably beneath the gums. We might have to start calling him snaggletooth; I thought about Cletus, but ruled it out because it's not very PC.

Warning TMI!

This is bound to land in the category of over-share but since we all go through these mommy changes I'm sharing for those that want to know what it's like or what's to come.

Weaning. Bla bla 'It was so easy'... 'Jack loves cow milk'... bla bla... Well here is me eating my words. He's still fine he's loving the cow but me, poor me! So Brenna told me that I should expect some mood swings like those of the baby blues or postpartum depression so I was prepared to be, um, 'moody'. (I am moody like there's no tomorrow.) Well there's also this issue of feeling like I have the WORST menstrual cramps of my life. Jeez Louise! I just had my period last week. I refuse to have it again, send it back! Yesterday it was so bad I could hardly do anything all day.

Everything I've read says the physical symptoms can last about 7 days, the psychological can become something that requires medication.

So that's my TMI and my PSA for the D-A-Y.

Sighting!

We have a top tooth. Santa didn't bring them for Christmas but we do have one as of today. It came in last night and I would swear that from the morning when I first checked it till the afternoon when Matt came home there was a visible difference.

Pictures to follow.

Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting toofers.

Pow Pow Power Tools

Daddy installed the cabinet safety latches today. Jack helped.

Private Practice was all about immunizations tonight. Controversy! Personally, I'm pro vaccination but anti CDC schedule. I'm totally anti chicken pox vaccine. Hello, measles, people die, chicken pox- you itch and have a fever for 4-6 days.

Additionally, I'm pro cloth-diapering, anti baby-ear-piercing, pro blogging and anti temper-tantrum.

Special Delivery

We ordered a baby in a box with a side of Uncle Tom and today it came!

There was some question about the appropriateness of packing materials but the package arrived in good order so I guess we can't complain too much!

Mom's Group '09

Our first Mom's Group meeting of 2009 was coordinated by Emily. We met at Fuddruckers and enjoyed some conversation while we fed ourselves and the babies. There was a good sized group of mommies that came and it was great to catch up and see all the babies!

In order from left to right: Jocelyn, Jack, Jillian, Brooks, Andreas, Cady & Amedeo.

The 'J' Babies. (Jack and Jillian are trying to get Jocelyn into trouble.)

After we were all full the babies decided to walk off their energy in the restaurant. Jack made a beeline for the Jawbreakers. ::sigh::

What do you get when you cross...

this sippy cup (for 9 month olds) with this sippy cup (for 18 month olds)?

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. So Avent is BPA free (yay) and when I got the first set of sippy cups (the magic trainer, or whatever it's called) Jack didn't like the low-flow mouth so we bought the bigger one (the sippy sport) and Jack loved that his juice, water, etc. just poured right into his mouth. But the size was too big and unruly for him to hold himself. Finally it occurred to me that if they're made by the same company maybe the parts are interchangeable (DUH!). So we have the 18 month pour-top on the 9 month cup with the handles and he LOVES IT. Totally autonomous!

Which brings up...
I was really worried about the weaning being a long process involving tears and sleepless nights and no napping but we introduced milk about a week ago and he's obsessed with it! Every time I go to 'boob' feed him he tries to crawl away as if to say "Thank you mommy, but there are other, more exciting things I need to do and I like the big-boy food you feed me very much."

I had this whole plan to switch the time of day and not do feedings before naps and bedtime to start getting him used to relaxing without a boob. I was going to slowly introduce milk during meals so he would get used to it and maybe learn to like it and then over a 3 week period I was going to phase out the boob from the 2 feedings we were at last week down to 0. Turns out that's completely unnecessary. I mean, shoot, if he wants to make it easy that's fine with me... but do I at least get credit for making a plan and putting a lot of thought into what I assumed was going to be a traumatic experience for him (and us)?

Trying new things

Today we went for a walk outside in the neighborhood. Jack wore his new shoes that he got for Christmas. He pointed out the moon and a bird and an airplane in the sky. While we were reading a book for the first time I asked him if he could show me the cow. Without hesitation he pointed to the cow so I asked if he could see the sheep (there were a lot of animals and people on one page) and he pointed to the sheep. I wish he could talk because I bet there are some actual thoughts inside that head that would make sense to me. Now for those with older children I'm sure you're thinking "Big mistake! Because once they start talking they don't stop." And I know that but he seems like such a reflective little guy that maybe he'll think more often than talk my ear off (fingers crossed!)

We decided it was time to teach Jack to use silverware. This is a plate and bowl that I used as a kid (made of melamine- yikes!). At first he would scoop the mashed potatoes out of the bowl and then take them off the spoon and put him in his mouth... but then...

well he's not ready for the "salad fork vs. dinner fork vs. shrimp fork" conversation but he might be able to eat like civilized person one day! Woo Hoo!

Belated Birthday Boy

Say that three times fast.

I cannot believe he is 11 months old. It seems just yesterday we had no idea what we were doing and how on earth could the hospital let us take this tiny baby home with us. Now we're faking it like pros!

Happy New Year

I would have blogged just after midnight but that would have been a very bad idea (total gibberish). We had our no-kids friends over (Field and Kate, though they are pregnant so they won't be non-parents for long) because they could stay where, as we know, parents have to put kids to bed. And I'm guessing getting a babysitter on New Years Eve is no picnic.

Mommy and Daddy had a fun time playing games, eating cheese and chocolate 'fondues' and drinking. I drank a lot of prosecco last night, it was pink I couldn't help myself. Besides we all know that you can't really save sparkling wines because they're never the same as the first day. But Jack must have known that Mommy and Daddy were feeling rough around the edges because he took a 3 hour nap this morning, YAY!

So with more need than ever here are my resolutions:
1. Work out 3 times per week regardless of the weather - exceptions will be made for illness but only with a doctors note.
2. Be nicer to the cat - no more "Why can't you be more like the baby?"
3. Wear more fuzzy socks (there had to be a gimme to help encourage me to keep it up)
4. No more soda - this is the toughie!

And now were off for some fun family time in the playroom!