5 months

We're celebrating 5 months with some resting to recover from germs and yeast, but there was a little time for a photo shoot. Compare to this!



Now at 5 months, there is a new skill that makes these comparison photos a bit more difficult to stage:


And the other critters around the place thought they should also be a part of the photo shoot...

3 Days

Variety IS the spice of life, eh? Check out my weekend summary:

Visited 1.5 week old baby born in a log cabin built by his daddy; brought food to help with their off-grid new-baby life.

Attended a baby shower (with Bean) that included a great wisdom-sharing circle and other blessings for a baby boy-to-be, the son of two mommies older than me.

Sat briefly by the shore of the big Lake, watching waves and showing Bean smooth rocks

Found myself fainted on the floor of the bathroom at 3 am, then revisited my dinner in a most unpleasant way; scared us all, but recovered quickly. Food poisoning?

Worked a little on cleaning, and seriously stressed about an upcoming visit by a realtor; need to do more cleaning!!!

Decided we DO have a case of thrush, and ran around the town looking for grape seed extract. Hope we can catch it pretty quick; Bean’s got white patches on his tongue and is grumpy about nursing. Acidophilus, Vinegar, sunlight, grapeseed extract is our current arsenal; we’ll see; fingers crossed.

Attended a great play called BIRTH; I had helped with publicity for the local show. Saw my own “belly pics” from late pregnancy projected on the wall as part of the play (surprise!).

Sat on stage after the play as part of a panel that included my midwife, lactation consultant and other amazing local women; I was the last-minute “mother/consumer” participant; an honor!

Ran home after the play to meet old friends from Alaska who were passing through town and dropped by with little notice; was so good to see them, but wow!

Started getting stuffy and feeling like I was coming down with a cold by Sunday evening…

From baby to wisdom to throwing up to sitting on stage to welcoming old friends; what a wild ride! But now it’s Monday, and I’m supposed to be productive at work, and should be avoiding coffee (with cream) and sugar for thrush-prevention reasons. Hmmmm.

A Reader!

Time to catch up a bit with a few pictures: we've been falling behind and not even taking that many pictures lately! Eeek! We just visited a 1.5 week old baby yesterday (who wasn't much smaller than Bean when born) and it's so hard to even imagine that Bean was once that size. How time flies and things change in 5 months!

It seems we are raising a reader! This is great, but definitely impresses my mom, who is a long-time advocate of lots of early reading (she taught kids to read for decades!). Here they are sharing a book a couple weeks ago:


Our bedtime routine has not yet involved many books, because he's usually out like a light very quickly (we are so lucky, yes, we know that!). But in the last few days, his self-selected bedtime of 8:00 (he's very punctual; it's uncanny!) has been pushed to about 8:30 or so... with plenty of wiggling beforehand. Here we are tonight trying out a bedtime book:


It worked fairly well; the book was interesting and tasty, too. But it's not all scholarly around here; sometimes we just have to gaze into mirrors and admire the cute babies that live inside!





Those mirror-babies sure are funny! (And one of the only ways to capture smiles on camera, because he is still suspicious of those flashy things...)

Today is Tuesday

It's my once-a-week Tuesday post! Just barely. Beginning a new pattern, here, I see. Too busy and scattered to get many more posts up, lately.

I've been trying and trying to upload a very cute video of the Bean rolling over, but it just won't work. Alas. Just imagine a very determined little guy, working hard to get over that pesky arm, then making it juuuust over that hump and plop! Onto the belly with some enthusiastic kicking and squealing. Very cute. Now he makes it look pretty easy, but it's still exciting (for all of us!)

I do have evidence of a new milestone, though; hiking with the Ergo in the back position! He did well, sleeping through some short North Shore hikes while we were on our way back from a rare out-of-town work event for me.

Awww... I tried this position today, and found it much more comfy for MY back, too... I like having him in the front-carry position, but it's killing my posture. And I'm not being wimpy; we found out today that he just doesn't seem big, he IS big! Now he's OVER the 95th percentile for all measurements; my little overachiever. Or maybe certain parts of my anatomy are the overachievers... hmmmm.

Diaper Day

A sunny interlude in the rainy week; a lovely warm Tuesday today, my new "day off". How best to use this day? I've discussed this solar-powered home phenomenon before; some people might think of the beach- I think of laundry!

To be honest, I did think of the beach, but in the end just couldn't swing it. I did make to town for a Mothersong gathering, which was nice. I did some other errands, but got back in time to dry a load of sheets and take down the diapers I put out earlier in the day. There might not be many more days this warm left this year! And our daycare provider has recently stopped offering the commercial account with the diaper service, so we bring back dirty diapers from Bean's days there; ugh. It's getting harder to keep up.

So, today, we visited the Diaper Beach! A rare moment of lawn time in the sun. The chickens usually have the run of the yard and that makes for it's own complications, but they seemed to be off somewhere else. So, this is how we enjoyed the sun!


Bean has a great new trick; turning over! Yes, indeed; from the tummy to the back, with only a little grunting and great concentration. That darn arm gets in the way, but he's on his way to becoming mobile! Yikes! But it's great fun... growing up!

Update on days

I had Tuesday off, and I managed to get to not one, but THREE momma/baby daytime gatherings. Whew. It messed a bit with Bean’s nap times, but he’s an adaptable little guy and caught a few zzzz’s in the car or in my lap.

I hear quite a bit about stay-at-home moms feeling isolated, but I really think there’s an element of isolation for working moms, too. So many library story times, La Leche League, Mothersong and other gatherings are during the day when I’m trapped in my cubicle. I realized I hadn’t seen another baby in a long time; very sad. So Tuesday was a festival of visiting; it was GREAT.

Soon, it will be helpful for Bean to be with other kids his age, but for now, it’s mostly for me to gather with other moms and to really revel in my new role, as well as talking baby stuff with others. People tell me, “Oh, he’ll be FINE in daycare, look at how happy he is, lalala…” But that’s not the whole picture. I want to be the best mom I can be, and for me right now that involves getting together with other moms and babies. Where else can I ask about cradle cap and co-sleeping?

I’m hopeful that this new schedule of Tuesdays off will work for a while, at least until my part-time window ends and I’m back to 5-day-a-week cubicle confinement. I’m even sensing less resentment for my cubicle today, if I can get away from it during the times when other moms are gathering… horray!

(Written on Wednesday, finally posted today!)

Random List

In interest of an efficient, 3 a.m. posting, I present a list:

1. I have lost my "everyday" glasses, likely in the weeds along a friend's half-mile long driveway. Was distracted and likely put them on the bumper before putting on prescription sunglasses when going for a run. Very sad. Am considering renting a metal detector; we're not finding them with other methods. My first truly bone-headed "new mom fog" move, I think. Now the question becomes: at what price vanity? My back-up glasses are functional, but I don't like them. Hmmm.

2. It is truly feeling like Fall around here. I sit here typing away in a cold draft, coming from someplace unknown. We're already dressing the poor baby-bean in winter clothes and hats. I know we will need to keep the house warmer this year, but this house has a weird ability to make heat inputs disappear; even the woodstove doesn't help much. Grrr. But I suppose firing up the furnace for the year will help. We purchased an insane amout of pre-buy propane this year. $$$$

3. Speaking of $$$, we are still trying to figure out a budget/expense/income plan that works for us. I always thought families who said they needed two incomes were not trying hard enough; now I realize it totally depends on the size of that income. I'd love to not be tied to my "no-telecommuting-ever" office job, but right now the finances do not permit that. Need to get more inspired looking for alternatives, I guess.

4. And last but definitely not least, Bean-baby continues to be cute! A new milestone this week: sitting in the exersaucer! He really had his first taste of exersaucer freedom at daycare, but I'm pretending that's not the case. Can't bear to think of him having "firsts" at daycare without me. They even went on a field trip to a farm last week; hard to get my head around him going on field trips without me already. 4 months seems a little early to let go, doesn't it?

Anyway. Exersaucer=cute. He's really been more interested in sitting up lately; mobility is not far behind!


(Note: more positive posts later; I don't work tomorrow, will be more cheerful when the sun comes up!)

Weekend Catch-up

Whew! We're still here, finally now getting to last weekend's posting. We've been trying to do a bit too much, I think, but it's been fun. Just tired now, in the midst of the regular week. Need more hours in the day!

Here's a sampling of what we've been up to, told in pictures:



Some friends "bought the farm" (literally) and so we shared in a little welcome celebration there. Very exciting intentional community plans in the works; more on that soon.


Bean turned 4 months old, and I turned 36 years old. Ugh. We're both getting to be so mature, eh?

Bean has definitely discovered that hands are useful, especially for bringing things up to one's mouth to chew on. Toys are a necessity now, and grumping can happen simply because he's bored and wants a toy, not just the old standbys of hunger or wet diapers. Our little boy is growing up!



He also loves to stand up, putting those extra-pudgy knees to good use.



We attended a family reunion on my side and then saw WF's parents. All 4 grandparents in the same day! Bean is the star attaction, with a few smiles for all...




We then ventured out to the Rennaisance Festival, a big sunny day. We were a bit rushed, but still had a good glimpse of that "otherworld"... there is a nice feel to the place. We hadn't been there in years; looks like a fun place to go back to with an older kid someday.





So, life is full and colorful, just like this post. But also sometimes TOO full, also like this post. Off to go try to catch up with the house chaos and the sleep shortage!