Baby Proofing

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, P was off Zantac for a couple of days. And, this morning, we caved and dosed her. Guess she still needs the meds.

We went shopping last night and bought a rug for the family room. This weekend, we'll clean the floor, rearrange some furniture, and hang some gates. And, hopefully, at the end of it all, P will have an 8 x 10 space she can call her own - safe for her to do her thing. Kind of like my office at work.


Cheers!
mouse

A Healthier Thanksgiving

Dear Friends and Family,

Whereas Thanksgiving is a time of tradition, and recognizing that there's a HUGE comfort associated with certain foods during the Thanksgiving mean, nevertheless I am considering revisiting our Thanksgiving traditions in the name of making it a healthier tradition.

Phew, now that the legalese is out of the way. What does that mean? I've decided to tweak the meal a dish at a time as time and whimsy strike. This year, we're passing on the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and instead I will be baking bread. I've made it a couple of times before using the NY Times no knead bread recipe.

Original article: The Secret of Great Bread
The Follow-On article: No Kneading, but Some Fine Tuning

I'll miss the little flaky, buttery pillows of hydrogenated fructose goodness, but good bread is nothing to sneeze at either. And, in the long run, it's a healthier habit for P to pick up from us. And, for us to pick up from us.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: In case you're wondering. Thursday, we'll be having: turkey, ham, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, bread, green bean casserole, corn, cranberry relish, pumpkin pie, apple pie, whipped cream, ice cream

PPS: Prior changes in years past have included homemade gravy vs. jar gravy and homemade cranberry relish vs. canned cranberry jelly.

11.23.09: Weekend at Home

Dear Friends and Family,

After three weekends on the road, we finally had a weekend at home.

We slept in both days, napped both afternoons, ran some errands and gloried in the amusement a six month old provides.

We fed P (apples, avocado, salmon and pumpkin - she loves apples). We watched P crawl (backwards). We heard P say hi - jury's out on whether it was intentional or not. We watched P pick things up and shake them and swat at things.

I so needed a weekend of nothing. Now, I'm off to work for a day and a half. I wanted to take the week off, but with the funeral and multiple trips home, I'm behind. So, I'm headed in for today and for an hour meeting tomorrow.


Cheers!
mouse

Apples for Breakfast

Dear Friends and Family,

P's growing up. She's eating apples with her Daddy while I write this post.

What does our six month old peanut eat?

1. breakfast (5 AM): nursing session followed by whatever baby food we have handy (starting today)
2. mid morning snack (8:30 AM): 8 oz bottle
3. lunch (noon): 8 oz bottle
4. high tea (3:30 PM): 8 oz bottle
5. dinner (7 PM): nursing session followed by whatever baby food we have handy

So far, she's eaten peas, carrots, apples, bananas, avocados, and mashed potatoes. Tomorrow, she starts baby food at school. I'm not sure how much she'll eat. I think I'll send a 6 oz bottle for breakfast and 4 oz of baby food letting her decide how much she wants. We're not in the business of measuring her food, if we can. Maybe that's why she still hasn't doubled her birth weight.


Cheers!
mouse

Sleep Catch Up

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse met me at the bus station and drove home while I slept in the back seat with P. We got home, fed P, and then napped until 11:30. I pumped, ate dinner, and fell back asleep until this morning. P slept through the whole night. And, so did Mr. mouse.

Guess we all needed the rest after the last couple of weeks.


Cheers!
mouse

Food Decisions

Dear Friends and Family,

I gave myself a reprieve until P turned 6 months on the whole baby weight thing since 1. it seemed like there was some inexplicable link between my losing weight and my losing milk volume and 2. there were a million and one things I was tracking for awhile with P and who need to track a million and two things, really?

But, now, I'm ready. P's six months old. And, I'm mentally ready to begin the 20 pound journey that is my post partum wellness journey. Instead of jumping full court press on the Weight Watchers bandwagon, I've resolved to make three better food decisions every day. I'll weigh in tomorrow (since I forgot to this morning) and we'll go from there.


Cheers!
mouse

11.16.09: Closure

Dear Friends and Family,

We went home for the weekend for the funeral. And, for all my griping beforehand, I'm glad I went. I'll miss grandma. But, I won't. I'll see her again one day, and until then, she's with grandpa. They'd been separated for a long time so I'm glad they're together again now.

Administrivia: flew in Friday morning, wake Friday evening followed by dinner, funeral Saturday morning, followed by lunch and then time at home with my brother and sister and brother-in-law, flew out Sunday morning - it was warm for November and raining, a tropical storm was pushing rain our way - my brother had a chance to say his goodbyes alone, both at the wake and at the cemetery, my mom had her church group to support her - at the wake, one of the toughest, but one of the most touching moments was when the nurses from the nursing home showed up to say bye to grandma - I'm glad to be home again.

Pioneer had a tough time. She threw up four times on the flight out. Then, three more times at the airport. We switched her to Pedialyte and she was able to keep that down. We eased her back into milk on Saturday and she was back to her normal routine by Sunday. It was weird for her to be around all of these emotions. She's used to shiny happy people. And, she was lap child for the whole weekend, instead of being able to crawl around and spread out.

P contorted herself into a sitting position by herself while we were home - Saturday evening while my brother and sister were playing with her. She's getting better at the backwards crawling. We're beginning to see baby neck. She's a riot when she's eating. She grabs the spoon and shovels the food into her mouth sideways. She eats a little over an ounce at a time now. And, she's become more purposeful at the breast. When she was a newborn, it was a struggle. Then, she learned to lie still and open wide. Now, she wiggles and squirms towards me and grabs with her hands. It's really quite cute.

Sunday, we had our six month visit. P's still 50th percentile head. She's now 25-50th percentile height. And, not unexpectedly, 5th percentile weight. She got 5 shots including seasonal flu and H1N1. She fell backwards from a sitting position onto the floor twice last night. And, she had a tough time falling asleep. Five shots, two teeth and a bunch of moving parts is tough on anyone, much less a six month old.

Oh, and, we're going to try weaning her off of the Zantac. Wish us luck!


Cheers!
mouse