A few entries from a blog I read
Co-sleeping is part of bonding
Hey, Freya turned ten months old!
Also, I got my hair trimmed
New winter coat; standing up in crib
The crib still used only for playing. But she has a positive association with the space, so someday when she sleeps in there, it won’t be some new thing she’s never seen before.
Posted in Attachment Parenting, Freya, Milestones | Tagged hair | Comments Off on Attachment is a good thing
Look how Freya has grown!
Five months:
Nine months:
So, she is now crawling. Fast. Yesterday she scurried into the kitchen and nonchalantly tipped over the dog’s water bowl. Ahhhh.
Today we went to a really fun playdate and I watched my baby crawl around a child-proofed room. It made me realize that we need to go all the way with at least one room in our house. It’s more fun for her to explore without me constantly grabbing/redirecting her, and it’s better for my peace of mind, too. I don’t leave her unattended, but I can go into the adjoining kitchen and see her while I make food or whatever.
She is also cutting four teeth along her upper gums. Three have broken through so far. By next week she should have six visible teeth in her mouth. Whoa.
My baby is very curious and will probably be the type to get into everything. Which is fine, it’s my job to protect her. It makes me worry about letting her nap in our bed. She wakes up quietly, she doesn’t cry out, so I need to listen to the supersensitive baby monitor for sheets rustling, or her cooing, and hurry in there before she gets up on her hands and knees. So. We may actually start using her crib for more than just toy storage. This would be for naps only — at night she is surrounded by parents or next to the co-sleeper crib, and I’m always aware of where she is even when I am asleep.
We recently hired a guy to come over and clear out everything from our front garden beds. Our house’s prior owner liked roses and rhododendrons. I hate both. Had them all taken out, along with the weeds and other crap. The gardening has really been non-existent this spring, due to the arrival of the infant. We are finally able to do it now. But first there was six hours of clearing and weeding to do. We decided to hire a professional; the rhodies had deep roots.
So now that we have a clean slate, last weekend I planted some small new shrubs (heather, pierus japonica), some flowers (phlox, sunflowers, pansies, lavender), and a small lilac tree. I planted in the soil and a few containers. It looks a billion times better. There’s more to do but it can wait until fall (bulbs) and next spring. We also have some tomato plants in containers this year that are doing well and about to bear fruit, yay.
One more thing: I am once again challenging myself to quit eating dairy, in an effort to diagnose my decades of skin breakout problems. I have literally tried everything, from low end to high end skincare lines, prescription medication, a clarisonic brush, changing my pillowcases every two nights. Everything. But the one thing I haven’t tried is a change to my diet. I have heard enough anecdotal accounts of people stopping the consumption of dairy and finding themselves with clear skin that to me it’s worth a try.
An interesting theory is that since milk (all milk, including mine) is filled with hormones, and many women have breakouts associated with hormones, the estrogen and whatnot in cow’s milk might contribute to oil production and pimples, especially in women. It seems obvious, since lots of times girls break out along with their monthly cycle. Of course I haven’t had a period since December of 2008, and yet still have zits. And seem to consume dairy in some form every day.
If I do end up with clear skin, great. I’ll regret I didn’t do it ten years ago. But I don’t see myself spending the rest of my life without cheese or butter. I will probably just consume far less, limiting it to a few times a week instead of every day. I started today drinking a cup of black coffee, no sugar, no milk.
It was actually alright.
Posted in Cooking and Food, Freya, Milestones | Tagged babyproofing, playdates | 2 Comments »
Freya has learned to crawl!
She’ll be nine months old in a week.
Soon she will have spent more time outside of me than inside of me.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged freya, milestones | 4 Comments »
It’s the first full week of July, and our first actual Hot week of 2010.
Last year, I think our first Hot week appeared some time in April. Oh well. Maybe this summer will creep into October. It’s more likely however that we’ll get another serious winter, with actual snow this time, like in 2008 in the months before Freya’s conception.
Yesterday Christina and I went to Seattle with our babies, to meet up with Ann and her little boy, Luke. We all marched down First Avenue with our strollers toward Pike Place. The market was crammed as usual, I guess to be expected for the year’s first hot day. So I didn’t get to linger over the stalls as I ordinarily would. We instead walked to the adjacent park and sat on the grass. Ann and I nursed our babies in the warm sun. Maybe the first time I have fed Freya outdoors?
Then we walked to Dahlia Bakery on Fourth and Virginia. I seriously wanted to try everything in the store, but ended up just getting a cookie, which was very good. After that we headed up to Nordstrom to take advantage of the very well-appointed mother’s room in the fourth floor lounge. All the kids needed diaper changes.
The whole day I just marveled at the great weather, as if emerging from a long hibernation. I was mesmerized by the sparkling surface of the waves on our way back across the sound.
Today will be the same, maybe hotter, and we need to think of something to do. I know we will take a long walk, go grocery shopping… hmm.
+ + + +
I resubscribed to satellite radio after a four year hiatus, and am finding it much better now. We don’t even turn the TV on unless there is something we’re planning to watch, which really is only one or two shows anyway. Summer is a TV dead zone. Fortunately Mad Men is back in a couple weeks 😀
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on summer arrives
Thirty-two glass jars filled with herbs and spices and labeled with my p-touch. I call it my apothecary.
Took everything out of the hall linen closet and refolded and stacked. Used a Martha Stewart tip and put each folded sheet set into one of its pillowcases — easier to stack and to take off the shelf when it’s time to use, keeps everything together.
Made up both beds with clean sheets, did Freya’s laundry, waiting for the sun to come out.
Still have three pounds of bing cherries to pit and freeze.
Brian has today off so I am taking full advantage of the extra hand with the baby. Though she is napping now.
Amazingly, she slept through the war zone last night. Fireworks are still going off this morning from time to time. I don’t get it. Maybe next year these dingdongs can take a pile of money and set fire to it in the middle of the street. Achieves same result, less annoying to neighbors. Or better yet, blow off some fingers and learn a valuable “lesson.”
Anyway, it’s lunchtime, I better check on that wee one.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged housewife | Comments Off on getting things done
Hurry up and get that baby into her own bed.
Get her to Sleep Through The Night as soon as possible.
Start feeding her solids at six months; she’s ready.
Hurry up and grow up, kid.
Start to walk, and talk, now! Start to draw logical conclusions about the world around you!
“That baby needs to learn to be independent.”
Etc.
Well.
A baby is only a baby for such a tiny fraction of her life.
What’s the rush?
An independent baby is an oxymoron. She is 100% dependent, on me.
It’s hard for an adult to accept, to embrace, the neediness and dependence of an infant. It calls on one to leave selfish things behind.
Thus the urge to push them toward this fantasy of “independence.”
But an infant needs her mother.
Needs. Her mother.
My baby would be happy, healthy, and content, if she were strapped to my side (or my back) all the live long day.
(Of course I do not have servants to take care of my household, so she doesn’t get that particular luxury…)
But I am not in a hurry to end her babyhood. I am not pushing her out of my bed, or away from my breast. She is a baby animal, a kitten, a cub, and she needs the safety of our nest.
To push her away when she is just a baby would be to tell her that she is Alone in the world. That her parents won’t protect her from predators (their brand-new minds are quite primitive like that).
Forming a strong attachment to her family will set the stage for strong, healthy attachments in life, to friends, and partners. It will teach her to trust, it will teach her positive affection, it will fill her with a sense of security and self-worth. That’s our hope, anyway.
We’re not perfect. We do our best.
She’s not ready for daily solid meals, so I let her taste a few spoonfuls, then stop.
She will eat food someday.
She will sleep in her own room someday.
She will not need to be held all the time someday.
It’s not so far away, really.
“They grow up so fast…”
I am letting my little one grow up at her own pace.
When she is ready for her independence, I am sure she will let me know.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby, freya | 11 Comments »
I haven’t posted photos in a while…
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged freya, photos | 3 Comments »
One of my oldest and dearest friends visited from SF yesterday. She’s on a whirlwind tour of the West Coast, via train, bus, and car. She actually spent the night here, in our temporarily cluttered guest room (I am piling garage sale items in there, our sale is in a couple weeks).
As she was getting ready this morning, doing her hair, putting on makeup, jewelry, cute clothing, boots, I found myself getting a bit nostalgic for the time when I put so much effort into looking put together. This morning I brushed my hair & teeth, washed my face, stuck a barrette in my hair, done. But then my friend always looks great, she has always been the one with the clever eye for design, art, aesthetics, style. When we briefly lived together I was happy to let her decorate the apartment as she liked.
I am glad she got to meet Freya. My boo was as charming as usual. Last night we all had turkey burgers and strawberry shortcake. This morning before my friend headed south again, we went down to the waterfront to look at the ultra-low tide, the misty grayness of the sky and bay, and then to the Poulsbohemian for their very very yummy Americanos. When we got home we said our farewells then I nursed my sleepy baby down for her nap upstairs. Can she sleep an entire hour today? Time will tell!
Not sure what we are doing this weekend, but I think I will be making some kind of Indian curry with paneer and chickpeas for sure.
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I have a couple dozen bottles of nail polish in the hall closet. Pretty little colorful glass jewels, all needing a very good shake. For some reason, a year and a half ago, nail polish was very important to me. I would color my fingernails every week. I pounced on limited colors; I was very discerning.
Now I am lucky to find time to cut and file my nails (I keep them short — they grow fast because of the vitamins), much less a spare hour to paint and dry them.
I have a dozen handbags in my bedroom closet. Beautiful, timeless, classic handbags. “Investment” pieces. Back when I had disposable income, I sought out these things, obsessed over them. Where was my head? But I loved them, and in a way I still do.
Yet they sit there undisturbed in their soft cloth bags, hidden from light and dust. Most of them I can’t bear to part with still, because I know my life won’t always be about baby baby baby. My little girl and I will someday go shopping in the big city together. And she will inherit all of my pretty things.
I have a jewelry box on my dresser. Every week I swipe the dust from its lid. It contains earrings that dangle, tiny diamonds, pearls, white gold, sterling silver. I once loved wearing necklaces and bracelets.
Now the only jewelry I wear is my wedding band, and a braided leather loop around one wrist, which I use to tell me which side is next for the nursling. Freya would grab at earrings, rub her face on a necklace (or post earrings; she is very snuggly), be pressed against a bangle as I carry her around. So the jewelry is also in hibernation.
I was thinking about these things as I went for our walk yesterday, thinking about how motherhood fundamentally changed me.
When you are single and childless, the choices you make, everyday choices, are for you. When will I eat? When will I go to bed? Will I go shopping? You are very focused on yourself. It’s me me me me me me. Now that I have a baby, my wants come second. And her needs come first, always. That is part of attachment parenting. I have temporarily sacrificed a lot of my pretty things, but in the end it is all well worth it.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged freya | 4 Comments »
Wednesday morning, we set out for a trip to Michigan. Our first leg was Seattle to Detroit. Somewhere between there, our pretty pink and gray Chicco stroller was smashed, breaking part of the frame off completely. Baggage handler dipshits.
We couldn’t file a claim until our final dest., Saginaw. Showed the guy at the desk our sad stroller, filed claim. Delta said they would reimburse up to $289 (what I paid for our travel “system”), but we had to produce a receipt for a new stroller first.
So I went online and researched. Since I’ve been walking with Freya for months now, I knew all the features I require. Ended up at babyearth.com, where I happened to have a 10% off promo code, not to mention no tax and free shipping.
So I ordered the Bumbleride Flyer in green (Seagrass). It is so sweet. After the reimbursement, we’re out about $35.
It all kind of works out–my Chicco had a huge mocha spill on it anyway. Tee hee.
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