I am a total babywearing geek. Here’s a collage I put together, from the only pictures of Ingrid in a sling that I have… but she was way too freakin’ cute, playing with the baby in the mirror and snuggling her face into my chest between grins at the ‘other’ baby…. I really want to get a picture of her in our cool sling. Babywearing rocks!
Ingrid had her 2 month appointment today, at 9.5 weeks she weighs 11.5 pounds (50th%, so totally average) and is 24.5 inches tall (95th%, so very above average) and has a head circumference of 15.75 (75th%, so above average.) Basically, she’s long, lean, and smart as a whip. OBVIOUSLY. I actually wonder if the long/lean thingis why the prefolds have been absolutely befuddling to us, if that affects the fit or whatever. Oh well. She also had her first set of shots, and after debating between "stagger the shots, so use more needles over a longer time and if there’s a reaction, it’s easier tofigure out" and "go whole-hog like most babies, and if there’s a reaction, stagger from then on, why use more needles than necessary." We went with whole-hog, and she was a trouper. SHe shrieked at the first shot (and I welled up, because I had to hold her arms 🙁 ) but by the time the band aids were unwrapped, she was totally cool. That’s my big brave girl!
I also, again, found the sling-love. I never DON’T have it, really, but when I took her to the ped, I briefly thought about just carting her in without it, since we don’t have to park far away or anything. But, I figured I’d throw it on anyway, since (and I know how self-righteous this is) it’s good for people to see that there are other ways to conveniently carry your baby beyond a bucket seat. Really, though, it’s not seen that often ’round here, and I’m really NOT a super-hippie, really! Anyway.
The receptionist loved it (I wore my Terrababy pouch, with the funky print) and said "I see some plain ones, but never a cool one!) and handed me a clipboard, which, OH YEAH, THAT’S why it’s good to use the sling at the ped’s — it’s not about the walk in, but what you do inside. I take the clipboard, fill out everything and immediately interpret the "FOR OFFICE USE ONLY" column of the developmental milestones sheet, and determine that Ingrid was right on target, and then I just stood up and rocked my hips back and forth while Ingrid slept in the pouch, as we were there at what seems to be a typical naptime. After her shots, I scooped her up and tucked her in before gathering our stuff and going to the checkout area, and she just pressed against me and was totally content, and the receptionist (a different one) commented on how calm she was for just having her first shots. But really?I think the sling TOTALLY HELPED. I’m very "do what you need to do, follow your own instincts" etc, but as a total babywearing convert, I just can’t fathom the "Welcome to your first taste of pain. Now sit in this bucket on the floor while mama makes your next appointment." I really, really think that everyone should have a good pouch, at the very least, along with all the other things babies ‘require.’ It’s sad that they aren’t more readily available, or that they are so often super-hippie-ass looking, enough that ‘mainstream’ mamas are icked out by it. And hell, *I* wouldn’t wear anything too hippie-ass, because it’s not my style. I tend to be one to wear jeans or khakis, and a solid color knit top (oh giant boobs, how I long to fit into a button up in my lifetime) and my terrababy is like my glasses (which are black, rectangular, and have rhinestones in them) — an accessory that is fun to wear, when you aren’t typically a fun-dressing person. I like my KKAFP (avocado green) and my slingset pouch (a lavender color) as well, but my terrababy is fun to wear. It doesn’t make one automatically assume that I don’t shave my armpits and only drink milk from goats I own, you know? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) ANYWAY. Along with the Raising Readers pack (which, aside, I love the Raising Readers program, and I didn’t realize we got free books after we left the hospital, too! But we do, at every wellbaby visit til she’s FIVE) there should be a sling program as well. It’ll never happen, but it would be great if it were mentioned in infant care classes, or at the peds (Why is there no PSA about carseats and flat heads, you know?) or… something. But when your ‘sling’ options are a snugli, a baby bjorn, or that giant pillowcase called a NOJO, how else would you know unless you were an internet junkie (ahem) or saw them around… so I like being seen around. I’ve been asked about them, I always rave about it, and now with my local project, I can send people to my website to find out more, but providing links to TBW and suchlike.
I do love my stroller, too, don’t get me wrong! Yesterday we went on a loooong walk (I seriously had no idea that I’d been gone for more than 2 hours, and was totally shocked at the time when I got home) around city forest with a friend and her baby, and the Mac totally took the gravel road by storm. Ingrid digs the stroller, too — kicks back and takes in the world around her, or falls asleep, and wearing her on a walk like that would be DAMN HOT. (I was a sweaty pig when we got home, but a GOOD sweat — if I’d been wearing her, we both probably would’ve melted.)
I joked with my friend that I’m the 80 percent mom, because I do everything in an 80/20 fashion. 80 percent cloth, 20 disposable. 80 percent sling/20 stroller. 80 percent nursing, straight from the tap, 20 bottle of expressed. 80 stay at home mom, 20 working/studying. 80 crib/20 cosleeping. Obviously 100 love, but that’s just a given. And that’s the groove that works for me. I don’t think I could do anything 100% without being really stressed out at STAYING at 100%, you know? So, I’m the 80% mom. It works.
We use cloth 80% of the time, but use disposables overnight. Currently, we use White Cloud, which are the house brand at Walmart, but I like them because they are cheap, hypoallergenic (no perfumes, dyes, etc), and tastefully adorned with Baby Lennon (or whatever it is) images. I hate hate hate going to WalMart though, and I’m going to need to take a pack to the lake with me this weekend, and wondered if anyone had experience with other store-brands, and snobbily, what the decorations are. I just read a review that said that Target brand are just like White Cloud, but they have CARE BEARS on them. And that just seems lame. Maybe I can dealwith the Baby Lennon stuff because it doesn’t smack of commercialism (even though it totally is) like Care bears or Disney prints do? Inoticed that Hannaford’s have Clifford (which, as a character based in books and fairly gen neutral doesn’t bother me as much as Disney Vagina Princesses do) and RiteAid seems to be just snails or something… so if you have a store brand diaper that you recommend, it’d be cool to know what ad they’d be displaying across the waistband.
Diapers on the line, ahhhh. We’re still cloth diapering, but haven’t really gotten swell with the prefolds, dammit. I just cleaned out a vendor of their Kissaluvs in the next size up, so when Ingrid outgrows the Zeros (shown here) we’ll be good to go for the next size. A lot of people don’t like the 1s as much as the 0s,citing absorbency issues, but with prefolds used as doublers, I think we’ll be good to go. BUT, that being said, we don’t need all 3 dozen, and I’ve put together a package of stuff to sell to anyone who wants to try cloth diapering for cheap. Package includes:
The
covers were part of an ebay lot, I used the Bummi’s once, and didn’t
like it as much as my Imse Vimses. They are in great condition. I’d
like to sell the whole set for $30*, shipped priority mail to the US.
*Super Secret Blog Reader discount. I have them listed for 35 on the forums.
The other thing I have for sale is a Slingset pouch, in periwinkle(scrolldown for pic), size 6. I purchased it to be an outer pouch for 2 pouch carries, but it’s just not as easy as I found wrapping to be, so I have a new (to me, I never pay retail!) gypsy mama wrap on the way to have for light 2-shouldered carries. I do like the pouch, which is why I’m keeping the size 5, and this was purchased brand new from the retailer. It’s a discontinued color (sadly, as I think it’s the nicest one), so I paid 25 + 4-something for s&h. A new one in a current color is $38, and the Super Secret Blog Reader discount price for this is $20, shipped priority mail to the US.
Also up for grabs, a Nicole Miller Snugli, purchased for $25 at BRU, and never used, because I dig my pouches way more. Super Secret Blog Reader Discount, $15, shipped priority mail in the US.
Everything comes from a smoke free home, but we do have a cat. (DUH.) However, the cat has never been near the diapers, snugli, or slingset pouch, as Ingrid’s room freaks her right the fuck out.
In other news, Dave and I had an awesome evening the other night designing a logo for my new project BangorBaby.com. I’m still working on fleshing it out, and am more motivated to since Andy just told some of his friends about it, and they happen to work at the BDN, and thought it would be a great thing to mention. Um, GIVE ME A MINUTE! ACK! Now I’m installing forums, maybe have a baby-stuff gretchen’s-list FSOT kind of thing there, or whatever, because that’s something that would probably be cool to have around here… and on THAT note, if anyone has any tips on how to customize a wordpress theme with the logo, etc, to give it more fluidity, that would be cool. I’m still mucking around, trying to do it myself, but if anyone has a tip — let me know. (And if you wouldn’t mind clicking the link, someone, I’d like to see if my statcounter is working…. )
And forreading all that, it’s a picture of mama and ingrid!
You know, this morning when I read a troll’s declaration that my kid might be the Ugliest Kid, I was pretty stunned. A little hurt. A lot pissed. (And totally disbelieving,because if my kid was ugly Andy would have already said so. Seriously.) And then Jeanne called, and I was all "oh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" and wondering why the hell she was calling ME on HER birthday, but whatev, and she told her dad had had a heart attack, and could I please update her blog, here’s the password. Oh, wow.
ANd then maybe an hour later, or less, she called again to say he’d died, and I burst into tears. Just sobbed for her.
Because, see, 2 months ago? I’d have been sad, for sure. I may have welled up, because I was pregnant. But now? SOBS. My heartlessness of the last 31 years has been compromised, because now that I am a mom, I feel a mom-ness to the world. What ran through my head when trying to comprehend the suddenness of Jeanne’s dad’s passing was "I can’t imagine losing MY dad. I can’t imagine losing Dave. I can’t imagine Ingrid losing HER dad. I can’t imagine never getting to see my dad as a grandfather." All of that. And since Jeanne and I have been discussing pros and cons of having kids, timing of having kids, etc, pretty heavily over the last few weeks, I know that she had to have thought of it too, and my heart just broke for her.
It’s cyclical, everything — Jeanne was the one who kept the internet apprised of Ingrid’s impending arrival, and I’m the one that kept the internet apprised of her father’s departure. Here we are, two people who’ve never met in the traditional sense, but still part of that circle that you reach out to in times of life’s biggest events.
How quickly everything can change for a person. So someone out there wants to pick on 2 month old babies and their mamas, so what…. I am so lucky to have this baby, this husband, this set of parents and friends and family all still here, today. That puts everything into perspective. Tell your family you love them, right now, because you just really never know.
I ended up with some Neutrogena products, some Rimmel stuff, and some Almay, and here is about what my "after" looked like. (Not taken the day of the wedding, but you get the idea.
Dear Ingrid,
Today you are two months old. As I start this, you are napping in your crib upstairs, which is where you do most of your sleeping these days. You slept curled up to me for your first six weeks or so, and one night, when I laid you in your crib to get myself ready for bed, you didn’t stir, so I waited to see what would happen. You slept like a rock while your daddy and I strained to hear your breath on the monitor. Since that first night, we’ve realized that the monitor is really overkill when your just 5 steps away, and we can hear ourSELVES on the damn thing. Even with fans running in each room, I can hear what’s going on in your room. The other night after a midnight nursing, I laid you back down and went back to bed, and could hear you cooing at something, and you let out a great squeal of delight, cooed some more and went back to sleep.
This month, you went from random smiles (not followed by gas) to more deliberate smiles, to smiling with purpose. When Daddy comes home for lunch, and again at the end of the day, no matter what, you give him a giant open-mouth toothless grin. You might get cranky soon after, but your daddy never fails to make you beam.
In your second month, you had your first long car trip, to visit with Grammy and Grampy at the lake. You did so well, content in your new carseat, you only got fussy once, and that was conveniently at a rest area where I couold feed you. You adapted well to the new surroundings and hordes of people that wanted to see you; at the 4th of July parade, you were the star of the show, with people who’d known me as a baby thrilled to see another generation walking across the oiled wood floors of the town store.
In honor of your two month birthday, we’ve added another layer to our day, by starting morning walks in addition to afternoon walks. You are so content when out and about, whether it’s in your sling or stroller, you love to take in what’s going on around you (and in both forms of transport, you often fall asleep.) Today we walked on the route I used to walk before you were born, before you were even conceived, the route that reminded me why we chose this house in this neighborhood. I can’t wait until you are big enough to dangle in the swings, or take that first trip down the twirly slide, or waddle into the pool for the first time. For now, we glide by all those things.
Your day is pretty mellow, we get up and you enjoy your mobile from your crib while I shower. There’s some nursing, some napping, maybe some laundry or dishes before Daddy comes home at lunch. After lunch, we usually hit the town to do one thing or another — pick up some necessity at Target, or go to the library, or visit with friends. When Daddy comes home, you are thrilled (and so am I) and sometimes you have a fussy hour (and so do I) and your daddy is great at handling both of us in those times. You sleep in your crib, stretched out in all directions, and when you’re hungry, I nurse you in the glider overlooking the backyard. You fall asleep there, on my chest, and putting you down is easier for you than for me.
And sometimes, like last night, I just get out of bed and lean over your crib, watching you breathe, your long eyelashes resting on your cheeks — so fleshed out now, and clear of any heatrash or acne you once had — and am amazed at how rapidly you are growing. I sometimes think I can see the future you in flashes at times, and I am already catching remembrances of the past you in fleeting moments — when your eyes wobble crossed for just a moment, or when you wake up and look around figuring out where you are.
As I finish this, you are asleep in your bouncy seat, with the toes of one foot spread wide. I can hardly believe it’s been two months already, and that those toes continue to grip my heart with a ferocity I never knew before.
Love, Mama
THere’s a cereal ad that features a girl in a spelling bee, and her word is AARDVARK, and she starts by saying "A-R-D" and the cereal mascot appears on the mic stand and says something encouraging like "No, THINK!" and she stops and says "A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K" and every time that ad comes on my brain seizes, because that violates every regulated spelling bee rulebook EVER. You can retrace! But not correct! Even if the cereal encourages you!
Also, I am amazed at the number of seemingly really intelligent people that confuse lose and loose. You LOSE your virginity three times if you are a LOOSE girl. Or something. Sigh.
Every now and then, I just get insanely covetous, if that’s a word, and make up lists of things I’d buy if money were no object.
There’s always the big ones for the house: windows, siding, roof –which is something that’s in our five year plan anyway, but it would be double-hung, tilt-in, windows for the whole house, with a bay window replacing our window pair on the front, and a garden window in the kitchen. Siding, concrete board, a grayish brown with white trim and a brigh red door. Roof, metal, in a neutral color. Well, copper ifmoney were REALLY no object. A new fridge. A gas stove replacing our woodstove, and a gas oven/range. A complete overhaul of our pink cowboy brothel bathroom. Maybe some patio furniture.
Then there’s the geeky stuff: like a wireless photo printer, maybe something from the Canon PIXMA line, or maybe even a wireless all-in-one, just to conserve space in our house. A D70 & Speedlight flash, as I’ve been mentioning over and over since borrowing one of my dad’s. An iSight camera, or maybe a new iMac or MacBook Pro with the built in camera, and then someone ELSE with the same thing, preferably say, my sister, so that we could have Aunt Kate read Ingrid a story over the internet, and Ingrid would ‘know’ her aunt, despite being 2000 miles away.
A new car — I love my outback, and would stick with that, but in a newer model that doesn’t have the weird tweaks my 98 does. Still with leather (god, leather is the BEST when you have allergies. Sorry, cows.) and heated seats and mirrors and all of that. But also, I want it to have the little thermometer that tells you what the outside temp is. That is so cool.
A bECOpack — yes, ANOTHER baby carrier. This is something I sort of have pegged as "when I get my first check, I splurge," unless one comes up on FSOT.
Some sort of cabinetry in the living room that would hold allof our stuff — tv/dvd/stereo/etc, boardgames, DVDs, etc — with less clutter looking at us, and keeping Ingrid safe when she starts exploring. Like this, maybe, only having two side by side or something. Not a giant thing encompassing the whole wall, vertically, but going horizontally.
And, then, you know, to have all of my papers magically write themselves (progress, though, i have 1.5 of my reflections done, which leaves .5 a reflection, and two papers, and my portfolio), and to land a job that starts in january or after, that pays a ton of money, and/or has great flextime built in, that is satisfying to my brain, body, and family life.
I think that’s it. That’s not so bad, right? Sigh.
Two pics that AREN’T of my daughter!
Yummy breakfast!
Yummy kitchenaid!
D70…. yummy. Sigh.
Um, but I will be adding some pics to the Ingrid album in a few minutes. So there’s that.