An addendum on the "WTF, no voting?!" thing — people get passes, because I totally understand that sometimes the best laid plans fall through, etc. What this guy does though, is PLAN to NOT VOTE. DUDE, my SISTER VOTES. If my SISTER can figure it the fuck out (and in COLORADO, ferfuckssake, not MAINE, where the state and city bend over backwards to make it easy to vote…) than you can, too.

Yesterday we went to a book signing at my job, where the former president and grandson of the company’s namesake as signing copies of his new book.  I wrapped Ingrid up and took her, and she loved it (so many people! HI!) and when we got to the table for the signing, I had him sign it to my dad (excellent holiday gift!) and his wife started asking about Ingrid, and it turns out their grandson was born on the very same day, so we discussed what milestones the respective babies had hit, blah blah babybabybaby. I didn’t even TALK to the author, and felt a bit like a heel, but then! THEN! I go home and look through the book, and in the photo section in the center, is a picure of the dude FLYFISHING in the STREAM next to which I GREW UP. So if I hadn’t been baby-brain-fogged, I probably would have noticed that BEFORE the signing and said "hey, this is for my dad who lives in this place you obviously have been to." But, no. BABYBABYBABY.

ANother cool thing, while I was there, a woman from LaLeche League walked by and saw me and said "HI! Guess where I’m going!" and gestured at her Deluxe Black Tote which was obviously a breastpump…. and then, the coolest thing, she said "When you said you were working here and that you could pump, I applied!" SO, my "I’m going to set an example, dammit" mentality for pumping at work, regardless of the sort of awkwardness, PLUS my "LLL needs to have some folks in there that are a little less dogmatic, dude" combined in a really glorious way, I think. A nursing mom is now working p/t, because she CAN pump, and because I stuck out LLL despite my initial recoil of it seeming like you had to be 100% AP LLL SAHM OMGWTF? all the time, there’s now another mama who is doing a little of both. And that’s kind of cool.

TOnight, we have our parent childcare meeting – they will draw for the 8 (EIGHT!) infant slots this month, and create a waiting list after the initial spots are filled. I’m really okay with NOT getting a spot, but I hope we have a good spot on the waitlist, because we *WILL* need childcare for much longer than we *WON’T.* If that makes sense. And, the older she gets, the more slots there are — 8 slots to 11 mos, 12 for 11-24, and so on… and she has GOT to be near the top, since we signed up within hours of the sign being hung. But, you never know…

And, yay, blue! Today is the first day in YEARS that I feel a tiny glimmer of hope, politically. Go, voting!

Last night suuuuucked, with Ingrid hurling 2 bellyfuls of milk on me, the first in the glider rendered her sleepsack unusable, so I tucked her into bed, where a few hours later she did the same thing, only this time with more choking and sputtering! And seriously, WHY does the puke always flow toward mama? Really, though, those just-fed pukes don’t bug me near as much as the "I ate 2 hours ago" puke, which happened this morning, and made me run a damn WASH to try to get the smell away from me. I hate milk, I hate curdled milk, I hate milk so much that I make DAVE taste-test Ingrid’s bottles for lipase. I won’t even taste my OWN milk. ANd that curdled milk that comes up after 2 hours in the ol’ gastric passages, oh, god, I hate it.  Just-ate milk is like a knocked over glass (though the gagging blows) but I’ll take it over curdled ANY DAY.

Yeah, we did it. Both a) tried YouTube and b) fed her rice cereal.  And that whole ‘rice cereal makes babies sleep’ is scientifically not proven, and also, anecdotally unproven as well. She had cereal before bed, and has been up 3 times. Sigh.

We’re gearing up for solids here, and may even start a little sooner than 6 months, after doing (of course) a shitload of internet research. Since Ingrid is exhibiting every cue listed anywhere for solids readiness, well, um, maybe we should crack into the rice cereal.  She sits independently (Sidenote: is ‘independent sitting’ when she can sit on the ground and not topple over, slump, etc, or does it mean ‘gets into sitting position from lying down?’ Damn multiple meanings of the verb ‘sit!’ Either way, she does the former.) she has doubled her birthweight, she lunges for food (as evidenced by her interest in Uncle Andy’s curly fries at Nicky’s just now) she senses when she’s full when she’s nursing, blah blah blah.  We both want to be here when she has her first solids, which is silly, but one of those milestones, and that won’t be til Sunday, maybe. And while 6 months is the recommended guideline, everyone (even Sears) says to watch the kid, not the calendar, and even if I get squirrelly about the calendar, she was due May 12, so starting Nov 5 is really like 5.75 months, right?  Anyway.

One of my sadnesses about it is that, damn! I have made this baby so big! She started as 2 cells, and is now this 16+ pounder with ticklish thighs and belly rolls when she sits! And it has been ALL ME. Adding in even rice cereal, just for the texture/experience and not even nutritive value is the first step away from me, and it feels a little like clipping my prize-worthy giant eggplant frm the vine. If eggplants grow on vines, which I think they do. It feels goofy to be sad about starting RICE FUCKING CEREAL, but, thre you go. I’m sure the first day of Kindergarten will involve a valium and a beer, at this rate.