When Josh was little, instead of saying he wanted to be a fireman or a policeman or a doctor when he grew up, he said he wanted to be a dad. He's the only man I've met whose biological clock was ticking. He was every bit as excited as I was to get pregnat, enter the kooky world of parenthood, all of it. The biggest selling point for me in marrying Josh was that I knew that if anything should ever happen to me, my children would be safe with him and would always be 110% loved.
I can not imagine learning how to be a mom without Josh by my side. From the second Delma was born, he was right in the game without any hesitation. He wasn't overly cautious or nervous, he took to being a dad like a fish to water. He took care of me in the beginning so I could just focus on making sure Delma was fed -- nursing was tough at first and I never ever could have stuck it out with Josh's help. He has never met a poopy diaper he couldn't handle. He wanted Delma to start taking the bottle so that he could get up and feed her at night.
Delma is so lucky to be Josh's daughter. I am so lucky to be Josh's wife. We love you, babe.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Monday, June 4, 2007
9 Months
Delma,
You are now 9 months old. You are such a vibrant, engaging child with a very distinct personality, but you are also such a part of me that when I press my nose to your head or bury my face in your neck, I can't smell anything, as if I were trying to smell my own arm.
Right now you are in your crib making the sweetest la-la-la noises and babbles. This is a delightful change, you usually practice the range of your voice, screech like a dolphin, do this funny silence then BLAH! then silence then BLAH! thing, etc. We long for the days of your sweet little coos, as you mostly just sound like a tyrant these days. You're happy and you're just fine entertaining yourself in your crib, but your voice just makes you sound like a brute. You still wake up VERY early, around 5am most days, so we have taken to letting you just hang out til at least 6am before we fetch you, and as we go about our early-morning routines we have lots of laughs listening to you talk and sing and just make non-stop noise.
You started crawling for real a couple of days ago. It is so cute to watch you. To be honest, I was starting to think you'd never do it. You just weren't interested at all. When you wanted something, you were content to sit on your but, peg your arms and legs straight out in front of you, tense every muscle in your body, turn red and bellow. It didn't seem like any amount of Frustration As Motivator would work on you. But then you just did it. Just like that, with encouragement from Daddy. You are officially mobile, little bunny.
Your affect on total strangers is amazing. People love babies, I know, but you seem to go beyond the norm and suck just about everyone into your gravitational pull. You stare at people and make eye contact with everyone and I think that your coloring and the amout of hair you have just look quite dramatic and catch people's attention. People go to mush around you, everywhere we go. You have a way of lighting up a room, of making people happy. You are magic.
Love,
Mommy
You are now 9 months old. You are such a vibrant, engaging child with a very distinct personality, but you are also such a part of me that when I press my nose to your head or bury my face in your neck, I can't smell anything, as if I were trying to smell my own arm.
Right now you are in your crib making the sweetest la-la-la noises and babbles. This is a delightful change, you usually practice the range of your voice, screech like a dolphin, do this funny silence then BLAH! then silence then BLAH! thing, etc. We long for the days of your sweet little coos, as you mostly just sound like a tyrant these days. You're happy and you're just fine entertaining yourself in your crib, but your voice just makes you sound like a brute. You still wake up VERY early, around 5am most days, so we have taken to letting you just hang out til at least 6am before we fetch you, and as we go about our early-morning routines we have lots of laughs listening to you talk and sing and just make non-stop noise.
You started crawling for real a couple of days ago. It is so cute to watch you. To be honest, I was starting to think you'd never do it. You just weren't interested at all. When you wanted something, you were content to sit on your but, peg your arms and legs straight out in front of you, tense every muscle in your body, turn red and bellow. It didn't seem like any amount of Frustration As Motivator would work on you. But then you just did it. Just like that, with encouragement from Daddy. You are officially mobile, little bunny.
Your affect on total strangers is amazing. People love babies, I know, but you seem to go beyond the norm and suck just about everyone into your gravitational pull. You stare at people and make eye contact with everyone and I think that your coloring and the amout of hair you have just look quite dramatic and catch people's attention. People go to mush around you, everywhere we go. You have a way of lighting up a room, of making people happy. You are magic.
Love,
Mommy
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
saga continues...
OMG, seriously, could I talk about something other than diapers? No. Our daycare called today, D had 2 big poops that went through her diapers. SO they won't let us use the gDiapers anymore, as they got poop on their hands and it's unsanitary, so they'll only use disposables on her again. ?? How is that any different than when a baby in a disposable diaper has a blow-out and poops through their clothes??? Argh.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
more on diapers...
Since we started our adventures with gDiapers, it has taken up LOTS of space in my head, and lots of time in my day. Still trying to figure out exactly how to work it all, like now what to do with wipes etc.
I think what we're going to do with diapers is:
Flush poopy diapers, trash pee diapers
This will help us not beat the crap out of our septic. They're biodegradable, so even if the tinkle ones end up in a landfill they're better than regular disposables. And if we muster up the oompf to do some composting, we can put them in there.
And for wipes (maybe):
Use disposable wipes for poo, and just use a wet cloth for pee that will go into the wash afterward.
Good god, the laundry. Until now we've managed to do baby laundry twice a week. Not anymore. We aren't actually doing a ton more laundry, it's just that we have to do smaller loads more often to make sure we always have more than the bare minimum of clean diapers on hand.
I've been reading a bit about cloth diapers too, and I sort of wish we'd tried that with Del. I guess we still could try it at home, but I doubt they'd go for it at daycare. Apparently lots of daycares just flat-out do not do cloth diapers. We're lucky I guess that ur folks didn't even blink at the request that they support our move to gdiapers.
I think what we're going to do with diapers is:
Flush poopy diapers, trash pee diapers
This will help us not beat the crap out of our septic. They're biodegradable, so even if the tinkle ones end up in a landfill they're better than regular disposables. And if we muster up the oompf to do some composting, we can put them in there.
And for wipes (maybe):
Use disposable wipes for poo, and just use a wet cloth for pee that will go into the wash afterward.
Good god, the laundry. Until now we've managed to do baby laundry twice a week. Not anymore. We aren't actually doing a ton more laundry, it's just that we have to do smaller loads more often to make sure we always have more than the bare minimum of clean diapers on hand.
I've been reading a bit about cloth diapers too, and I sort of wish we'd tried that with Del. I guess we still could try it at home, but I doubt they'd go for it at daycare. Apparently lots of daycares just flat-out do not do cloth diapers. We're lucky I guess that ur folks didn't even blink at the request that they support our move to gdiapers.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Def Leppard
Josh's band is going to the UK and Europe this summer. They're playing a festival in Germany, and some other shows. They have a way longer set at the festival than they usually play, so they're trying to think of a few covers to play to fill out the set. I've come up with some super-awesome ideas, like Mickey by Toni Basil which would be really great and they really should heed my wisdom and play it! So I was trying to come up with some other ideas too.
me: "What about a great Def Leppard song?"
Josh: "Ummmmm..."
me: "Everybody loves Def Leppard!"
Josh: "Ummmmm..."
me: "Everybody doesn't love Def Leppard?"
Josh: "No."
me: "Then why do I love Def Leppard so much?"
Josh: "I've been trying to figure that out for the past 4 years."
me: "What about a great Def Leppard song?"
Josh: "Ummmmm..."
me: "Everybody loves Def Leppard!"
Josh: "Ummmmm..."
me: "Everybody doesn't love Def Leppard?"
Josh: "No."
me: "Then why do I love Def Leppard so much?"
Josh: "I've been trying to figure that out for the past 4 years."
mommy moments
I had my first real taste of Mommy Power this past weekend. We were visiting with family, and my MIL was holding Delma. D was getting fussy and fidgety so my MIL passed her to me. The second she got into my arms she instantly quieted. Whoosh. Calm. She just stood on my lap facing me and gnawed on my necklace and was happy as a clam. How amazing that I can have that effect on another person, that I can be all she needs to just feel safe and centered. What a blessing.
D has a good bedtime routine, we feed her dinner at 6, give her bathy at 6:30, and at 7 she gets a bottle and goes to bed. She likes her routine, and goes right to bed with no fuss and puts herself to sleep. When she gets her bottle, we shut her bedroom door so no kitties wander in and distract her, we turn the light down low so she knows it's nighttime, and we turn her white noise machine on. We really try not to mess with the routine, because we're pretty much obsessed with her sleep schedule and we don't want to do anything that will screw it up.
Josh usually puts D to bed, but he's out of town this week. Last night as I was giving her a bottle and singing to her, she got all squooshy and cuddly. She just wanted to watch my face while I sang to her. I realized we've been robbing ourselves of a really special time with her, right before bed when she's all sweet and sleepy. When she was tiny, at night we made sure to keep feedings to "just business," no playing or anything that would stimulate her, to get the idea of night vs. day really cemented in her mind. We've kept that up, but I think now her bedtime routine is well established enough that we don't need to be so hyper-vigilant. I think now we can give up a bit of that control and follow her lead. If she's really exhausted, put her right to bed. If she wants to squirm around and have some cuddles and kisses, then by God that kid should absolutely get cuddles and kisses.
D has a good bedtime routine, we feed her dinner at 6, give her bathy at 6:30, and at 7 she gets a bottle and goes to bed. She likes her routine, and goes right to bed with no fuss and puts herself to sleep. When she gets her bottle, we shut her bedroom door so no kitties wander in and distract her, we turn the light down low so she knows it's nighttime, and we turn her white noise machine on. We really try not to mess with the routine, because we're pretty much obsessed with her sleep schedule and we don't want to do anything that will screw it up.
Josh usually puts D to bed, but he's out of town this week. Last night as I was giving her a bottle and singing to her, she got all squooshy and cuddly. She just wanted to watch my face while I sang to her. I realized we've been robbing ourselves of a really special time with her, right before bed when she's all sweet and sleepy. When she was tiny, at night we made sure to keep feedings to "just business," no playing or anything that would stimulate her, to get the idea of night vs. day really cemented in her mind. We've kept that up, but I think now her bedtime routine is well established enough that we don't need to be so hyper-vigilant. I think now we can give up a bit of that control and follow her lead. If she's really exhausted, put her right to bed. If she wants to squirm around and have some cuddles and kisses, then by God that kid should absolutely get cuddles and kisses.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
making friends with the earth again
Before D was born, I ordered the gdiapers starter kit and refills. I was so excited. Then she was born and we got home and I had no room in my head for anything other than putting one foot in front of the other every day and just surviving. We never opened the gdiapers. I did make sure to buy all natural household cleaners, but other than that my head was not in a very earth-friendly space. I totally succumbed to convenience.
After almost 9 months of mommyhood, I finally feel like we're in a groove, at long last. We have a schedule for Delma, our days and nights are pretty predictable, and with that new level of comfort is coming the freeing up of some mental space and energy. I went back to the gdiapers site and re-read all the alarming statistics regarding disposable diapers. D is too big for the newborn-sized stuff I bought last year, so I stocked up on all the goods for her current size. They arrived last week, and so far so good. We even have the people at daycare using them during the day too, which I am so pleased about. They aren't flushing, they're throwing the diaper inserts out. But that's fine with me, at least it's all biodegradable! It definitely requires a bit more planning and work than just using disposables, but both Josh and I are happy to put in the extra work since it means being kinder to the planet. I wish we'd done this from Day 1 -- I think the key is to be completely committed to it, and prepared and ready to go before the baby is born, so that when you get home you can just start using them and don't have to feel like you're figuring out some new project. We just weren't prepared and we obviously were not 100% committed. We took a sort of wait and see approach, and if you do that you will never just decide to start doing something that requires more effort. You need to acknowledge the extra effort and accept it and commit to it.
I also ordered BioBags from drugstore.com... Our local natural foods market carries Seventh Generation, which is better than regular trash bags since it's mostly post-consumer plastic, but I really want to try the biodegradable ones. Far more expensive than getting a big ol' box from Target or Walmart, but since we won't be using a diaper pail anymore we'll hopefully be using less garbage bags. We'll see how they work.
AND I ordered these super-cute shopping bags. I even got a discount using a code from Cool Mom Picks. I have forgotten them in the car every single time I've gone shopping since I got them, so they're not working out too great yet, but I'm sure they will once I get myself into the habit!
All of this more earth-conscious living is making Josh think about going back to veganism. We're vegetarian and are raising D vegetarian. When it comes to dairy products, especially for D, I'm trying to be more conscientious about organics etc. I appreciate and respect veganism, but I just don't think it's a committment I'm willing to make right now, and it seems to me like that's something we would need to do together as a family. If one person is vegan, we'd have to cook vegan for the whole family. Our restaurant options would be severely restricted. I know these are all manageable issues, people make it work all the time, I just don't think that's where my head is right now. Right now I need to get used to flushing Delma's poo and to using garbage bags made from corn. Baby steps!
After almost 9 months of mommyhood, I finally feel like we're in a groove, at long last. We have a schedule for Delma, our days and nights are pretty predictable, and with that new level of comfort is coming the freeing up of some mental space and energy. I went back to the gdiapers site and re-read all the alarming statistics regarding disposable diapers. D is too big for the newborn-sized stuff I bought last year, so I stocked up on all the goods for her current size. They arrived last week, and so far so good. We even have the people at daycare using them during the day too, which I am so pleased about. They aren't flushing, they're throwing the diaper inserts out. But that's fine with me, at least it's all biodegradable! It definitely requires a bit more planning and work than just using disposables, but both Josh and I are happy to put in the extra work since it means being kinder to the planet. I wish we'd done this from Day 1 -- I think the key is to be completely committed to it, and prepared and ready to go before the baby is born, so that when you get home you can just start using them and don't have to feel like you're figuring out some new project. We just weren't prepared and we obviously were not 100% committed. We took a sort of wait and see approach, and if you do that you will never just decide to start doing something that requires more effort. You need to acknowledge the extra effort and accept it and commit to it.
I also ordered BioBags from drugstore.com... Our local natural foods market carries Seventh Generation, which is better than regular trash bags since it's mostly post-consumer plastic, but I really want to try the biodegradable ones. Far more expensive than getting a big ol' box from Target or Walmart, but since we won't be using a diaper pail anymore we'll hopefully be using less garbage bags. We'll see how they work.
AND I ordered these super-cute shopping bags. I even got a discount using a code from Cool Mom Picks. I have forgotten them in the car every single time I've gone shopping since I got them, so they're not working out too great yet, but I'm sure they will once I get myself into the habit!
All of this more earth-conscious living is making Josh think about going back to veganism. We're vegetarian and are raising D vegetarian. When it comes to dairy products, especially for D, I'm trying to be more conscientious about organics etc. I appreciate and respect veganism, but I just don't think it's a committment I'm willing to make right now, and it seems to me like that's something we would need to do together as a family. If one person is vegan, we'd have to cook vegan for the whole family. Our restaurant options would be severely restricted. I know these are all manageable issues, people make it work all the time, I just don't think that's where my head is right now. Right now I need to get used to flushing Delma's poo and to using garbage bags made from corn. Baby steps!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to me. Technically I was a mother last year since I had a bebe in my belly, but this year it's really really real. I told Josh a while ago that for Mother's Day, I wanted to go away by myself for a night in a hotel, to get a good night's sleep. He's a bit of an over-doer, and though a night at a Best Western watching cable and reading a book in the bathtub would have been just fine with me, he instead sent me to a spa. Huzzah! It was great, I got a facial and a manicure and a seaweed mud wrap thing. I took a line dancing class and a toning/stretching class. I got an astrological birth chart done for Delma, and a tarot card reading done for me. I had room service dinner while I lazed about watching Beauty and the Geek. I finished a book I've been reading. It was over the top, and Josh is not allowed to by me any gifts again for a long time, but it was wonderful.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
8 Months
Delma is 8 months old. Actually, since I am so late in posting as usual, she is about 8 and a half months. Crazy. She had been really healthy, then caught some little tummy bug last weekend and was running a fever for a day or 2. It was very weird, even when she's been sick before she rarely really seems sick. But this time, all day on Monday she was totally mopey, lethargic, a bump on a log. So not like her usual peppy kooky self. It sort of freaked me out, she would let me cuddle and hug her, whereas normally she's too interested inpulling and pushing me and grabbing and squirming to ever let me just have some nice quiet cuddle time with her. I had just been complaining days before that she never lets me mush and cuddle, and then she got sick and did let me, but I would have traded her back for her annoyingly squirmy healthy self in a second.
She's all better now, though, and is donning fun little summer clothes now that we're having some warm days. LOVE the summer baby, with the exposed flesh and the sweaty little head.
Del still isn't crawling, but she sometimes seems like she almost might be making some progress. She does on occasion get on her knees and rock, but it seems more accidental than anything. She's happy to push herself around backwards on her belly, though, and she scooted herself right into the kitchen the other day and found the cat food. Oops. Time to baby-proof. She mostly likes holding someones hands and pulling herself up, but now she likes plopping back down on her tush too. She used to cry any time she plopped down, but now she does it on purpose. She'll do it over and over and over and over. We call it "Up and Oop!" Good times.
A few weeks ago we went to a birthday party for our niece Aria, who turned 5. My sister-in-law is one of 4 kids, and they each have kids around the same age and all live near each other and the little cousins all spend tons of time together. With the exception of the youngest, my nephew Elijah, they're all girls, and they're all tight. They were so excited to see Baby Delma, they practically descended on her like lions on prey, though in a very loving way instead of an I'm-gonna-chew-you sort of way. Alexandria put a little tiara on her. Del was overwhelmed but fascinated. We just kept our distance and let her get sucked into their world, my SIL's mother was holding her most of the time. It was very cute to sit back and see it all play out, see our baby trying to make sense of this completely foreign world. Josh and I have problems with my SIL, and her family is rather overbearing and they're definitely a tight pack, but I want Delma to know her cousins and have the experience of extended family. It's hard, it means that we have to make a real effort to see them and spend time with them, but it will be worth it for Delma's sake.
Up until recently, Del had this strange thing where she'd get very upset when we'd play with blocks and a tower of them would crash down. I would make little towers and she'd watch me, and then I'd knock them down or she'd try to grab the top one and accidentally knock them all down, and it would really freak her out. I don't know why. But now all of a sudden, she's fine with it and has also started doing this cute thing sometimes where every block that I put down she'll grab and put in a little hoarded stash in front of her. Very cute. I put it down, she grabs it. If I want to make a tower I have to do it very fast because she'll grab as fast as I can stack. Of course she won't do it if there are witnesses... I wanted to show Josh how cute it is, and she doesn't do it if he's there. She's like that singing frog from the cartoon.
She's all better now, though, and is donning fun little summer clothes now that we're having some warm days. LOVE the summer baby, with the exposed flesh and the sweaty little head.
Del still isn't crawling, but she sometimes seems like she almost might be making some progress. She does on occasion get on her knees and rock, but it seems more accidental than anything. She's happy to push herself around backwards on her belly, though, and she scooted herself right into the kitchen the other day and found the cat food. Oops. Time to baby-proof. She mostly likes holding someones hands and pulling herself up, but now she likes plopping back down on her tush too. She used to cry any time she plopped down, but now she does it on purpose. She'll do it over and over and over and over. We call it "Up and Oop!" Good times.
A few weeks ago we went to a birthday party for our niece Aria, who turned 5. My sister-in-law is one of 4 kids, and they each have kids around the same age and all live near each other and the little cousins all spend tons of time together. With the exception of the youngest, my nephew Elijah, they're all girls, and they're all tight. They were so excited to see Baby Delma, they practically descended on her like lions on prey, though in a very loving way instead of an I'm-gonna-chew-you sort of way. Alexandria put a little tiara on her. Del was overwhelmed but fascinated. We just kept our distance and let her get sucked into their world, my SIL's mother was holding her most of the time. It was very cute to sit back and see it all play out, see our baby trying to make sense of this completely foreign world. Josh and I have problems with my SIL, and her family is rather overbearing and they're definitely a tight pack, but I want Delma to know her cousins and have the experience of extended family. It's hard, it means that we have to make a real effort to see them and spend time with them, but it will be worth it for Delma's sake.
Up until recently, Del had this strange thing where she'd get very upset when we'd play with blocks and a tower of them would crash down. I would make little towers and she'd watch me, and then I'd knock them down or she'd try to grab the top one and accidentally knock them all down, and it would really freak her out. I don't know why. But now all of a sudden, she's fine with it and has also started doing this cute thing sometimes where every block that I put down she'll grab and put in a little hoarded stash in front of her. Very cute. I put it down, she grabs it. If I want to make a tower I have to do it very fast because she'll grab as fast as I can stack. Of course she won't do it if there are witnesses... I wanted to show Josh how cute it is, and she doesn't do it if he's there. She's like that singing frog from the cartoon.
Friday, April 20, 2007
black plague strikes again
I can not catch a break this year! Oh my god, I keep getting so horribly sick, this has been the grossest winter/spring ever. I am so ready for less rain, more sunshine and fresh air. I feel like I need to put on some sunglasses, dress all in black, and go lay down on some black-top somewhere and just bake myself til I've essentially pasteurized my system and killed off all the hideous crap that's been coursing through me. Antibiotics have kicked in and the codeine has done a good job of helping me sleep at night, but it's all left me feeling completely whomped.
Very pleased that all the new fashions have floppy shirts that make everyone look pregnant and hide sad bloated tummies.
Delma wants to stand so badly... She's figured out that if she grabs our hands when she's sitting, she can pop herself up to a standing position. And she gets really pissed when you plop he back down on her butt. The woman who spends the most time with D and the other babies under 1yr (aka The Littles) at daycare said that D will stare at the woman's hands to see when she can find her in, and grab them to stand up. Yesterday she tried pulling herself up on an activity center toy like another Little there does. The girl doesn't even crawl! I really don't think she will, either -- I think she's going to go straight to her feet.
I ordered a couple of these cute necklaces, one in pink and one in blue. They're specifically made out of the same rubbery plastic that teething toys are made of, for ladies who have babies who chew their necklaces. D is obsessed. The second you pick her up she reaches right out for your necklace. If you aren't wearing one she rests her little hand where your necklace should be. She really likes these, and I know they're safe for her to gnaw on. It's a win-win!
Very pleased that all the new fashions have floppy shirts that make everyone look pregnant and hide sad bloated tummies.
Delma wants to stand so badly... She's figured out that if she grabs our hands when she's sitting, she can pop herself up to a standing position. And she gets really pissed when you plop he back down on her butt. The woman who spends the most time with D and the other babies under 1yr (aka The Littles) at daycare said that D will stare at the woman's hands to see when she can find her in, and grab them to stand up. Yesterday she tried pulling herself up on an activity center toy like another Little there does. The girl doesn't even crawl! I really don't think she will, either -- I think she's going to go straight to her feet.
I ordered a couple of these cute necklaces, one in pink and one in blue. They're specifically made out of the same rubbery plastic that teething toys are made of, for ladies who have babies who chew their necklaces. D is obsessed. The second you pick her up she reaches right out for your necklace. If you aren't wearing one she rests her little hand where your necklace should be. She really likes these, and I know they're safe for her to gnaw on. It's a win-win!
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