Good week so far

The past couple days have been really good and so far today is turning out well too. Taylor has been on a nice sleeping and eating schedule, I've been able to get lots of cleaning done around the house while she's in one of the carriers (above), Mark has started on some projects that he had neglected for a looong time, and Phoebe has been very well behaved while running free in the backyard (now that Mark improved the fence).

Actually, thinking back, the weekend was great too! On Saturday, we went to the St. Louis Brewfest in Forest Park. It was the second time we'd been there. The first was right before I got pregnant and this time around we have a tiny baby to tote along with us - pretty good timing if you ask me. We bought the tickets in advance which was such a good idea because the afternoon time slot was sold out before we even arrived! Mark and I sampled about 26 different beers of the 100+ they had available. I had really missed tasting some of those over this last year of pregnancy! The ground was so muddy and I was grateful we had Taylor in our Beco carrier instead of trying to maneuver a stroller in that crowd (like some people did!). The more I use carriers, the less I can think of situations in which strollers would be better. Taylor slept almost the entire time!

(This is the Earth Day Festival a couple of weeks ago, but we looked pretty much the same)

Afterward, we went to Trader Joe's and picked up a beautiful bouquet of flowers as my first Mother's Day treat. On Sunday, Mark decided to spoil me by taking care of the baby all day while I did whatever I wanted (which was to clean!). He treated me to Einstein Bagels for lunch and India Palace for dinner (mmmmmm!). We tried to find a good movie about mothers on Netflix online, but sadly they didn't have anything. I think most of the movies out there about parenting seem to focus on fathers. Maybe the everyday life of mothers taking care of children isn't interesting enough to film...it's just too real and ordinary. Mothers only make good film fodder when they are neurotic.

Some days I'm probably neurotic enough to star in a film, but most of the time I'm just a regular mom who cleans a whole lot. A good day for me means that I've done most all of the laundry and put all the clean clothes away, I've ironed or steamed Mark's shirts for work, I've managed to find or make something for us to eat for dinner, and I washed all of the dishes before bed. A really good day means I was able to squeeze in some exercise, reading, and message board hopping as well. A fabulous day would be if I could do all of the above AND run an errand out of the house! I don't know if a fabulous day is really possible, but one can always hope.

Postpartum update

I'm losing hair now like it's going out of style. Every time I run my fingers through my hair I loose another handful. I keep finding Taylor with strands of my hair clenched in her little fists too. :)

I weighed myself again this morning - only 6 or so pounds left to go! I drastically cut back my cookie/milkshake intake so I think my body is just adjusting to much much less sugar in my diet. And, I've been walking Taylor and Phoebe around the block for at least 30min a few days each week, so I think that's been working.

Right now Taylor is sleeping in the Beco carrier on my back. Boy, is it easier to eat and type and do anything in front of me when she isnt' there! Yesterday I got Mac 'n' Cheese on her shirt and the day before I dropped fettuccine on her head (she didn't notice either).

I weighed her the other day - 12.5lbs! But she still fits in all her 0-3mo clothing and the diapers that say they only go up to 12lbs. She's a skinny little bean.

I'm behind in pretty much all my household chores right now...so I better get to those. More later.

Stuff to remember

I don't really have a journal or a formal baby book for Taylor, so I thought I'd post a few things here that I want to remember about her first three months (which officially ends today).

The "aww" category:

• Rubbing her face into my chest, the sheets, or with her little hands when she's tired
• Using my breast as a pillow when she's done nursing in bed
• Sneezing in multiples
• Smiling in her sleep, and more recently, smiling at me!
• The time Mark stayed home sick and she greeted him with the biggest, gummiest series of smiles we had ever seen
• Smacking her tongue against her top lip and chewing her tongue
• Smiling at the wall outlet in the bathroom and at the embroidered animals in her crib
• Giving us huge smiles when we potty her
• Staring at herself in the mirror
• Pottying in public toilets - woohoo!
• Graduating to one or fewer poopy diapers a week!
• Learning how to move the animals on her bouncy chair to get music to play
• How Phoebe was so scared of her and whined incessantly when we first brought her home, but now is so excited to see her and licks every inch of her she can reach
• Sucking on anything in reach when hungry (our shirts, shoulders, arms, fingers)
• Now sucking on her own hands and making LOUD smacking noises
• When her little fist creeps up toward her mouth while nursing and she ends up sucking on her hand instead of feeding!
• Very expressive, funny eyebrows that looks like flying birds (an "M" shape)
• Talking to herself or making conversation with us
• Entertaining herself before bed by playing with her hands, babbling, and staring at the ceiling light fixture
• Rubbing my face in her soft, baby hair
• Mark twisting her hair into lots of little spikes or letting it dry standing up straight
• Opening her mouth up wide when we kiss her on the lips
• Coughing as a precursor to crying
• Holding her in my left arm as I eat lunch/dinner, type, or do laundry
• Sleeping in the Moby Wrap with her head tilted back and her mouth wide open
• Mark's "Poopy in the Sink" song
• Taylor's name song
• Blowing spit bubbles

The "eww" category:

• Sticky little hands with fuzz tucked in between each finger (and fuzz in her toes, and neck, and armpits...)
• The time we tried to give her a pacifier and she gagged and threw up everything from the last hour of nursing
• Gigantic boogers that are either sneezed out or sucked out
• The time we were driving to the mall and she sneezed on they way and when we got there I discovered she had dried snot smeared all over her face and blanket
• Crusty eczema all over her forehead
• The time Mark was changing her and she pooped all over the changing table, wall, and diaper basket!
• Foamy poo
• Sweaty, smelly feet
• Loud belches and the gurgling sound of pooing in a diaper
• Missing the sink while pottying her and getting it all over the counter/myself

Attachment Parenting

finished a book on Attachment Parenting the other day. Basically, AP involves breastfeeding on cue, baby-wearing, and co-sleeping. I first learned about this when I was pregnant, but I didn't really think I'd raise my baby like this until she came and it just felt so right.

The idea is the babies are the most helpless kind of humans and they need to be watched over and cared for continually, having their needs met as soon as possible. They say that by wearing your baby, sleeping with it, and having the breast readily available you ensure that your baby's needs are heard and met more quickly and more easily then they might be otherwise. Also, nursing should not be thought of a just a means of sustenance, but as a bonding practice between mother and baby and a way to sooth and nurture a tired, scared, or upset little baby.

It was nice to read about all the benefits of this kind of natural parenting approach. I think too often people think it will result in clingy, needy children, but the authors say that it actually allows your child to move confidently from one stage of development to the next. If you rush a child into independence or into some sort of preconceived schedule too quickly, they might actually become more clingy and insecure.

I don't think I will follow all recommendations in the book (i.e. nursing until around age 4), but I think what they said made a lot of sense and they had some good research and anthropological evidence to back up their claims. I don't really have the time to write out all the interesting little things from the book, but you can always ask me about it sometime and I'll share more.

Earthquake

A belated post. I had this all typed up on the 18th, but didn't get a chance to publish. Here goes:

I never thought I'd experience an earthquake living in the Midwest. These parts are where tornadoes happen or sometimes flash floods, and I've seen warnings for lots and lots of those. But it just so happened that today I felt the first major earthquake in the area in 200 years!

That's right, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Wabash Valley fault system in Southern Illinois at 4:30am and then we felt a pretty big aftershock at 10:30am. It was pretty scary the first time around - the bed was shaking, the closet doors were rattling, and we had no idea what was going on. The second time around, I still hadn't heard it was a earthquake, but I was feeding Taylor in bed and everything started shaking again. She just looked up at me and gave me the widest milky little grin. :) I think she thought it was a pretty neat trick I was doing, shaking the bed like that. I don't think Phoebe reacted at all, silly dog.

See the ABCNews story, Wikipedia, or articles on STLToday.com.

It's a miracle!

Through my research on cloth diapers, I learned if you put stained diapers out to dry in the sunlight they turn out spot free.

Well, today I tried it and VOILA my diapers are miraculously clean and bright. Yay for the sun! Creation is so amazing. I'm excited. I'm definitely going to be using this trick on stained whites in the future.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Taylor, Phoebe, and I went for another walk today. The weather was gorgeous - sunny, breezy, and warm. The trees and flowers are starting to bloom all over the neighborhood and at least some people have beautiful, neatly trimmed, green lawns.

My goal is to have us walk 30 min everyday. That way Taylor gets her Vitamin D from the sun and doesn't have to take supplements, Phoebe gets to let out some of her pent-up craziness, and I get to lose some of this leftover baby fat. The daily cookies (that I'm munching on as I type) aren't helping my goal, but they are oh so good. It just means it'll take a tinsy bit longer to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.

On the paper towel front, this week has been a success! Mark and I didn't use any paper towels...until yesterday, that is, when we discovered that Phoebe has continued using the basement as her personal latrine. I suppose we'll always use paper towels for doggie clean-ups, which isn't bad in my opinion. We also need to really focus on retraining that dog not to relieve herself in the house.

Next Tuesday is Earth Day and I figure that I should do something extra special, considering my new zeal for eco-friendly living. Any suggestions? Maybe Mark and I should actually get around to raking our leaves, mowing the lawn, and bundling our fallen branches!