Drum roll please....
Elijah is crawling! Well, kind of! He crawls toward things he isn't supposed to touch. He also crawls a few crawls realizes he's within lunging distance and lunges. I think this is the funniest. But it works for him. He can push up from his tummy into sitting guess he figures he doesn't need to crawl all the way to whatever it is. For the past two days he's been trying the crawling thing out, and today was the most he has done yet. I am sure it is just a matter of days before he is off and running. We still are completely childproofed. I can't find a cord keeper kind of thing for the abundance of cords around the TV area. And we need a baby gate. But I think that's it. So that's the news for today!Now for a bit of soap boxing. Not much really...I read this article in the NY Times about corporations and breast feeding. SIGH.... I am just disgusted at the way corporations treat there less educated, lower salaried employees. Okay, that's really it...I just can't write about it now. The article is well written and makes very good points.... I'm going to go watch my kid try to crawl some more...
September 04
Big Yawn
Yes, the crawling is GREAT! He's so funny! We are going to be getting our exercise casing him soon. Right now he really seems very content to stay on his mat in the living room (we expanded from number to letters...) He really likes to crawl to the entertainment center, which has a glass front, so I tried making barricades...yeah, that didn't work...we'll think of something. I guess we could take the glass door off, but then all the components are exposed...it's not the end of the world....I have read and heard that once a baby learns a new skill they want to stay up and practice and all I could think of was not my perfect angel....YEAH RIGHT!!! Friday night, Elijah didn't go to sleep until 3 a.m.!!!! It was like college, but not really...The next morning, he was up at 7:30! sigh... Saturday was better and then yesterday we hit the beach in the evening. Elijah had really only had two short (car) naps. So I thought he's be really cranky at the beach. We got there at 5 and played in the water for a bit, then I left Elijah with Jerry and really went to get in the water. When I came back, Elijah discovered the wonder that is sand. He promptly started digging a hole (such a little boy!) he would dig his little hands into the sand and then throw it over his shoulder. He was covered from head to tow in sand! It was soooo cute! He only put a little into his mouth (I guess this anti-solids thing extends to sand ...thank goodness!) I tried to wash him off, but you know how the sand is... So we got home around 7:30 and he was sooo tired, but too dirty. SO I jumped in the shower and Jerry brought him to me and I got him all clean. He fell asleep at 8:30 and Jerry said he only woke up twice before he handed the monitor off to me at 2:30 and that it only took a few minutes to resettle him. I totally expected to be up with him at 3:30...but he slept until 5:30 AND THEN went back to sleep until 7:30 AND THEN I cuddled with him in bed until 8:30!!!!! That means I got 7 hours (count 'em BABY!!! SEVEN) of sleep. I am sure this was a fluke, but MAN it was nice!!!! He has already taken a 1 1/2 hour nap today, so I am sure we'll be back on this three hour schedule tonight...
I'm going to go to a Le Leche meeting on Wednesday and see if I can get some advice about this non-eating thing. I know that he's fine, but it is bugging me a bit.
Okay, Elijah seems to be giving Jerry a hard time...I'm off....Oh Happy Labor Day!
September 09
Shopping on Saturday
It's been a bit since I've had a chance to write...having a crawling baby is exhausting, but really exciting! He's learned to open cabinets...more childproofing to do. We went to the high society lunch and almost all the babies are crawling. it's crazy! Elijah was so gentle and sweet to the other babies. It was really sweet. Friday I spent the morning baking for some mom's to come over this morning for breakfast after the Mother of Twins Sale. I kept Elijah all night last night and he woke up almost every hour and nothing would do unless he got to breast feed. It made for a long night...especially since I got up at 6 to get ready for the sale. But alas alack. I handed EJ off to Jerry at 6:45 and then Rachel called and I went by her house and rode with her and MR to the sale. We got there at 7:15 and 4th in line (the sale started at 8.) My main thing was finding a backpack hiking carrier (found it for 15 bucks!), winter clothes (found lots for ~30 dollars) and a safety gate...didn't find one of those...but two out of three isn't too bad. I was really good and only bought 3 toys for EJ. I bought him a wooden pull toy in the shape of a caterpillar, a push/ride/pull toy, and a stacking toy. Overall I think I did really well. Bonnie (from Jerry's work), Bonnie (from next door) and Rachel all came over for breakfast and brought their babies. MR was the odd girl out, but she handled it very nicely (very aloof to the boys....)Earlier this week we got EJ some Robeez shoes and some overalls from a consignment shop. We got him the shoes since he'll be pulling up soon and these are supposed to be really good to learn walking in. Bare feet are the best, but these are the next best thing. They are soft leather and enable the baby to use his toes to learn walking basics. As it will be winter when he's really starting to do the cruising thing and we have hardwood floors, socks are not conducive, so he needed something to keep him warm and allow him to walk.
My folks left on Thursday for England and Ireland. I'm so jealous, but excited for them. I hope they are having a good time. They are on a canal boat for the first week and then spending two weeks in Ireland. A friend of theirs is staying in their house until they return...though if a hurricane decides to hit us, she may have some company! We were talking about what a pain it would be if a hurricane came and knocked out the power. As we are out of town, we are the last priority to get power restored, so it would suck a little bit. So I think we will leave if a Cat3 or stronger comes our way.
Okay, that's it for now... hope you are having a GRAND weekend.
September 14
My Eighth month old and other stuff!
So Elijah turned 8 months yesterday! I can't believe that in 4 more months he's going to be 1! What's that all about? He's crawling everywhere now and follows us around. It's really cool! In fact, the other night we put him down in his crib on his back to sleep with his head toward the closet. We heard something on the monitor so we went in to check: he had flipped over onto his tummy, pushed up into crawling, and turned around to the other end of the crib and then collapsed on his tummy, all the while totally asleep. It was really funny. I have no idea how he isn't exhausted by morning all the moving around he's doing....not that he's sleeping through the night. Anyway, he's just so amazing. He can play independently for a bit without me in the room (though I'm always within eyesight...me of him that is...) He's starting to associate mama and dada with the right people (not always correctly, but Jerry and I try to respond when he says them and reinforce the correct words with images....) We think he is signing drink, and again we reinforce the sign with the actual act when he makes it, we give him drink (water). He could just be fascinated with his hand... when he cries we pick him up, but he's started fake crying to get picked up...so we say "Elijah use your signals," and as long as he's not really tired, he'll stop and raise his arms to be picked up. It's really amazing that he's learning this stuff. I love every minute of it!!! I wouldn't trade it for anything! Yes, it's exhausting sometimes and there are nights when I am wondering why on earth he's awake when he refused to nap the day before....but I would rather be awake with him than have no baby at all! He's such a good baby and so cuddly! I just love him so much!!!!!Okay...moving on....
First off let me say that I am in NO WAY supporting Wal Mart in this little rant...but....
WalMart is beginning to carry more organic foods. Here's an article (blog) that goes into the whole thing...
okay, I am not a huge organic buyer. There are many reasons, but that's another blog for another day. This is about WalMart and smaller Natural Food stores. Okay, so I try to support local businesses, however, when local businesses change you four bucks a pound for "organic"peaches, I really can't support it. I simply don't have the money. So the local natural food coop is a little upset that Walmart is selling organic. Many think the laws on Organic foods are too lax and this will make them more so. Some are upset that the organic foods are coming from places that under-pay under age workers. Some are concerned that the small businesses will be driven out of town. While these are all good points, I must say that I become a little annoyed. While I do not shop at WalMart, there are many whose only choice is to shop there for many reasons, but usually it's related to money (or lack thereof.) So are these people saying that unless you make lots of money you don't deserve to eat organic if you so choose? Jerry brought up the issue that WalMart can guarantee sales to a mass instead of to a few limited people, so of course, organic farmers could make a much better profit selling their goods to Walmart as opposed to the small coop. As for the laws (or lack thereof) for organics...I really doubt that Walmart coming in is really going to make the lawmakers move slower or faster. It takes a lot of time to go to every farm and make sure they are using only organic fertilizers and no pesticides and whatnot...personally, I wash my food and really don't think that I am any less healthier than anyone else....If the pesticides were that bad, I believe the majority of America would be keeling over...and they aren't. The argument that underage underpaid people are going to be growing the food...well look at the label of your clothes and unless it says made in the USA (and sometimes even if it says that...) you can bet some small child got paid 10 cents to make your GAP shirt...not that this is okay, but that 10 cents probably put food on that child's table that may otherwise be bare...again not okay, but then you are tacking many 3rd world countries and then you are asking to pay 150 dollars for a t-shirt...again...another rant for another day... As for putting small businesses out of business...I think that's horrible, but when you are asking people to pay a lot of money (plus membership fees) for something, you have to look at the big picture. If you charge 25 dollars for a bag of rice and one can go to Walmart and pay 10 dollars for the same bag.... well, you do the math. However, I don't think you are going to loose the majority of customers. You just aren't going to gain any new ones. I know that's horrible to say, and while I won't be going to Walmart to buy anything organic or not...I'm not going to be going to our local coop either...but then I never went there to begin with.
Okay, that' it for now. I hope I haven't ticked off any avid WalMart shoppers or coop-ers...this is simply my opinion....If you choose to shop at WalMart, go for it. If you support your local coop. good for you (glad to know you're making more money than I) As for me, I'll continue shopping at the local Lowe's food, buying my regular food (insecticides and all), and vent my frustrations right here...
thanks for reading!
September 19
Not much happening
We've had a pretty laid back few days. Elijah now has six teeth with tow more getting ready to cut through. He is crawling like crazy and doing much in his crib. It's really funny, if I bring him to bed with me, he doesn't move that much, but in his crib....it's like he's racing in Daytona or something. Very cute! Last night he was up at 1:30 and Jerry handed him off to me for a mid-night feeding and change over. Elijah was just up from then until about 3. He wasn't fussy or active, he was just awake. I would rock him and put hi in his crib and rub his back and sing to him and walk around with him and nothing. I suppose I could have brought him to bed with me and he probably would have fallen asleep and I could have slept a little as well...but you think of these things a little too late. So he finally fell asleep and then I was awake. I kept waiting for him to wake up (which he didn't do until 6:30....) I think I finally fell asleep at 3:45...sigh... oh well... at 6:30 I did bring him to bed with me and we slept until almost 9. We went over to Rachel's this morning for cookies and a play date with MR and some of Rachel's neighbors. It was lots of fun and we had very yummy cookies!Ooooooo...last night we watched Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It was soooooo good. I LOVED West Wing and was so sad when it went off. I also LOVE Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, and they ROCKED!!! I thought it was well written and very cheeky! I just wish it came on a little earlier...oh well. Sunday night was the premiere of Amazing Race. The couple I liked the most got booted...sigh...but it still looks like a good season.
Yesterday I gave Elijah some cooked and cooled spaghetti to play with...it was freaking hilarious. He got it EVERYWHERE. I have pics, but they're in the other room and Jerry's trying to get Elijah to sleep...if he sees or hears me, Jerry will have to start all over...
I think we are going to go to the doctor tomorrow. Elijah seems to have a yeast infection on his neck and it's just not clearing up. Part of that reason is we put the ointment on him and he immediately starts scratching and off it comes. We have tried putting it on him once he's asleep...nope, doesn't work. We are putting socks on his little hands at night so he doesn't rip his skin up from the scratching. Poor guy. It's not getting worse, but it's not getting better. It seems to follow his teeth cutting. He'll cut a tooth and it clears up and then another one starts coming in and well, yo get the point....
okay...I guess that' it for now. I'm off to sneak into our room for a shower...
September 20
poor parents
My folks are in Ireland and I just heard from them that Florence hit over there, so they are seeing Ireland in flood stage. That sorta sucks! Mom said that dad is enjoying the beer there though....so that's good! I mean when in Ireland...right? We're good here. Elijah has discovered he wonder that are doors. He likes to sit at doors and open them and close them...It's pretty cute...not that I'm biased. We went to the doc today. I thought EJ had an yeast infection on his chest and neck, but turns out that it's eczema. So I guess that's good...well at least to know what it is and how to treat it.That's it right now.... Oh yeah...Elijah is weighing in at 23.6 pounds! What a hunka hunka...
September 24
A Successful Weekend!
We had our friends over for the weekend. It was lots of fun! We went to some local gardens on Saturday to walk and have a picnic. The weather was perfect. This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and just hung out. Jerry and I got back from Costco a bit ago and had some pita pizzas...yummy!!!! And now he's watching football and hanging out with Elijah. I must say as weekends go, this one was very good!We are heading up to the mountains in a couple of weeks for homecoming at WWC and vacation. We are taking Rachel and Erin and MR with us. We decided to rent a van so that we could all ride together and save the wear and tear on our car. I think it will be great! I hope the weather is good.
My parents wrote that they finally saw the sun in Ireland. Apparently they were there when Florence hit them and then Gavin (I think...) hit while they were driving to their next location.
Jerry has a yearly review tomorrow....send good thoughts his way...while we are fine with his income, a nice raise would always be welcome!
Elijah has officially cut eight teeth now. I'm hoping this slows down a bit. He doesn't really seem upset by it, but I think they wake him up at night... oh well, such is life. My little 12 hour sleeper (not all at one time grant you) has become a less than 10 hours and no naps...We finally got him down for one today and I just snuggled up beside him and snoozed as well. I hope that he's doing a little better while we're on vacation.
I guess that's it for now... not a very exciting blog entry, sorry...
September 26
So where's your baby from?
Have I mentioned that random people ask me this? What do you mean where is my baby from? My uterus....HELLO?! It's just really funny to me. A friend of mine from college just commented that Elijah looks Asian. He does a bit and I don't mind people commenting on his looks, nor do I mind discussing his ethnicity. But to ask where I got him from...like I got him a WalMart on sale or something. Jerry made the point that if I'm not with him, then Elijah does look a little out of place with me, white Irish-y girl, but still. When did people become so rude, to presume that I would be married to a white guy and therefore Elijah could not have been born of me? It's just odd I guess. I would never look at a child and think...oh, well, obviously that child is adopted or from some other place. What business is it of mine whether or not the child was born of someone or adopted. It's their child right? sigh... people...Anyway, just thought I'd write about that...okay, I'm trying to keep Elijah from pushing the off switch on the computer...Later... (BTW...my folks get home today!!!! YEAH!!!!)
September 29
Public vs. private TVs vs. bathtubs
So, we have been discussing what we really want to do about Elijah's education. We go back and forth between home schooling, private school, and public school. Recent studies have shown that children in private schools really don't get any better education than those in public schools. All in all I think it has the most to do with parental involvement. My whole issue with the public schools in this county is the overcrowding. I just don't want EJ going to class in a bathroom. However, that's five years down the line and who knows what will be going on then. I obsess about these things and then I hear about the shootings in Colorado and it makes me nervous to put him anywhere...sigh... anyway there is a small debate going on in my head and I will write more about it at a later date.Tomorrow we are going to a friend of mine's house to tell our birth story. My friend Carmen teaches a birthing class (ALACE...not sure what the acronym stands for off the top of my head...but it's natural childbirth classes) and is having a Saturday session in for her classes and has invited some friends to tell their stories. I talked Jerry into going because I think it's really important for the men in the class to hear what it's like to be the man in the birthing room. I hope that it won't be too painful for him...(he's so shy...sorta...)
ANYWAY, we are getting a new women and children's wing at our local hospital. And apparently the higher ups have decided to cut the funding of having bathtubs on the labor and delivery ward so they can have wide screen TVs. I'm not even talking about birthing tubs. I'm just talking about a shower with a bathtub. The showers on the current L&D floor are insanely small. We were able to fit a small shower chair in the shower for me to sit on, but Jerry stood outside of the shower and rubbed my back from there. Not that Jerry wanted to be in there with me, but had he wanted, there would have been NO way. Anyway. at our lunch the other day, many of the women were very upset with this decision. I guess I can understand. I personally wouldn't have wanted to be immersed in water. I did LOVE the shower and it felt great during hard contractions. But that doesn't mean that other women might not want to be in the tub. I fear though, that this society is not all about the natural birth. So many women are all about getting an immediate epidural...this can elongate the labor...and since you can't walk or feel anything, why not pass the time away with the TV? I guess I see the reasoning behind this, however, do they really need wide screen TVs? It's not like there is another hospital they are in real competition with. I don't know. I wish there was a birthing center...independently run, that allowed moms who wanted a natural birth to do so without the stress of so many medical procedures and constant hospital paranoia of malpractice looming. I've seen such centers that are very close to the hospital, in case something goes wrong. I personally was very happy with our birth, but my doctor was very understanding and knew exactly what we wanted. Now my doctor is no longer doing OB, so we are thinking mid-wife for the next baby (a few years away people...) I have heard of people driving up to 2 hours a way to give birth in a birthing center. The closest hospital that even offers bathtubs is 1 1/2 hours away. Some women may not make it that far in time... I don't know... I think there should be a happy medium, where everyone gets an option... but I guess that would be asking to live in a perfect world...
Alright, the little man has been extraordinarily grumpy today and now is fighting Jerry (who's attempting to put bedclothes on the little one...) I'm off to help....
