March Update

 Not too much has changed since I last posted, not much besides Joey anyway. He's definitely taller and MUCH more talkative. He is getting really good at his syllables, especially "ma ma" and he uses that in reference to me which, of course, makes me melt every time. Dan said that the other day while I was at work, Joey spent the whole time "looking" for me and saying "ma ma" asking where I was. He kept wanting to look in the bedroom (where I'll take a nap sometimes) or in the kitchen (where I'll hide when HE needs to nap and Daddy rocks him), so he's also getting pretty smart. He's got 8 teeth, all in front, and likes to use his mouth as a 3rd hand to help him when he's attempting to climb. He is really good at pulling himself up to standing now, and cruises the furniture with ease, so we're definitely not far from actually walking. Yesterday, I put him in his pack 'n play while I got some things done in the kitchen, and when I looked in to check on him, I found him pulling himself to standing, then letting go and seeing how long he could stand without help! One day he's just going to take off running and we'll just have to try and keep up ;)

He LOVES bath time and his current favorite toy is the shampoo bottle. No idea why, but it has been for the last week or so. I can't wait until summer because I know he is just going to adore being in the pool! I'm excited for the pool too because last year I had to wait until basically July before I could swim because of the 6-week-wait after Joey's delivery. I was so impatient, half the time I had my feet in the pool or I'd walk around on the steps just trying to cool off! This time I'll be able to fully enjoy the pool all summer and I'm happy for it :)

Exclusively Nursing a 9 Month Old

Seeing as it's been a month since I've posted anything, I wanted to talk about SOMETHING so I decided to write a post based on a couple conversations I've had at work with other moms. Joey is still being fed exclusively by breastmilk. I do have to work, so he doesn't get it exclusively from the tap but it is the only nourishment he's received since my surgery last June (when I didn't have a stash built up and we had to supplement with formula). He hasn't had any formula since then and the only other thing besides breastmilk that he's had has been water. He started sucking on his washcloths in the bathtub so there really wasn't much I could to do stop him, so when we got new sippy cups for him to try, we put water in them so a) we wouldn't waste milk and b) he couldn't make a huge mess with milk if they leaked. He also knows how to get water out of our Camelbak bottles which I find hilariously cute. Anyway...

For a couple of weeks now, Joey has been especially mobile, he's figured out crawling for the most part and loves to pull himself up to standing. Because of all this activity, he mostly nurses at night even on days that I don't have to work. He's too busy to stop playing/exploring to nurse quietly for more than a minute or two. Sometimes he does forget that he's hungry and get fussy until he's gorged himself, but even then, at 9 months, that takes like 10-15 minutes max. When he does nurse during the day, it can be pretty hilarious. For one thing, he's been a little nursing acrobat for months now--pretty much once he figured out how to control his own legs. He loves sticking one of his legs up on the other boob or his new favorite is crossing them and pulling them in like he's a little baby. He's almost constantly moving, even when nursing, if it's not his legs then it's his wandering hands (of they're playing if he's got a toy or I'm wearing an interesting shirt).

When Joey is feeling especially mobile but still wants to nurse, he spends the session attempting to get up on all fours while still latched on. He's done this successfully several times now! If we're sitting on the floor and I've got him in my lap with my legs crossed, he'll wiggle his way completely onto the floor. If we're lying down, he likes to climb all over me and see how many different ways he can latch on--including being completely on my stomach directly over my boob (that one didn't work so well)!

Most of the time I find all of this funny and adorable, but occasionally when I want a nap or when I need him to nap, it can be frustrating. Sometimes I do miss when he was a month old and would just lie there and nurse then fall asleep and unlatch himself because he passed out. He doesn't do the "milk drunk" smile anymore, instead he unlatches, smiles at me then gargles his milk. He only falls asleep while nursing now if it's bedtime--and sometimes not even then (we're getting more consistent with our bedtime routine and that's helping).

I do love the interaction now, he likes to touch my face or hair, play with my shirt or his foot. He's not a bystander in the feeding process, he is an active participant! Nursing now (most of the time) is a wordless conversation, he's learning and growing so fast that it's hard for me to keep up, and stopping to nurse reminds me to stop and just breathe in his babyhood and enjoy the moment we're sharing.

Although, sometimes I am just feeding the kid, one hand holding my boob and the other typing or texting (or playing Fruit Ninja!). It's not always an intimate, beautiful moment, but it is a special relationship that I will always treasure.

Teeth and Sleep

Joey cut his 6th tooth yesterday (5th was late last week) and Dan's pretty sure that 7 and 8 are on their way through. 5 and 6 are on either side of his top front teeth, not sure where 7 and 8 are, he won't let me see ;) This kid does not give us any indication he's teething or cutting a tooth other than chewing on absolutely everything. But he does that constantly and I know that's totally common for babies his age, so either it means that he's constantly teething or he just chews on everything. He doesn't drool like a faucet and he's really only extra cranky when he needs a nap. He doesn't give us any indication that he's in pain (yay) so when another tooth pops through we're like, "Wow, another one!" Last week, Joey gave me a night where he only woke up a few times (3 or less, I can't remember because I try not to wake up all the way when I feed him), it was AWESOME. Then, last night and the night before, he was nursing almost constantly. When the tooth 6 and 7 cut through, it made sense. I'm eager for this teething thing to be over, but I know that he won't finish until his molars come through when he's 2 or 3 years old.

He sleeps great when he's not teething. The kid loves sleeping, he totally has that in common with us. I began reading The No Cry Sleep Solution to see if I could pick up some times to help him sleep. While Elizabeth Pantley gives lots of really great ideas and suggestions to parents of all sleep arrangements (co-sleeping, bottle feeding, baby in his/her own room, breastfeeding, etc.), she does mention that no matter what rhythm you end up in with your baby and how much sleep you're getting, things like illness, teething, and vacationing can affect even the best infant sleeper. So I have the book and will definitely use some of the ideas when it seems like the teething has slowed down, but what we're doing is mostly working at this point, so I'm not going to mess with it and change what we're doing. Granted, I'm waking up constantly at night but Joey and I go to bed so early that eventually I get the sleep I need to function during the day--even if I have to work (though that's a good night if he doesn't wake up before I leave).

March For Life 2012

I was undecided about going to the March For Life this year because it meant taking Joey with me. I knew that he would be good, he typically is too interested in what's going on around him to act up or be fussy, I was worried about the logistics of having a baby with me--especially once we started marching. Originally, I was going to play it by ear and decide to go with Holy Trinity last minute based on weather and if they had space on their bus (which eventually turned into buses!). Then my mom called and said that St. Jane's had extra tickets to the Rally/Mass before the March and would I be interested in going with their small group of high school girls? I checked the weather and it didn't look too cold so I agreed to go! Going to the Rally and using the Marc train were nice because I knew that I would have a decent place to sit and nurse as well as bathrooms with changing stations easily accessible.

I fed Joey several times while we were at the Verizon Center and changed his diaper before we headed out to the March. He even slept a for a couple of short naps before the March, thankfully. He stayed awake almost the entire time we were outside, whether it was due to the cold rain that was coming down (he stayed warm and dry under my jacket) or the fact that there was just so much to see I'm not sure. Eventually, he fell asleep and stayed asleep for almost an hour, so he had close to a normal nap schedule that he would have had at home. I got to change his diaper again at the Marc station and fed him on the train going home, so all was good and nothing was postponed for him because we were in a crowd or outside.

The Rally and March were amazing as always! I'm so glad that Joey and I got to go! I LOVE having Mass at the Verizon Center, how often do you get to celebrate Mass with 17,000 people??? Despite the weather, there was an awesome turnout for the March as well, I can't even begin to estimate how many people were there, but it was well over the tens-of-thousands and possibly even in the hundred-thousands. I'm proud to be part of the Pro Life Generation. Last year I marched while I was pregnant, and this year I marched with Joey. We marched because my generation is here (mostly, an estimated 1/3 of my generation has been aborted), it's his generation being killed now.

This Moment

It's been way too long since my last post, without any real reason besides being too tired/busy/whatever. Big things that have happened are: Joey can now sit up by himself AND drink from a straw (he figured out how to get water from my Camelbak so we got him a toddler sippy cup with a straw). I FINALLY talked to people in Medicaid and got somebody to explain everything to me AND fix what I knew was the problem. They have decided that we'll pay a portion of our medical bills but that's better than all of our bills. Work has been slow, we're hoping and praying that something comes through soon, either for Dan or me. At this point, even though it's not my ideal situation, I would take a full time position just to have a steady income.

Mostly, we've been passing time by playing with Joey. We didn't completely manage to cut out TV around him altogether, but we cut back significantly. When we brought Joey home, and for the several months following, the TV was on pretty much from the time I woke up until the time that Dan went to bed--whether there was anything on we wanted to watch or not. Now, we watch mostly shows that we missed because I was asleep or Dan was working. Occasionally it's actually a station and not On-Demand or Netflix. Joey is getting so big so fast that I feel like I blink and he's already moved on to another milestone, I'm trying to enjoy every second of his babyhood and there are already things I miss from when he was a newborn! He doesn't really look too much like a baby anymore, he looks like a little boy--even if he's just playing with his feet on the floor. Sometimes, during our "quiet" moments together, I just stare at him completely in awe. Eight months somehow completely flew by me and I have a baby on the verge of being a toddler who is getting smarter by the minute. He catches me staring at him and flashes me this adorable, 4-tooth grin, unable to comprehend why it melts my heart instantly.

He has no idea how much I love hearing him "talk", or how excited I get when he's about to master a new skill (you can see the look of pride on his face--so cute!), he just knows that I smile when he smiles at me and that I'm Mama and I love him. Sometimes I have to do things he doesn't like (putting clothes on him for instance, we're entering the Naked Phase), but at the end of the day, I'm still his favorite person. The temper tantrums will come later, making messes on purpose, embarrassing me in the store, projectile vomiting will return, but right now, he's still my little baby. He loves me unconditionally and I strive to be worthy of that devotion.

Pictures are forthcoming

I just wanted to post a brief update on the lace pattern whose butt I'm kicking! With some help from Theo and some paper-clip stitch markers, I've been on the right tack for more than several rows now (am up to Row 16!). I needed clip-on stitch markers because the repeats change position with each row, due to the way the shawl is worked (bottom up with decreases), so I couldn't just use my normal looped/knotted scrap yarn. My problem was (and typically is) not paying enough attention to what I'm doing. When I first started, I would add extra yarn-overs because I was talking or watching TV. This time, there were some extra YOs but mostly I would get my position in the repeat mixed up and start over from the middle instead of finishing then starting over. The stitch markers are like my breadcrumbs, telling me where I've been and how far I've gone. I count my stitches after every repeat to double-check myself (and have caught several errors), which slows me down a little, but worth the extra time in the end because I have the correct number of stitches every time now and I don't have to tink back whole rows anymore!

This Past Year, Summed Up

I knew that no matter how much or little I wrote in December (each month it seems like I post less and less), I HAD to write a "This time last year" post like I did last year. If I write quickly, I can make it in before the new year hits. ;)

This time last year...

-I was still pregnant

-We were still house hunting

-I couldn't have any alcohol

-I had only been knitting for a few months

-I still had two ovaries

-I had a salary/benefits


This year...

-Luke passed away and thus I got my second tattoo when Andy was here on leave

-We had our first baby!

-We bought our first house!

-I had my first-ever surgery

-We paid off our cars with money leftover from the house

-I'm back to working hourly, Dan's still job hunting


I just got back from a New Year's Eve party at Theo's parents' house, she's here on leave and has to go back tomorrow. I went to the party for a bit to hang out with her one last time before she flies home in the morning.