Lots of Firsts

Hailey and Sophia (and Mommy) attended their first major league baseball game last Tuesday. Here are a few pics from that.   Not surprisingly, Hailey wanted to eat everything she saw.  She had a hot dog, peanuts, a red icee, and ice cream.  She wanted popcorn too, but that would have probably sent us to the poor house, so I had to draw the line at that point.  Sophia slept for a while during the game, then woke up as soon as people really started screaming.  It was a Yankee-Braves game, so high drama.  Sophia didn't like the noise too much.  In fact, I ended up taking her into the First Aid room where the wonderful EMT's let us use a room to breastfeed, gave us a water, and shared their air conditioning.  What a great find!  

In other news, Sophia has started to roll over. Of course, she's only rolling from front to back, but it won't be long now.   She's also laughing a lot more these days than she ever has before. It's just great!

Funny Hailey Statements

Mommy: “Hailey stop itching your mosquito bites.”
Hailey: “I’m not itching them, I’m scratching.”

Mommy: “Uh oh, Hailey, you got a little sunburned today at school.”
Hailey: “Marley did it.”

Hailey (reverse logic): “The parking lot is dangerous because you need to carry me.”

Grandpa: “Oh, that freaking cat.”
Hailey: “Oh, that freaking cat”
(Thanks for that one Grandpa)

Hailey: "I have 2 boys - Corbin, Kellen, and Mr Potato Head"

Hailey: "Acceptable means that we have to get in the pool."

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation over a long period of time has very funny effects on the human body. Most of the time, I feel completely normal. Then, there are times when my judgment is well, let’s just say, impaired. Let me give you three amusing examples that have occurred over the last week or so.

1) I leave the grocery store with my basket full of groceries only to realize that I’ve driven my cart to the parking spot that I wanted to get before someone rudely cut in front of my car and stole the spot from me. So, now I’m wandering the parking lot with a cart full of groceries because I don’t remember where I actually parked, only where I wanted to park.

2) I get home from the grocery store and realize that the one pound of sliced turkey I ordered from the deli is missing. I recall going to the deli counter and taking the package of turkey from the woman, but now it’s not in any of the bags, in the car, in the garage, not anywhere. I check the receipt, and I was not charged for the turkey. Instead of jumping to the most logical conclusion, “oh I left it in the basket before I checked out or it fell out of the basket,” my first reaction is that I actually dreamed up the entire thing. I never went to the deli counter. Yup, I dreamed it in the few hours of sleep I got the night before. What?

3) This is the best one…At our farmer’s market, you have to check your own grocery bags at the front desk. I have a bunch of Trader Joe’s bags that I stick inside an insulated grocery bag. You hand them the bags at customer service, and they give you a number. When you check out, you hand them the card with the number and they retrieve your bags. Well, I retrieved my bags, but when I opened the insulated bag, the bags that I stuck inside were blue. Well, my bags are red or at least I remembered them being red. Instead of thinking that they handed me the wrong bags (the most likely scenario), I actually think that maybe I’ve crossed into an alternate universe in which I purchased blue bags, not red bags. I pretty much refused to go complain that I had received the wrong bags because I honestly believed that the alternate universe explanation was the most logical one. Eventually, my mother insisted that I go back and see if they handed me the wrong bags…which, of course, was the case. Whoa!

Mommy Sense

I am a firm believer in mother's instinct. Whenever another mother says to me "I think it might be time to..." (insert: change daycares, introduce formula, start solid foods, let the baby cry it out, etc), I always say "well, if you think it's time to do that, then it probably is, and don't let anyone tell you differently." I just think that mothers tend to know their children the best and have a sense for when these life-altering changes are needed. Think of it as Mommy-Spidey Sense. Does anyone else get that reference?

All of that is to say that my Mommy Sense is a-tinglin'. After a rough night in which Sophia woke me up every two hours to comfort nurse, I'm beginning to think that it might be time to cut the cord a bit here. I love having her in my bed for the convenience of nursing at night, but she's a thrasher - kicking her legs, punching herself or me in the face, grunting, etc. It makes me exhausted just thinking of how often she wakes herself (and me) up. The question is, if I take her out of the bed, will she be able to soothe herself back to sleep without the boob? Once she's out, I'm not going to be hopping out of bed to comfort her unless she's in full meltdown mode. Since the girls are sharing a room, I can't really chance her waking Hailey up if it comes to that. So, the only alternative is to put her in some type of contraption in our bedroom, like a pack n' play, to test out the new sleeping arrangement first. I could also put her in her crib in Hailey's room (excuse me - their room), hook up a monitor and hope for the best. Whatever we decide, something must be done because I think she's ready to make it through the night (or close to it). We just need to remove the Mommy crutch, or boob as the case may be.

Toddler with a Camera...

Cube Farms Not Friendly for Cows

When I was breastfeeding Hailey, I worked in a nice quiet office with a door and a lock. Every time I had to pump, I just closed the door, pulled the shades, and stuck those little suckers on. I could email; I could read; I could write a thesis (yes, I’m a multi-tasker). Now, I work in a big cube farm which is not at all conducive to pumping. Luckily, my wise employer has provided 2 “mother’s rooms” for exactly this purpose. One room is on my floor and the other is 2 floors up. Wouldn’t you know it, but the room on my floor is nasty with a toilet in it, not exactly sanitary conditions. The other room is a bit more comfortable, but about a mile away from where I sit. So, everyday, no matter how badly my feet are throbbing from my new, cute work shoes, I have to stop what I’m doing and march myself up there, lugging my big mama double-pump bag. Did I mention that I have to do this three times a day? Then, I have to walk my throbbing little feet back to my break room to quietly slip the little milk cooler (which says Medela all over it…not much on subtlety) into the fridge. At that point, I can return to my desk, put my big-mama-jo pump bag away and resume normal operations. This is what some might call a big pain in my ass.

Oh, and as if this whole little process was not difficult enough, there can be complications. For example, today I finished pumping only to realize that I didn’t have a lid for the milk bottle or a bag to put the milk in to carry it downstairs. How was I going to transport this liquid gold in an unopened bottle all the way down the elevator, through the quads without spilling it? Well, there was no other option than to carry the opened bottle in my hand. Now, I’m walking through the halls with an open container of breastmilk. “Hey, Alisa, what’s that you’ve got there?” “Oh just some breastmilk, Dr. So and So. Want a sip?” Note: That didn’t really happen, but the thought of it was mortifying. Of course, I can’t take the milk home now because I don’t want to carry it all the way out of the building so it has to sleep in the fridge overnight. Moooo!

First Tomato of the Season

Sweet deliciousness!!!

New pinwheel for the garden. Hailey picked it out...pink, of course.

Yes, that tomato plant is bigger than Hailey!

First School Project

We had to complete our first school project for Monday. It was a little scary because I didn't quite get all of the instructions, so I kind of just guessed as to what we were supposed to do. I'll get a little bit better about following directions when the homework is actually graded. I think we're ok on this one. Anyway, I just wanted to share Hailey's little family poster board project. She did all of the placement of the photos and letters. Plus, there's some additional Hailey "writing" around the pictures.

Scavenger Hunt

Mom and I took the girls to Target last night. Normally, I make Hailey ride in the cart, but I was feeling particularly reckless so I let a toddler loose in the toy aisles. She proceeded to walk up and down the aisles saying that she was looking for things for Hailey. When I asked her what those "things" were, she explained that they were "princess things." Shocking, I know! She then walked down the girl aisle. You know, the one with all of the pink crap. She was like an obsessive compulsive child, floating down the aisle and touching each and every pink box (which was 99% of the boxes). The whole thing was so funny to watch.

Now, if you don't have girls, you might not notice this, but they are making the most absurd things pink and slapping princesses on EVERYTHING. So, I'm sending you all on a scavenger hunt. The next time you are at Target or the grocery store or even Walmart (gasp) make a note of the most ridiculous item you see with a princess on it. Then, send us a comment, or better yet a princess, so that we can make a list of these blatant marketing ploys. I'll start...the most absurd thing that I saw princesses on at Target was a tackle box. Do we really need to have a pink tackle box when we're out fishing on the lake? Are we planning on catching Ariel???

We've Evened Out

This morning and today have been better. She's been eating both from the bottle and from me. I'm pleased with her progress towards being the most ideal baby ever!

Careful What You Wish For

Well, my relatively easy day back at work turned into a relatively difficult evening at home. I think that our little monster has decided that she only wants bottles and pacifiers now. Remember just a few days ago when she wouldn't take either? Tonight, she nursed for a little while, then screamed bloody murder. She only stopped when we gave her the bottle. I've nursed this child to sleep for 3 months!!! Now, all of a sudden that's just not good enough. I think that she doesn't like me anymore. She's really hurting my feelings.

First Day at Work

I’m feeling a little less (parenthetical) about working today, maybe that’s because I’m actually at work. I’ve just about survived my first day. I mourned a little in the car on the way here because I really missed Sophia. I thought that I would also be sad about all of the other benefits that maternity leave afforded me (shopping during the day, completing home projects, gardening, etc), but really all I was sad about was missing Sophia. However, by the time I got to work, I had pulled myself together and managed to make it through the day quite well. Of course, I have lots of other thoughts rolling around in my head about working and breastfeeding at work and various other topics, but I think the most important thing to say today is that I made it through the day. I'll worry about the rest another time.

Zucchini Overload

As every good gardener knows, when it rains zucchinis and squash, it pours. Thus, we had a ridiculous amount of produce, as you can see above. So tonight (my last night before work), Mom and I made 3 different baked goods involving zucchini - zucchini bread (classic variety), orange/chocolate chip zucchini bread, and brownies. It only took one zucchini to make all of that, and it wasn't even the biggest zucchini (which rivals Sophia in size). It was a lot of baking, and of course, Hailey had her hands in all of it (sometimes literally). Wow...I love parentheses today. I'm in a (parenthetical) mood. Either that or I really need a drink on this my last night before going back to work. Did I mention that I go back to work tomorrow? I'm plagued by the thought, but don't know enough how I feel about it to tell you (maybe I'll let you know tomorrow). For now you should just know that I'm going back to work tomorrow, and I'm feeling parenthetical about it (whatever that means).

Funny Moment

This morning at breakfast, the restaurant had on CNN. Hailey kept identifying Barack Obama (spotting Obama is one of her favorite games). Here's the conversation that ensued:

Mom: "That is Barack Obama, and do you know who that is with President Obama?"

Hailey: "No"

Mom: "That's Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. See. She's a girl, and she rules a country. Maybe when you get older, you can be in charge of a European Union country."

Hailey: "I don't want to do that. When I get bigger, I want to be Tinker Bell."

At least, I tried.

How Many Hats?

As parents, we wear a million different hats. When Hailey was really little, we would constantly comment on which hat we were wearing at what time...

Daddy is a jungle gym
Mommy is a nurse
Daddy is a pack mule
Mommy is a moo cow
Daddy is a pillow
Mommy is a human rocking chair

Given all of these roles, we rarely have a chance to just be Luke and Alisa anymore. That's why as much as I'm not looking forward to going to work and being away from Sophia; it will be kind of nice to go to a place where I'm just Alisa. It's a simpler role to fill.

Dance for Me, Monkey

I remember distinctly the moment when I realized that Hailey would cry when she wanted us to entertain her. For a while, we tried changing her diaper, feeding her, rocking her, etc. We tried just about everything until we discovered that what she really wanted was for us to dance around and entertain her. She would cry...we would make fools of ourselves. It was a joyous little scam she had going. Well, we've reached that point with Sophia. It's as if she just looks at you and says, "Dance for me, monkey, or suffer the screaming consequences." Then, we dance or sing or blow spit bubbles or make raspberries. Whatever it takes to get the little one giggling or at least smiling. It's pathetic, but it keeps peace in the kingdom. So, we will continue to don the jester hat as necessary. How can we not? Have you heard how cute that little laugh is???

I Need a Drink!

What was I thinking when I agreed to fly alone with both girls to Austin to meet up with Luke? It was not such a good idea. The flight wasn't so bad, but the rental car situation was a nightmare. We landed at 12:30pm. I left the rental car facility at 2:00pm after having to switch cars once, install two car seats myself, find directions to our hotel, etc. Oh yeah, all while surviving in 100 degree heat. It was seriously bad news, but no worries, we made it to the hotel where Hailey and I looked forward to enjoying a nice dip in the pool. Oh wait, the pool is inside and freezing. She didn't like it. Then, she didn't like the towels because they were too small. Now, we are sitting in our hotel room watching PBS. Hmmm....coulda done that at home and spared myself the trouble. Grouch grouch! Someone please pass the tequila; Mama needs a stiff margarita!