Relax! Have a homebrew!
Monday, November 23, 2009
A New Hobby...
Well what is the one hobby that a father and mother should pick up after having a child? The answer: Homebrewing. Joel had saved up some money before Eli was born and is starting to experiment with brewing our own beer. He made a batch of beer about 2 weeks ago so we took advantage of having an extra set of hands this weekend and bottled the beer. It now has to condition for 10-14 days and then we'll see how it tastes! According to Joel, it tasted like flat beer this weekend so that's a good sign!
Relax! Have a homebrew!
Relax! Have a homebrew!
Aunt Momo's Visit
Well we had a great visit with my sister this weekend, it was the first time that Moriah had seen Eli! It was so great to have her here and sadly, we probably were not the most fun. It's crazy how a baby changes how you spend your weekends. I am still getting used to being somewhat occupied for a good chunk of the day feeding Eli. He tends to feed for about an hour from start to finish so that limits how much I can do during the day with visitors. (I feel somewhat bad that they have to sit around.) We can go out and do things as I am getting more used to breastfeeding out in public, so that helps. I am thankful that Madison is a pretty good community when it comes to public nursing. There is a great initiative in town (and across the US) called Nursing Is Normal which is helping to remove any negative stigma about breastfeeding in public. I'm thankful that there are an army of mamas that have gone before me and paved the way to make nursing normal.
Speaking of the little munchkin, we had a doctor's appointment last week and we are now into double digits. He clocked in at a whopping 10 pounds, 21 inches long and a head circumference of 37 cm. He is starting to move out of looking like a newborn and starting to look like a baby. He also is sleeping more at night (yes!) and consistently will sleep for a 5 hour stretch. I feel like a new woman! He also is starting to smile which is so rewarding and makes me so happy. Here is the proof of how much he's growing!
On another note, my maternity leave is over halfway over and it's starting to hit me that in 5 weeks I'll have to leave Eli for a whole day, four days a week. I have to be honest, I don't want to go back to work (sorry any Access folks reading this!). Our intention was that when we had kids I would stay home and Joel would work, but that's not how it's going to work out right now. I have been battling with different emotions about going back to work. Most of me is sad/mad (not at Joel) that Joel hasn't found a job yet, frustrated that I only get 12 weeks when most of the developed world (example Canada) gets 9 months to a year off if a mother wishes, nervous about how Eli will do without me and many other emotions that I'll spare you. I keep on praying that God will give me peace about our situation right now and that I won't be angry at Him for allowing this to happen. But it's hard not to feel like He's not answering our prayers. Then I'm reminded of how He has provided/answered prayers for us during these past 10 months and I am humbled. He has provided most, if not all, of our baby stuff through friends/family generosity, He's given Joel a temporary job at EPIC so we have income during my leave, he's kept our car/house from needing any major repairs, He provided us with the ability and timing to refinance our house (saving us tons of money) and so much more. Those are the examples I cling too when I feel the most frustrated with God and I am reminded that He LOVES us and cares for us and has a plan for us even if I don't see it or like it right now. I cling to those reminders and in doing so, I trust Him.
Speaking of the little munchkin, we had a doctor's appointment last week and we are now into double digits. He clocked in at a whopping 10 pounds, 21 inches long and a head circumference of 37 cm. He is starting to move out of looking like a newborn and starting to look like a baby. He also is sleeping more at night (yes!) and consistently will sleep for a 5 hour stretch. I feel like a new woman! He also is starting to smile which is so rewarding and makes me so happy. Here is the proof of how much he's growing!
On another note, my maternity leave is over halfway over and it's starting to hit me that in 5 weeks I'll have to leave Eli for a whole day, four days a week. I have to be honest, I don't want to go back to work (sorry any Access folks reading this!). Our intention was that when we had kids I would stay home and Joel would work, but that's not how it's going to work out right now. I have been battling with different emotions about going back to work. Most of me is sad/mad (not at Joel) that Joel hasn't found a job yet, frustrated that I only get 12 weeks when most of the developed world (example Canada) gets 9 months to a year off if a mother wishes, nervous about how Eli will do without me and many other emotions that I'll spare you. I keep on praying that God will give me peace about our situation right now and that I won't be angry at Him for allowing this to happen. But it's hard not to feel like He's not answering our prayers. Then I'm reminded of how He has provided/answered prayers for us during these past 10 months and I am humbled. He has provided most, if not all, of our baby stuff through friends/family generosity, He's given Joel a temporary job at EPIC so we have income during my leave, he's kept our car/house from needing any major repairs, He provided us with the ability and timing to refinance our house (saving us tons of money) and so much more. Those are the examples I cling too when I feel the most frustrated with God and I am reminded that He LOVES us and cares for us and has a plan for us even if I don't see it or like it right now. I cling to those reminders and in doing so, I trust Him.
Friday, November 13, 2009
One Month Reflections
Eli turned one month old this past Sunday and it's crazy to think that a month has already passed. I'm not sure where that time has gone and I'm not sure if I really want it to slow down at this point. Joel and I have realized that we aren't really "newborn people"; we're more like "6 month old people". Things are a lot better than they were in the beginning around week two. We are now better at recognizing his patterns, cries, noises, grunts etc and knowing what we should do for him. We also are getting better at being able to soothe him; though we still have times when he's crying and we can't do anything for him! (Those are frustrating times.) Overall, I'm not sure if we have a "colicky" baby or just a fussy baby. From what I've been told, if you have to ask that question you don't have a colicky baby!
Eli is starting to have some greater periods of alertness where he is not crying and that has been so rewarding. We were at a play group the other day at Happy Bambino and he spent almost an hour just looking around the room. He was quiet, inquisitive and then calmly fell asleep in my arms. I sometimes wonder what he is thinking when he sees new sights or hears new sounds. Today, I was even able to put him down for a morning nap while he was "drowsy but awake" (that's what the books call it) and he didn't cry as he fell asleep. It may have been a fluke, but it was nice to get dressed without a crying babe.
And so this leads into the question we get about Eli's sleeping habits and patterns. It's interesting that people in our culture relate how "good" a baby is by how they go to sleep and sleep for their parents. Part of me feels that it's okay to have a baby that takes more soothing to get to sleep and that doesn't mean they are a "difficult/bad" baby or that the parents aren't doing a good job. (Granted it may be nicer for the parents if a baby doesn't require tons of soothing, but is that really the point? Babies depend on parents, that's the design.) Anyways, at this point in his life he developmentally doesn't have the circadian rhythms or the resources to fall asleep completely unassisted. Who cares if I want to rock my baby to sleep, I'm not harming him in any way. (Can you tell I'm a little annoyed by what some of the "sleep experts" say out there). Alright, I'll get back on track here...back to sleep. Eli is starting to have a longer stretch of sleep for the first part of the night which is really nice for me. Generally he nurses between 9-10 and then sleeps until about 2-3 am which gives me almost 4 hours of sleep. We are starting to approach the mark of sleeping through the night. Sadly, the definition of "sleeping through the night" is sleeping a 6 hour stretch at a time (who decided that?). But that could be from 8 pm until 2 am; there's a lot of night left after 2 am! Overall, I think I either am getting more sleep or my body has adjusted to the lack of sleep at this point!
We are also fully in the world of cloth diapering as we have made the final transition to 24 hour cloth diapers. Initially we were using disposables at night but I splurged and got us some more diapers so we could use cloth at night and not have to wash diapers everyday. That's right folks, we are also washing are own diapers even though there is an awesome diaper service in town. Actually, washing are own diapers is not that bad at all, we tend to wash every 2-3 days and have experienced the wonderful bleaching power of our very own sun! Last weekend I dried the diapers partially in the sun and they literally were as white as the day we got them from the store. I was amazed and will not poo-poo bleaching whites in the sun any more! It's great not to be using a harsh bleach to get the diapers white as snow.
So I bet you would like to know what I like about cloth diapers. Well, first of all, they don't really smell (at least yet, we are only dealing with breastmilk poo, not solids yet). I have found I hate the way the disposables smell. I'm not sure what it is in the diapers but it turns his mild urine in to a foul smelling mess. Second of all, I am glad that we're not clogging up a landfill with diapers that take 500 years to degrade. I understand that some would argue that we are wasting more energy with washing them but I just don't buy it. Third of all, I love cloth diapers because my babe hasn't had any diaper rash since we switched to all cloth, all the time. It's nice to know that when I wipe his heiny that I'm not causing him pain. Well I could go on but am realizing that this post is getting quite long!
Thanks for reading, there are many more reflections I have and will try and find some time to post later this weekend.
Eli is starting to have some greater periods of alertness where he is not crying and that has been so rewarding. We were at a play group the other day at Happy Bambino and he spent almost an hour just looking around the room. He was quiet, inquisitive and then calmly fell asleep in my arms. I sometimes wonder what he is thinking when he sees new sights or hears new sounds. Today, I was even able to put him down for a morning nap while he was "drowsy but awake" (that's what the books call it) and he didn't cry as he fell asleep. It may have been a fluke, but it was nice to get dressed without a crying babe.
And so this leads into the question we get about Eli's sleeping habits and patterns. It's interesting that people in our culture relate how "good" a baby is by how they go to sleep and sleep for their parents. Part of me feels that it's okay to have a baby that takes more soothing to get to sleep and that doesn't mean they are a "difficult/bad" baby or that the parents aren't doing a good job. (Granted it may be nicer for the parents if a baby doesn't require tons of soothing, but is that really the point? Babies depend on parents, that's the design.) Anyways, at this point in his life he developmentally doesn't have the circadian rhythms or the resources to fall asleep completely unassisted. Who cares if I want to rock my baby to sleep, I'm not harming him in any way. (Can you tell I'm a little annoyed by what some of the "sleep experts" say out there). Alright, I'll get back on track here...back to sleep. Eli is starting to have a longer stretch of sleep for the first part of the night which is really nice for me. Generally he nurses between 9-10 and then sleeps until about 2-3 am which gives me almost 4 hours of sleep. We are starting to approach the mark of sleeping through the night. Sadly, the definition of "sleeping through the night" is sleeping a 6 hour stretch at a time (who decided that?). But that could be from 8 pm until 2 am; there's a lot of night left after 2 am! Overall, I think I either am getting more sleep or my body has adjusted to the lack of sleep at this point!
We are also fully in the world of cloth diapering as we have made the final transition to 24 hour cloth diapers. Initially we were using disposables at night but I splurged and got us some more diapers so we could use cloth at night and not have to wash diapers everyday. That's right folks, we are also washing are own diapers even though there is an awesome diaper service in town. Actually, washing are own diapers is not that bad at all, we tend to wash every 2-3 days and have experienced the wonderful bleaching power of our very own sun! Last weekend I dried the diapers partially in the sun and they literally were as white as the day we got them from the store. I was amazed and will not poo-poo bleaching whites in the sun any more! It's great not to be using a harsh bleach to get the diapers white as snow.
So I bet you would like to know what I like about cloth diapers. Well, first of all, they don't really smell (at least yet, we are only dealing with breastmilk poo, not solids yet). I have found I hate the way the disposables smell. I'm not sure what it is in the diapers but it turns his mild urine in to a foul smelling mess. Second of all, I am glad that we're not clogging up a landfill with diapers that take 500 years to degrade. I understand that some would argue that we are wasting more energy with washing them but I just don't buy it. Third of all, I love cloth diapers because my babe hasn't had any diaper rash since we switched to all cloth, all the time. It's nice to know that when I wipe his heiny that I'm not causing him pain. Well I could go on but am realizing that this post is getting quite long!
Thanks for reading, there are many more reflections I have and will try and find some time to post later this weekend.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Handing in My Man Card
Due to recent circumstances I may have to turn in my "Man Card". I admit I have been wearing our Moby wrap (see pictures from an earlier post) to carry Eli on a regular basis for the past month. It's black, but is by no means manly. Sometimes I feel like less of a man wearing it and get comments like, "Ohhhh, you have him in your little papoose ". Really a papoose, I don't remember seeing any pictures of Native American men with papoose's, but they didn't have to navigate Woodman's with a three week old. I've found my feelings of lost manhood are counteracted by what I am able to accomplish with a child on me. I think to myself as I walk through the grocery story looking at other shoppers, "are you grocery shopping with a child attached to you". I can bend down to the bottom shelf to get a box of Life, I can leave my cart behind since Eli's with me, I can glaze windows, and best of all I'm not lugging around a big clunky car seat. They're heavy and awkward. I've also found with Eli in the wrap it surprises people. The public can see a car seat coming a mile away and assumes there's a baby in it. With him on me and a sweatshirt on they don't notice until I walk by and then when they see his head sticking out little girls nudge their moms and say things like "mommy look" and point at me while I'm five feet away as though I have a goiter sticking out of my neck. I have been sold on using the wrap, manly or not it quiets Eli down and allows me to carry on with normal activities outside of holding him. On the man front, yesterday I found out we have a pair of Carhart overalls for Eli when he's a little older. I think this may make up for my use of the wrap, and it will protect his legs from chain-saws.
side note: If you google Papoose most of the hits are a gansta rapper, nice.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Like Father, Like Son...
Well, so far I have managed to keep my hands clean while changing Eli's diapers (see previous post). No major poop blowouts on my hand! Eli and I are getting used to each other a little bit more each day and are starting to fall into some routines. It's funny to see ourselves in him and I am sure that we will only see more of our selves each and every day. One thing that I've found about Eli is that he likes to nap on his stomach (don't worry, he's checked on often and he doesn't sleep on his stomach at night) just like his papa. Joel has a tendency to sleep on his stomach for a good portion of the night and will be on his stomach if he has trouble falling asleep. It's no wonder that Eli seems to like this sleep position as well and I just get the biggest kick out of it! Also, when Joel is sleeping really soundly, his mouth tends to hang open a little bit and Eli is taking after his father in this respect. It so cute to see Eli in a deep sleep and recognize Joel in him. So I couldn't resist taking some pictures one afternoon while Eli was napping; my little man.
Momentary wakening
Just Like Joel
Another thing that we get a kick out of is when Eli is finished eating because it's like he is a drunk on all that good breastmilk. He usually pops off and immediately his arms flop to the side, head rolls back and he makes a nice sigh (usually with a little milk dribble as well). The calmness that comes after his feeding is wonderful, he is satisfied and looks around briefly to take in his small world. When it gets time to switch sides he tends to stretch sleepily and settle in for what is to be the end of a really good meal. As much work as breastfeeding takes, I wouldn't give it up for the world. The opportunity to settle in with Eli and bond with him is great, sometimes it's even great at 3 am! (Though not always as I'm pretty tired!), We've tried to capture his delight on camera and this is the best we could do at the time.
Momentary wakening
Just Like Joel
Another thing that we get a kick out of is when Eli is finished eating because it's like he is a drunk on all that good breastmilk. He usually pops off and immediately his arms flop to the side, head rolls back and he makes a nice sigh (usually with a little milk dribble as well). The calmness that comes after his feeding is wonderful, he is satisfied and looks around briefly to take in his small world. When it gets time to switch sides he tends to stretch sleepily and settle in for what is to be the end of a really good meal. As much work as breastfeeding takes, I wouldn't give it up for the world. The opportunity to settle in with Eli and bond with him is great, sometimes it's even great at 3 am! (Though not always as I'm pretty tired!), We've tried to capture his delight on camera and this is the best we could do at the time.
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