Many thoughts

It feels like I have ideas for blog post multiple times a day, but just can't seem to find the minutes to get them written. (Yesterday's post was going to be longer, but I gave up when I hadn't gotten back to it for an hour).

So I'm going to stick with list format in order to share a few things with all of you. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have time to elaborate some of the points.

1 - I *think* Heather is moving herself to two naps a day using the 2-3-4 pattern. She's only done it for 3 days in a row (maybe longer, I didn't ask about her naps at daycare last week) and only followed 2-3-4 for the past two days. But the fact that she did it two days in a row is significant since she's never even come close to that pattern before.

2 - The other exciting aspect to these new patterns is that she went to be at 8:30 last night. Earliest bedtime ever. She woke up at 9:30 to eat, went right back to bed, and other than a few random cries/noises overnight, she wasn't up until she started rolling in her crib around 6:45. (But don't be too jealous, on Sunday night I got about 4 hours of sleep...)

3 - I'm reading "Child of Mine" by Ellyn Satter. It's about feeding babies and toddlers and was recommended by several friends with older babies. So far I'm really enjoying it and am getting ready to start solids with a little less trepidation. (We start on Saturday, BTW)

4 - Things are good at work. The firm just got a big job that should give us some financial security for a while. I was also just offered a role on a new job starting in late September. The downside is the travel that will be involved. But the upside is that because the President and VP of the firm will be the only people "above" me on the job, it will probably be the closest I've come to running a job so far. Exciting and scary at the same time.
The nicest thing is that I was given the option of saying no because of the travel involved. I will discuss the implications with R, but as long as I have a couple of days between trips for this job and another one that I'm already working on, I don't see it as being a problem. (Though it might be a bigger issue during construction - will have to think about that.)

5 - The essence of my breastfeeding post is still in my head, but I don't know that I'll ever have the time to write it as eloquently as I'd like.
There were two specific events that precipitated my thoughts. One, I was telling a coworker (2 kids, never breastfed) about my pumping schedule and the fact that I won't really be going to any lunch seminars until I stop pumping due to limited express bus runs, etc. Her response was "Better you than me. I couldn't do it." The second was a message board post where a woman was getting advice from her pediatrician to supplement with formula because her baby was suffering from reflux and medication wasn't helping. Without going into more details about the post, the gist is that all of the breastfeeding Moms were coming up with alternative strategies and encouraging this mom not to give formula if she didn't want to. The formula feeding moms responded with "If formula might help, why not try it" and "I would follow the pediatrician's advice".
I guess both of these incidents made me think about the commitment involved with breastfeeding. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to parenting, but as a parent you have to decide which decisions are critical and which ones aren't *for your family*. (The old cliché - choose your battles) For me, doing everything in my power to give Heather nothing but breast milk for 6 months is a priority. (On the other hand, it doesn't bother me that Heather doesn't have a consistent bedtime, but I'm sure that would drive some other mother batty.)
The more I think about it, I think the thing that bothers me is the implication the formula feeding is so much easier than breastfeeding. The idea that I'm making motherhood so much harder on myself by breastfeeding and pumping at work is just ridiculous. Yes, it is harder in the beginning because of the time it takes and the lack of sleep...but it is SO much easier once you get in a groove. And while I agree that formula isn't poison, it doesn't make me some kind of martyr just because I'm willing to make a few sacrifices to avoid it. I'm mostly trying to avoid it because I'm worried that if we supplement, my supply will go down and the problem will get even worse.
I don't mean for this to be a rant. I just find it interesting that there are mothers and pediatricians out there who would hear a mother say "I don't want to give my child formula yet" and then go ahead and encourage them to give formula. I guess it goes along with my wish that there were more doctors out there who were more knowledgeable about breastfeeding so that they could give new mothers better advice and not be so quick to recommend supplementing. More people should understand that there are few medical reasons why it is necessary to supplement right after birth, that sometimes it takes more than a week for a woman's milk to come in (without negative consequences) and that just because it is easier for the pediatrician to "fix" a problem with formula doesn't mean that it's the best idea.
I guess this is kind of a rant. Oh well. I probably just need to spend less time reading message boards - then I wouldn't have other peoples' problems to get agitated about. :-)

6 - I enjoyed HP5 even more on the second viewing and I had a great girls night out at the same time. A lovely Saturday evening. I think HP5 is tied with HP3 as my favorite movie. I'm very excited that David Yates is directing the next one, too.

7 - I'm sure that you are tired of hearing about my milk supply. But that's too bad since this is my blog. :-) I've noticed a pattern that makes me think that the Mother's milk tea and the oatmeal really do work. The past two Mondays I have had really crappy pumping days but the next day I've gotten almost as much as I needed. I generally haven't been having the tea or oatmeal over the weekend since it's hot and I'm nursing, but I'm pretty good about having both at work eat day. So it seems like they must really work.

I totally understand if that post was so long that you just skimmed it. :-)

halfway to 32

The only reason that I remembered that today is my half birthday is because Heather will be 6 months old on Thursday. We shall see if I can more easily remember my own birthday when February rolls around. :-) Although we all know what it will be overshadowed by! (I will just be happy to see "and Amy, too" in tiny letters on Heather's first birthday cake. ;-)

Unexciting title

I have a post about breastfeeding floating about in my head, but not the time to write it out. It's not meant to be condescending, but recent things that I've read tell me that formula feeding moms just "don't get it". Not that FFing moms are bad, but just that I've seen some examples of moms who don't seem to understand the rewards that come from a little extra effort. I'm probably not making much sense - I'll try to flush my thoughts out soon while I still remember them. :-)

Right now, I'm counting the minutes until it's time to go pump again so I can get back to Harry. (Maybe I should have just taken a half day off of work, LOL?) When I got to work this morning I had 90 pages to go...I'm soooooo close. And I'm really happy about what I read at my last pumping session!

Counting down - 1 week until Heather hits the 6 month mark. :-) I'm still debating what to feed her first next weekend - oatmeal? sweet potato? avocado? banana? So many possibilities, and I'm sure I'll be much more excited about it than she will be!

223 pages

When I went to bed last night, that's how far I was into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I received the book Monday morning at work, thanks to my lovely friend Katie who mailed me her finished copy.

I don't expect to make that much progress everyday, but Heather took a nice long evening nap and once I finished my house tour tasks I was free to read. (I have yet to vacuum while she naps and didn't want to risk it...)

I'm really enjoying it so far. And I don't see any knitting happening or any recorded episodes of "Gilmore Girls" (I'm watching the series for the first time in syndication) being viewed until I'm done with the book. It takes a lot of restraint to go back to work when I read it while pumping, too.

*************
On the pumping front, things are okay. I seemed to be getting back to normal last week, but then yesterday was disappointing. I didn't pump or take fenugreek over the weekend - maybe that was a mistake? We shall see. A friend told me of the success she's had with the mother's milk tea, so I'm trying that again (with 2 spoonfuls of sugar) as well as the fenugreek, oatmeal and as much water as I can drink. My other theory is that I'm somewhat dehydrated from the heat and humidity, so it might just be a matter of drinking more water.

*************
Heather has a new "trick". When she's tired or cranky, she just wants me. She's done this the past two evenings now. When she needs to go to sleep, she wants me to hold her. When she wakes up cranky, she wants me. Twice R was holding her while I was taking care of a few things. She was watching my every move and the crying would subside as I got closer. And when I "finally" came over to get her, she held up her arms to be picked up. Totally adorable, except for the part where she was crying inconsolably in R's ear.

I'm sure it's just a phase, but hopefully it won't be a problem when I'm out with the girls on Saturday night. (It hasn't been a problem at daycare, so for R's sake let's hope that it will be better if I'm not home at all.)

Slightly Optimistic

I've done a bunch of reading online to try to come up with new strategies to try for the benefit of my supply. In the process I found Work and Pump. There is some information on there I wish I would have had several months ago. :-) Nothing earth shattering, just a few tidbits that might have altered my strategies a little.

So I'm experimenting, and results seem to be good so far. Despite the hassle, I've started taking the pump home each night. The goal is to pump after both evening feedings, though I have found so far that I'm too tired to do it after the second one. But between the extra pumping and the 2 1/2 ounces that Heather didn't finish at daycare yesterday, we didn't have to use any frozen milk today! And, even more importantly, I got a full feeding at my first pumping session this morning!

The morning session is another strategy change, too. I decided to try pumping as soon as I get to work. Hopefully this will mean that I'm more relaxed since I haven't even started to think about the work day yet. It also means only interrupting my work twice and leaves me with more time and flexibility for my other two sessions.

I'm hopeful that these strategies, plus the oatmeal, water and fenugreek *and* my recovery from the breast infection will mean that we won't have to use up the whole freezer stash in the next two weeks. As I said before, I totally realize that supplementing with formula isn't the end of the world (and I realize that it might even make my life easier by putting less pressure on me to pump), but I'm concerned about the slippery slope of demanding less milk, so my body makes less, so we have to supplement more.

I'll stop boring you with all of this pumping talk soon - it just happens to be the big "thing" on my mind right now. With parenting there is always something, and I'm sure the next series of parenting related posts will be all about solids! To make up for the limited appeal of my prose, here are a few Heather pictures. Our picture gallery is up to date, except for our camping trip. So those of you who are registered users will find new photos in the May, June and July albums and everyone can see the new pictures in the public folder. (I apologize that the public folder is out of order - but really at the moment I'm just happy to be almost caught up).

Foot holding is a favorite pasttime these days.

Hanging out on the back porch is a good way to make a fussy Heather happy again.

Being in the tent seems to make her happy, too.

Being in the tent yields a number of fun expressions.

Trying out her cool sunglasses, which are still a little big.

Wondering why Daddy took over 600 pictures on this particular Saturday.

Sitting up with assistance is almost as good as standing with assistance. :-)

Stuff

1 - We went camping this weekend. Heather did really well - she loved the hikes, loved hanging out on the air mattress and sleeping bags, and loved sleeping next to me the first night when she was cold. Our site was very sunny in the afternoon, so we didn't have a lot of opportunity to put her down, except inside the tent, but we managed.

2 - On our way home we stopped at the ILs and Heather took her first dip in the pool. She was initially unimpressed by the water temperature, but as she got used to it her interest improved. In the last few minutes, she figured out how to splash and didn't seem to mind having the water up to her waist.

3 - Still lots to do, but for the moment I'm accepting the fact that I'm going to consistently feel behind. I'm willing to stay up a little later than I should to try to get a little more done and I hope that it doesn't come back to bite me by the end of the week. We've generally been able to convince Heather to go back to sleep (not always immediately) after her first feeding on weekend mornings, so I do get a little "extra" sleep then.

4 - I haven't even looked at Ravelry. I don't have time to get sucked into anything else on the internet right now, and I have enough trouble finding time to knit without spending some of that precious free time on knitting related websites. (I do still read most of the knit-blogs listed at the right, but that is a very limited time commitment)

5 - Secret baby-related knitting projects continue. I'd like to be making more progress, but I will eventually. I didn't even really knit in the car this weekend because I wanted to use the time to close my eyes.

6 - House tour planning seems to be going well. The list of homes in finalized. My co-chairs seem to be fulfilling their promises. I have our weekend in Michigan to fall back on if I haven't found the time to put together the tour program by then. The only thing I really need to do soon is design the poster.

7 - My milk supply is still not keeping up with the pumping. By my calculations, as long as it doesn't drop anymore, with a little extra weekend and evening pumping, we should be able to make it to August 9th (6 months) without any supplementing. After that, Heather will likely be getting about 1 bottle of formula a day at daycare. I will keep trying to pump extra and at least have enough of a freezer stash for the occasional evening away, but I am reconciling myself to the fact that formula isn't evil and I've done absolutely everything in my power to give Heather the best start possible. :-) I hope to keep nursing for quite a while longer, but it is hard to know what will happen with the introduction of a supplemental bottle and solids.

8 - Heather continues to be adorable. She's also full of energy and constantly on the move to the best of her ability. She's rolling almost effortlessly (usually), grabbing at anything within inches of her reach, kicking her legs and pushing off of anything nearby, standing and sitting with assistance every chance we give her and trying to sit and stand when we aren't helping. She literally does crunches trying to sit up from a lying position - making it very clear that she's tired of being on her back, thank-you-very-much! The changes have happened gradually, but kind of suddenly as I realize how much reaching and grabbing she is doing.

9 - I had a tragic purse accident last week. :-( A box of clothes that I had ordered online arrived at work, so I put my container from pumping into my purse. Sadly, I hadn't properly screwed on one of the lids. Not only did I lose 4 1/2 ounces of breast milk, but my purse and half its contents are stiff with dried milk and my iPod won't turn on. :-( It's not an immediate problem because I haven't been listening to it a ton lately...but now that I don't have it I am missing it. We will have to see if we can replace it in the next few months with a little bit of frugality or if it will be my one Christmas present. I may take the drenched one over to the Apple store to see if there is anything that they can do, but I don't know that repair will be that much less than replacement.

10 - I'm patiently waiting for one of my friends to finish HP7 so I can borrow it. I actually don't mind the waiting except that I'm completely paranoid that someone is going to spoil something for me...even though in 6 books I never had anything spoiled for me...but somehow this one seems like a much bigger deal!

11 - I'm going on a tour of our daycare on Thursday. :-) That may seem a bit backwards, but it isn't a tour about the program, it is about the building. They have completed a green renovation of the 100+ year old building and the tour is specifically to talk about its greenness. Considering that I'm currently working on a green renovation of a 40+ year old building, it seems like a timely tour and a nice chance to pick Heather up at the end of the day. Oh, and it's free because I'm a parent!

What?

I placed an order at babiesrus.com last week. I was impressed that it came today since it just shipped yesterday.

I'm not impressed that I got two boxes...each with exactly the same contents.

Now I have to figure out if they charged me twice or someone made a boo-boo. Either way, I'm not paying to ship back items that I didn't order.

I'm not going to take the duplicates home with me, so if anyone at work needs an inflatable tub they won't have to look far.

Moody

My mood has been all over the place for the past few days. Delighted by Heather's cuteness. Happy after seeing Harry Potter. Unhappy while tired, achy and feverish. Frustrated while doing chores at 10pm on Sunday. Annoyed while running late this morning.

I'm still in a tired and overwhelmed mood, so this will be quick.

1 - I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I'm already looking forward to my next trip to see it. There were a few scenes that I would have liked to be a little longer, especially in the beginning, but overall I was very happy. I noticed a lot of the changes and omissions as they happened, and I didn't think there were any bad choices. I would have liked more Tonks and a few more Harry/Ron/Hermione moments (the one by the fire after the kiss was wonderful), but coming from such a long and rich story, I knew there were going to be things that didn't make the cut. I think I liked this one as much as POA, which means I liked it as a movie as well as liking it as a reimagination of a great book. Oh, and I LOVED the DA scenes.

2 - I had my second bout with mastitis this weekend. My only mistake was waiting too long to take Tylenol. I think if I would have taken it Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon, I would have felt much better all day Saturday. I felt fine yesterday, but with brunch and our Harry Potter plans, I barely had time to do some laundry.

3 - Not only did I not get half of the stuff done around the house that I wanted to, I didn't do any work on the house tour. I have a meeting on Thursday night. It's going to be a busy week.

4 - The main downside to pumping reared its head today. I fell asleep while Heather was nursing this morning and had to take a later bus. I just don't have the flexibility to be late. On most nights I would miss her first evening feeding if I didn't take the express bus home. And since I use my lunch hour to pump, I have to be in the office for nine hours. I have no idea how to make up any time other than working at home...which doesn't really work because I have too much to cram in to the little time I have at home while Heather sleeps. It might be different if she was an 8pm bedtime baby...but she isn't.

I'm not in an awful mood, just stressed out. (which isn't going to help my milk supply either...)

ETA: Thankfully Heather's last daycare bottle was at 3:30, so if R takes her for a walk I should be able to get home in time for her feeding and put in an 8 hour day. A pleasant surprise.

Why I don't "design"

Yes, it's actual knitting-related content. Don't faint, please.

I very often knit "off pattern". Either I start with a pattern and make modifications (add cables, add lace, change sleeve length, etc) or I knit the pattern in a different way (e.g., work a sock toe-up instead of cuff down) or I just plain knit from scratch (mostly purses, blankets and hats).

I have made a number of things according to a pattern. Usually if I don't make changes it is because I am getting gauge the pattern calls for and I don't want to do the math required to make the changes I would make otherwise. There are also times (especially with sweaters) that I really like a pattern as much as something I could design myself, and with a complicated garment, design is a lot of work. Oh, and lace. I have no desire to do all the work required to design lace. (This is why most of the knitting pattern books I own are of sweaters and lace!)

The current baby sweater I'm working on (and can't really talk too much about) is based on a sweater pattern I've made several times before, but with the addition of a lace pattern. In essence I'm just replacing the stockinette with lace, but as I'm working the decreases there are decisions to be made on each row about how to integrate the lace pattern and the decreases. In order to share the "pattern" for this sweater with anyone else, I would need to be charting the raglan shaping as I go. But I don't want to do that. I just want to knit and figure it out as I go. (The raglan decreases have been the most fun part of the knitting so far, actually - lots of thinking on my feet and figuring out how the lace pattern works.)

The story is similar for several purses and blankets that I've designed. I enjoy the process of figuring it out as I go. And once I'm finished with the item, I'm done. I have no desire to sit down and try to write the pattern.

So I'm sorry to report that I will never be posting the pattern for the baby poncho, the joyce carol oats puppet or anything else that I've created. I try to take good photos so that there is some chance that I could reconstruct my work in the future if I really wanted to and I have great respect for those who share or sell knitting patterns...but I won't be joining their ranks anytime soon.

Maybe when I'm retired. :-)

Living Room nap

This camera phone photo is a bit grainy...


The black thing in the upper right of the photo is a fan. Our house was very warm and muggy last night, but Heather figured out how to best position herself.

The funniest part was when she got up, she had a garter stitch pattern on her cheek and belly from the log cabin moderne blanket. :-)

5 months, 3 days and 45 photos

Heather is 5 months old today.

1) She's generally pretty happy. Especially if she takes a good nap every time she's tired. She gets fussy from time to time, but usually the introduction of a toy or a change of position will distract her from the fussiness unless she's tired or hungry.

2) She's still waking up overnight. Sunday night she didn't wake up overnight, but last night she woke up four times. In all but the last case, her pacifier and bear put her right back to sleep. Friday night she only woke up once, but it took two hours to get her back down. I'm hoping that this is just a developmental sleep regression (still) that will go away on its own.

3) She seems to know how to move all of her body parts. She can't always move what she wants to move right away or coordinate enough to do what she really wants to do (sit-up, crawl and walk). But she can lift her head enough that you can see when she wants to sit up and once she's standing she knows how to lock her legs so you can't sit her down again.

4) R set up our new tent (with room for the Pack'n'Play!) in the back yard last night, and Heather was practically giddy when we went out there. She laughed more consistently than we've ever heard before. She has always liked being outside, so maybe she saw the benefit of being outside with some protection. Either that or bouncing around on the air mattress is just the coolest thing ever.

5) Anything that comes in front of her face she will try to grab. And if she gets a hold of it, it immediately goes in her mouth. Everyone and their brother keeps telling us that she must be teething because she usually has a couple of fingers or a thumb in her mouth. We shall see.

I counted last night and I have about 3 days worth of milk in the freezer. I would like it to be a little more than that, but I was worried it would be less than that. I keep hoping to make a bunch of time to pump each weekend, but it hasn't quite happened. I'm just barely keeping up with what Heather needs each day at daycare, so a little bit more of a buffer wouldn't make me unhappy. Without a unexpected setback, I definitely see us making it to my goal of 6 months. I'm not sure what the next goal will be after that. Maybe just a month at a time?

I posted 55 pictures this weekend. So there are 45 to go. And R took more on Sunday while we were in the tent. I will do my best to get caught up before we go camping so there is some chance that I won't fall waaaay behind again!

A few favorites

A few of these could use a little Photoshop work, but you'll just have to bear with me for now...

In case you have lost track of time, Heather will be 5 months old on Monday. :-)

(And no, I will not be whining about how fast time flies or how sad I am at how big she's getting. In my view, time is moving at the appropriate pace. I love seeing her learn to move her body in new ways and explore new toys. I can't wait until she has the patience for a little more reading time and in general she's even more fun than she used to be. I'm amazed at how much she's grown in 5 months, but as long as I can still carry her, I'm not yearning to have our tiny newborn back!)

100 pictures

Somehow, yesterday, after sleeping in, vacuuming, doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen floor, in between feeding and playing with Heather, I managed to go through the rest of the photos on our server. I went back as far as March, and picked all of the photos that I'd still like to post.

Now I just have to find the time to upload 100 pictures before we take more and I get behind again. :-)

I'm really not sure how soon I'll get to it. Maybe this weekend. I hope to go to bed as soon after Heather does for a while and try to feel more human again. I'm just tired of being tired and cranky! ;-) I know that it will get better, and we did have some good nights last week, but I'm getting to that sleepy place where it is harder to stay focused at work and I just hate feeling like this. Not to mention the fact that it is noon, and I've eaten everything I brought with me already...

Harlot happiness

I realize that this makes me a big dork, but I'm going to admit it anyway.

I re-watched the episode of Knitty Gritty with The Yarn Harlot yesterday with the intention of deleting it from the DVR when I was done. We don't need the space, but it's been on there a long time.

I couldn't do it.

I don't need the episode for any knitting related reason. I know how to make a sock and I have Stephanie's book, so I don't need the show for the pattern.

I just couldn't delete Stephanie.

Watching the episode made me happy.

And even though we've only met twice briefly at her book signings where she was mobbed by many memorable knitters, and she's probably more likely to remember Heather than to remember me...I've read every single one of her blog posts, and I feel like I know her and I just couldn't delete it.

So it will stay on there until the DVR does something dumb that causes the episode to disappear.

Go see photos

I've posted more Heather photos at gallery.trovish.org/

I'm still behind, but I went through 14 days (June 11-25), including the shower last Saturday. You'll see more pictures if you are a registered user (move your mouse over the "@" sign to register and please use an ID that would tell R and I who you are).

It took a couple of hours last night and tonight to do those 14 days...and R took over 600 photos yesterday, so i'm done for the moment. I need to work on the house tour and vacuum our house before I post any more...but I'll try to do some on Wednesday or next weekend.

The weather this weekend was gorgeous. I even woke up a little chilly this morning. Fingers crossed that it stays like this for a while!

Finally

Finally, the images I sent from my phone showed up in my email inbox.

First, a photo from lunch on Monday. Not a bad shot given that we were inside a Cracker Barrel.
You can't see the colors very well. But here, finally, is a picture of my Dulaan contribution for 2007. (Don't worry, I didn't ship Heather off with the hats and mittens. :-)

Focused on Harry

I'm feeling the way I did the first time I read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I don't want to put it down. The first time I read it was when R and I were in St. Lucia for our 2nd Anniversary. There were several times (and I think one whole afternoon), when I stayed on my beach chair to read while R enjoyed the water. Although, actually, I don't think the reading prevented me from going out in the water...but it probably meant that I got less knitting done on that trip than I would have otherwise. (That, and the fact that I brought wool projects with me - what was I thinking bringing wool yarn to the carribbean?!?)

Anyway, this time around, I obviously can't sit for hours on end and read. But I am using every available opportunity to read a few more pages. On the bus. While Heather eats. While pumping (kind of annoying, but possible). And before bed while letting the fan me off enough that I can fall asleep.

I was torn this morning when I missed the express bus. I was sad that I will have to stay a little later and miss the express bus home...but happy when I realized that I'd get some extra reading time in.

And, I saw a trailer for HP5 last night while watching my DVR recording of Ugly Betty from last week. I backed up and watched it in slow motion. There were several locations that I couldn't specifically map to scenes in my brain - so I think the designers on this movie have a very different interpretation of the inside of the Ministry of Magic than what J.K. Rowling's descriptions put in my brain. (Not a complaint, just an observation)

I was happy to see that Fred and George's exit from school appears to be in the movie, but I got the impression that Umbridge's exit might be different. I was also happy to see that Lupin will definitely be in this one (other than being a member of the Order, he doesn't have a pivotal role in the book).

I also realized as I was watching the trailer that even though the movies have had some affect on the "movie" that plays in my head as I read, that the original characters I envisioned are still mostly intact. Especially Harry. I can't describe it exactly. The Harry in my brain is similar to Daniel Radcliffe...but still somehow different. In fact, the location that I have the most trouble with is Hagrid's house. It is smaller and simpler in the movies than in the book, and I have trouble resolving that sometimes while reading because I picture the house from the movies.

Okay. Enough rambling for now.

Foggy and Fried

A list, because that's all I can handle.

1 - I've had a few blog posts floating around in my head, but I've lacked the concentration to actually commit them onto the screen.

2 - My Dulaan box is finally in the mail. The picture I wanted to post last week was of my 10 knitted items and Heather. The photos never arrived in my inbox. I've tried sending one of them again, and R has moved the photos from my phone to the server...so hopefully you'll see it before too long.

3 - I don't think there is going to be much knitting content here for a bit. It's too hot to work on my pair of wool socks. Also, I have three friends who are pregnant, I know of two who are trying and three are in the process of adopting. And I believe that all of them read this blog. :-) So there will be no photos of any baby knitting until presents have been given. Which is too bad because I've nearly finished the first item...but you will all have to wait a bit. (It is possible that I will knit something for Heather in between all of these presents, and if I do you'll definitely see it!)

4 - It would be nice if people would read. I sent an email to a sales rep - letting her know that I would be in the office all day, but that I generally step away from my desk at 10, 1 and 4 for about 20 minutes. She replied a few minutes later that she'd be here at 1pm sharp to see me. Yes, you read that right. Clearly she didn't.

5 - We visited family and friends in Ohio over the weekend. It was lovely to see everybody and everyone who came to my shower was very generous

6 - Heather has slept through the night for the past three nights. Although the last two she has been very difficult, and impossible to get into her crib before 11 or 11:30. When you consider that my alarm goes off at 5:45, you quickly realize that I'm not getting caught up on sleep. So I continue to feel like I'm operating in a fog, just like I have for the past few weeks. When I see friends, I know I have things to ask them...but the questions escape me. And I just really feel like I'm awful at making conversation right now. Hopefully Heather has surpassed her need to wake up and practice rolling overnight, and somehow I can catch up on sleep enough to feel human again.

7 - It's hot and humid. And it isn't cooling off much overnight. It's so hot I didn't even consider that I needed to bring an extra layer to work with me to counteract the A/C at work.

8 - I feel like it's been too long since I've been in touch with my friends and I owe email to a number of people.

9 - I started Harry Potter #6 last weekend for my second reading. It is a sadder read this time, knowing how it is going to end.

10 - I'm anxious for the Harry Potter movie coming out next month. R and I plan to ask someone to babysit. It will be our second "date" since Heather's birth. :-)

Impatience

I wanted to try a little experiment. I used my phone last night to take a few photos that I would like to post to the blog. This way, I can send them to my email account and post them whenever I have a few free minutes at work instead of trying to squeeze the blog posting in at home in the evening. Since the main reason to post is for the pictures, and not a ton of text, it should only take a few minutes while I inhale my lunch or a mid-morning snack.

So when I grabbed my yogurt, I thought I'd take a quick mental break and post my pictures. Well, my yogurt is eaten and I'm still waiting for the photos to show up in my inbox.

*tap, tap, tap*

I guess if they show up by lunchtime you'll get to see them today.

P.S. For anyone who is going to scold me and tell me I should be doing this at home in the evening...I'll just let you know that I've barely had time to eat dinner and go to the bathroom in the evening, and when I do get more time than that there are dishes and laundry to be done. And, if I could get Heather to bed before 10:30, I would be going to bed earlier, too...cause I'm POOPED!

Freedom

I realize that there are a couple of improvements in my life that I haven't written about yet. The more recent, is my freedom from motrin. I haven't taken any in several days. I'm not totally pain free, but I only feel significant twinges now and then. And this is the news even though I've mostly been too busy to stretch over the past week. I was noticably sore after my day long marathon of meetings in Bradford, PA on Monday, but I think (hope) this painful post-partum chapter is over.

The other bit of freedom is my diet. I've slowly added back into my diet the foods that I thought might be bothering Heather early on. Nothing seems to be bothering her anymore, so I'm no longer factoring that into my diet. I even had my first glass of wine a couple of weeks ago. The ability to order whatever I want to eat, and not have to consider my nausea, the baby inside me or Heather's stomach is quite the weight that has been lifted!

It's been a busy week. My trip for work went well, but I don't think it helped my supply any to go longer stretches without pumping or pump so irregularly. But I managed to pump some extra today (and plan to tomorrow), and I'm sure that will get me back on track.

It's possible that I've stated this before, but it bears repeating. The fact that I'm still nursing makes being back at work harder. There is the obvious time needed for pumping, but it is also the fact that I nurse her before I leave and want to get home in time to nurse her for her fifth feeding of the day (assuming she eats all three bottles at daycare). So whenever I need to go in late (like Friday because of Heather's pediatrician appointment), I still want to leave on time and then I have hours to make up. Not that I want to go to work on the weekend... Luckily, at the moment, I have some reading I can do at home, but this isn't always the case. I'm not trying to complain, really. I'm glad that I'm still able to breastfeed Heather. It's just one more layer of stress and trying to keep everyone happy. :-)

Lastly, about Heather's 4 month appointment. Everything looked good. She weighed in at 12 lb, 14 oz and her length is 24", with 40 cm head circumference. Her weight is 25th percentile and her height is 35th percentile. She seems to have met all of the milestones that he was concerned about. And he recommended waiting on starting cereal and solids until 6 months. She doesn't need the extra food, especially since she is still pretty small. Frankly, I'm relieved. I really don't want to add anything else to our plates right now. :-)

Let me add...

I'm still totally aware of how lucky we are. One week of bad sleep after 2 months of good, nearly normal sleep isn't bad at all in the world of having an infant. And keeping up with other moms, we're equally (or more) lucky that we haven't had to deal with reflux or colic or ear infections, etc.

I have a little more perspective this afternoon. It seems that a work problem was causing me more anxiety than I realized, and not only worsened my mood but was also probably the reason I slept so poorly last night while Heather was sleeping. That issue has been resolved and the world is less gloomy. :-)

Yes, I'm still here

...but I'm not in a very good mood.

The past week has involved:
- Getting up extra early for work related reasons
- Getting to bed late for work related reasons
- Not being able to sleep well for no clear reason
- Heather waking up over night - sometimes to eat and sometimes for unclear reasons that may or may not include being congested, being hot, wanting to practice rolling over, wanting to be with us to make up for time in daycare, being on a wacky sleep schedule because of her first week in daycare

I'd say I've been averaging about 5 hours a night, and I have too much to do at work to consider taking a day off.

I don't want to be a depressing blogger, so I'm probably going to stay away until I get some more sleep and my mood improves. The good news is that my leg continues to feel better, Heather has been very smiley and happy lately (when she's not crying at 3am) and my Dulaan items are done and ready to be shipped.

Lost a room, gained a room

The storage room I was using for pumping was a gift from the building owners when the storage room that we rent had some flooding. I guess our rented storage room is okay now, because the building owners took the free room away as of this morning.

So I went home last night assuming I was going to have to pump in our non-locking interior finish library today.

The building manager came to my rescue and is allowing me to use a small unrented office where she has some desks and chairs stored. The nice thing is that I get to hang onto the key full time since this isn't a room anyone else in our office uses (at least until my coworker comes back from maternity leave).

*****************

I haven't really mentioned the fact that Heather started at daycare on Monday. She seems to be doing fine, and even though Monday seemed like an EXTREMELY long day to me, I'm doing fine now, too. :-) It's hard not talking to her teachers on a daily basis, but R and I have come up with a few strategies that will allow me to get there from time to time. And I totally trust him to let me know what's going on...but it's just a bit difficult not being part of the process myself.

*****************

And on one more random note, my leg pain seems to be improving. I skipped the motrin yesterday morning before my doctor's appointment, and I was surprised at how good my leg felt. It's still not totally back to normal, but there seems to be some definite improvement, despite the fact that no one really knows what is causing the pain. ;-) My uneducated guess is that my attempts to undo the turmoil that was causing my back pain from the pregnancy changed my spine/posture/walk/muscles too drastically and too quickly, which through something else out of whack. Hopefully once this pain issue is resolved I will have my body back (with the exception of my boobs, of course)!

We have rollover!

I never knew that a baby rolling from her tummy to her back would make me so happy. :-)

She's clearly been trying to roll over while on her back, but she just doesn't have the momentum for it yet. So I decided to put her on her tummy last night and within 10 minutes she rolled over. And, smart girl, she waited until her daddy was in the room so we both got to see it!

She did it a second time, so we got the video camera out and got the third and fourth rolls on tape. ;-)

My First Meme

As far as I know, I've never been tagged for a meme before...so Lisa is the first. (Lucky for her that I am finally caught up on my blog reading, at least for those people that I know IRL.)

So, seven interesting things about me. I know I have readers who have known me for decades and some that have only known me for a couple of years. I'll try to make this interesting for most of you.

1 - I grew up an avid reader. I remember frequent visits to the library, especially over the summer, and bring home stacks of books to read. Every time I signed up for a "frequent reader" program I'd always need multiple forms to write down all the titles I read. I remember having multiple books in progress at once when I was in high school. And then I went to college. There was no time to read during the semester and too much that I *had* to read that I didn't really want to read when I had free time anyway. Since college I've only felt like an avid reader again a couple of times. One was while I was in Spain and had tons of time on my hands (and missed English) and I also noticed it while reading the Harry Potter books and Wicked. I think it's a combination of not knowing what to read and not wanting reading to cut into my knitting time. :-)

2 - I play the cello. I haven't played a lot since I graduated from high school, unfortunately. But before that I played *a lot*. Barely a day went by that I didn't have a rehearsal, a private lesson or take the time to practice. Despite my abilities I never felt like professional musician material, although I am (or was) a great asset to an orchestra's cello section. I didn't have an orchestra to play with in college and haven't played a lot since. I've pulled the cello out from time to time for a little practice. I'd love to play with an orchestra again someday. The group effort was one of the best parts about playing music for me.

3 - You all may or may not believe it, but I'm impatient. I think I'm pretty good at hiding it and/or holding myself back and not allowing my impatient tendencies to show themselves. And there are certainly efforts in which I have quite a bit of patience - taking care of Heather, teaching someone else a skill, painting. But as soon as there is a deadline hanging over my head or any kind of time limit, I have little patience for someone doing something slower than I would do it. I also have a few strong internal desire to finish people's sentences when they are speaking slowly. When I was a tour guide in college, I really had to fight to keep from finishing my partners statements.

4 - I love show tunes. I'm not going to try to hide it. I know many people think my love is strange or undesirable...but it is what it is. It stems from my love of theater and it is the music that makes me melt. Most of my favorite songs are from shows I've seen, although there are certainly exceptions. In pretty much every case I at least know the story even if I haven't seen the show. Understanding the story is the key to the beauty of the music, in my opinion. I can listen to slower songs while I exercise because I know the story behind them and they give a little extra oomph to my step.

Hmmm...this is harder than I thought...

5 - I studied abroad in Spain for a semester in college. I couldn't find a group to go with, so I sort of made my own program through SUNY Albany. Through them I was able to enroll at UPV in Valencia and take architecture classes. I was the only person I knew at the time to go to a foreign country totally alone. It was completely scary and one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was also one of the best and biggest character-building things I've ever done. Because I did it I know I can do anything I set my mind to. I had a little breakdown when I had been there for a couple of months without meeting any other American students. But after a coupling of outings with my new found friends from Oklahoma and finding a couple of students from my university (that no one told me were there), I was just fine.

6 - I have packrat in my blood, but I love getting rid of things. I understand the great feeling of relief that comes from releasing things that you don't need, but I also have the desire to "be prepared" for anything. I hate getting rid of things that could be useful in the future or that I could fix to suit my needs. But I'm slowly realizing that I just don't have the time to do everything I "could" do and I need to start letting go of more stuff.

What can I say? I am a strange and complex creature. :-) My husband makes fun of how full my room is and yet he has a quarter of the guest room taken up with his "archives".

7 - I dislike coupons. I know this may seem silly. I understand the value of coupons and the benefits, but I really just see them as time. On a regular basis, I'm not willing to spend time in order to save money. I love saving money when I buy things on sale, but I won't go to three different stores to find what I want at the best price. (I might consider making a few phone calls, but that's about it). When I buy things on sale, it is because the store I visited when I needed something happened to have the item marked down. If I use a coupon, it's because I happen to have it in my purse and I remember to use it. (For example, I've used a few diaper coupons recently because they fell out of diaper packages and I remembered to stick them in my purse and redeem them). Unless I get really bored or really strapped for cash at some point in the future (maybe in retirement?), I don't ever see myself cutting coupons from the Sunday paper. I also really like shopping at Whole Foods - I feel like I get good value for our money and good quality food. And I'm not going to give up that quality in order to save money on our grocery bill.

That was harder than I thought, but it was a nice break between tasks today...since Heather's first day at daycare went very slowly for me!

Let's see - I tag Amanda, Annie, Jen, Cara, Melissa, Katie F and Katie L to do this next! (I'll add the links later)

Another little update

The hard thing about going back to work is not doing the work or taking care of Heather. I'm still good at both of those things. The hard part is trying to get *anything* else done.

I knit on the bus. I read or watch TV while Heather eats. I eat while she sleeps or hangs out on the playmat. And during the week I generally have about an hour to get things done from when Heather goes to sleep until I do...and really it should be less than that because I'd love to go to bed before 11:15! I'm relieved that there is very little TV to watch anymore and that I've finished Order of the Phoenix, but there are still some things to get accomplished that I haven't found time for (thank you notes, hand washing sweaters, working on my messy room, finishing the painting in Heather's room, etc)

We've managed to stay caught up on laundry, but that is mostly because I only have 6 nursing bras...so doing laundry each week is essential. And we've been caught up on dishes lately, but that is because my mom is staying with us and the trend is likely to end when she leaves.

I've complete 1 1/2 more hats since my last post. They need to be mailed early next week, so I want to spend whatever free time I have this weekend trying to get more done. I'm not going to make my goal of 15 items, but I might be able to make it to 10.

I'm rambling out a post as a means of emptying my head before starting a new task. 234 drawings went to the printer today and contractors pick them up tomorrow to start the bidding process. It's both a relief (this job was supposed to go out to bid while I was on maternity leave - the delay was not our fault) and the beginning of a whole new set of challenges. How will the bids compare to the budget? How many phases will they build now? What questions will the contractors ask? When will they actually start construction?

And for those who were wondering about my leg - it still hurts. My appointment has been postponed to next week. The stretches feel better and my leg feels better in the morning. But I still need the Motrin, especially at work with all of the sitting.

A few things...

I don't have the energy for a proper post (whatever that is). It has been a tiring week. I didn't get to bed anywhere near early enough before getting up at 4am for my flight to Charlotte on Wednesday. And I haven't had any time for extra sleep later in the week. The 3-day weekend will be thoroughly enjoyed!

In case you were wondering, an electric breast pump is nearly guaranteed to cause a call for a bag check. In Pittsburgh, it was scanned with some kind of ion test. In Charlotte, it was recognized once it was opened.

There is no doubt that my appetite is back. I could eat constantly while at work and I'm still hungry when I get home. Care must now be taken to not overdo it, after a year of being able to eat whatever I felt like eating without concern.

The stretches I've been doing have caused some improvement in my leg pain, but I'm still living on motrin and walking like an elderly woman whenever I get up from an hour or two of sitting. The pain is less in the morning (pre-motrin), but it is still there and still annoying. Hopefully my doctor will have some more suggestions at my appointment on Wednesday.

I've completed almost two Dulaan hats this week. We'll see what else I can get done this weekend.

First Daycare visit, etc.

Tomorrow, Mom and I are taking Heather for her first visit to daycare. I'm feeling excited and anxious about it. We visited daycares in September and at the time we went to the one we chose, they were undergoing renovations. So I have only vague memories of the teachers in the infant room (I know I liked them, but I wouldn't recognize any of them if I passed them on the street) and I haven't actually seen the new infant room. I'm mostly anxious because I hope we can convince Heather to take a nap while we're there, which is the biggest "test" she needs to pass before her first full day there alone. (I'm not worried about whether the teachers will be able to feed her or get along with her - she's pretty easy going around people.)

In the good news category, my leg seems to feel better than yesterday. It's no where near back to normal, but yesterday morning it was particularly awful. I was hoping that it was because Saturday night was my first real stretching session (it's so hard to find time!), and I thought maybe it was just extra soreness from that. I still haven't managed to do any yoga or pilates, but I did stretch again last night. We'll see if that is enough (although I'd still like to sneak in a little yoga).

On the knitting front, the trekking socks are progressing. I also realized that I have just a couple of weeks until the Dulaan box needs to be shipped and I'm way behind my goal. Next time I can knit at home, I plan to start a couple of hats for the bus and hopefully for my business trip on Wednesday. I could get a couple of hats done while sitting in the airport, the planes and the car.

It feels like there is a lot to do in the next two weeks. Some of it is because of the preparation to send Heather to daycare and the things I want to accomplish while my mom is here to help/visit/etc. And I think some of it is just coincedence. So far June does not seem like it will be as busy and it hope it stays that way. I still haven't finished the mural in Heather's room. :-)

It's been a week and a half since I've posted new pictures to the gallery. I'll try to get back to it soon...in the mean time here is one of my favorite tummy time photos...

Random Thought Friday

1 - Pumping stinks
Okay, it's not really *that* bad, but it has definitely been the most stressful part of returning to work. Nursing is so much simpler. No bottles or parts to wash, no bottle transfers, no worries about quantity or freshness. But that said, I'm very happy that the technology exists that enables me to continue to give Heather breast milk even now that I'm back at work. I will be happy when I can pump twice a day instead of three times. I miss my lunch break.

2 - Trekking socks
I keep meaning to take pictures and haven't yet, but my current pair are going well. I'm doing a pattern (currently forget the name) from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. I'm doing them toe-up instead of cuff down, so I'm basically doing my usual "recipe" with the addition of the cable pattern on the top of the foot and the leg. I'm doing both socks at the same time on 2 sets of dpns and from each end of the skein. I have to untangle the two ends from time to time, but it is working well. I decided to try a short row heel again. Last time it took me 5-6 attempts after reading multiple directions. This time I had the very clear directions in the current issue of IK, and I got a beautiful heel on the first try! The IK directions will become part of my standard toe-up sock recipe from now on!

3 - Heather
What can I say? She's adorable and seems to be adjusting well to being watched by babysitters during the day. It sounds like she's accepting the bottle okay and napping pretty well. She still fusses before sleep, but sometimes less than others, and she seems to be giving in more easily as long as she doesn't get overtired. I'm anxious to see how she'll do at daycare. We have our first visit there next Tuesday and she'll make a couple more with R and my mom before she starts in June.

4 - Pain
The back pain I had is under control and/or gone. I haven't even had the beginnings of a flare up since the night before we had the carpets cleaned in April. Not sure if it is because the issue has resolved itself or if my new pain is just preventing me from doing enough to aggravate the back pain. ;-)

The new pain is in my hamstring and in my behind, all on the right side. It usually feels like the muscles are contracted and don't want to extend. Occasionally it hurts just to stand, but usually it is sitting and bending down/over that are the biggest issues. My current guidance from the doctor is Motrin, walking and yoga/Pilates stretching. I haven't done the yoga/Pilates yet. I plan to check out the offerings on Comcast On Demand this weekend. Then I'll decide if I need to buy a video or if the free options are enough.

I have a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks. If the stretching doesn't solve the problem I will be anxious to find out what else they can do. I don't really like living on Motrin and since I spend most of my workday sitting there is little I can do to improve how I feel from 8:30-5:30.

5 - DVR
Despite my love for the DVR, it really annoyed me last night. It taped the LAST MINUTE of Ugly Betty, and that was it! So all I got to see what the cliffhanger at the end of the show. I'm really hoping that abc.com has the episode up by tonight so I can find out what the crying is about. I was also looking forward to seeing Kristen Chenoweth.

6 - Food and Weight
I'm no longer censoring my diet at all and my previous appetite seems to be back. I slowly added chocolate, dairy and citrus back into my diet and it didn't seem to bother Heather at all. Add in the fact that I tend to eat more at work just sitting all day, and I feel like I need to be more conscious of what I'm eating again. I'd really like to take advantage of the fact that I'm burning extra calories everyday through lactation, so I don't want to be taking in more than I need. It's nice to be able to lose weight without exercise (other than walking) and I really think that once I get back down to a better weight I can do a better job of keeping myself there this time.

According to the BMI chart in the doctor's office, I'm about 5 pounds over the cusp between "overweight" and "obese". And I'm about 35 pounds over the upper end of the "normal" range. Clearly, I would prefer to be overweight instead of obese, and based on that chart I haven't been in the normal range since about 6th grade (sad but true - although I was in the lower end of the overweight category for a long time).

I'm really writing about this for my own benefit. Understanding the numbers provides me with some motivation. I'm not planning on any extreme changes, because I think I eat pretty well in general. I just don't want to overdo it on chocolate and ice cream and custard all summer.

7 - Travel
Next week I'm taking a day trip for work to Davidson, NC. My first project in the office (almost 8 years ago) was a student center/theater at Davidson College, and I've never been there in person. We're primarily going down to talk about another project we're doing on campus. But I'm very excited to finally see my "first building".

8 - Harry
I'm really enjoying Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (again). I bet I would be done already if I was still on maternity leave. For now, I have to settle for reading while Heather eats and sometimes a little bit before bed. I may get through #6 faster since there won't be anything on TV in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if I will continue to be a regular reader when I finish this series or if I will devote my reading time to my backlog of magazines for a while. I enjoy reading, but it hasn't been the same kind of passion that it was for me when I was in school. I guess if Harry can bring that back it's a good thing.

Pretty random, isn't it? I've been working on this post on and off all day, so I guess I might as well post it. I'm sure I'll think of a few more things as soon as I do. :-)

You know you're a geek when...

...a new mouse makes your day. :-)

As long as I've been with my current employer (almost 8 years), I've used the same mouse. Each time I get a computer or keyboard upgrade I keep my original mouse because it has a thumb button. And I use the thumb button when I draw on the computer in Microstation. The thumb button is crucial to my drafting speed. I don't even know how the mouse with the thumb button entered the office because no one else has one. But that was what was attached to my computer when I learned and I can't go back.

Well, my 8+ year old mouse hasn't been clicking well for a while. During my maternity leave, someone else used my desk and requested a new mouse because the one I had was substandard. When I returned, I reconnected my old mouse to the surprise of our office manager. I explained to him that despite the poor clicking capability, I needed my thumb button, and I'd rather have a bad click than no thumb button.

This morning I found a newer mouse with a thumb button on my desk. :-)

It was a little dirty and an old model. But I was able to download the driver I needed and now I have a mouse with a thumb button that can keep up with me again!

Bumbo

Heather really seems to enjoy it when we hold her up to stand on our laps, so we tried the bumbo seat this evening. Success! She got bored after about 10 minutes, but not before we took some cute photos. We'll have to take it outside this weekend so we can get some nice non-flash photos.

Glad I have a stash

Knitters, this post is not about what you think. ;-)

I'm not really convinced that I going to get as much milk today as I did the past three days of work. Usually the first pump of the day is nearly two servings and my later pumping bring in less. Today's results are less impressive. I'm not convinced I'm going to get three total servings. I've been trying to drink a lot of water, but I didn't have oatmeal this morning for breakfast. Maybe I should have some as an afternoon snack...

I'm not panicking yet. I have a good freezer stash, I can pump extra during the weekend, and it could just be a short-lived slump. But if I continue to have to spend 15 minutes pumping to get less than a serving, this is going to get old fast!

Vent over.

Demand it!

We need to convince Amy R. Singer to come to Pittsburgh for a workshop or book signing or *something*.

http://eventful.com/demand/D0-001-000213056-2

Harry

The one thing I keep forgetting to post is about my current reading. I decided last year that I wanted to reread the Harry Potter books, and my resolve was strengthened when they announced the publishing date of the last of the series. I find it interesting to be rereading them and seeing the similarities and differences between the books and movies. In general, I still think they've done a good job. There is nothing like reading the books, but the movies are entertaining reimaginings of the books.

During the pregnancy I read the first two and during maternity leave (mostly while Heather ate), I read #3 and #4. Goblet of Fire is my favorite of the first four, although I did find that I enjoyed reading Prisoner of Azkaban more than I remember the first time. I expect that this is because that is my favorite of the movies thus far. I was not disappointed by the movie for Goblet of Fire...but the book is so long and so rich with subplots that only a movie of epic length could have come close to doing the book justice.

And I admit that part of the reason I am rereading them is because I read #5 and #6 in very quick succession the first time and I feel like I've forgotten a lot of detail. In some ways, #6 is more clear in my mind than #5 since I read them back to back. So I want to prepare my brain for both the book and movie releases planned for this summer. Hopefully R and I can find a trustworthy babysitter by the time the movie comes out...

I'm about 3 chapters into Order of the Phoenix and so far it is even better than I remember.

The first 8 hours

So far I have survived my first day back at work. Leaving the house this morning was not too traumatic, probably because I was focused on getting out the door so I could get the express bus, which I ended up missing anyway.

I am missing Heather, but I am busy enough that the day is going fairly quickly so far. My two attempts at pumping have gone well. The only downside being the time it takes to pump plus the fact that I didn't get here until almost 9...so I think I'm going to be a little short on my 8 hours in order to get the last express bus...but I think I'd rather make that up next week than take a non-express bus that might not get me home until close to 7pm.

Must set alarm earlier next week and hopefully the time it takes to pump will get shorter, too.

I finished my socks on the way in this morning. So I will be reading the latest issue of IK on the way home and stash diving for my next project tonight or tomorrow. Except for buttons, I finished Heather's sweater, so I have nothing on the needles (other than an old sweater in progress that I haven't tried on since I was 6 months pregnant - might need to drag that out again). Not sure what is going to be next. But I do know that I haven't wanted to have many things in progress since Heather's birth. My brain just isn't so interested in multi-tasking that much right now.

Random Tuesday Part 2

14 - I should mention that the clapotis works okay for breastfeeding in public. The biggest obstacle is that Heather always seems to have her "top" arm in motion while she's eating. So while it might have worked better if I would have made it a little bigger...the whole process would still have it's challenges. But, I think we do well enough that I feel comfortable nursing in public when necessary.

15 - I'm not a person who likes routines and routines are good for babies. Shall we just leave it at that? :-) There isn't much else to say, it just is what it is. It's one of the reasons that I'm not looking forward to going back to work - the morning routine.

16 - Our luckiness can't be overstated. Despite the fact that Heather will still fight it when she's tired and falling asleep, she continues to sleep through the night. *knocking on wood* Sleep is good. :-)

Random Tuesday

Who knows how long Heather's current nap will last, and I'm way behind on my picture posting, so just a list of thoughts for today.

1 - Two more days left of maternity leave. I go back to work on Friday. At the moment, the thing I'm least looking forward to is setting my alarm and being woken up by it. Heather has been sleeping in a little later lately, so it's pretty likely that the alarm will wake me up and not her.

2 - I'm not too worried about the transition to work otherwise. Heather will be staying home for the first month, so we don't have to worry about getting her out the door for a while. And since the people watching her are unlikely (for the most part) to take her out anywhere, she'll probably fall into a better nap routine than she has with me, which should make it easier for her teachers at daycare.

3 - During my blog hiatus a few weeks ago we went to Dayton to visit family and friends. Heather met her three great-grandparents, two great, great aunts and a great, great uncle. Not to mention two great aunts, a great uncle and a variety of family friends. It was a nice but exhausting weekend. Heather did great in the car and slept well overnight in Dayton. The only tricky part was on Monday after we returned, when she needed to cry for about half an hour before every nap. Poor thing didn't nap enough over the weekend and was exhausted. It was a long day, but we survived.

4 - On the spring cleaning front, I have 7 boxes ready for charity. 5 will be picked up by a neighbor tonight and I'll probably call another charity to take the other 2 tomorrow. I've been through all of my clothes. I'll probably find more when I have more time to organize my room, but I feel at the moment like that is the only part of the house that needs major organization. (There is also an area in the basement that needs organization, but that is primarily R's stuff.)

5 - Lavender Mitts (pattern by Dale of Norway). Yarn is a merino from Artyarns - the leftovers from a sweater that my friend Erin made for Heather.

6 - Pink Clapotis for Breastfeeding in public, and which will be a nice spring/fall scarf when we're done breastfeeding. Made with a cotton/rayon blend by Wool of the Woods.
7 - The famous Log Cabin Blanket - finally photographed. The purple yarn is a cotton that I bought in a cone from Webs several years ago. The pink, blue, aqua and green accents are Cascade Sierra, a 80% cotton/20% wool blend.
8 - Not trying to brag, but I'm pleased to announce that I'm 10 pounds lighter than I was before I got pregnant. I credit breastfeeding with most of this loss, since I certainly having been doing lots of exercising - just a few walks a week with Heather. I also haven't been overeating, but my appetite is finally back, so I do need to keep an eye on my intake, especially with my return to work and more sedentary days.

9 - We're caught up on thank you notes again. The arrival of gifts seems like it has finally slowed to a halt, so I hope to stay caught up until our shower in Dayton this summer. :-)

10 - No progress to report on that sweater for Heather. I've been working on a pair of socks when I've had time to knit. Though I hope to get the sweater seamed up and finished soon...before it gets too warm for Heather to wear it. It felt like summer here today. Lots of sun and temperatures in the mid-80s. Though it is supposed to be in the 60s for the rest of the week, so there is still hope that it will get some use.

11 - I will try to use computer time over the next few days to work on getting more pictures posted in Heather's gallery. Please bear with me!

12 - I'm behind in my blog reading...so the lack of comment on my part is not because I think your posts are boring. ;-)

13 - Ummmm....let's end with something adorable....

A day at the zoo

Heather and I met Annie, Marcus, Cara and Max at the zoo today. (The hilarious part of going is that it takes longer to get us in and out of the car than it takes to drive over there...)

We had a lovely time, although Heather did nap quite a bit. She was asleep by the time we got to the lions...
She was not interested in seeing them from another side, either.
She was not impressed by the elephants.
She woke up a little bit in the monkey house (might have been the smell), but the nap she had just finished didn't keep her from yawning at them.
After lunch, she fell asleep again in the aquarium. Hopefully this turtle didn't feel snubbed.

(Note: I attempted a similar shot by the penguins, but there were too many enthusiastic children running around for me to get a good picture safely)


Halfway through the aquarium, Heather wasn't the only one asleep. All three strollers contained sleeping children. :-)
The outside air seemed to revive Heather a little. The polar bears were very cute and pretty active. But there is that yawn again... (you'd think we never let her sleep!)
Next was the white-tailed deer habitat. She must like them since she's awake and not yawning...

By the end of the day it was so warm that we were able to remove all sweaters, hats and blankets! Lovely sun!

Progress photo

My first sweater for Heather so far...

Cleaning

I may have more time later...depending on when the carpet cleaners show up and whether or not Heather can nap while they're working, but I want to do what I can for the moment.

I've spent much of the past few days cleaning up around here. We are having most of the carpets in the house cleaned today, as well as the living room sofa. The cats definitely know that something is up, but they are trying to take their morning naps as usual after following me around all morning as I did the last of the straightening up.

I admit that all of this straigtening and removing (or redepositing) of clutter makes me want to do a real clean sweep around here. On one hand, the place feels kind of cold and empty without any knick knacks or other personal items sitting around. On the other, the rooms feel bigger without any piles of clutter. And the non-carpeted places that became dumping grounds for stuff remind me that we have too much.

So far, I think I've done a good job of keeping Heather's things organized and manageable. We already have a couple boxes of baby things for donation (formula samples, too-small or poor-fitting diapers, extra blankets, etc) and I want to stay on top of her stuff. Somehow, before her stuff gets out of control and before she gets much bigger, R and I need to get a handle on our stuff, too.

The other thing that will help is putting back together the front room on the third floor (currently gutted and in need of electrical work, drywall patching and floor patching) so it can become a family room and accept some of the things that don't really belong on the first floor but end up there because it is the space we "live" in.

Yes, it's true

I'm officially a mom.

R was holding Heather facing out near me. And when she spit up, as a reflex, I put out my hand and caught it. And then immediately said "Ewww". We were in the kitchen, over the tile floor...I really could have just let it drop.

Eeeeewwwwww

That pretty much seals it, doesn't it?

Behind

I hate getting behind on my posting, it is so hard to catch up...and I feel like there is so much to say!

...I started this post this afternoon, and you can see what happened. Foiled again. Technically, Heather is in bed and I could post now. But I have to get up early tomorrow to go get a massage (!), so I must head to bed.

Let me just tease you with some upcoming topics:

Heather meets her great-grandparents, great aunts, great uncle and many cousins and family friends

Amy works on her first sweater for Heather

Heading back to work soon, preparing for babysitters

Photos of the latest clapotis (and its uses) and the log cabin blanket

How I hate routines

Stats

Heather at 2 months and 1 day:

10 lb, 0 oz
22 1/2" long
37 cm head circumference

Still has cradle cap (bad mommy!), but is otherwise in great shape

Loved the apparently tasty oral vaccine
Cried (though not any louder than I've heard before) and turned red during 3 shots

Was happy to eat afterward and collapsed with sleep in my arms on the way to the car

Was fussy in the evening because she missed her afternoon nap, but finally had an evening nap on daddy and slept fine after a midnight snack

**************************

Today Heather met my coworkers and they all think she's beautiful. The receptionist called all of the females in the office to come meet her soon after we arrived. After she did a little fussing, several men showed up to say hi, too. We also visited the owner of the coffee shop in my building and the yarn shop across the street. It was a fun outing.

Tomorrow is another playdate with Max and Marcus. If her afternoon nap pattern continues, I should be able to get some knitting done while she sleeps. :-)

2 months, 2/3rds and Easter

I wasn't going to post until I had taken pictures of recent finished knitting to post, but that's one thing I never got to this weekend. So maybe that will make my next post...

Heather turned 2 months old yesterday. Since I've never really know a 8 week old baby before, it is hard to know if anything we see is part of Heather's personality or just typical baby stuff. The good news is that she finally seems to be accepting of her need for sleep. For nearly a week, she's slept 6-7 hours in a row overnight and for the past few days she's taken a significant nap in the afternoon, with catnaps between other feedings. She's also become much more alert - looking and toys and faces - and she seems to enjoy when R and I talk to her. I even read her a book the other night, although her interest seemed to be in my voice and not in the pages of the book. We're also beginning to hear sounds other than just crying. Some happy noises and some sounds of frustration that are not really cries.

Sadly, I'm 2/3rds of the way through my maternity leave. I'm not dreading going back to work, but I am going to miss the time that I've had with Heather. And now that she's napping, I'm going to miss the time to get things done around here. Also, R and I are going to have to fight over her in the evenings after work...at the moment, R gets her as much as he wants in the evening since I've had her all day. :-)

We had a nice visit with my parents over the weekend. Having the help enabled me to get some very overdue cleaning done, do some knitting, and get caught up on the processing of Heather's gifts. (That in itself is practically a full time job!) I have more thank you notes to write again, but I hope to bang those out in the next couple of days.

We had a very nice time on Heather's first Easter with R's family and my parents. R's aunt hosted Easter dinner and there was a pretty good turnout. It was nice for Heather to meet more of her family and I always enjoy the opportunity to get out of the house. (I'm trying not to be bitter about the cold weather that has kept us indoors for the past week!)

This afternoon is Heather's next pediatrician appointment and her first round of shots. Not looking forward to the shots, but I'm guessing that they will be more traumatic for me than for her. :-)

The photo shows the last time she'll wear this particular newborn sized outfit. The first time she wore it I had to hike up the pants like an old man.

Hair

I think Heather's hair is coming in. A week or two ago, the top of her scalp was totally bald, and now the same area looks like she got a buzz cut. The hair on the back and sides is about the same as it was at birth...so maybe that stuff is permanent and is going to start growing when the rest catches up? It will be interesting to see.

Last night I went with Amanda to see "Sweet Charity" starring Molly Ringwald. Overall it was a fine show. The plot was thin, but the Neil Simon comedy was funny. Oscar's clausterphobia bit in the elevator made me laugh so hard that I cried. Kudos to Guy Adkins for his fine work. The dancing was also very cool. Much of the choreography was very 60's, but there were also pugilist and marching band styles as well. My biggest gripe with the show was the costumes. Every character wore the same costume for the entire show, despite the passage of time. As if the audience is too dumb to keep track of the characters unless they wear the same thing the whole time. For those who are curious, Molly was fine. She did what she needed to do but she didn't blow me away.

Just one show left on the subscription. AlterBoyz in May.

Busy, fun weekend

First, the Harlot. Heather and I were running a little later than planned, but Amanda had been kind enough to save us a seat in the third row and within minutes all the ladies near us were cooing over Heather's cuteness. Can't blame them. :-)

With Heather in the baby bjorn, I was able to knit while we waited for the event to start and for about the first 15 minutes of the speech. But it was a bit tiring to knit without resting my arms on the bjorn, so I didn't knit beyond that.

Stephanie was wonderful. She seemed to be a little nervous at first, but she relaxed within a few minutes when it became clear that we all thought she was funny and engaging as always. (I've read about 30 pages of the book so far, and it's great, too!) I think she spoke for about an hour, and given that Heather was asleep the whole time I would have been happy for her to speak for another hour. I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while!

Heather and I had been assigned to Group C for signatures, but Stephanie requested that those with kid be allowed to jump ahead in line. Since Heather was still asleep, I didn't butt my way to the front, but we did join Group A. Of course, just as we got to the head of the line for our turn, Heather woke up. So Stephanie and I didn't have too long to chat because I knew Heather would want to eat pronto. We did get our picture taken (I'm holding Heather's knitting needles :-) I don't usually stand in profile for pictures...that was for Heather's benefit!)

While Amanda was in line, Heather ate. And then the three of us spent some time talking with Julia and Amanda got some Heather time. Even after a diaper change, Heather continued to be fussy, and that was what prompted Stephanie to come over and demonstrate the Harlot-patented "calming butt pat". It works fabulously well, and though Amanda had a little difficulty with the rhythm at first, but I can tell you that Amanda successfully calmed Heather the following afternoon with her new knowledge. :-) Overall, a wonderful evening, and Heather and I are honored to be mentioned in Stephanie's post about the event.

(Although, I admit, I'm a little intimidated to bring up the content around here. My Harlot teaser post garnered a record number of comments and it leads me to believe that quite a few people probably lurked over here from the Stephanie's link and my comments. Hopefully I can rise to the occasion!)

Saturday was fun as well. R, Heather and I attended Marcus' first birthday party. It was a fun afternoon and Heather's first party. It's great that she has a few older friends who can let us (and eventually her) know what toys are most fun. :-)

Heather and Max:

Marcus, with his parents, after eating his cake:

Heather with her Dad:
I'm a few rows away from started the Clapotis decreases. If I don't have it finished by the weekend, I'll finish it over the weekend. :-)

Now I'm off to read other accounts of these fun events!