Bits and pieces

Mom and my sister are coming for brunch tomorrow. Dad and stepmom were supposed to come too, but they might not because their puppy is sick. We are having chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, blueberry scones with lemon butter, bacon, and sausage. We were also going to have mushroom and onion quiche, but with Dad canceling it would be too much food.

Peter was a very happy boy today, and made himself laugh in the jumperoo. We danced together and sang. And screeched. Peter loves to make this happy screech, and if you do it with him he gets even louder. So we listened to Flight of the Conchords and danced and screeched together. It was fun.

Of course, it is still vomit central. sigh. SRSLY . We went for a walk today and just hung out. We are having major sleep problems and they are affecting us all. I have not had a good nights sleep in 7 months. Not more than two hours straight. Not once. I wonder what happens to you if you go a whole year without REM sleep?

I know it is making me forgetful and edgy. But not edgy in a cool Johnny Depp way, more like in a Kate Gosselin way.

But it is still lovely, seeing Peter grow and change and how his whole face fills up with a smile is very wonderful.

Not dead. yet.

We are trying desperately to sleep train Peter. Mostly he is sleep training US. Last night he was up seven times from 11 til 6. But not every hour. He slept from 9ish til 11 then, till 2, then it was anything from an hour to twenty minutes till we gave up and got up for the day. We just got him down now at a quarter to ten.

I really should be cleaning. He has spent the last three nights in his crib. Sort of. In that he protests with an unbelievable amount of vigor.

Anyhow, that is what is going on here. I am not getting more than an hour and a half of sleep at a time. I could make sweet, sweet love to a white chocolate mocha.

Good times

Today Peter threw up in my hair, and pooped on my leg. If you are wondering why I don't currently have time to blog, it's because every day is a festival of projectile vomit.

A miracle

Petey is asleep. In his CRIB. I know, right?

I am really hoping that we are turning a corner and I can feel like more than a milk truck. Because that is what I feel like a lot. A big ole milk truck. Do not get me wrong, I am elated. I told Mister yesterday that I was so very happy to be able to be home with Peter.

But who wants to read about me saying I find staring at my son while he stares at the ceiling fan very fulfilling? Don't knock the ceiling fan channel, you get to lay down while you watch it.

I find increasingly that while my body is always busy, my mind is not. I almost miss work. Not the job I got laid off from, but the feeling of accomplishment you get when you love your job. And the validation. I know Mister and I agreed and planned for and worked toward me being a stay at home mom. In fact, I have exactly what I wanted. Which is scary. Because who has exactly what they want? Seeing our life plan come together and actually work out is surreal.

Yesterday Mister and I took Peter for a walk in the park to watch the ducks and get some fresh air. Then we had dinner together, read a story, bathed Peter and put him to bed. It was the life we have always wanted.

Granted, I imagined there would be less projectile vomiting and more sleep.

Anyhow, I guess what I mean is that I feel intellectually stagnant. My big thrill each week is planning our grocery trip in the most efficient and cost effective way. I do actually enjoy that, but when your big thrill is saving 70 bucks a week on your groceries , maybe you need a hobby.

I don't really have time yet for a hobby. My old hobby became my job- I loved to cook and went to culinary school. I do finally enjoy baking again but when you bake- you end up with baked goods and who is gonna eat them all.

My other hobby was reading, and I worked in a bookstore. Not doing that again. I used to love working there but then they made all the employees miserable.

I don't know, I am kind of feeling at a mental loose end. Lots of time to think but no time to do things un-baby related.

how can breast milk

farts smell so bad? holy god.

jolly!

Yay! Peter took an hour and a half nap today in his swing and is now playing merrily on his gymini! I am doing laundry and wandering around the house. And eating too many granola bars. We have nothing on the menu this weekend, thank goodness! It's been hectic. Ok- crazy.

Peter was 14 pounds 11 ounces at his check up and 25 inches. I told his pediatrician I wanted to hold off on solid food till he is six months, which really is just a blink away. Peter is four months old today! He is celebrating by hardly crying at all. Splendid! He started blowing raspberries today.

We went to the library yesterday and he was so happy. Mister and I are still surprised when he is happy. Anyhow, I think we are buying Peter some new duds this weekend, and then just doing chores around the house.

Well I had better shove off and clean something before he wants to eat. Or cry. Or eat and cry.

Four Month Check up

It's tomorrow. At 8 30 a.m. What the eff was I thinking? Helloo, sure we are up, but out the door and organized? Not so much. He gets some shots. At his 2 month appointment, they assured me he would sleep all day after his shots. NO. FAIL.

I am so excited to see how much he weighs. We think he is 15 pounds. Hopefully Mister will take the morning off to drive us, because I hate driving Peter and it always seems to rain/he is wailing/flying monkeys chase us when I have to drive him somewhere.

We decided this weekend that we will try for another. I made Mister be the one to say so, because adjusting to a baby has been harder for him. It gives me a cold chill to think about another newborn, we are both afraid we will have another screamer. But we would love for Petey to have a brother or a sister. As crazy as my sister makes me, I love her to bits and cannot imagine life without her. And even though the first months of parenting have been more like hazing than anything else, we are going for it. Sooooo, we figure( plan? hahahahahahaha-good one) we will start trying in March. Which is good because I do not relish the two hour round trip to the RE's in the winter anyway.

The house is s l o w l y coming back together. I would still hyperventilate if someone announced they were dropping by, but it is getting there. Sure, there is still a miter box and a shop vac in the living room but there are no more exposed wires. So hurrah!

Two steps back

Peter was a little sick on Friday, and we took him in bed with us. Now he is fine, but screaming at the unfairness of his mean parents. We have been too tired to hold firm. So Peter has been snuggled up next to his very favorite thing. If you are wondering his very favorite thing is titties. And when Mister and I are feeling especially silly that is what we pretend Peter calls me. As in
" Hey Titties! Come over here and pick me up!"

We had a nice weekend, with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. The house is in that place where it's so bad I just want to leave it and get a new house. What a mess. Ugh. I sneaked onto the internet because Peter fell asleep and- ha! ha! He is awake. Later troops.

Hijacking my own blog for a friend

Ok, you guys know I suck hard at linking and etc so bare with me while I set this up. Please follow the link and vote for my friend Amy's charity. You can do it on Facebook. I figure, I have 32 followers, so that makes for 32 votes. And if you post it on your blog and FB accounts ( STRONG HINT) you could really help them win. Here is their mission statement:

The mission of the IDEA League is to promote awareness of and research for Dravet syndrome and related epilepsy disorders and to provide resources and support to improve the quality of life for affected individuals and families. We strive to be the most up-to-date and accurate information source for Dravet syndrome and related conditions for both families and professionals.


This is the link Dravet Syndrome

I would really appreciate it and I know Amy would too.

Things are going well

Petey should be waking up any time now from his afternoon nap. Which is in his swing. If I let him stay on me for about half an hour, I can transfer him to his swing. I am reluctant to declare success after only three days, but I am declaring HOPE.

Another fabulous thing, an awesome thing, is that I am not hungry all the time now. I suppose it was sleep deprivation driving my insane, more appropriate to a teenage boy appetite. Because I had breakfast, lunch and a small snack today and am cruising along on just that. Previously I would have had at least two more snacks and been counting the hours till dinner.

Tomorrow if he naps I am going to attempt some big chores that I never thought I could get done on a weekday. I might scrub the shower, as opposed to squirting cleanser in it and hoping for the best. Or... I might dust. Or... polish the silver. The silver has needed polishing for A YEAR. I did not want to do it pregnant, and had no time afterward. I enjoy polishing silver. Cause I am a big old freak.

Peter's disposition has improved TREMENDOUSLY in the past three days. He is quite happy to play in the pack and play three times a day, and to play on his gymini. or a blanket. He is also more aware, and seems to actually pay attention when we read to him now.

It is with no small amount of joy that I can say I have enough energy to play with Peter now. Instead of slogging through the day desperately trying to keep him happy/content/from shrieking, we tootle along doing normal baby and mommy things.

It is lovely to enjoy Peter, I loved him of course but holding a baby for 22 hours a day for almost four months is no joke. The two hours during the day and having my bed back have really given me a sense of self again. Last night I even had time ( and the energy?!) to rub Mister's back. I cannot even tell you the last time I looked at his back.

Still working.

Granted, it is only 10 p.m. on the second day, but after about a half hour of crying, Petey is sleeping in his crib. He has been asleep about 40 minutes. Hopefully he will stay down for another hour or so. I don't know, last night he was up after two hours, twice but I think that was maybe because he puked up five ounces of milk around seven. What a mess. It threw off the night, because we had to give him a bath. Anyhow, we felt like maybe he could not make it back up and was hungry.

He refused his nap today. He had a total meltdown at Pathmark. Good times.

I know it is too soon to say, but he seems to be handling this well. It is pretty bad listening to him cry and every cell of my body screaming PICK UP YOUR BAYBEE, and just petting him and telling him I love him instead. Argh.

But I am so happy to have him safe in his own crib.

He seems happier when he wakes up too, and this morning played and entertained himself for a while.

I got told again by someone that I should write. Well I did not tell them about my Supa Secret Blog, but they meant for MONEY, for GLORY, for FAME. Excuse me while I laugh. Writing is hard, writing is work, writing is unbelievably non-lucrative unless you become famous. I read.
I am A. too lazy to write a book.
B. just one in a long ass line of amusing women who blog.
C. Certainly not unique. What Mom ISN'T up to her ears in puke/drool/cat hair/chores? It's been said before, by better writers.
D. Private. I know that is strange coming from someone who has shared the status of her vaginal secretions with the entire internets but I am not a fan of fame. Or even notoriety. Writers have to MEET THE PUBLIC. Scary.
E. This is the big one. Hello, I worked in a book store for YEARS. There are a ton of great books no one reads. There are a ton of good books no one reads. There are a ton of SHITTY books that a lot of people read.( cough cough DanielleSteelJamesPattersonetc.) It is very very hard to get a book into someones hands. Just like for every open restaurant there are a lot that have closed, for every book on the shelf there a so many that vanished for various reasons. Lack of support,market, or an educated book seller to put the right book with the right customer. I have a huge back list in my head of Great Books No One Wanted To Buy. Sad.

Happy Independence Day!

For real, since Peter slept in his own bed for eight hours last night! Not in a row, but we are calling it a win. He fought for about two hours in the middle of the night, but gave up. Hooray! Now he is playing in his pack and play. Hooray!

We have a ton to do today, the room is finished, so we are going to try and set it up. We bought a white (iron?)bedframe from Ikea and a cute nightstand. Maybe i can get Mister to post pictures.

Peter slept in his crib last night! I am copy/pasting the email I sent my Dad. Well it won't let me. Maybe I can do it later on the Mac.