First, gong xi fa cai! This is the year of the pig (and if you don’t enunciate, it sounds like, “you’re a pig!”), and we celebrated by inviting a ton of people over to eat a hell of a lot of food. Josh’s parents were in town for the festive events and Matthew celebrated by looking particularly yummy. See all of the pictures I took in the Chinese New Year set.
My favorite:
***
Today was a fabulous day. I got off to a late start, so at the train station, I decided to take a cab to where I needed to go. The cab driver was a fool and had no idea where he was going and I didn’t realize he didn’t have any idea where he was going until we were going in the wrong direction. Blah. I love wasting money.
Then, I left the breast pump horns at home so I didn’t pump until 3:30, when one of my colleagues was kind enough to bring me to Target to pick up some new horns in a jiffy. My supply is totally going to tank because of this - it did the last time I forgot my horns at home. After I went back to work from maternity leave, it was really easy for me to get 9-10 ounces during my first pump, and another 6-7 during my second. Now, I’m pushing my luck at 11 or 12 and that’s not counting the pumping I do early in the morning or in the middle of the night. Alas.
But the day ended pleasantly; I got Matthew a bathtub today while I was at Target and I think he really likes it - he kicked up a lot of water and splashed quite awhile - and fussed when I pulled him out.
I wish I had a bathtub for me that was inflatable and looked like a rubber duck.
So, in the great plan to Get Casey Sleep, Kathy (Josh’s mom) took Matthew to her hotel overnight. I have been talking about this with friends - I am exhausted all of the time and it is seriously hurting. The plan was hatched for Chinese New Year weekend - this weekend. Josh’s mom is visiting from Tallahassee and staying in a hotel downtown (Josh’s dad joins her tonight).
I packed a backpack STUFFED full of Matthew’s belongings - from his favorite toys, to too many diapers, to wipes, to socks, and three bottles of milk. They left around 7:30 last night and I have been angsting ever since. We went to bed around our normal time - 10:30, and I could not fall asleep. I got up, pumped a little, tried again and slept from around 11:30 until 5:15. That is the longest stretch of sleep I have had in a long time! I couldn’t go back to sleep after pumping then, though, so I’ve been up since 5:15. Around 8:30, I went in to wake Josh up, whose work shift starts at 9, and said to Josh, “Our baby isn’t back yet!!” He laughed.
“Why don’t you call my Mom?”
“I don’t want to hover!” We chatted a little and I took the dog out on her longest walk I’ve taken her on in months. After I got back, I said to Josh, “She would have called or come back sooner if she ran out of milk, right?”
“Dork!”
Kathy called about twenty minutes or so ago, and laughed when she heard how excited I was to hear the phone ring! They had a good night and Matthew seems to dig the whole hotel lifestyle. I am not surprised, given his favorite toy is an old credit card of mine. They’re on their way back up now and I cannot wait to hug and kiss on this little boy.
Matthew is napping. At 9:38, this marks the hour point and with Matthew, naps past 45 minutes are rare pidgeons indeed. We have to be at the doctor’s by 10:30am. I am pondering whether or not to wake him up.
I must have gone insane there a moment. We will be late to the doctor’s. Duh.
My uncle is a music aficionado. One of my earliest memories of my uncle is watching him carefully slide an album (vinyl!) out of its sleeve and place it gently on top of his turntable. He used to work for Leiser Sound - sort of like a Best Buy, I think - back when I was a kid and his stereo system was, and is, top-notch.
Sugar, Sugar by The Archies is one of my very favorite songs because of my uncle - he made me a mixed tape once, one that I’ve long since lost in my many moves, and that song was on it. I bought it last year from the iTunes Music Store and every time I listen to that song I think of him.
He’s in the hospital right now, going in for a bone marrow transplant. He’s receiving bone marrow from his (fraternal) twin brother. He’s had cancer for the last ten years, and there’s a part of me that, despite my mom’s attempts at being upbeat, fears that this is the final stand. And if anyone can endure a final stand and come out victorious on the other side, it’s my Jo Jo. But all the same, I worry.
Four to six weeks, he’ll be in the the hospital. Long struggles lie ahead for him. This weekend is Chinese New Year, but there is no Chinese New Year for my family; not until Jo Jo gets out of the hospital. Get well soon, Jo Jo. Get that strength up and get home. There’s a lot more music left to listen to.
This has probably been your “least-traveled” month. We didn’t brave the airports for anything, and for that your mama and baba are profoundly grateful. It’s also been cold as anything out
Oh wait, we did travel - to the grand city of Glensomethingsuburbiahell, Illinois. (Baba has just pulled a map out to tell me that it was in fact Glenview) We have been trying to figure out what’s going on with your digestive tract that could be causing excessive mucous, so after long trials of voicemails and faxes, we finally got you to a pediatric gastroenterologist up at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Long story short, the doctor doesn’t think the mucous or your eczema issues are related to food intake. We are considering removing soy from our diets to see if that will help, but will think about it more after we get results back from other tests. This and next month our next adventures will be a pediatric allergist and a pediatric dermatologist!
All of that boring stuff aside, your personality continues to explode. You love smiling, especially at your baba when he says this:
You are an expert at sitting now! You can sit for quite a long time - the other day for an entire hour - just playing with your toys, or as we call it, your bag of tricks. You have gone back to hating diaper changes and are okay with baths (we have to get you a bath seat of some sort; the infant tub we have for you just won’t do anymore.
You have discovered your body. The way you abuse your genitals makes even the strong and mighty wince in their boots. You are also displaying an impressive amount of flexibility - who knew a baby with so much chub could fold his body in half and suck on his toes? Not I. Yet you do! And you still suck on them despite your feet starting to smell like… feet. Yeesh.
You and Ava are like two peas in a pod. You adore her and she loves you - and knows her place in the family as she is quite often presenting belly to you. She would love nothing more than to lick you from head to toe, and you would love nothing more than to let her, so your time with her is monitored quite closely. Still, it is so wonderful to see how curious and excited you are to see your good friend Ava. You recognize her name - when we say, “Where’s Ava?” you bend this way and that to find where she is - either under Baba’s desk or in her crate.
You are officially eating adult food… pureed with breastmilk at this point! On your six month birthday, I tried giving you a few spoonfuls of brown rice cereal, but the look on your face quickly told me that you thought I was feeding you rat poison, so I stopped. You have tried sweet potatoes and green beans, and enjoy making a mess and trying to eat the spoon as well as your bib. You have also raspberried while your mouth was covered in sweet potato, so you can effectively share your food with Baba. How very kind of you! Next up in the freezer, all pureed and ready to be slurped, are acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, and more sweet potatoes. One of these days, save the green beans, we will have you eating non-orange food.
We won’t talk about how your diapers have changed in consistency, frequency, and explosiveness. Trust us, they have. Oh yes, they have.
Your sleep has been up and down. Some nights, you fall asleep at my breast, some nights you scream and sob and shout, despite our trying to comfort you, until you fall asleep in an exhausted heap. I wonder what is going on in your brain - what it’s like learning things for the very first time - and how confusing that is for you. How it must ache in your mouth to grow new teeth (you have two more on top of your bottom ones, and now you grind your teeth from time to time!) and what it feels like when you run your tongue over these new and hard bumps in your mouth. Sometimes you wake up sobbing and pissed off, and so I creep into the bedroom, hold your hand and sit with you as you calm down, your breathing evens out and you fall back asleep. Other nights, you fight me madly. In the middle of the night, you come into bed with us so you can nurse and we can both get some sleep. I know you won’t sleep in our bed forever (thank goodness, because I can do without the random headbutts to my chest some mornings!), but there’s something especially sweet and comforting about curling up next to a sleeping baby.
I know it’s all a very confusing and sometimes scary time for you, living right now. Just know that we’ll be here for you, at least for you to headbutt and divebomb as you figure stuff out.
With much love,
Mama
A few favorite pictures from this past month (link leads to Month 7 photo set)
Matthew spent over an hour today sitting on a blanket between Josh and me, playing methodically with a box of toys - pulling everything out and trying to chew on everything. Every ten minutes or so I would put the toys back into the box and then he’d slowly pull them out again.
He sat, unassisted, like that for around an hour. He can sit so well now. I can hardly believe it. I feel like the last seven months have flown by and I haven’t had a chance to sit down and savor any of the moments.
6:00AM - if I am not already awake with Matthew, I am jostled awake by an annoying alarm tone on my cell phone.
6:00AM - 7:30AM: Pump, play with Matthew, take a shower, get ready for work, prepare M’s bottles, take the dog out, change a diaper, nurse Matthew if he’s interested, eat breakfast (oatmeal), get dressed.
7:45AM - actually leave for work. My goal is to walk out of the door between 7:30AM and 7:45AM.
7:45AM - 8:00AM - catch train #1.
8:00AM - 8:15AM - Ride first train. Do crossword puzzle. I love crossword puzzles.
8:15AM - 8:30AM - Transfer trains. Stand uncomfortably (this is the busiest train of my morning’s reverse commute out of the city to a suburb). Some days I stand there for over 20 minutes waiting for a connecting train. CTA how I hate thee.
8:30AM - 9:30AM: Work - check voicemail, email, chat with folks as needed.
9:30AM - 10:00AM: Pump.
10:00AM - 12:00PM: Work.
12:00PM - 1:00PM: Lunch - every Tuesday with Josh and Matthew. Otherwise, working lunches or social lunches.
5:00PM - 6:00PM: Commute back home (includes walking time to and from the train stations)
6:00PM - 7:00PM: Bath time with Matthew, bedtime routine for M too.
7:00PM - 8:00PM: Dinner and a DVD (Right now we’re watching Wrestlemanias on DVD via Netflix)
8:00PM - 10:00PM: Do any and all of the following: wash bottles out for the next day, do laundry, clean desk (GOD I CANNOT GET ON TOP OF THIS), read boards, scratch dog, check blood sugar, zone out.
10:00PM - 11:00PM: Adult bedtime routine. Last bathroom breaks, contact removals, cleaning up the bedroom quietly and darkly (so it happens sort of haphazardly) so as not to wake up Matthew, cuddling, talking, and finally, sleeping.
anytime between 1:00AM - 4:00AM: Matthew wakes up for a feeding.
anytime between 1:00AM - 4:00AM: I wake up for pumping.
And it all begins again at 6.
One day I will sleep more than three or four hours in a row and I will not know what to do with myself.
Matthew’s third and fourth teeth have sprouted. I should have known - the way he was staring up at me and slowly and deliberately chewing the hell out of my nipple. Yow. I however am still a masochist, apparently, and am not stopping with the nursing yet.
