Over the shoulder, originally uploaded by caseycasey.

I see you!

GOTCHA!

Originally uploaded by caseycasey.

Ava finds her favorite boy and lays a sloppy one on him.

There are a few things I am going to miss about our current neighborhood, out of which we will be moving this weekend. One thing is the community. I have a feeling that wherever we go in this world, nothing will beat having our very own Jesus Rapper at the corner of Argyle & Sheridan, rapping about His Love incoherently, while singing/rapping into a microphone, the head of which is covered in electrical tape and completely useless, and clutching a pen at the same time. Morning, noon and night he is either out on the corner or upstairs in his apartment that oversees the intersection, and he talks and talks… and talks and talks and talks and raps and talks and talks and sings and talks and talks and talks.

I am going to miss having such easy access to all of the restaurants in our area, but that can be in another post, for sure - and I know we’ll have good restaurants in our new neighborhood, but they’re not my restaurants, you know?

The other thing I am going to miss is how sort of oddly everything fits together and just seems right. I went to get keys copied at the local “DOLLAR PLUS” or some such store, for our new apartment, and as the key machine ground squeakily in the background, I poked around a shelf that was behind Matthew’s stroller. There was a shelf of DVDs for sale, $1.49 apiece. I figured these would be fifth-rate B-movie releases, so I pulled a few out to see what the titles were. Oh no, not quite what I had in mind, definitely, when I saw, “Chicks Lickin’ Dicks.” The other DVDs were of that variety, and I put them back.

Only here in some random hole in the wall store can you find porn at a deep-discounted price, so even the poor can have their smut. Love it.

My So-Called Life in France: I totally dissed Gwen Stefani.

Swiped from Margaret Cho’s blog. I see Gwen Stefani’s name bandied about in breastfeeding communities, as a celebrity nurser. Come on, people. Aren’t there better role models in the world?

ABC News: Interracial Marriages Surge Across U.S.

I was interested in this article, for obvious reasons, and was pretty disappointed to see any mention of anything other than white/black marriages and families on page 4 when it describes the statistics for White men marrying Asian women (it’s more likely to happen than White women marrying Asian men).

Hello world, guess what? There are more than two racial groups in the United States.

I’ve started writing this entry a hundred times. I didn’t know exactly what it was I wanted to say until I saw this cartoon drawing by Ben Lansing. It encapsulates perfectly what I have been feeling. This past week I’ve felt incredibly homesick for Virginia. My college and graduate school years at James Madison University will always hold fond memories for me, and even more so now.

My heart goes out to all of the families and friends at Tech.

Hot from the presses:

Dear Ms. Myname,

Your correspondence addressed to Mr. J. W. Marriott, Jr. regarding your recent experience at the Orlando World Center Marriott has been forwarded to me with a request to respond to you on his behalf.

Please accept my sincere apology for the inability of our Front Desk associates to accommodate your request. You can be assured that our Director of Rooms Operations has thoroughly reviewed this matter with his staff and that guidelines have been established so our associates are better prepared to respond to similar requests in the future.

I hope your impressions are not permanently marred and you will provide us the opportunity to be of service when you return to Orlando.

Phil Coffey, General Manager
Orlando World Center Marriott
8701 World Center Drive
Orlando, FL 32821
Phone: 407-238-8571

I am amused that the wording of the last line is similar to my own, but on the whole, good on them. Thank you.

Stacie tagged me. What does a real mom do?

Moms take videos of their kids to blackmail them when they’re 18.

Real moms let their babies maul their bodies in the name of exploration. Be glad I didn’t take a video of Matthew unlatching from my breast while nursing to critically examine my nipple, and when I wasn’t paying attention, practiced the pincer grip.

Real moms also laugh, cry, don’t sleep, pump, nurse, feed, hug, caress and more.

Matthew had his nine month appointment on Monday, and he’s now a whopping 26 lbs. and 6.9 oz. - as I explained it to someone regarding his growth, he is on average heavier than 100% of the babies his age. His growth chart is consistent - just above the 100th percentile. He’s slowed down, which is nice - he’s given us a chance to get used to his weight.

I made it to 9 months of breastfeeding without formula (well, he had a smidge his first night because of low blood sugar). Please close your web browser windows and email clients if you have even so much of an urge to email me anything that says “lactation consultant, fenugreek, or oatmeal” - I am not an idiot and I have tried everything I can. Yesterday was his first full day of full-on formula supplementation - we’re trying a soy formula based on the recommendation of his pediatrician, who doesn’t think his issues are food allergy-related. So we try the soy formula, then if that goes well, we reintroduce dairy into my diet, which will be quite nice.

I only was able to pump something like 4 or 5 ounces on Monday in total, so we had quite a bit to supplement yesterday. I called Josh at one point and asked how he was doing. In my mind, I saw my son as a melodramatic martyr. “Give me breastmilk or give me death! Where’s my breastmilk? I DEMAND A RECOUNT!”

Predictably, Josh said, “Oh, he takes it like any other bottle.” Hmph. No brand loyalty, that boy.

Anyway, today’s pumping only required 1 ounce to supplement, so that’s nice. I know there are babies who thrive just fine on formula, and I am trying so hard not to become That Woman who’s That Way about formula versus breastfeeding, but I can’t help but feel like just even having the stupid can of formula in our house is going to make my breasts go on strike and dry the heck up. Blah.

The Good: Matthew’s 9 month well-baby visit went, er, well. He’s 26 lbs. 6.9 oz., 29.75 inches, and his head circumference is 19 inches. Chunkalunk.

The Bad (which is also good in some ways): we will definitely start supplementing tomorrow. I only managed 5 ounces today, and that is after this weekend’s crazy extra pumping and gorging on oatmeal (I can’t take a lot of the regular galactagogues because of my diabetes). The good in this is that the pediatrician today recommended that we try soy formula first to see how Matthew does with it - and if he does well, we’ll start reintroducing dairy into my diet again. The thought of cheese right now is more than I can bear.

The Ugly: A mom was asked to leave a Ronald McDonald House because she was breastfeeding. The stupidity of others never ceases to amaze me.

My heart goes out to the Virginia Tech community today. I won’t link, because it’s all over the internet. I am a proud James Madison University alumna; for a variety of reasons, this story is really hitting close to home. Much love to the Hokies.

• washed diaper laundry
• made baby food - baked and/or steamed: green beans, carrots, acorn squash, applesauce and sweet potatoes
• took a nap
• made black bean soup
• pumped milk
• washed about 4,000 bottles and their assorted accoutrements
• made egg salad for lunch (I added dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce - very yummy)
• nursed Matthew
• organized all babyfood stuff in the freezer

Things I still have to do but probably won’t:

• sort and “fold” diaper laundry
• purge stuff on desk for preparation to move
• work out
• work on work stuff that I brought home

Win some, lose some.