Half-Birthday!!!

why is it people feel they can ask "are you breastfeeding?" as if it isn't a private question - like, whether you feed your baby from the boob or bottle should matter or be public knowledge...

at a glance, it's a benign question, with a simple answer... but the more I get asked, and the more I think about it, the more I want to answer - "what does it matter?? that is a personal decision made by the mom/parents, and what does it matter to you, stranger/parent-at-daycare/whoever-is-asking, if I'm breastfeeding?"
Maybe because I've been asked by a variety of people - men (my husband's friends) and women.  And interestingly enough, I never feel judged or like I have to explain anything when I answer a man - you get the succinct "oh ok, cool, my sister/wife/cousin did too..."
And then I get the moms who ask, and I get the sense they feel judged by my answer/choice... like when the fellow daycare mom asks, and I answer yes, she seemed to feel the need to defend why she's not BFing her baby  - "I tried with the twins, I had no milk, I had no milk this time either..." or another fellow daycare mom with an almost-1-year-old in Ms. Mack's room, when she saw me nursing one morning before running to work: "yea, I tried for a few weeks with him - my milk never came in..."

Not to sound harsh or unkind - but I didn't care! Not that I didn't care if they fed their babies, but I didn't care if they tried for 6 months, tried for 6 hours, didn't try and started immediately with formula - be a proud momma that you're taking care of your baby, yourself, AND working!!! That 'ISH IS HARD!

But thanks to a recent traffic-filled commute (hey, carride chronicles!), I think it's a personal choice, kind of like being asked, "do you use tampons or pads?"  ((neither, thanks for asking - still no PP period, wooooooot!))
(((and same thing - I don't care what you use, nobody else should either - as long as you do something to rein in that crimson wave... or - well, I guess you could "free bleed" ... technically...)))
wow I really got off-topic...
anywho...

Moving on to the most important part...

Eating: still nursing when together (evenings/nights, mornings, weekends) and takes (on average) two 3.5-oz bottles at daycare.  (Still pumping at work, twice a day - averaging every 3 hours...)

Eats breakfast at daycare - 4oz of food (bananas, peaches, mangos, yogurt) and cereal (mixed with formula), and then will nurse when we get home and have dinner with everyone (around 6:30/7) which is 4oz of food (yellow squash, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, spinach&apples)
I'm still making the food (saves mad money! one bag of carrots (will last a few days) is on average $1.00, while a single jar of babyfood is about the same - $1.00!) and will soon start some mixes: carrots&peas, apples&banana, peaches&banana, etc... This weekend we also tried Gerber's yogurt melts (broken into 3rds) and the all-famous multi-brand puffs... she makes the funniest face at the texture...

Sleep: OMG you guys I think we turned a corner... (or maybe her 5th WonderWeek Leap ended!) but the night of her doctor's appt (Wednesday night) she slept ELEVEN STRAIGHT HOURS! And did it again the next night... "PRAISE JEEBUS please don't be residual effects from vaccines!"
Well we were down the shore this weekend, and so had laaate bedtimes (around 10pm) but she slept straight through until 6am each night! And last night?!?!? 7pm-6am! WOOOOOOOT MOTHA-F*CKA!

Length:  at 26.75" this girl is now over the 80th percentile for length... just as I was "worried" she was going to take after my petite Italian in-laws...LOL  ((I'm all, "Dr are you sure you measured her right?!"))
Weight: drum roll please.. at 14lbs12oz, we jumped up percentiles!!! ((conflicting info from different growth charts, lol but we definitely jumped up!))
I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous at all as we waited for the scale to register her weight, but I definitely felt more confident than past appointments - that girl got some nice thigh rolls! And I still don't quite believe I did it - we made it BFing!!!

Wearing: still size 2 diapers. no more size 3 clothes (the leggings/pants, sure they fit, but are snug on the belly and are total high-waters...)
6M sleepers (and I wager we won't make it very much longer until 9M sleepers!)
Some 9M hand-me-downs, mostly 6M onesies and pants...
0-3M shoes (lol still petite feet! like her mommy!)

It's not summer without a good pair of jellies!

Hates: still doesn't like getting her face/boogies wiped (which sucks, she has teeny-tiny nostrils and constantly has boogies!)
She also doesn't like avocado, after two tries... (WAH!) we'll still keep trying, as I think it's the texture of it, being a semi-solid...

Loves: bananas! (had bananas, mango & yogurt at a recent breakfast, and each time eating bananas she would grunt and squeal for more!)
loves summer weather (the sun, the sea-wind, the warm pools!)

Milestones: is completely sitting independently (sat the entire doctor appointment! MD was like, ummm... DAYUM GIRL!)

Ms. Mack is also pretty strong on her legs - if we prop her, she'll stand for at least a few minutes!

big brother helps her stand up!                                     Daddy helped her stand on our recent trip to Woodloch...


6@6

  1. you can recognize a bowl and spoon, know that it's time (or time soon) to eat, and you get so excited and start to grunt!
  2. You're ahead of your curve big girl! You've mastered sitting up, and in fact get upset when you have to lay down, trying to raise your head in a semi-sit-up/crunch position for awhile...
  3. When you sleep - you love to curl up on your side, fetal position like an adult... I swoon...

 4.  For some reason, Pops (FIL) scares the ba-jeesus out of you! each time you see him, or he pops up in front of you, your frowny-pout begins, and it's just seconds until you start crying for momma...
 5.  you've become enamored with my necklaces while you nurse... (you broke one yesterday!) and each time you're nursing, I can't resist - I start to sing, "Ma-de-line" and you grin, nip still in your mouth...
 6.  you still light up every time you see your big brother... I cannot wait to see how this adoration/affection develops!

(He's not a big fan of you playing with his toys, and frequently says, "Don't let Mad-oh-line put it in her mouth!!"

BIG BROTHER:


Button's adjusted well to being a big brother - he loves his little sister, and frequently will run a toy over to her to play with...


He is definitely a three-nager now, with the first crying fit sometimes hitting before his feet have even come out of bed...


He loves the summer weather, and had a blast on the beach with his auntie when we went down the shore this past weekend!

(Except when he threw sand all over his nursing sister... I.  WAS.   MAD)

Invitations just went out last Friday for his THIRD birthday party... (GAH!)


Can't wait to throw this little boy his Splash-Bash!

Healthy Fighting... Is it possible?

So this morning on the drive in (hello CarRide Chronicles!) a local radio station was doing its weekly "Love 'em or Leave 'em" series - a caller/listener/fan presents a situation they want public opinion on (like, "He acted shady during his bachelor party, and now won't answer questions on if there were strippers... should I leave him?!" or a more recent, "We both agreed on no kids, but now a year into our relationship I want kids and she still does NOT.. should I leave her?")

This morning, I tuned in very late and I only caught the very last few minutes, so I honestly have no idea what the situation was for this morning's poll... but I did hear the husband on the phone, very angry, having heard his wife airing their issues on the radio during his drive to work...

The DJs were ripping him apart for raising his voice at her, and yelling that [whatever the issue was] was a decision that was NONE OF THEIR [the radio station/public] BUSINESS and was an issue to be solved and decided on in the privacy of their own home, as a family.

Awkward for on-air fighting, sure, but justified and reasonable, yes?


All of a sudden the DJ's were all, "this is so unhealthy for you [wife]!! He's so abusive!! Does he talk to you like that all the time??"  (and she admitted, no - he must be very angry, because he doesn't usually yell like that...)

And meanwhile, I started yelling at the radio station (think they heard me through my bluetooth? lol)

Because voices were raised, it's unhealthy?

There was no name calling, no trash talking, no insulting of the radio station - just anger that his spouse (he felt) violated his trust, in so many words, and aired private issues on a public forum...

And all the DJ's could say was, "He's psycho! Definitely leave him!"


What happened to healthy fights??

We have friends acquaintances (at this point) that we knew fought from time to time, sometimes about heavy issues - not necessarily the "can you please put the toilet seat down?!" - and whenever E would ask hubby (formally his best friend, bestman at our wedding) he'd be all, "nope! we're fine! We're totally fine, no fighting at all!" 

Like they were ashamed or worried that fighting (of any kind) meant their relationship was rocky...


I'd heard, some where, a long time ago, that you should actually be concerned about your relationship when you stop fighting...

Of course, there is a healthy WAY to fight, but even the old adages of "Don't go to bed angry!" have been suggested as garbage (sometimes it's better to sleep on it and re-approach it the next day with a fresher mind!)

Anyways - all of this to say - it's ok to fight!

As E and I tiff almost daily (especially with pregnancy hormones, HOLY WHOA!) I remind myself - make sure Button sees resolution at the end of a disagreement (as most of ours are - we're Leos, what can I say?)

Make sure, at the end of the day, you each know you love each other (even if the sex-drought is one of the longest yet... fatigue seems to be kicking my ass each day, and you know - last week's lovely Y.I. certainly didn't kertow to any sexy-time... I think it's hopeful and optimistic to expect a few escapades between now and when BabyGirl makes her entrance!!)


(Also - a coworker just walked by with her kid's chocolate-bar-fundraiser-box... while she had no peanut butter (BOOOOO!! I just realized, probably something to do with all the peanut allergies nowadays... ) I most certainly bought a crispy rise bar! Pregnant mama says Thanks for the teeny tiny $1 candy bar!)

Rata-Tooooey

(Isn't ratatouille like, the poor man's dish because it's whatever you can find, or whatever is left, in your kitchen?)

Here's my Whatever's In My Mind right now:


1. The silver lining to a short LP - I didn't see a negative HPT this cycle! (no time for one...)

2. to allow (more than) sufficient time for tattoo healing,  I've been going braless for over a week now.  (Not that I ever really needed one, I guess... except when nursing and these babies became Bs! lame.  I know.)
But I just might be on to something.... (that something being Bra-Free Fridays EVERYDAY!)


3. Curse E.L.F. and their great prices - I got an email saying an additional 40% off today, so of course off to their website I went to load up on cheap cosmetics... (I've been using their eyeshadow primer as an under-eye brightener under my foundation - AMAZING DISCOVERY!)

Another discovery?

Something fishy with some (all?) of their Mineral products...

I love me some mineral foundations - mostly from that one time years ago I tried my sister's BareMinerals powder foundation and loved it, so I'm totally not an expert or anything...

So I read through the description of their Mineral Blemish Kit because I am totally in need of a good yellow/green tone blemish corrector, or whatever you call that. (lol told you I'm not an expert)

And curious me, I click on the "California Residents" link (because I've visited the land of eternal sunshine enough, have a LOT of family living out there, and figured - hey, how come they get a special link with a hidden secret message?!

Here's why:

In case you missed that dark red paragraph:

But we're totally safe in New Jersey, right?!



DAFUQ?!?!



And while I kind of want to be like, well what did you expect getting cosmetics for a few bucks?!
I also wonder, how the hell can they sell this stuff?!

I'll say it again - 

P.S. I totally called them out on thatsitethatrhymeswithSpaceBook. 
Tagged 'em (and bagged 'em)

Some Fart Talk

Recent musings while chatting with a friend about her single-ness and it's (in my mind) bitter-sweetness:
(oh the agony of wondering if he is The One, and why hasn't he called?! I thought the date went SO WELL! but oh the excitement of seeing him call, and getting a text for the next date! IS HE GONNA KISS ME?! aaaaah!)


So while you've lost the excitement of dating in marriage, there's also the plus side of KNOWING your partner loves you and so you no longer have to be on your "Best Behavior"...

Like, we still don't fart in front of each other, but now we acknowledge that we fart!  Case in point: E was recently telling me how he farted while holding Button, who then pointed towards E's butt, then to his own, and then grunted and squeezed out a fart of his own.
Father+Son bonding time at it's best...


And speaking of farts, here's a little ThatAkwardMoment:
I was in hot yoga last night (score 1 for the BuggyList!), and felt a little one slip out (silently...) but - well, pretty deadly...

And then I realized the best part: in yoga, no one will ever know who really released the stinker!
I mean, I just did the LookAround of "Ew what is that smell?! what crawled up that person's butt and died?"

Also - BuggyList news: I have a dentist appointment next Wednesday to get going on the root canal (x-rays, yay!)
I also have an appointment to get my tattoo!!!! OMG guys I designed the coolest one ever while waiting to discuss with an artist yesterday... I can't wait to show you!

ALSO - WHATWOULDYOUDO?!
so, I originally booked the tat appointment for this coming Tuesday (CD12 - preO) but during work hours (1pm-4pm) and I'm not sure I can swing that time off given the dentist appt that Wednesday at 3:30...
The only other appointment that could work in the next few weeks is the NEXT Tuesday (which will be CD20 - which could be around 4DPO if I O on my average day, or could be even less daysPO...) and that appointment is 7pm-10pm so I could bring E with me and not have to leave work...

What say you about getting inked at that point in a cycle?!

another Capitalized Appointment...

But first, another "men vs women" ...

Men have to be the biggest babies when it comes to being sick.  SERIOUSLY.

My husband when he's sick:

uttering a feeble, "honneeeeeee - can you get me some juuuuuuuuuice pleeeeeeease? *hack cough*"
And I don't DARE expect any help with Button - baths, meals, entertaining, etc - Daddy's too sick to move!

Me?
Monday night (the start of this miserable 4-day head-turned-chest cold) I did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen table, cut Button's nails, and I still get a Stink Eye from E when he comes back from tending to a baby (WHO WASN'T EVEN FUSSING, was just FALLING ASLEEP!) because I hadn't also cut the dog's toenails...

And even though I was sick enough to call out of work, guess who still had to drop off and pick-up Button from daycare... (I'll give my husband this much, he offered to drop him off in the morning.  In the whole, "If you really need me to take him I will, but *LARGE SIGH* I'll be late to work..." way of offering...)

(BTDubs - the commercial so appropriately came on yesterday - TOTALLY LOVE IT!)

 a Sick Mom?!
Tell me that doesn't just DEFINE "oxy moron"
(actual definition:
"A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.")



Oh and also?  On my second sick day (Wednesday) - after attempting to go into work for all of 2 hours, I had got to bring Button to his 18m checkup...

Speaking of Capitalized Appointments...

He's almost 34" (Wiggle worm barely gave the nurse time to get the paper marked correctly!)
which, according to BabyCenter, is 90th percentile for length! (we always knew he was a tall boy, in 2T pants now!)

He's 26lb4(ish)oz (again, wouldn't stand still on the scale to get a steady weight... lol)
which, according to BabyCenter again, is 50-75th percentile (which is a huge range, but we'll take it!)

He got two shots (boy did he LOVE THOSE!) and had his ears checked (even with me at his feet holding his hands down as he laid on the table, another nurse had to come in and hold his head still! and continued to comment, "oh GOOD LORD he is STRONG!")

So, fluid in one ear.  NOT infected.

Yet.

And the Doc was "disappointed" to hear he was only saying 8-10 words, with 10 REAALLY being the minimum they like to hear at an 18m apppointment...
(hence The Capitalized Appointment...)

I will admit, I did NOT immediately freak (nor did I freak minutes or hours later...)
his "receptive speech" (understanding all we say) is so so so "advanced" - my term - the kid understands EVERYTHING we say or ask of him.
He signs (daycare teaches ASL!) about 10 more words...

so his communication is fabulous.  I guess it's just his vocalization.

And so - the plan going forward is to check his ears again in a few weeks, as fluid - even if uninfected - can affect his hearing (which can in turn affect his speech.)
1 - if he develops an ear infection before the scheduled ear check, we'll be heading over to an ENT.
2 - if he doesn't develop an infection but still has fluid, we'll be referred to an ENT for possible tubes to help prevent fluid build-up.  (After his last ear infection, we had decided with the next one, we would be going to an ENT anyways - as we didn't want ear infections to get in the way of his speech development...)
2 - if he has no fluid, we'll be scheduling a hearing test...

So, no - no freak out (yet?)
The poor kid still only has 8 teeth (as of two days ago! his second molar broke through!) so he was a little slow on the chompers - and a little slow on his growth the first few weeks of life, but here he is in 2T pants!

No freak out (yet) because - last night, I got him to say "tea" when prompted about my cup of tea (and honey, oh loads of honey for my sick, sore throat...) and then got something that resembled "cookie" an hour or so later!

I'm cruising on the "Don't borrow trouble" line, relaxing under the "We will see" umbrellas...

MenVsWomen Musings

Another difference between Mamas & Papas (men vs women.  VENUS against MARS!)

I'm able to occupy (no valuables near the toilet!) and watch Button (through the vanity mirror, with one eye pinched shut putting on eyeshadow) while getting ready in the morning.

E stands there with him (basically tapping his foot) and says, "If you're done, can you take him so I can get dressed?"


Also - I am so able to get out of the house with Button (and Zoey - a therapy dog who comes to work with me once a week! seriously!) and (after balancing a tray of cut grapes, arranged TurkeyTail style - thank you P!nterest) can drop Button off at daycare (all the while traipsing in my new Guess loafer platforms!)

P.S. thrifed : $17

apparently MSRP is $115!!!

Dads? Like the one I noticed this morning akwardly hefting around the bucket infant seat in which sat an adorable baby girl (must have been dressed by mom - those leggings!) who was watching me watch them (I'm pretty sure she and I shared the look, "is this guy for real?")

That dad - he had on a parka, jeans, Tshirt (pretty good so far, right?) and.... 

flip-flops.

And in case you forgot, this is us right now

(with snow two days ago!)

And in keeping with Foodie Friday, some Food I've made lately (possibly on Fridays...)

One night I thought - homemade pizza! The best way to get rid of leftover sausage! and deli meats! and spinach!  Awesome-sauce.

Also - amazing lemon (I think) mushroom chicken tomato (stuff) pasta! 

I'm like, all domesticated and cooking shit lately - just think, a few short years ago (ok more like 6-7) I was catching taco shells on FIRE in the oven! (true story - thank god I'm married to a firefighter)

And just because G00gle does awesome stuff like this:

That's the hotair vent that both doggies fight for the prime real estate in front of, and that Button likes to strum like a guitar =)

Friday Funnies

(MUST have volume for this video!)

Hope your weekend is full of giggles!

CarRide Conundrum

On the latest carride into work, I was debating whether to fax my resume to MIL's place of work, who is hiring for what I do.

They're hiring for both part-time & full-time positions, but more importantly - for a position that is not responsible for things like receptionist call-outs (just one teeny aspect of what I do...)  I manage an office, so if staff call out, technically my assistant is responsible for covering. 

She likes to pretend to not have her phone on her during the weekends, and likes to play hot-potato: "It's [figuratively] out of my hands - SOMEONE ELSE'S RESPONSIBILITY!" 

So I've been debating a lot lately whether to start looking around job-wise.  (there's a million other things, aside from just call-outs that are causing me to want to leave...)

But each time I really begin the process, checking Monster and Craigslist, I begin to feel guilty.  I get the feeling that I'm cheating on my current employer... HUSSY!

See, he's been very good to me (and family) - you remember that bonus I got during the crazy discovery phase of the lawsuit (which is still going on BTDubs...)?

We also received a very nice monetary wedding gift, another nice monetary "Housewarming gift" when we bought our first house, as well as another verrrrry nice gift when Ben was born.  (and another small one at his first birthday.)

So yea, he's been very good.  And if I were to never voluntarily leave, I have a feeling I'd have a position for life here.

But - speaking of having to handle call-outs - the assistant is also CONSTANTLY on her cell phone.  Like, she came back after 2 weeks vacation (during which I probably only had a total extra of 2-3 hours' work directly due to her absence - what does she DO all day?!) and the first thing I see when I walk into our office is her on the cell phone.

Talking about her son's first day of school.  "And is this boy in his class? What shoes did he wear?"

SERIOUSLY?!

I wanted to do the Passive Approach - kind of like the summer job I had after high school at a plastic surgeon's office:  The Dr made a comment about midriffs, or something-or-other about the fashion of them. Another office girl leaned over to me and whispered, "That's her way of saying your shirt is too short!"

My idea was to be all, "Asst, there must be some big emergency this morning... some big emergency that require you be CONSTANTLY texting and carrying your cellphone on you throughout the building..."

Overall, I've already taken back a few of what should be her responsibilities - because she made too many errors (not a ton, but enough that by the time I had fixed the screw ups, I might as well have just done the tasks myself to begin with.)

So, after feeling guilty for awhile, I flip-flop back to the "I have it sweet here! Why would I leave? I'll make HER leave!"

And then just thirty minutes into work day I'm thinking, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!!!

*runs off to fax resume*

Ass vs Shoes

CarRide Chronicles:
Another difference between Men and Women:

E and I were traveling (pre-baby) and were seated at our gate in the airport.  We were seated near the edge of the walk way, and watched a woman saunter by in like, leggings & stilettos.  (while I was like, kudos to the comfy leggings, I was baffled as to why anyone would want to wear heels while traveling, as cute as hers were!)

And they were really cute, so I turned to E and said, "I don't know why anyone would want to travel in those shoes, but they're really cute!"
Almost simultaneously,  he turned to me and said, "DAMN did you see her ass in those pants?!"

(apparently, only anime does "Deadpan"...)

CarRide Chronicles - The Stank

So I was at the pediatrician's office (see recent coxsackie/ear infection drama).  Ben had been de-diapered, weighed by the nurse, quickly RE-diapered, and deemed ready to see the doctor.
(At that point,  it was the waiting game - how long can you keep a toddler entertained for with medical equipment??)

We're playing with those wooden popsicle sticks they gag you with, when I fart...

And holy something-died:
It really stank... =\


And then, of course, seconds later the doctor entered the room.

CHEESUS that's bad - I wonder if she can smell it?!
 
About 30 seconds later, while the doctor was checking a screaming Ben's ears, she asked him in the baby voice, "did you do a poopy? or just poot?  Cuz boy that stinks!"



I grasped for it like a life-saver:

"Oh yea, I just changed a poopy diaper... it's rank huh?!"

CarRide Chronicles

I was jamming along to Mirrors by JT (aka the BoyBand king) the other day.

I waited to make the left turn en route to daycare drop off, when I was waved through by some random hunky guy in a sedan, probably in his later 30's.

And then I realized that if I'd passed the same guy, same age but 10 years ago, younger-me would have thought that he's TOO OLD.

Attractive, but too old. (like, silver fox old.)

Then I remembered being young and having crushes on older celebrities (Cher's adorable older brother! the creepy but still-so-sexy stalker! the heroic astronaut!)and thinking, no way in real life (real life?! seriously lol) would he want someone as young as me!

Of course, a few years' difference in your teens makes a MUCH bigger difference than in your twenties, even LESS in your thirties... and by your forties - what age gap?!

Anyways - then the song changed and I started serenading Ben with "Oooooh Oh OOOOOh! You don't know you're beau-ti-fuuuuul!"

And I realized that One Direction is my Nsync - older women were like, aw they're cute! but too young!

And now I'm one of those women going, "Harry Styles? He's cute, just a leeeeee-ttle too YOUNG though!"




**10 minutes later (of avoiding-work at work...)
It's even worse.

Pierce Brosnan has a son. (as do a number of other actors - well duh K, lots of people have sons - I mean, actors that are delish and so are their sons... their OLD-to-young-K sons...)

WHO IS 30 YEARS OLD...

While I have slight issues (as he of Mrs. Doubtfire fame used to be a SilverFox Crush!) I will gladly switch my admirations to his son!

YUMMY!

Different this time, I Promise!

This time being - a new series! (I know, I know - the TourTuesdays didn't get done last night, but E has a hockey game Friday night so I'm ALL OVER THOSE!)

No, these will be short and sweet blurbs amidst the regular posting.

Introducing:

And the first happened a few weeks ago, when I realized the core difference between men and women:
E and I were talking about a local Panera Bread (zomg the yumminess...) and it's exact location, as I couldn't place where he was talking about.

((GUYS))
"It's right next to the

 you know, behind the A.C.Moore?"

And then I finally remembered - 

((GIRLS))

"Oh yea, that Panera! 

Right behind 

 and

Oh the difference between men and women...