O: Rock Operas in the Loo

Does anyone else's child do this?

O typically makes a potty stop post dinner...the sitting-down type of potty stop. We have a running joke that he's the fastest pooper in our town. He sits, he goes. Twice a day, at least.

Yet, he's in there for a good 10 minutes. Last night's scenario:

We hear him (behind the closed door, as he is insistent on "privacy") singing--in the style of fine rockers like Iggy Pop and assorted garage bands--as he puts it "rock and roll". No, he's actually singing the words "rock and roll" and should you peek in, you will see him in full air guitar...more like an acoustic approach, really...with his little bare tushie on the toilet, sitting on his green potty seat.

"You all done, bud?"

"No! Close the door!"

"Okay, let us know when you're done."

The remaining lyrics typically have something to do with what happened that day, what he just ate for dinner, or what is coming for dessert. Always in story format.

Normal? Hmm. Wouldn't trade it, though.

Caveat: Camera

So I know I have promised pictures of this that and the other thing.

O dropped the camera on the floor yesterday, while the lens was open, and...it's broken. Not on purpose, it was an accident, he was trying to take pictures of me and G. Very sweet.

At any rate, cut me some slack. We have to buy a new one.

...gonna party like it's my birthday...

Well that phrase (thank you, Fitty) seems to hold a different meaning each year as the years add up. Today is/was my birthday. I'm 104.

Nope, 28.

Nope. Lying. Figure it out yourself. I think anyone who's reading this already knows anyhow.

I had a great day, defined as:

• I didn't have to go to work...obviously
• I got to hang out with my two beautiful children and watch O play tennis
  
• I went shopping by myself for a little while (and actually bought myself a couple things!)
• My lovely husband took me out to a yummy dinner
• I got some lovely gifts from him

Now seriously. At this point in life, who needs more than that.
That may sound boring to some but it was a simple, happy day, and exactly what I needed and wanted. Yay.

Renovation: What is going on now?

Well, it's been pretty rainy so that slowed down the momentum on the siding a bit. Understandable. With that said, though, the guys are here, working outside in full rain gear.

There's another one here too, I think working on our basement stairwell, which I'll confirm in about 10 minutes. What needs to be done in the basement stairwell, you ask? Well, the sheetrock subs didn't finish it. Now, we don't have a finished basement or anything (give us another six years on that...we need a little recuperation time), but we were told it was part of the estimate. We gave our contractors a final check for the sheetrockers and asked them to make sure everything was done prior to giving it to them, and, well...I don't know what happened, but our basement stairwell was missing a piece of wall and never taped/finished/sanded, we had a wall in our foyer that wasn't taped, and we had a few areas that were never addressed and should have been (holes etc).

So now they are doing the stairwell, gratis. Thank God they took responsibility for something.

You have to appreciate the fact that I'm breastfeeding and I've got people knocking on my door, allowing themselves in. Kind of mandatory to keep a blanket handy for coverage when necessary.

Anyhow...what else. We've ordered our bar top for the kitchen island. Gosh, I can't wait to get this finished. We're going to use cherry butcher block, 1 1/2" thick. Big fan of Lumber Liquidators, if you are renovating...check them out. Good prices. Also ifloor.com...we got our cork floors from them.

Rain stopped, siding work is back on again. I wonder how far they'll get today. I have to say I just love the fact that all of our neighbors have complemented us on it. No one else's house around here has anything like it, so it's going to stick out a little bit. But now with everyone's feedback, I am doubly happy we made the decision we did. It looks kind of New England-y. (Pictures coming, I swear.)

I've put some thought against the backsplash...rather than going red, I think we're leaning toward a lighter color now. Maybe cream colored subway tiles, done in a herringbone pattern. But with a red grout. Would that look weird? I want to get red into it but I do want it to brighten up the dark woods a bit. I'll try to post a pic of the kitchen so I can get some feedback. (I'll take a pic once it's a little neater than it is right now.)

Returning to Work, Part II: The Mental Game

Okay. So I am 99% sure I'll be heading back next Wednesday from maternity leave--11 weeks. Good grief, that is basically a week. I haven't started weaning G yet from nursing...but I think that's okay. I told work I'll probably be shortening the top/tail of the day upon my return, and I was going to keep my Thursday & Friday afternoons at home; they were fine with that.

Ughhh. I dread this. I mean, I know what to expect in a way since I've been through it before...which means I'll live, we'll all live...but now with two kids it is just going to kill me for the first couple weeks. It is what it is.

I've figured out my leave, using my vacation/personal days/sick days. So I think, retroactively applying those days across my leave, I'll wind up with only 2 1/2 weeks where I wasn't fully paid. That's not bad, really, when it comes down to it. And that is because I am also keeping a week of vacation stashed aside for Aruba in November. Which I will desperately need by then, I am sure.

Now to get on my soapbox, since I have to get it out somehow....
What is wrong with the US? Really. We are the most advanced country in the world, and we treat our people like crap when it comes to having babies. Every candidate, every politician talks about the importance of family and creating a strong foundation. What a load of crap. There are a few things that just don't fly with me:

• Only two nights in the hospital. Yes, I did it both times...regular delivery, and I've survived. A woman's milk doesn't even come in by then but you are encouraged to breastfeed, only you don't know what the heck you're doing, and it creates a serious amount of stress. Healing is less of an issue that the breastfeeding, here, for me.

• FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), provisions. This is the government basically saying that you can take 12 weeks off for having a baby and come back to your job. But as for figuring out how you can sustain your income during that period, well, you're on your own, sister, unless you happen to work for a super-generous company. While I'm at it, let me give a big ol' shout-out to NY state for the crappy compensation that accompanies the "disability" for this period (see my "Part I" post).

• FMLA, duration. 12 weeks is nothing. I know most people who may read this are educated enough to know that Europe in particular allows a much longer period to bond with your newborn child.
  

• FMLA, application. I actually had to add this...C reminded me that small companies aren't even held to honor this. Which, having owned a small business myself for a year and a half, I understand why. But...it does leave a lot of people hanging out there.
  

I'm griping, admittedly--hey, this is part of the purpose of this blog thing anyhow, no? I know very well what I signed up for. I need to work. C and I have made decisions as to where we want to live, what we want our house to be for our family, how we want to raise our children, what preschools (and public schools...hello taxes) to send them to. We want to give them the best we can, and in our case, this is what it takes. At least right now.

I know...if I don't like it, move to Canada (well, we'll see how the election goes in November). If we didn't just rebuild our house, I may ask C to consider it.

Oh, that reminds me of a hilarious blog...Stuff White People Like. See, there's the threatening to move to Canada thing on here. I am not unique, clearly.

Part III to come next week, unless we have some interesting developments. Like a Powerball win or something. In the meantime, I'm trying not to dwell on it too much.

On Having Two

One of my dear friends today asked me, so, how is it with two? (Actually a lot of people have asked me that.)

My response:

"Right now I'm just home from dropping my nanny off. It's pouring and I had to wake O up to get him out of the car (never fun), G was screaming bloody murder since she's been gassy and on a nursing rampage all afternoon. Then O has a meltdown...we've been letting him watch a little TV and all of a sudden now it's all he wants to do. So, no, I said no, he has a fit, and they're both bawling as I get into the house. Sigh.

But...I wouldn't think of giving either one of them back. And right now both of them fell asleep. Go figure."

Twenty minutes of peace and G is at it again--hungry. O is passed out in the TV room (he will "chill out" in there even if he is not watching TV). Well, I started dinner, at least...

G: In da Crib

Well, little miss G is now officially sleeping in her crib. Not that it's that big of a deal, as she falls asleep and then we put her down...so she really doesn't know where she is. With that said, she did sleep for over 7 hours last night, which is fabulous.

Must be the weight gain...to us, she seems huge. Oh, and is continuing the monumental pooping every third day or so.

Films: Juno & Sweeney Todd

C and I don't see movies much. You know, two little ones does that to you. We have been making a concerted effort to rent DVDs a bit more often, however. With that said, you're not going to be finding reviews here of the au courant cinema darlings...we'll be a bit (hopefully not too far) behind the curve. Also, we're usually not ones for the big blockbusters or anything that's going to make me cry for a week. All superhero films are of interest because of C's earlier-life comic book obsession.

Last night we watched Juno. Really liked it. Our type of flick. Ellen Page was absolutely great...what a character she developed for Juno. And while his role wasn't all that big, Michael Cera was great, as always. We saw him in Superbad and thought he was excellent.

And Jason Bateman was ultimately (um, spoiler alert, I guess) kind of a big jerk...which he was good at, but I'm not used to that with him; now we typically associate him with Arrested Development and being the responsible guy. Jennifer Garner was good, too, though I am not typically a fan...something about the way she enunciates bothers me...but this was good casting and you really felt for her.

Of course, having just had a baby, I was a little emotional about the whole baby thing so there were a lot of tears at the end. It didn't rip your heart out, but you were able to get the emotions that Juno was going through, as well as everyone else. A mention of Allison Janney as Juno's stepmom--also a great performance. Honestly, everyone was, and they really delivered the great writing. I hope Diablo Cody writes another one. So, thumbs up.


We rented Sweeney Todd a few weeks ago. I should say that pretty much anything with Johnny Depp makes our list, too. My Lord, it was the goriest thing I've seen in a very, very long time. (Clearly, we don't watch "torture porn"...stuff like the Saw movies etc.)

And set to music. Mr. Depp is not great singer but I don't think he was pretending to be.

All in all, there was a lot to Sweeney Todd we liked--story, characters, music, costuming, Helena-Bonham Carter, Tim Burton kookiness--but there was a little missing in the emotion department, or in what makes a movie really grip you. But, enjoyable in an oddball and kinda gross way.

O: Observations on Religion

This morning O and I were at the breakfast table and he started doing "here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors, see all the people."

So a minute or two goes by and he puts his fingers the other way and says:
"Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the doors...no people."

It just struck me as particularly timely with the Pope's visit last week and the commentary on the dwindling numbers of Catholics, with Muslims now populating the largest religion in the world.

I decided to keep it simple and just asked him if there wasn't a scheduled mass.

On Kids and Motivation

I've recently found out that we can motivate our 3 1/2 year old by counting. He is a major dilly-dallier....so we use whatever it takes to get him going. You know, "I need you to do (X) by the time I count to three (or five, or ten)."

Now what's odd is that there is no consequence associated, most times, with hitting "three". Sometimes, yes, but most of the time I need to just say I'm counting.

So, two things I learned:

• I think every parent on the planet probably has tried this method at one time or another and it just miraculously comes out of your mouth one day without consciously realizing it's happening. Because your parents did it to you.
• Every kid is naturally wired to get a hit of giddiness/panic/anxiety the moment one of their parents starts counting. It's bizarre.

Did Pavlov do something on this, too? I have to look that up.

O: The Screenplay

So O set up a bunch of his Hot Wheels this morning and he was all excited about them sitting there parked, so I asked him what was up and he told me they were going to watch a movie. I was feeding G and he asked J to join us to watch the movie. The "plot" as he described it is below, which came freely out of his mouth and in response to questions from me & J.

(Note: spelling of character names is clearly just my best guess. )

The cars bang together, fly into the air and when they crash into each other, they blow up.
The hospital truck takes them to the hospital (not an ambulance).

The helicopter helps turtles that are sick in the water, swimming turtles, that are on the sand, sick. The helicopter brings them to the turtle hospital, and when they are better, the helicopter brings them back to the river. The helicopter lady is a little short and thin and named Ryganna.

The fire truck's driver's name is Grogratchino, and he helps put out the fire on the houses. When the fire guys hear the alarm ring, they slide down the fire pole and drive to the fire and put the the alarm on the truck so everybody can hear them when they put out the fire. They say "stop, drop, and roll."

There is a bad robot in the movie, Rogina. If you take the key out of him he won't work. A car grabbed the keys and he doesn't work anymore because he was a bad robot. He is bad because his head goes "zhht" and then "pheeuww" he can shoot fire out of his head. He shoots bad cars.

And there's a train in the movie, named Nodina-Nodot-Notee. Grodini-Grodi is the driver's name. The train has a little tiny hand to break they tiny robots that are bad.

The people drink wine in their house...the dad drinks wine. In our house, Dad drinks wine.
--Actually, I think this was referring to the fact that the viewing was in our home and not a movie theater. I can't explain why my three year old is concerned about wine.--

(When I informed him that I actually drink wine too, he said "not much". Good to know his perceptions on that.)

Anyhow, he's never told us how it ends, or how all the plot lines work together, but a nice start, nonetheless. If anyone wants to use it, you have to pay for his college education.

O: On His Nanny

J has been O's nanny since he was 2 1/2 months old.

Today they were at the park, as always. A woman that they had seen many times before at the library or in the park asked J if she could watch her baby (hold the baby) while she took her older son to the park bathroom (he's potty training). G was at home, with me.

You have to understand that we live in a really small town (a "village," actually), so everyone knows everyone and this isn't all that weird.

So O sees her with the baby and bursts into tears, yelling something like, "No, J, no, you are mine and G's nanny and nobody else's! You're not that baby's nanny! You just have two of us!"

Everyone who knows O at the park was floored since they never see him act like this, and he kept it up until the woman came back with her son (upon which, she immediately apologized to O for "borrowing" his nanny).

Too cute, and very possessive.

I love O & G

How cute are these two? Way.

Thinking of my two, I saw this interesting POV on working moms and the factors you consider.

O: Vocabulary

Vecation: (vee•cay•shun) Using his play kitchen phone, O decided that he needed to call his best friend P, who is on "vecation" in Costa Rica. To ask him about the volcano.

"No, Mama, I used the calculator on my kitchen phone to get P's number on vecation."

Returning to Work, Part I: The Situation

So today I spoke with my boss (for future reference, I hate the word boss...even when applied to myself...actually, especially when applied to myself) about my maternity leave situation.

The "situation" began as follows:

• My company was advised by our outsourced HR support that NY state would take care of 60% of my weekly earnings.
  
• Very generously, my company stepped up to cover the other 40% of my weekly salary, with the encouragement to take the full 12 weeks that I am entitled to for family leave.
• Based on the above, there was no expectation to use up vacation etc, which I know I had to do on my last leave; but my prior agency didn't step up with the 40% like these guys did.
  
• I was overly distracted by work, pregnancy, and the (freakin') house renovation.

Then...

• I got my first check from NY state for the disability....the 60%. And it was way off. Called the HR rep, who informed me that they don't handle the details on that and literally wouldn't comment on it directly. To paraphrase: "There is a document in your package that tells you the max allowed for the NY state benefit." So I look. Clearly something I missed because it wasn't something I had to sign and return on the checklist...oh, there it is. It's not 60%, it's 50%, and it's a max of $170/week. WHAT?
• So, I call my boss, he calls the HR company and chews them out for the wrong advice at the get-go. Seems as if someone was "misinformed" that he spoke with.
  
• They have rendered the decision that "it was my responsibility."
• I'll be asking them to retro-act vacation and sick days to cover my leave. But seeing as I don't have THAT many, I may head back after 11 weeks off.
  

Which is in two weeks. Sigh. That went way too fast.

G: Poop

We have a record.

G just pooped the biggest poop that a baby her size can poop. On a wipee scale...it was about 12 or 13. Her outfit, burp cloth, a blanket...covered. Not to mention me and the floor, where it came out of pjs and plopped.

Good morning!

O: Vocabulary

Nutensils: (new•ten•suls) Upon getting his play kitchen back from my parents' house, Oscar was concerned he couldn't find all his "nutensils".

"Where are all my nutensils? I only see my blue spoon. Mama, I don't know where all my nutensils are."

2008 Lunch with Dad

Yes, I see my father far more than once a year, but once every year we go out to lunch--just the two of us. We try to go sometime between our birthdays, and we talk about everything that is going on in our lives. It was great. I love to get into my dad's head a little bit and he usually adds good perspective on my current dramas.

We started this kind of morbidly. In 1998, the year C & I were married, my dad told me--on my birthday, no less--that he had throat/tongue cancer. (For all you smokers out there...I'll post the blood and guts battle details another time,) He needed aggressive treatment and he wanted to come visit me in NYC for a great lunch prior to starting chemo and getting surgery, and ultimately a food tube.

I can remember heading back to the office that day, full of wine and food, and bursting into tears once I knew he couldn't see me anymore. He had that food tube for our wedding and couldn't have a real drink with us to celebrate our wedding day. (He did, however, have a shot of Courvosier straight into the food tube the night of our rehearsal...something he admitted was probably not the best idea. My dad is a pisser.)

So now we go somewhere very yummy, sometimes with a lot of wine, and always too much food to call it lunch. This year, Harvest-on-Hudson...we got to eat outside, which was lovely.

We think maybe next year we'll return to our usual location in NYC -- DaSilvano.
Thanks for lunch, Dad.

Renovation: Siding!

Very exciting! We have our first piece of siding nailed to our house (actually...I hear banging...perhaps two or three pieces by now). Of course, they are starting in the back of the house. I was kind of hoping the front would get done first so our neighbors can finally get rid of their lovely views of Tyvek...but, no matter. What's another week or so when it's been like that for six months, anyhow?

We decided on cedar slatboard for the house. When we moved in in 2002, we had a vinyl-sided house (ick). I know that it has its benefits, but personally, I felt like I was sitting next to a plastic house when we hung out on our deck. With plastic "shutters". I don't understand shutters that don't actually work and are simply affixed to houses for a certain look. (See the faux-shutter look. See, those shutters can't clearly cover those windows...so why are they there?)

C agreed, so it had to go.

We're using a bleaching oil on the cedar to "pre-weather" it until it weathers to gray on its own. Will post photos as soon as we get a bit more up.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day today! A little moment of thought for all on the state of our little globe.
Food for thought: http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/

Personally, I am not an activist or highly political about it, I'm just taking the science as the science, and trying to improve upon what I and my family do here and there. Here is what our family is trying to do to be greener:

• We have replaced our (non-hybrid) Higlander and my husband's Corolla with two Priuses.
• I am starting to collect/purchase reusable bags for local supermarkets.
• We make sure we reuse the plastic bags we get with purchases for other uses.
• We recycle.
• We're trying to remember to unplug, turn off, etc...when things aren't needed.

We still need to:

• Curb our family's water-bottle addiction.
• We are going to start replacing light bulbs...for some reason this is taking longer to do than I thought.
• When our renovation is done, we plan on only using "green" treatments on our lawn and in our yard.
• We are going to plant a vegetable garden, as soon as our plot allows.

What are you doing? Any good ideas to share?

On Gifting Children

How come people give boys trucks and vehicles or other toys, and girls get clothes or something to dress in?

I know G is a baby so there's not a lot of interest shown yet in the toy area (and trust me, she has gotten some beautiful duds that are most appreciated---like this weekend from C's brother and his wife), but it's so interesting! I never got this many clothes for O.

I always thought it was because I'm a fusspot with the way I dress my kids. But now I just think it's a girl/boy thing.

This baby girl thing is a whole new world. I think she has more shoes than I do, and that's no small feat. (Small feet...ha ha ha!)

Renovation: Garage Doors (again)

Jeez, I wish I blogged my whole renovation. I think it would have been highly therapeutic. You know, just as there are books for getting ready to get married, to have children, to change careers...there should be a pretty substantial shelf in any B&N to provide self help books to guide someone through a home renovation. I'll have to look into that.

So today the first quote came in for garage doors, from United Overhead Door. $1100 higher than anticipated, of course. Not UD's fault, another mistake on the spreadsheet or a mis-estimation by our contractor. They had estimated for aluminum doors. Which dent easier. So with two kids...I don't know, it would seem you'd want a sturdy garage door, no? I can just see O's tricycle running into it...basketballs...remote control vehicles.

The rep also pointed out we'll need some work done so the doors are framed properly (they are currently not...of course). Right now they are not framed for a standard door size, and in order to install the rollers, they need the walls either built out or chipped back in certain areas. Now, if you were a contractor, isn't this a lesson that one should retain from previous jobs?

We will also need to move our electric connection on the ceiling for each door back. The units are affixed at 11' into the garage and the cords are only 4 feet long. So, isn't there anyone on my job who should know this?

(Okay, if I posted during this whole project, yes, you would have these questions at the end of every paragraph about the renovation. Which would be completely annoying. I'll try to stop.)

Garage doors just shouldn't be something that's hard. Here's an entry to the garage, here's a door that fits in it. Another quote coming Thursday. Let's see what that brings.

G: milestones...giggling

Okay, maybe it's not really official but I swear that she is laughing with me when we play. She's got a big ol' crooked smile like her Mama.

Renovation: Garage Doors

So today I was trying to set up appointments with garage door suppliers, making an attempt to not have my contractor do it. Considering I don't really think they have any better connections than I do.

I have two coming in next week...United Door and Precision. We are looking for 2 steel 9-ft doors...nothing fancy. White, maybe some simple windows on the top. No carriage house nonsense...we don't live in a carriage house, for crying out loud. Realistically, we are hoping this is an area we can save on a little bit. Would rather spend the money on a cooler driveway. (That will be another topic once I start bringing masonry folks in.)

So I found a few helpful links with regard to figuring out what kind of garage door one would actually need, and how the different materials perform. Now at least I won't sound like an idiot when these people show up and try to sell me next week.

A little more detail on the types of garage doors, and a rundown of the things to consider.

O: Tennis Lessons

Okay, so I actually wrote the bottom part yesterday but never got it out because it was so beautiful outside I had to take baby G and head to the park to see O twice while he was playing. That, and I wanted to download some pics.

What is really cool is that his P/T, L, shared his eval with me, and he is at 45th percentile overall. So he's done with services come end of June. I'm fine with that, he is where he needs to be. I'm really happy with the Early Intervention and PSCE services he received here. It's good to live in Westchester--the services are great.

I know I just sound like the typical over-proud mommy, but L told me how she really does think he is special...like, brainy-special. And that will ultimately become interesting to deal with as he gets older. I was in the Gifted class myself at school, and Chris rec'd some special overachiever supplementation at school as a kid as well. We'll see....

----
I can't believe how big O is getting! He and his buddy took tennis lessons last year, and after today's inaugural spring season lesson, I can see he actually retained what he learned from the fall. Amazing. They just "get it" so much more.



Today was warm-up drills (love the side shuffle along the line...real drills!), practice at the net, and starting to learn a forehand swing. So proud of my big boy.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad turns 66 today! I can't believe it.

He has been so awesome this year with the house and the pregnancy and everything, helping out and really generous with his gifts and time. I love you, Dad.

On Messes

I was just speaking with someone and was kind of complaining about all the stuff we have; after going through the house renovation, we have so much to clean up and organize. After having O, (the first grandchild on both sides) it's really crazy. But then I thought how lucky we are to have all that, even though it's a nightmare to put it all in a proper place sometimes...many things are gifts from friends or family.

I've heard of "Bless this Mess" before...I think the more appropriate phrase is: Blessed With A Mess. See, and then your challenge is to make the most of your mess. If that makes sense.

Anyhow, I went to the Container Store and spent $250 today (jeez, that is WAY too easy to do in that place) on more stuff to organize all of us. Mostly for the kitchen. I should post before and after shots of the kitchen. Well, after shots once it's done would probably be better...not yet. Actually, I'll post befores and afters of the whole reno, eventually.

Breastfeeding, round 2.

I am breastfeeding baby G, and remarkably, she is growing well and eating plenty.

I say remarkably because I had such difficulties breastfeeding my son, O. I must own every apparatus ever created for breastfeeding aid, and I took herbs to produce more. He just couldn't get it from me. I pumped constantly for three months, which was torture.

My first experience was so challenging I felt compelled to respond to an article in the NY Times that featured a review of a government-produced ad to encourage breastfeeding (which I didn't agree with), and a discussion of breastfeeding's benefits (which I certainly agree with). I'm the second letter published: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/science/20webletters.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

What's crazy is that last year, 2007, a producer from CNN's American Morning called me at home to see if I was interested in coming on the show to discuss the fact they were no longer providing formula samples to new mothers in NYC public hospitals to encourage breastfeeding--they found the letter in their research, I guess. I declined. I didn't want to be on TV as a counterpoint to the head of the public hospital system, or come off as anti-breastfeeding. (and let's be honest, it was at 5am, I was in my first trimester with G, and they're a cable station...no compensation for the appearance!)

This time is different...it goes to prove that all children are unique. G eats very well. I was worried at the get-go because we were seeing dehydrated diapers at the hospital. So we supplemented a bit at the beginning...but by the time she was a week and a half old, I didn't have to anymore. Kind of seemed like a miracle.

I know so many people with breastfeeding issues. I have a few theories on what happened to me:

• Some women get their milk in later than others. Maybe this somehow has to do with the fact that a lot of women are having children later.
  
• There is so much pressure to breastfeed--well--that women have a lot of anxiety about doing it right. This, of course, just makes the situation worse because the stress often inhibits the milk let-down.
• There is a very poor support system for new moms with regard to breastfeeding in the US. We are only in the hospital two nights, and while most intentions are good, nurses and hospital lactation consultants often offer conflicting advice about breastfeeding. I had this happen to me not only during one stay, but at the same hospital for both children. And then the advice from my lactation was different, too. Not to mention a good portion of us were brought up on a bottle, so our own mothers can't help either.
  

Thank God for an awesome pediatrician and a local lactation consultant. And a good baby.

G: milestones

So C (husband) told me he swears that G (baby gir) rolled to her side on the playmat yesterday! Big news for the little one. She is getting big so fast.

It's all about me.

Right now it seems that little in my life is about me. Let me be clear, I am not complaining. I am a lucky gal.

I have two beautiful children. My little boy will turn four at the end of June; my little girl is 7 1/2 weeks old. I am so in love with them.

I have a glorious husband. Handsome with a wonderful heart and priorities in the right place. My best friend, my rock, and a great dad.

We have just renovated our home. Wait...I should say renovating. We're not done yet.

I work full time. Currently on maternity leave, I have performed some sort of marketing/advertising function for clients for the last 12 years.

All this makes me, me. And all of it will serve as fair game for posting. I want a history, an accounting of some sort. It seems life has increased speed exponentially with the arrival of our daughter, and I can't bear to lose it all or rely on a spotty memory rife with distractions.

Some of the earlier posts may be a bit historical for recapping purposes in order for me to catch up to the present. I tend to not like to come in at movies halfway through, either.