A new poll

I think Joseph seriously needs a haircut. What do you think we should do? Take the poll in the sidebar!

Because we miss Daddy

T.J. is stuck in New York. :( Apparently there was bad weather, and unless his flight can leave by 12am (the incoming plane was grounded in Richmond, VA) he's stuck there until further notice. There are no flights out tomorrow 'till 8pm... but he can probably fly out of a different airport before then tomorrow in Philly or Baltimore. Joseph and I are doing fine, just missing Daddy.

On the bright side, Tante Teresa arrives from Japan tomorrow night in preparation for our great friend Tay's wedding!!!

New videos

I took a couple of quick videos of Joseph using our web cam and posted them on smugmug.

Sorry there hasn't been much posted lately... things have been a bit wild around here. Joseph has decided that unless Daddy is around, his 3rd nap should be 30 minutes vs. three hours. Yikes. Unfortunately for Mama, Daddy is only around on the weekends for that one!

To top it off, T.J. has had to start traveling for work again. Luckily he's only had to go overnight so far. Last week he left on Thursday and came back Friday night late, so that left me with essentially 2 days by myself. He left again today and will get back tomorrow. Not gonna lie, it's extra hard without him. I didn't realize how much I rely on him to help me with bedtime and just to get a break to make a healthy dinner. But so far Joseph and I (and T.J.) are surviving just fine! Keep your fingers crossed that he doesn't start traveling a lot more!

Joseph and I have been busy with story-time, errand-running, keeping house, mom's group, LLL, and an occasional walk. We both enjoy the weekends when Daddy is around to play more - he and Joseph have a great time together.

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

July 25- July 31

• 8 Weeks Today - Eight week update
• Shopping - All the things I didn't buy for DomerBaby
• I'm So Confused - Car seat madness
• Hormones - Tears as the first sign of pregnancy
• T-12 Hours - Countdown to the first prenatal
• First Prenatal Appointment - with the hospital midwife
• Huh - weight gain doldrums

Please Note: I have noticed going through these posts that many are very boring. What can I say... it all seemed exciting at the time! Do not feel obligated to read them all again!

This made me laugh

I was looking randomly through old pictures. Here is Joseph at 2 days old - what a grumpy old man he was!

I have a confession.

I have not taken a picture of Joseph in a week.

::ducks to avoid rotten tomatoes being thrown by grandparents::

I'll try to do better!

Mmmm, beer

He could just be interested in the way cold wet glass feels.

Or, maybe he already has fantastic taste in beer!

Plugged Up

The last few days I've been working through my first plugged duct (nursing). It's just like it sounds - there are lots of ducts in a woman's breast where the milk flows through, and sometimes they get plugged up. The spot gets hard, painful, and turns red. After lots of good advice (thanks everyone!) it appears that I was able to get it cleared up pretty quickly. I am just glad it didn't turn into mastitis (a breast infection)!

Here's what worked for me:
1. Hot compress (I used the hot sock I made for labor)
2. Massage the area
3. Nurse lots - On the bright side since I pumped the other side I got a record (for me) 4 ounces at once!

Hope this helps someone else! It never got too painful for me, I think maybe I caught it early since we were just talking about it at my LLL meeting last week!

New Look!

The DomerBaby blog has a brand new look! I hope you like it. Let me know if you see anything funky, since I use firefox vs. explorer.

~Jen

It's not easy being green.

We are so lucky to have our Farmer's Market which sells really low-cost organic foods, but sometimes I still get down.

Last week, I bought a $12 chicken (organic - $2.50/lb). Then I went to Costco and they are selling rotisserie chickens for $4. And you wouldn't even have to cook! They have grass fed organic beef at Costco, now. A "steal" at $4.50/lb for ground beef. But their 91% lean regular beef is $2.30/lb. I could have got pork loin for $1.99/lb. I can't even FIND "happy" pig anywhere but some local farmer's markets, and I learned too much from Michael Pollan to buy a lot of the regular stuff. I do buy bacon, but I can't swallow the $6/package for sulfite-free, so I still get the sulfite-laden bacon. Milk is $1.99/gal at Kroger, but $5.99+/gal for organic everywhere else.

And don't even get me started about the availability and price of food when we aren't at the peak of summer. I guess I'm more amazed at the price differential in industrial vs. local/organic* food, rather than the actual cost of organics. At least I can break things down by price per meal to help make it seem better. My $12 happy chicken created 6 meals + I've frozen the carcass for broth. At $2/serving we're rivaling McDonald's, right? Now that's a happy meal!

Sometimes it's not easy being green, but I think it's worth it.

* Sometimes the most annoying thing about organic food is that a lot of it still comes from the industrial food complex. That's why buying local is so important! I haven't committed too much to local, though I do try to choose the closer location when they have them listed in the grocery store.

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

July 18 - 24, 2008

• 7 Week Update - In the beginning!
  
• Actual Size - What Joseph Looked like a year ago
  
• Birth Choices - Our homebirth decision
  
• Birth Choices Part II - more info on homebirth
  
• What's in a Name - How we named our blog
  
• Eco-Friendly Family - Eating organic
  
• Feelings - My feelings a year ago
  
• Baby Crafts - Big plans for my new sewing machine. Key word = plans
  

4 Month Appointment

We went for Joseph's four month appointment today. He got another clean bill of health, and the doctor had some predictions for us. I wouldn't count on it, but she thinks that:

• He may be getting teeth sooner than later
• He will walk very early (Noooooooo!)
• He will talk very early

Obviously it's because he's a genius. (just kidding, really!)

He got two shots, but took them very well. She was able to give both in one leg, so it went much faster than last time. He only cried for about 30 seconds, and then nursed to sleep. My friend Kati is right, doctor appointments are ALWAYS scheduled during nap time!

Here are his stats:

• Height: 25 1/4" (57%)
• Head circumference: 41.5cm (26%)
• Weight: 13lb 6oz (17%)

No real concerns about his weight. I've conceded that he's just a peanut, and I'm not going to worry about it until the doc says I should. I really trust and respect her advice. We're on the same wavelength about a lot of stuff!

And no solid foods yet. She never even mentioned it, and we'd planned to exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months (at least) anyway. So, sorry Grandma, no lolly's for Joseph in August.

Baby Blue

I'm always trying to capture the blue in Joseph's eyes. I think I got them pretty well this day! (Click on the pictures to make them larger. Full sized images can be downloaded from smugmug)

I stand corrected.

Joseph rolled BOTH WAYS today! All of a sudden he's a pro!

If this is reverse psychology, Joseph, I just want you to know that I'd love for you to crawl and walk SUPER early.

Tootsies & Other Great Feats

Joseph learned to eat his feet last week.



He also is getting to be quite good at standing - needing only to hold hands for assistance

He's still working on rolling over, though!

4 Month Professional Photos

Through my awesome mom's group, we were offered the chance at a free mini-sitting with a local photographer. Never one to turn down photographs, Joseph said we should go. So we did. Joseph had his really cute dressy outfit, but the way she positioned him it got all bunched up, so we just took it off. Babies in the buff are cute, anyway.

You can see the results (and purchase exorbitantly priced photos) here:

http://JosephC.photoherald.com

password is "curren" (yes, it made me laugh, too)

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

We started our blog!

I'm hoping to start this as a regular feature every week, if it doesn't turn out to be hopelessly boring! Enjoy turning back the clock with me!

The love affair with Mickey

If only soft Mickey rattles came in bottle versions! Of course... it took 2 days for the toy to dry. Gross! We might need to save this one for a little later.

What is this, you say? A rattle?

Just look at that velvety nose, so pointy and soft

Just one taste won't hurt

OMG this is so yummy! Can't.stop.sucking.

Ahhhh. Mom, you've been replaced. For now.

Joseph's first girlfriend

We went to visit a family friend, whose daughter had just had a baby. Colette was about 7 weeks to Joseph's 17.

Hello, Lady. Would you like to come closer?

Much more cozy, no?

Oh dear... what is a gentleman like myself to do?

Empathy, the best policy!

Yes, mama had to get a close up of that face!

Maybe a supervised visit is better?

Oh mom, you're embarrassing us!

Pittsburgh Visit in Pictures

We had a great time visiting - 5 days wasn't nearly long enough! Hopefully we can come back very soon.

T.J. gives Joseph tips on flying

Grandma telling Joseph a story
Waking up to Grandpa is fun!
Devising a strategy to puke on the couch now that the quilts are gone!
Joseph and Barney have many things in common
Oh Lucy, you are so funny!
Saying goodbye on Monday
At the hotel before flying out
Joseph wants room service, too.

4th of July

Here are some photos of Joseph's first 4th of July:

Uncle Jake and his girlfriend Lucy rocking bean bag toss

No eye colors were edited in this picture. Holy smokes Heather and Joseph!

Lucy and Joseph

Savannah practicing her babysitting skills

Joseph and MeeMaw

Joseph is 4 months!

I don't know why, but 4 months seems like a milestone to me. Although, developmentally speaking there was a much NICER change at 3 months. We've been having some cognitive dissonance here in the Domer household as Joseph works on his next big leap in thinking and moving. It's manifested itself in a multitude of ways:

- more frequent night wakings
- goofed up naps
- inability to sleep on his own
- clingy and unable to be put down during playtime
- general grouchiness

Sounds like fun, eh? But he is doing some new fun things, too. He figured out how to eat his toes today (SO CUTE!), can stand for long periods of time with me just holding his hands, and eats sushi. Oh wait, that last one is me. Yum.

I'll upload some pictures of toe-eating and standing tomorrow, but here are some pics of him in his jumperoo to tide you over.

I think we wore him out.

We got back from Pittsburgh yesterday morning, and everyone was pretty exhausted from our flight plan changes (we took a bump and flew out at 5:40 am - 3:30 wake-up call, anyone?). Joseph slept a ton yesterday, and then went to sleep for the night at 4:30 pm! I was afraid that he'd be awake for the day at 3:30, but he slept till 6:30! 14 hours! Of course, he woke to eat and get diapers changed, but that was it.

He can sleep like his daddy, that's for sure!

I plan to update with pictures from our trip this afternoon. Joseph is in Grandparent withdrawal!

Family Dining

Joseph is big enough for the high chair now! We only got a "travel" chair that hooks on the table. Seemed like the best deal - no extra clutter AND he gets to eat with everyone else! Of course, he is not eating yet, so we'll see how it works out later on, but we can always buy a regular high chair if we need one.

He's still pretty small, so we just stuffed the chair with some blankets. He had a great time though.