Happy Halloween

From your Little Stinker

And all of his friends!

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

October 31 - November 6

• As big as a squash - DomerBaby's growing!
• Hormonal Swings - I forgot about this! I can't even imagine that feeling now.
• Jumpin Jelly Beans - We can see baby from the outside now. And a potato soup recipe just in time!
  
• Orgasmic Birth - Umm... more power to you if you experience/experienced this. Me? Not so much. Still, the *real* message of the film is true - birth shouldn't be feared.
  
• Travel plans. This year, you are welcome to come to us any time!

It's all about perspective

[Note: I am not looking for solutions with this post - just sharing my experience with this part of parenting. Please refrain from suggesting we let him cry.]

Parenting is such a funny thing. One day, you'll be practically frantic trying to figure out an answer for something. The next, you have accepted it and moved on. Rinse and repeat over and over, and you have the last seven months of our life!

Lately, my obsession - and everyone else's - has been Joseph's sleep (or lack thereof). It's all anyone asks about, it seems. "How does he sleep?" About as well as we expect "Is he sleeping through the night?" Bwahahaha! "are YOU sleeping through the night?" Are you crazy? "How long will you let him sleep with you?" I don't know... Notre Dame has single sex dorms, so he'll have to leave my bed eventually.

When we were traveling, Joseph started waking up with increasing frequency. To the point that he was up 20+ times one night. That's not a typo or an exaggeration. We survive because he sleeps with us, so we don't "get up" with him in the traditional sense. I do wake up, and I do nurse him the majority of the night on bad nights. It's tiring, but not bone-numbingly so. He's going through a whole lot of emotional, cognitive, and physical changes right now so he needs us at night more than ever. And I'm OK with that. Really!

So what's the problem? Mostly I'd just like a little space to myself! I've found myself staying up until all hours of the morning (2am last night) and I think a lot of it has to do with not wanting to go to bed and be back "on the clock" even in my sleep!

The solution? I haven't found one, though I have 5 books on my side table to read on the issue. I finished one called "Good Nights" and it was just what I needed last week. A reaffirmation that we're doing the right thing and that it won't last forever! Sometimes that's all I need, I think. Then other times, I think I need to figure out how to get him to sleep without me! I vacillate, which is normal, I'm sure.

So, if you don't want to cry it out, and you co-sleep, I urge you to pick up this book. It's a nice and gentle reminder of why we torture ourselves so, and good fodder for critics, if needed! Highly recommend - it really rejuvenated my will to "go with the flow".

And now, I'm going to bed. Hopefully I'm not sleepy because this is such a boring topic!

[Sweet] Pea Brain

Sometimes all this reading I do really bites me in the behind.

Today I spent about 10 minutes at our local grocery store debating the merits between buying a jar of organic strained sweet peas for Joseph vs. buying a bag of frozen organic sweet peas and cooking them myself.

I have this "making your own is the best" thing stuck in my head, but if I can get a jar for less than the cost of the frozen ones, am I just being stubborn (and stuck up!)? Environmentally, perhaps you can make a case for the frozen bag - less packaging in total, no water added so it weighs less for shipping. But the jars are glass and the bag is plastic, which uses petroleum... see how difficult this gets?

Generally, making your own is cheaper, but the cost per ounce actually went in the jarred food's favor this time because it was on sale!

I know, I'm neurotic. Anyway, I ended up buying a few jars because they were 3 for $1. Now Joseph has peas, carrots, pears, and apple puree in the lineup.

And to make myself feel better, I still made him some zucchini and some butternut squash for dinner tonight. He liked them both!

Joseph's first tailgate

We stayed up in the area after Joseph's baptism. First we went to visit my friend Brenda in Indiana and see her daughter, Paige, who is about a month younger than Joseph, I think:

Then we went to Michigan to see Randy and Kristen and their son Samuel:

Next we went to see Shauna and her new puppy Liam, who became Joseph's best friend:

After that we went to Chicago and saw several more friends (sorry no pics) before heading back for Joseph's first ND game! Unfortunately we couldn't pull out a win against USC, but we had a great time anyway! Here are some photos:

Touchdown Jesus

"Good Luck Jesus" - Only at ND.

Does it get any better than beer, snuggy, and Jesus?

With Kathy at her tailgate

Hanging out with Daddy

So cold on the way to Reckers to watch the game!

Look what I have!

I'm so excited!

You don't know why?

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

See? I have two teeth on the bottom

And two teeth on the top!

Beets: When good food goes bad

Today I made beets for Joseph. Since they are so very red, I was prepared with a bib, 2 washcloths, and the will to succeed in keeping Joseph's new long-sleeved onesie white.

Yes, I know you are laughing already. I don't blame you.

Joseph was not a huge fan of the beets, I think the texture bothered him, but he ate a good bit of them. Then I guess I gave him too big of a bite. What ensued was beet-colored upchuck all over him, the table, the carpet, the chair, etc...

Normally I do not take pictures of Joseph's puke, but it looked like he'd been involved in a massacre, so it seemed perfect for Halloween.

We're getting hit from every angle lately!

p.s. Beet puke does seem to come out for the most part with good old cold water.

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

October 24 - October 30

• Belly comparison - because you can't get enough belly shots.
• More baby safety
• Months, weeks, trimesters? Huh? - A quick reference guide to pregnancy dating
• Our Babies, Ourselves - AWESOME anthropological book on infants in many different cultures. A must read for understanding how culture shapes care.

Joseph's Baptism

Note: You can see professional photos using this link - just enter your email address and the password "joseph09"

You can see all the pictures we've received so far (peer pressure, Uncle Jim and Aunt Val! Everyone is doing it!) on smugmug

Everything went so well! We had a wonderful stay with the our favorite Hoosiers, as always, and of course loved seeing our families. We had an intimate baptism on Saturday at the Log Chapel on Notre Dame's campus, followed by a nice long lunch at the Morris Inn. The day was cold, but clear. We nearly froze to death taking photos before hand, but I think we got some cute ones, and it made Joseph sleep well! Hehe. No, he wasn't hypothermic, just exhausted from the ducks.

Oh, and a tip to my ND mamas in the future - Bond Hall is perfect for nursing and changing - the big entry hall has a ginormous table to spread everything out on, there are couches, and that place is kept VERY warm. It was awesome!

Joseph was, of course, amazing. He actually began bleeding after the ceremony from a tooth he was cutting, but he never cried at all during the whole thing! He seemed to enjoy the responsorials, and wanted to add his own voice to it. Seems he's catching on to the whole Catholic thing already! Fr. Rob said he was the best baby he'd had in 35 years. Aw, shucks!

He looked pretty dapper in his fancy gown and homemade sweater. Luckily (I guess?) he only bled on the sweater, so we'll be able to pass down the gown. And I got the blood out of the sweater (though some sort of stain remains. Le sigh).

Enough talk, I know you only want to see photos.

The Log Chapel

Our little family before the ceremony

Joseph

Celebrity Sighting: Fr. Hesburgh did the baptism before ours!
During the ceremonyMy Uncle Jim and cousins Francesca and Colleen
Mr. and Mrs. Becher
Grandma and Joseph
The Godparents - Jake and Debbie, with us
T.J.'s parents, brother, and us
My mom, debbie, and us
A wiped out Joseph, Grandma, and Aunt Val

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

October 19 - October 23

• T.J.'s birthday (and Flashback, part II)
• Rocking out with DomerBaby
• Confessing to the man - I'm outed about my plans to SAH after birth
• Belly picture! - One of my favorites.
• Toy Safety - a good reminder with the Holidays looming.

Everybody Poops. Tell it like it is: The cloth diaper edition

Let me tell you a story. One about a sweet baby. A baby who is exclusively breastfed. A baby whose poo doesn't smell at all for at least three months. Even after that, it doesn't smell too bad. The baby whose cloth diapers go directly into the pail with no additional work or worry.

Then the baby gets older. The baby gets hungrier. Mostly for whatever mom and dad are eating, but baby settles for avocado, oatmeal, bananas, sweet potatoes, etc... It's a good life for baby. Then baby stops pooping for SIX days. Then baby does not stop pooping. This is not the poo of yesteryear. This is gross. It sticks like peanut butter to the diapers. It requires maintenance. It makes you want to gag with the smell.

You have options.
1) Buy a $45 diaper sprayer. A glorified kitchen sprayer that hooks to your toilet.
2) DIY a diaper sprayer. They claim you can do it for $20, but I know that by the time we finished it'd cost us about 10 hours and approximately $44.50.
3) Dunk and swish. That's right. In the toilet. With nasty pb-make-me-gag poop.

So far, we - let's be honest - I have been doing number 3. Please say we will graduate from this stage quickly.

Just telling it like it is. We won't stop CDing because of poo (how ridiculous - that's the whole point). But it is possible that I am going to go drop $45 on a glorified kitchen sprayer this afternoon. I have my pride, after all.

Cuteness to counteract the grossness of this post:

Joseph playing with his buddies before his butt exploded.

One Year Ago on DomerBaby

October 4 - October 18

• Half-baked - pop!
• Born in the USA - the sad state of maternity leave
• Feeling kicks
• Thrifty Birth - home birth is cheap!
• Ruffle butt - if Joseph had been a girl
• Weight sadness - I think it was short-lived, as I went on to gain about 30 more lbs happily.
• Love at first sight - The day I met Laura!
• Ultrasound! - First glance of Joseph!
• Red-letter day - Lots of fun
• What's a doula?
• Flashback - I'm still sad that I forgot to take a pic like my mama when I went into labor!

Catching up

Hey all! Sorry we've been MIA - it's like getting back into anything - sometimes it seems like there is so much to do, how do you start? Of course, the answer is a little bit at a time.

We had a wonderful vacation up in IN/MI/IL, and I can't wait to share it with you. Be patient, we're going to go a little at a time, as well as catching up on "One Year Ago". I though about dumping that, but I do like that it gives me an excuse to go back and see what life was like before. Plus, I have a bunch of friends who are pregnant and due in the spring, and I think it'd be fun to see where they are at now (in terms of where I was) and hopefully be able to share some stuff from that time with them.

So, without any further adieu, here are some pictures to tide you over:

T.J., Joseph, and I in Grand Haven, Michigan

Our friends Randy, Kristen, and little Samuel

Joseph won't have to ask for his front teeth for Christmas

He popped the left one this morning, and I think the right one is working its way through! Poor baby. We didn't even know it was coming until we heard him grinding his teeth!

Our baby boy is getting so big. ::tear::

We're leaving in the morning for our big trip - wish us luck on the toll road. The last time Joseph was up there he cried the entire 2+ hour trip!

I'm no Seamstress

But I made Joseph some Irish baby legs! I first tried to use the sewing machine, but I couldn't get the fabric to work - it's really stretchy - it just kept getting caught in the foot thing. So I did it by hand. I had a couple of mulligans even doing it by hand, and they definitely aren't perfect, but I tried hard and I like how they came out!

Now he's all ready for our big trip tomorrow! We're going to be in South Bend, Michigan, and Chicago for 10 days! We can't wait to see lots of our friends and family, and get Joseph baptized. I'm sure I'll have time to update while we're there.

What's a measuring tape? Who uses pins?

They look a bit like hockey socks!

Doing a jig!

Solid food update

Joseph has now had:

Avocado
Apple sauce
Banana
Sweet Potato
Rice cereal

So far, he loves the sweet potato the best (he ate a whole tablespoon tonight!) and then the banana. The rice cereal was a bust due to my lipase milk issue, and I thought he was enjoying the apple sauce and avocado, but compared to the sweet potato he must loath those!

I think in general solids are going well. He is also learning to drink water from a sippy, though he doesn't really "get" it yet. No rush. He's still nursing wonderfully and is bright-eyed, alert, and making developmental milestones. Today he was not even fooled by "hiding" a toy under his burp cloth! What a smart boy. Ha!

New Videos

I don't promise that they are exciting (some are decidedly boring, actually) but there are about 6 or 7 new videos up - some in the September gallery and some in the October gallery.

What a little stinker!

We had some portraits done by the dad of one of the babies in my mom's group - and they turned out SOOOOOO cute!

Here is a link to the whole gallery.

ETA: I should add that these are not touched up, so obviously he would photoshop out the hands and crop the pics properly if/when we order!

Goodbye, Mini Milk Stash

I just poured all of my frozen breast milk down the drain. It wasn't a big supply at all, but as all mothers who've pumped know, it represented a lot of effort and dedication.

Last week, I tried giving Joseph some baby cereal. It called for 4 tablespoons of breastmilk, so I thawed out an ounce and a half to use. Joseph took one bite of the cereal and refused to eat any more. I tasted it too see how gross rice cereal is, and It was awful! I mean, really gross. I was not sure it was the milk or the cereal, so I took a sip of the milk to be sure, and literally almost threw up. I have the dreaded soapy milk syndrome.

The milk itself is not spoiled or bad, it just tastes terrible. It's due to an enzyme called Lipase, which is present in all breastmilk. However, a lucky few of us produce too much Lipase, which eats the fats in the breastmilk and makes it taste like soap/vomit when it's been stored (refrigerated or frozen) for an extended period of time. It's not too strange if you think about it - soap itself is commonly made from animal fat.

So anyway, it has tipped us off to why Joseph never took to the bottle! Poor baby! Though he got plenty of tries with fresh milk as well, so it's not entirely the fault of my soapy breastmilk.

I can combat the Lipase by scalding any milk I pump before storing... but I generally only pump a few times a month if I'm going out that day, so I probably won't bother trying to create a frozen supply.

FO: Joseph's Baptism Sweater!

I am so happy that I finished this in time! It turned out really well. It's a bit long when he's sitting, but I hate how baby sweaters seem so cropped sometimes, so I don't mind. I think it'll work great over his gown when we're outside next weekend!

I used this pattern and modified it so it was just a little collar (not the 2" one they call for in the pattern).

Ode To My Babyhawk

Oh Babyhawk
You are so pretty
You will match my brown boots and heels so nicely for fall
Your Amy Butler pattern is so mod and makes me smile
Even though the pocket makes gathers in the geometric pattern, it is still useful for holding my keys as we climb the stairs to the apartment
Your shoulder straps are nicely padded, and it's not hard to tie up at all!
Joseph sleeps in you, which makes you even more wonderful.

How could you be more perfect? I know not.

::smooches::
Jen