Hazy Shade of Winter

little a is a fan of the Bangles. Although she prefers "Eternal Flame" this is our winter theme song.

happiness

This morning when my six-week-old woke up I went to pick her up and said good morning, baby. I was greeted with the cutest toothless smile you have ever seen. I wish I could have captured it. I love her. Her smiles make everything else worth it. I think it's an evolutionary adaptation. Whereas she spends 50% of her waking hours actively fussing or crying, 33% eating, 12% chilling, there is that beautiful 5% she spends playing and smiling. And thus is the parent bonded.

Yesterday was fantastic. We went on a walk as a family and even tried some geo-caching, then we went to the mall, and El Esposo and I took turns carrying the baby in the Baby Bjorn. At home we had a tear-free bathtime and she went to sleep for the night slightly before 11! She woke up at 3:30 and 7:00, but went back to sleep easily after eating. So far today we have spent an hour doing the feeding and refluxy fussing and soothing and I have introduced little a to records and the Thriller album specifically, dancing in the living room. Life is pretty good.

P.s., The diet is not working. Little a's reflux and gas are just as bad. But, we are dealing and for due diligence I am keeping up until Friday.

TED Day 5

Turns out the TED is not the worst thing ever. Here's what I've eaten so far:

Day one:
bk-oatmeal
l-avocado, grapes, chips (hadn't gone shopping yet)
d- ground turkey with zucchini, rice, and rice milk

Day two:
bk-rice cereal w/ rice milk
l- can't remember
d- stir fry w rice noodles, lamb, and zucchini, and baked sweet potato

Day three:
bk-oatmeal
l- leftover stir fry and grapes
d- turkey "burger" with avocado and mashed potatoes (no butter or milk ack!)

Day four:
bk-oatmeal
l-sweet potato, fried zucchini, grapes
d- roast lamb w mashed potatoes

Little a had a good day yesterday (day 4). Today we will see whether it was a fluke.

Total Elimination Diet

Today I start the Total Elimination Diet. I know little a reacts to certain foods I eat in a really bad way and I have had enough of guessing which ones. So basically I get to eat various forms of turkey, lamb, rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, squash, pears, sea salt, pepper, canola oil and a few extra things I feel okay about adding: sugar, cinnamon, oats, and avocados. I don't plan on keeping it up for two weeks though as I already started eliminating dairy a week and a half ago and dairy is the main thing that is supposed to linger in your system for two weeks. Once little a seems better I will start adding more items in the diet. Off to eat some oatmeal for breakfast!

Cute Baby Pics

I played the harmonica (badly, but she doesn't know) for about 30 minutes straight to get the cute baby to agree to a nap. It was pretty fun at first to find that it won her rapt attention, but now I have chapped lips. By the way, Winter sucks. I was over it a couple weeks ago.

And now the many faces of a one month old:

Sleepy


Contemplative

Focused on the Goal



Happiest Baby on the Block!
until . . .
"Oops I did it again."

SAHM Day

Apologies for sloppy editing...

Today I watched a little of "The Price is Right." I can report that the show still exists and that it is hosted by Drew Carey. At first glance I was thinking Drew Carey might be embarrassed by where he has come (Remember "Whose Line is it Anyway?" That was a sometimes clever show), but really I think he probably loves this gig. I also watched a little Dr. Phil. It was about all the shocking things really young teenagers are doing nowadays. Gross. It made me rethink wanting little a to start growing up already. Speaking of which I want to show you some adorable pics of her one monthiversary when we stop having i-phone syncing issues.

Anyway, the best thing I saw today was definitely the latest episode of "Community" on hulu. It may be the best one yet. Christmas-themed sitcoms are usually lame but this one was delightful.

It is so easy to do unproductive things while taking care of a baby, but hard to do productive ones like making lunch. Anyway, I am starting to adapt to the Stay at Home Mom gig, despite it being very isolated and challenging. I will be very happy when I can work with little a's schedule well enough to do the productive stuff [like writing more than a quick blog entry]. It took about 45 minutes to get her to fall asleep, but that is progress! Some day we may have an actual routine! Currently my goal is to get her to take at least one nap per day not on mommy. Now to read li'l bro's novel until the cute little beast awakens.